Derivs - Equity

Chief executive of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Scott O’Malia on Monday said that the trade body was preparing French and Irish law governed ISDA master agreements to be “ready for all eventualities” in the wake of Brexit.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME) and Japan Exchange Group (JPX) on Monday announced that Yen-denominated Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX) futures would launch on CME’s Globex platform on February 5.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on Monday issued a consultation on draft guidelines that would oblige central counterparties (CCPs) to disclose “parameters and information” on the way they calculate margin requirements for trades.

Five years after being pushed on to trading venues in the US by the Dodd-Frank Act, over-the-counter derivatives players are beating a similar path in Europe, under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II. Most people think MiFID II has been a worse experience, and will make it harder for small players. But efficiency gains may follow. Ross Lancaster reports.

UniCredit has hired a senior Crédit Agricole banker as head of markets sales.

The London Stock Exchange this week reaffirmed its commitment to open access under the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, as major European exchanges and clearing houses (CCPs) were granted exemptions from the requirement until July 3 2020.

LCH Group and pan-European exchange Euronext have revealed their completion of a share swap, in which the exchange took a 2.3% stake in LCH Group in return for an 11.1% stake in France-based clearing house LCH SA.

Exchange-traded fund provider ALPS has joined CBOE Global Markets as a new issuer, bringing a new technology-focused ETF to the table last Friday.

European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis issued a stark statement against bitcoin and cryptocurrencies before Christmas, saying they “are not really currencies” but cause “clear risks for investors and consumers”.

The Wholesale Market Brokers' Association on Wednesday announced that it had changed its name to the European Venues and Intermediaries Association, to better represent the market infrastructure its members operate.

London Stock Exchange Group chairman Donald Brydon won a confidence vote at an extraordinary shareholder meeting on Tuesday, after an activist investor called for his sacking in November.

The travails of Steinhoff International, the embattled South African retail holding company, deepened today as Christo Wiese, the entrepreneur who has built up the business, resigned as chairman.