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Barclays Capital has hired Jean Chan, interest rate derivative trader based in Singapore, for a similar role in the Lion City, covering the Korean market, according to officials at the firm.

Credit spreads on German corporate HeidelbergCement, a producer of building materials, widened by more than 20 basis points last week as the market speculated on the financing details of a takeover bid by Spohn Cement.

The London Stock Exchange and U.K. regulator the Financial Services Authority are talking separately to brokers and dealers about this month's options and futures expiration auction.

Goldman Sachs has hired Oksana Grinchak, formerly of Credit Suisse First Boston, as a v.p. in European fixed income derivative sales in London.

Demand for leveraged total return swaps linked to hedge funds and hedge fund indices has risen in the U.S., in spite of poor hedge fund performance in April and by May.

A number of firms are lobbying against European proposals to prevent mutual funds from investing in derivatives linked to certain financial indices.

Some asset managers are not tracking their collateralized debt obligations well enough and may be caught out once the underlying collateral begins to weaken.

The Korea Stock Exchange will seek regulatory approval for warrants from the Financial Supervisory Commission next month and over-the-counter equity professionals are hoping to cash in on the exchange's move.

Singapore's Pacific Asset Management, which runs USD200 million in assets, is gearing up to trade credit-default swaps for the first time.

Lehman Brothers has bolstered its Korean fixed income team with two hires.

Though cash and U.S. Treasury securities are the usual collateral for derivatives transactions, in recent years non-standard collateral (NSC) such as corporate bonds and derivatives of various descriptions has been increasingly used for this purpose.