Statistical measures show that USD swaps liquidity has deteriorated in the past six weeks. Specifically, price dispersion of 10Y USD swaps has tripled since early February. This is consistent with anecdotal stories in the press. However, we are still seeing higher than typical volumes transacted. Trading may be more difficult, but we are not seeing […]

Over the course of my trading career I have had the ‘opportunity’ to be part of the trading process during market crises, both as a junior trader and as a manager of trading teams. My previous experiences were: 1987 equity crash; 1992 correlation unwinds; 2001 tech bubble burst; and 2008 global financial crisis The one […]

We detail the trades required to raise USD from a local central bank, using the Fed USD swap lines. We show that the cost of these USD is substantially below that implied from FX markets. The FX haircuts on non-USD collateral for these operations vary between central banks. The largest amounts outstanding in these USD […]

Cross Currency Swaps trading fundamentally changes during a funding crisis. I run through the impacts to the risks that are being managed and the daily flow of news that drives trading activity. There are various drivers ranging from FX markets, LIBOR fixings, futures convergence trades, central bank operations and client demand. Most traders will only […]