Derivs - People and Markets

Market participants have been looking at picking up forward rate agreements (FRAs) on the South African rand on the back of continued disinflationary pressures and monetary policy decisions by the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb).

Magnus Bocker, CEO of the Singapore Exchange will leave the firm at the end of June this year.

Representatives from the Financial Services Agency of Japan and the European Securities and Markets Authority have signed a memorandum of co-operation related to clearing houses in Japan.

Overall interest rate derivatives trading that was reported to swap data repositories last week only decreased by 1% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

Liquidity in the FX options market is being hampered as bid-ask spreads on implied volatility widen, despite a rise in volatility and overall trading volumes, which has unexpectedly resulted in increased options premiums.

Hedge funds seeking alpha have been buying calls on technology and healthcare single stocks on the back of increased cash inflows and corporate share buybacks. This call buying has been hedged with puts on the S&P 500, according to traders.

GFI Group’s board of directors have unanimously agreed to support BGC Partners’ tender offer for all its outstanding stock at $6.10 per share in cash concluding the hostile takeover that BGC initiated last year. This came following the merger agreement that was made between CME Group and GFI in July, which led to a bidding war between the exchange and BGC.

The public dissemination of swap transaction trade data in Ontario is raising fears that trades will be linked to specific firms, thus influencing transaction pricing and making it difficult for firms to hedge their risk, according to lawyers.

The limited number of central counterparties and over-the-counter clearing members in the UK is hampering competition. This could result in a monopolisation of services which may lead to a less resilient economy, according to feedback received by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Transaction reporting required by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive can now be done by Bloomberg’s sellside trading solution, Trade Order Management Solutions, after it was rubber stamped by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an Approved Reporting Mechanism on Thursday.

Market participants have welcomed the European Securities and Markets Authority’s decision to change its focus from collecting reported trade data to checking quality and access to regulators. This comes as EMSA believes there is more work to be done before collected data can be used to detect systemic risk.

Average pricing on orders executed on electronic trading venues could be the key to opening up a wider migration to central limit order books from the request-for-quote trading protocol, according to investors.