SEC adopts Dodd-Frank rule on clearing agency conflicts of interest

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continued its recent run of pushing through remaining regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 by adopting new rules to mitigate conflicts of interest for security-based swap clearing agencies.

The rules, approved Thursday, establish governance requirements for all registered clearing agencies regarding board composition, independent directors, nominating committees, and risk management committees, the SEC said in a press release. Clearing agencies must also implement new policies and procedures to reduce the likelihood that conflicts of interest might influence the board of directors.

The regulations were called for under Section 765 of Dodd-Frank. In the past month, the SEC has adopted other Dodd-Frank rules for short sale data transparency and mandating security-based swap execution facilities register with the agency.