Derivs - People and Markets

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has given Goldman Sachs a $120m penalty for trying to manipulate dollar Isdafix and falsely reporting benchmark swap rates.

Eurex, the derivatives exchange of Deutsche Börse, has hired Lee Bartholomew and Zubin Ramdarshan to work on research and development for new derivatives products.

The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has fined Igor Oystacher and 3Red Trading $2.5m for spoofing, but did not impose a jail sentence or market ban.

The London Stock Exchange has entered into exclusive talks with Euronext about selling it LCH.Clearnet SA, the LSE's French clearing subsidiary.

The Singapore Exchange has received certification that its kilobar gold futures contract is now Shariah-compliant.

Major banks face a tight run-in to meet European initial margin rules on uncleared derivatives, with a January 16 deadline giving little time to make final preparations once market participants return following the Christmas break.

The European Commission has determined that India, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan Commodities, United Arab Emirates and Dubai International Financial Centre have equivalent regulatory regimes for central counterparties (CCPs) to the European Union.

ICE Benchmark Administration, a unit of Intercontinental Exchange, is to assume the secretarial role on the credit derivatives determinations committees previously held by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

Financial credits and stocks were focal points for derivatives traders this week, with a big rally in banks aided by perceptions of a more hawkish stance on interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve. But although volatility has largely abated from credit and equity markets with the passing of the Fed meeting, traders warned that Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and the credit index options expiry next week could still bring upsets before the end of the year.

The European Commission will focus on post trade and clearing in its review of the proposed merger between London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse, having narrowed its list of concerns from September. But the race is on for the exchanges to address these concerns, with less than three months until a pivotal deadline.

It’s that time of year when analysts dust off their crystal balls and make predictions for the next 12 months. In December 2015 not many were forecasting that Britain would vote to leave the EU, and even fewer were betting on a Donald Trump presidential victory, so investors would be wise to treat such missives with caution. Political risk is a capricious beast, even for the most seasoned market observers.

Intercontinental Exchange has obtained approval from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) for its ICE Clear US business to be recognised as a third country central counterparty under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).