Derivs - Credit

France's credit standing received a jolt on Thursday amid reports that President Nicolas Sarkozy has called an emergency meeting to discuss further public spending cuts.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association and the International Islamic Financial Market will release in the next four to six weeks drafts of pro forma confirmation documents for Shariah-compliant currency swaps and profit rate swaps.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission should make sure to take into account collateralization when setting the threshold for who counts as a major swap participant, according to Philip McBride Johnson, of counsel with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and a former head of the CFTC.

Tiden Capital has increased its short of equity and junior mezzanine tranches of the high-yield CDX by 15-20% via credit default swaps in its Core Master Fund over the past two months.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating how registered funds make alternative investment decisions.

Limiting a clearinghouse member’s exposure to the CCP could limit that CCP’s ability to mitigate risk and manage a systemic failure in the event of a default, according to the Japan Securities Clearing Corporation.

A range of players have been shorting and hedging exposure to Irish government bonds ahead of a government debt auction.

Jeff Psaki, co-head of distressed debt trading at Barclays Capital in New York, has relocated to trade credit derivative indices in London.

The increase in renminbi products permitted in Hong Kong will aid the creation of an offshore renminbi-linked over-the-counter derivatives market, according to lawyers and market practitioners.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has given firms an extra hour to process and submit certain instructions on exercising standardized options on the last business day before they expire.

Ireland's CDS spreads reached their widest levels since early 2009 after investors were reminded just how weak the country's banking sector is.

The move to central clearing could spark the long tail risk hedging market.