Derivs - Interest Rate

Poland’s national securities depository Krajowy Depozyt Papierów Wartosciowych is planning to launch a central counterparty, Europe’s fifth, by the end of June 2012.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association said the size of the global over-the-counter market is around USD401 trillion, not the USD583 trillion estimated last year by the Bank for International Settlements. Click here to read the story from The Wall Street Journal

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has hired Craig Reynolds, ex-head of rates swaps trading at Goldman Sachs in New York, to head its North American rates trading operations, also out of New York.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has outlined its views of the swap execution facilities and their role in the over-the-counter derivatives markets.

LCH.Clearnet is making the over-the-counter derivatives market its top priority this year, according to Roger Liddell, its ceo.

U.S. regulators need to reconsider proposed levels for block trade thresholds, Robert Pickel, executive vice chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, told Derivatives Week in an exclusive interview.

Central counterparty master bridge agreements and updates to the 2(a)(iii) default provision may not make for headlines as sexy as last year when it comes to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association 2011 Annual General Meeting in Prague, but they will certainly get industry-types excited.

Bart Chilton, a member on the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said differing regulations for derivatives between the U.S. and Europe could lead to a “race to the bottom,” with players migrating to the poorest regulated jurisdictions.

The International Monetary Fund said new regulations governing over-the-counter derivatives could shift risk from banks to clearinghouses, leading to concerns about those systemically important facilities.

Shawn Bernardo is vice chairman of the Wholesale Markets Brokers’ Association Americas and is also managing director and head of electronic broking for the Americas at Tullett Prebon in New York. He spoke to Associate Reporter Mike Kentz on the aspects of current regulatory proposals in the U.S. aimed at SEFs.

Eric Lafon, head of structured solutions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at UBS in London, has been promoted to co-head EMEA distribution for fx, interest rates, currencies and commodities.

Regulatory attempts in Europe to require specific payout profiles in base prospectuses or prospectus supplements for retail structured products would be detrimental to improving product transparency, according to the European Structured Investment Products Association.