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Investors are now actively trading the UBS delta-hedged short volatility strategic index launched last year that seeks to replicate a series of short S&P 500 options as market participants look to gain risk premium exposure.

Market participants are showing substantial interest in structured products on the iBoxx Euro Contingent Convertible Index on the back of a surge in popularity of contingent convertible (CoCo) bonds. This comes after the European Central Bank’s decision to introduce quantitative easing last month.

Last week, TABB Forum held a conference in New York where senior buysiders, sellsiders, exchanges, clearing houses, lawyers and other market officials met to discuss the trading and regulatory landscape in the fixed income derivatives markets. GlobalCapital reported from the event on hot topics such as liquidity, fragmentation, volatility, Dodd-Frank, trading and execution legislation, and more.

ICAP believes that the fine imposed by the European Commission of €14.96m (£11.3m) on Wednesday for having breached EU antitrust rules by facilitating several cartels in the sector of yen interest rate derivatives is wrong both in fact and in law.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) plans to offer multilateral compression services for its clearing members in the first half of 2015 following a rise in popularity of market agreed coupon swaps and increased competition for compression services. Multilateral offerings will complement the services CME currently offers and will provide its members with more independence for maintaining their portfolios, said CME executives.

Icap Information Services has launched the ICAP Bond Correlated Call US Treasury Index, which will allow participants to access exposure created through US interest rate increases using liquid futures contracts. The index was designed to capture gains realised through interest rate increases using US Treasury bonds and options on the bonds, which offer additional liquidity that traditional strategies lack, according to Icap.

The European Commission has proposed a further two year exemption for pension funds from central clearing requirements for their over-the-counter derivatives transactions.

Asset managers are increasingly trading products that are based on the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index on the back of a spike in volatility. According to UBS, asset managers are looking to the VIX as a tool for hedging, in addition to a product that they can trade in their clients’ portfolios.

The UK Structured Products Association has introduced a new set of risk ratings to enable financial advisers to compare different structured products more easily and help select products that match their clients’ risk profiles more closely. Up until now, there has been no numeric risk value assigned to structured products.

Overall interest rate derivatives trading that was reported to swap data repositories last week decreased by 9% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

Investors were seen looking at puts on the Australian dollar against the US dollar with a reverse knock-out, ahead of Tuesday’s Reserve Bank of Australia meeting, where the central bank unexpectedly cut its key rate by 0.25% to a record 2.25% low, causing the Aussie to weaken almost 2% against the dollar.

Unpredictable trend reversals are causing investors to shy away from options and short-term hedging strategies on the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, even though vols have been on the rise since December 2014, according to equity derivatives strategists.