Will the derivatives markets ever pause for breath? The irresistible rise of the derivatives business, in particular the over-the-counter markets, is enough to give the contract counters at the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements a headache.

According to the most recent figures published by the BIS, which has been releasing statistics semi-annually on the state of the market for nearly three years, the notional outstanding value of OTC derivatives contracts stood at a whopping $94 trillion (&euro102 trillion) as at the end of the first half of 2000. That represents a growth in the size of the OTC market of 7% since the end of the previous year, and a 30% increase in market activity since the end of June 1998, when the BIS began its more frequent surveys.