From the UK FCA’s consumer composite investments update to the US IBIT-linked structured notes market and Asia’s people moves, here’s the weekly news roundup brought by SRP’s News desk.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Consumer Composite Investments (CCI) regime promises to make structured products and other composite investments more transparent and “consumer-friendly”.

In the policy statement PS25/20 published this month, the UK regulator acknowledged that structured products have long offered retail investors ways to access sophisticated market exposures. Yet their complexity has often been cloaked in legalistic documentation, opaque fee disclosures and dense risk tables, with the regulator stating that ‘They often contain excessive amounts of information, are unengaging, and typically rely on legalistic financial jargon’.

The UK Structured Products Association welcomed the FCA’s policy statement, praising a more pragmatic approach following detailed consultation with the structured products sector.

Deep diving into products – the team behind Luxembourg domiciled Forte Pharma Fund has launched its own securitisation platform to offer clients pharma themed tailor-made investment products.

More than 82% discount certificates issued to retail investors in Germany generated a positive return in 2024

More than 82% discount certificates issued to retail investors in Germany generated a positive return in 2024, according to a report commissioned by the German association of structured securities.

UBS entered 2025 with strong momentum in its structured products business, driven by what Julien Bieren, global head of equity derivatives exotic structuring, describes as a year of “disciplined, sustainable growth” following the consolidation of Credit Suisse in 2024. 

In the US, the structured notes market has seen 101 issuances with US$353m in traded notional tracking the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) since its debut by Jefferies in mid-July. Approximately 66%, or US$233m, of the notes sales were priced during the coin’s bearish performance.

The fixed indexed annuity (FIA) sales fell six percent year-on-year (YoY) to US$33.2 billion in the third quarter of the year, according to results from Limra’s latest US Individual Annuity Sales Survey. Registered index-linked annuities (Rila) retained their momentum, logging another quarterly sales record at US$20.7 billion in Q3 2025, a 20% jump from a year ago.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is urging nine exchange-traded fund (ETF) providers to resolve risk-related issues arising from their proposed leveraged ETFs and pause their launch. ‘We write to express concern regarding the registration of ETFs that seek to provide more than 2x leveraged exposure to underlying indices or securities,’ said the SEC in a letter on 2 December.

In an in-depth discussion with SRP, FinIQ Director Nitish Bandle outlined the firm’s performance trajectory, regional developments and future roadmap. The Singapore-based platform reported around US$20 billion on equity-linked structured products in October and around US$18 billion in September, a trend that was increasing in the third quarter of the year.

In Asia Pacific, Société Générale has announced Mohamed Braham as its new head of global markets and head of fixed income and currencies for the region, effective in January. The French bank also recently named new co-heads of structuring for products and solutions for the region, Vallabh Shastri and Guillaume Beaurain, with the former joining from UBS.

In Korea, equity-linked securities (ELS), or capital-at-risk autocallable notes, recorded a sales tick up of five percent year-on-year to KRW1.3 trillion (US$880m) in November, but shrank over 39% month-on-month, according to SRP data.

Hanwha Asset Management listed a new bond-mixed covered call ETF – which invests 30% in Tesla and 70% in three-year Treasury bonds – in a bid to capitalise on the stock volatility of the electric vehicle maker led by Elon Musk, while CSOP Asset Management launched its first covered call ETF in Hong Kong SAR last week.

Meanwhile, Barclays’ former head of equity derivatives structuring for Asia and head of equity derivatives sales for Asia ex-Japan, Nicolas Reille, has taken up a role as chief commercial officer at a blockchain-based startup targeting African clients, more than a year after his departure from the bank.

BBVA has received in-principle approval from Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority to obtain a Category 4 licence, enabling it to broaden its corporate and investment banking activities in the Middle East.

Image: MyCreative/Adobe Stock

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