Derivs - People and Markets

A requirement looming next week for major banks in the US to begin posting initial margin on uncleared swaps has prompted a chaotic scramble to comply with the deadline, said observers, while also elevating concerns about the preparedness of the rest of the market to meet future mandates. Dan Alderson reports.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Deutsche Börse have submitted their merger plans to European competition regulators, in the hopes of wrapping up the deal in the first half of 2017.

Abundant oil reserves transform a country’s economy. The results are not always positive — some sovereigns suffer from the “Dutch Disease”, which inhibits exports of non-oil goods through an appreciation in the real exchange rate. But overall natural resources, in particular oil and gas, prove to be a boon for the lucky country’s finances.

Blockchain initiatives in financial markets came to the fore this week, with a group of banks teaming up to apply the technology to making payments and settling transactions, while a survey of 25 financial exchanges found that most of them are testing distributed ledger technology.

UBS and three other banks are working together to apply blockchain technology to making payments and settling transactions in financial markets.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the Baltic Exchange have agreed terms for a recommended share offer as the Asian company looks to proceed with a proposed acquisition.

CME Group has added two futures contract with alumina as the underlying to its base metals range.

Intercontinental Exchange has battled to deflect a potentially deal-busting challenge of its takeover of Trayport, the trading software company, by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.

CME Group has reported the first trading of its US dollar Malaysian crude palm oil futures contracts it launched last month.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers were among those wading in with suggestions this week as regulators sought consultation on how best to install a framework to resolve failing central counterparties (CCPs).

Deutsche Börse has completed the share exchange offer for its planned London Stock Exchange merger with a final acceptance ratio of 89.04%, far in excess of the required threshold despite a shaky start.

trueEX, a New York based interest rate swap trading platform, has begun providing execution of Brazilian real swaps cleared at CME Group.