Infrastructure
Exchange-traded forex volumes up 41% in April
CHICAGO & NEW YORK - CME Group foreign exchange volume averaged 613,000 contracts a day for the month of April, up 41% on the same month last year. Average daily volumes for FX contracts in the three-month period ending April were also the highest…
Credit Suisse and Currenex switch on to Fidessa
LONDON - Buy-side technology provider Fidessa LatentZero is set to add interfaces to Credit Suisse, Currenex and Dublin-based foreign exchange broker Baxter-FX to its Minerva OEMS (order and execution management system) by the third quarter.
Systematic managers profit from volatile March
STAMFORD, CT - Rules-based currency managers outperformed their discretionary peers in March, amid volatility at levels not seen since the bailout of hedge fund Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) in 1998.
BarCap offers retail white-label service
LONDON - Barclays Capital is breaking into the mass and private wealth management markets for foreign exchange with the launch of a white-label margin FX trading service called Barx White Label for Private Investors.
Hotspot FXi launches data service
JERSEY CITY, NJ & LONDON - Hotspot FXi is the latest platform to take advantage of the demand for foreign exchange market data from model-based and algorithmic trading shops, selling market data from its historical archive.
The retail revolution continues...
With each week comes more news about initiatives carried out by wholesale banks to target the retail foreign exchange market, each applying slightly varying strategies. US investment banks, for example, have been renowned for their aggressive pricing to…
Deutsche loses McGowan to Barclays Capital
LONDON & SINGAPORE - Adrian McGowan, a managing director in the foreign exchange complex risk group at Deutsche Bank in London, has left the bank.
A call for old-fashioned banking?
Over the past few years, buy-side traders have been demanding a levelling of the playing field as they increasingly make markets in foreign exchange like their sell-side peers. So it was surprising, and even refreshing, to hear some calls for old…
Saxo launches Webtrader
COPENHAGEN - Saxo Bank plans to introduce version 2.0 of its web-based platform, Saxo WebTrader, at the end of the second quarter.
Isda AGM: Cautious OTC traders increase collateral use
VIENNA - As the credit crisis gathered strength in 2007, dealers became increasingly likely to demand collateral from their counterparties, according to a survey released today by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda).
Record FX returns no compensation for continuing subprime losses
BOSTON & NEW YORK - Record foreign exchange revenues have proved no match for the credit crisis, with billion-dollar writedowns causing two major banks to report big first-quarter losses in their fixed-income divisions this week.
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
Citi targets EM settlement
NEW YORK & BOGOTA - Citi's domestic settlement service is set to gain a foothold in emerging markets where CLS is currently not active.
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).
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.
Siena Gateway gets Fix adaptor
LONDON - Eurobase last week (April 4) launched a Fix adaptor for its e-trading connectivity product, Siena Gateway.
Caplin wins three new clients
LONDON - London-based web technology vendor Caplin Systems has gained three new clients for its multi-product web-based client connectivity platform, Caplin Trader, said an official at the company.
Wing Hang selects Misys Summit FT
HONG KONG - Wing Hang Bank has signed a deal with a global application software vendor Misys to instal treasury and capital markets software in its Hong Kong head office and subsidiary bank's operation in China.
SocGen reshuffles FICC
LONDON & PARIS - Société Générale restructured its fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) division last week (April 3).
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.