Derivs - Credit

Steven Maijoor, chairman of the European Securities Markets Association, has emphasised the importance of a single rulebook in the EU, calling for single rulebook regulation to be applied consistently to ensure differences in supervision do not threaten financial stability in the region.

Dealers are facing increasing costs when providing clearing services to pension funds amid the regulatory push to move trades to clearing houses. The lack of netting provisions for pension funds means capital charges for dealers are high, with the result that leading banks are questioning the viability of the business without a rise in clearing prices.

The global macro picture remains a concern, but credit investors will turn their attentions to micro factors over the next few weeks as earnings season gains momentum.

Hedge funds and real money players have continued to buy credit volatility this week by buying payer structures in iTraxx Crossover and Main, while also buying receivers, mostly on Main.

Overall credit default swap notional that was reported to swap data repositories last week spiked by 41% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. This follows five weeks of a consistent uptick in CDS notional, with a combined increase of 119%.

Hedge funds are looking at going long equity and short credit by buying at-the-money Eurostoxx 50 calls and selling iTraxx Main receivers, in a bid to target equity outperformance in a bullish market.

A slew of major global banks have agreed to sign a protocol by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association that imposes a stay on cross-default and major termination rights within standard ISDA derivatives contracts if a counterparty defaults.

Markit has added a new set of credit risk tools to its research signals platform in order to help traders and risk managers identify credits that are likely to undergo significant price changes.

We remarked last week that volatility had returned to the credit markets, and the spread oscillations this week suggests the trend is set to continue.

Hedge funds have been selling volatility in the old series of iTraxx Main and Crossover, mostly with November and December expiries, after the iTraxx indices roll from series 21 to 22 that took place on Monday.

Overall credit default swap notional reported to swap data repositories last week increased by 17% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. This follows four weeks of a consistent uptick in CDS notional, with a combined increase of 102%.

New York-based boutique financial services firm Exceed Investment is preparing a first quarter 2015 launch of exchange-traded and mutual funds on its latest range of beta indices, which are based on structured notes that track the S&P 500.