Over the weekend Sweden & Finland announced up to (around) USD33bn in energy guarantees

Via the Wall Street Journal (gated)

• Swedish and Finnish government … programs designed to make sure electricity producers can meet exchange … margin calls.
• Stockholm is home to Nasdaq Clearing AB, a subsidiary of Nasdaq Inc. that processes most derivative trades in the Nordic power market, which includes Finland and the Baltic countries.
• Under the Swedish plan, the government would provide guarantees to eligible companies, which could then use the guarantees to borrow from banks and pay the exchange clearinghouse.
• Swedish government … to extend up to 250 billion kroner, or $23 billion, in guarantees
• Finnish government plans to offer 10 billion euros … in guarantees.

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The measures were packaged up citing ‘financial stability’ concerns, and at worse case a ‘financial crisis’.

The Journal summary is a good ‘un if you need it

• When utilities agree to deliver gas or power, they lock in prices by selling futures contracts. Exchanges charge one payment, known as initial margin, when trades are placed to collect collateral. They then call for or return money each day depending on whether the position gains or loses value.
• As prices rise, utilities’ short positions shed value and the companies pay the exchange. They recoup the money when they deliver gas or power, but the difference in timing has led to massive outflows of cash that some firms have struggled to fund. At times a vicious cycle has emerged in which extreme price moves boost margin calls, prompting companies to bail out of trades and sparking more volatility.

Gas has been very volatile.

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