Initial Margin

Bank of England, coronavirus, derivatives, Initial Margin, Margin, Variation Margin

As markets reacted to Covid-19 in March 2020, some markets saw their largest price moves in 30 years. Price volatility also rose sharply. This resulted in a large increase in…

AcadiaSoft announces IM phase 5 soft launch to assist with UMR compliance

June 1, 2020

AcadiaSoft, Initial Margin, Phase 5, UMR

AcadiaSoft announced an industry-wide soft launch to help phase 5 firms stay on track for Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) compliance ahead of the extended 2021 deadline. AcadiaSoft is an industry…

21 industry associations ask regulators to delay Initial Margin phase-in timeline

March 27, 2020

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ISDA submitted a letter on behalf of 21 industry associations and their members requesting BCBS, IOSCO and global regulators to suspend the current timeline…

Pirum Systems launches IM Instruct to help with OTC Derivatives Uncleared Margin Requirements

February 5, 2020

Initial Margin, Pirum, UMR

Pirum Systems, a globally-recognised leader in financial services automation, takes the next step to help firms meet their obligations under UMR with the launch of IM Instruct. IM Instruct is…

Citi Launches Regulatory Initial Margin Calculation Service

November 13, 2019

Citi, Initial Margin, UMR

Citi has launched a Regulatory Initial Margin Calculation Service, a solution for buy-side firms required to post initial margin under the Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR). Financial institutions such as asset…

US regulators propose to end IM for inter-affiliate transactions

October 28, 2019

Initial Margin, inter-affiliate transactions, OTC derivatives, US

Five federal agencies today announced a proposal to change the swap margin rules to facilitate the implementation of prudent risk management strategies at certain banks and swap entities. The swap…

Industry associations call for money market funds to be acceptable collateral for initial margin

August 8, 2019

Initial Margin, money market funds

Letter from industry association to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, August 1, 2019 Re: Posting Cash and Money Market Funds for Initial Margin The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (“ISDA”),…

CFTC says no documentation required on initial margin until the threshold amount exceeds $50 million

July 9, 2019

CFTC, Initial Margin, Phase 5, UMR

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) today issued a Staff Advisory noting that CFTC’s uncleared swap margin rules do not require documentation…

BNY Mellon and AcadiaSoft break ground for collateral outsourcing

May 20, 2019

Automation, Technology

AcadiaSoft, automation, BNY Mellon, Initial Margin, non-cleared derivatives margin

In a recent announcement, BNY Mellon claimed to have solved the “last piece of the collateral puzzle” for buy-side derivatives clients facing non-cleared margin rules still being phased in. The…

Fintech weekly deals and partnerships round-up

March 24, 2019

BCBS IOSCO, Broadridge, Cassini Systems, gpi, Initial Margin, SmartStream, Swift, uncleared margin

BlackRock to acquire alternative investments software provider eFront BlackRock announced that it’s agreed to acquire eFront, an end-to-end alternative investment management software and solutions provider from private equity firm Bridgepoint…

AcadiaSoft plans IM monitoring with automated onboarding service for later phase firms

March 7, 2019

AcadiaSoft, BCBS IOSCO, Initial Margin

AcadiaSoft’s new inital margin monitoring service will allow later-phased firms under non-cleared margin requirements to monitor their IM exposure in relation to the permissible $50 million IM threshold and trigger…

Basel Committee discusses policy and supervisory initiatives and approves implementation reports

March 1, 2019

Basel Committee, Benchmarks, Initial Margin

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision met in Basel on 27-28 February to discuss a range of policy and supervisory issues, and to take stock of its members’ implementation of…

Nordea outsources initial margin functions to AcadiaSoft

January 30, 2019

AcadiaSoft, Initial Margin, ISDA SIMM, Nordea

AcadiaSoft announced that Nordea will outsource its initial margin (IM) backtesting to AcadiaSoft. The IM Backtesting and Benchmarking Service was launched in 2018 as part of its partnership with Quarternion…

IHS Markit and AcadiaSoft to Deliver Integrated Solution Suite for Initial Margin Management

January 18, 2019

AcadiaSoft, IHS Markit, Initial Margin

Business information provider IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO) today announced an alliance with AcadiaSoft, a provider of margin automation solutions, to connect the firms’ industry leading platforms for managing initial margin.…

TriOptima Launches triCalculate IM Analytics Tool for Initial Margin Compliance

January 17, 2019

Initial Margin, triCalculate, TriOptima

TriOptima, a leading infrastructure service that lowers costs and mitigates risk in OTC derivatives markets, today announced that it has launched triCalculate IM Analytics which provides crucial insight into the options for…

IHS Markit launches initial margin calculation service for OTC derivatives

September 27, 2018

News and Notes, News and Notes – Fintech

IHS Markit, Initial Margin

IHS Markit announced the launch of its Initial Margin Calculation Service with broad coverage for non-cleared derivatives across interest rates, equities, FX, credit and commodities. A complex, five-phase international framework…

AcadiaSoft and Bloomberg automate ISDA SIMM margin calculations

September 12, 2018

AcadiaSoft, automation, Bloomberg, Initial Margin, ISDA SIMM, Quaternion

AcadiaSoft announced that it is offering two new services to streamline the generation of inputs necessary for margin calculations using ISDA SIMM (Standard Initial Margin Model). Market participants that are…

ISDA survey shows derivatives markets sanguine on future, but margin rules, benchmark reform, compliance and Brexit weigh

April 24, 2018

News and Notes, Uncategorized

benchmark reform, Brexit, Future of Derivatives Survey, Initial Margin, ISDA

The ISDA Future of Derivatives Survey considers the issues facing the industry, in order to gauge how the derivatives market will develop and evolve. While the survey shows that participants…

Bank of England on hedge fund and PB risk: better than it used to be but issues remain

January 4, 2018

Bank of England, Credit Exposure, Europe, Hedge Funds, Investments, Prime Brokerage, Pro-cyclicality, Risk Management, Systemic Risk

Bank of England, hedge funds, Initial Margin, prime brokers, Procyclicality, topstory

A recent publication from the Bank of England shows that hedge fund systemic risk is generally lower than it used to be; that’s a good thing for the markets. Hedge…

Highlights from ISDA’s 2017 margin survey

October 4, 2017

Richard Stinchfield

CCP, Cleared Interest Rate Swaps, Collateral Management, Derivatives, OTC Derivatives Clearing, Regulatory, Systemic Risk

Cleared Derivatives, Initial Margin, ISDA, ISDA Margin Survey, Non-Cleared OTC Derivatives, topstory, Variation Margin

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has resumed its annual survey on margin. Initial Margin (IM) and Variation Margin (VM) requirements on certain types of derivatives contracts are now…

AcadiaSoft announces smooth integration of phase 2 firms into its margin hub

September 21, 2017

AcadiaSoft, BCBS IOSCO, Initial Margin, non-cleared derivatives margin

AcadiaSoft, an industry provider of margin automation solutions for counterparties engaged in collateral management worldwide, announced that the integration into the AcadiaSoft Hub of the six additional in-scope firms under Phase 2…

LCH’s CollateralSeg should reduce gray areas of collateral ownership

August 17, 2017

Richard Stinchfield

CCP, Collateral Management, Custodians, Derivatives, Europe, Market infrastructure, Operations, Risk Management, Settlements, UK

CCPs, Euroclear, Initial Margin, LCH, LCH.Swapsclear, topstory, Variation Margin

LCH announced on August 10th that it will support a new account type representing pledged collateral for it’s SwapClear service. This should help reduce the risk that ownership rights can become…

Finadium: Tri-party Repo in Asia: OTC Collateral Demand and Structural Change

July 18, 2017

Asia, Derivatives, Repo, Tri-Party Repo

Asia, Initial Margin, OTC derivatives, Repo, topstory, tri-party, Variation Margin

This Finadium research report evaluates the market conditions that are pushing Asian investors towards repo as a mechanism for obtaining cash that can be used as OTC derivatives collateral, especially…

First day of OTC derivatives initial margin rules sees frozen markets, custody bottlenecks

September 5, 2016

Basel III, Collateral Management, Custodians, Derivatives, IOSCO

CFTC, Custody, Initial Margin, OTC derivatives, topstory

The OTC markets were hit on Thursday by the introduction of new BCBS/IOSCO margin and account segregation rules in selected jurisdictions. This had the impact in some countries of shutting the market…

CFTC Issues No-Action Letter to Swap Dealers to Extend Collateral Rule Deadline due to Limitations with Custodial Accounts

September 1, 2016

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) today issued a time-limited, no-action letter stating that it will not recommend an enforcement action…

Regulators ask for ISDA to delay derivatives liquidations; is repo next?

November 11, 2013

CCP, Cleared Interest Rate Swaps, Derivatives, Federal Reserve, Lehman, Regulatory, Repo, Tri-Party Repo

fire sale, FT, hiarcuts, Initial Margin, ISDA

A November 6th article in the FT “Regulators urge rewrite for derivatives contracts” by Sam Fleming caught our eye. The article is behind the pay wall, but we urge you…

Important conclusions from a Bank of England paper on CCPs and financial resources

April 29, 2013

Bank of England, CCP, Collateral Management, Pro-cyclicality

Bank of England, CCPs, Default Fund, Initial Margin, regulatory capital

A new research report from the Bank of England has modeled out how CCP financial resources can affect their stability in times of stress. The conclusions have some important policy…

Pro-cyclicality: ISDA and the FSB use the same term but want very different things

December 4, 2012

CCP, Collateral Management, Derivatives, Pro-cyclicality, Regulatory, Repo, Systemic Risk, Tri-Party Repo

FSB, Initial Margin, ISDA, Minimum repo haircuts, Total Return Swap, Variation Margin

The term pro-cyclicality seems to always get people on edge. If you are in the securities financing or derivatives business these days, you never want to be associated with that…

What is really driving the banks demand for LTRO cash from the ECB?

February 14, 2012

Liquidity Management, LTRO, Repo

ECB, Europe, Initial Margin, LCH.Clearnet, Liquidity, Liquidity Management, MF Global, Nomura, Repo