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The US Congress is scheduled to consider a proposal included in the government funding bill which would allow banks to keep swaps trading units, rescinding a provision in Dodd-Frank that forces banks to spin off certain derivatives trading activities into another legal entity.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has partnered with MSCI to offer options trading on six MSCI indices. The move comes with broad based asset managers devoting more of their portfolios to non-US exposure for diversification purposes.

Investors have been taking profit on FX options trades that were entered into ahead of the OPEC meeting that took place on November 27.

Asset managers, including hedge funds and others, are increasingly using equity index derivatives and futures to better allocate capital, minimise transaction costs and execute international exposure strategies, according to a report by market research firm TABB Group.

Retail investors and asset managers have been shorting volatility via exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes, building up a short position of more than $135m in vega, the highest short net position in ETFs and ETNs to date. That is a potential source of instability.

Trad-X, the interest rate swaps trading platform run by Tradition, has reached record trading volumes for dollar IRS, with volumes exceeding $1 trillion since their launch and the number of trades executed hitting 25,000.

A lack of clarity over Canadian rules and regulatory oversight between provincial regulators has posed some challenges for derivative market participants. As Canada looks to fulfil components of the G20 reform mandate for OTC derivatives trading — including trade reporting, clearing and margin requirements — a lack of uniform compliance among participants and rulemaking differences between regulators pose hurdles for the market.

Daniel Petherick, ex-managing director and head of equity derivative flow sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Citigroup in London, has joined Société Générale as head of European flow derivatives sales, also based in London.

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation has partnered with TriOptima, enabling daily reconciliation of over-the-counter derivatives trades that are reported to DTCC’s European trade repository via triResolve, as mandated by the European Market Infrastructure Regulation.

Demand in the Canadian derivatives markets is increasing as investors are drawn to the country’s financial stability, creditworthy banking system, proximity to the US and strong regulatory infrastructure. There has accordingly been a substantial growth in futures markets tied to the country’s natural resources and commodities trade, driven by both domestic and international investors.

Regulators demand numerous know-your-customer checks to be performed and accurate client and counterparty data checks be made. Not only do firms need to make substantial changes to their internal processes to meet these requirements, they must ensure that the counterparty and client data they hold is accurate from the outset and then efficiently managed forevermore. Legal entity data management is far from a simple task, however, and with a swathe of risk management and investor transparency requirements due to come into force over the coming years, firms need to give this critical activity some serious attention. To read the full Learning Curve titled ‘The big data challenge: firms must act now’ written by Mark Davies, general manager and head of Avox, please go to www.globalcapital.com/derivatives/learning-curves.

CME Group has increased its offer for GFI Group to compete with a recent bid by BGC Partners. The exchange has now increased the consideration payable to GFI Group stockholders from $4.55 a share, to $5.25 a share, payable in a mix of CME Group Class A common stock and cash.