Global regulators are making progress in aligning swap data reporting requirements, with at least one of three standards expected to be finalised within months. An international effort is underway to agree on the standards – uniform transaction identifiers, uniform product identifiers and critical data elements – that break down the distinguishing features of a trade. Eric Pan, director of the Office of International Affairs at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said...

Short gamma positioning from structured products, macro flows and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is being blamed for a sharp intraday Nikkei move earlier this month that saw the related volatility index jump a record 23%. Traders, however, say a repeat is unlikely, as the Bank of Japan still has about $11 billion of capacity to support the market, and dealers are unlikely to leave their positions as exposed. On November 9, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average broke the 23,000 level for the first time

Market participants using Asian benchmarks for derivatives instruments must start thinking now about compliance with the European Union’s financial benchmarks regulation, despite a two-year respite for administrators outside the region. The regulation, which came into force this month, requires European market participants to use only benchmarks that are registered with European national authorities. This will prevent them using financial instruments referencing non-registered indexes. While

Most bond index providers have started to acknowledge China’s efforts to open up its financial markets, and it is only a matter of time before the nation’s debt is included in global benchmarks. That brings with it an opportunity and a big challenge for investors. All of which means now is the right moment for money managers to put together the building blocks to be successful in the world’s third-largest but opaque fixed-income market. Investors need to improve their understanding of bond...

Traditionally, an unexpected stock index crash sets alarm bells ringing for structured products traders in Asia. The popularity of the products among investors in the region means dealer hedging activity can represent a significant proportion of trading in certain indexes. So when times get tough, dealers often hit the same hedges at once, moving prices against them and leading to losses. But the extent of the losses after China’s Black Monday in 2015, when dealers of Korean equity-linked...