Derivs - People and Markets

The European Securities and Markets Authority has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to extend formal recognition of covered central counterparties based in Singapore under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation.

Christopher Fix, former CEO of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, has been appointed as a managing director and head of Asia Pacific at CME Group.

The Singapore Exchange has opened a new office in Hong Kong in a bid to further bolster its growth in Greater China. This comes following the firm’s expansion of operations into Hong Kong last summer.

Market participants have been trading vanilla options on the Australian dollar against the US dollar on the back of strong US jobs data and continued steady gains in the US currency.

The annual Americas Derivatives Awards from GlobalCapital Derivatives, the new Derivatives Week, will take place on May 7, 2015. Save the date.

One investor was seen picking up a sizeable straddle on the euro against the dollar on Thursday following a slide in the pair which resulted in the breaching of the 1.10 psychological level.

A continued strengthening of the dollar and a wave of central banking announcements have muted FX options trading despite lower premiums and falling volatility.

When it comes to how banks finance their activities, there is little doubt we are in a new era. If anyone did question that the climate has changed, then a little known Austrian institution may have caused them to think again this week.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Reserve Bank of Australia which will allow the RBA access to derivatives data held in European trade repositories as required under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation.

The extremes of last quarter and the start of this year have subsided, and most measures of volatility and of the cost of options protection have returned to normal ranges.

The European Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that euro-denominated securities transactions can be cleared outside the eurozone, a victory for the UK, which brought the case against the European Central Bank.

Market participants have been buying significant amounts of bearish options on defensive stocks and funds, such as utilities, indicating that consumer sentiment is shifting from market recovery to expansion.