OREANDA-NEWS. Cash-settled USD/RUB FX futures will be launched on the Standardised OTC Derivatives Market on 18 August.

The new instrument will allow market participants to hedge against exchange-rate risk. Contracts can be concluded with any expiration date and any underlying asset size. Settlement in cash will reduce costs as no physical delivery is necessary.

Fifteen banks are now members of the Standardised OTC Derivatives Market: Sberbank, VTB Bank, Deutsche Bank, Bank Credit Suisse (Moscow), Raiffeisenbank, ING Bank (Eurasia), UniCreditBank, Metallinvestbank, OTP Bank, Uralsib, Otkritie Bank, Bank of Khanty-Mansiysk, DIB, IBSP, and Novoye Vremya.

The Bank of Russia registered the specifications of the new instrument on 20 May.

The Standardised OTC Derivatives Market was launched on 28 October 2013. To begin trading, members should deposit RUB 1 mln with the Guarantee Fund. RUB and FX are eligible as collateral. The market offers interest on initial margin, reduced capital costs, minimum counterparty risk with flexible OTC instrument parameters, and the absence of a requirement to enter into a master agreement and RISDA (commonly used documents for OTC derivatives trades).

The central counterparty guarantees settlement of all trades executed on the market. The National Clearing Centre, part of the Moscow Exchange Group, acts as central counterparty. USD/RUB FX and cross currency swaps, IRS, and OIS are currently traded on the market.