Why ‘access all areas’ will be key for OTC derivatives

Without guaranteed pathways to CCPs, mandatory clearing could threaten financial stability, say Patrick Pearson and Bas Zebregs

Now that the exemption for pension funds has come to an end, all major participants in the European Union’s over-the-counter derivatives market are required to go through central clearing. This will place further pressure on the space’s current clearing capacity.

As is pointed out in the recently published book Clearing OTC Derivatives in Europe, of which we were co-editors, this requirement presupposes that all clients will have sufficient access to clearing operations. Yet this is not