Derivs - Equity

The London Stock Exchange is set to launch its Turquoise Derivatives platform in May.

Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is using a heavy hand in his approach to writing derivatives regulations, according to derivatives players, and it’s making them nervous.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to decide as early as this week whether fx swaps should be regulated as strictly as other derivatives.

UBS has hired Jack Hon to the Singapore equity derivatives team where he will focus on Malaysia and South East Asia Institutional sales.

Regulators in the U.S. and Europe are sharply divided are several issues related to over-the-counter derivatives, including how to define new trading platforms for OTC derivatives, clearing house ownership and clearinghouse membership for brokers.

Assenagon Credit Management plans to launch a EUR200-250 million (USD279-348 million) fund that will deploy equity and credit derivatives.

Daniel Goldstein, the ex- head of equity flow sales at BNP Paribas in London, is launching a hedge fund startup called Apson Capital.

Exchange-traded derivatives may escape European regulations aimed at the over-the-counter market.

Magnus Böcker, ceo of the Singapore Exchange, said he sees no shift of derivatives and clearing activity to Asia to escape regulations in Europe and the U.S.

The number of firms licensed to trade credit risk mitigation instruments in China has grown from 17 to 38 since the pilot program kicked off in November.

The Malaysian Securities Commission and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies have floated the idea of a public good standard for Shariah-compliant financial products, including derivatives and structured products.

Some options on the Japanese iShares exchange-traded fund (EWJ) have started to take a bullish flavor, running against the the general bearish sentiment in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami.