One of the key components of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law was an effort to increase the transparency of the notoriously opaque derivatives markets, which played a major role in the Great Recession. Five years down the line and regulators have made significant progress toward achieving that goal, according to industry group International Swaps and Derivatives… Read More >>
Electra Tackles Month-End Recs Problem
For some reconciliations professionals working in post-trade operations, it can seem like some jobs just don’t end when they’re supposed to. This is especially true when it comes to performing month-end reconciliations, where back-dated transactions from prime brokers and other counterparties can often come through days or even weeks after the actual end of the… Read More >>
SEC Spat over Regulation SBSR Goes Public
Two Republican commissioners of the SEC publicly criticized the agency’s handling of its newly passed Regulation SBSR last week, the latest in an ongoing spat over the regulation. On Wednesday, Feb. 11, SEC Commissioners Daniel M. Gallagher and Michael S. Piwowar released an open letter criticizing the SEC for adopting Regulation SBSR even though shortly… Read More >>
How Much Skin Should You Put in the CCP Game?
Two new high-profile contributions to the debate over how to handle central counterparty (CCP) clearinghouse default risks reveal how far apart CCPs and their members remain on the issue of how much money each side should be responsible for, underscoring the fact that the debate is likely to remain open for some time. This week white paper were released… Read More >>
ISDA Shakes Up Internal Teams
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has shaken up its public policy and regulatory and legal team line-ups, in order to “reflect the next phase of regulatory reform and to support cross-border harmonization efforts,” according to an ISDA statement. Steven Kennedy has been made ISDA’s global head of public policy, a newly created position… Read More >>
Q&A: Droit Just Wants to Become an Industry Standard
Two of the key players behind Droit Financial Technologies — Satya Pemmaraju, Ph.D., founding partner and CEO, and Brock Arnason, founding partner, head of product and strategic alliances — spoke recently with FFT News about the start of the company and how its wares can be applied to a post-trade reporting/compliance infrastructure. Q: Can you… Read More >>
ISDA Board Picks SocGen Vet to be Chairman
The board of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has elected Eric Litvack as its new chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2015. Litvack, a member of the ISDA board since 2006, was appointed to the board’s vice-chairmanship in 2012. He is a managing director and head of regulatory strategy for Société Générale’s global banking and… Read More >>
18 Top Firms Sign ISDA Stay Protocol
A long-debated measure to curb systemic risk and avoid messy defaults like the one that befell Lehman Brothers in September 2008 went into effect last week, when 18 major banks agreed to sign the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s (ISDA) Resolution Stay Protocol. The ISDA Stay Protocol allows regulators to force firms with active derivatives… Read More >>
O’Malia Sets the Agenda for ISDA
Scott O’Malia, the relatively new CEO for the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), has been on the job for “some five weeks,” and he has been busy. FTF News readers will remember that O’Malia was until recently a rather vocal and active CFTC commissioner who among other accomplishments brought attention to many of the… Read More >>
ICE’s IBA Takes Over ISDAFIX
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) reports that, as of August 1, Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) Benchmark Administration Ltd. (IBA) has become the administrator of ISDAFIX, which was established by ISDA and others in 1998 to periodically set swap-transaction rates. ICE’s IBA was chosen in April after a competitive selection process, which began with a… Read More >>
