Derivs - People and Markets

The European Securities and Markets Authority should clarify that the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive is not intended to apply to structured issues, according to the Joint Associations Committee on Retail Structured Products.

The European Commission is gauging opinions from companies, individuals and associations on a pushing ahead with an effort bolster the international jurisdiction of courts.

Daiwa Capital Markets pulled back from the global over-the-counter derivatives market because of uncertainty over global regulation, according to Dominique Blanchard, managing director and global head of derivatives and convertible bonds in Hong Kong, who has left the firm.

Senior officials in Barclays’ fx, equity and rates derivative teams have been cut or have left in recent days.

A vote in the European parliament today on whether to reject technical standards covering non-financial companies in the European Market Infrastructure Regulation has been cancelled. The move came after the European Commission pledged today to phase-in obligations for non-financial firms to clear over-the-counter derivatives.

A proposal from the European Securities and Markets Authority for interoperable central counterparties to assess the need to harmonise their risk management frameworks has been tagged as unworkable by market participants. The European Multilateral Clearing Facility, SIX x-clear and LCH.Clearnet all think the proposal is not practicable.

Misconduct in interest rate submissions at the Royal Bank of Scotland continued into 2010, despite the firm’s management being made aware of potential misconduct related to Libor submissions, according to documents released by regulators. The firm was today fined GBP87.5 million (USD137 million) by the U.K. Financial Services Authority, USD325 million by the U.S. Commodity and Futures Trading Commission, and USD150 million by the U.S. Department of Justice for misconduct relating to Libor.

UBS employees earning over CHF250,000 will have part of their bonuses deferred.

Olivier Faure, head of index flow trading for Asia at UBS in Hong Kong, left the firm last week.

Michael Freilich, a former managing director in structured credit sales at Deutsche Bank in London, has joined StormHarbour Securities as a managing director, also in London.

Dominique Blanchard, managing director and global head of derivatives and convertible bonds in Hong Kong at Daiwa Capital Markets, has left the firm.

Mark Wong, managing director and co-head of linear rates trading at Deutsche Bank in Singapore, has left the firm.