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.
Following market consultation, the FCA announced that it was formally recognising the FX Global Code and the UK Money Markets Code on the 26th June. These are the first codes to be recognised under the FCA’s codes recognition scheme which was announced last year, to recognise industry codes for unregulated markets and activities. Both these codes have been written by and are owned by the industry and reflect their views of best practice.
