The European Union reached a deal as part of a short-selling law that will pave the way for an optional ban on naked credit-default swaps on sovereign debt.
Poland, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and lawmakers from the European Parliament, reached the accord at a meeting in Brussels, EU spokeswoman Chantal Hughes said.
Under today’s deal, traders may be prevented from buying CDS on government bonds unless they either own the sovereign debt or other assets whose price moves in tandem with it. Nations will have the right to opt out of the measure if they detect signs that it may affect their borrowing costs.
“These balanced measures will ensure that sovereign CDS are used for the purpose for which they were designed, hedging against the risk of sovereign default, without putting at risk the proper functioning of sovereign-debt markets,” EU Financial Services Commissioner Michel Barnier said in a statement.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and lawmakers in the European Parliament have called for a ban on naked CDS trades on government debt over concerns the practice fueled the euro zone’s debt crisis. Germany already has restrictions on using swaps to bet on sovereign defaults.
via EU Gets Deal on Naked Sovereign CDS Curbs – Bloomberg.
