Derivs - Equity

Barclays Capital has hired Arthur Mbanefo, the former head of prime brokerage and equity financing at Credit Suisse First Boston, as its head of global equity structured products in New York.

A number of banks in Hong Kong are reviving their equity derivative prop desks after more than a year of virtual hibernation. JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank are among them.

Vikesh Kotecha, co-head of single stock equity derivatives trading at Nomura in London, is set to relocate to Hong Kong over the next few days.

Equity derivatives players in Asia are hopeful Korea’s Financial Supervisory Commission will give the green light for callable bull/bear warrants to be traded in South Korea. The Korea Stock Exchange has applied to the regulator for approval, and if accepted the market could kick off as soon as the first quarter.

UOB Asset Management has begun distributing Singapore’s first exchange-traded fund that synthetically garners exposure to China A-shares.

The coming over-the-counter derivatives regulations in the U.S. and Europe will result in billions of dollars of new fees for brokers, clearing houses and alternative swap execution facilities, according to JPMorgan analysts.

JPMorgan has hired Andrew Kent, the former senior index options trader at Deutsche Bank who left in the wake of large trading losses last year.

It's an open question whether older, non-standardized credit default swaps will need to be cleared when U.S. reforms are enacted, according to panelists at the fourth annual OTC Derivatives Operations and Processing conference in New York this morning.

Four major dealers have signed master agreements with Lehman Brothers Special Financing, allowing the bankrupt firm to buy new over-the-counter hedges.

Credit Suisse International has issued a zero-coupon note referencing shares of Singapore-based palm oil producer Wilmar International.

The European Commission has just released an outline of its planned regulation of the over-the-counter derivatives market.

Some structurers are preparing structured products for investors bearish on U.S. equities, even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average continues to climb above 10,000. The notes are targeted at private banks and institutional investors, market watchers say, but bearish structured products for retail investors could be next.