Derivs - People and Markets

BGC Brokers, the interdealer broker, is making a push into the competitive world of over-the-counter derivatives portfolio compression and has already taken out over €800bn notional of swaptions.

French lender Natixis has bolstered its Asia Pacific team with a pair of senior appointments to its fixed income and equity units.

One of ICAP’s independent non-executive directors is set to resign at the end of the year.

In the last RMB round-up of 2015, HSBC became the first foreign bank to issue RMB-denominated CDs to corporates in China, Hungary plans RMB bonds in 2016 and Russian bank VTB saw a big boost to its RMB business in 2015. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB’s top stories this week.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission this week voted in a final rule on margin requirements for uncleared swaps for bank dealers and major swap participants – despite the objection of one of the three commissioners that it will be far less effective at reigning in US bank excesses than an earlier version

A group of 24 investment management firms has pledged to begin voluntarily clearing their single name credit default swap trades through central counterparties (CCPs), hoping this will encourage other buyside firms to follow suit and help revitalise the credit derivatives market.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has completed a $5.2bn acquisition of Interactive Data Corporation.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission proposed rules last Friday aimed at curbing funds’ use of derivatives, in a move that could force some exchange traded funds (ETFs) to close.

In this round-up, RMB futures trading on international exchanges picked up in November, RMB clearing in Hong Kong picked up in the same month, ICBC is working on a Belt and Road financing venture, and Deutsche Bank helped a German corporate set up centralised RMB treasury functions in China. Plus, a recap of GlobalRMB’s top stories this week.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission will meet on Friday and is expected to propose tough restrictions on the use of derivatives in funds sold to retail investors.

Intercontinental Exchange expects to complete its acquisition of Interactive Data Corporation early next week, having received all regulatory approvals.

European regulators have dealt a blow to credit default swap investors who are seeking legal reparations against banks on charges of collusion, after the European Commission ditched its long-running antitrust investigation of 13 major banks, citing insufficient evidence.