Currency options
Funds tap options on FX vol amid tariff disruptions
Dealers say vanillas, digitals and knockouts on realised vol increasingly used to navigate Trump news flow
Profit and pain as macro turmoil engulfs Brazil
FX options trades pay off, while sharp jump in rates caught traders by surprise
Crypto options need more principal market-makers – GS trader
Absence of risk warehousing market-makers holding back options development, says GS crypto trader
Dealers bruised by surprise renminbi vol surge
Rush to re-hedge USD/CNH exotics left banks in grip of painful short gamma squeeze
Traders flipped long yen vol ahead of market rout
Hedge funds and real money bought long yen volatility in the run-up to Monday’s turmoil
Franklin Templeton steps back into FX options
Former biggest user of the instrument among US mutual funds returns with $7.6bn of USD/JPY strategies
Morgan Stanley shoots into FX options dealer top spot
Counterparty Radar: US mutual funds added $11.1 billion in new positions in Q1
Continued decline of the one-stop shop
Dealer Rankings 2024: Only two banks make the top 10 across all rankings tables – others have focused on vertical dominance
SpectrAxe fires up OTC FX options Clob
Go-live marks first electronic all-to-all venue for buy-siders trading the instruments
Often fluid. Not always liquid
Dealer Rankings 2024: On the buy side and the sell side, the make-up and depth of OTC mini-markets can change rapidly
Europe’s FXPBs take advantage of margin rule carve-out
Some big FX options users have switched to dealers capitalising on regulatory mismatch
Invesco more than triples size of its FX options book
Counterparty Radar: Manager’s portfolio exceeded $5bn notional in Q4
RMB vol returns as hedge funds take barrier trade profits
Unwinds of exotic positions saw vol jump 72% after surprise PBoC move last week
JP Morgan leads US banks’ FX trading revenues
Only two dealers saw revenue growth through 2023 as Goldman Sachs reports 75% drop
FX options traders rethink vol drivers amid macro uncertainty
Market-makers believe more and more events will influence options pricing as political risk bubbles up during 2024
Corporates eye FX options as hedging costs shrink
With hedge ratios tipped to rise, dealers say treasurers are increasingly open to optionality
US mutual funds’ passion for LatAm FX options undimmed in Q3
Counterparty Radar: Carry trade opportunities see managers’ positions increase tenfold in 2023
StanChart sees big uptick in FX options positions
Counterparty Radar: UK bank benefits from MSIM trades as market for US mutual funds expands in Q2
FX disruption template paused due to Isda definition clash
GFMA’s close-out framework put on hold as Isda reviews 1998 FX derivatives rule book
Hedge funds ease off profitable China FX options trade
Some still hold positions but an appreciating renminbi may make them less profitable for now
MSIM revived RMB options activity in Q1
Counterparty Radar: Investment firm added $2 billion in dollar/renminbi options, mainly with JP Morgan and StanChart