Recently, the gap between IBOR rates and the rates intended to replace them have widened. The new ‘Risk-Free Rates’ (RFRs) are, as the name suggests, (mostly) risk-free, whereas IBOR rates (by design) contain information about bank credit risk. In normal times, this spread is small, but in times of stress the gap between these two benchmarks widens.
As the coronavirus piles mounting pressure on businesses with sharply diminished activity levels and falling revenues, many are finding the pandemic is also impacting their FX hedge portfolio.
Without action, companies will be effectively running speculative FX positions at a time of high market volatility.
The BIS has released its 2019 Triennial Survey of Global FX and OTC Derivatives Markets. The statistics reveal further material growth over the last three years with average daily turnover rising to $6.6 trillion in April 2019, compared to $5.1 trillion in 2016. Derivatives have gained ground over Spot with FX swaps accounting for close to half of all trading in April and London has maintained its dominant position as the premier trading centre with 43% of the market.
To coincide with the release of this report, Andrew Hauser, Executive Director, Markets, at the Bank of England made a speech at TradeTech FX 2019[1] in Barcelona in which he made a call to arms for yet more firms to sign up to the FX Global Code of Conduct, particularly on the buyside.
