Derivs - People and Markets

San Francisco-based Merriman Capital has named Paul Kent as head of capital markets.

Mercado Español de Futuros Financieros, the Spanish electronic exchange, has begun centrally clearing over-the-counter electricity derivatives.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners has expanded its fixed income team in Australia with the addition of Jasmin Argyrou and Dominik Dumaine.

Nomura Holdings is said to be planning to establish an equity capital markets desk in Australia as part of its plans to expand Down Under.

Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is using a heavy hand in his approach to writing derivatives regulations, according to derivatives players, and it’s making them nervous.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to decide as early as this week whether fx swaps should be regulated as strictly as other derivatives.

StormHarbour Securities has opened an office in Copenhagen as part of its plan to expand its product offering to institutional investors in the Nordic region.

UBS has hired Jack Hon to the Singapore equity derivatives team where he will focus on Malaysia and South East Asia Institutional sales.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council has asked market participants what criteria regulators should use to determine which clearinghouses are systemically important and therefore should be closely monitored by the Federal Reserve.

BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking has joined CME Group to clear over-the-counter interest rate derivatives as a futures commission merchant.

Crédit Agricole has added oversight of its equity business to the responsibilities of Pierre Cambefort, who currently is in charge of coverage, investment banking, structured finance, corporate banking and the international network.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has teamed up with the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems to form a joint working group to revise the committee’s supervisory guidance for managing settlement risk in fx transactions.