Nearly three years after the US and EU agreed to work together on derivatives rules, and then failed to do so, the two largest trading regions for the $553 trillion over-the-counter market are trying again.

Jonathan Hill, the European Commission's financial services chief, and Timothy Massad, chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced on February 10 that they had finally reached an easing of tensions in the long-running stand-off over recognising each other's rules for clearing houses.