Derivs - People and Markets

The Chicago Board Options Exchange has taken a strategic stake in parent Eris Exchange as the firms team up on a range of product solutions aimed at regulatory reforms such as Basel III, European swap clearing and trading mandates, as well as margin for un-cleared swaps.

OpenDoor Trading has hired a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch sales head as president as it prepares to launch a trading platform aimed at improving liquidity in off-the-run US treasuries and treasury inflation protected securities (TIPS).

An auction to settle Norske Skog credit default swaps will take place in June, after ISDA’s determinations ommittee agreed to an initial list of deliverables for the restructuring credit event — despite not having been able to gain access to a crucial document governing the terms of the firm’s guaranteed bonds.

The Options Clearing Corporation, a US clearing house, has found itself placed on negative ratings watch by Standard & Poor’s, over concerns that it could fail should two of its largest clearing members default.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is likely to issue its planned onshore bond denominated in special drawing rights (SDR) as a multi-currency structured note, according to industry participants.

Idiosyncratic risk in the European corporate hybrid bond sector has caused new issuance to stall and credit spreads to rise.

The futures-implied probability of a US rate hike in June surged this week after hints by Federal Reserve officials.

Plans to settle Norske Skog credit default swaps by auction were still at an impasse on Thursday, after ISDA’s EMEA Determinations Committee was unable to find crucial paperwork despite meeting three times this week.

The prospect of the UK voting to leave the European Union has become the foremost focus of fund managers and volatility traders, even as the latest poll on Brexit gave the ‘Remain’ campaign an 18 point lead over ‘Leave’ — prompting the pound to rally to its highest point against the dollar since May 3.

Intercontinental Exchange is readying to offer a new form of interest rate futures contract aimed at supporting term financing deals such as repurchase agreements.

Global Dairy Trade, a platform that sets prices for the global dairy market, is pushing ahead with plans to bring dairy trading up to speed with other commodity markets and which could impact currency and futures activity.

There is a growing likelihood that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will decide to cut interest rates at its July meeting, due to weak wage growth and a declining inflation outlook, said some analysts this week. But options markets are not yet priced for a change.