Execution methods for required transactions. (1) Required transaction means any transaction involving a swap that is subject to the trade execution requirement in section 2(h)(8) of the Act.

Execution methods. (i) Each Required Transaction that is not a block trade as defined in § 43.2 of this chapter shall be executed on a swap execution facility in accordance with one of the following methods of execution:

An Order Book as defined in § 37.3(a)(3); or

A Request for Quote System, as defined in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, that operates in conjunction with an Order Book as defined in § 37.3(a)(3).

In providing either one of the execution methods set forth in paragraph (a)(2)(i)(A) or (B) of this section, a swap execution facility may for purposes of execution and communication use any means of interstate commerce, including, but not limited to, the mail, internet, email, and telephone, provided that the chosen execution method satisfies the requirements provided in § 37.3(a)(3) for Order Books or in paragraph (a)(3) of this section for Request for Quote Systems.

Request for quote system means a trading system or platform in which a market participant transmits a request for a quote to buy or sell a specific instrument to no less than three market participants in the trading system or platform, to which all such market participants may respond. The three market participants shall not be affiliates of or controlled by the requester and shall not be affiliates of or controlled by each other. A swap execution facility that offers a request for quote system in connection with Required Transactions shall provide the following functionality:

At the same time that the requester receives the first responsive bid or offer, the swap execution facility shall communicate to the requester any firm bid or offer pertaining to the same instrument resting on any of the swap execution facility's Order Books, as defined in § 37.3(a)(3);

The swap execution facility shall provide the requester with the ability to execute against such firm resting bids or offers along with any responsive orders; and

The swap execution facility shall ensure that its trading protocols provide each of its market participants with equal priority in receiving requests for quotes and in transmitting and displaying for execution responsive orders.

Time delay requirement for required transactions on an order book—(1) Time delay requirement. A swap execution facility shall require that a broker or dealer who seeks to either execute against its customer's order or execute two of its customers' orders against each other through the swap execution facility's Order Book, following some form of pre-arrangement or pre-negotiation of such orders, be subject to at least a 15 second time delay between the entry of those two orders into the Order Book, such that one side of the potential transaction is disclosed and made available to other market participants before the second side of the potential transaction, whether for the broker's or dealer's own account or for a second customer, is submitted for execution.

Adjustment of time delay requirement. A swap execution facility may adjust the time period of the 15 second time delay requirement described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, based upon a swap's liquidity or other product-specific considerations; however, the time delay shall be set for a sufficient period of time so that an order is exposed to the market and other market participants have a meaningful opportunity to execute against such order.

Execution methods for permitted transactions. (1) Permitted transaction means any transaction not involving a swap that is subject to the trade execution requirement in section 2(h)(8) of the Act.

Execution methods. A swap execution facility may offer any method of execution for each Permitted Transaction.