News
Icap thrives on market volatility
LONDON -- UK Inter-dealer broker Icap has seen "another outstanding year" on the back of market volatility, especially in medium-term interest rate markets, said group chief executive Michael Spencer on the announcement of the firm's full-year results…
FX investor caution over terror threats
LONDON -- Risk aversion in emerging markets FX has heightened in recent weeks due to increased terror threats and concerns over the success of efforts to rebuild Iraq, analysts told FX Week .
HSBC snares Desselberger
LONDON -- HSBC has hired Deutsche Bank’s head of corporate structured products, Matt Desselberger, to become its new global head of currency options, based in London.
FX derivatives activity flat but healthy
BASEL -- FX derivatives volumes were relatively unchanged in the second half of 2002, the Bank for International Settlements reported last month.
Reuters FX under threat EBS-Bloomberg forex alliance prompts defiant response from UK firm
LONDON -- Reuters was last week fighting back to secure its position in FX, following the announcement of an alliance between two rivals.
Global banks winning in Italy
MILAN -- The first survey of Italian derivatives dealers conducted by Risk Italia , the Italian language edition of Risk , found that international banks have a stronghold in the Italian derivatives market. But the results were also encouraging for…
Carr Futures to close London FX
LONDON -- Carr Futures, Chicago-based institutional brokerage firm and part of Credit Agricole Indosuez, is closing its London FX desk on June 1 to form one 24-hour desk in New York.
ACM aims for money managers
GENEVA -- Online FX trading firm AC Markets is hoping to increase its money manager client base with the launch of a new trading platform, a senior official at the firm told FX Week .
Icap to broker parimutuel derivatives
NEW YORK -- Icap is set to broker the parimutuel auction-based economic derivatives jointly developed by Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. It will offer the full range of economic derivatives, including vanilla and digital options and forwards on the US…
Gulf currency by 2010, say Saudis
RIYADH -- A common currency for Persian Gulf countries could be a reality as early as 2010, according to officials from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).
The FX week ahead
(all times GMT)
Intra-day volatility returns
LONDON -- Trading desks buzzed with the return of intra-day volatility to the markets last week, as the euro sailed over its launch price of 1.175 against the dollar.
Bangladesh looking to float the taka
DHAKA -- The Bangladeshi taka could move to a managed float from a crawling peg at the beginning of June, market participants told FX Week .
Sterling traders sidestep UK euro adoption issue
LONDON -- Uncertainty continues to surround the timing of possible euro adoption in the UK, but sterling traders are unlikely to suffer, whatever the outcome.
SuperDerivatives launches new options pricing service
LONDON -- FX options pricing vendor SuperDerivatives has launched a new version of its benchmark FX options pricing system, the firm will announce this week.
SEB takes NFS treasury trading link
STOCKHOLM -- SEB Merchant Banking has taken technology from Nordic Financial Systems (NFS) to enable its corporate clients to execute FX transactions via their own treasury management systems.
Rand recovery spells good news for South African FX
JOHANNESBURG -- The dramatic recovery of the rand and surging international interest in South Africa have proved a money-maker for local banks, market participants told FX Week .
RBC puts fresh focus on proprietary FX trading
TORONTO -- Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) set up a new proprietary trading group last week in an attempt to steal a march on its competitors.
Forex dealers clear on US dollar policy
NEW YORK -- Despite conflicting comments last week, analysts said the market is clear on the US government’s strategy regarding the greenback.
Cognotec targets white-label market
DUBLIN -- FX trading technology vendor Cognotec is re-marketing its liquidity-outsourcing tool, Liquidity Linq, in response to growing demand for ‘white-label’ FX trading platforms.
Ericsson triples online trading ratio
STOCKHOLM -- Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson tripled the proportion of forex trades it executes electronically over the past year, a senior official told FX Week .
Saxo Bank’s forex fund flourishes online
COPENHAGEN -- Saxo Bank’s managed FX fund has produced returns of over 3% so far this year, despite the war in Iraq and the geopolitical uncertainty that marked Q1. Saxo’s 3.08% return tops the aggregated performance of the 49 currency funds on the…