Derivs - People and Markets

HSBC tops Greenwich Associates’ 2011 rankings of U.S. retail structured products providers with a 73% penetration level among distributors.

ProShares is planning to offer a suit of “volatility target” exchange-traded funds linked to various indices.

The determinations committee of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has rejected to rule on whether default notices on senior notes received by Sino-Forest constitute a failure-to-pay credit event that triggers payout of credit default swaps referencing the Chinese timber company.

Getco is said to have hired Robert Wells as a fixed-income specialist.

The European Union is said to have told Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext that their proposed remedies to antitrust concerns were insufficient.

UBS has named Peter Forlenza to head its equities business in North and South America.

The notional amount of over-the-counter derivatives outstanding rose 18% in the first six months of 2011 to USD491.3 trillion, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

AllianceBernstein has named James Gingrich to succeed the departing David Steyn as coo.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association nearly doubled its lobbying costs in the third quarter from a year ago to USD674,000, a figure that exceeds its second-quarter spending by more than one-third, according to a disclosure report.

Bala Swaminathan is said to planning to leave his position as vice chairman of Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch investment banking unit in India.

Christopher Carter, the global head of equity derivatives at Renaissance Capital, has joined Nomura as head of sales, trading, and structuring for equity derivatives products in Japan based in Tokyo, according to a statement from the firm.

Neuberger Berman has rolled out the Neuberger Berman Short Duration High Yield Bond Fund.