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The International Swaps and Derivatives Association is proposing a Standard Initial Margin Model process for multi-asset swap transactions to reduce initial margin and to promote transparency via risk-based modelling for market participants.

Substantially high volumes of speculative contracts on the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index and a downsizing of short-term risk positions, predominantly by hedge funds, is displaying increased levels of risk aversion in the equity derivatives market. This comes on the back of volatility stemming from oil and currency markets which has spilled into equity options pricing, according to strategists at Société Générale.

One of the simplest and most familiar options strategies has struggled in recent years, but in the near-term may be one of the best since the financial crisis.

Graham Sadler, chief financial officer at BGC Partners in London is retiring and will depart the interdealer broker once a successor is found.

Investors are increasingly turning their attention to hybrid derivatives in the hunt for yield as single asset class products, particularly in interest rates, fail to produce good enough returns. As a result, market participants are combining FX options with either interest rate or credit instruments.

Lawrence Wong, head of listings at the Singapore Exchange, has been appointed as head of the firm’s China business.

Market participants, particularly euro buyers, have been entering into long-dated hedges on the euro against the Swiss franc following the Swiss National Bank’s shock decision to abandon the Sfr1.20 floor to the euro last month.

Hedge funds and asset managers have been using increasingly complex derivatives strategies to play the trend of a stronger dollar as a means to achieve lower upfront premiums, according to structurers.

Overall interest rate derivatives trading that was reported to swap data repositories last week increased by 59% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

BGC Partners has launched an electronic trading platform for yen interest rate swaps, making it the first interdealer broker to launch a fully electronic platform for such a market.

Investors have been buying put options on the euro against the Danish krone following the Danish central bank’s decision to cut rates in a bid to defend the fixed exchange rate policy. This has emerged despite low volumes in options trading since the Swiss National Bank’s shock move last month to abandon the euro/Swiss franc peg.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange is expanding trading hours for CBOE Volatility Index options and S&P 500 options, adding more than six hours of trading per day, five days a week.