Derivs - People and Markets

Frederic Smadja, head of U.S. equity flow and structured index trading for North America at Natixis in New York, has left the firm.

Makram Fares, co-head of European equity sales and equity derivatives at Nomura in London, has left the firm.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has released a consultation paper on proposed guidelines on remuneration policies and practices under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive.

The Australian government has narrowed its definition of a derivative transaction contained within its new over-the-counter derivative regulatory framework, according to lawyers.

Hugo Ohta, an fx option trader at HSBC in London, and Philippe Zebouni, an fx option trader in Hong Kong, have both left the firm.

The Danish Presidency of the E.U. has introduced an explicit waiver for non-equity derivatives in the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation.

Paul Collins, managing director and head of hybrid and structured products trading at Nomura in Singapore, left the firm last week and is joining Standard Chartered Bank.

New broad regulations in Australia dealing with the establishment of onshore clearing and settlement providers could dictate how an over-the-counter derivatives clearinghouse operates in the country, according to lawyers.

A push to internationalize the master agreement developed by China’s National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (DI, 11/23/11) is facing opposition within the regulatory system as well as from the industry, according to lawyers who track the issue.

Nomura is folding its equity futures and options sales and trading professionals in Hong Kong under its fixed income hierarchy, as part of the global restructuring of its equity business.

David Streatfield, a director in synthetic equity sales at Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong, has joined HSBC as a director on the delta 1 finance sales desk.

Mark Azoulay, a senior equity derivatives trader at UBS in London, has left the firm to focus on his role as partner and cfo at Cape Management Global, a real estate investment manager based in Miami, Fla., that he co-founded in 2008.