Derivs - Regulation

In this round-up, Hong Kong sees further drops in its RMB deposits base in June, new RMB futures contracts on the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) reach trading records in early August, and a Chinese regulator sets up a working group to prepare for the Shenzhen Connect launch. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB's top stories this week.

US federal agencies have agreed a final rule exempting some commercial and financial derivatives counterparties from having to pay margin on trades not cleared through a clearing house.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association and IHS Markit have updated their ISDA Amend protocol for margin on uncleared swaps and cross-jurisdictional notification between counterparties, in response to changing regulatory requirements.

Anyone who thinks that a merger between LSE and Deutsche Börse is odds-on now they have shareholder approval should hold that thought — there is still a very long way to go, with many twists and turns ahead.

The costs incurred to centrally clear derivatives trades could be greater than transacting them bilaterally, US government researchers have argued, in findings that would deal a blow to regulators’ attempts to curb systemic risk in the global market.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has published a ‘clearing classification letter’ that will enable derivative counterparties to notify each other of their status for clearing requirements under Hong Kong’s mandatory clearing regime.

IHS Markit and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) have struck a deal with the European Commission that will open up access to the rights of their intellectual property, in a settlement over an anti-trust probe that has been ongoing since 2011.

Persistent dislocations between the CDS and cash bond markets are only likely to continue, because of the increased cost of regulations, limited balance sheet capacity at banks, and relative illiquidity in the cash bond markets, according to a staff report from the New York Federal Reserve.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has proposed a two year extension on the deadline for smaller trading counterparties to comply with a derivatives clearing obligation under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), citing lack of progress on the initiative.

Regulators have failed to consider the data challenges of their plans to impose margin on uncleared swaps, threatening a “tidal wave of new documents”, said D2 Legal Technology, a consulting firm specialising in legal and regulatory data management.

Confusion reigns over Europe’s plans to impose margin on uncleared swaps, with the European Commission facing calls from supervisory bodies to pick up its pace on implementing the rules, as an industry survey found that banks are woefully unprepared to meet the deadlines.

A joint committee of European financial regulators has written to EU Commissioner Jonathan Hill urging him to minimise any delay by the European Commission in implementing margin rules on uncleared swaps.