Cleared swaps grow 10 times faster than bilateral at HSBC

Total derivatives notionals up 25% year-on-year

HSBC increased outstanding derivatives notionals by 25% in 2018, with the volume of cleared trades expanding 10 times faster than non-cleared.

Gross notionals hit $34 trillion at end-December, up $6.8 trillion from the year before. Of this amount, cleared over-the-counter trades made up $18 trillion, up $6 trillion (51%) from 2017, and bilateral positions totalled $14 trillion, showing an increase of just $605 billion (5%) on a year ago. Exchange-traded derivatives made up the remaining