Derivs - Equity

Technology infrastructure and data management will be the key for firms in the post-reform over-the-counter derivatives market in the U.S. and Europe, according to a report.

Yann Robbiola, a senior structured derivatives salesman for France at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Paris, has left the firm.

Three new Asia funds—BAF Capital Management, Charlie Chan Capital Partners and Myriad Asset Management—are all planning launches in the second half of the year.

The chances of a financial transaction tax being successfully applied would be improved if different countries jointly introduced the tax in a uniform manner, according to an International Monetary Fund report.

UBS has launched the first structured products in Europe linked to its Frontier and Emerging Markets Investable Total Return Index.

The eurozone debt crisis, the lowering of the U.S. credit rating and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates near zero until 2013 have all contributed to driving trading volumes in equities and derivatives to new records.

Andreas Klainguti, global head of equity trading at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, has left the firm.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is planning to beef up its equity derivative flow sales division in the Americas and has hired a senior salesman to lead the expansion.

Plans by the Taiwan Financial Securities Commission to create a trade repository with daily reporting requirements across all assets of over-the-counter derivatives, as well as information including the names of the traders and brokers who worked on the deal, will be prohibitively expensive for the market and unworkable, market players have warned.

BlackRock Alternative Investors has hired Ingo Heinen, the ex-head of institutional equity derivatives and fund-linked sales to Germany and Austria at The Royal Bank of Scotland, as a managing director within its alternative investment strategy group in London.

The downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and the escalation of the European debt crisis over the last week have seen a slew of structured products knock out or had their barriers hit.

Equity derivative activity in Asia picked up significantly today with various investors both buying and selling volatility, mainly through put spreads and variance swaps on major Asian indices.