Derivs - People and Markets

Standard Chartered this afternoon announced a series of global markets hires under Mohammed Grimeh, head of global markets in the Americas. Among them, John Chua, a trader from ING, joins within a week or two as a director in credit trading.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and the U.S. House Financial Services Committee today debated a revised version of their over-the-counter derivatives reform bill that would require all swaps accepted by a regulated clearinghouse or exchange to be cleared—an about-face from the previous draft.

A trio of influential dealers—Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan—are causing ripples at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Their determination to shape regulatory reform in their favor has led to the departure of Greg Zerzan, head of global public policy.

BNP Paribas has hired Damir Tanovic, formerly a v.p. in structured equity origination at Credit Suisse, as a director in corporate equity derivatives—a new role.

U.K. structured products provider, NDF Administration, and its sister company Defined Returns Limited, have been put up for sale today. They were pushed into administration by the Financial Services Authority over losses linked to Lehman Brothers-backed investments.

The Austrian government is set to grant its Financial Market Authority greater power to police illegal trading activities, such as insider trading and miss-marking positions, and to review the systems firms have in place to monitor their exposures.

Martin Wheatley, ceo of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, reiterated his call for industry feedback on a set of reform proposals linked to unlisted structured retail products at an Allen & Overy conference yesterday.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is holding a hearing to mark up and amend his draft over-the-counter derivatives bill. After distributing some changes on Friday, he just announced an amendment that removes the ability of regulators to ban “abusive swaps.” Watch now to see what other amendments are added.

Morgan Stanley has hired three equity derivatives traders in Hong Kong and Japan.

Royal Bank of Scotland has hired Ted Tsao, the former head of equity derivatives sales at Citigroup in Asia, to oversee institutional equity derivatives sales in the region.

Credit default swaps on CIT Group closed at 42.5 points upfront today, only two points wider than yesterday—despite news this morning that CEO Jeffrey Peek plans to resign by year-end and the fact the fate of the company hangs in the balance.

A group of Democrats from California have proposed a 1% state tax on all derivatives transactions as a way for the cash-strapped state to climb out of its financial black hole.