Global banks may push back on RBI’s offshore swap reporting plan

Bankers have held discussions through global financial market industry associations, which are expected to submit formal feedback to the RBI by the July 7 deadline

Global lenders plan to ask India’s central bank to soften a plan requiring them to report offshore interest-rate derivative trades, according to people familiar with the matter.

Complying with the Reserve Bank of India’s directive could raise concerns about client confidentiality and lead to jurisdictional complications with other monetary authorities, the people said, asking not to be named as the discussions are private.

The RBI in a draft circular issued on June 16 directed banks to begin reporting global transactions within a year of the final directions, to improve market transparency. The talks come amid a surge in offshore trading of Indian interest-rate swaps.

Bankers have held discussions through global financial market industry associations, which are expected to submit formal feedback to the RBI by the July 7 deadline, the people said. A draft letter from the banks to the RBI is currently being circulated among them for approval, they said.

Among the suggestions banks plan to propose is offering the RBI aggregated transaction data rather than a trade-by-trade breakdown, the people said. Another idea under consideration is for the central bank to access data directly from offshore trade repositories, they said.

Daily average volumes in foreign currency-settled swaps reported to the London Clearing House more than doubled over five years, reaching 1.2 trillion rupees ($14 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 2024, according to the central bank.