SRP in brief: tariff blow

BNP Paribas was impacted by a lower demand for structured products in the second quarter of 2025, in the context of the uncertainty post Liberation Day, according to Lars Machenil, group chief financial officer. During the quarter, BNPP observed a certain ‘wait-and-see’ attitude among clients, mainly due to the ongoing uncertainty around potential tariffs

Jerome Niddam, head of global markets for Asia Pacific at Société Générale, has been appointed as the bank’s new CEO for the region, effective 1 September. Based in Hong Kong, Niddam will report to Anne-Christine Champion and Alexandre Fleury, co-heads of global banking and investor solutions, and will become a member of the bank's management committee.

More appointments were seen at InspereX, who named Ira Lehrman as chief technology officer, reporting to Scott Mitchell, and UBS Asset Management where Amanda Rebello was named head of ETF and index fund sales, effective 16 September.

BPER Banca, formerly known as Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna, was the issuing company behind Europe’s highest selling product in H1 2025. The five-year capital protection product, which offers access to the Eurostoxx Utilities Index, gathered €490m in its subscription period, according to SRP data.

In Belgium, an estimated €950m was collected from 33 publicly offered structured products in the second quarter of 2025. BNP Paribas was the number one issuer in Belgium during the period, capturing 44% market share, ahead of Belfius (26%) and Natixis (12%).

There were also market reviews for Ireland, where Davy, a provider of wealth management and investment banking services, was the main distributor with six product launches in Q2, while in China, June issuance of retail structured deposits, at 782, reached their lowest level since February 2024, when 714 products were issued, according to SRP data.

As the market environment evolves in 2025, we've observed a significant recovery in clients' confidence - Yihui Chen, Shenwan Hongyuan Securities

Shenwan Hongyuan Securities asserted its position in the Chinese market after ramping up its structured note business with thematic offerings.

“As the market environment evolves in 2025, we've observed a significant recovery in clients' confidence, with risk appetite gradually returning to a normal, slightly positive level,” Yihui Chen, head of single-name option trading, financial innovation department at the securities house told SRP.

In Hong Kong, Pop Mart International Group was the most used underlying for derivative warrants in June, seen in 60 products. Pop Mart’s average daily turnover increased from HK$155m in May to HK$954m in June, figures from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing showed.

Single stock-linked structures not only gained traction in Hong Kong, but in the whole Asia Pacific ex-China region in the first half of the year, with their market share based on estimated sales volumes surging to 33% compared to 18% in the prior year’s same period. The tech sector maintained its dominance with the highest sales volume, accounting for 41% of the market share; Nvidia was the most-used asset from the sector, with 3,571 issuances in H1 2025.

In an interview with SRP, Christian Treuer, Barclays head of equity distribution for Apac, said the bank is expanding across client segments, including retail, and scaling its presence in key markets such as Taiwan, Korea, and Australia. In parallel, Barclays is actively working on opening new markets including Thailand, China and India.

South Africa’s Absa Bank has set up the Absa Fund Linked Solutions platform catering to independent financial advisors and corporates.

“It started with hedge fund managers who would have clients wanting to invest in their funds but wanted something extra such as protection,” said Ubaid Nursoo, the bank’s quantitative fund analyst.  

Meanwhile, Halo Investing launched Aura, a portfolio contextualisation tool that provides advisors with data-driven simulations to demonstrate the impact of structured notes within a portfolio.

Using capital market assumptions and a Monte Carlo simulation engine, Aura provides a statistical view of how structured notes impact key metrics like return, risk and yield in portfolios under a wide range of real-world market conditions.

The Spanish National Securities Market Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores – CNMV) wants to strengthen surveillance over structured bank deposits marketed to small retail investors while Esma, the European Securities and Markets Association, introduced significant amendments to the Ucits Eligible Assets Directive, which sets the standards for permissible investments by Ucits funds across Europe.

_{Image: Syahrir/Adobe Stock}

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