These institutions were allowed to offer these products to corporates for hedging interest rate risk as well as deal in these instruments for their own balance sheet hedging and trading purposes. Since then, many initiatives have been undertaken to deepen and broaden the market.
At the same time, downside risks to growth, notably related to the threat of protectionism and the rise in trade tensions, remain prominent. The outlook for US monetary policy moves and vulnerabilities in emerging markets add to the overall uncertainty, as does the limited progress on the Brexit discussion.