News
Barclays Capital hires new FX strategy head
LONDON – David Woo will take charge of FX strategy for Barclays Capital in London, effective June 9. He joins from Citigroup, where he was head of local markets strategy for central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as global strategist…
WestLB live with Hotspot FXi link-up
NEW JERSEY – WestLB in April became the first client to go live with technology vendor Cognotec’s automated link to HotspotFXi.
Advanced IRB Basel II approach delayed
BASEL – The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has said that implementation of the advanced internal ratings-based approach (IRB) for credit risk and the advanced measurement approach (AMA) for operational risk will be delayed until the end of 2007…
NAB’s forex losses wipe out trading income
MELBOURNE – National Australia Bank’s entire first-half trading income was wiped out by its FX options losses, the bank’s financial results revealed last week.
AIB rapped for overcharging
DUBLIN – Allied Irish Banks (AIB) sailed into another forex controversy last week, as it emerged the bank has been overcharging for forex deals for the past eight years.
BIS reports FX options surge
BASEL – FX options business increased by a massive 77% year-on-year in the second half of last year, according to Bank for International Settlements (BIS) statistics released last week.
Swedbank installs new turrets
Stockholm – Swedbank is installing 200 new turrets from US vendor IPC Information Systems for its FX, fixed income and equity trading.
Banks compete for e-FX talent
LONDON – Dealers combining technological and sales expertise are in short supply as banks compete to secure staff that can aid their success in the growing online FX market.
S&P rates Calyon AA-
PARIS – Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has given Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank (formed on April 30 following Crédit Agricole Indosuez’s acquisition of Crédit Lyonnais) an AA- long-term counterparty credit rating.
Tullett plans new data launch
LONDON – Tullett Financial (TF), the data sales arm of broking group Collins Stewart Tullett (CST), is readying the launch of a new currency data product for June.
Data sets tone for firmer dollar
NEW YORK – Much stronger than expected economic data from the US last Friday has set the tone for a firmer US dollar this week – potentially putting an end to the nervousness that has kept some clients out of the market in recent days.
State Street ramps up in Asia
HONG KONG – State Street is hiring staff in Asia-Pacific in a bid to win more institutional business in the region.
NAB director resigns
Catherine Walter, the National Australia Bank (NAB) director who criticised a report into the bank’s forex options trading scandal, resigned last week.
Commodities drive client FX
LONDON – Banks are reporting growing business from clients needing structured FX and commodities solutions. The growth of commodity trading adviser (CTA), private banking, hedging and investor interest in FX is helping to boost demand, said bankers in…
Reuters reorganises in Asia
SINGAPORE – Reuters has shifted a number of executives to new posts in Asia-Pacific to offer senior employees "new job experiences", it said last week.
StanChart hires trading head
LONDON – David Bee is set to join Standard Chartered in June as head of FX trading in London and global head of G10 spot and forward trading.
NAB options desk "open again"
MELBOURNE – National Australia Bank (NAB) has resumed limited trading in currency options, as an April 30 deadline to amend its shortcomings passed last week.
Fairex eyes Chinese banks
SHANGHAI – Singapore-based e-FX technology vendor, Fairex International Financial Systems, is trying to win more bank clients in China through a new scheme set up by the Singapore government.
Bank rivalry in treasury opens clients’ credit lines
GREENWICH, CT – Increased competition for treasury management business among banks is making credit more easily available to global corporates and institutions, according to new research published last week.
ERM smooth says HKMA
HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s linked exchange rate mechanism worked "smoothly" last year, although the Hong Kong dollar strengthened "markedly" in Q4, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said last week.
Fairex eyes Chinese banks
SHANGHAI – Singapore-based e-FX technology vendor, Fairex International Financial Systems, is trying to win more bank clients in China through a new scheme set up by the Singapore government.