News
EBS prime brokers unveiled
LONDON – Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase (JPMC) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will be the first prime brokers on a new interbank prime brokerage service from spot broker EBS.
Industry leaders revive the client-facing options team
LONDON – Top-tier banks are moving to set up core groups of client-facing options specialists, turning away from a previous trend to re-train all sales dealers to have derivatives expertise.
FXall adds to messaging
NEW YORK – Multi-bank platform FXall is collaborating with New York messaging firm Communicator to offer an additional real-time messaging service to its clients from today (May 12).
European banks under euro threat
FRANKFURT – Major European banks’ half-year FX earnings could be under threat from the rise of the euro, senior market participants told FX Week .
Market eyes new euro/dollar high
LONDON – A lifetime high for the euro against the dollar became a distinct possibility last week as the greenback continued to crumble across the board.
BarCap hiring continues
LONDON – Barclays Capital has hired another seven forex staff globally, cementing its position as the biggest recruiter in forex so far this year. The bank has now added at least 19 new staff to its global FX business this year, across institutional and…
CLS glitch repeat unlikely
NEW YORK – A repeat of the March 25 technical glitch which left over 20,000 Australian dollar and yen trades unsettled on the Continuous-Linked Settlement (CLS) service is unlikely, a CLS spokesperson told FX Week .
Bank One set to launch options desk in London
CHICAGO -- Bank One has hired two senior dealers to set up a new foreign exchange options desk in London, a senior official at the Chicago-based bank told FX Week .
BNP Paribas completes sales line-up for institutional clients
LONDON -- BNP Paribas completed the line-up of its UK institutional FX sales team last week, with the hire of its latest new recruit.
ABN Amro FX rises by 50%
AMSTERDAM -- Dutch bank ABN Amro’s FX dealing revenues for Q1 were up 50% compared with the same period the year before, it announced last week.
Merrill’s Italian sales gap unfilled
LONDON -- Merrill Lynch’s plans to increase corporate risk management and forex in Italy have suffered a setback, as the bank is yet to plug a gap in its Italian sales coverage.
HK launches euro clearing system
HONG KONG -- Hong Kong went live with a new euro clearing system last week, in an effort to reduce FX settlement risk in the Asian timezone.
Market rounds on dollar as US doubts gather
NEW YORK -- The dollar sagged to a four-year low against the euro last week, and fell across the board.
Centralised data is key
LONDON -- The key to effective risk management is centralised market data, according to David Sharratt, head of market data at UK bank Abbey National.
Banco do Brasil uses BoNY for CLS
BRASILIA -- Banco do Brasil is settling its FX trades using Bank of New York’s third-party continuous-linked settlement (CLS) service, SafeSettle.
More outsourcing ahead
LONDON -- Outsourcing in the FX and treasury markets is about to take off, according to Wall Street Systems marketing director, Mike Thrower.
B2C clients stay with Reuters post-merger
LONDON -- Reuters has not lost any clients of its off-the-shelf internet FX dealing product, Automated Dealing (AD), since it bought and merged with AVT Technologies in December.
Misys buys Crossmar
NEW YORK -- UK systems provider Misys has bought the Crossmar Matching Service (CMS), a foreign exchange and money market confirmation matching service, from Citicorp’s subsidiary Crossmar for $13 million in cash.
Faulty switches ground Globex
CHICAGO -- Online FX trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) Globex trading platform was hit last week by a five-hour outage. It was taken off-line last Thursday morning (May 1) and re-started after the delay, caused by faulty network switches…
BoA links major and emerging FX forwards in risk strategy drive
LONDON -- Bank of America (BoA) has merged its forwards and emerging markets forwards businesses in London, and hired three forwards traders globally as part of a continued drive to move to a strategic risk management model, a senior official told FX…
ACI UK annual ball raises over £46,000
LONDON -- Forex industry body the ACI’s UK branch last week said it had raised £46,300 at its annual ball held at the Grosvenor House hotel in London on April 25.
Indian market opens up
MUMBAI -- Reform of India’s FX rules could create the next large emerging market, signalling a lucrative new area for banks to exploit.