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Altaf Kassam, an official in Goldman Sachs' equity derivatives research group, is joining Deutsche Bank in a similar role. Kassam, reached on his cellphone, confirmed the move.

Deutsche Bank has hired William Gleason, managing director in corporate risk management and derivatives at Barclays Capital, in a similar role.

EDF Energy is considering entering an interest rate swap on the back of a recent GBP300 million (USD462 million) bond issue.

Eurex, the world's largest derivatives exchange, is considering launching futures on a European volatility index that STOXX is believed to be planning (DW, 3/1).

One-month implied volatility on the euro/dollar jumped to 12.4% last Wednesday from 10.8% the previous week, as the dollar fought back against the euro in the spot market and broke through key technical levels.

KBC Alternative Investment Management, which has USD3.7 billion under management, is expanding its credit arbitrage operations in both London and New York.

HSBC plans to start offering credit derivatives in Taiwan in the coming months.

HSBC has hired Rod Prat, head of European sales in the financial institutions group at Deutsche Bank in London, as a managing director and head of sales for Europe and the Middle East in its global markets division.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has extended its deadline for derivatives users to sign up to the 2002 Master Agreement Protocol.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association is seeking confirmation from the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service that credit-default swaps will not become subject to new taxes.

Derivatives houses, led by ABN AMRO and Deutsche Bank, running the iBoxx credit derivatives indices are preparing to launch a handful of instruments in the Asia-Pacific region in the coming weeks.