Regulation
Sales head quits RBS
LONDON - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) continued to be hit by senior-level departures last week, with the global head of foreign exchange bank sales the latest to walk out the door.
Velocity Trade readies API connectivity
TORONTO - Canadian foreign exchange dealer Velocity Trade expects to take its first client live sometime this week, say officials, with an application programming interface (API) connection into the dealer's middle- and back-office systems.
CMC builds with StreamBase
LONDON - CMC Markets has deployed a complex event processing (CEP) system from StreamBase to price foreign exchange, and plans to extend the use of the system to indexes, commodities, treasuries and equities trading by year-end.
Powell departs BoA Merrill Lynch
LONDON - David Powell, a G-10 currency strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, left the bank in London last week (November 10), market sources have told FX Week .
StanChart continues US build-up
NEW YORK - Standard Chartered has hired Peter Hirsch as head of rates trading, Americas, and Brian Varga as head of US Treasury trading, Americas, in New York.
Options voters choose Deutsche's steady hand
Deutsche Bank took top honours in the options category this year, having come fourth in 2008. Consistency is the key to its success, said Kevin Rodgers, the bank's London-based global head of foreign exchange options.
Deutsche jumps to top spot in Scandinavian currencies
Deutsche Bank has taken the honours in the Scandinavian currencies, ousting local rival Danske Bank. The Copenhagen-based bank has topped the category for the past two years, while the German dealer made its first appearance in 2008, ranking fourth.
London swings for Canadian dollar but not Swiss franc
The Bank of Montreal (BMo) has burst into the top spot for the Canadian dollar this year, having occupied second place since FX Week introduced the category in 2004. Royal Bank of Canada, which has won the award for the previous five years, came fourth…
India's RBI to allow OTC FX options
MUMBAI - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released draft proposals on November 12 that will allow importers and exporters to write over-the-counter forex options contracts, in response to calls by banks and industry bodies.
Barclays Capital poster child for e-forex
Barclays Capital has solidified its standing as the poster child for electronic foreign exchange, taking home the accolade for the best bank electronic trading platform for the second year running.
RBS sees currencies business decline
LONDON - The Royal Bank of Scotland reported a 66% fall in income from the currencies business, to £141 million in the third quarter of this year, versus the same quarter in 2008.
Adaptability key to BarCap structured products win
Barclays Capital has come top of the class for foreign exchange structured products. Having finished third last year, the bank clinched top spot by reacting quickly to changing client requirements, according to Andy Kaufmann, its London-based head of FX…
HSBC's risk focus pays off in forex forwards
HSBC retains its edge as the best bank for foreign exchange forwards as improved pricing and risk management ensured the bank was able to continue delivering liquidity during the credit crisis.
Trèny joins Credit Suisse
LONDON - Stéphane Trèny is set to join Credit Suisse later this month to head the Swiss dealer's foreign exchange corporate sales team for southern Europe, according to market sources.
StanChart open all hours for GCC currencies
DUBAI - Standard Chartered has extended its online coverage of Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) currencies to 24 hours daily from Monday to Friday, to match client demand.
Celent report: financial firms' IT spending on the rise
MONTREAL - Despite the economic decline, absolute spending figures in information technology are set to rebound globally, according to Jacob Jegher, author of the Celent report: IT spending in financial services: A global perspective .
Bank of East Asia signs on to GFI's Fenics Enterprise
SINGAPORE - Bank of East Asia (BEA) has deployed GFI's Fenics Enterprise for the pricing and analysis of retail dual currency products.
Ipam banned for audit failures
WASHINGTON, DC - The US National Futures Association (NFA) banned Orlando-based introducing broker Income Plus Asset Management (Ipam) from NFA membership on October 28, after it failed to comply with a regulatory audit.
The central clearing backlash continues
As the foreign exchange industry continues to get its house in order to prevent any undue regulatory scrutiny, cracks persist in the arguments extolling the virtues of central clearing facilities.
Industry reaffirms CLS as FX data repository
NEW YORK - The foreign exchange industry has reaffirmed industry utility CLS Bank as the FX trade data repository, as US and European authorities push to introduce similar facilities in the derivatives market.
JP Morgan names EMEA head
LONDON - JP Morgan has named a new head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in London, market sources tell FX Week .
Bank of Canada: no intervention without strong policy
OTTAWA - Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of Canada, has told the country's House of Commons that the Canadian dollar's high exchange rate against the US dollar is depressing prices and economic activity.