Derivs - Credit

At first glance, Ireland and Greece appear to have little in common. Perhaps one could point towards their status as fringe members of the E.U.—small countries that joined the club relatively late. But they also share the unwelcome distinction of being the two least creditworthy members of the eurozone, according to their sovereign CDS spreads.

Citigroup is back in the market for the second time in three weeks with a bids-wanted-in-competition effort to unwind a series of correlation trades with multiple counterparties. Bids are due tomorrow.

Bonuses for derivatives traders will be much richer this year than last, but still below 2007 levels, according to a study released today by compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates.

The Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. estate is winding down its derivatives portfolio, but staffing up its over-the-counter trading and valuations desk across all asset classes.

Jared Epstein, head of Americas flow credit trading at BNP Paribas, is planning to launch a high-yield desk next year and has just hired four investment grade credit traders in New York.

Morgan Stanley has hired David Chene, a director from hedge fund DA Capital Asia, as a senior trader of structured securities, such as synthetic collateralized debt obligations, in London.

Russia’s Federal Financial Markets Service has offered a Parliamentary bill to legalize close-out netting for derivatives along existing International Swaps and Derivatives Association guidelines.

Some industry officials believe a last-minute amendment to the House Agriculture Committee derivatives bill allowing trading through so-called ‘confirmation facilities’ may give dealers the freedom to trade as they do currently.

Won Choi, head of European credit sales at London-based boutique StormHarbour Partners, has left the firm 16 days after joining to work for hedge fund manager Lucidus Capital Partners.

Global broker/dealer Knight Libertas has hired a raft of emerging market credit sales directors in new roles across Greenwich, Conn., London and Hong Kong.

Lehman Brothers has hired Jean-François Dreyfus, the former head of credit correlation and volatility trading at Credit Suisse in New York.

As over-the-counter derivatives pros debate the dangers of CME Clearing and ICE Trust not achieving interoperability—where CCPs face each other, allowing customers to choose where they clear trades—Kim Taylor, president of CME Clearing, said she is open to the idea conceptually, but troubled by the potential risks.