Derivs - Equity

Chicago Board Options Exchange will begin trading options and futures on its CBOE Gold ETF Volatility Index beginning March 25, William Brodsky, ceo, said at the exchange’s Risk Management Conference in Dana Point, Calif., this morning.

The Oklahoma State University Foundation plans to utilize options on volatility in the near future. That’s after deploying a small portion of its funds in buy-write option strategies through money managers Gargoyle Group and others for the past two years, according to Gary Trennepohl, trustee of the foundation and finance professor at OSU.

Members of the European Parliament yesterday aired concerns that exemptions to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation proposed by MEP Werner Langen would water down the legislation.

Hedge funds in Australia would have to disclose much more information about their derivatives use under a recently-floated consultation paper from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission.

Goldman Sachs has begun offering the first structured product linked to the U.S. Technology M&A Index.

Citigroup has hired Emanuele Di Stefano in a new role as global head of quantitative investment strategies for equities and hybrid products in London.

BNP Paribas is planning to launch a service allowing private banks and securities firms to input electronically preferences for a structured product and get a price.

China Construction Bank (Asia) has launched an unlisted bull equity-linked investment structured product program in Hong Kong, according to documents filed with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.

HSBC has recently begun offering volatility swaps and dispersion trading to hedge fund clients in Asia Pacific.

Credit Suisse, in partnership with Daiwa SB Investments, has raised USD420 million from Japanese retail investors for a structured equity fund which combines stock selection with an over-the-counter call overlay feature to generate additional yield.

A new German law could make cash-settled equity derivatives less attractive to investors.

UBS has scored the largest Taiwan retail structured product since the market ground to a halt on new regulations in August 2009.