News
BarCap launches first single-dealer electronic platform for euro swaps
LONDON -- Barclays Capital and Bloomberg last week launched the first single-dealer online platform for trading interest rate swaps. The platform enables BarCap’s clients to trade vanilla euro-denominated interest rate swaps across various maturities via…
Merrill rebuilds local markets trading team
LONDON -- Merrill Lynch has rebuilt a six-strong local markets trading team in London during the past month, after natural attrition whittled the original team’s headcount to one.
Saxo adds futures trading with Refco
COPENHAGEN -- Danish investment bank Saxo Bank has added futures coverage to its online trading platform SaxoTrader as part of a partnership with Refco Overseas, the European arm of New York-based Refco Group.
RBS closes trading desk in Edinburgh
EDINBURGH -- Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)has closed its FX and money markets trading desk in Edinburgh and rerouted trading to London, a spokesperson for the bank told FX Week .
German hedge fund reform raises FX hopes
MUNICH -- New proposals for the laws governing hedge funds and funds of funds in Germany could open up the market to a wider audience and heighten FX opportunities.
State Street and BoNY buck earnings downtrend
NEW YORK -- State Street and Bank of New York bucked a downward trend in US banks’ forex revenues for the first six months of 2003, according to first-half results released last week.
Investment banks drive for diversity
LONDON -- Investment banks are not known for being the most receptive working environments for women or ethnic minorities. The entertainment media perpetuates perceptions about the hard-drinking hard-working aggressive lifestyle of bankers on Wall Street…
Analysts cautious on US reflation
NEW YORK -- Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan’s increased optimism in his testimony last Tuesday (July 15) prompted expectations that the US economy may finally begin the reflation process, but analysts advised caution last week.
Hotspot FXi takes Traiana
NEW JERSEY -- Online institutional FX trading platform Hotspot FXi has taken Californian vendor Traiana’s automated FX prime brokerage software to automate the give-up of trades between prime brokers and institutional clients using its platform.
MMS globalises forex analysis coverage
LONDON -- FX and fixed-income research firm MMS International has enhanced its forex analysis by globalising its coverage, said senior officials.
Welsh rings HSBC changes
NEW YORK -- Two spot traders left HSBC in New York in July. However, the bank is fully staffed in spot FX, having added two senior traders before their departure, said Ben Welsh, head of FX sales and trading in New York.
Cognotec reduces pricing risk
DUBLIN -- Irish forex trading technology vendor Cognotec has launched a pricing tool to improve banks’ speed in providing electronic forex quotes.
Reuters sues Bloomberg
Trading technology rivals’ battle heats up over forex patent claims NEW YORK -- US trading technology firm Bloomberg could be forced to stop using parts of its FX matching and conversational dealing technology, if its UK rival Reuters succeeds in a…
Korea’s ‘first online FX platform’ set to grow
SEOUL -- Internet Buy and Sell System (IBS), a real-time online FX trading platform in Seoul, should have around 95,000 new customers by the end of the year, according to the bank’s chief executive Choi Se Woong.
Philippine central bank mulls rule change for peso forwards
MANILA -- The Central Bank of the Philippines is considering lifting the six months restriction on peso forwards, its deputy governor Amando Tetangco told FX Week last week. However, he said the move was still in the planning stage, and that the monetary…
GFI to add 10 in FX
LONDON -- Broker and market data firm GFI is looking to hire 10 sales and support staff for its global FX business, James Watson, global head of sales and support, told FX Week .
Reuters sues Bloomberg
Trading technology rivals’ battle heats up over forex patent claims NEW YORK -- US trading technology firm Bloomberg could be forced to stop using parts of its FX matching and conversational dealing technology, if its UK rival Reuters succeeds in a…
Yuan’s US dollar peg to stay despite speculation
Beijing – Speculation that China may relax the yuan’s US dollar peg refuses to go away. Following media reports in June of US Treasury Secretary Jon Snow saying the Chinese government is considering widening the yuan’s trading band, the rumour mill is…
ING to merge central European back offices
BUDAPEST – ING plans to set up a central European processing centre in Budapest by the second half of 2003, the bank announced last week. The move is part of a global strategy to reduce costs and increase efficiency by consolidating back-office functions…
Saxo Bank hires global trading and sales heads
COPENHAGEN – Danish FX specialist Saxo Bank has created global trading and sales positions at its headquarters in Copenhagen as part of its global growth strategy, said senior bank officials.