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Saul Kattan, a director in structured credit marketing at Merrill Lynch in New York, has jumped to Citigroup Global Markets to work in a similar role. Kattan, who could not be reached for comment, is following former colleagues Geoff Gentile, also in structured credit marketing, and Ted Husveth, a credit structurer, who recently made the jump (DW, 10/12).

"We've been underinvested."--Richard Cohen, Asia-Pacific credit derivatives trader at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, explaining the motivation for upcoming transfers and hires. For comlete story, click here.

Morgan Stanley is looking to expand its nascent Hong Kong-based credit derivatives operation in the coming months with a mix of transfers and hires. "We generally believe the Asian market will continue to grow," said Richard Cohen, Asia-Pacific credit derivatives trader in Hong Kong. "We've been underinvested," he added. Cohen joined earlier this year from Merrill Lynch, where he was head of Pacific Rim credit derivatives in Tokyo, to establish a non-Japan Asia trading desk (DW, 5/4). "The building blocks have been here--it's just a matter of slotting it in," he added, explaining that the desk intends to leverage Morgan Stanley's fixed income presence in the region.

National Australia Bank sold EUR1 billion (USD1.163 billion) of deep in-the-money euro calls/dollar puts last week, which led traders to speculate that it was to achieve cheap funding. The options, due to mature Dec. 2, had strikes at USD1.0490. The premium on the option was 10.8%, according to traders. Euro/dollar spot traded at USD1.169 on Wednesday. Majella Allen, spokeswoman in Melbourne, declined comment. Traders estimated that they only see trades like this once or twice a year.

Imagine a speculative trading strategy that is guaranteed to make money 98% of the time. Are you interested? There are many ways to accomplish this. Here is a stylized example: You draw a card from a 52 card deck. If it comes up any card other than the ace of spades, you earn a million dollars. If it comes up as the ace of spades, you lose 52 million dollars. On average, you will lose just over USD19,000 each time you play, but you will win 51 out of 52 hands. This is what is known as a skewed trading strategy.

Schroder Investment Management has developed an alternative way of guaranteeing asset managers' portfolios while maintaining upside participation. John McLaughlin, head of structured investments, in London, said this method is cheaper and more flexible than using zero-coupon bonds and options and less path-dependent than traditional Constant Portfolio Proportion Insurance.

Grupo Dragados and a group of creditors that are funding its ambitious EUR500 (USD580 million) million 1 GW wind farm development program are considering tapping the nascent wind derivative market to smooth out the earnings unpredictability caused by fluctuating wind speeds, according to DW sister publication Power Finance & Risk. If a deal is executed, it would likely mark the first time that a wind derivative has been embedded within a wind farm loan and also, given the large size of the Dragados' wind farm project, the biggest wind derivative contract ever executed. Although the factors upon which a decision will hinge could not be determined, simple economics is usually the guiding principle in such deals, according to a derivative structurer.

Westdeutsche Landesbank has hired Jean Michel Darreguet, senior trader at Bermuda-based hedge fund Ross Capital Markets, as head of equity derivatives trading in Tokyo. Darreguet said he is no stranger to the Asian markets, having traded regional equities and particularly the Japanese market, for several years from his Caribbean desk. He replaces Mike Kokalari, senior equity derivatives trader in Tokyo, who left the firm to pursue an MBA (DW, 8/31). Darreguet noted that he and Kokalari had previously worked together at the former Paribas in Tokyo.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.

BondWeek is the leading news publication for fixed-income professionals, covering new deals, structures, asset-backed securities, industry and market activity.