Jul. 22, 2023
As we all know, financial system participants utilize highly qualified employees and complex computer systems connected to various official and non-official exchanges (including crypto and off-book digital asset swaps). The Reporting Threshold Amount memorandum analysis suggests the smallest reported swap is $70 USD, but I believe any asset or debt-based swap or position, regardless of its value, should be reported, even if it's $0 USD or any other legal fiat currency. Daily reporting of all positions should have been mandated by law years ago. Ownership by parent companies or child entities should not exempt them from reporting on a daily basis. Companies and their subsidiaries operating in the United States, whether in regulated or unregulated markets/exchanges, should be legally required to report all positions without exceptions. This requirement should apply to both traditional and digital assets to ensure transparency. Any position with a monetary value, positive or negative, should be reported separately, indicating both long and short positions, to prevent loopholes or technicalities used to hide high-risk assets through subsidiaries, shell, or shelf companies in questionable reporting and securities laws of "offshore safe haven" countries. Any change in position size, positive or negative, should be automatically reported by the end of the business day. Since most financial participants have their own IT departments, the costs to implement reporting requirements should be seen as a "cost of doing business" considering the substantial profits they make. The commission should take a firm stance against non-reporting of financial assets, whether traditional or digital, and all positions should be reported separately for each legal entity or owner without exceptions. With proposed rules for a more transparent and fair financial system, this reporting rule should be established without any threshold and enforced promptly. A founding principle of a free market is to be able to do business in the United States with trust worthy intermediaries or partners to rebuild trust in the financial system. The commission should also take this opportunity to help and/or guide other country financial system regulators to help them create more transparent and fair markets as the problem is not restricted to the United States of America. -- ... JG