Derivs - Interest Rate

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) on Monday spoke up against a potential location policy for central counterparties (CCPs) after Brexit, saying that constraining euro derivatives trades' clearing to the EU 27 would increase price volatility, execution costs and systemic risk.

Volatility took a familiar dip down this week as geopolitical uncertainty again failed to provoke lasting disruption in markets, but scepticism is growing about the lasting power of such conditions.

Pimco this week gave warning on the danger of an insufficiently scheduled transition away from Libor as a reference rate, adding to the increasing volume of concern about the benchmark’s 2021 end date.

Former investment firm head Brian Quintenz was sworn in as a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Tuesday, providing a much needed boost to the organisation's senior staff.

Short-dated CNY swaps have been lightly offered and the 2s/5s NDIRS curve slope has steepened slightly. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China is considering expanding its reverse repo operations and its Macro Prudential Assessment reporting requirements have been tweaked, writes Deirdre Yeung of Total Derivatives.

Chilean life insurance company Confuturo this week announced its adoption of Bloomberg’s multi-asset risk system (MARS) collateral management tools, in an effort to manage the demands of new global margin rules.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on Thursday announced a new cooperation agreement with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), that will secure it information on the ongoing compliance of Indian central counterparties (CCPs) under EU regulation.

Uncertainty around the policy programme of US president Donald Trump is rippling out to corporate America’s hedging activity of FX and rates exposure.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has reached a settlement with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) after the bank admitted that one of its traders was spoofing the US Treasury and Eurodollar futures market.

July volumes for the major US and European derivatives exchanges have been a mixed bag, with some products showing year-on-year gains.

The US Senate on Thursday unanimously voted to confirm Christopher Giancarlo as chairman of the US Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a role he has held in an acting capacity since June.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has taken the next step towards a blockchain-enabled derivatives market, publishing a white paper with Linklaters on derivatives documentation that will be compatible with smart contracts and distributed ledger technology.