Derivs - People and Markets

Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext are said to have begun lobbying commissioners and senior government officials in various European countries in coming days in an effort to save their proposed merger, which the European Commission has signaled it will recommend rejecting.

The Financial Stability Board has formed an over-the-counter derivatives co-ordination group made up of the chairs of relevant standard-setting bodies, with its initial focus on establishing adequate safeguards for a global framework for central counterparties.

BlackRock said it plans to expand its exchange-traded funds offerings in Australia after the government’s new regulation allowing fixed-income ETFs on the nation’s main securities exchange went into effect.

Credit default swap spreads on JPMorgan Chase have outperformed the broader banking sector in the past three months, tightening 15%, compared with 7% for the overall sector, according to Fitch Solutions.

Jesse Bhattal has quit as head of wholesale at Nomura, making him the most senior executive who had comes from Lehman Brothers following the Japanese firm’s acquisition of the U.S. investment bank’s European and Asian operations to leave. .

Morgan Stanley has named Laurence Mutkin as global head of interest-rate strategy, succeeding James Caron, who has left the firm.

Sturgeon Capital has launched the Central Asia Equities Fund, which will offer exposure to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Georgia.

Bank of America is reportedly cutting managing director numbers in Asia investment-banking unit by around 20%.

Barclays Capital has hired Manuela Arbuckle as head of client services team in its London-based derivatives operations.

BATS Chi-X Europe has launched its four-way interoperable clearing service, which allows participants in BATS Europe and Chi-X Europe to select from EMCF, EuroCCP, LCH.Clearnet and SIX x-clear for clearing their trades.

The Futures Industry Association has appointed Walter Lukken as president and ceo, succeeding John Damgard, who is stepping down after nearly 30 years as head of the group.

ING Groep has folded cash equities, equity derivatives and global-securities finance into a global equity products unit.