Articles by FX Markets Staff
Preparing for a return to volatility
Persistently low levels of volatility have made it tough to trade the currency markets since late august. Simon Derrick, head of currency strategy at Bank of New York in London, investigates whether the past few months have been anomalous, and how to…
Asic cracks down on boiler-room scam
SYDNEY – The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) has frozen bank accounts perceived to contain A$3.9 million (US$3.0 million) in defrauded funds.
RBS and JP Morgan scale back prop trading
LONDON – Royal Bank of Scotland closed its London-based prop trading desk last week in the latest sign of the hardship faced by FX desks at banks.
Gain wins court approval to acquire Refco assets
BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY – Gain Capital has won bankruptcy court approval to buy the retail customer account information and marketing list of Refco F/X Associates. The deal ends six months of volatile negotiations between the two companies.
Low volatility has affected the market, says Calyon's Lefort
LONDON – The major market event in 2006 has been low volatility, and new products have had to be developed to deal with it, said Christine Lefort, Calyon's global head of FX structuring.
City bonuses rise by a quarter
LONDON – Just under half of city workers expect a 25% rise in bonuses this year, according to survey results released last week.
Malaysia sets up payment-versus-payment system
HONG KONG & KUALA LUMPUR – The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Malaysia's central bank (Bank Negara Malaysia) launched a cross-border payment-versus-payment (PvP) settlement system last week.
EBS/FXMarketSpace rivalry heats up
LONDON – The standoff between newcomer FXMarketSpace and incumbent platform EBS revved up last week, with EBS claiming the former will favour Chicago-based users.
Beauty and the boxer: a night of extremes
Guests at the awards evening were treated to Beauty in the shape of dance group Lady Grey and the Beast in the form of East-end ex-boxer comedian Ricky Grover. After ushering in the expectant audience, the dancers treated us all to an exotic display of…
FXPB: a growing divide
LONDON – Foreign exchange prime brokers (FXPB) have started to split into full-service providers and those targeting niche markets, according to panelists at the FX Week Europe Congress last week.
JP Morgan surprised by Puth's departure
NEW YORK – David Puth, head of global currencies and commodities at JP Morgan, has quit the US investment bank. Senior executives at JP Morgan said they were "very surprised" by his departure.
CME expands its London business
LONDON – Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is set to move to larger London premises and will share with subsidiary interest rate swaps platform Swapstream and FXMarketSpace, its joint venture with Reuters.
Sovereign Bank live on Sierra platform
PHILADELPHIA – Sovereign Bank is using an FNX Solutions web-based Sierra platform for the its FX operations, the treasury and capital markets technology provider announced last week.
NFA expels Spencer Financial
NEW YORK – The National Futures Association (NFA) has expelled forex dealer member Spencer Financial from NFA membership following its failure to implement an adequate anti-money laundering regime.
Citigroup plays catch-up
Citigroup's recent investment in forex technology appears to be paying off, as demonstrated by the bank's resurgence this year
Asia to support global growth
LONDON – Asia holds the key to global growth amid a US slowdown, Marios Maratheftis, FX strategist at Standard Chartered in London told delegates at last week's FX Week Europe Congress.
Icap pushes into options
LONDON – Icap plans to launch non-deliverable forwards and develop an electronic FX options trading platform, CEO Michael Spencer told the FX Week annual congress in his keynote address.
EBS and Reuters pool resources for BoE
LONDON – Rival brokers EBS and Reuters are pooling resources to launch a new benchmark page for spot FX price fixings, to replace data currently provided by the Bank of England (BoE).
Recognising forex excellence
Last Tuesday (November 14) saw the 12th FX Week Best Banks Awards held at the Marriott Grosvenor Square in London's West End.
The carry trade shows best returns
LONDON – Carry trading can still produce positive returns, but trend trading models are losing ground, Citigroup's risk advisory group director, Jessica James told the FX Week Europe Congress.
Icap should get the options ball rolling
The FX Week Europe Congress was the biggest and best yet. The brightest star among many was Michael Spencer, chief executive of Icap, who explained his plans to expand his business into electronic FX options.
Complacency leads to a hard landing
Going against consensus view, Sharada Selvanathan , currency strategist at BNP Paribas in Singapore, advises preparing for a hard landing in the US economy