Search results for

Barclays Global Investors Australia, with AUD17 billion (USD9.15 billion) under management, is examining using credit-default swaps for the first time for its AUD2 billion fixed-income portfolio. "We're building up our knowledge of the product," said Mark Nordio, head of fixed-income in Sydney. The firm is in the initial phases of studying credit-default swaps and will not make a decision whether to use the product until it has more information. However, if it does decide to pull the trigger it will likely take 12-months before it enters its first trade, said Nordio.

Emmanuel Dianflon, Asian head of credit derivatives at BNP Paribas in Hong Kong, recently relocated to Paris where he is in discussions to assume a role within the fixed-income group. "Emmanuel has been repatriated to Paris at his request," said Brian Lazell, Asia-Pacific head of credit markets at BNP in Hong Kong, adding that Dianflon is in discussions with management over a new role in Paris. Dianflon is said to have built the French bank's credit derivatives operation in non-Japan Asia, according to market officials. Earlier this year Lazell moved to the Hong Kong desk from London, where he was global head of emerging markets.

TransAlta Corp., a Canadian energy company with more than USD7 billion in assets, has entered a handful of interest-rate swaps on the back of a recent bond deal to convert a fixed-rate obligation into a mix of fixed and floating-rate liabilities. An official in the treasury department in Calgary said the company entered four separate swaps totaling USD125 million in which it will receive the fixed-rate bond coupon of 6.75% and pay four separate unspecified floating rates. He said the swaps allow the company to evenly split the USD300 million deal into fixed and floating-rate liabilities.

The disclaimer language in International Swaps and Derivatives Association master agreements is too broad, according to a U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Philip Korologos, a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner in Armonk, N.Y. represented a customer who sued Citibank, claiming misrepresentations in the master agreement. Korologos said the ruling means the language will have to be more specific.

Deutsche Bank has hired Chip Stevens, v.p. and credit default-swaps trader at Merrill Lynch in London, in New York as a director and senior credit-default swaps trader. He will report to Boaz Weinstein, managing director and head of North American credit derivatives trading, according to a spokesman. Stevens replaces Joe McHugh, credit derivatives flow trader who left Deutsche Bank in May to join Credit Suisse First Boston in New York in a similar role (DW, 5/27). Stevens will start in mid August, the spokesman said. Weinstein referred calls to the spokesman. Stevens had already left Merrill and could not be reached for comment.

Deutsche Bank has hired Drew Kellerman, a structured credit marketer at ABN AMRO in New York, as a director in its structured credit sales group. Kellerman, who started at Deutsche Bank earlier this month, declined comment. He reports to John Karabelas, director in structured credit sales and head of the bank group, which sells structured credit products to other financial institutions and their proprietary desks. Karabelas confirmed the hire, saying it was an addition to the team. He declined further comment. Kim Williams, spokeswoman at ABN in New York, declined comment.

Eurex, the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchange, is looking to create an options exchange in the U.S. Executives and board members at several floor-based U.S. options exchanges said Eurex has aggressive plans to create such an exchange by fall of 2003, either through acquisition, partnership or a platform built from scratch. "They have the resources, the commitment and the desire," said a board member of the Chicago Board Options Exchange who is familiar with Eurexs plans. Speculation last week pointed to the Pacific Exchange as a possible acquisition target for Eurex, a move that many agreed would be a cheaper entree into the U.S. than the creation of an exchange from scratch.

Swift Energy, an independent oil and gas producer with around USD150 million in annual revenues, is considering making its first foray into the interest-rate and foreign exchange derivatives markets. Bruce Vincent, executive v.p. in corporate development in Houston, said the energy company is considering converting a recent fixed-rate bond offering it sold into a synthetic floating-rate liability and may also enter fx options to hedge against its growing exposure to the New Zealand dollar.

U.S. hedge fund manager Christofferson Robb & Co. plans to launch what is believed to be the first hedge fund that will trade cash and synthetic European collateralized debt obligations and asset-backed securities in the secondary market. The fund, dubbed the CRC Global Structured Credit Fund, is set to launch in September with approximately USD100 million under management, according to an official familiar with the plans. The size of the fund's assets could not be determined by press time. Officials at CRC declined comment.

Goldman Sachs is recommending trades that take advantage of an expected fall in equity implied volatility surrounding imminent earnings announcements. Altaf Kassam, associate in European equity derivatives and trading research, said the firm is recommending a directional and vol trade on AstraZeneca and Unilever. The trades capitalize on the view that implied volatility tends to fall off after earnings are announced by selling volatility. Kassam said Goldman has looked at stocks' implied volatility term structure to imply what the volatility for stocks will be around their earnings date to determine if the heightened implied volatility is justified historically.

Credit-default swaps spreads on insurance and reinsurance companies in Europe blew out substantially last week because of fears of the magnitude of their U.S. corporate exposure. From the previous Friday until Tuesday, mid-market protection on AEGON widened to 150 basis points from approximately 80bps. The name saw the most dramatic move over a short amount of time because of its exposure to the U.S. corporate bond market and the fact that it reports its financials in U.S. dollars, credit traders said. Mid-market protection on AXA widened out slowly over the past two weeks to approximately 150bps from 50-60bps.