Initial margin
Collateral and counterparty tracking: Emerging initial margin requirements
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End-users say non-cleared margin rules will hit hedging
New regime will "make the world safe for banks, but not safe from banks"
EU applies 8% haircut to margin-currency mismatches
European regulators confirm haircut will apply to both initial and variation margin
Covered bond issuers cheer EU swaps margin relief
Regulators recognise collateral posting barriers but set six conditions for an exemption
Corporate hedgers fear OTC liquidity drain
End-user exemptions could prove Pyrrhic victory, says treasury head
Frankel: new QIS needed to avoid pro-cyclical margin
Future crisis could see non-cleared swap margin double, says Goldman exec
Wider clearing scope will create risk, warns Goldman exec
Industry would struggle to hedge risk following a dealer default, says Goldman's Frankel
Dealers push ‘margin-sharing’ as answer to collateral crunch
Approach would be twice as efficient as planned uncleared margin regime, dealers claim
China looks beyond commodity derivatives with equity options launch
New equity options on two exchanges
Insurance risk manager of the year: Axa
Axa moved early to address lapse risk concerns – now a pressing issue for the French insurance sector – and has also been vocal on regulatory change
Risk management system of the year (bank): Barclays
Hedge fund clients of Barclays can use the bank's own margin calculator to construct their portfolios - while the bank uses it to manage net counterparty exposures. Both sides benefit
Pension funds and the collateral crisis
Rising interest rates could leave pension funds facing huge margin requirements, creating an acute liquidity crisis
Initial margin to significantly impact development of Asian derivatives markets: Asifma
Asifma head Austen wants exclusion of initial margin from Asian jurisdictions’ derivatives market regulation
CME threatens to flee US as regulators challenge liquidity of US Treasury collateral
US CCPs may need committed funding to count US Treasury collateral as liquid
Bank initial margin posting raises liquidation concerns
Initial fears
Banks put ‘lazy’ assets to work in first initial margin agreements
Banks tout 'tremendous' capital savings as Bank of America, Barclays, Citi and other swap dealers start using illiquid assets as initial margin
Secretive start-ups eye uncleared OTC risk reduction
Dividing the over-the-counter market into cleared and uncleared products creates extra risk and inefficiency, critics claim – it also creates an opportunity for services that can repair the damage. Start-ups and established firms alike are now jockeying…
WGMR rules create funding complexity for dealers
How long will a client hold a 10-year swap? It could be 10 years – or it could be 10 days – and the answer has big implications for dealer funding requirements
Remembering Lehman: CCPs hardwire collapse into models
Five years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the chaos that followed is now being erased from some value-at-risk models – and clearing houses do not agree on how to prop up their margin requirements. By Tom Osborn
Risk on the WGMR rules
The WGMR published its final rules on uncleared margin on September 2. Nick Sawyer and Matt Cameron discuss the implications
WGMR 8% collateral haircut unlikely to apply to variation margin
Regulators suggest WGMR haircut will not apply to variation margin, reducing the threat to the viability of the standard CSA
Industry ‘won’t bother’ with one-time rehypothecation
Critics say a limited provision in new WGMR rules for dealers to rehypothecate client collateral is impractical and offers no benefit to clients
WGMR rehypothecation rules unclear and confusing, say lawyers
Final WGMR rules allow collateral on uncleared derivatives to be rehypothecated under strict conditions, but lawyers say they are unclear on how the rules will work in practice
FX swaps and forwards off initial margin hook
Working Group on Margining Requirements has confirmed the exemption of FX swaps and forwards from initial margin, as well as a more restricted exemption for cross-currency swaps