http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/deriv/dq202.pdf
I highly recommend that you read this PDF file. It isn't a difficult read.
See page #18 in the table titled "NOTIONAL AMOUNT OF DERIVATIVES CONTRACTS OF THE 25
COMMERCIAL BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES WITH THE MOST DERIVATIVE CONTRACTS
JUNE 30, 2002, $ MILLIONS
NOTE: DATA ARE PRELIMINARY"
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK NY
Assets 581,407 (million dollars)
Derivatives 25,910,300 (million dollars)
Here is the first couple paragraphs of this GOVERNMENT report.
The OCC quarterly report on bank derivatives activities and trading revenues is based on call
report information provided by U.S. commercial banks. The notional amount of derivatives in
insured commercial bank portfolios increased by $3.8 trillion in the second quarter, to $50.1
trillion. Generally, changes in notional volumes are reasonable reflections of business activity
but do not provide useful measures of risk. During the second quarter, the notional amount of
interest rate contracts increased by $3.4 trillion, to $42.7 trillion. Foreign exchange contracts
increased by $183 billion to $5.8 trillion. This figure excludes spot foreign exchange contracts,
which increased by $332 billion to $504 billion. Equity, commodity and other contracts
increased by $85 billion, to $1.1 trillion. Credit derivatives increased by $54 billion, to $492
billion. The number of commercial banks holding derivatives increased by 12, to 391. [See
Tables 1, 2, and 3, Graphs 1 and 3.]
Eighty-five percent of the notional amount of derivative positions was comprised of interest rate
contracts with foreign exchange accounting for an additional 12 percent. Equity, commodity and
credit derivatives accounted for only 3 percent of the total notional amount. [See Table 3 and
Graph 3.]
Holdings of derivatives continue to be concentrated in the largest banks. Seven commercial
banks account for almost 96 percent of the total notional amount of derivatives in the
commercial banking system, with more than 99 percent held by the top 25 banks. [See Tables 3,
5 and Graph 4.]
Over-the-counter (OTC) and exchange-traded contracts comprised 90.1 percent and 9.9 percent,
respectively, of the notional holdings as of the second quarter of 2002. [See Table 3.] OTC
contracts tend to be more popular with banks and bank customers because they can be tailored to
meet firm-specific risk management needs. However, OTC contracts expose participants to
greater credit risk and tend to be less liquid than exchange-traded contracts, which are
standardized and fungible.
See also:
http://www.thestreet.com/markets/aarontaskfree/10043321.html
Brazil's Lula, the name the former metals worker goes by, says those who have short-sold his country's currency to all-time lows will pay the price once he is elected and the currency rebounds.
Alas, Team Brazil's real has lost more than a third of its value since Jan. 2, making Lula's warning to currency speculators take the shape of a promissory note. "Watch the Sunday night news," says McAvity, editor of newsletter Deliberations on World Markets.
Brazilians, beset by their battered currency and the soaring prices a cheap currency inflicts on a nation such as Brazil, will be watching their cash flow, and so will the big banks in New York and London.
That cash flow next week could be the swirl down the loo of big banks' Brazil loans and International Monetary Fund-sponsored debt. The IMF in September approved a $30 billion Brazil loan and insists Brazil has no need to restructure its debts.
The IMF would allow Brazil's central bank to spend as much as $16 billion to defend the real. Currency speculators, it is fair to say, are licking their chops.