United States (US)
Level 3 assets at US banks grew 13% in 2020
Citi posted an 100% increase over the year to $16.1 billion
Archegos fiasco clips Credit Suisse’s capital ratio
CET1 ratio will be “at least” 12% for Q1
Initial margin at the OCC topped $100bn in Q4
Exchange-traded derivatives hub cleared 7.5 billion contracts in 2020
Fed economist sounds alert over op risk capital arbitrage
Insurance payouts could allow banks to pare back capital without equivalent reduction in risk, says paper
Games of hazard: NSCC’s margin waiver sets bad precedent
By waiving a $2.2 billion cash call for Robinhood, members worry the NSCC may have dug itself a trap
Isda preps swaps blueprint for new Bloomberg rates benchmark
Credit-sensitive SOFR add-on could be included in Isda’s interest rate definitions by mid-April
At CME, required IM increased over one-third in 2020
IM for futures and options hit $152.3 billion at end-December
Bill Dudley: exclude reserves, not Treasuries, from SLR
Former head of NY Fed says standing repo facility and reform of G-Sib buckets also key
US markets fret over ‘unrepresentative’ fallbacks
Two-year gap between spread fixing and cessation leaves fallback signatories tied to outdated basis
Hero or villain? NSCC draws fire for Robinhood margin waiver
Fears of moral hazard after CCP waives billions in margin demands following meme-stock volatility
Refuge of ‘chancers’: Spacs draw criticism from big investors
Poor disclosure, sub-par returns and share dilution are highlighted as risks of so-called ‘blank-cheque’ companies
Equity growth slowed at US banks in 2020
CET1 ratios of biggest US banks were largely flat on 2019
Market dispels fears over USD Libor cross-currency swap shift
Traders confident market convention will shift to RFRs on both legs of deals
Goldman, Morgan Stanley led US dealers on equity swaps in 2020
Overall equity derivatives notionals at Goldman hit $2.08 trillion at end-2020
Regional US banks became more systemically risky in 2020
US Bancorp, PNC disclosed an increased reliance on short-term wholesale funding over the year
Esma dithers over mandatory LEIs for repo collateral
The risk of no-trade lists due to SFTR hasn’t stimulated the uptake of LEIs outside Europe
Dividend freeze helped keep lid on bank CDS spreads – BIS
But the ban on distributions wrecked bank share prices
US stumbles in pursuit of term SOFR
Flaky swaps liquidity sees June 2021 target slip; CME claims indicative settings already meet international standards
Derivatives notionals at Wells Fargo, BofA fell in 2020
Written options notionals dropped 12% in aggregate
US regulators seek to tighten cyber incident reporting
New federal rule, mindful of Covid, will force firms to report serious incidents within 36 hours
Fed group: SOFR term rate unlikely in 2021
ARRC chair says use case of a forward-looking benchmark would be limited
The volatility paradigm that’s stirring up options pricing
‘Rough volatility’ models promise better pricing and hedging of options. But will they catch on?
Top US banks to lose out from end of SLR relief
Average G-Sib will see SLR decline 90 basis points using Q4 2020 figures
CFTC’s Behnam wants federal oversight of crypto markets
Proposal would make US first Western country to regulate crypto exchanges and traders