Derivs - FX

Nomura’s front-office fixed income team in the U.S. is shooting to add 10 more staffers by year-end to take its headcount to 250, according to Jeffrey Michaels and Charles Spero, co-heads of the business in New York.

Foreign banks are requesting that warranties be written into their over-the-counter derivatives contracts with Chinese counterparties as a means of mitigating regulatory risk.

Strategists at BNP Paribas are recommending an exotic trade to take advantage of their view the Canadian dollar could reach parity with the U.S. dollar in the near-term, but decline farther down the line due to government intervention.

Pirgun Akinal, a senior emerging markets fx options trader at HSBC, has left and is reportedly set to join Morgan Stanley in a new role in January.

Société Générale has hired Gary Hawkins, the former head of global emerging markets trading at ABN Amro.

Canadian banks are hiring aggressively in fx and fixed-income sales and trading across Asia, notably in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Hedge funds have been buying up calls on sterling against the euro and U.S. dollar, following news that U.K. banking and construction sector exposure to Dubai was not as bad as feared.

Chookiat Rujanapornaje, head of fixed income and credit sales to Singapore and Thailand at Standard Chartered, is undertood to have left.

Société Générale has hired David O’Connor from HypoVereinsbank in New York as a director in fx sales, covering options, spot and forwards as well as some precious metals.

Rahan Qureshi, a senior emerging markets fx options trader at Calyon in London, has left the firm two months after joining.

Barclays Capital and Standard Chartered are working toward signing the new interbank master agreement with China’s big four banks.

Deutsche Bank has appointed Gautam Hazarika as managing director and head of fx corporate flow sales for Asia ex-Japan in Singapore.