- Measuring the actual/ optimal cost of Collateral, and measuring the expected cost over the life of a trade are two main challenges
- Limited resources, outdated internal infrastructures seen as constraints on calculation capabilities
Quantifi, a specialist provider of analytics, trading and risk management solutions, today published the results of a short survey conducted as part of its recent webinar on the Cost of Collateral for Clearing. Over 120 individuals from across the industry took part in the webinar, which was presented by Dr. Dmitry Pugachevsky, Director of Research at Quantifi. Delegates were surveyed on the challenges associated with clearing and how they plan to address them.
“The scope of regulatory reform is far reaching and is increasing the cost of capital and driving the need to more accurately measure the risks and profitability of OTC derivatives. These regulations have significantly increased collateral requirements for cleared trade.”
Dr. Pugachevsky, Head of Research, Quantifi
The introduction of Dodd-Frank, MiFID ll, EMIR and Basel lll is significantly increasing the cost of capital and forcing firms to re-evaluate the economics of their OTC trading businesses. Market best practice, implemented by the most sophisticated firms, now accurately measures all the components of a trade to analyze its profitability including credit valuation adjustment (CVA), Cost of Regulatory Capital (CRC) and Funding Valuation Adjustment (FVA). During the webinar Dr. Pugachevsky explained how regulations are impacting the costs associated with cleared and uncleared trades, the factors involved in optimising collateral including calculating margin variation adjustments (MVA) and OTC trade profitability (incorporating MTM, CVA hedges and all valuation adjustments); as well as a cost analysis of cleared vs uncleared IR swaps.
“The scope of regulatory reform is far reaching and is increasing the cost of capital and driving the need to more accurately measure the risks and profitability of OTC derivatives. These regulations have significantly increased collateral requirements for cleared trade. Therefore, quantifying the funding cost over the life of trade is important as future unfunded initial and variation margins can lead to a liquidity crunch. Optimising collateral over clearing/non-clearing decision or CCP selection requires a unified decision tool” comments Dr. Pugachevsky.
Survey results indicate:
- The main challenges faced by market participants are measuring the actual/optimal cost of collateral, and measuring the expected cost of collateral over the life of a trade
- The implication of these challenges is not just economic but operational, with 49% of respondents stating that priority over the next 12-18 months is implementing a new or upgrading existing risk system so that accurate calculations can be made
- 78% of respondents are considering either an external or a hybrid (buy & build) approach to collateral management technology. A key driver for this is the difficulty in gaining access to/limited internal resource to support internal build
“The results of this survey reflect what we are seeing in the marketplace as clients grapple with the challenges of accurately calculating all of the elements affecting trade profitability. Inadequate infrastructure has impacted the ability of firms to achieve this level of enhanced transparency in a seamless manner alongside other key elements of Basel III, EMIR and Dodd-Frank. The challenge remains as it is not just an issue for trade profitability but ultimately business profitability as well.” said Roland Jordan, Head of EMEA Sales, Quantifi.