Increase in corporate hedging boosts derivatives industry in Asia

Banks in the Asia-Pacific region have benefited from a more active year in derivatives, as corporates seek to hedge their currency and interest rates exposures following a slowdown during the financial crisis

After a hiatus during the financial crisis, hedging has returned with a vengeance to boost the corporate derivatives business at banks in Asia-Pacific.

"We have seen good year-on-year growth. People came out of the global crisis very conservative about putting on hedging, and there was such extreme volatility back then that longer-dated hedges went significantly out of the money and were under intense scrutiny," says Adam Gilmour, co-head of corporate sales and structuring, Asia-Pacific at Citi