Derivs - People and Markets

Macro hedge fund investors are buying short-dated upside calls on the Nikkei 225, targeting strikes above 16,000, following a rally in the yen against the U.S. dollar.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is considering waiving specific trade reporting requirements for international firms active in the over-the-counter derivatives market, and is currently in discussions with market participants over the issue.

Officials in Seoul are skeptical moves by the country’s financial regulator to open the market to greater product diversity will boost dwindling derivatives volumes.

The issuance of structured products through a trust vehicle could be challenging for firms following the formal adoption of the Volcker Rule last month, according to lawyers.

Global sovereign credit default swap spreads tightened 9.5% in the fourth quarter of last year while stocks continued to rally, according to a report published by S&P Capital IQ on Wednesday.

Leland Lim, co-head of Asia Pacific macro trading at Goldman Sachs, will leave the firm next week, with plans to launch a global macro fund in Hong Kong later this year.

Ross Gregory, Korea head at Macquarie Securities in Seoul, has left the firm.

A survey by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has found that cross-border trading relationships have broken down since the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s swap execution facility mandate came into force on Oct. 2, 2013.

James Cawley, ceo of Javelin Capital Markets in New York, has hit back at comments by Scott O’Malia, commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, that the CFTC acted carelessly by certifying some interest rate swaps made available to trade on Javelin SEF last week (DW, 20/01).

Newly created domestic central counterparties in Asia may largely lose out to international CCPs following the introduction of mandatory clearing this year.

DBS Bank in Hong Kong is looking to market equity-linked notes denominated in renminbi that reference an equity underlying in Hong Kong. The issuance is based on the view that there will likely be a relaxation in RMB convertibility, which will spur demand for such structures.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has set a dangerous precedent by approving a made available to trade submission for interest rate swaps from swap execution facility Javelin, according to Scott O’Malia, CFTC commissioner.