Trading
Chinese volatility picking up
BEIJING - The daily central parity rate for USD/RMB last week had its largest fall since the renminbi's revaluation last July.
Merrill Lynch departures continue
LONDON – The departures from Merrill Lynch have continued, with a quartet of staff leaving in the wake of a restructuring at the US investment bank.
LONDON - Yield strategies for currency funds are undergoing their worst period since 1998, according to research by ABN Amro.
The Dutch bank's naive simulations of different currency management styles show that the yield strategy incurred losses as the carry trade continued to unwind with yen, Swiss franc and Swedish krona all strengthening. Sterling was the only carry currency…
Japanese banks set to expand overseas forex presence
TOKYO – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group became the first Japanese bank to buy a stake in a Chinese lender last week, as it looks to build its FX presence in the country.
Remaining NAB traders found guilty
MELBOURNE – The final two foreign currency options traders behind the rogue trading scandal discovered at National Australia Bank (NAB) in 2004 were found guilty last month.
Icap to launch multi-asset class trading
LONDON – Icap is set to offer multi-asset class trading following the acquisition of EBS, with Jack Jeffery taking a central role at the restructured business.
IT spending 'will double' by 2010
LONDON – Dealers will almost double e-commerce spending by 2010, according to research from client strategy firm ClientKnowledge in London.
Moscow bourse launches interest rate futures
MOSCOW – Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (Micex) launched trading in short-term rouble interest rate futures last week.
Dollar focus in H1 set to continue
The focus on the dollar seen in the first half of the year is likely to continue for the rest of 2006 according to Matthew Foster-Smith, senior currency analyst at Thomson Financial in London.
North American companies not ready to take on FX risk
NEW YORK – North American firms are insufficiently prepared to deal with FX risk, according to a survey by forex specialist Travelex.
Citigroup loses four in Milan sales
MILAN – US bank Citigroup has lost a number of its Italian FX institutional sales team in Milan in recent weeks, according to market sources.
Positive returns for most in April
More managers see positive returns, with systematic styles winning out, while discretionary managers post poorest results
Technology is the key to success
Icap's decision to introduce multi-asset class trading following its acquisition of EBS shows that it is serious about capitalising on the advantages that owning the company bestows.
RBS expands global sales team
GLOBAL – The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has boosted its financial institutions sales team with nine hires globally.
Icap to launch multi-asset class trading
LONDON – Icap is set to offer multi-asset class trading following the acquisition of EBS, with Jack Jeffery taking a central role at the restructured business.
EBS set to take NDF trading online
LONDON – Non-deliverable forwards are set to be traded electronically with EBS. The platform is in discussion with banks about making them available on the platform.
Safe proposes forex management agency
SHANGHAI – The central bank of China's FX regulator plans to set up an agency in Shanghai in the summer to oversee the country's FX reserves portfolio, according to local press reports.
BarCap rolls out e-FX for Asia
SINGAPORE – Barclays Capital (BarCap) has launched electronic trading of vanilla FX options in Asia via its proprietary platform, Barx for FX Trading.
Cognotec to roll out e-trading platform
LONDON – Cognotec last week began the first-phase roll out of an e-trading solutions platform that will bring together all client segments and asset classes.
GFI to launch hybrid offering
NEW YORK – Broker GFI is set to introduce a hybrid voice and electronic options offering, and is making management changes to reflect the increased capability.
Speculative positions for all currency pairs
Senior portfolio strategist Henrik Degrér at SEB in Stockholm develops a proxy to gauge speculative positions for all currency pairs
Reuters adds four banks to RTFX platform
LONDON – Deutsche Bank, Dexia, HSBC and Société Générale (SG) have joined Reuters' bank-to-client platform Reuters Trading for Foreign Exchange (RTFX).
Global sales head for HSBC
NEW YORK & LONDON – HSBC has made Rod Prat global head of sales, global markets, in New York, as it looks to implement a global strategy.
Looking beyond US interest rates
The key themes underpinning most bearish US dollar forecasts have been the Fed ending its tightening cycle and a slowing US economy.