Derivs - People and Markets

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange plans to cement its position as the primary gateway between China and the rest of the world, after setting out a three-year strategic plan for 2016-2018.

As a decision on whether Novo Banco has triggered a government intervention credit event heads to external review after weeks of ISDA Determinations Committee wrangling, some market participants are worried that a 'no' will reduce the value of financial credit default swaps, while others warn that a European-only result could open a rift with US contracts.

Saudi Arabia’s central bank has told the country’s banks to stop selling options on riyal forwards — products which would let investors benefit if the value of the riyal falls.

Deutsche Bank is set to lose the head of its European investment grade credit trading business.

Forcing more companies to register as swap dealers would be "destabilising" to banks and "would undermine rather than promote proper risk management" among banks and their customers, according to counsel for the American Bankers Association.

The Basel Committee’s new trading book rules don’t force banks to split into subsidiaries or to ringfence capital. But they will still revolutionise how investment banks run their trading businesses.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the agency responsible for regulating commodity derivatives traded on Indian markets, has made several changes it said were designed to curb speculation and to reduce volatility in agricultural commodities.

As part of plans to grow its derivatives business, Mizuho International has begun to clear euro and dollar interest rate trades through LCH.Clearnet’s SwapClear.

Abengoa provided the first credit event auction of the year on Thursday and settled at a low price, after ISDA’s DC reached a split vote decision in December on the Spanish renewable energy company triggering a failure to pay trigger for 2014 credit default swap transactions.

The deadline for public comments on a key US swaps regulation is due on January 19 and, unless the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is swayed otherwise, “made up numbers” could drive costs higher for market participants.

The UK High Court has said that a former Deutsche Bank trader’s suit to claim crisis-era bonus payments “has no realistic prospect of success”.

ISDA, entering new territory, has asked members to help it put together an external review panel to resolve its deadlock over whether or not Novo Banco has triggered a credit event.