Tighter Derivatives Rules Gain Headway in U.S., EU

The first global crackdown on the $615-trillion derivatives market gained momentum on Tuesday when U.S. regulators unveiled a new tool to police would-be fraudsters and European officials urged tighter controls. Moving to rein in vast markets that were only loosely policed going into the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission laid out [...]

Korea Adds Bank of America, ANZ to Derivatives Audit Program

South Korean regulators have added Bank of America Corp. and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. to a list of banks whose currency derivatives trades they will audit, it said today. The announcement comes after the government said on Oct. 8 it will examine selected domestic and foreign banks’ trades in non-deliverable forwards to [...]

Panel Examines Role of Derivatives in Crisis

The complex instruments at the heart of the financial meltdown, and the way two giant companies were wrapped around them and entwined with each other, are being examined by the special panel investigating the origins of the economic crisis. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is turning its focus to derivatives at two days of hearings [...]

All the Collateral that’s Fit to Print

I was really ready for a laugh when I read the Bloomberg article, “Derivatives Industry Gets Second Look From Congress.” To start off the festivities, it opens with a photo of the odious Christopher Dodd, the self-important arrogant loudmouth from Connecticut who milks the job for special “favors” and personal aggrandizement, actually chairs the House [...]