Derivs - People and Markets

The Financial Conduct Authority on Monday expressed concerns over the potential consolidation of market power in the hands of a few trading and clearing players, saying that a "lack of competition" could result in "higher prices" or a reluctance to invest to meet client needs.

BNP Paribas has given its global head of EQD institutional sales and EQD linear trading more UK-specific responsibilities with a new leadership role.

Mireille Dyrberg, the former COO of Nex Group fintech subsidiary TriOptima, has joined data reconciliation firm Duco.

US exchange operator CME’s revised bid for Nex Group, the electronic trading and post-trade platform company, has been recommended unanimously by the boards of both firms. The offer is higher than expected at 1,000p, half in cash and half in shares.

After months of posturing, pan-European securities watchdog ESMA came down hard on "speculative" retail derivatives, restricting or banning products for three months.

In this round-up, trading of RMB-denominated crude oil futures kicks off in Shanghai, Bloomberg Barclays sets inclusion of onshore bonds in motion, and the governor of the People’s Bank of China reiterates the central bank’s commitment to RMB internationalisation and reform and opening up.

Equity market volatility in the US spiked this week as investors scrambled to position for emerging risks, including impending tech regulation, an escalating trade war and rate hike worries.

The Financial Services Committee of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday waved through a bill that could allow banks to remove initial margin for centrally cleared derivatives from their leverage exposure, and thus hold less capital.

Financial firms are turning to artificial intelligence to catch perpetrators of market abuse and other breaches of financial rules.

Société Générale said on Monday it had entered "a more active phase" of settlement discussions with US authorities over the Libor scandal and payments made to the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA).

The Futures Industry Association has called for changes to European derivative reporting rules, suggesting that some aspects of the regulations are "duplicative" and not properly tailored to listed products.

Barclays has hired a senior credit trader from Citi as another high profile addition to its US credit business.