Top Stories

Agency trading is an important tool for avoiding basis risk in package trades, especially for the more complex structures that are yet to be made available to trade on swap execution facilities (SEFs), according to speakers at the Sefcon V conference in New York.

Ian White, managing director and senior fx options trader at Nomura in New York has left the firm.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission needs to grant permanent registration for swap execution facilities in order to avoid hindering the evolution of businesses following the implementation of Dodd-Frank. Additionally, the slew of continuing no-action letters is resulting in regulatory uncertainty, according to speakers at SEFCON V.

The overall interest rate derivatives trading volume reported to swap data repositories last week was up 27% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. This follows several weeks of consistent decline in the figures.

Some derivatives market participants are weary of using credit hubs as they act as one single point of failure if a transaction were to fail because many parties are involved, according to panellists at the SEFCON V conference in New York on Wednesday. Parties at risk include swap execution facilities, clearing houses, futures commission merchants as well as their clients, the conference heard.

The risk reflected in options on crude oil is near the highest levels since the commodity began selling off in July, according to one estimate.

Tim Sharp, ex-FX options trader at UBS in Zurich, has joined BlueCrest Capital Management as a portfolio manager, based in London.

Buyside firms are concerned that some swap execution facilities (SEFs) may make certain derivatives instruments made-available-to-trade (MAT), which competing SEFs or clearing houses will not have the ability to support, therefore negatively impacting the portfolios that they manage.

Hedge funds and real money players have been snapping up payer spreads on iTraxx Main following the Bank of Japan’s unexpected announcement that it would increase monetary stimulus spending, resulting in a steepening of the payer smile.

Options trading volumes on the dollar against the yen has continued to spike following the Bank of Japan’s unexpected announcement that it would ramp up its monetary stimulus in another round of quantitative and qualitative easing.

Overall credit default swap notional that was reported to swap data repositories last week decreased by 21% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Overall interest rate derivatives trading that was reported, also saw a decrease of 17% from the previous week.

There has been a surge in investor interest to structure cheap VIX-based tail risk trades to hedge against a sharp rise in volatility.