Derivs - People and Markets

Post-trade infrastructure giant the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), has warned derivatives markets that attempts to implement distributed ledger technology should be coordinated, lest mistakes of the past are repeated.

Prominent German member of the European Parliament, Markus Ferber, has put down suggestions that European regulators should be granted powers to temporarily exempt market participants from regulations.

Analysts saw early signs of MiFID-driven consolidation when US banks published their first quarter results that included strong equity trading performances across the board.

Allen & Overy, IHS Markit and Smart Communications subsidiary SmartDX on Thursday announced that they had launched a platform to speed up the repapering of derivatives contracts, in anticipation of new regulatory requirements.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has proposed new powers that could allow it to control elements of foreign clearing houses’ operations (CCPs) in “exceptional” crisis situations, according to a leaked position paper. This is likely to escalate already tense relations with US regulators.

Controls have been tightened after the high-profile losses that banks took on margin loans when retail conglomerate Steinhoff ran into trouble late last year. But strategic equity solutions businesses remain central to equity capital markets, writes David Rothnie.

China’s cautious approach to credit default swaps (CDS) has left the market a minnow compared with other large financial systems. Paolo Danese investigates.

A director at the London office of the Singapore Exchange has left the firm.

The London Stock Exchange Group has appointed David Schwimmer, a former Goldman Sachs banker, as CEO of the company.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) responded scathingly to attempts by market participants to “narrowly” trigger credit events that result in favourable pay-outs to buyers of credit default swaps. Costas Mourselas reports.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association this week asked its members for feedback on the potential integration of smart contract functionality into the definitions that govern derivatives transactions.

Four major capital markets and banking industry bodies have urged European legislators to change existing rules to allow for more efficient risk reduction in the derivatives markets.