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Mika Toikka and his team of equity derivatives analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston have taken Institutional Investor's top-spot in equity derivatives. Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch came second and third, respectively.

Collateralized debt obligation shops are pitching trades in which investors snap up cheap volatility with the expectation that this will rise in the new year. In the trades investors buy equity tranches of CDOs and sell protection on the single names, which isolates the correlation element.

Commerzbank Securities has promoted both its global and U.S. heads of equity derivatives structuring heads. Roberto Vila, global head of equity derivatives structuring in London, is now top dog as global head of equity derivatives, while Ted Madara, head of U.S. equity derivatives structuring in New York, is heading equity derivatives for the U.S. Neither Vila nor Madara returned calls. Previously overall responsibility for equity derivatives had been shared among several staffers.

One-month euro/dollar implied volatility recovered to 11.5% from earlier lows of 10.5% last week following the surprise strengthening of the euro against the dollar on Wednesday . In the spot market the euro strengthened to USD1.1810 from USD1.1650 earlier in the week. This was accompanied by a sharp sell off in short-dated euro calls with strikes at USD1.15/1.16 at the beginning of the week, according to a London-based trader.

Deutsche Bank is planning to offer investors synthetic exposure to the Indian equity market in the coming months. The firm has applied for qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) status, which means it can offer the so-called market-access products. Ricardo Honegger, Asian and Japanese head of global equity derivatives in Hong Kong, said, "We've received lots of requests from clients." He added that there is interest from foreign investors to tap the growing market in India.

Deutsche Bank Wraps Up Equity...

Paula Gerden, former senior v.p. in foreign exchange sales at National Australia Bank in New York, has joined BNP Paribas in a similar role. Gerden, who declined comment, will focus on institutional clients and her brief includes option-related products, according to an official familiar with the move. Mark Wisniewski, spokesman at BNP in New York, did not return calls.

Derivatives Week has named Deutsche Bank as the winner of its inaugural awards for Derivatives House of the Year in credit derivatives and equity derivatives. For awards, click here.

Dexia Municipal Agency, the arm of Dexia responsible for providing public sector loans and funding the group, has entered an interest rate swap on a recent two-year EUR1 billion (USD1.16 billion) bond. Olivier Eudes, manager in long-term funding, said it entered the swap because it is company policy to convert all of its fixed-rate liabilities into floating-rate.

Alex Reyfman, U.S. credit derivatives strategist at Goldman Sachs in New York, is joining Bear Stearns. Reyfman, who could not be reached, is thought to be joining the firm in a similar role, according to an official familiar with the move. Bruce Corwin, spokesman at Goldman in New York, confirmed his departure and declined further comment. Michele Agostinho, spokeswoman at Bear Stearns in New York, declined comment.

Shanghai Industrial Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate with assets totaling over HKD16.6 billion (USD2.15 billion), plans to seek board approval to invest in credit derivatives for the first time. "We're looking at new ideas," said Pauline Lai, manager of the finance department. Shanghai Industrial recently received HKD5.7 billion from infrastructure projects in China, which will need to be re-invested, according to an analyst. He continued that the conglomerate, along with most Asian firms, is cash rich. "Since the Asian crisis, most companies have been conservative and focused on repairing their balance sheets," he added.