News
800 expected at ACI London event in May
LONDON -- Forex industry body ACI is expecting up to 800 FX officials to descend on London in May for its seventh European Congress, hosted by ACI UK.
SSiSearch adds 10 more for system testing
LONDON -- SSiSearch, a vendor of authenticated FX settlements reference data, said last week that 10 new clients are set to start testing the system, bringing the total number of banks now in trial with its global directory to 275.
Bronia Jenkins leaves Bank of America
NEW YORK -- Bronia Jenkins left her position as New York-based FX time-zone manager for North America on March 1. A spokesperson at the bank confirmed her departure, but declined to say whether she would be replaced.
Funds struggle as market trend ends
STAMFORD, CT -- Fund managers struggled to generate returns during January as the trending markets of late 2003 ended. Volatility in the market led to an overall return of only 0.60% for the Parker FX Index, with discretionary funds reporting losses for…
RJ O’Brien buys Zap Futures
CHICAGO -- Chicago-based futures commission merchant RJ O’Brien has bought online futures firm and introducing broker Zap Futures.
Post-bonus job swaps begin
LONDON -- Last week saw a flurry of movement among senior FX staff as the bonus season draws to a close.
Asian regulators ease restrictions
HONG KONG -- Banks in Northeast Asia are rushing to apply for licences to enable them to transact non-renminbi derivatives in China, following a relaxation of the rules from March 1.
Citi names new global head
LONDON -- Jeff Feig took over as global head of FX at Citigroup in London on February 27, a senior official told FX Week .
Loewy exits on a high note
HSBC’s FX chief retires as the bank makes highest-ever forex profits LONDON -- Rob Loewy, head of FX at HSBC for the past 15 years, retired last Monday (March 1) as the bank announced its highest-ever dealing profits for foreign exchange.
Centradia userbase doubles
LONDON -- The growth of financial institution and asset manager clients using European multi-bank portal Centradia has fuelled rocketing volumes and client numbers on the platform, said chief executive Fabrice Mativat last week.
Pronet offers outsourced technical analysis
LONDON -- UK-based FX analysis firm Pronet Analytics is offering a research outsourcing service to up to three banks, to provide them with on-demand, bespoke responses from the firm’s technical team.
Corporates behind in IAS 39-compliant systems
LONDON -- Corporates and vendors have been slow to adapt to the new technology needed to effectively manage their treasury businesses under upcoming accounting standards IAS 39, senior officials said last week.
Hotspot and Saxo add MNI FX news
NEW JERSEY -- Hotspot FX and Saxo Bank both announced the addition of free FX news and analysis from New York-based Market News International (MNI) to their trading platforms last week.
HSBC takes central bank on CLS
LONDON -- HSBC has implemented the first central bank on CLS, it said last week.
Gartmore leads new hedge fund launches
LONDON -- Gartmore Investment Management has added to the recent explosion in currency funds with the launch of a new hedge fund. The fund, available to institutional investors around the world, builds on the firm’s 16-year track record in currency…
Deutsche reshuffles ICG in Asia
TOKYO -- Deutsche Bank has made management changes to its institutional client group (ICG) in Asia and Australia.
Busy start to year sets records on EBS
LONDON -- The start of 2004 has proved to be the busiest in the past 10 years, according to spot broker EBS.
HBOS profits up 10% on corporate growth
EDINBURGH -- HBOS Treasury Services had a successful year in forex, with FX profits rising by about 10% year-on-year for 2003, a senior official told FX Week .
UK pension funds hesitant on easy returns
LONDON -- UK pension funds are increasingly considering currency as an independent asset class, but the process of educating and gaining approval from trustees is slowing adoption, officials said last week.
NAB delays report on ‘rogue trading’ losses
MELBOURNE -- National Australia Bank (NAB) last week put back the planned publication of its report into unauthorised trading losses at the bank until mid-March.
RBS expands interbank sales
LONDON -- The Royal Bank of Scotland has expanded its interbank FX sales business, adding desks in New York and Asia to complement its existing London-based team, the bank announced last week.
Forex TV links to FCMs
NEW YORK -- Forex Television, a provider of video-based FX analysis and news, has established a transaction services group to link viewers of its news and research to a selection of futures commission merchants (FCMs) and money managers.