Top Interest Rate Headlines 01-10-11: CME Sees Jump In Swaps Clearing Later This Year

CME sees jump in swaps clearing later this year
By Ann Saphir, Reuters
CME Group Inc (CME.O), which began clearing interest-rate swaps in October, expects a jump in business this year after a U.S. legislative mandate on clearing goes into effect, a CME executive said on Monday.
http://jlne.ws/gecvo3

Consumers & the Economy, Part I: Household Credit & Personal Saving
By Reuven Glick and Kevin J. Lansing, Federal Reserve Bank Of San Francisco
In the years since the bursting of the housing bubble, the personal saving rate has trended up from around 1% to around 6%, while the ratio of household debt to disposable income has dropped from 130% to 118%. Changes over time in the availability of credit to households can explain 90% of the variance of the saving rate since the mid-1960s, including the recent uptrend, according to a simple empirical model.
http://jlne.ws/fJCVY5

Dallas Fed Chief Richard Fisher: 'Slow Haul' to Add Jobs in 2011
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President & CEO Richard Fisher tells WSJ's Michael Derby job growth will be slow in 2011, and that he does not support extending QE2 beyond the current plan.
http://jlne.ws/fScex3

Bond Distress Tumbles to Lowest Since '07 on Refinancings
By Bryan Keogh and John Detrixhe, Bloomberg
The percentage of corporate bonds considered in distress is the lowest in more than three years as the U.S. economic recovery gives fixed-income investors the confidence to lend to the riskiest borrowers.
http://jlne.ws/erjC3V

Germany denies plan to press Portugal to seek bailout
AFP
Germany on Sunday denied a report saying it plans, together with France, to press Portugal to seek a bailout in order to stop Spain and Belgium from becoming the next euro crisis casualties.
http://jlne.ws/geObI2

Economists foretell of U.S. decline, China's ascension
By Mark Felsenthal, Reuters
To hear a number of prominent economists tell it, it doesn't look good for the U.S. economy, not this year, not in 10 years.
http://jlne.ws/gfnllc

UK govt will not limit banks' bonus pools
Reuters
The British government will not set limits on the total amount of bonuses banks can pay their staff this year, a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday.
http://jlne.ws/hWkEjn

Fed Turns Over Record Profit $78.4 Billion to Treasury
Reuters
The Federal Reserve reported Monday its earnings jumped by more than 50 percent in 2010 to a record $80.9 billion on its massive holdings of securities, and it is turning the bulk of it over to the U.S. Treasury Department.
http://jlne.ws/hAULWu

ISDA Brings Back Huey Evans as Europe Prepares for Swaps Rules
By Shannon D. Harrington and Matthew Leising, Bloomberg
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association hired Gay Huey Evans, a former Barclays Plc executive and Financial Services Authority regulator, as it seeks to shape regulation of the swaps market in Europe.
http://jlne.ws/fJLnUe

Transcript: Walter Lukken - Forbes.com
Steve Forbes: Walter, good to have you with us. Thank you for joining us. What is New York Portfolio Clearing?
Walter Lukken: New York Portfolio Clearing, or NYPC as we call it, is a derivatives clearinghouse that we're building from the ground up...
http://jlne.ws/hEezos

Buyside seeks clearer view of OTC trading reconstruction
By Jeremy Grant - Financial Times
Working nights and weekends is probably not in the job description of many government employees, and certainly not at the two US market regulators charged with coming up with detailed rules and regulations to implement sweeping reform of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets. read the full report
http://jlne.ws/eNTeR3

Quantitative easing is working, says Fed
By Robin Harding in Washington - Financial Times
Inflation is a percentage point higher and there will be 3m more jobs in 2012 because of the US Federal Reserve's programme of asset purchases, Fed vice chair Janet Yellen said at the weekend, drawing on new Fed research.
http://jlne.ws/faCuyM

SIFMA Releases Study: "Considerations For Implementation Of Proprietary Trading Restrictions"
Press Release
SIFMA today released a study outlining the issues and challenges facing regulators in implementing the proprietary trading ban under Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act (the "Volcker Rule"). The study focuses on a sample of different asset classes in U.S. financial markets to illustrate the dynamics that are representative of the full range of capital markets activities in which dealers operate.
http://jlne.ws/cxgbC7

British Bankers' Association Welcomes EU Framework For Bank Recovery And Resolution
Press Release
New EU proposals to put in place new safeguards for taxpayers against the failure of financial institutions were welcomed by the British Bankers' Association today.
http://jlne.ws/cxgbC7

UBS reorganises FICC structuring team
eFinancial News
Swiss investment bank UBS has reorganised its senior fixed-income, currencies and commodities structuring team after the departure of Paul Czekalowski from the division, according to sources familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/gNc2Im

RBS admits to 'laziness' at elite bank
Scotland on Sunday
THE global head of Royal Bank of Scotland's wealth management business has admitted that "laziness" at its Adam & Co private bank was to blame for a crisis of confidence that swept through the business last year.
http://jlne.ws/fFRxuT

HSBC delays bonus payments
Daily Telegraph
Bonus payments at HSBC have been delayed by a month following a decision by the bank not to reward its staff before its financial results have been approved and published.
http://jlne.ws/g00mDu

Next up for Barclays - a bad bank?
Posted by Tracy Alloway - Financial Times
Here's a brave call from UBS bank analysts on Monday. They reckon Barclays could be moving towards a restructuring - that is, shedding some of its "value destroying" pre-crisis assets and refining its business ops in an effort to avoid a Basel III-induced earnings drag and boost pay-offs to shareholders.
http://jlne.ws/eJcNYe

Credit Suisse Tweaks Bonus Plan
BY KATHARINA BART - WSJ
ZURICH-Credit Suisse Group said Monday it will alter how it pays banker bonuses, including having a greater portion of year-end rewards deferred and linked to the bank's future performance.
http://jlne.ws/gBHnH2