Derivs - FX

China’s State Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the country’s regulator for all state-owned enterprises (SOEs), will now have to approve in advance any transactions deemed risky, placing all over-the-counter derivatives into that bracket.

Risk reversals on the USD/TWD currency pair favored downside U.S. dollar puts this week, in contrast to a month ago when the opposite was the case.

Some FX structurers in Asia are observing increasing demand for structured products with payout streams that mirror bond coupons.

A large U.S. bank has been buying long-dated USD/JPY risk reversals on the downside, buying puts while selling calls with low strikes.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has named Behnouche Mostachfi and Frank Rawlins global co-heads of FX options trading, based in London.

Deutsche Bank is pitching short-dated call spreads to clients who believe the euro will appreciate against the U.S. dollar.

Sean Saunders, an fx options trader covering Brazil and Chile at Bank of America in New York, was let go in the last round of cuts at the bank.

Details of the fx options trading losses at Merrill Lynch in London are still unfolding and insiders are staying mum while investigations are pending.

The poor performance of the Korean won—which reached a low of 1,600 against the U.S. dollar last week—is sending spreads on credit default swaps referencing the nation’s sovereign debt wider.

Brevan Howard Asset Management is planning a series of UCITS III funds targeted at pension funds and other institutions that will invest in derivatives such as fx options and inflation swaps.

The non-deliverable forward market is failing to price in enough Asian currency depreciation against the U.S. dollar, Calyon analysts believe.

Frederic Boillereau, previously global head of fx and metals derivatives at HSBC in London, has been appointed global head of fx and metals following the departure earlier today of Andrew Brown, global head of fx.