triReduce
Portfolio compression essential for minimizing risk
TriOptima introduced its portfolio compression service, triReduce, in
2003 for the interest rate swaps market and moved into the CDS space
soon after to help dealers alleviate processing pressures. It quickly
became an integral part of the industry's response to managing the
explosive growth in back office processing. Unnecessary trades that
inflate the balance sheet and generate operational costs, risks and
other capital charges are terminated through the multilateral
compression of OTC contracts.
During the crises surrounding the
collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman and the subsequent freezing of the
credit markets, regulators identified portfolio compression as essential
for minimizing risk and increasing liquidity in the financial markets.
In
October 2008 ISDA cited the contribution that TriOptima had made to
reducing notionals outstanding in the credit default swap market.
triReduce Credit compression cycles terminated $24.5 of the total $25
trillion in notional eliminated through October 31.
Increase liquidity and reduce counterparty exposures
Utilized by all institutions with significant trading flow in interest
rate and credit default swaps, triReduce Rates and Credit compression is
recognized as an essential operational tool both by financial
institutions and the regulatory community.
TriOptima now runs
compression cycles for interest rate swaps in 19 currencies globally and
for the full range of CDS index, tranche and single name products. In
addition, when there are credit events TriOptima runs special default
cycles for CDs single name and indices prior to the settlement auctions.
triReduce Energy continues to ramp up its participation base to include
financial institutions, energy companies and energy trading companies.
As
cited in the BIS study, "New
Developments in Clearing and Settlement Arrangements for OTC Derivatives"
released March 16 2007 "...increasing use of multilateral termination
systems…allow market participants to reduce counterparty credit, funding
liquidity and operational risks." The study conclusions recommend that
"...market participants should expand their use of new services that
facilitate multilateral voluntary termination of trades." (pp. 37-38).