As regulations make over-the-counter swaps more costly for corporate end users, exchanges are coming out with exchange-traded swap futures contracts to provide an alternative. But the futures contracts may never match the flexibility that OTC swaps provide.

CME Group is launching deliverable interest-rate swap futures Nov. 13 that will provide exposure to a cleared interest-rate swap, along with the pricing transparency, cross-margining and margin savings of a standard futures contract. The IntercontinentalExchange shifted all of its cleared energy swaps to futures last week, and it plans to launch a credit-default swap futures contract early next year.

So far, such products, especially those that hedge interest-rate risk, don't hold much appeal for nonfinancial companies.