Derivs - Equity

An update released today by the Bank for International Settlements’ Financial Stability Forum has called on international financial authorities to enforce minimum initial margins for over-the-counter derivatives.

Several over-the-counter options referencing the net asset value of hedge funds are reportedly set to expire this year, but the liquidity crunch has meant unwinding the trades—mostly put on during 2006 and 2007 when the funds were performing—is proving a challenge.

Rabobank has made three senior appointments in its European structured products team in a bid to bring trading, structuring and engineering for all asset classes—equity, fixed income, hybrid, FX and credit—under one platform.

Tim Collins has joined Société Générale in New York as a managing director selling equity swaps to U.S. institutional and hedge fund clients.

Michele Gissi, co-head of global equity derivatives trading at Deutsche Bank in New York, will be taking a year-long sabbatical with immediate effect.

Keydata Investment Services, the U.K.-based structured products provider, will launch an Extra Income Plan starting on June 22 linked to the performance of the FTSE 100.

Matt Andresen, a long-time electronic trading industry veteran, has left his post of co-ceo of Citadel Derivatives Group.

FX and equity derivatives broker Newedge has relocated a pair of managing directors in Asia-Pacific as part of its expansion in the region.

Investment research firm Morningstar is developing an evaluation system for structured products, initially targeting investors in Australia.

Exchange group NASDAQ OMX is developing a reporting system for prices on structured products in the market and the performance of their underlying indices.

Fearing it will be years before equity markets produce decent returns again, investors are turning to algorithmic trading strategies wrapped in structured products.

MetLife has come out in support of a Securities and Exchange Commission proposal that would force equity-linked annuities to be regulated as securities, just as variable annuities are.