Derivs - Interest Rate

With an alternative reference rate decided, derivatives market participants were this week contemplating how to navigate an arduous path to building a credible alternative to Libor, while capital markets bankers assessed what it meant for debt issuance. Ross Lancaster reports.

Barclays confirmed on Thursday that it had hired Filippo Zorzoli to head macro distribution for EMEA and Asia Pacific, and head solutions sales globally. The hire forms part of the firm’s rebuild of its macro business, and is likely to be followed by further senior hires, as reported by GlobalCapital in May.

In the five years or so since the Libor scandal broke, or the 10 years since Libor itself broke as the financial crisis laid waste to interbank borrowing, the rate itself has done just fine.

David Lester, London Stock Exchange Group’s chief strategy officer, has departed the company.

The Bank for International Settlement's (BIS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have published a third consultative report on the harmonisation of critical OTC derivatives data elements.

Mark Carney’s Mansion House speech last week was a reminder of the progress global regulators have made in the wake of the 2008 crisis, and the dangers of throwing that away.

The European Central Bank on Friday submitted a recommendation to allow it to regulate “clearing and payment systems”, both within the European Union and in other countries.

The French markets regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), has laid out its vision for enhanced powers at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to make sure that Europe’s supervisors apply consistent standards.

A global committee of banks has voted to replace Libor as the reference rate for some financial products with a broad Treasury repo financing rate, in a move that will ring in the changes for US derivatives markets.

Sharon Bowen, commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), on Tuesday announced she would be stepping down from her role, while communicating her frustration at the Trump administration’s failure to confirm new candidates.

Taiwan's Hua Nan Futures has become a derivatives trading member of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), taking the number of eligible derivative members on the venue to 56.

The European Association of Clearing Houses (EACH) has responded to a European Commission report on fintech, supporting a move to distributed ledger technologies.