Derivs - FX

Ian G. Smith, managing director and head of program trading and synthetics at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, has left the firm.

Open contracts of over the counter derivatives shed 14% of their market value in the first half of 2013 to $19.7 trillion, according to a report released by the European Securities and Markets Authority on Wednesday.

Henry Homes, an equity derivatives flow salesman at Credit Suisse in New York, is set to join Nomura in a similar role, also in New York.

Institutional investors have been buying short-dated topside options on the euro against the dollar, as well as risk-reversals, according to foreign exchange options traders.

Bank trading desks have been actively selling April 1x1.5 call ratios on the Nikkei 225 this week, targeting strikes between 15,250-and-16,000 in a bid to sell upside skew while remaining neutral on volatility.

Singapore Exchange plans to launch options trading on China A50 futures in the third quarter this year and will also expand its suite of foreign exchange Asian currency futures to include renminbi around the same time.

CME Group has received regulatory approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority to launch CME Europe, its London-based derivatives exchange. CME Europe, set for launch on April 27, will have its clearing services provided by CME Clearing Europe.

Less than half of buyside firms confirm and reconcile their trades in real time, and nearly two thirds of investors use manual methods including phone, email, fax and instant message.

Marcus Consolini, the ex-head of electronic execution sales and trading, Asia at JPMorgan in Hong Kong, has joined Société Générale.

Uncertainty surrounding China’s netting regime still presents a substantial risk for foreign financial firms wanting to enter into transactions with mainland counterparties, despite recent interpretative guidance on “set off” provisions from China’s Supreme People’s Court last year.

Hedge fund Citadel Asset Management has opened an office in Greenwich, Conn., and plans to replicate the capabilities of its Global Equity and Global Fixed Income multi-strategy and single strategy funds from the location.

Natixis has hired Eric Le Brusq, the ex-global head of equities and derivatives sales at BNP Paribas in London, as global head of equity derivatives sales, also in London.