Sefs not expecting a big bang from Mat spark

This year, Valentine's Day marks the end of the over-the-counter market's long, largely monogamous love affair with the phone. When trading restarts in the US on February 18, following a national holiday, many interest rate swaps will have to trade on a swap execution facility (Sef) – and, as with any new relationship, it may start slowly.

In theory, the arrival of the mandate – set in train by made-available-to-trade (Mat) rulings from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in January