A synopsis of the headlines in the derivatives industry from the last week.
The big news of the week
The latest Esma updated Q&A
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued the 11th update of its Q&A document on the implementation of the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). The latest instalment includes further guidance on the trade reporting to trade repositories (TRs) including a validation table. The European watchdog is forcing TRs to reject any faulty trade reports from 1 December in an effort to improve the quality of the data. This has raised the prospect of more rejections and firms being fined for being unable to meet their EMIR obligations.
Sources: http://www.esma.europa.eu/news/ESMA-publishes-updated-EMIR-QA-0?t=326&o=home
Other OTC news
Traiana launches new clearing solution for OTC equity trades
Post-trade matching specialist Traiana, which is owned by interdealer broker ICAP, has launched Harmony CCP Connect for equities to enable OTC equity trades to be matched and cleared through its automated system. It is currently connected to three European clearing houses, which include LCH.Clearnet, EuroCCP and SIX x-clear, and has been adopted by Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan and Instinet. According to the firm, the first trade was completed between two banks early last week although the specifics were not disclosed. The central clearing system comes weeks after European firms moved to the T+2 settlement cycle and to ensure smooth transition to the cycle, Traiana aims to reduce operating costs by automating the process of matching trades and linking broker dealers to the appropriate clearing house.
Hiring is back to pre-recessionary levels
A talent shortage in Britain’s financial services and technology sectors has pushed salaries in the industry up by 2.6% in the last year, ahead of inflation and outpacing sluggish UK wage growth, according to the 2015 Robert Half salary guide. Hiring across finance and accounting, financial services, information technology and administration has returned to pre-recessionary levels, with demand for staff far exceeding supply as businesses start to target growth as well as efficiency. In financial services, 97% of executives surveyed reported challenges in finding candidates with the right skills. One of the hottest growing areas is cybersecurity, with almost 40% of financial services organisations looking to hire permanent staff to manage cyber security initiatives.
Source: www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/22/britain-banking-salary-idINL6N0SH5Q620141022
Other cyber news
Cybersecurity tops list of industry concerns
It is easy to see why firms looking for people cybersecurity skills. Cyber risks ranks as the main concern of the financial services industry following a series of high-profile attacks on banks, according to a new survey – Systemic Risk Barometer – by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp (DTCC). A record 84% of the 202 respondents canvassed identified it as one of their top five concerns, a 25-percentage point increase since the last report was conducted in March 2014. In addition, around 37% of respondents indicated that the probability of a high-impact event in the global financial system has increased during the past six months, up from 21% in March 2014.
Source: http://dtcc.com/~/media/Files/Downloads/issues/risk/Systemic_Risk_Summary_Report.ashx
From around the globe
Shanghai Exchange awaits options approval
The Shanghai Stock Exchange has completed technical preparations for stock options trading and is awaiting final approval from regulators to launch the first new equity derivative product in China since the financial crisis. The exchange has conducted simulated trading of options based on the CSI300, Shanghai 180 and Shanghai 80 exchange-traded funds as well as options based on individual blue-chip shares such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Regulators plan to approve options based on exchange-traded funds first before moving on to individual stock options.
