Scott D. O’Malia, the soon-to-be former CFTC commissioner who sometimes reluctantly ushered in derivatives reform, will become CEO of the leading private industry overseer for over-the-counter derivative transactions, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), effective August 18, say ISDA officials. The appointment comes just two days after O’Malia announced in a letter to President… Read More >>
New Derivatives Rules to Burden Ops
Josh Brodman must be a little nostalgic for the time—only about a year ago—when the fine print of the clearing and execution reforms for derivatives trading was still being finalized. At the time, he was an operations manager for a multi-strategy, event-driven fund with several billion under management. Life is much different now for Brodman,… Read More >>
Buy Side Avoiding SEFs
Buy-side firms have made great strides in the past five years in revamping their over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trading infrastructures and processes even though they are avoiding swap execution facilities (SEFs) as often as they can, says Cynthia Meyn, executive vice president and senior operations manager for bond fund manager PIMCO, who spoke during a panel… Read More >>
ISDA CEO Robert Pickel to Leave
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) reports that Robert Pickel, its CEO, will “step down from his role later this year.” Pickel was “instrumental in leading the association through a period of unprecedented change,” the organization says in a statement, citing “industry preparation for and adoption of key over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives reforms” as… Read More >>
Demand Soars for Recs IT as SIFMA Pushes LEI Usage
Reconciliation Technology ‘Explosion’ in Europe & U.S., Says Aite No longer is reconciliation technology “solely applied” to reconciling cash accounts. That’s the word from market research firm Aite Group’s latest report, “Reconciliation Technology Solutions in 2014: Recs Get Ready to Rumble,” which also takes note of the “explosion in the number of different vendor solutions… Read More >>
CFTC Delays Swap Package Execution as SIX Financial Launches FATCA Service
Bowing to industry concerns, the CFTC has delayed a requirement that swap packages be transacted via swap execution facilities (SEFs), and has clarified that the mandatory SEF-based trading of interest rate swaps and index credit default swaps will begin on Feb. 15. Swap packages were granted a reprieve from the SEF mandate via a no-action… Read More >>
Ready for a 1,000% Spike in Margin Calls?
A new white paper from the DTCC predicts that margin calls on derivatives could increase by as much as 1,000%. The paper cites regulatory changes that will spur fragmented clearing and a jump in margin calls. With so much that can go wrong, the new clearing regime for derivatives is quickly becoming a major operational… Read More >>
ISDA Defines a New Credit Event as Gaia and Numerix Take on EMIR
New Credit Event Part of ISDA’s 2014 Derivative Definitions The 2014 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions to come in September will introduce several new terms and a new credit event that would be triggered by a government bail-in of a financial reference entity, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. The version to come in… Read More >>
eClerx Takes on CSA Data as Advise Targets European Filing Directive
eClerx Launches ISDA CSA Solution Business processing vendor eClerx has launched the ISDA Credit Support Annex (CSA) Document Risk Review solution to help financial institutions mine information from CSAs for over-the-counter derivatives clearing, company officials say. The offering aims to offer more support for credit and legal risk, optimization of cash and collateral, and operational… Read More >>
ISDA Chairman Goes Full Time as BNP Paribas Hires for OTC Clearing
ISDA Makes Board Chairmanship a Full-Time Post The International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s board of directors has appointed Stephen O’Connor to an expanded, full-time chairmanship with a mandate to take a leading role in derivatives industry reform while “assuming a more active, hands-on involvement in driving ISDA’s strategic initiatives,” say ISDA officials. A full-time chairman… Read More >>
