Rules scheduled to take effect in mid-July for the $601 trillion swaps market would be delayed until as late as the end of the year under a proposal by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The agency's commissioners voted 5-0 today to propose "temporary relief" from some requirements set to be in place on July 16, a year from the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act. The delay would give the CFTC more time to write dozens of rules aimed at reducing risk and boosting transparency after largely unregulated trades helped fuel the 2008 credit crisis.

"Some might ask: why six months? Six months will provide the commission with the opportunity to re-examine the status of final rulemaking in light of the changed regulatory landscape at the time," Gary Gensler, CFTC chairman, said at the meeting in Washington. The proposal is open to 14 days of public comment before it is finalized.