Derivs - Credit

Jefferies & Co. has hired Robert Leone as managing director and senior high-yield trader as part of the continued expansion of its high-yield business.

Saba Capital Management, the newly-formed hedge fund firm founded by Boaz Weinstein, ex-head of Deutsche Bank’s proprietary credit trading group, has hired Carl Casler of Viking Global as chief financial officer.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has recouped USD5.8 billion from derivatives contracts since filing for Chapter 11 in September and expects to collect a further USD5 billion on outstanding derivatives. The tally was revealed yesterday in an out-of-court session yesterday.

Banco Espírito Santo de Investimento, the investment banking arm of Portugal’s Banco Espírito Santo, has hired a head of credit trading in the Americas and is looking for a senior fx hire to round out its Latin American derivatives coverage in the region.

Mark Mallia, head of flow credit business for Asia Pacific at BNP Paribas, has reportedly left after one day at the office.

Credit default swaps on CIT Group gapped out to 34.5 points upfront today, according to broker Phoenix Partners, after independent research firm CreditSights downgraded the firm to ‘underweight’ from ‘marketweight.’

Standard & Poor’s has expanded its custom index services from equities to incorporate commodities and fixed income.

Dealers have agreed to standardize credit default swap contracts in Japan, according to a person who attended the first meeting of the Japan CDS Standardization Working Group earlier today.

U.S. Bancorp, parent of U.S. Bank, the sixth largest commercial bank in the U.S., is starting up an investment-grade trading desk covering bonds and credit default swaps.

Credit default swaps on auto parts supplier Lear Corp. have been triggered, after the Americas Determinations Committee of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association met today to decide the fate of contracts on the name. The date on the settlement auction has yet to be set.

Reverse stress testing—the process by which firms try and account for potential shocks to their portfolios by addressing specific peculiarities—is becoming more common, according to Ron Papanek, head of RiskMetrics Group’s labs unit in New York.

Gareth Hawes, Lee Richardson and Gareth John, directors in credit default swaps trading at Nomura in London, left the firm last week.