Watching for pitfalls

The credit derivatives market in Asia is growing strongly, but there are a host of legal minefields that end-users need to be aware of. Andrew Malcolm, a partner at Linklaters in Hong Kong, looks at some of the issues

The credit derivatives markets remain heavily centred in London and New York, but the explosive growth in credit derivatives in recent years has its reflection in Asia both in terms of business transacted in the Asian financial centres, principally Tokyo and Hong Kong, and of course in the use of Asian sovereign and corporate names as credit references.

For most Asian jurisdictions, the legal and regulatory regime lags the use of sophisticated financial instruments such as credit