Derivs - Equity

Investors with exposure to Japanese financial stocks should look at selling six-month upside calls with a strike at 115%, as most Japanese financial firms still carry a large amount of volatility and could show slower growth next year, according to an equity derivative strategist in Hong Kong.

London-based alternative investment manager Arrowgrass Capital Partners has hired Atak Kara as a trader in London.

Citigroup has hired Daniel Mitchell, former co-head of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa options trading at the Royal Bank of Scotland in London, as a CEEMEA fx options trader, also in London.

Banks will be required to hold more capital against exposures to central counterparties should a draft regulation from the European Commission be enacted.

Notional outstanding over-the-counter derivatives have decreased over the last six months, with the total down 1% to USD639 trillion by the end of June 2012, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

Futures broker Newedge has hired Daniel McGowan, former managing member at consultancy firm Sino Ventures in Philadelphia, as its new China chief representative in Shanghai.

Equity derivative volumes in Asia have plummeted this week as investors pull back in an effort to protect profits as the year draws to an end, according to traders.

Rothschild Wealth Management’s Zurich-based investment team has bought a tracker certificate from UBS that gives exposure to the positive performance a basket of Japanese equities.

Cyril Cannamela, a managing director in exotic equity derivative trading at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong, was made redundant last week.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has appointed Giuseppe Vegas, chairman of Italian regulator Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa, as chair of the Post-Trading Standing Committee.

Options and warrants referencing Chinese exchange-traded funds could start trading next month in Hong Kong following the recent listing of one ETF in Hong Kong dollars.

Nomura is looking to sell structured products linked to its recently launched Private Equity Returns Index, known as PERI.