Clearinghouses say the European Securities and Markets Authority's final technical standards under Emir 3.0 remain highly prescriptive and could slow model updates and new product launches, despite tweaks intended to ease the burden. Although ESMA raised the threshold for "significant" model changes to a 20% impact on prefunded resources and exempted shifts toward more conservative margining, CCPs argue the regime still creates heavy administrative work and contrasts with the US' more flexible self-certification approach.

Senate Banking Republicans have sent Democrats a three-page compromise offer on landmark digital asset market structure legislation, outlining 38 concessions in exchange for preserving 32 key GOP-backed sections. The proposal, led by Chair Tim Scott and Sens. Cynthia Lummis, Bill Hagerty and Bernie Moreno, includes White House-vetted language on SEC/CFTC quorums and ethics, plus consumer protection and bankruptcy standards, while seeking to keep contentious provisions on self-custody and software developer protections ahead of a hoped-for markup next week.

CyrusOne reportedly detected cooling-system issues at CME Group's primary data center 12 hours before a failure halted global derivatives trading, though shifting severity ratings delayed a failover decision. The outage, caused by human error during cold-weather preparations, forced a full trading halt across CME's markets and has prompted new 24/7 engineering protocols at the facility.

The Energy Information Administration raised its 2025 US oil production forecast to a record 13.61 million bpd and trimmed its 2026 outlook to 13.53 million bpd, while projecting steady US oil demand in 2026. The agency also increased its 2026 dry gas production forecast to 109.1 Bcf/d, citing higher gas-to-oil ratios in the Permian Basin.

Eventus CEO Travis Schwab said the firm is rolling out a "deterministic" AI system called Frank to help banks meet regulatory demands for explainability, arguing that traditional probabilistic models cannot reliably support compliance. Frank generates code-based, repeatable data queries to avoid inconsistent outputs, while Eventus also expands tools such as its Pulse dashboard to help firms cope with rising surveillance complexity amid 24/7 crypto and prediction markets.

Rising government bond yields and steep forward curves are driving a surge in fixed income structured products, with issuance now topping an estimated $10 billion and expanding beyond early adopters in the US and France. Dealers say products referencing constant maturity government bond yields offer clearer investor messaging and materially higher coupons than swap-based equivalents, enabling Phoenix-style autocallables and range accruals to consistently print 7% payouts.

Nasdaq will outsource its Account Operator Services to Citi Investor Services across the Nordics and Euroclear Bank, aiming to streamline post-trade operations and tap into Citi's wider FMI network. The exchange said the move shifts it toward a variable cost model, simplifies operational workflows, and frees resources for client and innovation initiatives.

SSY expects dry freight and commodities futures to expand in 2026, driven by hedge fund participation and strong markets for iron ore, metals and uranium. Partner Jamie Pearce said new supply from Guinea's Simandou project and record Baltic index levels have supported volumes, though volatile Trump-era tariff policy has complicated forward trading. Exchanges including SGX and EEX are adding products to capture rising international flow.

tZero said its SEC-regulated ATS will allow 24/7 order entry and 23.5 hours of daily trading starting Dec. 15, extending execution windows to nearly the full business day. CEO Alan Konevsky said the move supports the firm's strategy to build regulated, interoperable infrastructure for tokenized and traditional assets as markets shift toward always-on liquidity.

FalconX has extended Copper's ClearLoop settlement network to Deribit, allowing DMA clients to trade crypto options and futures while keeping collateral off-exchange. The integration gives institutions enhanced custody, reduced counterparty risk and access to leveraged derivatives liquidity, marking a further build-out of ClearLoop connectivity across major venues.

Taiwan Futures Exchange reported a 27% year-on-year jump in November trading, reaching 41.8 million contracts on strong gains in index options, index futures and the fast-growing Micro TAIEX Futures. While FX and ETF derivatives volumes declined, the exchange continued expanding its product set with new weekly single-stock options and enhancements to equity-options incentives and OTC clearing risk tools.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's new digital-asset collateral pilot could mark a structural turning point, with industry participants calling it the first practical bridge between 24/7 crypto markets and derivatives infrastruct