Investment
Korean regulations to keep won stable
SEOUL -- Analysts are forecasting more near-term stability for the Korean won, after the South Korean Ministry of Finance and Economics (Mofe) last week introduced regulations aimed at limiting activity in the non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market by…
Sentiment indexes gain importance
LONDON -- Traders and investors are increasingly looking to new market sentiment indexes to help them manage their positions in the currency markets.
SPECIAL REPORT: CHINA Opportunity China: banks reveal plans
SHANGHAI -- Top forex banks are stepping up their strategies to win lucrative FX business in China as it gradually liberalises its economy. Major international players are taking steps such as increasing staffing levels in the Asia-Pacific, or carrying…
Dollar move boosts State Street’s revenues
BOSTON -- Sustained currency market trends, including the continued US dollar downturn, helped State Street increase its profits from FX dealing 30% year-on-year, according to its 2003 financial results published last week.
September - Focus on the Middle East
All eyes turned to forex in the Middle East in September, as industry body ACI’s global congress finally got under way in Beirut.
The kick-knock solution for cable
Trevor Carr, manager in FX options at HBOS Treasury Services in London, suggests a creative solution for a UK parent company wanting to hedge against continuing sterling strength
Euro/Swiss franc risk reversals
Simple risk reversals are the best way for Swiss investors to manage low domestic interest rates and a softening Swiss franc versus the euro, says David Durrant, chief currency strategist and senior economist for the Americas at Julius Baer Asset…
FSA warns over complex products
LONDON -- Financial Services Authority (FSA) chairman Callum McCarthy has warned of the dangers of banks selling complicated financial products to customers who do not fully understand them.
Non-exporters still have exposure to currencies
Options could be the answer for a manufacturing company facing the twin problems of foreign competitors undercutting its prices and of the companies it supplies being less successful with an appreciating currency. Alex Barrett and Demetri Papacostas, of…
UBS ousts Citi from top spot
LONDON -- UBS is the best bank in foreign exchange, according to a poll of nearly 1,000 voters in FX Week’s annual survey of the industry.
Yen and the art of market cycle maintenance
The yen resurgence that began this summer is still in play. But with the Japanese authorities still sporadically intervening in the currency markets, this upward path may meet some sharp setbacks. Simon Derrick, head of Bank of New York's currency…
Hedging Taiwan dollar risk
Exporters exposed to movements in the Taiwan dollar must hedge by using the non-deliverable forwards market. Michael Image, FX options structurer for northeast Asia at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, suggests a zero upfront premium solution, which…
Amex and HVB FX results growing
MUNICH -- American Express Bank saw a modest uptick in its Q3 FX trading revenues, with $54 million in FX income, up from $50 million for Q3, 2002.
Risk management for Kiwi wine exporters
With the booming popularity of New Zealand wines in the US, the threat of Kiwi dollar appreciation looms large over the New Zealand wine-making industry. Wes Price in ANZ Investment Bank’s consultative risk management group in Melbourne, describes a…
GFI buys exotic options model
LONDON -- Inter-dealer broker and market data firm GFI Group has bought options pricing model dVega, and integrated it with the latest release of its flagship options pricing tool Fenics FX, GFI will announce today (October 27).
‘Discount forward’ for hedging euro/sterling
With euro/sterling forecast to strengthen next year, Danny Goldblum, from HSBC’s global FX structuring team in London, proposes a solution to give a UK corporate that imports from Europe the protection of a forward contract at an improved rate
‘Extendible forward plus strategy’ for corporates with sterling exposures
Barclays Capital’s senior FX structurer, Ben McMillan, suggests an ‘extendible forward plus’ strategy to enable a corporate with a stream of sterling receipts to lock in an enhanced minimum cable rate but participate in any further moves to the upside
Currency option hedging for gold producers
Bill Nagl, Sydney-based head of ANZ Investment Bank’s consultative risk management group, looks at how Australian gold companies can hedge against a strong Aussie dollar
US pressure to bring ‘freer markets’
NEW YORK -- Active engagement between the US, China and other countries is leading towards freer markets, said John Taylor, treasury undersecretary for international affairs, last week.
Total return analysis: currencies vs bonds
Establishing the risk and return characteristics of holding a currency position sometimes necessitates presenting a more formal economic interpretation of an FX transaction, says Robert Balan, head of financial market strategies at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen
State St to launch FX fund in fourth quarter
LONDON -- State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the investment management arm of State Street, is set to launch a currency fund in the fourth quarter as part of its newly created hedge fund strategies group, a senior official at the firm told FX Week .
China stands firm on peg
BEIJING -- China will continue to stand firm in the face of increasing international pressure to relax the yuan’s peg to the US dollar, analysts in the Asia-Pacific told FX Week .