Despite frequent new promises from Washington that rules will be done by a certain date (“Q4 2011 – oh wait, we meant Q1 2012!”) and major market participants stating their readiness it seams like the OTC derivatives reform process will never end.  Who’s fault is it?  Everyone’s really.  Politicians are trying to get reelected (or reappointed) and market participants are working to ensure they can still make money.  But – if we removed the bipartisan politics that slows down everything in Washington we could get to the end game much more quickly.

Kevin McPartland, director of fixed-income research at the Tabb Group, the US capital markets consultancy, said disagreements among agencies and lawmakers were a main source of delay. “From our studies, the industry says it’s as ready as it can be … So to me, the delay is politics,” he said.

Read the full story at FT.com