Trading
Retail FX: the light at the end of the tunnel?
Retail foreign exchange continues to be a beacon of light for wholesale FX banks, as they push ahead with plans to expand initiatives into next year.
FX bonuses expected to drop by 80%
LONDON - Bonuses will plummet by 80% for most foreign exchange staff in London, according to research by Armstrong International, a London-based search firm.
India to open rupee/dollar futures to FIIs
MUMBAI - The Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) are expected to allow foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to participate in the currency futures market soon, market participants speculate.
China in shock interest rate cut
BEIJING, MUMBAI & BANGKOK - The People's Bank of China shocked markets with an aggressive 108 basis point cut to interest rates last Wednesday (November 26), in its latest move to curb the rapid decline in growth.
Hedge funds outshine banks as API price-makers
LONDON - Banks are mostly price-takers when trading on spot broking system EBS through an application programming interface (API), according to analysis by interdealer broker Icap.
A storm in a teacup
Henrik Gullberg, senior foreign exchange strategist at Deutsche Bank in London, says fears over the Swiss franc's status as a safe-haven currency are exaggerated
Morgan Stanley's Mettler gets new deputy head
LONDON - Morgan Stanley has promoted Marcin Wiszniewski to a newly created role as deputy head of global foreign exchange and emerging markets (EM), effective December 1.
One up, three down at Citi
NEW YORK & LONDON - Citi's global head of electronic execution has been made redundant and cuts have been made to the foreign exchange sales team in London, as part of the bank's drive to reduce headcount globally.
MarketFactory Whisperer closer to launch
LONDON & NEW YORK - MarketFactory's Whisperer product is being beta-tested by a group of clients made up of banks and funds, James Sinclair, chief executive of the financial technology firm in New York, has told FX Week. He expects the first client to go…
New SocGen platform targets active traders
LONDON - Société Générale is set to launch a new foreign exchange trading platform in January, in a move to increase its presence among institutional clients.
SocGen bolsters London FX team
LONDON - Société Générale has boosted its foreign exchange outfit in London with the addition of two former Lehman Brothers staff.
CLS on shaky ground with third-party providers
Just as the front office begins to show signs of support for CLS, there's now doubt over commitment from the utility's third-party service providers, with at least one rumoured to be scaling back.
Sterling plummets as BoE dithers
CMC Markets topped this week's one-month forecast rankings by predicting a weaker sterling based on a perceived delay in interest rates cuts by the Bank of England (BoE).
Traders shift focus to recession
LONDON - Traders are reporting a slowdown in foreign exchange activity and a focus shift towards global recession fears as the market approaches year-end.
Bloomberg Tradebook back on track
NEW YORK - Bloomberg Tradebook is this week re-launching its foreign exchange electronic communications network after suffering up to eight weeks of outage as it sought to replace AIG as its central clearer.
More crisis casualties
LONDON - Morgan Stanley, Citi and Deutsche Bank have all announced thousands of global job cuts in response to the market dislocation, with foreign exchange teams unavoidably in the firing line.
Industry pushes to expand CLS coverage
LONDON - Panellists at the FX Week Europe Congress held in London last week applauded CLS for its role in alleviating settlement risk, but pushed for expansion to cover more counterparties, currencies and products.
Trouble ahead in emerging EMEA
Nick Chamie , head of emerging markets research at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto, analyses the results of the bank's latest Financial Risk Scorecard, and finds there are tough times ahead for the Baltic states
Algos 'point inwards' amid low liquidity
LONDON - There will be greater internalisation of flow as banks search for liquidity, according to a panel discussing algorithmic trading developments at last week's FX Week Europe Congress.
Retail FX benefits as traders go DIY
LONDON - The retail foreign exchange revolution could benefit from reduced headcounts within the financial services industry, according to Mark Davison, vice-president of pro-sales at Forex Capital Markets (FXCM).
Risk aversion still 'dominant theme'
Rabobank took top spot in FX Week 's one-month currency forecast rankings this week with a view that a continuation of investor deleveraging would keep the US dollar strong.
Fisher: FX will slow down to assess risk
LONDON - Activity in the foreign exchange market will "pull back" over the next couple of years, while risk management will become a key focus for the industry, according to Paul Fisher, London-based head of the FX and reserves management division at the…