Interest Rates Archives - Page 2 of 7

Navigating EMIR 3.0 Active Account Requirements (AAR)

With the introduction of the Active Account Requirement (AAR) under EMIR 3.0 on 25 June 2025, ensuring your clearing workflows meet the mandatory Operational and Representativeness criteria is critical.

Reporting compliance with the new requirements is expected on a regular basis for EU entities, with the first ESMA reporting date approaching soon at the end of July 2026.

Having guided the industry through major regulatory changes and rewrites, OSTTRA provides the proven tools and expertise to help you navigate these new obligations with total confidence.

Our solutions

Operational eligibility: We partner with your firm to determine eligibility for Operational Conditions, leveraging our unmatched connectivity with both EU and non-EU CCPs via OSTTRA MarkitWire.
Simulation testing: Our proven UAT services streamline the required annual stress tests, certifying your end-to-end compliance and capacity to manage increased clearing activity seamlessly.

Next steps

If you are looking to validate your operational readiness or require support in meeting the upcoming ESMA reporting deadlines, please reach out to your Client Relationship Manager or contact our team.

Supporting Poland’s Benchmark Reform: OSTTRA Connect Adds POLSTR Support

OSTTRA Connect is supporting Poland’s benchmark reform efforts, led by the National Working Group, by launching support for Overnight Index Swap (OIS) transactions referencing the POLSTR index.

As a leader in supporting global interest rate derivatives benchmark reform, we have extended OSTTRA Connect to facilitate the electronic confirmation of OIS referencing the Polish Short Term Rate (POLSTR). POLSTR is the selected risk-free rate (RFR) replacement for the WIBOR and WIBID benchmarks.

This new capability on OSTTRA Connect aims to support the Q1 2026 implementation phase goal of increasing market liquidity by enabling banks to enter into and confirm POLSTR OIS bilateral derivatives.

By the end of February 2026, less than two weeks after introducing support, we had seen the first confirmed POLSTR OIS transactions on OSTTRA Connect.

The platform also supports connectivity for OTC Rates clearing to major international clearing houses, several of which are expected to offer central clearing for POLSTR OIS derivatives, as well as providing upstream connectivity to voice and electronic trading venues.

June Update: The first cleared OIS trades referencing the POLSTR index have now been successfully processed via OSTTRA Connect and cleared at KDPW_CCP. These landmark transactions signal a major step forward in launching central clearing for the interest rate derivatives market based on the new overnight reference rate and in helping build liquidity.

July Update: OSTTRA Connect has now successfully processed its first POLSTR OIS trade cleared at EUREX. This continues our role in helping establish central clearing for POLSTR OIS through our broad network of connectivity to international clearing houses.

August Update: OSTTRA Connect has achieved a major milestone in Poland’s benchmark reform by successfully processing live POLSTR OIS trades for multiple banks and brokers across all three supporting European clearing houses: EUREX, KDPW_CCP, and LCH SwapClear.

Market Developments and POLSTR Transition

The Steering Committee of the National Working Group has adopted an updated roadmap for replacing the WIBOR and WIBID benchmarks, which outlines significant market changes anticipated in 2026:

Debt Issuances: The launch of new debt instruments (such as bank, corporate, and municipal bonds) linked to the POLSTR index or a fixed interest rate.
Central Clearing Readiness: National and foreign clearing houses with CPP status are expected to achieve the necessary operational and regulatory readiness to commence central clearing of POLSTR OIS derivative transactions.
Market Shift: A transition in the POLSTR OIS derivatives market from bilateral to predominantly centrally cleared transactions is expected.
Liquidity Development: The OIS market is projected to gradually achieve the required liquidity necessary to establish the term structure for POLSTR.

On 18 May 2026, the Benchmark Administrator for WIBOR and WIBID, GPW Benchmark S.A.(GPW), announced the future cessation date for all remaining key fixing tenors (1 month, 3 months and 6 months). The last rate publication date of these tenors will be 31 December 2036.

Following on from the GPW announcement, the KNF (Polish Financial Supervision Authority) released a communication which included additional expectations stating that no new financial contracts or instruments referencing WIBOR or WIBID should be entered into after the end of 2026.

The KNF stated that from 1 January 2027, the WIBOR and WIBID Reference Rates will be used exclusively for legacy exposures during the wind-down period, while remaining subject to public oversight.

The communication acknowledged that an update to the existing reform implementation timetable would be required. This was subsequently published in June 2026.

CDOR countdown: OSTTRA powers through 300,000 trades in major benchmark shift

LONDON 26 June 2024 – OSTTRA, a global post-trade solutions provider, has processed over 300,000 cleared Canadian Dollar Offered Rate (CDOR) trades through CCP Sync on its MarkitWire platform for more than 60 customers over the past month, as the industry moves towards finalising the transition to Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average (CORRA) on 28 June.

The Canadian Dollar Offered Rate (CDOR) is the latest legacy benchmark rate, commonly referred to as the IBORs (Interbank Offer Rates), being replaced with new alternative transaction-based benchmark interest rates in the majority of regions across the globe. Transitioning these benchmarks affects a significant portion of the swaps market and OSTTRA customers. Interest rate swaps use benchmarks like LIBOR or its replacements (such as CORRA) to determine floating rate payments.

CCP Sync supports the transition events and allows OSTTRA MarkitWire to capture the results of any post clearing activity, including compression, from multiple CCPs, delivering the results to customers in a consistent format via existing connectivity.

Melissa Younger, Head of Rates & Credit Trade Processing at OSTTRA, added: “Our ability to process such a high volume of CAD trades successfully highlights our commitment to facilitating a smooth transition for our customers, who value our expertise and partnership. Comprehensive support, consistent processing across multiple CCPs and innovative solutions are key to ensuring the industry continues to adjust smoothly to new benchmark rates.”

OSTTRA triReduce compressed USD 684billion in the new benchmark during the week following the LCH transition event.

The market will turn its attention to the Mexican TIIE and Euroyen TIBOR in Q4. In the run up to these events, OSTTRA will provide customers with testing that mirrors live infrastructure, alongside technical support to ensure readiness for the dress rehearsals that run in advance of live events with multiple CCPs. As customers seek to reduce their exposure to legacy benchmarks, OSTTRA triReduce has already completed a record H1 in MXN at CME with USD 1.4 trillion compressed and more cycles scheduled.

To find out more, talk to a member of our team at at info@osttra.com.

OSTTRA Launches New Service for Cross-Currency Swap (CCS) Conversion From LIBOR to Risk-Free Rates

LONDON, 07 June 2023 – OSTTRA, the global post-trade solutions company, today announced it has successfully delivered the first cross-currency swap conversions of USD/SGD swaps from SOR to SORA. The service will expand to cover other indices subject to cessation in the coming months.

OSTTRA has been working with the industry since 2021 to enable market participants to overcome the complex challenge of transitioning from legacy Libor benchmarks to new risk-free rates (RFRs). The latest service, an industry first, facilitates the multilateral conversion of uncleared cross-currency swaps away from legacy benchmarks to alternative risk-free rates (RFR).

The conversion process generates overlay transactions, in the form of market standard interest rate swaps and overnight index swaps, which are submitted to clearing, minimising the risk and present value (PV) impact. Any remaining PV impact from the overlay trades is settled in cash between the participants of the conversion run, making the process market risk neutral.

The first multilateral conversion, for USD/SGD swaps, was completed by eleven market participants, whilst a second conversion was performed by twenty-one participants ahead of CCP conversion for the SGD SOR benchmark. The service is also available to customers with legacy benchmark exposure in cross-currency swaps referencing other indices subject to cessation, including those in MXN, PLN, ZAR and CAD.

The new conversion service is delivered by OSTTRA triReduce and triBalance, while connectivity to CCPs for the overlay swaps is provided via OSTTRA MarkitWire. The process has been carefully coordinated with a highly engaged group of market participants.

“As one of the largest market makers in SGD derivatives, DBS is actively working with OSTTRA to convert its bilateral SOR cross currency swaps into SORA in preparation for a smooth industry transition to SORA. Through close collaboration with key industry players, an innovative solution was developed to reduce legacy SOR positions in the industry in line with regulatory requirements.”

– Andrew Ng, Group Head, Treasury & Markets, DBS Bank

“OCBC Bank is proud to have participated in the inaugural CCS conversion in the SGD rate derivative market. We remain committed to working with the industry and our clients towards the transitioning of SOR to SORA, and the overall development of Singapore as a key financial centre.”

– Kenneth Lai, Head, Global Treasury, OCBC Bank

“UOB has been actively working with OSTTRA and is pleased to have participated in the Bilateral USD/SGD Cross-Currency Swaps conversion from SOR to SORA. This partnership paves the way for a smooth IBOR transition for SOR/SORA. We are very encouraged by this collaboration and look forward to working closely with the industry participants and OSTTRA in the future development of the SGD derivatives markets.”

– Leslie Foo, Group Head, Global Markets, UOB

“Our engagement with the industry over the last two years highlighted that market participants are committed to finding innovative solutions to reduce their exposure to legacy benchmarks. We are pleased to provide our non-cleared conversion service to help market participants overcome the technological and operational challenges of implementing fallback procedures and waiting until the deadlines for the respective legacy rates.”

– Vikash Rughani, Business manager at OSTTRA triReduce and triBalance

Find more information on how OSTTRA is supporting benchmark reform here.

WatersTechnology Asia Awards 2025: Best middle-office platform—OSTTRA

Overview

OSTTRA MarkitWire is an electronic platform developed to process over-the-counter (OTC) derivative trades, while simultaneously optimizing straight-through processing (STP) and reducing operational risk. OSTTRA’s legal confirmation is a critical key to the platform, providing a golden source of agreed electronic derivative contract information to market counterparties, and creating a point of agreement and standardization that ensures trust between all counterparties. Using this record in downstream T+1 activities lowers the resource burden and operational complexity for operations teams managing increasing trade volumes. Beyond the matching process, MarkitWire also helps firms connect to industry clearinghouses, regulatory reporting repositories, and settlement partners.

“OSTTRA MarkitWire is the backbone of OTC derivatives post-trade, driving trust and efficiency through automation and standardization”

Michael Wilshere, head of rates trade processing, OSTTRA.

The solution

OSTTRA MarkitWire provides capital markets firms on both sides of the industry with a standardized, legally robust trade confirmation platform that automates post-trade processes efficiently while reducing operational risk. It ensures regulatory compliance via transparency and audit trails, regulatory reporting, clearing connectivity, and supports market reforms like benchmark transitions. With T+0 and T+1 operational alignment, confirmed trades are viewable directly in OSTTRA triResolve, the firm’s portfolio reconciliation service. This integration promotes data standardization for reconciliation, yielding improved efficiency, cost reduction, and greater counterparty transparency.

Secret sauce

OSTTRA’s network comprises some 1,600 counterparties and 12 central clearing counterparties (CCPs) and supports 10 regulatory regimes. In 2024, it processed $1.25 quadrillion new notional across a range of asset classes for participants, including over 260 dealers, 65 inter-dealer brokers and 13,000 active legal entities. Initially developed and launched in 2003, OSTTRA MarkitWire is used by investment managers, hedge funds, dealers, inter-dealer brokers and trading venues with 40 new entities joining the network in 2024.

Recent milestones

Processed $1.25 quadrillion in notional volume (during 2024) and onboarded over 40 new entities
Supported 150,000 Mexican TIIE transition, 300,000 Canadian CDOR transition and 19,000 Israeli Telbor contracts
Expanded CCP connectivity and multi-regime compliance

Future objectives

Facilitate upcoming benchmark reforms across global markets
Enhance T+1 alignment with triResolve for faster reconciliations
Broaden asset class coverage and regulatory support

Why they won

OSTTRA wins the best middle-office platform category in this year’s WatersTchnology Asia Awards by virtue of its ever-popular OSTTRA MarkitWire electronic platform developed to process OTC derivative trades, while simultaneously enhancing automation levels and reducing operational risk for user-firms. Any platform that adds transparency and operational and regulatory robustness to the global OTC derivatives market and the processing of trades will ultimately be embraced by market participants, a notion underlined by the addition of 40 new entities to the platform over the last year.

‘The sheer number of dealers, inter-dealer brokers and other users is all the proof anyone needs that OSTTRA MarkitWire is addressing very real, day-to-day challenges faced by OTC derivatives market participants.’

The platform ensures regulatory compliance via transparency and audit trails, regulatory reporting, clearing connectivity, and supports market reforms like benchmark transitions, while confirmed trades are viewable directly in OSTTRA triResolve, the firm’s portfolio reconciliation service.

Originally published at waterstechnology.com

ISDA’s 2021 Definitions Hit Key Adoption Landmark

ISDA and post-trade services provider OSTTRA have announced that the interest rate derivatives market has overwhelmingly transitioned to the 2021 ISDA Interest Rate Derivatives Definitions, hitting a key adoption landmark six months after implementation.

All major central counterparties incorporated the new definitions into their rule books in the last quarter of 2021, meaning all legacy and new cleared trades reference the 2021 Definitions, accounting for approximately 75% of the total interest rate derivatives market. Latest figures from OSTTRA’s MarkitWire platform show that 68% of non-cleared interdealer and 65% of non-cleared client interest rate derivatives electronically confirmed on the platform also now reference the new definitions…

To continue reading click here, or contact us at info@osttra.com.

Navigating Taiwan’s New Clearing Mandate for TWD IRS

The Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) plays a central role in Taiwan’s derivatives market, offering a regulated platform for trading futures and options across multiple asset classes. As part of broader efforts to strengthen financial market infrastructure and align with global best practices, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has mandated central clearing for Taiwan Dollar Interest Rate Swaps (TWD IRS), effective 1 July 2025. This significant development marks a new chapter in Taiwan’s interest rate derivatives market, with the aim of increasing transparency, reducing systemic risk, and improving operational resilience.

Key Challenge: Transition to Mandatory Clearing

For many market participants, particularly those accustomed to bilateral workflows, adapting to the new central clearing requirements presents significant challenges. These include

Operational and technology changes needed to support central clearing workflows.
Coordination with multiple counterparties, clearing members, and infrastructure providers.
Increased pressure to meet T+0 trade affirmation and confirmation timelines.
Change management and cost concerns, particularly among firms with limited prior exposure to clearing.
Compliance failures can lead to penalties and operational disruptions.

The OSTTRA Role and Solution

OSTTRA, a leading provider of post-trade infrastructure, is well-positioned to support market participants through this transition. Our established OSTTRA Markitwire confirmation platform offers:

Strong network connectivity to global and regional counterparties.
T+0 trade matching and affirmation, enabling timely and accurate submission to clearing.
Multi-workflow support that allows firms to continue with existing bilateral models while preparing for central clearing.
Resilient and scalable infrastructure ensures clients can handle increasing trade volumes and maintain operational continuity even during peak periods.
A proven track record in helping firms navigate similar regulatory shifts in other markets.
Extensive expertise developed over more than 20 years of supporting the derivatives market.

By offering scalable and interoperable post-trade solutions, OSTTRA reduces the friction of adoption and supports a smoother path to compliance with the upcoming clearing mandate.

Navigating the Final Countdown to US Treasury Clearing: A Unified Path to Compliance

With the first SEC mandate deadline now just months away (December 31, 2026), the industry has moved into a critical phase of operational execution. For market participants, the priority has transitioned from high-level scoping to the practical implementation of “Done-Away” clearing workflows.

To meet this challenge, OSTTRA is providing a gateway to mandated clearing. Rather than addressing these changes in silos, we are mobilising our established clearing expertise across two core pillars – limit management and lifecycle orchestration. This end-to-end approach helps firms maintain high-speed risk checks while establishing a robust, transparent workflow for submission into clearing.

1. Certainty of Acceptance: Real-Time Risk Validation

The move to an agency model introduces a critical bottleneck: the need for near-instant credit validation before a trade is accepted for clearing. OSTTRA facilitates this through LimitHub, a high-performance risk engine that bridges the gap between execution and the clearing member.

Following the successful rollout of our Repo and Cash UAT environments, we are working with firms to achieve certainty of clearing member acceptance. By validating trades against limits in real-time controlled by FCMs (Futures Commission Merchants) and ACMs (Agent Clearing Members), we provide several key performance and connectivity advantages:

Performance at Scale: Supporting low latency RFQ (limit checks often responded to in milliseconds) and a carved out Push Limit to support ultra-low-latency models such as CLOB and Streaming Pricing.
Broad Connectivity: An established network connecting 16 clearing members, 15+ venues, and over 900 investment firms.
Flexible Risk Guardrails: Support for Notional, Initial Margin, and DV01 limit methodologies across the full spectrum of US Government instruments.

2. Operational Resilience: Standardising the Repo Lifecycle

Beyond the point of execution, the complexity of matching and affirmation requires a standardised middleware layer. OSTTRA Connect (formerly MarkitWire) serves as this orchestration layer, leveraging the same architecture that has underpinned the OTC derivatives market for over two decades.

Furthermore, OSTTRA Trade Manager offers seamless native integration with OSTTRA Connect, providing the investment management community with a consolidated view of their trading activity across multiple asset classes and workflows.

By centralising the post-trade workflow, we offer a definitive, transparent workflow for every trade, encompassing:

Real-Time Affirmation: Advanced matching capabilities that allow trade details to be confirmed with counterparties as close to execution as possible. For both cleared and non-cleared repo, our service normalises real-time data and tracks lifecycle events to enhance data integrity ahead of CCP submission or to prevent settlement fails – a critical safeguard in the current T+1 environment.
CCP Connectivity: Streamlined submission of matched UST repo (including triparty) to CCPs, with real-time tracking of clearing status.
Flexible Allocation Models: Proven workflows for both pre-trade block and allocation workflows, as well as post-trade bunched order processing. By providing standardised fund allocation splits, we enable seamless straight-through processing for buy-side participants across all execution styles.

A Collaborative Path to Your Compliance

As the 2026 and 2027 deadlines approach, the window for testing and implementation is narrowing. At OSTTRA, we believe that industry readiness is a collective effort. We are currently leading active working groups with a broad range of FCMs/ACMs and Trading Venues to ensure our integrated platform aligns with the evolving needs of the US Treasury market.

Get Involved: We invite you to join our ongoing industry working groups or begin your own transition within our UST-ready UAT environment.

Contact our Treasury Clearing Experts to map your path to your compliance.

We acknowledge the industry’s concerns regarding scalability, profitability, and technology investment. We are working closely with market participants to develop solutions that address these challenges.

As the industry prepares for these regulatory changes, OSTTRA is committed to providing adaptable and efficient solutions.

This page will be updated as regulatory developments and industry needs evolve.

We encourage you to contact us to discuss your specific requirements and how we can help you navigate the evolving landscape of US Treasury clearing. For more information, please complete the form below.

OSTTRA MarkitWire for the Inter-Dealer Broker (IDB) and Trading Venue Community

OSTTRA MarkitWire is a cornerstone of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market providing comprehensive trade processing and workflow solutions.

With a strong focus on automation and standardisation, the platform supports trade submission, affirmation, confirmation and clearing connectivity for more than 65 electronic brokers and regulated venues.

It offers a market-leading industry solution for the inter-dealer broker (IDB) and trading venue community – streamlining post-trade processes, reducing operational risk and improving efficiency.

Highlights:

Broad asset class coverage: Supports a wide range of OTC derivative products, across interest rates, credit and equity
Standardised workflows:
- Brokerage fee agreement workflow (46 currencies)
- Dealer to dealer (D2D) flows
- Dealer to client (D2C) flows

Connectivity:
- Provides seamless connectivity to 12 central clearing counterparties (CCPs)
- Trade submissions across 8 venue types with multi jurisdiction reporting

Extensive network:
- An active customer network of 260+ dealers and 1,600 end users
- End-to-End Solutions: Offers a complete suite of post-trade services, from trade affirmation and confirmation to clearing and regulatory reporting

Additional Features

Auto processing (direct automatic STP to clearing)
Dispute resolution
Anonymous trade functionality
Package trade clearing
Bunched order for participating clients
Package identifier fields
Clearing and compliance reports
Introducing broker workflow

For more information contact info@osttra.com or complete the form below.

Compression service by OSTTRA unlocks additional compression potential for G-SIBs

LONDON, 2 November 2022 – OSTTRA, the global post-trade solutions company, today announced that its market-leading portfolio compression service, OSTTRA triReduce, has compressed $26.4 trillion of interest rate derivatives in September as Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBS) look to reduce notionals before year-end.

More than $1 trillion in additional notional was compressed in September as a result of OSTTRA triReduce’s innovative trade refactoring solution. The patented solution, currently implemented by four financial institutions, transforms swaps portfolios to efficiently minimise gross notional exposures. Previously, market participants would experience a build-up of historic trades lacking the necessary offsets to unlock compression. Trade refactoring opens the historic population of trades, which can lead to a lower steady state of gross notional. This method has delivered an increase of nearly a third (30%) in gross notional compressed for market participants vs September last year.

“Being classified as a G-SIB is a fundamental component of financial institutions’ overall regulatory capital. It is key for banks to have a detailed understanding of their G-SIB scores, particularly as classification is assessed relative to their peers,” said Magnus Jonsson, head of business management triReduce and triBalance, at OSTTRA. “The challenge is that G-SIB assessments are highly sensitive to gross notional of derivatives contracts. This is why we are seeing such a big uptick in market participants looking to significantly reduce their notionals before the year closes. We’re happy to see our latest innovation being adopted by more participants and the significant increase they are seeing in results, and we continue to innovate to support current and future market participants in maximising their notional compression.”

For more information please click here or email us on info@osttra.com.