A question that has been ignored, until very recently, is how firms will deal with cross-border derivative contracts when the UK leaves the EU in March 2019. Leaving the single market without either EEA membership or a trade agreement covering financial services will result in complications for existing derivative contracts. With approximately £26 trillion of […]

As market participants are all too aware, following the financial crisis in 2008-2009, G20 agreed to a regulatory reform agenda covering the OTC derivatives market and market participants, including proposals for margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives. The recommendations were finalised in the BCBS-IOSCO’s Final Framework for Non-Centrally Cleared Derivatives, which established the international standards […]

July 24th saw a unanimous approval of the CFTC’s proposal to reduce the complexity surrounding segregation of assets held as collateral in uncleared swap transactions. Under the Dodd-Frank, a swap dealer was required to notify each counterparty that they (the counterparty) possessed the right to choose whether to keep their funds in a segregated account […]

The overwhelming majority of ISDA Master Agreements entered into by counterparties located in the EU (European Union)/EEA (European Economic Area) are governed by English law and they submit to the jurisdiction of the English Courts. Both for netting and collateral arrangements, English law has had no meaningful rival since the publication of the first ISDA […]

Many senior financiers would describe the post-financial crisis architecture as brutalist and overpriced, with the plethora of regulations designed and implemented by a legion of legal bodies costing British banks billions over the last few years. As the deadline for ring-fencing is fast approaching, it seems opportune to assess the current state of the ring-fence […]

There is mounting pressure to revisit a fundamental aspect of the IM calculation methodology. The BCBS-IOSCO 2015 framework mandates an IM determination based on a 99% VAR over a fixed 10 day liquidation horizon[1]. ISDA have published a paper by Professor Rama Cont, Chair of Mathematical Finance at Imperial College London, which advocates for a […]

On 20 March 2018, the European Court of Justice (the “ECJ”) handed down four judgments in response to requests for preliminary rulings[1] on the interpretation under European law of the so-called ne bis in idem principle, i.e. the right not to be tried or punished twice for the same offence, also known as double jeopardy. […]

This blog aims to provide a brief overview of the potential impact of Brexit with regard to the UK’s civil judicial cooperation with the other European Union Member States, in particular with respect to jurisdiction, recognition, enforcement and choice of law, with some added commentary on the impact on derivatives transactions. In brief, the UK’s […]

Article 13 Inducements of the MiFID II Delegated Directive has created a wide diversity of reactions from puzzled head-scratching to fearful wailing from the equity analyst community. Readers will be aware that research must now be classified as paid-for and justified Research or essentially advertising that may be received for free. The Research to Marketing […]