SRP’s news desk reviews the most read stories from last week.
BNP Paribas is positioning itself for the next phase of structured products growth by focusing on scale, platform breadth and operational discipline as European markets become more sophisticated and regulation tightens.
In today’s market, performance is no longer measured only by pricing or innovation - Azad Mahavar, BNP Paribas
Success in structured products is increasingly defined by the ability to consistently deliver across a broad value chain, Azad Mahavar, the banks global head of EQD structuring and Emea head of structured products sales told SRP in an exclusive interview.
“In today’s market, performance is no longer measured only by pricing or innovation […] clients also expect reliability, transparency, and the capacity to deliver across different market environments,” Mahavar said.
BMO Capital Markets is growing its structured products manufacturing business in Asia following the launch of its regional equity derivatives desk in 2024.
The investment banking unit of Bank of Montreal has issued equity-linked notes, accumulators, and decumulators in Asia, which have been brought by Hong Kong- and Singapore-based private banks and securities houses since the launch of trading in the region last year, according to Hippolyte Agkpo, the bank’s head of equity derivatives.
Products and market reviews
VegaShares ETF Trust has launched its first autocallable exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The derivatives-focused ETF provider is adding an adaptive volatility target (VT) mechanism to autocalls, as opposed to a static approach often seen across the ETF, structured notes and annuities market.
“The goal is to optimise yield when vol is high and avoid overleverage when the market is calm. This helps achieve effective risk control for the underlying autocallable index,’ said Sunny Wong, co-founder of VegaShares.
Schroders is also preparing to enter the rapidly expanding US autocall ETF market. The UK asset manager has filed for an ETF which aims to track the Schroders Bloomberg US Large Cap Autocallable Index, a benchmark designed to replicate the behaviour of a laddered portfolio of synthetic autocallable yield notes linked to US large‑cap equities.
Pacer, another asset manager, is planning to launch two autocallable ETFs tracking the Metaurus US Large Cap Laddered [60-70] Autocallable and the Metaurus US Large Cap Laddered [50-60] Autocallable Index, respectively.
Some 28,695 structured products were listed on SIX Swiss Exchange in April. As a result, the threshold of 100,000 product listings has been surpassed within the first four months in 2026, reaching 108,864 at the end of April.
Almost 97% of listings in April, or 27,739 products, were leverage products.
Structured products in South Korea have shown a ‘clear recovery,’ centered on derivative-linked bonds (DLBs) boosted by the stock market recovery and the trend of interest rate stabilisation, according to a report by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
Outstanding balance of derivatives-linked securities (DLS) rose 17% to KRW95.1 trillion (US$63.8 billion) in 2025 compared with the prior year.
In Italy, an estimated €13.1 billion (US$15.5 billion) was collected from 1,970 structured products offered to retail investors in the first quarter of 2026.
Intesa Sanpaolo was the number one issuer with a 34% share of the Italian market.
Davy captured 78% market share in Ireland on the back of €50m collected from its Snowball Notes linked to a basket comprising the shares of Diageo, Novo Nordisk B and Nike. Issued via Merrill Lynch BV and guaranteed by Bank of America Corporation, this five-year autocall was the best-selling Irish product of Q1 by some distance.
In Thailand, sales of structured notes increased by more than 30% year-on-year (YoY) to THB42 billion (US$1.3 billion) in Q1 2026, boosted by a strong performance from Siam Commercial Bank and Kiatnakin Phatra Securities.
Digital assets
CME Group is set to broaden its digital asset derivatives offering with the introduction of Bitcoin Volatility futures contracts, with trading expected to begin on 1 June.
Asset management firm Amplify ETFs has filed for the Amplify Fairlead Tactical Bitcoin ETF, marking an initial step in the regulatory registration process. The ETF is structured to vary allocations between 70% and 150%, with futures and Flex Options forming part of its toolkit.
Meanwhile, Moscow Exchange has begun calculating and publishing indices for four additional digital currencies: Solana, Ripple, Throne and Binance Coin. The expansion will bring the total number of digital currency indices it calculates to six.
GraniteShares has expanded its autocallable range with Bitcoin-linked equities. The ETFs, which offer access to Strategy and Coinbase, respectively, aim to capture income opportunities from elevated implied volatility in crypto-related stocks.
Société Générale is increasing its blockchain-based financial infrastructure activities on the Canton Network through its digital assets unit SG-Forge. The initiative will focus on tokenised collateral, on-chain financing and digital settlement services for institutional clients. The move follows the bank’s first US tokenised bond issuance on Canton completed in November 2025.
Stephanie Rowton, senior director of tokenisation and US equities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said the firm views tokenisation as a significant extension of index utility rather than a replacement of traditional market structures.
“Tokenised assets are transforming the way indices can be embedded within financial products,” Rowton told SRP.
People
The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (Iosco) re-elected Jean-Paul Servais as chair of its board for a third term.
Servais is currently chairman of the Belgian Financial services and Markets Authority (FSMA) and also chairs Iosco’s European Regional Committee.
Chicago-headquartered law firm Mayer Brown appointed Sebastian Maerker as a partner in its Frankfurt capital markets practice. Before joining Mayer Brown, Maerker was a partner at Clifford Chance for more than 20 years.
Daniel Osborne was appointed as managing director, head of ETF solutions at third-party fund management company Carne Group. Based in London, Osborne reports to Des Fullam, chief regulatory and client solutions officer.
Image: 78art/Adobe Stock
Do you have a confidential story, tip or comment you’d like to share? Contact Us | SRP (structuredretailproducts.com)