News
Citigroup and GSB sign memo of understanding
BANGKOK – Government Savings Bank (GSB), Thailand's state bank, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Citigroup in Thailand to start an international banking business that will launch in the first part of next year.
Asia focus for Bank Julius Baer
ZURICH & SINGAPORE – Bank Julius Baer is understood to be transferring Fred Etheart from Zurich to Singapore, where he will develop an institutional foreign exchange sales desk.
ASIA PACIFIC NEWS: ABN Amro pays $4.5m settlement in Vietnam forex trading case
HANOI – Dutch bank ABN Amro has paid $4.5 million to police to settle a dispute over allegations by the Vietnamese government that its traders broke FX trading regulations.
FXall in ruble push
MOSCOW – Multibank platform FXall has added five liquidity providing banks to bolster trading in the Russian ruble.
Strong activity continues as dollar slides
GLOBAL – Last week again saw big moves in the major currency pairs as traders capitalised on a weaker dollar to make much-needed trading gains.
Boost for Mexican derivatives
MEXICO CITY – The Mexican derivatives market is set for expansion, with foreign participants getting access to the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer) through BT Radianz.
More top changes at BoA
LONDON & NEW YORK – Bank of America (BoA) is undertaking a further restructuring of its senior FX management team, as the bank seeks to drive its growth to the next level.
Algo trading to double, says Eurex
CHICAGO – "The rise in activity of algorithmic traders is impressive, and it's changing the nature of electronic trading," said Andreas Preuss, chief executive of Eurex.
Icap switches voice brokers
LONDON – Icap is moving resources from the major currencies into emerging markets, as the interdealer broker acts to reflect the changed FX landscape.
Dresdner rebuilds forex team
LONDON & NEW YORK – Dresdner Kleinwort (DK) has made three senior hires as it rebuilds it FX team after a series of departures to Merrill Lynch in September and October.
City Index plans new FX brand
LONDON – Spread betting firm City Index is set to launch a new FX business in the New Year, as it integrates the IFX business it bought in the summer, FX Week has learned.
Senior changes at Lehman
NEW YORK – Lehman Brothers is making senior management changes that cut across three continents.
Icap switches voice brokers
LONDON – Icap is moving resources from the major currencies into emerging markets, as the interdealer broker acts to reflect the changed FX landscape.
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.
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.
Tullett Prebon launches multi-asset market data service
LONDON – Tullett Prebon Information, the market data division of interdealer broker Tullett Prebon, last week launched its market data service, Mark2Marker.
Deutsche Bank adopts latest version of Reuters Messaging
FRANKFURT – Deutsche Bank is currently working on migrating to the upcoming version 6 of Reuters Messaging (RM), which is due for release next month, according to officials at the vendor.
Safe approves four banks to join forward market
BEIJING – China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) has approved four new banks to join the interbank foreign exchange forward market.
RBS expands emerging market capabilities
LONDON – Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is expanding its portfolio of emerging markets products, with plans to launch interest rate options and exotics.
RMB needs closer look, says HSBC
BEIJING – Foreigners should take a closer look at China's foreign exchange policies when considering the future of the renminbi, Hongbin Qu, chief economist for HSBC in Beijing told FX Week last week.
Relief for traders as volatility returns
LONDON – Last week saw unexpectedly large moves in the dollar/yen and euro/dollar as traders welcomed a pre-Christmas build-up in volatility after a year of flat markets.
US and UK regulators sign MoU to improve market surveillance
LONDON & WASHINGTON DC – The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen market communication oversight last week.
EBS credited for 75% rise in e-broking revenues at Icap
LONDON – Spot broker EBS was largely behind a 75% rise in second-half electronic broking revenues at interdealer broker Icap, the broker said last week.