Regulatory records; retention and production.
17 C.F.R. § 1.31
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) Definitions. For purposes of this section:
Electronic regulatory records means all regulatory records other than regulatory records exclusively created and maintained by a records entity on paper.
Records entity means any person required by the Act or Commission regulations in this chapter to keep regulatory records.
Regulatory records means all books and records required to be kept by the Act or Commission regulations in this chapter, including any record of any correction or other amendment to such books and records, provided that, with respect to such books and records stored electronically, regulatory records shall also include:
(i) Any data necessary to access, search, or display any such books and records; and
(ii) All data produced and stored electronically describing how and when such books and records were created, formatted, or modified.
(b) Duration of retention. Unless specified elsewhere in the Act or Commission regulations in this chapter:
(1) A records entity shall keep regulatory records of any swap or related cash or forward transaction (as defined in § 23.200(i) of this chapter), other than regulatory records required by § 23.202(a)(1) and (b)(1)-(3) of this chapter, from the date the regulatory record was created until the termination, maturity, expiration, transfer, assignment, or novation date of the transaction and for a period of not less than five years after such date.
(2) A records entity that is required to retain oral communications, shall keep regulatory records of oral communications for a period of not less than one year from the date of such communication.
(3) A records entity shall keep each regulatory record other than the records described in paragraphs (b)(1) or (b)(2) of this section for a period of not less than five years from the date on which the record was created.
(4) A records entity shall keep regulatory records exclusively created and maintained on paper readily accessible for no less than two years. A records entity shall keep electronic regulatory records readily accessible for the duration of the required record keeping period.
(c) Form and manner of retention. Unless specified elsewhere in the Act or Commission regulations in this chapter, all regulatory records must be created and retained by a records entity in accordance with the following requirements:
(1) Generally. Each records entity shall retain regulatory records in a form and manner that ensures the authenticity and reliability of such regulatory records in accordance with the Act and Commission regulations in this chapter.
(2) Electronic regulatory records. Each records entity maintaining electronic regulatory records shall establish appropriate systems and controls that ensure the authenticity and reliability of electronic regulatory records, including, without limitation:
(i) Systems that maintain the security, signature, and data as necessary to ensure the authenticity of the information contained in electronic regulatory records and to monitor compliance with the Act and Commission regulations in this chapter;
(ii) Systems that ensure the records entity is able to produce electronic regulatory records in accordance with this section, and ensure the availability of such regulatory records in the event of an emergency or other disruption of the records entity's electronic record retention systems; and
(iii) The creation and maintenance of an up-to-date inventory that identifies and describes each system that maintains information necessary for accessing or producing electronic regulatory records.
(d) Inspection and production of regulatory records. Unless specified elsewhere in the Act or Commission regulations in this chapter, a records entity, at its own expense, must produce or make accessible for inspection all regulatory records in accordance with the following requirements:
(1) Inspection. All regulatory records shall be open to inspection by any representative of the Commission or the United States Department of Justice.
(2) Production of paper regulatory records. A records entity must produce regulatory records exclusively created and maintained on paper promptly upon request of a Commission representative.
(3) Production of electronic regulatory records. (i) A request from a Commission representative for electronic regulatory records will specify a reasonable form and medium in which a records entity must produce such regulatory records.
(ii) A records entity must produce such regulatory records in the form and medium requested promptly, upon request, unless otherwise directed by the Commission representative.
(4) Production of original regulatory records. A records entity may provide an original regulatory record for reproduction, which a Commission representative may temporarily remove from such entity's premises for this purpose. Upon request of the records entity, the Commission representative shall issue a receipt for any original regulatory record received. At the request of a Commission representative, a records entity shall, upon the return thereof, issue a receipt for the original regulatory record returned by such representative.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-17.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026