Derivs - FX

South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance has announced that local brokerages will be permitted to deal with fx derivatives based on raw materials and other commodities without having to report the trades to government authorities, while securities firms will be able to trade fx derivatives based on ocean freight chargers, weather and other natural conditions after filing with the Bank of Korea.

Barclays led all dealers in global fx, followed by Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, UBS, HSBC and JPMorgan, according to Greenwich Associates.

Credit Suisse is said to be preparing to announce it will cut 5,000 investment-banking jobs when it releases its first quarter results April 25.

Standard Chartered is advising investors to buy a one-year at-the-money U.S. dollar offshore Chinese yuan forward, while selling a one-year USD onshore Chinese yuan ATM forward.

Nomura has hired Tim Owens, the ex-global head of commodity solutions at JP Morgan, as global head of fx structuring in London.

David Dimmock, head of fx hedge fund sales at Société Générale in Hong Kong, resigned today.

Ayad Butt, a G10 fx derivative trader at Credit Suisse in Singapore, last week after being with the firm for over five years.

Credit Suisse is advising investors to buy three-month euro/yen digital puts with strikes at JPY99. The recommendation comes amid increasing fears the euro will weaken due to concerns in Spain and Italy.

Tim Joyce, an executive director in fx options trading at JPMorgan in London, has left the firm.

BNP Paribas plans to merge its electronic foreign exchange trading platforms, Cortex FX and OTC eTrader, within the next three-six months. Doing so will allow investors to trade all fx options and structured products on one platform.

The Swiss National Bank has bought around EUR9 billion in euros against the Swiss franc after the market broke the enforced CHF1.20 floor by selling spot, according to traders.

Brazilian corporates are slowly becoming more interested in the fx options market and are purchasing options in size, according to Francis Ortega, head of derivatives corporate sales at HSBC in Sao Paulo.