Ben St. Clair
Journalist
Ben covers Markets for Risk.net. He holds a master’s degree in financial journalism from City, University of London, and a bachelor’s in sociology and American studies from Fordham University.
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Articles by Ben St. Clair
No mandate, no problem: SOFR swaps embrace clearing
Almost 70% of RFR derivatives cleared and half traded over Sefs in voluntary adoption of post-crisis norms
US mutual funds’ crypto holdings doubled to over $1bn in Q1
BlackRock and MSIM are among 16 US fund managers dipping their toes into crypto investing
Competition may be coming to crypto ETP market-making
Flow Traders makes markets in every European cryptocurrency ETP. Banks want in on the action
Crypto market structure pushing institutions towards synthetics
Risk Live: Credit risk and custody challenges with spot could push investors to derivatives and ETPs
People moves: five leave JP Morgan, MS names co-presidents, and more
Latest job changes across the industry
Sterling swaptions edge towards Sonia ahead of July deadline
Risk-free successor jumps to almost half non-linear activity, up from 20% in April
FCA unfazed by ‘inflated’ sterling Libor swaps trading
Regulator says high volume of new Libor swaps traded since April 1 is linked to risk reduction
Traders see easy switch off Libor in Swiss market at year-end
Saron swaps trading still slow but traders say liquidity is rising and see no hurdles to transition
Market dispels fears over USD Libor cross-currency swap shift
Traders confident market convention will shift to RFRs on both legs of deals
CDS trading remains stubbornly human
Buy-siders sceptical of benefits of algo execution for credit derivatives
People moves: Goldman loses three to fintech start-up, departures at Bank of America, and more
Latest job changes across the industry
Callable repack frenzy opens up new options market in Europe
Demand driven mainly by French life insurers looking for alternatives to low-yielding sovereign bonds
CanDeal ideal: could Canada make a sea-change in e-trading?
E-trading firm aims to capture all Canada’s electronic fixed income trade, requiring a culture shift
Mutual funds slow to adopt SOFR
Regulatory filings show just 55 trades linked to the rate in the year to September 2020
Options pricing framework buckles under GameStop frenzy
Wild retail trading sees calls sink below intrinsic value ahead of expiry as puts break spot correlation
ETF options: the market’s latest credit hedge
Investors look to derivatives on fixed income exchange-traded funds to manage credit risk exposure
Nascent green repo market promises new market ‘ecosystem’
Market participants see demand for repo backed by green collateral
US Fed facility bought Libor bonds with ‘weak’ fallbacks
Industry surprise over purchase of floaters linked to doomed benchmark
LCH plans Libor swap switch to RFRs
Proposal would see trades moved to compounded RFRs, with cash compensation paid to those who lose out
Markets search for FX factor as rates fall flat
Traders signal shift to currency strategies, but is it passing fad or permanent fixture?
Cross-currency swaps will use RFRs on both legs, says JP exec
Despite slow start, all-RFR swaps will become the market standard within a year, according to Tom Prickett
SOFR trading tails off after ‘big bang’ boost
Volumes peak, then slow down on CCPs’ shift to new RFR, but remain above 2020 averages
CCP discount switch drives record SOFR swap volumes
Historic move off fed funds discounting leads to trading surge
Forward momentum: the new world of NDF trading
NDF landscape is changing as trading volumes drive electronification and algo execution – but challenges remain