Feature
Europe's carbon market begins long road to recovery
A critical July 3 vote in the European Parliament has brought the world's largest carbon market back from the brink of collapse. But participants say structural reform remains necessary to secure its future – and this is a long way off. Mark Nicholls…
Uncertainty rules in Australian electricity derivatives market
Australia's electricity derivatives market had been picking up since the global financial crisis, but volumes have declined in recent years. Firms blame the slowdown on a combination of slim trading opportunities and uncertainty over plans to curb…
US power hedging suffers from low prices
Low power prices have dented the need for electricity producers and consumers to hedge with derivatives, while regulatory reform is also making life difficult for market-makers. But market participants are optimistic the trend could be reversed. Pauline…
Ferc chairman to step down
Glencore Xstrata poaches Morgan Stanley LNG team; CME Group adds former bank commodity head; Tullett Prebon hires Icap weather broker; LME chief executive resigns; SEB replaces commodity chief
Futurisation dooms energy swap execution facilities
The US Dodd-Frank Act envisioned a new type of trading venue for over-the-counter derivatives, known as swap execution facilities (Sefs). But in the energy markets, at least, it appears Sefs are dead and traditional futures exchanges have emerged…
PRAs under attack amid market manipulation investigations
Price reporting agencies (PRAs) are facing intense scrutiny from regulators, amid renewed allegations that their widely used price indexes are being manipulated by unscrupulous energy traders. Will the PRAs be forced to change their ways? Alexander…
Commodity derivatives regulation gathers pace outside EU and US
Although much of the recent focus has been on rules in the European Union and the US, other jurisdictions across the globe are also weighing changes to the way they regulate over-the-counter commodity derivatives. In some cases, these could have…
Applied risk management series: Optimising commodity hedging programmes
The design and optimisation of a successful commodity hedging programme requires solid backtesting that meets the needs of different business functions. Using a recent case study, Carlos Blanco and Tamir Druz show how various tests can complement and…
Uneconomic trading, market manipulation and baseball
Regulators, including the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, are aggressively targeting uneconomic trading in a crackdown on potential market manipulation. Such moves have striking parallels in the history of baseball - some of which might prove…
