Derivs - Equity

One of the derivatives industry’s largest annual conferences was cancelled on Tuesday, after the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus made the event unviable in the view of the organisers.

HSBC is moving its securities services business into global markets to create a new unit. Allegra Berman and Richard Godfrey, co-heads of securities services, will gain new responsibilities as part of the change.

Eurex launched MSCI index derivatives tailored to fit environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment criteria on Monday, as it works to expand its suite of related products beyond Europe.

ICAP is expanding its presence in the special situations market. On Thursday, the interdealer broker said it will open a European desk for the equities sub-division.

MEP Markus Ferber has come out swinging at the European Securities and Markets Authority for appointing chief French regulator Robert Ophèle to temporarily chair its central counterparty (CCP) supervisory committee.

Alain Gallois will become Natixis’s global head of investment banking, replacing Mohamed Kallala. The latter is heading over to run global markets, with that role’s incumbent, Luc François, leaving the bank.

In a negative interest rates environment, dividend strategies are becoming increasingly popular as a way to create positive yield for investors.

A European Central Bank (ECB) survey has found that market making in over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives decreased last year, but respondents were confident of their ability to support the products during bouts of market stress.

Eurex is pushing its environmental, social and governance (ESG) derivatives offering to cover the US, as it works to build a global market in the new futures.

Société Générale grew revenues while keeping costs steady in its markets and investor services activities in the fourth quarter. Bondholders will have also welcomed a boost to the bank’s capital ratio.

BNP Paribas has created a global leadership role for its equity derivatives trading division, appointing Emmanuel Dray to the position.

Robots are going up against humans in the OTC broking markets as AiX announced the launch of its natural language artificial intelligence broker platform this week.