Derivs - People and Markets

Strategists at Société Générale are recommending a risk reversal trade to take advantage of their view that the Australian dollar could strengthen against the U.S. dollar in the next six months, but decline again over the long term.

Robert Webb, Asia head of equity index options trading at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, has left. The firm has yet to find a replacement.

The Reserve Bank of India is planning to require that all credit default swaps have rated underlyings because it believes CDS spreads alone should not be relied upon by investors. But some traders are unsure the ratings will be heeded.

Mizuho Securities USA is bolstering its fixed income division, and is seeking traders and sales personnel for a new high-yield team.

Politicians in the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee are at odds over whether bank stakes in clearing houses should be capped or abolished.

Andrew Scherr, a director in fund-linked derivatives at Nomura in New York, left the firm within the last few weeks.

Sigurbjorn Thorkelsson, head of Asia Pacific equities for Nomura in Hong Kong, reportedly resigned from his post this morning.

Standard Chartered has formed a warrants group in Hong Kong and is targeting its first issue in May, pending a license from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Structured products professionals are preparing a menu of risks associated with marketing reverse convertibles. The move comes after the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority raised concerns about how they have been marketed.

Patrick Pearson, head of financial markets infrastructure within the European Commission's internal market division in Brussels, told Derivatives Week in an exclusive interview with London reporter Rob McGlinchey that the Commission is collecting data from dealers and end-users with a view to drawing up a benchmark of bid/ask spreads. The aim is to help shave users' hedging costs and determine how expensive it would be on top for users to clear their trades.

Wahid Chaudhry, a multi-asset cash and derivatives trader for Barclays Capital in London, has moved to the firm’s Hong Kong office to trade exotic equity derivatives.

Thomas Williams, an exotics rates trader formerly with Commerzbank in London, has joined Jefferies International in a newly created role.