United States (US)
The Fed’s stress capital buffer: relaxed but not relaxing
Bankers welcome key methodology improvement, but final rule could still curb dividends
Systemic banks could free $156bn of capital after Fed plea
Banks asked to use management buffers to support economy in combating coronavirus
US banks’ systemic footprints grew in 2019
Balance sheet growth lifts systemic risk scores
iTraxx volumes spike amid market panic
Volumes of Ice-cleared index contracts more than four times higher than average
US Treasury market holds its breath after high drama
Intermediation broke down after off-the-run bonds were dumped on banks
Aggregate LCR of systemic US banks edged lower in 2019
Net cash outflows increased at a faster pace than HQLA last year
Oil futures and options see record volumes
Brent crude contract traded volumes hit 3.4 million on March 9
Equity, Treasury collateral builds up at US G-Sibs
Fair value of equity collateral rises 19% year-on-year
Over two years, top US banks’ capital fell 5%
Stress capital buffer could reduce CET1 a further $40 billion
Citi shed over $32bn of counterparty exposures in Q4
Risk-weighted assets for CCR exposures dropped -12%
Top 10 operational risks for 2020
The biggest op risks for 2020, as chosen by industry practitioners
Top 10 op risks 2020: IT disruption
Risk of downed systems, from hack or outage, continues to make op risk managers fret
At US G-Sibs, rates derivatives notionals the lowest since 2014
Banks cut interest rate swaps notionals by -18% year-on-year
CDX on junk bonds jumped 65% in H1 2019
Notionals to which CCPs were counterparty increased +85%
FCMs clamour for formal rule on separate account margin
Costly compliance effort will be to no avail if CFTC relief expires in June 2021
Dollar OIS volumes hit $3.3trn high
Short-dated swaps dominated trading in last week of February
Systemic US banks’ trading portfolios swell 10% in 2019
US Treasuries held-for-trading soar 28% on Q4 2018
Low risk assets pile up at systemic US banks
Sub-100% risk-weighted assets increased by $157.9 billion
UK bank market RWAs ebbed in 2019
HSBC shed $5.9 billion of market RWAs in 2019
Swaps exposures of US G-Sibs dropped 12% in Q4
Net current credit exposures hit $474.8 billion by year-end
Cross-border trading could suffer under IM rules
Conflicting US and EU cash reinvestment rules may force buy side to post bonds
Fund securitisation makes capital vanish – and watchdog growl
Probe into possible “abuses” of CFO structure could hit wider investments, experts say
Rates trading revenues up 154% at top US banks
Net gains on interest rates-related exposures top $21 billion
Top banks’ US Treasury holdings up 26% in 2019
Fair value gains follow plummeting yields on government paper