Derivs - Credit

Amundi is considering unwinding short positions via credit default swaps on the iTraxx Europe Main and Europe Crossover in notionals of EUR500 million-1 billion (USD683 million-1.4 billlion).

Onshore central counterparties may be more practical for Asian countries in which that country’s currency is not openly traded, according to Thomas Treadwell, head of over-the-counter client clearing for Citi Asia Pacific in Hong Kong.

Jonathan Slater, global head of structured credit trading at JPMorgan, has left the firm to join corporate finance advisory TradeRisks as co-chief executive.

Financial credit default swaps trader Nikhil Sethi has left Morgan Stanley.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions is considering setting out a principle that electronic trading platforms of over-the counter derivatives should accept multiple dealers.

European sovereigns endured another difficult week as the rally that began in mid-January has long since been curtailed.

Firms may begin making arbitrage plays on the various renminbi options markets this year as the Hong Kong-based CNH options market continues to develop.

Banks who already hold a derivatives license in China will automatically be granted an ordinary license under new rules, according to a Chinese-language question and answer released by the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

Swaps counterparties would be blocked from using updated and improved valuation methods, under a proposal by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. They’d also get locked in to prices on the swaps that reflect the mid-market point, not actual traded prices, say lawyers and advisors in New York.

New York hedge fund Ore Hill Partners will deploy interest rate swaptions, credit default swaps and currency options in a new fund. Ore Hill Japan Credit Opportunities Fund is being launched after the positive performance of the strategy in the firm’s Ore Hill Fund attracted investment, a firm portfolio manager told Derivatives Week.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation has launched a Web site to provide regulators access to trade-specific credit default swap data.

Société Générale strategists are recommending investors buy a three-month call spread going short the Indian rupee, long the U.S. dollar with strikes at INR46.5 and INR47.5 and a six-month call spread on the same cross with strikes at INR50 and INR52.