Buy side weighs risk mitigation against clearing costs

Eighteen months after the US Department of the Treasury first proposed to exempt foreign exchange swaps and forwards from mandatory central clearing under the Dodd-Frank Act, banks have yet to hear for definite whether the position will be confirmed as proposed. But for the buy side, the more pressing question is whether the risk mitigation benefits of clearing might be worth the costs, even for some non-mandated products.

James Wood-Collins, chief executive of Record Currency Management in the