Derivs - Equity

Deutsche Bank has hired Bradley Kurtzman, the head of U.S. equity derivative trading at Citigroup in New York, in a senior role in the firm’s equity derivative group.

Street and City equity staffers are losing their jobs in increasing numbers, few are being rehired, and others are bolting for what they believe to be greener pastures at interdealer brokers and buyside firms.

Hong Kong investors could see a more consistent flow of equity-linked structured products issued on the primary market this year as the Securities and Futures Commission normalizes approval times following its clampdown in approvals last year.

Sterne Agee, a privately owned investment bank based in Birmingham, Ala., has hired Daniel Breen to be based in New York as a part of its equity capital markets group.

Michael Schmanske, head of index volatility trading at Barclays Capital, is no longer with the firm.

Tradition is readying the launch of its European electronic trading platform in the U.S. by the end of 2012, pending the readiness of banks to sign up given regulatory uncertainty.

Royal Bank of Scotland has launched the first China-linked exchange-traded note.

Kenneth Hon, managing director and head of equity derivatives trading for Asia ex-Japan at Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong, is moving to Standard Chartered.

A number of equity derivative players have been moving positions recently:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance's Office of Capital Markets has sent a letter to structured-note issuing banks to provide greater disclosure to investors.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved rules that will determine which firms are deemed swap dealers.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved a rule that will treat commodity options as swaps but also exempts some “physically delivered” options from regulations.