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WestLB expands its commodities desk
Düsseldorf – WestLB is establishing a new multi-product commodities trading desk in Düsseldorf that will cater to domestic and global clients.
Sharia forex hedges take off
KUALA LUMPUR & DUBAI – The market for sharia-compliant forex hedges continues to grow, with Citigroup structuring the first cross-border sharia-compliant cross-currency profit rate swap worth $230 million.
You can judge a book by its cover
Market participants of all shapes have access to a bewildering choice of platforms on which they can transact their FX business. There is a huge financial gap between the multi-billion dollar hedge fund and the hobby investor who wants to trade with a…
FXMarketSpace ups ante
LONDON – Twenty banks have committed to becoming clearing prime brokers on the FXMarketSpace platform, a senior official at the CME/Reuters venture told FX Week .
Keep it simple, says e-FX trading panel at conference
SINGAPORE – 'Bells and whistles' are an annoying distraction on e-FX platforms according to Christopher Brandon, managing director of London-based $200 million hedge fund Rhicon Currency Management.
Merrill Lynch bucks downward Q3 trend
NEW YORK & CHARLOTTE, N CAROLINA – JP Morgan and Wachovia saw falls in earnings from divisions encompassing FX in the third quarter of this year, while Merrill Lynch bucked the trend with profits up more than a quarter.
FXMarketSpace ups ante
LONDON – Twenty banks have committed to becoming clearing prime brokers on the FXMarketSpace platform, a senior official at the CME/Reuters venture told FX Week.
Regulator forces COESfx to close to new clients
PLAINVIEW, NEW YORK – COESfx, a US-based retail foreign exchange platform, was forced to close to new customers earlier this month after a regulator found that its books did not balance.
Managing exposure to forex volatility
Manuel Deijk in the structured FX team at UBS looks at a selection of quantitative methods applied in the implementation of FX risk management policies
Return to volatility brings relief for prop traders
GLOBAL – Last week saw the first significant market volatility for nearly two months as euro/dollar saw its first move out of a 1.26–1.28 trading range for over 50 days.
TradingScreen upgrades its software to give users new hedging capabilities
NEW YORK – Forex technology vendor TradingScreen has introduced FX trading capabilities designed to give users the ability to hedge secondary forex exposure generated by trading in other asset classes.
BoNY relaunches forex website
NEW YORK – Bank of New York (BoNY) has relaunched its FX website with an upgraded version of the interactive Portfolio Flow Monitor (iPFM), the bank's capital flow product.
Gain Capital attacks markets with NinjaTrader
BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY – Forex trading company Gain Capital last week signed a deal with software vendor NinjaTrader to deliver real-time forex pricing and execution services to its customers.
FX volume to exceed $3 trillion by 2007: TowerGroup research
NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS – Global FX daily average volumes will reach $3.6 trillion by 2007, according to research released last week.
Citigroup launches custody services in Sweden
STOCKHOLM – Citigroup's global transaction services business is to provide direct custody and clearing (DCC) services to clients in Sweden.
Wall Street rebrands to expand forex business
SYDNEY – Wall Street Systems has rebranded to reflect the growing importance of foreign exchange to its business.
Human touch will always be needed
Markets have been on the move again this week. Comments from retired Fed chairman Alan Greenspan about the US housing market and noise surrounding China's reserve policy ensured that the greenback at last broke through the 1.26–1.28 range that it had…
Payments industry gathers in Sydney
This year's Sibos conference held in Sydney brought together some 6,500 participants to discuss the latest developments in payment and settlement systems. Here, FX Week brings you some of the news from the eventSwift launches pilot for corporate program
Rennies adopts CheckFree solution
SYDNEY – Rennies Bank, a South African forex specialist, is now employing CheckFree's Accurate NXG straight-through processing solution to help better manage potential operational risk for internal and external customers.
Singapore hosts second FX Week Asia conference
SINGAPORE – On Tuesday (October 17), the second FX Week Asia conference will be held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. The event brings together leading speakers and buy- and sell-side market participants.
Cognotec moves into custody
SYDNEY – Technology vendor Cognotec this week launches a custody service that automates the forex component of securities transactions.
Students to trade forex, with a $10,000 prize
AUSTIN, Texas – Online forex platform GFT has set up a competition that pits students’ wits against a simulated FX market. The prize is $10,000 with which to trade on the real thing.
UK business unprepared for hedging changes
LONDON – Medium-sized UK companies are unprepared for forthcoming rule changes on accounting standards that require more rigorous reporting of FX exposure, according to forex specialist HiFX.
'Boiler room' retail FX fraudsters face US court for high-pressure techniques
NEW YORK – The retail foreign exchange market suffered another blow at the end of last month, as 11 men were indicted by a US court on charges of ‘boiler room’ fraud.