Swaps, Before & After
“Historically, there were few, if any, regulatory requirements on swaps … it was effectively an unsecured loan,” said James Schwartz, Of Counsel at Morrison & Foerster. He was the fourth and final presenter at the Derivatives Regulatory Update webinar held on March 31, 2015, sponsored by the Global Association of Risk Professionals. Prior to the Dodd-Frank Act, swaps dealers were self-regulated through the trade association International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). “It was typical for the two parties to accept a certain amount of uncollateralized exposure to each other in the form of a threshold that varied according to their […]
Update on Central Clearing
One of the goals of the Dodd-Frank Act is to mitigate systemic financial risk by establishing a central clearinghouse for derivatives. But how close is the financial community toward achieving that goal? “Many swaps were not collateralized prior to Dodd-Frank,” said Julian E. Hammar, Of Counsel at Morrison & Foerster. Hammar was the third of four presenters at the Derivatives Regulatory Update webinar held on March 31, 2015, sponsored by the Global Association of Risk Professionals. Clearing swaps mitigates risk not just through requiring margin collateral (and thereby reducing) credit risk. It also imposes an “operational discipline” Hammar said, with […]
“Skin in the Game”
What safeguards should be in place, to minimize the risks posed by financial derivatives? CME Group requires that its Clearing Members support the risk of their portfolios by “putting some skin in the game,” said Jason Silverstein, Executive Director and Associate General Counsel of CME Group, a body that includes the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange among its subsidiaries. “It’s a story of balancing incentives, in order to stabilize losses. Our belief is that it should be significant and risk-based.” Silverstein was the second of four presenters at a webinar titled Derivatives Regulatory Update held on […]
Towards Reducing Systemic Risk
Have the risks posed by financial derivatives in the context of the current, still evolving, regulatory landscape been properly addressed? Michael Piracci, Director of PCB Compliance at Barclays, said that nowadays he has “a lot of interactions day-to-day with the clearinghouse” and overall, “it makes me feel a little more comfortable there’s a good system in place.” Piracci was the first of four presenters at a webinar titled Derivatives Regulatory Update held on March 31, 2015, sponsored by the Global Association of Risk Professionals. Piracci began by explaining the role of the Central Counterparty (CCP) and the Futures Commission Merchants […]
Evolution of the OTC Swaps Markets. Part 2: Lessons Learned
The scramble to meet the Phase 1 deadline of new regulations on swaps “was a significant learning experience,” said Bis Chatterjee, Global Head of E-Trading, Credit Markets at Citi. He was the second speaker in a webinar panel organized by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) on May 14, 2013. The deadline that came into effect March 11, 2013 pertained to the Dodd-Frank Act governing over-the-counter (OTC) swaps. (Two more phases will follow; see Part 1 for details.) There were challenges first of all, Chatterjee said, in the self-identification of market participants in Phase 1. Second, even if you […]