Derivs - Interest Rate

Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is using a heavy hand in his approach to writing derivatives regulations, according to derivatives players, and it’s making them nervous.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to decide as early as this week whether fx swaps should be regulated as strictly as other derivatives.

Regulators in the U.S. and Europe are sharply divided are several issues related to over-the-counter derivatives, including how to define new trading platforms for OTC derivatives, clearing house ownership and clearinghouse membership for brokers.

Daniel Goldstein, the ex- head of equity flow sales at BNP Paribas in London, is launching a hedge fund startup called Apson Capital.

Eurex Clearing has announced that it plans to expand its Eurex OTC Clear service to include over-the-counter-traded interest rate and equity derivatives.

Exchange-traded derivatives may escape European regulations aimed at the over-the-counter market.

Magnus Böcker, ceo of the Singapore Exchange, said he sees no shift of derivatives and clearing activity to Asia to escape regulations in Europe and the U.S.

The number of firms licensed to trade credit risk mitigation instruments in China has grown from 17 to 38 since the pilot program kicked off in November.

The Malaysian Securities Commission and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies have floated the idea of a public good standard for Shariah-compliant financial products, including derivatives and structured products.

Warren Buffett, who has called derivatives “financial weapons of mass destruction, now says they’re not “evil per se.”

Republican lawmakers have drafted legislation aimed at weakening some of the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Singapore Exchange may expand its over-the-counter clearing service to Australia, even if its proposal to merge with the Australian Securities Exchange is not approved.