Derivs - Equity

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index has dropped 0.72 points to 18.36 from 19.08 since Wednesday, despite the stock market’s fall in the aftermath of President Obama’s re-election.

NYSE Euronext has hired Demetria O’Sullivan as chief risk officer of its new London clearinghouse NYSE Clearing.

The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive could restrict investor choice in negotiating financial contracts on trading platforms and discourage the establishment of organized trading facilities, according to market officials.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has upgraded its online library of ISDA documents and definitional booklets.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is to begin downsizing in global equity derivatives and investor products as part of a reorganisation of the business, with cuts expected imminently in sales, trading and structuring.

The Royal Bank of Scotland in South Korea is gaining increased interest from investors in so-called maze notes.

Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority is to wait on regulatory developments in Europe before pressing ahead with regulation covering the distribution of so-called complex structured products to retail investors.

Giovanni De Bustis Figarola and Nelson Farinha, equity derivatives volatility traders at Nomura in London, have left the firm.

Umair Raza Naqvi, an executive director in equity derivatives and equity-linked products for the Middle East and North Africa at Morgan Stanley in Dubai, has joined Wells Fargo to head the firm’s sovereign wealth fund business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Axel Kilian, global head of equity derivative sales and head of equity distribution for EMEA at UBS in London, has left as part of the cost reduction measures announced by the firm earlier this year.

Investors should buy a January 2013 call spread with a 105-120% strike referencing the iShares FTSE China A50 Exchange-Traded Fund in a bid to monetize potential upside skew, according to strategists at BNP Paribas.

China could soon allow onshore securities firms and brokerages to trade equity derivatives, such as total return swaps linked to the Chinese share market, according to lawyers in China.