There was a time when being called a swap dealer used to carry a certain cachet. But thanks to the effect of the US Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into law in July 2010, those days are long gone. Dodd-Frank subjects swap dealers to more onerous regulation in areas including capital requirements, margin and business conduct, creating a strong impetus for market participants to avoid the label. In May 2012, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finalised rules defining a swap dealer