The retail market heated up in Asia, with a wave of players entering the field and a wider array of complex structures being offered. For instance, the number of houses in Hong Kong branding their own derivative products to the retail base jumped this year from seven or eight to 13.......
With the number of entrants increasing, firms have become more creative as margins for traditional structures have been squeezed. "The retail space has become much more complex this year--exotic structures have become commonplace," said James RodrÃguez de Castro, managing director in global equity markets at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong.......