Nasdaq Working Quietly to Curb Bank Control of Clearinghouses
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The revelation that regulators received forged letters denouncing banks’ “cartel-like control” of derivatives trading has exposed the latest front in a yearlong battle over which companies gain entrée into the $583 trillion swaps market.
The letter campaign, orchestrated by a public relations firm, contained the same message that Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. has been pushing in Washington as it tries to muscle its way into the derivatives business. The company’s plan: get Congress or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to limit bank ownership of swaps clearinghouses, helping Nasdaq get a bigger piece of the pie.