News
The need for speed
Irene Aldridge, quantitative portfolio manager and managing partner at Able Alpha Trading in New York, looks at what defines a good high-frequency system
Risk aversion hinders EBU
LONDON - Risk aversion in the financial markets has led to a drop-off in demand for Barclays Capital's synthetic European currency, the European Borrowing Unit (EBU), launched last year.
AthenaTrader 4.2 features more FX tools
NEW YORK - Custom trading and testing software vendor Aegisoft will add new tools to the next release of AthenaTrader, aimed at giving the end user greater control of foreign exchange trades.
FX results up down under
LONDON & SYDNEY - Australian lenders ANZ and National Australia Bank (NAB) have announced strong full-year revenues for foreign exchange, despite revealing overall profits affected by tumultuous financial market conditions.
NFA in FX regulatory crackdown
CHICAGO - The National Futures Association (NFA) is proposing an overhaul of the regulations governing foreign exchange trading for members, in a bid to protect the interests of retail traders in the US.
Managed Models adds two new clients
LONDON - London-based data analytics company Managed Models has signed on two more banks, as institutions seek to add efficiency to foreign exchange liquidity management operations.
E-trading could free Asia from dollar dependency
SINGAPORE - The expansion of electronic trading could lessen Asia's dependency on the US dollar as a vehicle currency, according to Yosuke Tsuyuguchi, director of Bank of Japan's Centre for Monetary Co-operation in Asia.
Coupland expected to head forex sales at Lloyds-HBOS
LONDON - Nigel Coupland is tipped to become head of foreign exchange sales at the merged Lloyds TSB-HBOS entity in London, according to a London-based headhunter.
CME launches lira currency futures
CHICAGO - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has launched Turkish lira currency futures, in an effort to deepen its footprint in emerging markets (EM) currencies.
Calls on low yielders overpriced
GLOBAL - Dealers report an overpricing on calls in low-yielding currencies, as investors move into less risky assets.
BNP Paribas ups the ante in forex
LONDON - BNP Paribas plans to roll out a new foreign exchange trading platform to select clients by the end of the year, in a bid to grow its presence in FX.
Discord at Commerzbank
LONDON – Eddie Listorti and Stefan Guetter have rejected positions offered to them at Commerzbank after the merger with Dresdner Kleinwort takes place.
Monier: Markets feel structural shift
SINGAPORE - "We might be entering more of a structural shift than just another crisis," said Stephane Monier, global head of fixed income and currencies at Fortis Investments, at the FX Week Asia Congress last week.
Citic admits $2bn loss
HONG KONG - Citic Pacific is being investigated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission after admitting it could face almost $2 billion in losses due to involvement in unauthorised currency hedging.
SEB's multi-manager fund thrives
STOCKHOLM - SEB's multi-manager currency fund has returned 2.45% over cash on a year-to-date basis and 48 basis points for September, say bank officials.
Dealers urged towards aggressive pricing
SINGAPORE - Panellists at last week's FX Week Asia Congress said dealers should use the turbulent market conditions to gain market share through aggressive pricing as competitors price spreads wider.
A return to vanilla
GLOBAL - Banks are preparing for a vanilla year next year in the derivatives market, as investors seek transparent structures in an environment of heightened volatility and inconsistent liquidity.
Three Nomura Lehman hires named
LONDON - Details continue to emerge about the identities of the 150 Lehman Brothers staff who made the move to Nomura in London two weeks ago ( FX Week , October 13).
Ex-Lehman staff form action group
LONDON - A group of around 30 former Lehman Brothers employees in London have formed an action group seeking to win compensation from the collapsed US investment bank.
Forex derivatives under scrutiny
MEXICO CITY - Mexican authorities will interview banks selling currency derivatives to corporates in the country, as part of an investigation into irregular reporting of exposures by listed companies.
BoNY signs up to GFI's Fenics FX
NEW YORK - Bank of New York Mellon has signed a three-year licence for GFI Fenics FX, a pricing and risk management software system.
Wall St Systems launches ESN
LONDON & PARIS - Wall Street Systems is in discussion with a Tier II and two Tier III US banks for use of its pay-as-you-go post-trade processing utility, Electronic Settlement Network (ESN).