Risk magazine
Insurers struggling with move to OIS discounting
Lack of consistency in dealer practices means many insurance firms are sticking with Libor discounting for now
‘Sef-lite’ environment remains confusing for platforms
Market participants still unclear on the implications of the requirement for multibank platforms trading non-cleared swaps to register as swap execution facilities
Basel Committee may look to floors and fixed parameters
Committee may introduce new floors on internal model outputs, after a report on RWAs for credit risk in the banking book found wide variations in bank practices
ETF providers seek to manage regulatory pressure
A light at the end of the tunnel
FTT would ‘drain financial resources’, GFXD research claims
The global FX division is upping its lobbying efforts to have forex derivatives carved out of the financial transaction tax with new research that shows the potential impact of the tax on transaction costs
FCA narrows AIF definition for SPVs
The UK regulator calms reclassification fears by exempting SPVs that issue debt securities from being classed as alternative investment funds
Trade rejections spark clearing document rethink
Industry group considers changes to the standard cleared derivatives execution agreement, following concerns that dealers have the unilateral right to terminate rejected cleared trades
No CVA exemptions in US Basel III rules
Europe isolated as US regulators opt for broad counterparty risk charge
Federal Reserve adopts Basel III for US banks
Fed Board unanimously votes to introduce new capital requirements as of January 1
Basel tries to create clearing pull with new capital rules
Dealers say rules for default fund exposures are an improvement, but risk weights are not tied to "real default probabilities"
Dealers ask Esma to bless Lsoc-based clearing
Industry wants to know whether an approach based on US standards will meet European requirements
Gottex Brokers: The allure of the illiquid
As competition in standardised products gets increasingly fierce, brokers can either slug it out, or diversify into illiquid markets. Gottex Brokers is doing both, its chief executive, Raphaël Moreno, tells Duncan Wood
Securitisation is "dead in Europe", say critics of new EBA proposals
Rules would require banks to allocate all securitisation exposure by individual, underlying obligor
CFTC bows to agency desk concerns with further relief letter
In a time-limited relief letter issued last week, the CFTC recognises concerns expressed by agency firms over the implications of the external business conduct rules
People: RBS drops equity derivatives and retail structured products
RBS cuts businesses it saved from the axe last year; O'Connor takes up Isda chairman's role full time; Deutsche's Wayne takes on US forex role; new role for Lipton at Bank of America; Williams swaps Allen & Overy for Milbank
Futures vs FRAs inversion baffles market participants
Futures rates should always exceed those of the corresponding forward rate agreement, finance theory states. So why did the Euribor markets contradict this in May, with a so-called negative convexity adjustment? Laurie Carver reports
The CVA helter skelter: European supervisors could quash exemptions
Europe’s credit valuation adjustment exemption was the outcome of a protracted legislative debate, but it may prove to be the end of a chapter, rather than the end of the story. As US banks protest and supervisors review the issue, a number of problems…
Reconciliation + regulation = complication
Incoming rules on portfolio reconciliation could encourage many derivatives users to outsource the process. But it’s not a simple short cut, warn Mike Pierides and Alistair Charleton of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Lawyers slam CFTC's "mindboggling" probe of EFS market it helped set up
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) tried to regulate exchange of futures for swaps (EFS) transactions in 2004 and again in 2008. Then it tried to ban contingent EFS in 2010. All these attempts failed. Now the CFTC is investigating EFS…
Can ECB draw a line under European banking fears?
Before the European Central Bank takes on its new supervisory role, a planned asset-quality review should ensure it is not walking into trouble. That’s if the process is thorough, of course, and untainted by political pressure – sceptics say that will be…
All aboard: The trials and triumphs of the June 10 clearing deadline
A combination of hard work, caution and some luck saw the industry through the second of the three US clearing deadlines on June 10. But while it was a triumph for many, it proved testing for some. Joe Rennison reports