Derivs - Credit

U.S. hedge funds and U.K. real money managers are looking at trading Italian and Spanish government bonds against credit default swaps on the largest banks of the two countries.

The results of the Global Derivatives Survey have been revealed. Subscribers can view the rankings of sellsiders, interdealer brokers and law firms active in the global derivatives market.

The U.S. stepped back from the brink and avoided a technical default, and in doing so saved the world from another recession.

Nomura’s hybrid structured products business is growing in Korea, with investors looking to products that combine credit, rates, equity and fx underlyings, according to John Goff, head of global markets structuring in Hong Kong. The business is partly driving higher structured product revenues for Nomura in Asia.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has hired Snigdha Singh, ex-interest rates trader at HSBC in London, as head of sterling rates trading.

ING Investment Management is keeping credit default swaps it bought cheaply on U.S. sovereign debt in June, expecting the debt ceiling crisis resolution to be put off until February.

VTB Capital has hired Dimitrios Kavvathas, the ex-co-head of securities distribution and head of structuring, Asia Pacific ex-Japan at Goldman Sachs, as head of global markets for Asia Pacific in Hong Kong.

Wells Fargo has joined U.S.-based futures exchange Eris Exchange to provide liquidity and clearing services to clients globally.

Investors are selling volatility on January and Feb. 2014 expiries on the iTraxx Main via receivers. The trades are an effort to fund long positions on short-dated volatility on the same index. Strategists said these are the first wave of volatility flow on 2014 expiries.

The central banks of the U.S. and Japan will not be required to comply with EMIR reporting and clearing requirements after the Council of the European Union approved a European Commission act calling for their exemption.

Ex-Deutsche Bank interest rate staffers Paul Swaddling and David Martins da Silva have launched Prism Financial Products, a buyside brokerage. Christopher Rokos, the ex-co-founder of Brevan Howard, is also involved in the launch, according to a U.K. Companies House filing.

Credit Suisse recommends receiving U.S. 3y3y versus 10y10y forward swaps in order to express a steepening and long treasury protected securities breakeven bias.