Derivs - People and Markets

A comprehensive derivatives reform bill should reach U.S. President Barack Obama’s desk in late summer, according to Kevin McPartland, senior analyst at independent research firm TABB Group in New York.

Standard & Poor’s has launched an index of credit default swaps referencing U.S. homebuilder names.

Institutional broker-dealer Ticonderoga Securities has hired four Newedge staffers, including John Martin, the former head of listed equity derivatives, for its new equity derivatives desk.

Newedge is recommending selling short-term straddles on the EURO STOXX 50 to take advantage of an expected drop in implied volatility relating to positive corporate earnings over the next few weeks.

Scott Nicholls, an ex-managing director in structured credit sales at Commerzbank, has joined London broker Liquid Capital.

Dominique Blanchard, global head of derivatives at Daiwa Capital Markets in London, is transferring to Hong Kong this month as part of the firm’s expansion in the Asian financial markets.

Citigroup First Investment Management, part of Citigroup’s global markets division, today launched the firm’s first fund offering exposure to the China A-share market.

JPMorgan, Scotia Capital, Bank of America and Citigroup are among banks pitching to investors total return swap programs that would act as warehouse lines for collateralized loan obligations. The move is the latest sign of the return of the CLO market.

Laurence Kaplan, a managing director in structured products sales at Royal Bank of Canada in New York, has left.

Japanese lender Aiful’s credit default swap settlement auction could impact pricing for other names. “If Aiful’s CDS final price is set at a very low level, it could be a factor for widening,” said Junichi Shimizu, credit research analyst at Deutsche Bank in Tokyo.

Proposals for retail structured product regulation could be put forward by the European Commission as early as April, according to an official at the Commission in Brussels.

Market participants are nearing completion of the new bullet, or non-cancellable, loan-only credit default swap contract after more than a year of debate. A call was held yesterday to discuss the draft, which could be formally introduced by the end of this quarter.