DTCC and CME Group have outlined preparations for the upcoming US Treasuries clearing mandate. DTCC's Fixed Income Clearing Corporation is planning four new product launches in 2025, including enhancements to its tri-party repo services and the introduction of a tri-party agent clearing service. CME is preparing to enter the clearing market with its own proprietary service, focusing on supporting the "done-away" clearing model.

European Securities and Markets Authority official Nicoletta Giusto has said the regulator faces hurdles in calibrating EMIR 3.0's active account requirement, which seeks to shift more swaps clearing into the EU. Giusto noted that unlike the Bank of England, ESMA's rigid rulemaking process limits its ability to quickly adjust technical standards or incentivize onshoring without disrupting markets.

ICE Clear Credit fell short of its 99.9% system availability target in Q2 after a May 5 outage lasted six hours and 22 minutes, more than triple the two-hour recovery objective for central counterparties. The failure -- the longest since records began in 2015 -- reduced availability to 99.88% and marked the worst 12-month outage total on record. While the UK bank holiday limited trading disruption, the incident underscores a trend of CCPs facing rare but extended system failures.

The credit futures market is gaining traction among investors, with US contracts nearing $2.5 billion in open interest, according to a Crisil Coalition Greenwich study. The study finds that 85% of US, UK, and European credit investors are aware of credit futures and see them as beneficial for tactical asset allocation and hedging.

US dollar hedging surged earlier this year amid tariff concerns but has since slowed, with dealers seeing less activity from real money investors than anticipated. Factors such as the stabilization of the dollar, a rebound in US equities, and high carry costs have contributed to the slowdown. However, some market participants remain optimistic about future hedging, especially as US interest rates and market conditions evolve.

London Stock Exchange Group shares have dropped 25% in six months, making it the FTSE 100's second-worst performer in that period. The decline raises questions about whether investors are losing confidence in LSEG's pivot from trading toward financial data and analytics, a strategy that has driven growth but now faces fresh competitive and execution challenges.

Cleared JPY interest rate derivatives volumes have experienced exceptional growth, reaching a peak of ¥2.75 quadrillion in Q1 2025 and maintaining levels above ¥2.2 quadrillion for four consecutive quarters. This surge is attributed to a series of market changes, including the Bank of Japan ending negative interest rates and subsequent rate increases. Year-on-year, OIS volumes in Q2 2025 grew by 41%, while Q1 saw a remarkable 166% jump.

CME Group recently achieved record trading volume and open interest in its Adjusted Interest Rate Total Return Futures, with more than one million contracts and $365 billion in notional open interest recorded last Thursday. That day also saw 109,000 lots traded, valued at $40 billion, while the product's 2025 average daily volume rose 80% year-over-year to 25,000 contracts.

Chinese zinc producers are eyeing export opportunities as the London Metal Exchange zinc prices reach their highest level this year while domestic prices lag. The price gap between the LME and the Shanghai Futures Exchange is the widest in two years, driven by robust Chinese output and weak local demand amid a property crisis. If the gap widens further, it could prompt Chinese exports, potentially to the LME's new Hong Kong warehouses.

The UK government is set to delegate more regulatory responsibilities to the Financial Conduct Authority and regulated exchanges to enhance market regulation. Richard Knox of HM Treasury said that the government will transfer the new transaction reporting regime to the FCA and position limit setting to trading venues. The move is part of a broader effort to streamline regulations and reduce costs for businesses.

The SEC has approved rule changes that allow national securities exchanges to use generic listing standards for new spot cryptocurrency and other commodity ETFs. This decision marks a major shift