Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) to Release Study Group
Report: The Role of Margin Requirements and Haircuts in Procyclicality

OTTAWA, March 18 /CNW Telbec/ - On Tuesday, 23 March 2010, the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) will release a Study Group Report entitled The Role of Margin Requirements and Haircuts in Procyclicality.

    
    09:00 (GMT-4)   Media briefing session: The Chair of the Study Group,
                    David Longworth, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada,
                    will host a media briefing session and respond to
                    questions on the contents of the report. The briefing
                    session will take place at the Bank of Canada's Toronto
                    Regional Office (150 King Street West, Suite 2000).

    Teleconference: Journalists who would like to take part in the media
                    briefing session by telephone must dial 1 877 413 4803
                    (within North America) or [phone] (for
                    international callers) and refer to reservation number
                    4051400, at least 10 minutes before the event is
                    scheduled to begin. For security reasons, those wishing
                    to participate must confirm by calling Jeremy Harrison at
                    [phone] (or email [email protected])
                    before noon on Monday, 22 March. No Cameras permitted.

    10:00 (GMT-4)   Briefing Session Ends. However, the entire contents of
                    the briefing session will be under embargo until 11:00
                    (GMT-4) (16:00 European Central Time), to allow
                    sufficient time for journalists to file.

    11:00 (GMT-4)   Embargo lifted. The Study Group Report will be available
                    on the Bank for International Settlements' (BIS) website
                    (http://www.bis.org/). Media stories on the report and
                    the contents of the briefing session can be published.
    

About the CGFS: The Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS), which is chaired by Donald L Kohn, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, monitors developments in global financial markets for central bank Governors. The Committee has a mandate to identify and assess potential sources of stress in global financial markets, to further the understanding of the structural underpinnings of financial markets, and to promote improvements to the functioning and stability of these markets. The CGFS also oversees the collection of the BIS international banking and financial statistics.

About the Study Group: The CGFS established a Study Group to review current market practices for setting margin requirements and haircuts, building on the work of the joint FSF-CGFS Working Group on the Role of Valuation and Leverage in Procyclicality. Its overall mandate was to undertake a fact-finding study on margining practices, to analyse their impact on the financial system through the cycle, and to explore and analyse the desirability of various alternatives for reducing the procyclical effect of margining practices on asset prices. The Study Group was chaired by David Longworth, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada.

For further information: Jeremy Harrison, [phone], [email protected]