What can global banks and clearing houses do to help clients find the collateral needed to clear vast portions of their derivatives books for the first time? That question – and several competing answers – has been thrown at delegates at the Futures Industry Association’s annual get-together in Boca Raton, Florida, since the conference began.

Collateral, in the form of cash or highly liquid securities, must be posted against trades as insurance in case of default. But with regulations due to force most of the world's over-the-counter derivatives contracts to move to centralised clearing from next year in the US, as much as $2 trillion in extra collateral will need to be brought in to the clearing system.