Interest Rate Swaps: Cleared and Customized

As policymakers in emerging and frontier markets consider the regulatory framework for financial markets in their jurisdictions, the need for customized risk management tools by market participants remains important.

Market participants use over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives because they are able to customize the terms of their contracts to align more precisely with their specific hedging needs. 

With the expansion of central clearing for OTC derivatives, there is a perception that cleared IRD transactions have become standardized, like interest rate futures.

Using data from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, this paper examines the population of cleared fixed-for-floating IRS and demonstrates that cleared products remain highly customizable as compared to futures contracts, enabling buyers and sellers to agree on bespoke terms to better manage the risks to which they are exposed in the normal course of their business operations.

Click on the attached PDF to read the full report. 

Documents (1) for Interest Rate Swaps: Cleared and Customized

Maintaining Focus on Basel III Endgame Recalibration

In its original form, the US Basel III endgame proposal would have resulted in disproportionate increases in capital for trading book activities, forcing banks to make difficult choices about their participation in certain businesses. After two-and-a-half years, a revised proposal...

IRRBB Management in EMDEs

Interest rate risk in the banking book (IRRBB) has become a growing priority for banks and regulators in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). As many of these countries face monetary tightening cycles and ongoing macroeconomic volatility, bank balance sheets...

Response to CPMI-IOSCO on Consultation

On February 5, ISDA and FIA responded to the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) consultation on the management of general business risks and general business losses by financial market infrastructures (FMIs)....