US

Federal Reserve

coronavirus, topstory, US

-> Fed cuts rates by 50 bps: “the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity. In light of these risks and in support of achieving its maximum employment and price…

Benchmarking cash collateral management fees in US securities lending (Premium)

February 25, 2020

Cash management, Collateral Management, Securities Lending

cash collateral, ETFs, mutual funds, Securities Lending, topstory, US

Finadium has conducted an annual review of cash collateral management fees for US 40 Act funds in securities lending programs. As usual, the data need some analysis to find what…

Why Financial Transaction Taxes grab headlines but are not fit for purpose

February 24, 2020

Tax

EU, Financial Transaction Tax, topstory, US

crypto regulation, Federal Reserve of New York, Securities and Exchange Commission, US

Financial Transaction Taxes (FTT) make for great political soundbites. Tax the banks! Raise revenues! There are a bunch of ways to get that job done but FTTs aren’t it. Here’s…

New York Fed’s general counsel on US regulations and approaches to cryptocurrencies

December 13, 2019

Anna Reitman

News and Notes – Fintech

Remarks by Michael Held, executive vice president and general counsel, at the BIS Central Bank Legal Experts’ Meeting, Basel, Switzerland, December 3 2019 Policy makers and regulators in the United…

Finadium: US Repo at Year-End 2019: The Hard Choices Ahead

December 10, 2019

Repo, US

Repo, topstory, US

This report reviews the state of US repo markets at year-end 2019. It provides market sizing across multiple portions of US repo, lessons derived from the events of September 16-20,…

Independent dealer association calls for diversity, decrease in concentration in US repo markets

December 9, 2019

Independent Dealer and Trader Association, Repo, US

White Paper on the Repo Market Affecting U.S. Treasury and Agency MBS Independent Dealer and Trader Association The goal of this White Paper is to foster a greater understanding of…

US adoption of SA-CCR means easing for derivatives clearers and incremental liquidity for big banks

November 21, 2019

Basel III, Derivatives, Federal Reserve, Regulatory, US

Current Exposure Method, SA-CCR, topstory, US

You could hear the collective sigh of relief: at last US regulators have issued final rules for adopting the Standardized Approach for measuring counterparty credit risk (SA-CCR). Here’s a review…

US regulators allow custodians to exclude central bank deposits for the Supplementary Leverage Ratio

November 19, 2019

Custodians, Supplementary Leverage Ratio, US

The federal bank regulatory agencies have finalized changes to a capital requirement for banking organizations predominantly engaged in custodial activities, as required by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer…

US regulators adopt SA-CCR

November 19, 2019

SA-CCR, US

Three federal bank regulatory agencies on Tuesday jointly announced a final rule updating how certain banking organizations are required to measure counterparty credit risk for derivative contracts under their regulatory…

A move towards ultrashort cash collateral vehicles has some worried about liquidity risk (Premium)

October 29, 2019

Cash management, Securities Lending

asset managers, cash collateral, Securities Lending, topstory, ultrashort, US

New survey data shows US asset managers increasing their use of ultra-short funds for securities lending cash collateral investments. Is this slight increase in risk over prime funds a cause…

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…

The Long and Short of US Prime Brokerage Pricing in 2019

October 10, 2019

Robert Sackett

Hedge Funds, Prime Brokerage, Securities Lending, US

hedge funds, Prime Brokerage, stock loan, topstory, US

Pricing in the current Prime Brokerage market remains competitive due to various factors including excess liquidity, new entrants, and a renewed focus by institutions to attract and retain stable accrual…

The Fed does the right thing for repo by offering term liquidity through quarter end (Premium)

September 23, 2019

Federal Reserve, Repo, US

Federal Reserve, Liquidity, Repo, topstory, US

On Friday, the Federal Reserve announced that it would be providing term repo liquidity of at least $30 billion for multiple days, effectively getting the market over the quarter end.…

US Senators introduce financial transaction tax proposal

May 24, 2019

Financial Transaction Tax, FTT, US

From The Hill: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) on Wednesday introduced legislation to tax stock, bond and derivatives trading. The Inclusive Prosperity Act, co-sponsored by Sen.…

US regulators propose limits to big banks holding TLAC of other big banks

April 2, 2019

Regulatory, TLAC, US

The federal banking agencies on Tuesday proposed a rule to limit the interconnectedness of large banking organizations and reduce the impact from failure of the largest banking organizations. The proposal…

F&C: preview of US’ PSD2 as banks clamp down on fintech data access

March 27, 2019

Anna Reitman

News and Notes – Fintech

Open Banking, US

Long-simmering tensions between the financial industry and Silicon Valley startups are erupting behind-the-scenes into a battle over the reams of valuable data held inside Americans’ bank accounts. In recent months,…

Industry associations ask for revisions to US SA-CCR plans

March 18, 2019

SA-CCR, US

ISDA, SIFMA, ABA, BPI and FIA Comment on Proposed Standardized Approach for Calculating Exposure Amount of Derivatives Contracts Washington, DC, March 18, 2019 – The International Swaps and Derivatives Association,…

The Hill: Dems offer legislation to tax financial transactions

March 7, 2019

Financial Transactions Tax, US

Democrats on Tuesday introduced legislation in the House and Senate to tax financial transactions, as lawmakers in the party examine various ways to raise more revenue. Legislation was introduced in…

Finadium: US Pension Plans in Securities Lending

February 27, 2019

Pensions, Securities Lending

pensions, Securities Lending, topstory, US

Finadium presents the collected data of 78 US pension securities lending programs including most of the largest US state, county and city funds. Our analysis covers revenues, fee splits, collateral…

For US banks, is CCAR or the Leverage Ratio the binding constraint on securities finance

February 20, 2019

Basel III, Federal Reserve, Regulatory, US

CCAR, Leverage Ratio, topstory, US

The Federal Reserve’s Comprehensive Capital Adequacy Review (CCAR) stress test are more of a binding constraint on bank’s use of capital than the Leverage Ratio for some activities, for example…

What’s in the US OFR’s new repo data collection rules (Premium)

February 18, 2019

Big Data, cleared repo, Regulatory, Repo, US

CCP, FICC, OFR, Repo, topstory, US

The US Office of Financial Research last week released its final rules for repo data collection from CCPs with open commitments of $50 billion in repo activity over the last…

Eurex clears first swap transaction for U.S. end clients

February 11, 2019

Eurex, OTC derivatives, US

Eurex Clearing, one of the world’s leading central counterparties (CCP), has cleared its first swap transaction for end clients domiciled in the U.S. Citi is the first futures commission merchant…

Comments on whether the US NSFR will be a binding constraint on securities finance

February 6, 2019

Basel III, Regulatory, US

NSFR, Regulation, topstory, US

The final US Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) rules have been expected for some time. Although US regulators produced draft NSFR rules in 2016, the market has still been in…

Behind the uptick in Jan 31 2019 US repo rates (Premium)

February 4, 2019

Repo, SOFR, Tri-Party Repo, US

Canadian banks, Repo, topstory, tri-party, US

Some market participants were surprised while others saw it coming, but all the same, US repo rates saw a sharp uptick on Thursday Jan 31. According to dealers, at one…

Pirum extends North American offering with US Domestic Tri-party connectivity

January 29, 2019

Pirum, tri-party, US

Securities Finance Automation leaders Pirum, have recently globalized their tri-party connectivity service. Building on its existing real time connectivity to the 4 international tri-party agents, it is now able to…

US repo has become a good deal for cash investors

January 29, 2019

Repo, Tri-Party Repo, US

Commercial Paper, Repo, topstory, tri-party, US

As repo rates generally track interest rate benchmarks, the steady rise in the US rate has made US repo into an attractive investment opportunity in its own right for the…

Not that dramatic: repo spikes in Europe and the US were quick and understandable

January 7, 2019

Repo, SOFR

Europe, Repo, SOFR, topstory, US

End of year repo trading in both the US and Europe saw the same types of leaps in General Collateral (GC) rates backed by government collateral that we’ve seen before,…

US GCF Repo(R) rate hits 5.149% on last day of 2018; tri-party and SOFR up

January 2, 2019

GCF Repo, US

The US GCF Repo(R) market hit an astounding 5.149% for UST on December 31, 2018, up from 2.551% just the day before. We heard a high point of 6.125% in…

Finadium: US Repo Market at End of 2018

December 12, 2018

Repo, US

Finadium, Repo, topstory, US

Finadium has released an end of year overview on the US repo market including key themes for liquidity and spreads in the coming year. This report is based on Finadium…

An odd WSJ article on the US repo market

November 25, 2018

Repo, US, WSJ

Investment Banks’ Secret Cash Cow Jon Sindreu Nov. 23, 2018 Investment banks have made a nice little money-spinner out of a once broken trading strategy: The repo. But now that…

US regulations approve amendments to swap margin rule

September 21, 2018

netting, swap margin, US

Five federal agencies approved final amendments to swap margin requirements to conform with recent rule changes that impose new restrictions on certain qualified financial contracts of systemically important banking organizations…

US regulators accept some munis as HQLA

August 23, 2018

HQLA, municipal bonds, US

WASHINGTON–Three federal banking agencies today issued an interim final rule amending the agencies’ liquidity rules to treat certain eligible municipal securities as high-quality liquid assets, as required by the Economic…

Bloomberg: What Squeeze? Treasury Repo Suggests Shorts Are Not So Extreme

August 23, 2018

Repo, US

For all of the hoopla about data showing speculators’ record net short positions in Treasury futures, the market for repurchase agreements suggests people may be overestimating the potential for a…

Eurekahedge publishes data on the global hedge fund industry

August 22, 2018

Eurekahedge’s global hedge funds infographic sums up the industry as at August 2018. Find out more about global hedge funds assets under management (AUM), asset flows into strategic and regional…

Defining “strong regulation” for safe banks

August 14, 2018

Basel III, Regulatory

Europe, Regulation, topstory, US

In an interview with Welt am Sonntag last week, ECB Executive Board Member Sabine Lautenschläger argued that strong bank regulation leads to strong banks. US regulators would agree but have…

Treasury issuances and Fed rates are changing technicals in the short end (Premium)

June 20, 2018

Jonathan Cooper

Cash management, Federal Reserve, Fixed Income, Interest rates, Investments, Liquidity Management, Money Market Funds, Repo, Short Term Interest Rate Benchmarks, SOFR, US

Fed Funds, Repo, SOFR, topstory, US, US Treasury

As the US Treasury moves to add even more to short dated securities to fill their deficit hole, while at the same time the Fed raises rates and slowly unwinds…

European and US repo markets are different, and that means one-size-fits-all-regulation is unwise

June 13, 2018

Jonathan Cooper

Europe, Market infrastructure, Re-Hypothecation, Regulatory, Repo, Systemic Risk, Tri-Party Repo, US

Europe, Repo, topstory, US

The US and European markets are not identical, although they are often made out to be just that. Besides macro differences, within Europe, transactions are subject to individual country laws,…

The next evolutionary step in US tri-party?

June 7, 2018

mstan

Repo, Tri-Party Repo

DEGC, DTCC-Euroclear Global Collateral, Repo, topstory, tri-party, US

The road to US tri-party reform has been long and winding, and has succeeded in mitigating over 90% of daylight credit exposure formerly associated with that market. Yet, structural efficiencies…

Finadium: Beyond the Bulge: Foreign Banks and Smaller Dealers in US Repo

June 6, 2018

Repo, Tri-Party Repo, US

DTCC, FICC, Repo, topstory, tri-party, US

The focus on balance sheet and return on capital constraints faced in the repo business by bulge bracket US banks has often drowned out the vitality of foreign and non-bank…

Finadium/DEGC repo breakfast recap: sharp insights on market structure, technology and future risks (Premium)

June 4, 2018

Repo, Technology, Tri-Party Repo, US

DEGC, Finadium, Repo, topstory, tri-party, US

Finadium and DTCC-Euroclear GlobalCollateral (DEGC) held a repo breakfast update on Thursday, May 31 in New York. We were pleased to welcome 45 market participants across 27 dealer, buy-side and…

No one is happy about US deregulation except these people (Premium)

April 24, 2018

Basel III, Dodd-Frank, ECB, Federal Reserve, Regulatory, US

Basel III, deregulation, Dodd-Frank, ECB, House, Senate, topstory, US

As US deregulation moves into gear, international regulators are voicing their deep concern with the breakdown of the attempted finalization of Basel III. Meanwhile, the US Congress pushes ahead while…

The global bond market sell-off and its big benefits for securities lending

January 31, 2018

Interest rates, Investments, Securities Lending

Germany, government bonds, Securities Lending, Short selling, topstory, US, US 10 year

A global bond market sell-off occurring this week may see US Treasury 10 year notes reach a yield of 3% and German five years stay positive. These are magic numbers…

News Update: dividend taxes in Switzerland, the US and Germany; and what’s next for the Basel Committee (Premium)

January 30, 2018

Basel III, Europe, Regulatory, Tax, US

Basel Committee, Germany, Regulation, Switzerland, taxation, topstory, US

This week’s News Update is on taxation and regulation. There’s a lot going on in the world and the details matter. Here’s the latest from Switzerland, the US, Germany and…

What does “recalibrating” the Leverage Ratio mean?

December 7, 2017

Basel III, Regulatory

Basel III, Europe, Leverage Ratio, Supplementary Leverage Ratio, topstory, US

There has been a lot of talk lately about recalibrating the Leverage Ratio, especially in the US where the enhanced Supplementary Leverage Ratio (eSLR) of 5% for holding companies and…

Finadium Report: Analysis from the US Rates & Repo 2017 Conference

December 5, 2017

Hedge Funds, Investments, Repo, US

events, Finadium, FISL, hedge funds, Rates & Repo, Repo, topstory, US

Finadium has documented the questions and feedback from our November 1, 2017 Rates & Repo event in New York as a research report. The event drew 145 attendees, with 34%…

US borrowers reviewing beneficial owners for collateral comfort (Premium)

November 21, 2017

Investments, Prime Brokerage, Securities Lending, US

Beneficial Owners, prime brokers, Securities Lending, topstory, US

US prime brokers are now closely evaluating funds as securities lenders – beneficial owners – to ensure that their legal agreements offer proper protection in the event of a counterparty…

CFTC Chief Giancarlo calls EU regulatory proposals “disruptive, expensive and detrimental” to the US

November 6, 2017

CFTC, ECB, Europe, Regulatory, US

CFTC, ECB, ESMA, European Union, Giancarlo, topstory, US

In the strongest words that we’ve seen used by a leading regulator in a long time, CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo today roundly criticized EU plans to regulate non-EU financial…

Recap of Finadium’s Rates & Repo Conference 2017 in New York

November 6, 2017

Hedge Funds, Investments, Money Market Funds, Repo, US

Finadium, hedge funds, Rates & Repo, Repo, topstory, US

We are pleased to report that our first Rates & Repo Conference, held last week in New York, was by all accounts a great success. We had 162 registrations by…

Debating solutions to the US Supplementary Leverage Ratio problem (Premium)

November 1, 2017

Basel III, Derivatives, Liquidity Management, US

SLR, Supplementary Leverage Ratio, topstory, US, US Treasury