The Bank of England has published a speech by Paul Tucker (Deputy Governor Financial Stability, member of the Monetary Policy Committee and member of the Financial Policy Committee) entitled Central Counterparties: the Agenda. In his speech Tucker discussed four issues that are essential in contributing to the safety and soundness of central counterparties (“CCP”): (i) trading, clearing and settlement infrastructure has over time coalesced into vertically integrated groups. It is important for CCP risk managers to have clear and independent reporting lines to group boards to remove any incentive for exchanges to seek to influence their behaviour; (ii) market participants must be given broad access to global CCPs. The EU should also ensure that exchange traded derivatives and cash markets also clear through CCPs; (iii) the need for effective resolution regimes for CCPs (and other financial market infrastructure); and (iv) the extension of Timothy Geithner’s (US Secretary to the Treasury) demand for minimum initial margin requirements for uncleared over-the-counter ("OTC") derivatives contracts, that is policies should apply across markets and beyond OTC contracts.