Derivs - Credit

StormHarbour has hired Eric Daniels, the ex-group chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group in London, as a principal and senior adviser.

Japan’s first annual trade deficit since 1980 has sparked a flurry of fx option trading taking the view the U.S. dollar will appreciate against the yen over the short- and long-term.

Nahil Bayrasli, a New York credit derivatives trader at Société Générale, has left the firm.

A memo from Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan yesterday setting out alternative ways of paying a proportion of employee bonuses through a derivative-backed structured note had pulses racing among some in the investment banking community by the evening.

Loan and credit value adjustment desks have been buying out-of-the-money payer options with March expiry on the Markit Group investment grade credit default index after the month-long tightening of the spread.

Demand for investment ideas referencing offshore Chinese renminbi has tapered as volatility has fallen and outlook for appreciation against the U.S. dollar has waned, David Naville, managing director and head of fx structuring Asia Pacific at Barclays Capital in Hong Kong, told DI in an in-depth interview

Barclays Capital is recommending a volatility skew play on the Markit Investment Grade Credit Default index to take advantage of a moderate widening of spreads by buying payer options at 110 basis points with a March expiry and selling payer options at 140 bps over the same period, at a 1:2 ratio.

Credit portfolio managers expect European and North American corporate and sovereign credit default swaps to take different paths over the next three months.

There is an “electronic arms race” going on amongst global banks, says Jeff Feig, global head of g10 fx at Citigroup in New York.

Aaron Comerford, counsel in Allen & Overy’s derivative practice in Tokyo, has moved to Clifford Chance.

Spreads on the Markit municipal bond credit default swap index, MCDX, have tightened by 44 basis points since December 30 prompting at least one buyer to recommend reversing a long position soon and adopt a curve-flattening strategy.

Credit Suisse has launched the first structured product linked to its HS Global Style Rotation Equity Hedged Index.