Foreign exchange
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.
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.
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.
Solving investment problems with forex
An asset manager may look to euro/Swiss franc and euro/sterling structures to take advantage of investor uncertainty, says David Durrant, chief currency strategist at Julius Baer Asset Management International in New York
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…
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.
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.
CME FX up 50%
CHICAGO – The Chicago Mercantile Exchange last week said FX volumes were up 50% year-on-year in Q1 to 188,000 rounds per day, while revenues for forex rose 43% to $21 million.
Corporates and banks still behind on IAS 39
LONDON – With the January 2005 implementation date for accounting standard IAS 39 fast approaching, corporates and financial institutions are still behind in their preparation, according to a recent survey carried out by Reuters and FX Week ’s sister…
ACI expects 1,200 delegates in London
LONDON – Forex industry body ACI is expecting 1,200 attendees for the European congress in London later this month, said Robin Poynder, chairman of the congress organising committee.
ABN Amro Q1 figures show return to form in forex
AMSTERDAM – ABN Amro has seen a return to form in forex, with a year-on-year rise of 47% in its Q1 FX dealing income, published last week.
Martin Wiedmann leaves UBS
ZURICH – The departure of Martin Wiedmann from UBS in Zurich last week sparked a guessing game among his peers over which bank he is set to join.
Kemp takes FX helm at Merrill
NEW YORK – Morgan Stanley FX chief Stephen Kemp is set to take on the continued build-up of Merrill Lynch’s forex business, following the resignation of co-head of global FX and rates Michael DeSa.