Derivs - Regulation

Legislation aimed at facilitating the establishment of South Korea’s central clearing counterparty is expected to be passed by the country’s parliament early next year, according to officials familiar with the process.

The Swiss Structured Product Association has slammed the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority after the regulator issued a report on Friday that concluded that current regulation does not sufficiently protect structured product investors in the country.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China’s chief fx market regulator, could start varying the range of currencies it allows for exchange with the onshore renminbi sometime next year, approving more options against a greater number of currencies.

The European Securities and Markets Authority’s influential Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group has called for radical changes to the way physical and synthetic exchange-traded funds are regulated.

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council has rejected changes to the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) Rules that aimed at introducing amendments to improve protection for investors in structured products.

Clearing is among the top concerns for financial end users, according to Luke Zubrod, director of regulatory compliance services at Kennett Square, Pa.-based risk advisory firm Chatham Financial.

The European Securities and Markets Authority along with national regulators should be given the appropriate resources and powers to enforce the requirements outlined in the updated Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, according to Jean-Pierre Jouyet, chairman of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers.

Taiwan’s trade repository could create a closed-off domestic derivative market if the system does not develop alongside international standards.

The Canadian Securities Administrators is looking to change the definition of a sophisticated investor suitable for disclosure exemptions for privately placed securitized products. But, the change will not have the intended effect if the CSA doesn’t eliminate redundancies in another proposal that requires issuers to provide information memorandums to those same investors.

The Indonesian Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency has set up a group to investigate whether to establish a domestic clearinghouse for mandatory clearing of fx derivatives and interest rate swaps.

Firms in Hong Kong are concerned they may have to comply with global and local regulations which will require special identity numbers to report transactions to the country’s imminent trade repository.

International dealers are declining to become members of Japan’s credit default swap and interest rate clearinghouse unless their contribution to the guarantee fund for multiple defaults is capped.