On Dec. 11, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission held a public meeting of its Market Risk Advisory Committee, a group of market participants and public policy experts that provides input into CFTC rulemaking. The committee, which operates under the leadership of Rostin Behnam, one of the five CFTC commissioners, discussed plans to develop policy recommendations in four areas: market structure, clearinghouse risk, the Libor transition, and climate change risk. In all four areas, the members of the advisory committee are working to deliver "actionable recommendations" to the CFTC by the end of 2020.
CONTINUE READINGCboe Global Markets, one of the world’s largest exchange holding companies, has agreed to acquire the 80% of EuroCCP that it does not own for about €36 million in a move that will help it to expand into the European equity derivatives trading and clearing space.
CONTINUE READINGEvery three years the Bank for International Settlements releases a survey of over-the-counter derivatives markets. The survey is the most comprehensive source of information about the size and structure of these markets, and yields important insights into long-term trends in trading. In September the BIS released the data from its most recent survey, which was based on reports submitted by almost 1,300 dealers in 53 countries. That data showed a huge increase in the turnover of interest rate derivatives. Between April 2016 and April 2019, average daily turnover rose from $2.7 trillion to $6.5 trillion, an increase of 143%, an order of magnitude larger than in previous years.
CONTINUE READINGMcKay Brothers International, a provider of low latency telecommunications between financial markets, is offering what it claims is the lowest known commercial latency between Tokyo and trading centers in Shanghai and Hong Kong as it seeks to cater to speed-conscious market participants in the region.
CONTINUE READINGThe U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission acted on Dec. 10 to reopen the comment period on a 2016 proposal regarding capital requirements for swap dealers. Two of the CFTC's five commissioners opposed the move, however, calling instead for a more thorough rulemaking process.
CONTINUE READINGLeaders across the global derivatives industry agree: Doing the right thing is important, but the path to a sustainable future for the global economy depends on following the money, too.
CONTINUE READINGFIA President and CEO Walt Lukken today released the following statement on the recently finalized rule on implementing the standardized approach for calculating the exposure amount of derivative contracts.
CONTINUE READINGLeaders from several regional exchanges in Asia discussed their initiatives to attract more international clients at the FIA Asia conference on Dec. 4. Over the past 18 months Dalian Commodity Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange have opened up some of their commodity futures contracts to overseas investors. Representatives from the two exchanges said they plan to "internationalize" more contracts next year and are working to accept more currencies as margin.
CONTINUE READINGAs commodity market participants look ahead to 2020, perhaps the only thing they can be sure of is uncertainty. That was the theme at a panel discussion Dec. 4 at FIA's Asia 2019 conference in Singapore, which touched on trade tensions between the U.S. and China, shifting demand for products and the broader opening of Chinese financial and derivatives markets to the rest of the world.
CONTINUE READINGEach year, FIA invites a small number of startups to Chicago to introduce them to the banks, brokers and trading firms that attend the annual Futures and Options Expo. The purpose is to help these startups pitch their ideas to potential users in the industry, while at the same time giving industry executives an efficient way to assess the innovative solutions on offer from the global fintech community.
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