With phase one and two firms fast approaching the July go-live milestone for Securities Financing Transaction Regulation (SFTR) reporting, buy-side are in the midst of their preparations for their own implementation date of 11th October 2020. Although the regulation has put pressure on the whole industry, it has been felt most acutely on the buy-side, with many firms making less than ideal progress on their individual journies. This has been attributed to resource challenges and extenuating circumstances in the form of COVID-19 and late level 3 guidelines.

At this point in time, most – if not all – buy-side firms will have chosen their reporting model to ensure SFTR compliance, and should be tackling the challenges associated with that model. In this paper we examine the three types of reporting models adopted by firms and offer some observations and advice based on practical experience gained from our in-flight SFTR programmes and our wider market insights.