United Kingdom (UK)
Sonia/SOFR swaps jump ahead of ‘RFR first’ initiative
Cross-currency swaps increasingly seeing RFRs on both legs
Amundi, Axa urge boardroom pay cuts for climate laggards
Link remuneration to carbon-emission goals and companies will get serious, say large investors
StanChart’s CVA charge up 19% in Q2
Higher capital requirements also at Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest, with HSBC the only outlier among top UK banks
Level 3 assets at global systemic banks down 36% since 2014
Hard-to-value holdings down sharply over the past six years, but pandemic threw spanner in the works at some banks
UK bank derivatives exposures fall by £321bn in Q2
At £1.12 trillion, FX exposures are at their lowest levels for seven years
Opt in or opt out: an FX class action decision worth millions
Six banks accused of manipulation may see 40% reduction in damages if UK lawsuit proceeds along ‘opt-out’ route
BoE floor could double capital charges on HSBC’s UK home loans
New rules could forcibly push up residential mortgage portfolio’s 5% risk density
How to trade like the investor who made $1bn in a day
Mark Spitznagel won’t reveal how he made a 4,144% return, but he does discard plenty of rival trades
40% of insurers fail to specify climate as a key risk – LCP
Despite regulators’ urging, many UK and Irish insurers omit climate from risk statements, says report
The unintended consequences of ring-fencing
Rules aimed at protecting UK depositors may be putting too much froth into the credit market
Safety first: UK set to keep ring-fencing but may ease rules
There is also pressure to make changes to tackle banks’ overexposure to retail debt due to the rules
Archegos report details margin failings at Credit Suisse
Dynamic margining and a $150,000 software fix for ‘bullet swaps’ could have saved the bank $3 billion
Cross-currency swaps set to ditch Libor in ‘RFR first’ drive
A plan to oust Libor in September is expected to spur voluntary RFR adoption for euro legs
Banks hail UK plan to pare scope of taxing pre-trade reporting
UK wants to exempt bonds and OTC derivatives from Mifid rules on pre-trade transparency
Swaptions get fallback safety net, but crave CCP fix
Isda’s Ice swap rate fallbacks calm fears, yet CCP action needed to protect physical settlement
New BoE climate risk scenarios spark race for extra data
Banks need information from clients or third parties to populate 1,760 stress test variables
UK aims to beat EU in Mifid swaps reporting stakes
UK follows up proposed EU solution to confusion over post-trade transparency with its own fix
New Isda definitions pave way for bespoke swaps clearing
Pick-and-mix grid of floating rate options will make it easier to clear post-Libor bond hedges
UK tipped to take lead on consolidated tape provision
Fixed income focus could pip European Union in race to provide market data golden source
JP Morgan warns hedge funds to expect intraday margin calls
US bank may demand variation margin ‘up to seven’ times a day after Archegos default
UK banks’ RWAs near record low – BoE
Lower credit and counterparty RWAs led the quarterly drop, latest figures show
Euronext’s tech migration sprint alarms electronic traders
Co-location users sound warning on plan to chop two years off data centre move from UK to Italy
ECB tightens grip on back-to-back booking models
Supervisor could impose large exposures limit for intragroup trades, even if UK granted equivalence
Aegon turns its back on pension deals in its home market
The Netherlands is Europe’s second-biggest pension market, but Aegon made little money from deals