Omgeo says a group of broker-dealers, investment managers and industry association members, including operations professionals from Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, has urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission to grant a "no-action letter" to Omgeo regarding the electronic transmission of confirm disclosures.

The SEC letter essentially states that providing online access to the pages of disclaimers and disclosures included on the back of trade confirm documents is sufficient for compliance to Exchange Act Rule 10b-10, which requires broker dealers to disclose information in writing to customers before completion of a transaction.

The move to eliminate the paper disclosures will eliminate "several hundred million pages of paper from the securities industry each year", says Omgeo.

"The Omgeo electronic confirmation leverages electronic media for confirm disclosure and eliminates an inefficient paper delivery process" says Steve Kelly, vice president, operations at Goldman Sachs and co-chair of Omgeo's working group on the confirm disclosure initiative. "This solution is in our clients' best interests and will greatly benefit the industry."

"We first broached the need to streamline the process within the old Bond Market Association for fixed income, but are pleased we will be able to leverage the solution within equities as well, as a multi-asset class approach will help make our markets that much more efficient," adds Patti Lewis, director of global debt markets at Merrill Lynch and co-chair of Omgeo's working group on the confirm disclosure initiative.

Omgeo says the repository that will house the confirm disclosures will be available later this year.