Europe

Europe, Regulatory, UK

Brexit, CRD-V, Regulatory, topstory, UK

Through the Brexit transition, there are open questions about whether UK bank regulation will be exact or close enough to EU rules to achieve equivalence, or whether the UK will…

Does the world need an ECB repo facility for central banks?

July 7, 2020

ECB, Europe, Repo

European Central Bank, Repo, topstory

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) recent decision to provide a Euro repo facility to non-Euro area central banks through June 2021 was an interesting one, suggesting that like the dollar,…

Working through the practicalities of the UK decision to cancel CSDR’s settlement discipline regime (Premium)

June 25, 2020

Europe, Regulatory

CSDR, Europe, settlement discipline, topstory, UK

The UK took a major stand in its preparations for Brexit on Tuesday with the publication of a statement on financial regulations. Securities finance and repo market participants immediately saw…

Repo Liquidity as a Solution to (Un)cleared Derivatives Cash Margin Requirements

April 23, 2020

Frank Odendall

Collateral Management, Derivatives, Europe, Repo, Uncategorized

derivatives, Deutsche Borse, Eurex, Europe, Margin, Repo, topstory, UMR, Uncleared Margin Requirements

Entities in the scope of phases five and six of the Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) will need reliable and efficient access to cash in order to manage their daily OTC…

Finadium: The User Experience of Electronic Repo Trading in Europe

April 14, 2020

Europe, Repo, Technology

electronic trading, Europe, Finadium, Repo, technology, topstory

In this report, Finadium delivers the results of conversations with over a dozen market participants using electronic repo trading platforms. We heard from these firms what’s working and what isn’t,…

Secured and Unsecured Funding: The Drive Towards Cross-Product Settlements Automation

April 9, 2020

Tim Martins

depo trading, ECB, Europe, MTS Markets, Repo, T2S, topstory

As the funding profile of European banks continues to mature, MTS finds that a diversity of product types across secured and unsecured are still necessary and in use. There is…

Agency Repo: A New Outsourced Option for Europe

April 2, 2020

Christian Regis

Europe, Repo, Societe Generale, topstory

Outsourcing key trading and financing functions has taken on a new importance in an era of regulatory change and cost pressures. Repo has withstood change but that is now beginning…

The Euro project is also under attack from COVID-19 (Premium)

March 30, 2020

ECB, Europe, Regulatory

COVID-19, Euro, European Central Bank, topstory

Strong arguments have emerged for why the Euro will not survive the COVID-19 crisis and if it does, why economic and fiscal policy in Europe would be changed for a…

Review of proposals to prevent CSDR’s mandatory buy-in regime from damaging liquidity (Premium)

January 30, 2020

ESMA, Europe, Regulatory

CSDR, ICMA, ISLA, mandatory buy-ins, topstory

Last week, 14 industry trade associations submitted a letter to the European Commission and ESMA requesting that CSDR’s mandatory buy-in provision be delayed or modified to preserve market liquidity. They…

Variable €STR volumes make us wonder about other European benchmarks (Premium)

January 20, 2020

ECB, ESTR, Europe, Interest rates, SONIA, UK

€STR, Benchmarks, ECB, SONIA, topstory

Volumes in €STR, the European Central Bank reference rate launched in October 2019, have been variable since the launch. Although the initial expectation was that €STR would see 36,000 transactions…

What we learned at our Zurich 2019 event (Premium)

December 12, 2019

ESG, Europe, Securities Lending

ESG, Finadium, securities finance, topstory, Zurich

We held our 6th annual securities finance event in Zurich last week with record attendance. The buy-side spoke out, market participants across the sell-side, technology and regulatory communities were engaged,…

CSDR buy-in rules and possible lessons from US Rule 204T (Premium)

December 2, 2019

Corporate Bonds, Europe, Regulatory, US

CSDR, ICMA, Rule 204T, topstory

ICMA’s survey on the impact of CSDR buy-in rules published last week showed ample concern about market liquidity, particularly at the lower end of the credit spectrum. Comments in the…

As Europe’s negative rates hurt bank revenues, the ECB looks at breaking the cycle

November 5, 2019

ECB, Europe, Interest rates

ECB, interest rates, negative interest rates, Profitability, topstory

Although the European Central Bank (ECB) appears comfortable in their continuation of negative interest rates, a chorus is rising that this policy is causing long-term damage to the region’s banks.…

Finadium: Assessing the European Client Securities Finance Market

October 8, 2019

Europe, Securities Lending, Technology

Europe, securities finance, technology, topstory

This report is an analysis of the 73 large beneficial owners that drive the European lender marketplace, the newer lenders that are hinting to join, and the drivers that encourage…

FISL Europe: securities lending deeply divided between optimism and pessimism

September 25, 2019

Anna Reitman

Europe, FISL, Regulatory

artificial intelligence, CSDR, FISL Paris, machine learning, SFTR, topstory

The Finadium Investors in Securities Lending Europe event yesterday in Paris gathered some 140 attendees across the buy-side, sell-side, regulators and vendors for what was a robust and insightful set…

Investors in Securities Lending conference launches tomorrow in Paris

September 23, 2019

ESG, Europe, Securities Lending, SFTR, Technology

BNPP, Citi, ESG, Eurex, Euronext, FISL Europe, MarketAxess, Securities Lending, topstory, Total Return Futures

We are excited to welcome roughly 150 attendees to the Finadium Investors in Securities Lending (FISL) conference tomorrow, this year in Paris. Here’s what’s in store for this buy-side oriented…

The Next Evolution of Electronic Repo Trading for the Sell-side and Buy-side

September 19, 2019

Tim Martins

Automation, Europe, Repo

Big Data, electronic repo, MTS, MTS BondVision, MTS Repo, Repo, topstory

A broader adoption of electronic repo trading across the buy-side and sell-side is creating opportunities for greater integration, efficiency and automation on trading desks. While most interdealer and dealer-to-client (D2C)…

SFTR peer update: where does your firm stand in getting ready?

September 10, 2019

mstan

Europe, Regulatory, Repo, Securities Lending, Technology

Delegated Reporting, Europe, MarketAxess, securities finance, SFTR, topstory, UTI

MarketAxess and Finadium recently surveyed 16 large market participants to better understand the current state of readiness for the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR). The results of the survey show…

GLMX on why expand its repo platform in Europe (Premium)

July 3, 2019

Anna Reitman

Europe, GLMX, topstory

Europe’s repo market has seen a spike in interest for electronic platforms setting up shop, with BrokerTec recently joining a field already occupied by heavyweights like Tradeweb, MTS, Eurex, and…

BNYM clears the first Eurex Lending CCP client trade – have the floodgates opened?

June 18, 2019

CCP, Europe, Securities Lending

BNYM, Eurex, Lending CCP, Securities Lending, topstory

BNY Mellon announced today that it is the first agent lender to clear a client trade on Eurex’s Lending CCP. This move, some four years in the making at BNYM…

Battle of the European repo RFQ platforms (Premium)

June 4, 2019

Europe, Repo, RFQ, SFTR, topstory

How many dealer-to-client platforms does the European market need for repo? We’re about to find out, as BrokerTec has launched BrokerTec Quote to compete with Tradeweb as the dominant player…

Plans for our institutional investor securities lending conference in Paris, 24 September 2019

May 29, 2019

Europe, Securities Lending

FISL Paris, Institutional Investors, Securities Lending, SFTR, topstory

We’re gearing up to host our Finadium Investors in Securities Lending (FISL) conference in Paris on 24 September 2019, moving to the Continent after two years in London. Here’s how…

We review ESMA’s consultation on SFTR reporting (Premium)

May 28, 2019

ESMA, Europe, Regulatory, SFTR

ESMA, SFTR, topstory

ESMA released several new documents on SFTR yesterday. We summarize what readers can expect from the main document, a consultation paper on guidelines for reporting. Continue reading

We review the Better Finance report criticizing EU asset manager seclending fee splits (Premium)

May 13, 2019

ESMA, ETFs, Europe, Securities Lending

ESMA, ETFs, Europe, Securities Lending, topstory, UCITS

Independent European consumer organization BETTER FINANCE released a report on UCITS fee splits in the European securities lending market. They found the known wide disparities in fee splits and criticized…

Mastering the Client Side of SFTR

May 2, 2019

Automation, Europe, Market infrastructure, Securities Lending, Technology

DTCC, SFTR, topstory

Securities Finance Monitor spoke with DTCC’s senior SFTR Trade Repository leadership about the importance of the client side of the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) and why DTCC dedicates so many…

Does the European pledge model solve all ills? (Premium)

April 30, 2019

Europe, Securities Lending

Europe, Pledge model, Securities Lending, topstory

The benefits of the pledge model in securities lending for borrowers are clear: by retaining legal ownership of the security with the borrower, regulated entities no longer have the obligation…

For SFTs, is there information value in RTS 28 reports? (Premium)

April 16, 2019

Europe, Regulatory

MiFID II, RTS 28, securities financing transactions, topstory

As we near the second year of disclosure publications, we investigate multiple MiFID II RTS 28 best execution reports for SFTs to learn what, if any, is their information value…

US and European repo market structure for H1 2019 in five charts (Premium)

April 15, 2019

Europe, Repo, US

DTCC, DTCC GCF Repo Index, Federal Reserve, ICMA, Repo, RepoFundsRate, topstory

US and European repo markets have started the year on divergent paths. One seems to be choppy, with ends of months and quarters seeing regular spikes and governments talking about…

Uncertainty in reporting for CSDR settlement fails rules

March 11, 2019

ESMA, Europe, Regulatory, Settlements

CSDR, ESMA, Europe, settlement fails, topstory

It looks like ESMA’s application of settlement discipline under CSDR may have extraterritorial impacts, which could result in investor preferences to use one CSD over another to ensure being subject…

Business of Collateral Trading 2019 roundup and conference materials (Premium)

February 25, 2019

Collateral Management, Europe

BOCT, collateral management, Finadium, Frankfurt, topstory

Here’s what we learned at the Business of Collateral Trading event we held last week in Frankfurt, attended by 81 professionals across the buy-side, sell-side, vendor and regulatory communities. We…

ECB papers highlight the state approach to solving market problems

February 19, 2019

Europe, Regulatory

ECB, Europe, Regulation, topstory

Recent European Central Bank (ECB) working papers on collateral have been really good, well researched and thoughtful about the problems they are tackling. They also show a continued bias towards…

Opportunities for SFTR data in the private sector (Premium)

February 13, 2019

Big Data, ESMA, Europe, Repo, Securities Lending

Data, ESMA, SFTR, topstory

We’ve been thinking about what the markets will do with SFTR data when it is published by Trade Repositories. In particular, we’ve been thinking about what Finadium plans to do…

The Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS) and tri-party: good, bad or indifferent? (Premium)

February 5, 2019

Collateral Management, ECB, Europe

ECB, ECMS, European Central Bank, Eurosystem Collateral Management System, topstory

The ECB recently took the next step in their Eurosystem Single Market Infrastructure Gateway (ESMIG) project, which itself progresses the aims of the Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS). We look…

Finadium: European Delta One Trader Survey

January 22, 2019

Delta One, Europe, Liquidity Management, Securities Lending

Delta One, Europe, Finadium, listed derivatives, securities finance, topstory

The Delta One business is a type of market making for liquidity and risk management clients that seek economic exposure of a security without the complexity of carrying the underlyings.…

A European challenge to the dollar highlights the breakdown of the Bretton Woods order

December 10, 2018

Europe, Liquidity Management, US

Bretton Woods, dollar, Euro, Liquidity, topstory

Most Americans don’t understand the immense benefit they receive from the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, nor the fact that this global choice is the result of the US-led…

What we learned at yesterday’s securities finance event in Zurich (Premium)

December 6, 2018

Europe, Repo, Securities Lending, Total Return Swaps

events, Finadium, Securities Lending, SFTR, topstory, Zurich

That was really interesting. We held our fifth annual securities lending and repo update yesterday in Zurich. Discussion centered on SFTR and the evolution of the securities finance business in…

Progress on Frankfurt as the next big banking hub

December 5, 2018

Collateral Management, Europe, Liquidity Management

Brexit, collateral, Frankfurt, Frankfurt Main Finance, topstory

Arguments are growing in favor of Frankfurt as a larger financial hub post-Brexit. A regional lobbyist is saying that 750 to 800 billion Euros in assets will transfer from London…

Europe readies for CRD-V (Premium)

November 14, 2018

Basel III, Europe, Regulatory

Basel III, CRD-V, Europe, Leverage Ratio, topstory

The European Parliament and the European Council are in discussions to amend the Capital Requirements Directive and Regulation rules (CRD-IV) to create CRD-V. This latest iteration recognizes recent Basel Committee…

Protectionist government policies and the impact on financial markets

October 31, 2018

Europe, US

financial markets, politics, stock market returns, topstory

As Brazil’s election this week shows, the trend towards electing governments that diverge from historical norms is not yet over, and protectionism and nationalism remain popular. We ask, what can…

Trends in European vs. US tri-party repo

October 24, 2018

Europe, Repo, Tri-Party Repo, US

Federal Reserve, ICMA, topstory, tri-party

The latest ICMA European repo market survey showed a sharp drop in the percentage of business going to tri-party, just 6% down from 12% in December 2016. There are several…

The Cum-Ex trade, CCPs, FTTs and other rough roads in European regulation (Premium)

October 22, 2018

CCP, Europe, Repo, Securities Lending

CFTC, Cum-ex, EMIR, ESMA, Germany, ICMA, topstory

Just when you thought things were settling down and European regulation was becoming predictable, a string of news suggests the opposite. The end of 2018 clear through into 2019 could…

The ECB’s Cœuré walks through ESTER: time is short to solve some tricky problems

October 18, 2018

ECB, Europe, Interest rates, LIBOR, Regulatory

ECB, ESTER, topstory

The ECB’s Benoit Cœuré recently spoke about ESTER, the ECB’s new overnight rate. Benchmark reform is all the rage, and Europe, while initially setting itself some tough deadlines, is now…

Several blows this week to London as a financial center post-Brexit (Premium)

October 11, 2018

CCP, Derivatives, Europe, Risk Management

back-to-back, Brexit, ECB, FT, ISDA, London, topstory

The odds for London thriving as a financial center post-Brexit got worse this week. Here’s what happened and where things seem to be going. Continue reading

The ECB on repo in the Leverage Ratio: taking a strong stand today may not turn out well tomorrow

October 8, 2018

Basel III, Europe, Regulatory

ECB, Leverage Ratio, Repo, topstory

The ECB’s publication last week of “The implications of removing repo assets from the leverage ratio” creates a conundrum. On the one hand, the findings stick true to the Basel…

Sanction backfire: a non-US payment system would change the balance of financial power

August 29, 2018

Europe, Regulatory, US

Germany, Payments, sanctions, Swift, topstory

The idea has been floated that Europe should create its own payments system so that European firms doing business with Iran could separate themselves from the US payment system. The…

European roundup: some weighty news for the end of July (Premium)

August 1, 2018

CCP, Cleared Interest Rate Swaps, Derivatives, ESMA, Europe, Securities Lending

Clearing, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Borse, ESMA, Europe, FT, Securities Lending, topstory

As July wound down, European market participants released some important news items. We look at Euro clearing moving to Frankfurt, UCITS funds and collateral and the FT’s article on SFTR.…

The SFTR win for firms that don’t trade with European counterparties

July 26, 2018

Dodd-Frank, Europe, Regulatory

Dodd-Frank, Europe, SFTR, topstory

The Securities Financing Transaction Regulation (SFTR) will be global regulation by default as the majority of market participants trade with a European entity or subsidiary and hence are captured by…

More on handicapping the odds of a repo carve out for the US Leverage Ratio

July 25, 2018

Europe, Repo, SOFR

Europe, Federal Reserve, OFR, Regulatory, Repo, SOFR, topstory

At our Rates & Repo 2017 conference, we proposed taking bets on whether regulators would adopt the US Treasury’s recommendation of excluding Treasuries from the calculation of the Supplementary Leverage…

The ECB swings a big stick on supervision of repo CCPs

July 19, 2018

CCP, ECB, Europe, Repo

CCP, Cover 2, ECB, topstory