Shining a brighter light on derivatives was one of the key goals of the landmark Dodd-Frank reforms, pushed through by Democrats and President Barack Obama over the resistance of most Republicans and a host of Wall Street lobbyists. The CFTC's and SEC's proposed rules target a range of derivatives including credit default swaps, which were implicated in the downfall of troubled giants Lehman Brothers and AIG during the 2007-2009 credit crisis.

Swaps in interest rates, currencies, credit risk or other underlying values, are a big chunk of the $583-trillion global market for derivative contracts traded over-the-counter (OTC), or among private firms, rather than on exchanges. Until now, the market has been virtually unregulated, despite its tremendous size. Its opacity has made it a lucrative business for the largest OTC derivatives dealers: Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.

The CFTC and SEC, following through on Dodd-Frank, have proposed new standards for OTC swap reporting and record-keeping. The CFTC's proposal on the timing of swaps reporting met some scepticism. "This proposal merely repeats the vague statutory direction provided in the Dodd-Frank Act," said Scott O'Malia, a Republican CFTC commissioner, in prepared remarks.

In its proposal on Friday, the CFTC did not set specific time limits for reporting most swap trades. It said only that they be submitted "as soon as technologically practicable." It proposed that data on standardized block trades and large notional swaps be held for 15 minutes before being released.

The legislation approved in July is known as the Dodd-Frank Act after its Democratic co-authors Senator Christopher Dodd and Representative Barney Frank.