Derivs - People and Markets

Standard Chartered has hired Anindya Kar, a v.p. in fx structuring at Merrill Lynch in Singapore, as a director in fx in Dubai. The role is a new one as the firm looks to expand in the region.

BNP Paribas is recommending investors take advantage of the abnormally high recent correlation between EUR/USD and USD/CHF with a dispersion trade.

Jake Rue, an institutional focused fx derivatives and cash salesman at Deutsche Bank in New York, resigned last week reportedly to join Nomura in a similar role.

Five-year credit default swaps on Middle East financial names gapped out dramatically today after banks in the region announced sharp declines in second quarter earnings Saturday.

Eurex is close to announcing the single name credit default swap contracts eligible for central counterparty clearing as the July 31 deadline set by the European Commission approaches.

Royal Bank of Canada is seeing increasing interest in retail structured notes referencing emerging market stocks in Brazil, China and India as appetite grows for exposure to regions expected to recover earliest from the global recession.

Ciaran O’Kelly, the former head of global equities at Bank of America, has joined Nomura Securities International as head of its U.S. equity division in New York.

Nomura has reportedly hired Chris Beame, an institutional salesman for fx derivatives formerly with Deutsche Bank in Boston.

Francois Louvet, head of delta one trading at Barclays Capital in London, has left the firm.

The Committee of European Securities Regulators has called for the adoption “as soon as practicable” of a mandatory trade transparency regime for corporate bond, structured finance and credit derivatives markets, arguing that industry initiatives have not worked.

Bank Indonesia has issued regulations effectively banning the sale of structured products to retail investors.

BayernLB is looking to reduce its proprietary investments in credit derivatives over the next 12 to 18 months.