Derivs - People and Markets

Harvest Volatility Management is preparing to launch a volatility arbitrage fund by the end of this quarter.

Spreads on Japanese consumer lender Acom have tightened by 248 basis points to 724 bps in the past month, according to Markit.

New York-based investment bank Morgan Joseph has added Zach Corson as salesman and senior v.p. to its fixed-income structured products group.

The first synthetic collateralized debt obligation where Lehman Brothers is a credit default swap counterparty has gone into receivership, pushed in by investors demanding they be paid back immediately.

Declan Tiernan, ex-head of structured credit distribution at Deutsche Bank in London, has joined Sciens Capital Management as a managing director.

Parlais Group, a recruitment boutique with a presence in Australia and Hong Kong, launched last month.

Derivatives sales professionals are heavily targeting pension plans and endowments as their interest in more customized instruments grows, and as business from hedge fund clients tails off.

Credit default swaps on LyondellBasell Industries bonds were triggered last night, after the petrochemicals company filed for bankruptcy protection of its U.S. operations and one of its European holding companies, citing a slump in demand for its products.

Brent Clapacs, London-based head of European equities at Merrill Lynch, is exiting the firm and is expected to return to his native U.S.

Compass Analytics, a mortgage analytics company, is teeing up a mid-month launch of a valuation service for players using property derivatives.

Connie Choi, a property derivatives specialist and executive director in fixed income, currency and commodities at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, has left the firm.

The settlement auction results for bonds and loans referencing bankrupt publisher Tribune Co. landed wide apart this afternoon. The CDS recovery value on the bonds came out at 1.5%, after an interim result of 3.5%, whereas the recovery for LCDS landed at 23.75%.