The Changing Structure of Energy Trading Markets[†]

Energy trading markets have been undergoing radical transformation lately. These transformations are set to accelerate in 2013 because of much anticipated implementation of new rules that will govern global swaps markets.  These  include  measures  such  as  position  limits,  mandatory  clearing  and  margin  requirements,  capital  requirements,  pre-  and  post- trade  transparency  through  position  reporting  requirements  to  trade  repositories,  as  well  as trading  standardised  swaps  on  designated  contract  organisations or swap execution facilities where multiple traders can place bids and offers, and real time  reporting  of  cleared  and  uncleared  swaps  to  the  centralised  swap  data  repositories.  These  changing  dynamics  present  new  challenges  not  only  for  financial  speculators,  who  buy  or  sell  any  asset  in  the  anticipation of a price change, but also for traditional energy companies that use previously unregulated  financial derivative instruments to hedge or mitigate commercial risk.

Swap Execution Facilities*

Regulatory bodies on both sides of the Atlantic will be busy in 2012 finalising rules on one of the most important requirements for bringing pre- and post-trade transparency to the over-the-counter derivatives markets by ensuring prices are posted to a wide variety of market participants, not just among dealers. Initially set by the G-20 leaders at their Pittsburgh Summit in September 2009 and later adopted in reform packages in the US and Europe, transparency would be achieved through the requirements that “all standardised OTC derivatives contracts should be traded on exchanges or electronic trading platforms, where appropriate, and cleared through central counterparties by end-2012 at the latest.”