The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched a consultation to introduce central clearing for swaps derivatives, in a bid to bring the country in line with the G20 post-crisis mandate.
The regulator has proposed to mandate Singapore-dollar and US-dollar interest rate swaps for central clearing, and will only apply to banks that trade in excess of $20 billion on a gross notional basis.
The consultation comes over one month after Australia launched its own on interest rate swaps clearing.
It joins other Asian countries such as Japan, China and Hong Kong that have introduced central clearing for interest rate swaps.
Singapore has been recognised as having ‘equivalent’ rules by the European Commission, meaning Singapore-based firms can clear their derivatives with European clearing houses.