The market came together in 2016 to design and launch total return futures and has continued to work closely to ensure it continues innovating, as panellists of the Product Innovation: Equity & Index Futurisation session at the Eurex Derivatives Forum 2023, discussed last week with FOW's Luke Jeffs.
Implementing initial margin (IM) requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives was a key component of the Basel Committee’s Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR), a significant piece of post-financial crisis regulation. Tightened IM rules have meant more oversight on posting collateral for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transactions, making these products more expensive to build and trade. This led to a wave of innovation for alternative products that can be cleared in an exchange-traded