Derivs - FX

Over-the-counter equity derivatives are the least suitable for standardization and exchange trading, and OTC fx swaps are the least likely to be cleared, according to a survey of market participants done by BNY Mellon and analyzed by the TABB Group. This discrepancy highlights the fact that standardization does not necessarily imply clearing and vice versa.

Nomura has hired Chan Eng Chien into a newly-devised corporates sales and risk structuring role in Hong Kong.

The non-deliverable forwards market has pushed backed on its expectation of greater yuan appreciation against the dollar.

With the U.S. Senate bill finalized, players throughout the industry say their final hopes for less draconian rules depend on the conference to merge the bill with the House version, and on federal regulators charged with implementation.

Hedge funds and corporates have been buying up one-week and one-month put options on the euro against the U.S. dollar since Wedneday after being rattled by Germany’s decision to ban naked sovereign credit default swaps referencing eurozone debt.

Kennett Square, Pa., advisor Chatham Financial plans to launch a currency hedging platform within its microfinance arm, Cygma, later this year in Luxembourg. The aim is to capitalize on USD1-1.5 billion that investors would like to invest in microfinance, but can’t because of excessive currency risk.

European hedge funds and asset managers want to use derivatives more this year to access liquidity, but they want to do it on exchange rather than over the counter, according to a recent study by the TABB Group.

National and European lawmakers could end up deciding whether over-the-counter fx trades will be cleared in their respective markets, not the European Commission, according to Patrick Pearson, head of financial markets infrastructure at the Commission.

James Lee, head of Nomura’s Asia risk structuring group in Hong Kong, has left and is taking a senior commodities structuring role at JPMorgan.

Enrico Casini, the former head of fx institutional sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Royal Bank of Scotland, is set to join Credit Suisse in London as a managing director.

Increasing flows of credit default swaps in Korea, driven largely by the uptick of credit-linked notes sold in the country, has prompted rating agency Fitch Solutions to introduce a pricing service for Korean CDS.

Currency options traders are expecting a slew of long-term put options on cable to hit the market next week following an E.U. vote on the controversial Alternative Investment Fund Management directive, which industry officials say could drive hedge funds out of the U.K. and hurt the country’s tax revenues.