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Editor's note: Due to an unusually heavy workload, not helped by the hurricanes that passed over the Mustang Monthly offices, we were unfortunately unable to attend the Pony Trails event […]

Presents a dissertation titled "The Identity Of Abaddon/Apollyon In Revelation 9:11," by Joe David Walters submitted to the Dallas Theological Seminary in partial fulfillment of requirement for the degree master of theology. Representation of a literal being based on historical consideration; Revival of interest in ancient pagan religions; Prophesy of a New Age rapture.

CME's TriOptima has said it is focusing on buy-side firms as it rolls-out an automated collateral settlement service via the Swift payment system. Speaking to Global Investor, product manager at TriOptima, Joakim Stromberg, said: "This new service automates the whole collateral settlement process. When asked what gives TriOptima an advantage over competitors, Stromberg said: "There are a lot of options when it comes to margin collateral management and ultimately clients will go with whatever is best for them. [Extracted from the article]

SSY Futures has announced the signings of Jake Constable as a senior LME broker and Richard Fowler as a research and derivatives analyst. In March 2019 SSY Futures became the first registered intermediating broker on the LME, in a deal designed to spur liquidity. [Extracted from the article]

European Energy Exchange (EEX) has migrated 90% of Nasdaq Futures (NFX) freight open interest to its clearing house, as 10% went to its rival Singapore Exchange (SGX), according to an executive at EEX. In November 2019, EEX bought NFX, with its freight open interest heading to EEX and the remaining power contracts heading to EEX's US exchange Nodal. [Extracted from the article]

Singapore Exchange has launched cash-settled methanol futures and swap contracts based on the S&P Global Platts daily methanol prices. The two contracts are the SGX Platt methanol CFR China Swap and the SGX Platt methanol CFR China futures and they are available across 12 consecutive contract months. [Extracted from the article]

The founder and chief executive of trading technology firm Matrix Executions has spoken about the journey from selling his firm to starting a new one that is in direct competition with his former project. Tony Saliba founded Matrix in 2018, having previously started the tech firm LiquidPoint which was sold to ConvergEx in 2007 and eventually merged into Dash Financial Technologies. As chief executive of Matrix, Saliba is now in competition with Dash in providing trading technology to traders, brokers and exchanges. [Extracted from the article]

The Bank of England (BoE) has announced the introduction of a Sonia index and an increase in haircuts to help with the transition away from Libor. The BoE will also be increasing haircuts progressively on Libor-linked collateral that it lends against, in order to give firms time to replace that collateral with the alternative rates. [Extracted from the article]

Trading Technologies has announced that it has been named Blocksize Capital's preferred front-end execution platform. A release on February 26 by the firm, based in Chicago, stated that Blocksize Capital's clients will be able to view market data for over 20 cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto assets on TT. [Extracted from the article]

TraditionDATA, the inter-dealer broker's data arm, has seen a rise in demand for SOFR data as trading activity in the benchmark rate increased during January 2020. In response to industry concerns, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) is holding a consultation on whether fallback rates should be included as standard in the Isda contract terms. [Extracted from the article]

Trade surveillance firm Eventus Systems has said it aims to double its number of staff by the end of 2020, having raised $10.5 million (£8m) in growth capital. The Austin-based Eventus raised the funds in a series A investment round from a group of investors led by Jump Capital and LiveOak Venture Partners. With Eventus already providing services to Coinbase and other cryptocurrency exchanges, Schwab said: "There are unique opportunities and challenges that come with the digital asset market. [Extracted from the article]

Bloomberg is aiming to integrate its derivatives library solution to more regional banks in the coming months, according to an executive at the firm. Faraj went into more detail on what advantages the derivatives library brings to buy side firms, stating: "The Bloomberg Derivatives Library makes communication between the sell side and the buy side seamless, easy and fast. As pre-trade analytics that buy-side firms ordinarily would have to request from the sell-side can easily be performed using the Derivatives Library, our solution can cut processes that would take hours down into minutes". [Extracted from the article]

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has introduced reporting for uncleared margin data and simplified the broader swap data reporting rules, subject to a 90-day comment period. In a series of public statements released on February 20, the US regulator unanimously approved two rule changes on swap data reporting that will amend part 45 of the Commodity Exchange Act and require the reporting of uncleared margin data for the first time. Despite this, previous CFTC chair, Mark Wetjen, who was at the CFTC during the initial period of reform, told Global Investor that he was "impressed with the approach" of the current administration. [Extracted from the article]

LCH plans to start clearing options on US CDX indices by the end of June, according to an executive at the firm. Amakye's comments follow the launch of clearing on European subordinated financials credit derivatives, making LCH the first clearing house to offer a service on this asset class. [Extracted from the article]

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association have said they will hold a conference on benchmark reforms including the migration from Libor on February 26. There is also the possibility that the Libor rate could become unrepresentative before the actual cessation date, due to panel banks not providing enough information to set the rate. [Extracted from the article]

The Japan Exchange Group (JPX) said it has cancelled all public events due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The Risk Management Association (RMA) also postponed its 17th Annual PASLA/RMA conference on Asian securities lending. [Extracted from the article]

Deutsche Boerse saw profit up a tenth in 2019, according to figures released by the German exchange giant on Monday. Euronext, a European rival to Deutsche Boerse, said in February it was able to increase revenue and profit in 2019 in the face of a trading slowdown due to fee changes and takeovers. [Extracted from the article]

Around half of the £25 trillion of sterling Libor derivatives had maturity dates beyond the planned cessation of the maligned lending rate in 2021, according to the UK watchdog citing data from August 2019. Regulators have warned market participants they will have to transition away from Libor before the 2021 deadline if it becomes unrepresentative because banks have stopped providing adequate information to set the rate. [Extracted from the article]

Intercontinental Exchange has partnered with index firm S&P Global Platts to develop a new version of its market data platform ICE Connect specifically for the global oil markets. President of ICE Data Services Lynn Martin said: "As adoption of our ICE Connect platform continues to grow, we're pleased to offer our customers powerful new tools in the global oil markets, including Platts' leading analytics, through an efficient delivery mechanism". [Extracted from the article]

Risk, volatility and seasonality rather than volumes determine margin levels, the CME has said about a report that showed margin has lagged volumes. Tucker did acknowledge that, if trading increased in lower volatility products relative to higher volatility products, then this could lead to a change in the overall risk profile that could result in legitimately lower margin requirements. [Extracted from the article]

The failure of growth in initial margin to keep up with the expansion of the market is likely due to increased offsetting, according to the head of the CCP12. Zickwolff questioned the assumption that margin growth should perfectly match volume growth, stating: "The rate of growth in total initial margin is not perfectly correlated with volume growth as volatility also plays a major role. Zickwolff also commented on the over 700% increase in trading of over-the-counter (OTC) uncleared interest rate derivatives between 2016 and last year. [Extracted from the article]

Societe Generale's (SocGen) commodity trading advisor (CTA) indices posted a strong performance in January, with all indices up. The CTA index closed last month up 0.83%, the trend index increased 0.89% as the CTAM index was up a more modest 0.26%. [Extracted from the article]

CME Group, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Deutsche Boerse and Nasdaq, the large exchanges that offer environmental, social and governance (ESG) products, have reflected on their own environmental performance. CME, ICE, Deutsche Boerse's Eurex and Nasdaq have launched ESG futures contracts in the past 16 months. In October 2018 Nasdaq Nordic launched the first ESG compliant index futures contract, followed by ICE and CME launching ESG products in November 2019. [Extracted from the article]

The London Metal Exchange has cancelled a dinner and postponed a seminar in Hong Kong due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The LME Asia Dinner and the LME Asia Seminar were set to be held on May 6 in Hong Kong. [Extracted from the article]

Deutsche Boerse has extended the contract of its chief executive Theodor Weimer by Deutsche Boerse's Eurex exchange has launched a number of new products recently, including new environmental, social and governance futures in February and the first collateral index total return futures in January. [Extracted from the article]

The Miami International Securities Exchange (MIAX) is planning to expand into the digital asset space, according to new executive vice president Mark Wetjen. In an interview with Global Investor, Wetjen said: "At Miax we think that derivatives on cryptocurrencies offer a lot of potential, as well as other types of digitised assets. When asked about the implications of the growth of the cryptocurrency market on wider financial stability, Wetjen said: "I don't think cryptocurrencies are big enough to have any meaningful impact on financial stability at this stage. [Extracted from the article]

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner Rostin Behnam has called for fallback rates to be implemented as standard in International Swaps and Derivatives Association contracts. In the same statement the FCA called for Isda to insert a pre-cessation fallback rate in contracts to mitigate the risks associated with an unrepresentative Libor. [Extracted from the article]

Central banks should consider requiring higher margins if the subdued growth of total initial margin is due to lower margin demands by clearing houses, according to the former deputy governor of the Bank of England. In a report released on February 12 by the CCP12, the trade body revealed that total initial margin held by the four largest interest rate derivatives central counterparties (CCPs) rose 75% between 2016-2019, to over $200 billion (£154bn), while the value of cleared interest rates derivatives grew 106% over the same period, to $2.64 trillion. Given current economic conditions in which volatility in markets might be suppressed as a side-effect of the monetary stimulus, I would expect a prudent financial-stability policymaker to want the CCPs to be raising margin requirements". [Extracted from the article]

US regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has stressed that commodity pool operators (CPO) that trade digital assets need to be compliant with regulations. Sterling outlined the disclosures CPO's must undertake, stating: "CFTC's regulations governing commodity pool disclosures contain many important provisions that focus on risks, return characteristics, and associated expenses". [Extracted from the article]

The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) has called for greater oversight of hedge funds, asset managers and other non-bank financial institutions. It also states: "The natural next step would then be to develop a macro-prudential toolkit for non-bank financial institutions, taking into account the variety of business models and institutions within this sector". [Extracted from the article]

The Moscow Exchange (Moex) has announced the launch of futures contracts on the US dollar denominated Russian secured funding average rate (Rusfar). The US dollar Rusfar tracks rates of central counterparty (CCP) cleared repo trades secured with US dollar denominated collateral on Moex's money market. [Extracted from the article]

Durkin currently oversees the company's technology, global operations, market technology and data services. Commenting on the development, chief executive of CME, Terry Duffy, said: "As a long-standing champion of the futures industry, Bryan has been an integral part of our leadership team for more than a decade". [Extracted from the article]

The increase can be attributed in part to substantial triple digit growth in certain products, including a 457% increase in trading on egg derivatives. In January a Chinese regulator prohibited "speculative" derivatives trading by state-owned enterprises. [Extracted from the article]

The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) and CME Group have released data that shows a substantial increase in the trading of equity derivatives in January. Equity derivatives clearing house OCC said it experienced its highest January trading numbers on record and the third highest month overall. [Extracted from the article]

Asset managers are continuing to use credit default swaps (CDS), as other market participants cut down their positions, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Gross positions on single name CDS, that is a CDS on a single debt instrument, fell universally according to the CFTC study. Since the financial crisis, regulatory bodies have taken steps to encourage CDS to be cleared by central counterparties, which has, in turn, led to exchange-like CDS products and reduced the overall size of the CDS market. [Extracted from the article]

The Japan Exchange Group (JPX) has seen triple digit monthly volume growth in certain options contracts for the month of January, with overall volume up 6%, according to data from the exchange. Trading of TSE REIT index futures experienced the largest increase on the exchange, with a 358% increase to just shy of 50 thousand contracts for the month. The overall increase and the triple digit growth in longstanding contracts experienced by JPX follows the news in January that Asian exchanges outperformed their western counterparts in 2019. [Extracted from the article]

The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has announced its best month in the trading of gold futures since 2008. According to data from the exchange, the trading of gold futures products in January increased by 515% when compared with January 2019, with the exchange attributing this to increasing geopolitical tensions. [Extracted from the article]

Societe Generale (SocGen) has announced a long-term partnership with technology provider Nuvo Prime. The system, which is set to go live in the third quarter of this year, will provide SocGen's clients with swap products using best-in-class cloud technology. [Extracted from the article]

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and Cboe Global Markets experienced a bumper trading month in January, bringing a period of declining volumes to an end at the major European and American exchanges. According to data released by ICE on February 6, its European market ICE Futures Europe saw trading volume in January rise 31% on January 2019 to 119.4 million lots. According to data released on February 5 by Cboe Global Markets, January 2020 derivatives trading volume on the Chicago-based equity futures and options exchange increased 24% on January last year, to 198 million contracts. [Extracted from the article]

Trading revenue at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) increased in 2019, despite fourth quarter trading earnings being down compared with the same period in 2018. The 2019 net revenue growth comes despite ICE's trading volume declining in 2019. [Extracted from the article]

The proprietary trading group OSTC has hired a director from HSBC and reshuffled its senior management to increase its focus on innovation. Hodgkinson added: "ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) will be a major focus of Ian's, where he will be assessing innovative trading products that will help firms like ours reduce their carbon footprint". [Extracted from the article]

Gmex and the Digital Partners Network (DPN) have announced the launch of the Seychelles-based Securities, Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (Secdex), which will offer a regulated space for cryptocurrency trading. In 2018 Gmex developed blockchain-based technology which allows greater real-time collateral optimisation and usage, which Misra believes will change the process of clearing. [Extracted from the article]

Skytra, the new air travel derivatives venue being developed by Airbus, has said the firm will deploy liquidity schemes to ensure its markets are liquid when it launches at the end of this year. Simpkin also hinted at future measures Skytra will take to make markets, stating: "We are currently exploring how we will incentivise liquidity providers to participate in the market and we are quietly confident that we will be able to effectively match the buyers and sellers". [Extracted from the article]

Eurex has announced the launch of collateral index total return futures (TRF), which are the first contracts of this type on any exchange. The collateral index futures are designed to supplement the index TRFs already offered and provide a hedging tool for buy-side investors. [Extracted from the article]