Derivs - Regulation

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) has opened up a new front in his war against mutual fund commodity investments by asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to get involved.

Legislation limiting commissions on retail structured products has Australian financial advisors in a tizzy, with some suggesting they would reduce the amount of structured products offered which could in turn force issuers to find alternative distribution channels.

The International Islamic Financial Market and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association have developed a standard Islamic confirmation template for profit rate swaps.

Markus Ferber, MEP and member of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, has published a long-awaited draft legislative report on the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive.

Industry officials say that the U.K. Financial Services Authority is addressing the right issues in its final guidance on structured products issued today.

The U.K. Financial Services Authority has published its final guidance for structured products, which sets out criteria that firms should meet when designing and distributing products.

The European Securities and Markets Authority must harmonize its technical standards on over-the-counter derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories with other regulatory proposals globally, according to a number of financial institutions.

Proposed legislation from the E.U. aimed at prohibiting naked credit default swap trading may discourage investors from investing in European corporate and government debt, a group of financial associations said in a letter to the European Securities and Markets Authority.

Legislators and regulators in the U.S. and Europe have been coming together to ensure conformity on margin rules for bilateral uncleared swaps, according to Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Risk management rules developed for the Hong Kong Exchange’s cash equity clearinghouse could be duplicated, or used as guidance, for the city’s over-the-counter central clearing counterparty.

Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine to settle claims that it failed to have effective supervision of its total return swaps business.

Regulators must cooperate on derivatives legislation to avoid extraterritoriality issues, according to delegates at the Eleventh Annual Institute on Securities Regulation in Europe conference yesterday in London.