A concrete date for clearing interest-rate derivatives in Europe has arrived – and been welcomed – but don't be fooled: fully implementing the 2009 G20 agreement on over-the-counter market reform is still years away.

The very largest trading firms will now be required to centrally clear certain interest-rate derivatives from June 21, 2016, two months later than expected, after the final text of the clearing mandate was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on December 1.