Derivs - Credit

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced further implementation details surrounding the trade execution requirement for certain interest rate and credit default swaps, as swaps that are part of a package transaction will be required to be traded on a swap execution facility or designated contract market beginning May 16.

Bank desks, hedge funds and real money investors have continued to build up their hedges in European credit options this week, trading payer spreads in iTraxx Main, Crossover, and for the first time in several weeks, Senior Financials, with June emerging as a popular expiry.

End-users of derivatives in Asia and the US unsure of their status under European Markets Infrastructure Regulation are shifting their derivatives business out of the EU rather than getting to grips with their status under the new mandate, prompting some lawyers to warn of early signs of a bifurcated market.

Hugh Willis, executive chairman at BlueBay Asset Management, has been appointed strategic advisor at Algomi in London.

Overall interest rate derivatives and credit default swaps trading that was reported to the swap data repository between April 21-and-25 continued to decrease from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

As market participants increasingly look for outsourced data management solutions, Markit has stood out from the crowd in being able to offer leading analytics, portfolio management and distribution services across all asset classes. These are the reasons that led to the firm being awarded the Global Capital Derivatives Americas Data Vendor Of The Year.

Clients are increasingly turning to technology providers for pre-trade risk management under pressure to comply with the new regulatory environment. SunGard, a global software solutions company, has noted an increase in the number of clients seeking third-party management of pre-trade risk on its Valdi platform. SunGard’s commitment to providing innovative pre-trade software to the buy- and sell-side to help them meet these new demands is one reason why they were awarded this year’s GlobalCapital Americas Technology Provider of the Year.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s position in being a leading liquidity provider in CDS trading in the Americas, the innovation it offers in structured solutions, in addition to the positive feedback it received from buysiders for its credit research, were the reasons why the firm won the Global Capital Derivatives Americas Credit Derivatives House of the Year award.

Invesco Perpetual has been fined £18.6 million by the Financial Conduct Authority for failing to comply with investment limits and to clearly inform investors of the risks associated with its use of derivatives.

Hedge funds are taking profits on cross asset relative value options trades playing the underperformance of the North American CDX Investment Grade index relative to equities.

Nadia Egorova, an ex-high yield credit trader at BNP Paribas in London, is set to join Deutsche Bank in London in a similar role.

Mariana Capital Markets has hired Yaron Winterstein, an ex-director in credit sales at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London, to a new role, also in London.