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This year one topic has dominated the OTC derivatives prime brokerage business: the coming of centralized clearing of OTC derivative trades through central counterparties (CCPs). The G20, US Congress, and the European Commission all support mandatory centralized clearing of standard OTC derivatives contracts. ICE, the CME Group, LCH. Clearnet have been expanding their offerings as a result, and the Anglo-French CCP is also promising a CDS clearing service by March 2010. In fact, the major OTC derivative dealers reported to regulators that more than nine-tenths of new credit derivative trades were being submitted for clearing. They also disclosed that more than a third of the gross notional outstanding in the OTC interest rate derivatives markets was cleared and another two-fifths could safely follow their example. The dealers have committed to increase the proportion of cleared business. So clearing of OTC derivatives is happening already and is bound to expand. This has profound implications for every aspect of the business, everywhere, from the front office to the back. There remains considerable uncertainty about exactly which contracts will ultimately be clearable, and what capital requirements will be imposed on intermediaries that service those that are not. >> read more

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Global Custodian, as well as the 20th anniversary of our survey of agent banks in emerging markets.

The survey has grown considerably across the past two decades - it has, in fact grown to cover 64 markets from an initial 11 markets covered at its inception - and witnessed a great deal of change, from the markets covered to the institutions and the services that they offer, to the format, process and size of this survey. In particular, the survey now offers ratings from three distinct classes of client: leading clients, cross-border non-affiliated clients (cb/na), and domestic clients.

Despite the massive economic gyrations of the last year, which have had varying effects on sub-custodian banks and their clients, the scores suggest respondents have felt and exerted pressure, but in most cases experienced business as usual.

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