Infrastructure
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.
Turnaround for Parker FX Index
STAMFORD, CT - The continued decline in the US dollar has halted three consecutive months of negative returns for the Parker FX Index, producing a return of 1.34% for February.
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.
CLS Bank sets record for payment instructions value
LONDON & NEW YORK - CLS Bank set a record for the value of payment instructions settled in a single day on March 19.
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.
Nedbank signs up WSS
JOHANNESBURG - Nedbank Capital has begun deploying a real-time trade processing system, Wallstreet FX, to support developments in its forex and money markets operations.
Citi reassesses forex options
LONDON - Citi has made three hires in foreign exchange options, under its new head of G-10 options trading, Nigel Khakoo, in London.
S&P launches real-time currency indexes
LONDON - Rating agency Standard & Poor's launched the industry's first real-time currency indexes, the S&P Chinese Renminbi index and Indian Rupee index, last week.
Platforms fight for electronic liquidity
Despite the seemingly relentless proliferation of trading platforms in the past few years, many in the industry still believe it's unlikely they will all survive.
Aegis ups algo capability for AthenaTrader 4.0
NEW YORK - Trading technology vendor Aegis Software has increased the number of algorithmic trading models available on the latest version of its execution system, AthenaTrader.
Baht convergence limited
BANGKOK - The convergence of onshore and offshore baht trading may be short-lived, as new capital controls come into force on Saturday (March 15), say some analysts.
January loss for Parker FX
STAMFORD, CT - The Parker FX index produced a 0.33% loss in January, as extreme volatility hit funds using trend-following strategies.
Merrill Lynch reshuffles EMEA FICC
LONDON & NEW YORK - Merrill Lynch named David Gu sole head of Europe, Middle East and Africa fixed-income currencies and commodities (EMEA FICC) in London last week, after the resignation of co-head Dimitrios Psyllidis.
Eurobase Siena launches liquidity aggregation tool
LONDON - Eurobase Banking Solutions will offer a liquidity aggregation module later this month, in response to customer demand.
StanChart gets a FIX
Standard Chartered last week announced that it has developed a FIX application programming interface (API) to trade over its single-bank platform.
Bank of Thailand lifts capital controls
BANGKOK - The Bank of Thailand is today (March 3) lifting controversial capital controls aimed at curbing inflows of hot money and a surging baht, 15 months after introducing the rules.
ABN targets retail investors
DUBAI - ABN Amro has launched the Bric Infrastructure, Water and FX capital-protected note, targeted at retail investors globally.
EBS Spot aims for NDF supremacy
LONDON - The battle to gain market share in electronic non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) broking is gathering pace, with the launch of seven Asian NDFs and Russian rouble trading on electronic spot broking system EBS Spot today (March 3).
Logicscope and NCI release notification tool
LONDON - Post-trade technology vendors Logicscope and NCI have entered an agreement to integrate elements of both companies' software to release a trade notification solution to end-user clients of banks, brokers and trading platforms.
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.