Derivatives committee to hold Russia CDS auction in September

A panel of investors said on Friday that it expects to hold an auction to settle credit default swaps (CDS) related to Russia's defaulted debt in the first half of September, as it continues to work on the auction setup.

The Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee (CDDC) said the exact date is yet to be determined, according to a statement on its website.

The auction, a usual way to settle CDS, was thrown into chaos in June when Washington said its sanctions on Russia imposed a total ban on US entities buying Moscow's debt.

But a July waiver from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) gave a green flag for the CDS settlement to proceed, allowing for trading to be held two business days prior to the auction date and eight business days after its conclusion.

The committee said on Friday it continues to assess the potential impact of settlement restrictions and will publish another update ahead of the auction.

It also provided different options for ways to participate in the settlement, and requested feedback on the participants' preferred way of doing so, which will be considered until August 24.