Foreign exchange
Merrill boss adds ex-colleagues
NEW YORK – Merrill Lynch's new global FX chief, Stephen Kemp, has hired three former colleagues from Morgan Stanley, the bank he left last April in order to join Merrill.
Year of plenty for top 30 banks
Little evidence of mid-tier contraction as revenue ranking hits new high
Micex expands forex coverage
MOSCOW – The Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (Micex) has launched new FX contracts in a step towards expanding the exchange-traded FX market in Russia.
Forex firm fined record $100m for fraud
NEW YORK – A US federal court ruled in favour of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week, as it found a foreign exchange futures firm liable for the illegal sale of futures contracts. The $100 million restitution and penalty charges…
Overlay staff in short supply
NEW YORK – Demand for currency overlay is outstripping the supply of available managers, as the boom in investors managing currency continues.
Snow hails CME's China deal
CHICAGO – The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has forged a ground- breaking deal with a central bank-sponsored FX trading platform in China, in a move hailed by US government officials as a crucial step towards renminbi flexibility.
Saxo upgrades support service
COPENHAGEN – Saxo Bank has upgraded support for users of its white-label trading platform SaxoTrader, with a new service to offer advice on website development, advertising, marketing and customer relationship management.
Citigroup restaffs Singapore sales
SINGAPORE – Citigroup has rehired to fill a void in its Singapore institutional sales team after a team of three defected to Barclays Capital.
EBS launches Aussie and Canadian trading packages
LONDON – Spot broker EBS last week launched new Australian and Canadian dollar packages for its dealing platform in a bid to increase market-share in those currencies.
Brokers react to shrinking market
LONDON – As the dust settles on the news of Collins Stewart Tullett's (CST) imminent takeover of Prebon Yamane, rival brokers are upbeat about their prospects arising from the £135 million deal. The combination of two of the six major broking firms in FX…
Japan's MoF steers clear of intervention
TOKYO – Japan's Ministry of Finance (MoF) last week revealed it has not intervened in the FX markets since mid-March – and is likely to refrain from further currency intervention for some time, said market participants.
ACI Congress debates future
LONDON – The European forex community gathered in London last week for the ACI European Congress hosted by ACI UK. Among the contentious issues discussed during the three-day event were operational risk, the future of the European Union and trading in…
ABN Amro AM launches new currency products
AMSTERDAM – ABN Amro Asset Management (AAAM) is launching two new currency products for institutional investors and high-net-worth clients.
Yen vol boosts BTM revenues
TOKYO – Yen volatility has boosted Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi’s (BTM) FX revenues, it said last week, as client demand for currency options soared in fiscal 2003.
EBS opens up prime broker service
LONDON – Spot broker EBS has opened EBS Prime, its FX prime brokerage service, to more banks, following a 20-week pilot programme with prime brokers Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase and The Royal Bank of Scotland, along with 16 pilot customers.
Raising the standard for London
ACI’s European Congress in London this week has been two years in preparation. Robin Poynder, chairman of the organising committee, describes the agonies and ecstasies of staging the forex industry event in the UK capital
Dealers dismiss UK euro entry
LONDON – More than a quarter of forex dealers interviewed for an exclusive poll for FX Week think sterling will never become part of the single European currency. Another 10% believe the UK’s entry into the euro is at least another 10 years away – with…
Bank One casualties emerge
LONDON – The first casualties from JP Morgan Chase’s upcoming purchase of Bank One – due to complete on July 5 – emerged last week with the news that both the Chicago-based bank’s FX heads in London are leaving.
Rocketing oil price dominates currencies
LONDON – The rocketing price of crude oil is continuing to dominate the currency markets, propping up the currencies of oil producers while hitting oil consumers hard.
ACI European Congress: exhibition preview
Delegates at the seventh ACI European Congress this week will have plenty to keep them busy, as vendors and banks line up a vast array of product demonstrations and promotions.
Hedge funds using more leverage, says Greenwich
Greenwich, CT – Almost a third of 36 hedge funds surveyed by research company Greenwich Associates increased their use of leverage in the past year.
Congress rise slows Indian rupee ascent
MUMBAI – The success of the Congress Party in the recent Indian elections sent tremors through the FX market last week, and may have a longer-term negative impact on the world’s largest emerging currency market.
CLS is 'changing the front-office'
LONDON – The continuous-linked settlement (CLS) service for FX trades has changed credit and trading practices among the majority of its users, reveals research from IT consultancy TowerGroup to be published this week.
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.