Commercial banks reported total trading revenue of $7.7 billion in the first quarter of 2015, 72 percent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2014 and 24 percent higher than a year prior, according to the OCC’s Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities released today.
“We expected strong results, due to the well-established seasonal effect in trading activity,” said OCC official Kurt Wilhelm. “But results were even stronger due to dislocations in currency markets at the beginning of the year, which created uncertainty and spurred client demand for risk management products.”
The net current credit exposure rose 41.2 percent to $502.9 billion in the first quarter, the report said. The notional amount of derivatives banks held fell by 7.8 percent to $203.1 trillion.
