News
FXCM opens London office
LONDON -- New York-based retail FX trading platform Forex Capital Markets (FXCM) launched a UK office in London on July 8, a senior official at the firm in New York told FX Week .
Intervention in Japan likely to continue
TOKYO -- Despite mounting pressure on Japan to stop intervening in the currency markets, the country is unlikely to do so, said analysts last week.
FXConnect and SunGard enter next phase in link-up
BOSTON -- State Street has launched a straight-through processing (STP) connection enabling clients to trade with multi-bank platform FX Connect directly from SunGard’s treasury workstations.
Online retail forex in Asia set to grow
TOKYO -- Online retail FX business in Asia is set to grow, as dealers increasingly move into the sector, market participants in the region told FX Week .
Reuters’ forex growth eases dip in treasury
LONDON -- Technology and information firm Reuters’ results last week showed a fall in treasury revenues for the first six months of 2003, but an increase in FX activity brought some gains.
Uncertainty eases for AIG Trading
GREENWICH, CT -- The tension surrounding the upcoming merger of AIG Trading and AIG Financial Products has eased following the release of an internal statement earlier this month, a source at the firm told FX Week .
Basel may advise banks on outsourcing
BASEL -- The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision may investigate the risks associated with outsourcing trading systems to third parties, a senior Bank for International Settlement (BIS) official told FX Week .
Won worries for Korea
SEOUL -- The Korean won could be weakened in the medium term by the slowing of South Korea’s economy and government policy failing to tackle a slump in consumer spending, says a recent report by Barclays Capital.
Record Q2 at CME
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has reported record revenues for the second quarter, spurred by strong trading volume in FX, interest rates and equities.
BoA names new global head
CHICAGO -- Jonathan Moulds, global head of interest rates, Treasuries and agencies business at Bank of America, has assumed responsibility for global foreign exchange and local debt operations in Asia and Mexico, according to an internal memo from Ed…
ABN creates global cash role
AMSTERDAM -- Dutch bank ABN Amro has created the position of global head of cash trading in an effort to further co-ordinate its FX trading activities. The move reflects its growing forex business, a senior official told FX Week .
Single currency in west Africa still a long way off
ABUJA -- Efforts to establish a single currency across west Africa continue to falter due to a lack of political commitment and inconsistencies in meeting the convergence criteria, said Joseph Sanusi, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, speaking in…
Merrill rebuilds local markets trading team
LONDON -- Merrill Lynch has rebuilt a six-strong local markets trading team in London during the past month, after natural attrition whittled the original team’s headcount to one.
Third-party CLS take-up slows
LONDON -- Take-up of the continuous linked settlement (CLS) service by third-party banks is slowing as a result of time-consuming back-office changes and a waning sense of urgency, CLS project managers have told FX Week .
Prebon sells Swedish ops
STOCKHOLM -- UK-based inter-dealer broker Prebon Yamane has sold its operations in Stockholm to the existing Swedish management for an undisclosed amount.
Integral hires another ex-EBS staffer
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- Trading technology firm Integral continued its hiring spree of ex-EBS staff, with the recent addition of Ian Doull, developer of the spot broker’s dealing system. As vice-president of product marketing in New York, Doull will lead…
BarCap launches first single-dealer electronic platform for euro swaps
LONDON -- Barclays Capital and Bloomberg last week launched the first single-dealer online platform for trading interest rate swaps. The platform enables BarCap’s clients to trade vanilla euro-denominated interest rate swaps across various maturities via…
Merrill rebuilds local markets trading team
LONDON -- Merrill Lynch has rebuilt a six-strong local markets trading team in London during the past month, after natural attrition whittled the original team’s headcount to one.
Saxo adds futures trading with Refco
COPENHAGEN -- Danish investment bank Saxo Bank has added futures coverage to its online trading platform SaxoTrader as part of a partnership with Refco Overseas, the European arm of New York-based Refco Group.
RBS closes trading desk in Edinburgh
EDINBURGH -- Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)has closed its FX and money markets trading desk in Edinburgh and rerouted trading to London, a spokesperson for the bank told FX Week .
German hedge fund reform raises FX hopes
MUNICH -- New proposals for the laws governing hedge funds and funds of funds in Germany could open up the market to a wider audience and heighten FX opportunities.
State Street and BoNY buck earnings downtrend
NEW YORK -- State Street and Bank of New York bucked a downward trend in US banks’ forex revenues for the first six months of 2003, according to first-half results released last week.