Derivs - Regulation

If U.S. regulators set the bar for over-the-counter derivative block trades high enough and allow swap execution facilities to create segregated venues for block trades, the dealer-to-dealer market could continue unimpeded.

The Options Clearing Corp. plans eventually to offer clearing services on single name OTC options.

Chief compliance officers of swap dealers and major swap participants are facing a range of new responsibilities under reforms sparked by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Michael Gooch, chairman of the board and ceo of GFI Group, said that over-the-counter derivative clearinghouses must be government-backed in order to function and should run as utilities.

Single-dealer execution platforms and execution platforms narrowly tailored to only one type of participant will likely not be included in the coming regulatory definition of swap execution facility, according to Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Technology systems providers are building platforms that focus on trade control and monitoring, gearing up for an upswing in proprietary trading firm launches as a result of the recently passed Volcker rule.

Tradeweb, a provider of electronic trading technology, is eying the U.S., Asia and Latin America as regions where it can expand its equity derivatives marketplace platform.

International Swaps and Derivatives Association members have provisionally agreed on standard terms setting out how a counterparty would dispute a calculation agent determination under an equity derivative transaction.

Next week the International Swaps and Derivatives Association will submit an implementation plan for resolving conflicts over margin calls to regulators including the U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority and Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.

The European Securities and Markets Authority will charge rating agencies fees to fund the regulator’s expenditure, and will also have the power to fine agencies should they breach forthcoming regulation, according to an amended draft European Parliament legislative document seen by Derivatives Week.

Germany has liberalized the ability of foreign counterparties to terminate contracts with German institutions that are subject to insolvency proceedings.

Legislative proposals aimed at regulating the over-the-counter derivatives market in the U.S. and Europe has led to industry confusion over the location that a cross-border derivative transaction should be cleared in.