Derivs - Regulation

A new swathe of asset managers will be caught by rules on how they use benchmarks, after the European Securities and Markets Authority broadened its planned clampdown.

The European Commission this week announced a banking reform package that will result in changes to the CRR and CRD IV capital requirement legislation, as well as changes to the BRRD and SRMR legislation relating to recovery and resolution of failing financial institutions. The package is very broad, so we won’t attempt to comment on all of the measures.

Bankers have lauded a decision by the European Securities and Markets Authority this week to propose a two year delay to rules requiring smaller financial counterparties to centrally clear derivatives trades.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has replaced the head of its implementation effort for margin on non-cleared derivatives, just months before the industry faces a major regulatory deadline.

Rather than wailing about a regulatory Trumpocalypse, those who care about the health of financial markets should seize upon last week’s shock US presidential result to help bring about meaningful and beneficial changes.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has called for a two year delay to rules requiring smaller financial counterparties to centrally clear derivatives trades.

D2 Legal Technology, an independent financial services legal data and technology consulting firm, has appointed a chief operating officer.

Symbiont, a start-up firm specialising in smart contracts and distributed ledger technology, has appointed a former SEC commissioner and a former investment manager chief executive to its board of directors.

Quantile Technologies and AcadiaSoft have teamed up on a service aimed at reducing counterparty credit risk for derivatives market participants.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has requested more than $38m in monetary sanctions against UK based trader Navinder Singh Sarao over S&P futures 'spoofing' allegations.

LCH has cleared over $1tr in inflation swaps since the service launched in April last year, and growth has picked up sharply since US margin rules on uncleared derivatives came into force.

Long-languished plans to centrally clear foreign exchange derivatives have been jump-started back to life, claimed dealers who are optimistic that a cleared FX options contract could be available to trade within the coming months and pave the way for further progress in the asset class.