Not with a bang
A chaotic launch for a set of electronic-trading platforms
IT WAS not the smoothest of starts. Swaps-market participants began to trade standardised derivatives on new electronic platforms called Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs) on October 2nd. Forcing over-the-counter derivatives trades—contracts that are transacted away from the gaze of regulators—on to visible trading platforms has long been a goal of world leaders keen to reform a shadowy market which they blame for the crisis in 2008. But inaugurating the new platforms could scarcely have been more chaotic.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Not with a bang”
From the October 5th 2013 edition
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