Risk management
Banks vow to improve transparency
WASHINGTON, DC & FRANKFURT - The Institute of International Finance (IIF), a banking industry trade group, has promised to improve transparency over risk exposure and executive pay in the wake of the credit crisis.
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.
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
Yen rise triggers PRDC hedging
TOKYO - The sharp appreciation of the yen in March has left dealers jostling to hedge exposures to power-reverse dual currency notes (PRDCs) and other similar structured products.
A matter of preference
Jeffrey Todd Lins, director of quantitative analysis at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen, advances the tired debate over hedging versus alpha generation in wealth management.
Gambling on stability
The dollar's downward slide against the euro can't continue. Neil Mellor, currency strategist at The Bank of New York Mellon in London, suggests a trade to take advantage of an expected period of stability in the EUR/USD
FXMS enters CLS market
LONDON - FXMarketSpace (FXMS) has launched an alternative system for settling foreign exchange trades over the platform, in an effort to tackle risks and costs associated with settling trades from high frequency traders.
FXMS initiatives need to see volume
FXMarketSpace's initiative to launch an alternative settlement system to industry utility continuous linked settlement is a bold one.
Ex-EBS trio develops new distance latency product
NEW YORK - Market Factory, a company formed by three former senior EBS figures, is developing a software product that could potentially be sold back to their former employer.
Oiling the FX wheels
The Royal Bank of Canada is offering capital protection with a new FX-linked product that is based on currencies from six countries, including two of the world's biggest oil producers
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.
Lehman Bros comes under fire in Asia
SINGAPORE - Attempts by Lehman Brothers to quash rumours that DBS Bank, Singapore's largest bank, had ceased trading with it last Monday (March 17) failed to reassure traders in Asia.
Trend strategies pay off in February
LONDON - Currency managers running trend strategies were the top performers in February, according to research by ABN Amro.
Central bank intervention remains unlikely
LONDON, FRANKFURT & NEW YORK - Unless chaos reigns, analysts deem central bank intervention in the currency markets unlikely.
New options classes for latest Fenics release
LONDON - Seven new option classes are being added to the latest version of GFI Group's Fenics, an FX options pricing, risk management and trading tool.
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…
StanChart launches quant academy to crack market
LONDON & SINGAPORE - Standard Chartered is boosting its quantitative skills base through a new quant academy programme.
Harnessing the future
Standard Chartered's decision to launch a quant academy programme is further evidence of banks putting more resources in developing the markets through human capital.
Clients pay a price for transparency
Although some banks appear to be experiencing initial success with the rollout of algorithmic execution services to clients in foreign exchange, it seems any extension of the portfolio of tools available could be curtailed by limited data from electronic…
Doubts over CLS 'warehouse' system
LONDON & ZURICH - The competitive nature of back-office capacity could curtail adoption of a proposed solution by settlement system CLS to manage strains placed on these systems by surging ticket volumes, say industry experts.
Credit Suisse signs up more algo clients
LONDON - Nine new clients signed up to use Credit Suisse's algorithmic trading models for foreign exchange in January, according to a senior official at the bank in London.
Fenics Enterprise extends GFI's options data reach
LONDON - GFI Group plans to further embed itself in the trading process with a bespoke version of its Fenics FX options pricing, risk management and trading tool, Fenics Enterprise.
Goldman Sachs launches new Redi FX platform
LONDON - Goldman Sachs has launched Redi FX, a stand-alone, single-bank foreign exchange trading platform.