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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.

James Cawley, founder and ex-CEO of Javelin Capital Markets in New York, has joined BGC Partners as CEO of its swap execution facility, also based in New York.

Kokou Agbo-Bloua, the ex-head of European equity and derivative strategy at BNP Paribas in London, has joined Société Générale as managing director, global head of engineering and strategy, also based in London.

Trade reporting under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation is not working, according to the Wholesale Markets Brokers' Association, which represents a large proportion of interdealer brokers in the market.

Bloomberg has launched a so-called List Trading tool for interest rate swaps on its swap execution facility, enabling market participants to improve operational efficiency.

The dust is still settling from the results of the Asset Quality Review and bank stress tests, but it seems clear that the catharsis European officials hoped for has not materialised. The AQR, in particular, was worthwhile and bank balance sheets are more transparent. But it doesn’t follow that Europe’s banks will now embark on a lending spree. Lack of demand remains the underlying problem, which could present a challenge for Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Meanwhile, deflation looms — a scenario, incidentally, that the stress tests didn’t consider.

Market participants have relentlessly been selling risk-reversals and volatility on the dollar against the yen, as the spot rate on the pair has largely remained range-bound over recent days.

The Hong Kong Exchange has extended its After Hours Futures Trading (AHFT) session by 45 minutes for its Hang Seng Index futures, H-Shares Index futures, Mini HIS futures, Mini HHI futures and renminbi currency futures. The close of the after hours futures trading clearing session will also be extended.

Overall credit default swap notional that was reported to swap data repositories last week decreased by 38% from the previous week, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. This follows a consistent uptick over recent weeks in CDS notional, which has seen a 160% increase over the period.

The Korea Exchange’s US Dollar Futures contract will be available after-hours on CME Group’s electronic trading platform, Globex. This will be effective from December 8 in order to provide international market participants increased access to the Korean markets.

The Royal Bank of Scotland had hired Colin Holdstock, ex-head of fx options for Asia ex-Japan at Nomura, and Glen Goh, ex-deputy global head of Asian fx and global head of Asian non-deliverable forwards at Standard Chartered, as managing directors in its Asia Pacific markets business, both based in Singapore.