U.S. and European Union officials are nearing a deal to grant EU swap-trading platforms a reprieve from Dodd-Frank Act rules set to take effect next week, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The agreement would free trading facilities in the EU from U.S. rules for swap-execution facilities at least temporarily. The negotiations between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and European authorities are still under way and the agreement could change before Feb. 15, when the rules requiring the use of platforms take effect. The international reach of CFTC rules has been among the most contentious issues between the Washington-based regulator and financial firms that operate around the world. Wall Street lobbying groups that represent banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. sued in December, seeking to limit the agency’s ability to impose rules outside the U.S.
