Derivs - People and Markets

Investors have been entering one-month-to-one-year down-and-out-puts and “appearing” put spread strategies with strike prices of 90% and 80% of spot on the S&P 500, in a bid to monetize the elevated skew levels on the index.

A change to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s communication rules relating to the filing and content requirements for retail communications are a positive development for the structured products market, according to lawyers.

CME Group has called on the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to allow all derivatives clearing organizations to commingle portfolio margining funds in connection with futures contracts.

Investors should look at buying a January 2015 variance swap on the SPDR S&P Metals and Mining exchange-traded fund for 29.7 points, while selling a Jan. 2015 variance swap on the S&P 500 for 17.2 points, in a bid to play possible impending turbulence in China and other emerging markets.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to propose new rules covering record keeping, reporting and notification requirements for security-based swap dealers and major security-based swap participants.

Mariana Capital Markets has hired Yaron Winterstein, an ex-director in credit sales at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London, to a new role, also in London.

Robert Pickel, ceo of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, is set to leave this summer after 17 years at the association.

The Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products directive (PRIIPs), which was approved by the European Parliament on Tuesday evening, has been welcomed by the European structured products industry.

Investors should sell one-month US dollar, Malaysian ringgit non deliverable forwards at 3.253 and buy USD, Korean won one-month NDFs at 1043.5 in a bid to play MYR’s recovery against KRW.

Ali Salahuddin, head of global-equity linked products at the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto, has left the firm. Ahmed Kachenoura, managing director, head of AMRS trading and head of the US platform, global equity linked products in New York, will assume Salahuddin’s responsibilities. Kachenoura will remain in New York as head of global equity-linked products.

John Gousias, the ex-head of investment grade flow credit trading at Royal Bank of Scotland in London, is joining HSBC as head of financials, index, options and ETF trading and co-head of European flow credit.

Institutional investors have been active in short-dated upside call flow on the Japan Exchange-Nikkei 400 index, a new trend according to traders. The trades, which had an average notional of around $1 million, follow an announcement from Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund that it will include the new index in its benchmarks.