Investment
ODL moves into spread betting
LONDON – Broker ODL is to establish an FX spread-betting operation to target UK consumers early next year, the company said.
Sharia forex hedges take off
KUALA LUMPUR & DUBAI – The market for sharia-compliant forex hedges continues to grow, with Citigroup structuring the first cross-border sharia-compliant cross-currency profit rate swap worth $230 million.
How to play gravity-defying USD/JPY
Peter Luxton, Global Markets Adviser and Shant Movsesian, Senior Options Analyst at Informa Global Markets advise taking dollar bulls into account when trading on potential weakness
Big banks prepare for retail FX push
SINGAPORE – Major banks are about to enter the online retail FX trading market-place "with a vengeance", said Brian Maccaba, chairman of FX dealing platform vendor Cognotec.
Regulator forces COESfx to close to new clients
PLAINVIEW, NEW YORK – COESfx, a US-based retail foreign exchange platform, was forced to close to new customers earlier this month after a regulator found that its books did not balance.
Currenex launches catalyst program
NEW YORK – Trading technology vendor Currenex has launched a testing program for third-party software vendors to aid in the development of new products.
Human touch will always be needed
Markets have been on the move again this week. Comments from retired Fed chairman Alan Greenspan about the US housing market and noise surrounding China's reserve policy ensured that the greenback at last broke through the 1.26–1.28 range that it had…
'Boiler room' retail FX fraudsters face US court for high-pressure techniques
NEW YORK – The retail foreign exchange market suffered another blow at the end of last month, as 11 men were indicted by a US court on charges of ‘boiler room’ fraud.
Asian expansion for Fimat
ASIA-PACIFIC & MIDDLE EAST – Fimat, the brokerage arm of Société Générale, is slated to use BT Radianz’ Proximity Solution in Asia to provide low-latency access to derivatives exchanges in Korea, Singapore and Japan.
BarCap joins algo bandwagon
LONDON – Barclays Capital (BarCap) has joined a select group of banks that has started offering algorithmic trading for forex over their single-bank platforms.
Maintain a long Swiss franc exposure
Todd Elmer, currency strategist at Citigroup in New York, predicts an upturn in Swiss franc fortunes, and advises directional trades on EUR/CHF
Hedging sterling/dollar is best option
Despite GBP/USD rising over 10% so far this year, Ian Stannard, senior currency strategist at BNP Paribas in London, says hedging still makes sense
How Saxo gained the Midas touch
Lars Seier Christensen and Kim Fournais have seen their business plan unfold since 1992 from FX broking boutique to billion dollar internet bank, reports Rob Shepherd
StanChart extends use of FinIQ structured deposit system
GLOBAL – Standard Chartered (StanChart) is rolling out a structured deposit pricing and processing system for its currency-linked investments businesses globally.
IFX launches multi-manager fund
LONDON – IFX Capital Markets, part of IFX Group, has launched a currency multi-manager portfolio targeted at retail and institutional customers.
Building long AUD/NZD positions with less risk
Besa Deda, Sydney-based currency strategist for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, looks at how to gain long exposure to AUD/NZD amid high volatility
Rouble hits seven-year peak against dollar
MOSCOW – The rouble hit its highest level against the US dollar for seven years last week, as the soaring price of oil boosted the Russian unit.
Sharia-compliant FX takes off worldwide
GLOBAL – Islamic FX has become a viable alternative to conventional banking and is attracting more investment as a result, say market participants.
StanChart offers sharia swap
KUALA LUMPUR – Standard Chartered has structured what it claims to be the first cross-currency swap compliant under sharia (Islamic law) in Malaysia.
Watch out for those retail risks
This week sees yet another tale of greed and unscrupulous behaviour, with two Miami residents being fined millions of dollars by the CFTC for foreign exchange fraud.
Conference vendor news
This year's New York event has more vendors than ever. Here we present a quick guide to what some of them will be promoting
AXA IM adds currency management team
LONDON – AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is building up its FX capabilities with a new currency management team in London.
Creating an algorithmic safeguard
Stuart Crooks, vice-president, sales for FlexFX in London, points to algorithmic trading as a way to keep up with the increasing speed at which the market moves
Philips Electronics trades 98% of FX electronically
MONTE CARLO – The e-FX market received a strong endorsement last week, with Philips Electronics revealing that nearly all its FX is transacted electronically.