Derivs - Equity

Morgan Stanley is recommending investors protect against a slump in large cap stocks by using put options on the Standard & Poor’s 500 that knock in when the price of oil reaches a predetermined level.

The soon-to-be created European Supervisory Authority (Securities and Markets) will be responsible for regulating clearing houses under new plans revealed today.

Stuart Pyott, head of European institutional equity derivatives sales at Citigroup in London, and Vipul Faujdar, a senior equity derivatives flow salesman, have left the firm.

Royal Bank of Scotland is gearing up to launch a UCITS III-compliant fund in April that will give investors delta-one exposure to the Gotham U.S. Enhanced Value Index.

The majority of Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee members at the European Parliament and officials at the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, are supporting Michel Barnier as the European Commissioner for Internal Market & Services.

Bank Hapoalim equity index trader Justin Egan resigned last week, fueling ongoing speculation as to the equity derivatives desk’s future.

Société Générale Securities Services is expected to score several mandates in the coming weeks to provide valuation and collateral management services to Nordic pension funds.

Citigroup has hired Vahe Bourmayan to head Asia ex-Japan index volatility trading, a new role at the firm.

Eurex Clearing is working on ways to clear non-standardized over-the-counter equity derivatives once the European Securities and Markets Authority has been established.

Jefferies & Co. is planning to hire four to six senior equity derivatives salespeople in New York this quarter.

Benoit Labonne, a senior equity derivatives flow salesman at Société Générale in London, has left the firm.

Deutsche Bank has purchased a derivatives claim against the Lehman Brothers estate worth USD85 million of notional from Texas oil services company Core Laboratories, according to a bankruptcy court filing.