Regulation
SuperD offers exit pricing
LONDON - Market turmoil and increased regulation has prompted data and software vendor SuperDerivatives to add liquidation, or exit, pricing to its portfolio revaluation services.
Swiss retail FX rules spell consolidation
BERN - Recent amendments by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC) to the banking ordinance concerning foreign exchange dealers could lead to consolidation of the retail FX market in the country.
CFTC wary of Fed's merger proposal
WASHINGTON, DC - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has urged US Treasury to proceed with caution over its recommendation to merge the US futures regulator and its securities market counterpart, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Watching the market in 3D
Chip Lowry, senior managing director of Currenex, and John Vause, managing director of State Street's Global Link business for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, evaluate the evolution of the FX market's structure
Trading records fall during turbulent month
NEW YORK & LONDON - Records tumbled on foreign exchange trading platforms last month, with EBS and Currenex reporting record trading volumes for the month and FXall a record quarter.
India reacts to rise in FX derivatives losses
MUMBAI - Indian accounting regulators have brought forward the deadline for complaince with disclosure requirements related to foreign exchange derivatives, amid rising losses linked to complex hedges by small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Small retail FX firms face extinction
Felix Shipkevich, general counsel, and Anna Vidiaev, staff attorney, at online foreign exchange trading company Capital Market Services in New York say a proposed rise in capital requirements for retail brokers will result in an anticompetitive market
Can the buy side deliver on prices?
This Wednesday FX Week is hosting its second annual FX Invest USA congress at the Mid-America Club in Chicago. The event follows the successful launch last year of this series of conferences, which act as a forum to discuss issues facing the industry…
BoA and Deutsche shake-up e-FX
NEW YORK - Bank of America (BoA) and Deutsche Bank have realigned the senior management of their electronic foreign exchange businesses, and have seen senior departures from the banks in New York and London.
Texan FX trader fined $3m over misleading website
WASHINGTON, DC & TEXAS - The Commodity Futures Trading Association (CFTC) has collected more than $3 million in civil money penalties and restitution monies from anti-fraud action against a Texas-based foreign exchange trader.
Forex is surviving the credit crunch
The Fed-backed sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan has sharpened focus on counterparty risk, with Lehman Brothers as the main target. Although the bank allayed concerns with better-than-expected results, the general crisis of confidence still remains.
Small US retail forex firms set to "suffer"
NEW YORK - New legislation passing through the US government is likely to consolidate the retail foreign exchange industry, as proposals to dramatically increase minimum adjusted net capital requirements squeeze small operators from the market.
EBS's February volumes eclipse 2007 levels
Last month's average daily volume of spot FX traded on Icap's electronic spot broking platform EBS Spot increased 34% on February 2007, to $217.2 billion. The interdealer broker reported average daily spot FX trading was also up 32% for the year ending…
Central bank intervention remains unlikely
LONDON, FRANKFURT & NEW YORK - Unless chaos reigns, analysts deem central bank intervention in the currency markets unlikely.
MF Global loses $141.5m from rogue wheat trade
NEW YORK - Interdealer broker MF Global has lost $141.5 million after it was forced to cover trading losses made by one of its employees.
Mifid compliance: a matter of principles
Since the EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) went into effect on November 1, 2007, financial firms have been racing to implement principles-based regulation to remain compliant and competitive. With various EU members in different…
Kerviel acted alone - SG report finding
PARIS - The Société Générale (SG) investigation into rogue trader Jérome Kerviel has found no evidence of an accomplice, but criticises the bank's oversight teams for failing to take the initiative in following up 93 alerts triggered by his unauthorised…
Three EU states face legal action over Mifid
The European Commission (EC) is referring member states the Czech Republic, Poland and Spain to the European Court of Justice over non-implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid).
NFA bans retail FX broker after failed cover-up
CHICAGO & LONDON - The US National Futures Association (NFA) has permanently barred Florida-based retail foreign exchange broker World Trade Financial (WTF) from NFA membership for a failed cover-up.
There are lessons to be learned from SG
As the barrage of revelations detailing the events leading to the €4.9 billion rogue-trading losses at Société Générale continues, so too do theories on how the French bank could have overlooked the activities of its junior equity index futures trader.
Three simple steps towards risk immunisation
Société Générale - there but for the grace of God? Justyn Trenner and David Poole, principals of client strategy firm ClientKnowledge in London, offer a short check-list of factors to protect against a similar occurrence
NFA cracks down on AMI
CHICAGO & LONDON - The US National Futures Association (NFA) has set a precedent by ordering one of its brokerage members to only solicit promotional material from companies registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the NFA.
London still top of the forex markets
LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO & SINGAPORE - London holds firm as the leader of the foreign exchange world, as year-on-year forex growth in the UK continues to outstrip that of the US, according to the latest figures released by regional trade bodies.
EM indexes stand strong
LONDON & NEW YORK - Indexes linked to emerging market currencies have withstood market shocks, as products launched in the past year show steady returns.