Derivs - Clearing and Exchanges

The mutual exchange offering between Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges may drive Chinese and Hong Kong equity product trading, innovative derivatives strategies and growth in other Southeast Asian markets.

The overall interest rate derivatives trading volume reported to swap data repositories last week fell by 18% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). This follows a week of modest increases in trading volumes.

This week's launch of RMB clearing in Germany and the completion of the first transactions shows that although there is a long term plan for an innovative clearing house structure in the country, for the moment the system is very much anchored to its first stage, clearing through Bank of China (BoC).

The mutual exchange offering between Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges will drive Chinese and Hong Kong equity product trading, innovative derivatives strategies and growth in other Southeast Asian markets.

Agency trading is an important tool for avoiding basis risk in package trades, especially for the more complex structures that are yet to be made available to trade on swap execution facilities (SEFs), according to speakers at the Sefcon V conference in New York.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission needs to grant permanent registration for swap execution facilities in order to avoid hindering the evolution of businesses following the implementation of Dodd-Frank. Additionally, the slew of continuing no-action letters is resulting in regulatory uncertainty, according to speakers at SEFCON V.

The overall interest rate derivatives trading volume reported to swap data repositories last week was up 27% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. This follows several weeks of consistent decline in the figures.

Some derivatives market participants are weary of using credit hubs as they act as one single point of failure if a transaction were to fail because many parties are involved, according to panellists at the SEFCON V conference in New York on Wednesday. Parties at risk include swap execution facilities, clearing houses, futures commission merchants as well as their clients, the conference heard.

Buyside firms are concerned that some swap execution facilities (SEFs) may make certain derivatives instruments made-available-to-trade (MAT), which competing SEFs or clearing houses will not have the ability to support, therefore negatively impacting the portfolios that they manage.

With unanswered questions still cluttering the track of the Thru Train or Stock Connect, many are hoping regulators will use the launch delay to clarify the implementation of capital gains taxes on China-A shares. In order for the northbound track to truly take off, China regulators should clear uncertainty from the tracks and remove the tax altogether.

Overall credit default swap notional that was reported to swap data repositories last week decreased by 21% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Overall interest rate derivatives trading that was reported, also saw a decrease of 17% from the previous week.

Trade reporting under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation is not working, according to the Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association, which represents a large proportion of interdealer brokers in the market.