Regulators step in Japan and the US, while Austria and South Africa see renewed demand for structured products.
Marex Financial Products (MFP), Marex Solution's manufacturer and distributor of customised structured products, has hired Franck Fayard as head of Asia to help expand coverage in the Apac region.
Based in Hong Kong SAR, Fayard (pictured) joined in May 2023 and reports to Joost Burgerhout, head of Marex Financial Products. Fayard was previously at Gateway Private Markets, where he was head of client solutions & partnerships. Before Gateway, Fayard was part of Commerzbank’s Equity Markets & Commodities (EMC) business as director and head of equity engineering Asia.
The outstanding volume for structured products in the Austrian market increased to €14.4 billion in April 2023 - up 2.8% month-on-month
Fouad Farah has been promoted to head of global markets, Americas, at Société Générale in New York. He will be responsible of the division that houses the bank’s equities & equity derivatives, prime services & clearing, credit, FX and rates businesses in the region.
Farah succeeds Hatem Mustapha, who has taken the position of global co-head of global markets activities along with Sylvain Cartier since 24 May. Mustapha became head of global markets, Americas in September 2019.
It’s numbers time! The outstanding volume for structured products in the Austrian market increased to €14.4 billion in April 2023 – up 2.8% month-on-month (MoM). Year to date, volumes increased by €718m, according to latest figures from the Austrian certificate association (Zertifikate Forum Austria or ZFA).
The strongest growth was registered by structured interest rate products. At the end of April some €2.2 billion was invested in this asset class – up €255.6m, or 13.2%, compared to the previous month (March: €1.9 billion). The turnaround in interest rates has now fully arrived on the certificates market, enabling new attractive offers for investors, according to Philipp Arnold (pictured), member of the board, ZFA.
South African investors are increasingly looking at alternative investments with cryptocurrency, private equity, and solar taking the lead as the preferred route to achieve their goals. According to alternative investment fund manager Jaltech’s Alternatives Investment Survey, structured products, hedge funds, and cryptocurrencies were the most popular choices when it comes to alternative investments.
Cryptocurrency investments (27%) are the most popular alternative investment for individual investors, followed by private equity (12%), solar/renewable energy (11%) and structured products (10%). Going forward, solar/renewable energy will be at the top of investors preferences in relation to the alternative investment segment, with 23% expressing interest in this asset class.
A Japanese government body is urging regulators to punish Chibagin Securities for its alleged mis-selling of structured bonds involving two regional banks. Chibagin Securities has failed to conduct suitability obligations when it sold structured bonds to retail investors through its parent banks - Chiba Bank and Misashino Bank, according to the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) under Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA), on Friday (9 June).
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) has fined TD Ameritrade Clearing US$500,000 for failing to disclose fully information about callable securities, including exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and preferred securities, to millions of customers over five years.
According to the regulator, the lack of disclosure from January 2016 to June 2021 for almost 10 million transactions omitted required statements that the securities were callable, meaning the issuer of the security could repurchase it by a specific date, which could affect the securities’ yield, particularly in regard to the ETNs.
Image: Deposit photos.