Trading
Credit ratings come into FX focus
LONDON/NEW YORK -- Credit ratings are becoming increasingly significant to FX market players, with downgrades increasing in the current economic downturn, market participants told FX Week .
Citi to outsource e-liquidity
Forex giant goes online to service growing ranks of 'buy-side' banks
Germany: the eurozone laggard
There are several positive influences on the euro, but the German economy is holding the currency back, says Nick Bennenbroek, international economist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York
Swissie stays stable
Risk aversion has aided Swiss franc progress, says David Durrant, chief currency strategist at Julius Baer Asset Management in New York
Expansion in forwards trading and teams
LONDON -- The FX forwards market is seeing an influx of new dealers and trading systems as players battle for market share in the lucrative sector.
BIS: e-FX may impact liquidity, volatility
BASLE -- Market participants fear the rise of electronic trading may adversely impact liquidity and volatility in the FX markets, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
Short-term divergence
Traders seeking to exploit medium-term misalignments in FX rates should take a close look at euro/Norwegian krone and dollar/Swiss franc trends, says Aziz McMahon, FX strategist at ABN Amro in London
Sungard coup for FXConnect
LONDON -- State Street Corporation is to announce this week it has secured a coveted deal with UK treasury software firm Sungard.
Market mulls options benchmark
LONDON -- Standard FX options benchmark prices could be the answer to inaccuracies in marking exposures to market, but whether the move is possible is a matter for debate, according to senior options market participants.
Asian forex players muster in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR -- Forex market players in Asia will gather in Kuala Lumpur this week for ACI -- The Financial Markets Association's 22nd Asia Pacific Congress.
HSBC wins Asian forex derivatives award
HONG KONG -- HSBC was named 'Forex Derivatives House of the Year' in FX Week sister magazine AsiaRisk's 2002 awards, published this month.
DrKW reorganises capital markets
LONDON -- Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) has appointed Achilles Macris and Erich Pohl as global co-heads of its capital markets operation in London, the bank announced last week.
Reliant on foreign inflows
Stock markets may be falling, but foreign investors are still buying US equities, says Michael Woolfolk, currency strategist and head of North America research at Bank of New York
Citigroup defies downturn
Top player’s revenues up again as gap widens between the best and the rest
Sterling: the big-picture view
The UK economy is looking increasingly like Cinderella among the ugly sisters of Japan, Europe and the US, says David Bloom, currency strategist at HSBCin London
Barclays bolsters global line-up with 10th new recruit this year
LONDON -- The wholesale expansion of Barclays Capital's forex group continued last week with the hire of a new global head of foreign exchange structuring.
Dealers suffer continued M&A woes
LONDON -- Forex-related mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity slumped further in Q3, according to data published earlier this month, adding to a difficult year for corporate sales.
MMS plans growth in forex analysis
LONDON -- FX and fixed-income analysis provider MMS International, part of the newly formed MMS Group, is to grow its headcount by 20%.
Euro, yen: G3 laggards
As domestic demand in the Eurozone and Japan slumps, the dollar has shrugged off news of a current account deficit, says Richard Grace, senior currency strategist at WestLB
Upsurge in German forex
FRANKFURT -- Deregulation of the German insurance market is attracting the world's top investment banks to expand in Frankfurt.
Real hammered as election woes bite
SAO PAULO -- The Brazilian real dropped near to its lowest-ever level last week as political uncertainty continued following the presidential election on October 6.
Changing face of forex intervention
LONDON -- The changing nature of what motivates forex players to trade has shifted the thinking behind official intervention in the currency markets, according to James Trott, former chief dealer at the Bank of England.
Sterling credit crisis raises FX fears
LONDON -- Fears for the long-term future of sterling forex have been heightened by the revelation of a liquidity crisis in sterling bonds.
Misreading the signals
The US current account deficit is an overestimated factor in determining the dollar's direction, says Niels Christensen, senior currency strategist at SG in London