Welcome to Futures Industry
March 2012 Features
March 2012 Cover
30 Years with John Damgard
Joanne Morrison
Published 3/6/2012
John Damgard has served as president of the FIA since 1982. At the end of March he will step down from this position, but he leaves a strong legacy at both the FIA and the futures industry.

Under his leadership the association has grown to more than 270 members from nearly 30 countries. As the industry’s leading representative in Washington, the FIA has become a respected source of information about the trading and clearing of derivatives and a champion for free markets everywhere.

In his role as the public face of the industry, Damgard has testified countless times before Congressional committees and has worked with every presidential administration since Ronald Reagan. He has been widely recognized in the media as a premier spokesman on all issues related to the futures, options and over-the-counter cleared derivatives markets.

Please log in above to continue reading
Joanne Morrison is the deputy editor of Futures Industry .  Before joining the magazine in August 2008, Joanne was a senior economic correspondent at Reuters, covering a broad range of issues regarding financial markets and the global economy.
Annual Volume Survey
Will Acworth
Published 3/7/2012
The global listed derivatives markets enjoyed a solid but not spectacular increase in trading activity in 2011
Please log in above to continue reading
Will Acworth is the editor of Futures Industry magazine.
OTC Clearing In Asia
Will Acworth
Published 3/6/2012
All around the Asia-Pacific region, regulators are putting in place requirements for mandatory clearing of over-the-counter derivatives. At the same time, new services for the clearing of OTC derivatives are being developed in every major financial center in the region. While the landscape is still far from final, at least five countries are on track to have OTC clearing services available for some portion of the market by the end of this year.
Please log in above to continue reading
Will Acworth is the editor of Futures Industry magazine.
Clearing Interest Rate Swaps
Sasha Rozenberg and Udesh Jha
Published 3/6/2012
In 2011 CME Group launched a new service for clearing interest rate swaps. This service draws on our long history of clearing and builds on the strength of CME’s interest rate products business, which had an average daily value of $3.6 trillion in 2011 and over $28 trillion of notional outstanding.
Please log in above to continue reading
Sasha Rozenberg is managing director of OTC risk management and clearinghouse risk at CME Group. Udesh Jha is associate director of quant risk management and clearinghouse risk at CME Group.
Swaps Liquidity Aggregation
Kevin McPartland
Published 3/7/2012
Swap execution facilities don't technically exist yet and swaps market liquidity is not fragmented, so why all the talk about SEF aggregation? This is because tomorrow's market won't look anything like today's market.
Please log in above to continue reading
Kevin McPartland  is a principal and the director of fixed income research at Tabb Group. He has more than 10 years of capital markets industry experience and expertise in OTC derivatives and financial services technology. This article is based on a report he authored in January 2012.
Advertiser Index
Advertiser Index
March 2012 Departments
President's Message
John Damgard
Published 3/6/2012
Please log in to continue reading
John Damgard is the president of the Futures Industry Association.
News Briefs
FIA Staff
Published 3/6/2012
Please log in to continue reading
News Briefs: FIA Actions
FIA Staff
Published 3/6/2012
Please log in to continue reading
News Briefs: MF Global UPDATE
FIA Staff
Published 3/6/2012
Please log in to continue reading
Washington Watch:
Joanne Morrison
Published 3/7/2012

In the 18 months since Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has finalized nearly 30 different rulemakings related to the reporting, trading and clearing of derivatives.

Although there is still quite a bit of work to be done, CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler says the agency is still on track to complete the rulemaking process by the second half of this year. "As I've said all along, we are working to complete these rules in a thoughtful, balanced way—not against the clock," Gensler said at the agency's open meeting on Feb. 23.

It has not been a smooth process, however. The agency's two Republican commissioners, Jill Sommers and Scott O'Malia, have dissented on many of the rulemakings citing concerns about inadequate cost-benefit analysis, excessive complexity, extraterritorial impact and insufficient coordination with other regulators.

While some of the final rules cannot be implemented until other rules are finalized—the product and entity definitions in particular—much of the overall framework is now in place. The table below outlines certain Dodd-Frank rulemakings that have been finalized and several of the more important outstanding proposals, listed in reverse chronological order.

The table includes information about when the rulemaking was approved, how the CFTC commissioners voted, and references to the section of the Federal Register where the complete text of the rulemaking can be found.

Please log in to continue reading
Joanne Morrison is the deputy editor of Futures Industry .  Before joining the magazine in August 2008, Joanne was a senior economic correspondent at Reuters, covering a broad range of issues regarding financial markets and the global economy.
Tech Talk: Morgan Stanley and FIA Tech Cooperate to Introduce Additional Efficiency to the Give-Up Process
James Woods
Published 3/8/2012
Please log in to continue reading
James Woods is chief technology officer for FIA Technology Services.
@ Markets
FIA Staff
Published 3/6/2012
Please log in to continue reading
Prominent People
FIA Staff
Published 3/6/2012
Please log in to continue reading