On Friday, President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, called for greater transparency in the markets for credit-default swaps, specifying that he is all for imposing tougher regulation and oversight of the large-scale market.

While speaking in Brussels, Mr. Trichet stressed that "certain financial instruments, which were introduced in consideration of their positive effects for the hedging of risks, should not be misused in a speculative manner".

He further shared that regulators should be well equipped with all the required tools to be able to look into matters and act effectively. He said that more transparency is required in the CDS market, both by the investors as well as the authorities.

"Transparency of markets is a public good", stressed Mr. Trichet, while asserting that the authorities involved must be able to collect all the information in order to assess possible risks to ensure financial stability and detect any possible misconduct.

CDS are derivatives which are designed to transfer the credit exposure of fixed-income products between the involved parties.