Derivs - People and Markets

There is a growing likelihood that the Reserve Bank of Australia will decide to cut interest rates at its July meeting due to weak wage growth and a declining inflation outlook, but options markets are not yet priced for a change.

Axoni, a New York based start up firm specialising in distributed ledger infrastructure for capital markets and derivatives, has hired a former Citadel executive as its chief operating officer.

HSBC has begun offering a clearing collateral service for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives to help clients comply with G20 swap reforms.

OpenDoor Trading, a trading platform that aims to improve liquidity in off-the-run US treasuries and treasury inflation protected securities (TIPS), has hired an experienced capital markets strategist to a senior position.

CME Group is adding to its base metals business with an aluminium alloy futures contract.

European-listed exchange traded funds had their busiest month ever on Tradeweb in April, the marketplace firm said.

A credit event auction to settle Norske Skog credit default swaps is being delayed because ISDA’s EMEA Determinations Committee has been unable to source an intercreditor agreement.

Post-crisis regulation, funding pressures and liquidity demands are leading investors to favour derivative products over underlying assets in novel ways, said analysts.

A growing market shift among institutional investors towards short-dated volatility plays has led the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to start offering weekly options on UK stocks for the first time while other exchanges are moving closer towards allowing intraday strategies.

The prospect of the European Central Bank (ECB) buying up corporate bonds, potentially squeezing supply in the sector, has meant investors have looked for alternative ways to take on risk exposure.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s latest warnings on Brexit may have dominated market attention this week, but the Bank also put major central clearing houses in its crosshairs with a call for global stress testing to stop them becoming ‘too big to fail’.

ENSO Financial Analytics, an ICAP Group company that analyses data for hedge funds and prime brokers, has added a platform that is targeted at new managers.