Derivatives

Wall Street banks have been freed from Dodd-Frank Act limits on political contributions intended to limit fraud in swaps with government pension plans.

Goldman Sachs Group, J.P. Morgan Chase and other firms may have until January to register swap-dealing units subject to the highest collateral and conduct standards under U.S. efforts to cut risk in the $648 trillion market.

The CFTC on Tuesday voted to define when trades are considered swaps under the Dodd-Frank Act, a step that triggers more than a dozen rules under the 2010 financial regulation overhaul.

J.P. Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon spent much of his time at a Senate hearing Wednesday firing back at the federal regulatory system.

The J.P. Morgan Chase derivatives fiasco, which reportedly has cost the bank in excess of $2 billion, is confirmation once again of the truth of Warren Buffett's observation, “Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction.”

Derivatives clearinghouses owned by CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange have been designated systemically important by U.S. regulators, a step that moves them closer to heightened supervision.

Options-based collar strategies would have outperformed the market in most asset classes while providing drastically reduced risk leading up to the financial crisis and the subsequent recovery, according to new research.

ICI up in arms over amendment to rule that exempted mutual funds from having to register with the CFTC as commodity pool operators.

According to a survey in Fitch Rating's latest fixed-income outlook, spread movements across all credit instruments are anticipated to tighten rather than widen this year. Expectations of tightening spreads are up significantly from the June 2011 survey. Response options also included "remain ...

The futures industry is recommending more rigorous reporting and internal controls for brokerages, as $1.6 billion of customer money is still unaccounted for after the bankruptcy of MF Global Holdings Ltd.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission may complete rules next week that set protections for swap traders' collateral as some hedge funds and mutual funds push for additional safety measures in the wake of the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd.