OREANDA-NEWS. July 20, 2011. On July 18, 2011 the basic collateral requirements for futures contracts on a basket of federal loan bonds were reduced.

The new collateral size amounts to 2% for futures on 2-year federal loan bonds (code OFZ2) and 3% for futures on 4-year federal loan bonds (code OFZ4). The previous collateral sizes for these contracts were 3% and 4% respectively.

"After six months since the contracts on federal loan bonds were first launched we are seeing a good level of liquidity with positive signs. This together with an analysis of data on the overall trading period has enabled us to reduce the minimum size of collateral. The reduction will allow market participants to use their own funds at trading in these contracts more efficiently, as well as helping to reduce operational costs", said Evgeny Serdyukov, Derivatives Market Director at RTS Stock Exchange.

Trading in deliverable futures contracts on a basket of federal loan bonds started on February 17, 2011 on FORTS. The contracts’ code in the trading system is (OFZ). The underlying assets of the futures are 2-year and 4-year federal loan bonds.