Derivs - Equity

Citigroup is to set up a listed options business in Australia and will soon start market making operations for warrants, single stock and index options in the country. The firm is also planning a similar listed options business to begin operations in Hong Kong in October, with Singapore expected to start later in the year.

Chicago Board Options Exchange is set to launch CBOE S&P 500 range options, a new type of S&P 500 index contract.

Investors should buy a 105/120/130% call fly on the HSCEI and sell a 105/120/130% call fly on FTSE/JSE Top40 South African index, targeting maturities of September or December, according to strategists at BNP Paribas.

Peter Lindsey, managing director and head of delta one for Asia at JPMorgan in Tokyo, has relocated to Hong Kong.

Ross Beaney, head of strategic trading at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, has been made acting head of trading and equity derivatives.

ANZ is taking market share in Asia, selling structured products referencing the S&P 500 to Asian insurers looking to hedge against downward market movements, according to officials at the firm.

Japanese dealers will have a pricing advantage over foreign firms as they will not have to include credit valuation adjustments into their risk management capital ratios for domestic yen-denominated derivatives when new Basel III standards are enforced in March.

Ahmed Kachenoura, the ex-global head of sales, flow and delta-one at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank in Paris, has joined the Royal Bank of Canada as head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa trading for global equity-linked products in London.

Hedge funds are urging the European Securities and Markets Association to include a straight-through-processing standard in the final regulatory technical standards for over-the-counter derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories. The funds argue that an STP standard would reduce systemic risk and create an open and competitive market.

Investors are waiting for 3-4% pullback on Asia’s equity markets before purchasing short-dated call options with a 105% strike that reference regional indices, according to traders. The decline in the equity market would signal a buying opportunity for investors that missed out on the recent rally in global share markets.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed Jeremy Smart in a newly created role as global head of electronic distribution within its market and international banking division in London.

Richard Carson, the former global head of equity derivatives at Deutsche Bank, is set to join Barclays as European head of equity market risk in London.