Derivs - Regulation

The China Banking Regulatory Commission’s new derivatives regulations have cast doubt over what the role off-shore banks can play when selling to local corporates and institutions.

The Australian Financial Markets Association is close to completing standardized documentation supporting over-the-counter carbon emission trades.

Markit and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. will launch their joint trade processing venture on Sept. 1 and are open to another partner should the need arise.

The Obama administration’s Over-the-Counter Derivatives Markets Act of 2009 language is now out. You can read the proposals at http://www.iinews.com/site/TitleVIIfinal.pdf and check back later today for in-depth analysis after the media briefing with Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Neal Wolin, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions, Michael Barr.

Norwegian broker Terra Securities and seven towns have sued Citigroup, alleging the firm sold structured notes that misled investors.

Iceland’s Special Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed it is investigating Kaupthing Bank over potential abuses relating to credit default swap transactions. Ólafur Hauksson, head of the office in Reykvaik, told Derivatives Week the case was sent from Iceland’s Financial Supervisory Authority but that the agency “only recently got it” so there is very little information he could share.

Brazil’s equivalent of the U.S. Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is working on a voluntary set of best practices and professional codes of conduct to address the suitability of over-the-counter derivatives for different users.

Defendants in a case concerning the order of payments in a Lehman Brothers International (Europe) collateralized debt obligation, Dante, have sought and been granted permission to appeal a U.K. High Court ruling.

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission plans to tighten up disclosure rules for providers of over-the-counter derivatives, such as contracts for difference, to retail investors.

A Determinations Committee for loan-only credit default swaps is in the offing as the format for deciding which events trigger derivative contracts is expanded beyond corporate CDS.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is close to hiring a slew of derivatives professionals as part of the industry fellows program it announced in April.

The final draft of proposed derivatives legislation from the Obama administration—due out later this week—is not expected to crack down on naked credit default swaps, positions that are unhedged by the underlying credit.