Derivs - People and Markets

A top US derivatives regulator on Wednesday went into battle against his European counterparts over their new proposal that will increase the stringency of the EU’s oversight of foreign clearing houses.

Société Générale said on Wednesday that Didier Valet, deputy chief executive of the bank and former head of CIB, would be leaving the group — a move driven by US authorities' investigation into the manipulation of Libor.

Frustration boiled over at the Futures Industry Association's (FIA) annual Boca Raton meeting on Wednesday, with Commissioner Brian Quintenz of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) threatening European regulators with obstruction.

The European Commission has warned the UK that special tax rules for commodity derivatives in the country might be in violation of European Union treaties.

The Financial Conduct Authority on Monday said it had settled with former Deutsche Bank interest rate derivatives trader Guillaume Adolph, for manipulating Libor submissions, and fined him £180,000.

An awful lot of capital and financial market participants are relaxed about Sunday's Italian election, predicting that coalitions and deadlock will remain a staple of Italy's political system. But others urge caution — and hedging — while the going is good for fear that complacency is taking hold, writes Costas Mourselas.

BNP Paribas has reshuffled the management of its global markets business, making Martin Egan a vice-chairman of the global markets client board and promoting syndicate boss Fred Zorzi to head of primary markets. Benjamin Jacquard, who was co-head of primary and credit markets with Egan, will be leaving the firm and is thought to be heading to the buy-side.

Commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Brian Quintenz attacked the “perverse outcomes” stemming from the supplementary leverage ratio and its treatment of segregated margin, in a speech to the US securitization industry’s annual SFIG Vegas conference.

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi on Monday welcomed proposed EU powers over the clearing of derivatives in foreign jurisdictions, calling recent legislative efforts by the European Commission a “necessary initiative”.

TP ICAP, the inderdealer broker, on Monday revealed that it has promoted from within and made new hires for its institutional services division.

International law firm Mayer Brown has hired eight lawyers from the New York and San Francisco offices of Morrison & Foerster, including capital markets partners Anna Pinedo and James Tanenbaum .

Barclays reported annual results on Thursday, revealing the huge scale of the firm’s trading balance sheet expansion in 2017, as it scales back up in its historical strength of macro trading. But the low volatility last year weighed on returns, and the growth in the trading book has yet to deliver the profits it hopes for.