Derivs - People and Markets

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation is teaming up with Korea Exchange (KRX) to build a trade repository solution in Korea.

The London Stock Exchange is set to begin offering weekly options that will be based on the FTSE 100 stock index, in what it said is a first-of-its-kind launch in the UK listed derivatives market.

The efforts of regulators to curb the potential for systemic shock caused when big banks fail took a step forward this week, as the US Federal Reserve Board proposed rules that would enforce stays on contractual termination rights between counterparties in different countries. But there are still strong incentives for buyside participants to oppose the plans.

April brought a continued positive shift in the difference between credit default swap spreads and cash spread equivalents, the CDS-bond basis, among US dollar denominated corporate bonds.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has launched a protocol to help market participants comply with regulations that enforce stays on contractual termination rights between counterparties in different countries.

Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange is looking ahead to derivatives products and exchange traded funds as it opens for business as the world’s first commodity exchange for physically settled diamonds.

TriOptima, the over-the-counter post trade service provider, has completed its first compression cycle with Eurex Clearing members for euro-denominated interest rate swaps.

The People’s Bank of China announced new measures on Wednesday to facilitate cross-border trading in the country’s gold market. The rules follow the launch of a new pricing benchmark in April, which is expected to draw renewed attention to the gold market internationally, according to the World Gold Council (WGC).

In a hearing held last week, the US House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit heard testimony about the effects of Dodd-Frank regulations on end-users of derivatives.

Warren Buffett, who once referred to derivatives as financial 'weapons of mass destruction', still claims to dislike their complicated structures, but sophisticated options trades and bank stakes belie this stance.

The US state of Delaware is embarking on a blockchain and smart contract technology programme in the hope that this will lower transaction costs, speed up and automate manual processes, and reduce fraud.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association is moving to distance itself from the process by which credit derivatives disputes are resolved, having offered up to tender its secretarial role on the regional determinations committees (DCs).