Bloomberg loses suit against derivatives regulator

The top U.S. derivatives regulator won a legal victory over Bloomberg LP late on Friday when a court dismissed a case the data vendor had filed that claimed a new rule on trading swaps would hurt its business.

Douwe Miedema of Reuters reports, “Bloomberg is one of a dozen or so providers launching a platform on which to trade swaps, as regulators across the world crack down on the $630 trillion market to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

“But that effort would be hurt by a new rule from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission which will force buyers and sellers of swaps to set aside enough money – or margin – to cope with the impact of a deal falling apart, Bloomberg had argued.

“That is because the margin on a swap should be enough to cover five days of unwinding the position, but only one day for futures, a similar type of product traded on rival exchanges, making them cheaper to use.

“The court said, however, that Bloomberg had provided no evidence that this requirement would hurt its business.”

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