By Central Bank News
The total notional amount of outstanding Over-The-Counter derivatives declined 1.0 percent to $639 trillion at the end of June from the end of 2011, mainly because a rise in the value of the U.S. dollar reduced the value of euro-denominated contracts, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said.
The overall decline was driven by a 2.0 percent drop in interest rate contracts, BIS said, adding that the notional amounts of credit derivatives fell by 6.0 percent.
In contrast, BIS said the value of outstanding foreign exchange contracts rose by 5.0 percent to $67 trillion.
Gross credit exposures, which measure the exposure of dealers reporting to the BIS, fell to $3.7 trillion after taking into account netting agreements. Gross market values, which measure the cost of replacing existing contracts, fell by 7 percent to $25 trillion.
A detailed analysis of the recent trends in the OTC derivatives markets, which will soon be traded on exchanges, will be published in the next BIS Quarterly Review on Dec. 10.
