The FCA and the European Commission (EC) remain encamped on their respective positions regarding the reporting of FX forwards. The FCA resists EC’s view that FX forwards must be brought within the scope of EMIR reporting and central clearing obligations. The FCA maintains that certain FX forwards fall outside the scope of EMIR, evading the […]

On 18 September 2014, the FSB published a report on “Jurisdictions’ ability to defer to each other’s OTC derivatives market regulatory regimes”. The FSB member jurisdictions were asked by the FSB Chairman to unlock the secrets of each other`s framework for making equivalency or comparability decisions on matters such as trade reporting, central clearing and […]

At a time where regulation is often not in tune with commercial necessity, a significant arrangement is underway for asset-backed securities (ABS). Benoît Coeuré, executive board member of the ECB, draws upon a joint Discussion Paper from the Bank of England and the ECB to advocate for a favourable regulatory treatment for “Qualifying securitisation”. The action […]

On 10 September 2014, the Presidency of the Council of the EU published its first compromise proposal for regulation on benchmarks. This last version reveals a variety of adjustments since the original proposal published in September a year ago. Although some changes result in a lighter bite for certain benchmark administrators, Brussels is sharpening the knives […]

The High Court in the UK[1] recently clarified important parameters of the Market Quotation process under the 1992 ISDA Master Agreement. It is now established that quotations must be obtained on or after the Early Termination Date and that “live” quotes must be obtained. Backdated or indicative quotes are definitely unacceptable. These questions had remained […]

The ISDA Protocol on suspension of early termination rights is likely to be released in September, two months earlier than expected. Only G-SIFIs trading with other G-SIFIs would be covered initially, reflecting the less than enthusiastic reaction of other market participants to give away their early termination rights for the sake of reducing systemic risk. […]

On 3 September 2014, the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) published four advices to ESMA on MiFID II: Investor protection Trading venues Transparency and trading obligations (equities) Transparency for the trading of non-equity instruments Following the example of the vast majority of participants who provided comments to the ESMA Consultation Paper on MiFID II, […]

On 4 September 2014, ECB published the final list of significant credit institutions that it will directly supervise from 4 November 2014. The 120 significant credit institutions represent almost 85% of total banking assets in the euro area. Almost all of them have been designated as significant due to their size or due to total […]

On 22 August 2014, the Securities Association of China (SAC), the China Futures Association (CFA) and the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) jointly published the 2014 Master Agreement. The SAC, the CFA and the AMAC are all self-regulatory organisations supervised by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), which approved the 2014 Master Agreement. The […]