Derivs - Equity

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is set to release a consultation paper proposing new disclosure benchmarks for over-the-counter contracts for difference issuers in the country.

Barclays Capital structurers are eyeing more structures on the S&P500 Dynamic VEQTOR (Volatility Equity Target Return) Total Return Index and other volatility offerings.

Insurers have been hedging volatility in recent weeks, which market players say is a sign that flow is returning to the over-the-counter equity derivatives market.

The specter of corporates defaulting on their derivative trades is being raised as lawmaker efforts to grant margin exemptions to the Dodd-Frank Act appear to have lost steam.

Morgan Stanley’s 15-year range accrual note outsold similar versions by competitors by more than USD10 million this week, as it referenced only the S&P 500 instead of including the more standard interest rate underlying, officials said.

Olivier Bossard, the former head of equity volatility trading at Lehman Brothers in London, has joined Macquarie Securities Group as head of equity derivatives trading based in Frankfurt.

A handful of Deutsche Bank’s Asia-Pacific equity derivatives structuring team, headed by Allan Zhou, left the firm on Tuesday.

The Korea Exchange is in the process of launching a securitized derivative product into the country called a knock-out barrier warrant or KOBA.

Franck Lacour, the ex-head of equity derivatives volatility trading at Barclays Capital in London, is set to join HSBC on completion of his gardening leave.

UBS increased its revenues in equity derivatives in the second quarter of 2010 from the first, despite other dealers recording a decline in profits in the same business due to volatile trading conditions and a lack of liquidity in the market.

Daiwa Capital Markets has hired two equity derivatives traders to be based in its Hong Kong office.

Scotia Capital has hired two traders and one salesman for its structured products and equity derivatives team in New York.