Derivs - People and Markets

Nomura has hired a three person team from the NatWest Markets rates operation, GlobalCapital understands. James Konrad, who ran the desk, as well as Biagio Lapolla and Robbie Anderson, in flow rates sales and trading, will be joining the Japanese bank.

Market participants are “gearing up” to transition from major benchmark interbank offered rates (IBORs), but that only 11% have actually allocated any money to seeing through the initiative, according to a survey conducted by major capital markets trade bodies.

A report by Rabobank on Monday highlighted concerns over the feasibility of central clearing for pension funds, saying that the institutions faced more liquidity risks as European rules are phased in.

Santander said it has hired two bankers, one from Deutsche Bank and one from Goldman Sachs, into its US CIB unit, bulking up its efforts to sell debt and derivative products to US firms.

Pan-European securities regulator ESMA on Wednesday said that it would not extend the deadline for firms trading on European venues to get a legal entity identifier. The deadline for LEIs will remain July 2.

UK financial services advocacy group TheCityUK on Wednesday called for the continuity of cross-border derivatives contracts to be guaranteed after the UK leaves the EU.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday settled with JP Morgan for $65m over charges that its traders had attempted to manipulate the dollar IsdaFix swap rate benchmark between 2007 and 2012.

The Bank of England has released a new working paper on the impact of the leverage ratio for derivatives, arguing that the ratio had a “disincentivising effect” on client clearing for the period evaluated, confirming the views of many industry participants.

European member states and the EU Parliament will soon begin difficult talks to decide the length of an additional clearing exemption for pension funds.

The board of directors of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has renewed the contract of chief executive Charles Li for three years.

Pete Osborne, a former director at Singapore Exchange (SGX), has resurfaced at Canadian exchange operator TMX Group in London as head of European equity trading sales.

TruePTS, a derivatives post-trade company set up by trueEX, is gearing up to face off against derivatives processing utility MarkitSERV as it launches its offering for buy-side firms.