Vague VM relief criteria creates trading uncertainty

Banks face lack of clarity on extent of margin rule forbearance

Banks have no clear definition of who they can trade with when the margin regime kicks in

Dealers are still unsure of exactly which counterparties they will be able to trade with after the new derivatives margin regime begins tomorrow, following US and EU regulators’ moves last week to ease the timeline for compliance for certain firms.

“The uncertainty is obviously not great from the banks’ perspective, as it makes effective forward planning, reprioritisation, reallocation of resources and so on much more difficult,” says Brendan Nelson, vice-president in banking solutions at legal