Derivs - People and Markets

European legislators have failed to reach an agreement over the final text of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, reneging on a prior agreement over commodity exemptions to the definition of a financial instrument in Annex I, Section C (6) of the text.

Regulators failed to reach agreement over the text of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive at the eleventh hour last night, reneging on a prior agreement over commodity exemptions to the definition of a financial instrument in Annex I, Section C (6) of the text.

Global systemically important financial institutions are hiring more risk management specialists familiar with counterparty risk management, clearinghouse frameworks and the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems of the Bank for International Settlements and the International Organization of Securities Commissions Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures in a bid to better access the robustness of CCPs.

Nomura has hired Mike Ward, the former head of equity sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as head of European equity sales in London.

Rules from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission that require derivatives to be traded on a swap execution facility have resulted in fragmented liquidity and decreased derivatives trading volumes, according to a survey conducted by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

The launch of client clearing in Japan next February could face hurdles due to the lack of clients signing up for the service.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has reported that European Member States’ sovereign credit spreads have tightened by around 26 basis points since the ban on uncovered credit default swaps in March 2012, according to a report published by the European Commission.

LCH.Clearnet has begun offering client clearing for single name credit default swaps with the addition of 187 names to its CDS clearing service.

Alexander Justham, ceo of the regulated subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange, has been named as a new member of the European Securities and Markets Association’s Securities Markets Stakeholders Group.

Second-tier banks and non-financial companies are most likely to benefit from credit and debt valuation adjustment guidance published by the International Valuation Standards Council last week, according to Dmitry Pugachevsky, research director at Quantifi in New York.

Vincent Craignou, the ex-global head of fx and precious metals derivatives at HSBC in London, has joined Brevan Howard as a portfolio manager.

Initial margin requirements for clearing interest rate swaps could force buysiders to turn to futures to avoid the collateral cost of clearing. That’s the view of Luke Hickmore, investment director of credit at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, speaking at the Futures Options World Derivatives World Conference in London on Tuesday.