Derivs - People and Markets

Regional Midwest banks are picking up investment bankers from big Wall Street firms.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded MF Global one notch to Baa3, the lowest investment grade over concerns that the derivatives brokerage will not meet its earnings targets and is not adequately managing risk.

Citigroup has named Andrea Fletcher to the new position of head of global equities client management.

Central clearing houses in Asia will scramble against each other to secure cash from near defaulting counterparites if fragmentation and extra-territoriality issues are not settled among the region's regulators, according to Stephen O'Connor, chairman at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

The competiveness of the Belgian structured product market and competition amongst structured product distributors may be impacted by proposals set out in a consultation paper from the country’s Financial Services and Markets Authority for a regulatory framework for the distribution of structured products to retail investors.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association says the International Accounting Standards Board should delay implementation of accounting standards until the beginning of 2015.

Nasdaq Dubai has announced plans to relaunch its derivatives market, after it debuted during the global financial crisis, according to Jeff Singer, its ceo. “

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed Andrew Bowden as associate director and head of its National Investment Adviser/Investment Company Examination Program, effective Nov. 1.

It is vital that risk managers in vertical integrated central counterparty models have an independent and clear reporting line to the board to ensure financial stability, according to Paul Tucker, deputy governor for financial stability, member of the Monetary Policy Committee and member of the Financial Policy Committee at the Bank of England.

BNP Paribas has hired Nana Yamazaki, a former auto industry analyst at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, to head of research in dividend-based derivatives, also in Tokyo.

The Futures Industry Association has questioned Commodity Futures Trading Commission plans to impose risk management requirements on clearing members, arguing they are too restrictive and too vague.

Mariana Capital Markets, the London-based interdealer broker, has hired Ian Hunter, formerly a director in hedge fund sales at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London, in a similar position.