Derivs - Interest Rate

Credit Suisse has launched Advanced Strategy Fund to Japanese institutional investors and domestic funds.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong has hired Stephan Wenger, former portfolio manager at macro hedge fund Balyasny Asset Management.

Stephen O'Connor, chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and managing director of over-the-counter client clearing at Morgan Stanley, has called for uniform derivatives regulations in an attempt to ease extraterritoriality concerns.

Most corporate users of interest rate derivatives said new derivatives regulation in Europe and the U.S. will lead to wider spreads and ultimately boost costs of capital, according to Greenwich Associates.

South Korea saw a sharp bounce in the issuance of structured notes in Q1 2012 to KRW960 billion (USD 840 million) from KRW480 billion (USD422 million) in Q4 2011, with 15-year dual-currency range accruals the most popular note issued so far this year.

The European regulation curbing both short selling and naked credit default swaps on sovereign issuers came into force 25 March.

The House of Representatives passed a bill that would exempt small banks from clearing requirements for interest-rate swaps in the Dodd-Frank Act.

Tradition is readying the launch of its European electronic trading platform in the U.S. by the end of 2012, pending the readiness of banks to sign up given regulatory uncertainty.

Australia will not directly or immediately mandate clearing of over-the-counter derivatives. It will let the market decide if a domestically-domiciled central clearing counterparty is needed, making it the first G20 nation to propose a market driven approach to mandatory clearing.

The Shanghai Clearing House’s has been quietly consulting a select group of China-based dealers about how to clear over-the-counter China onshore yuan interest rate swaps.

The Singapore Exchange cleared a total notional of SGD26.9 billion (USD21.51 billion) in both new and back-loaded interest rate swaps in Q3 of its 2011/2012 financial year, a decrease of SGD15.3 billion (USD12.22 billion) from Q3 2010/2011.

Foreign banks in Brazil are setting up credit valuation adjustment desks and looking to hire traders by the end of this year.