News
Swiss retail FX rules spell consolidation
BERN - Recent amendments by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC) to the banking ordinance concerning foreign exchange dealers could lead to consolidation of the retail FX market in the country.
BarCap aims to capture FX volatility
LONDON - Barclays Capital has launched three foreign exchange volatility indexes, the BetaVol, Smart BetaVol and AlphaVol. The indexes, which are designed to provide portfolio diversification and event hedge protection against sudden market downturns,…
Streambase targets Tier II with forex aggregator
LEXINGTON, MA - Technology vendor Streambase is targeting Tier II banks seeking to enter the algorithmic trading arena with a new foreign exchange aggregation product.
Forex options trading surges during turbulent month
CHICAGO & NEW YORK - Foreign exchange options trading surged on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), setting multiple forex trading records during a volatile March.
CFTC wary of Fed's merger proposal
WASHINGTON, DC - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has urged US Treasury to proceed with caution over its recommendation to merge the US futures regulator and its securities market counterpart, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Forex bonuses intact
LONDON - Foreign exchange and rates staff avoided the sharp falls in salary and bonus packages suffered by peers in debt and credit last year, according to research by London-based recruitment company Napier Scott released last week.
India's Centurion Bank signs up to SuperD
LONDON & MUMBAI - Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBP) has gone live with SuperDerivatives' SD-Banks multi-asset derivatives portfolio management system and the SD-IR interest rates pricing and analytics module.
Citi targets EM settlement
NEW YORK & BOGOTA - Citi's domestic settlement service is set to gain a foothold in emerging markets where CLS is currently not active.
Roche leaves Standard Chartered
SINGAPORE - Tom Roche, global head of the electronic commerce sales and retail products group at Standard Chartered in Singapore, has left the bank, market sources tell FX Week .
Trading records fall during turbulent month
NEW YORK & LONDON - Records tumbled on foreign exchange trading platforms last month, with EBS and Currenex reporting record trading volumes for the month and FXall a record quarter.
India reacts to rise in FX derivatives losses
MUMBAI - Indian accounting regulators have brought forward the deadline for complaince with disclosure requirements related to foreign exchange derivatives, amid rising losses linked to complex hedges by small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Yen rise triggers PRDC hedging
TOKYO - The sharp appreciation of the yen in March has left dealers jostling to hedge exposures to power-reverse dual currency notes (PRDCs) and other similar structured products.
Merk offers Asian currency fund
PALO ALTO, CA - Merk Investments launched the Merk Asian Currency Fund (MACF) on Tuesday (April 1), a mutual fund that invests in a basket of Asian currencies, aimed at retail investors.
Siena Gateway gets Fix adaptor
LONDON - Eurobase last week (April 4) launched a Fix adaptor for its e-trading connectivity product, Siena Gateway.
Asian SWFs increase global share
LONDON - Asian sovereign wealth funds (SWF) are growing at a faster rate than their Middle Eastern counterparts, due to larger balance of payment surpluses, according to a report by the private sector industry body International Financial Services London…
Caplin wins three new clients
LONDON - London-based web technology vendor Caplin Systems has gained three new clients for its multi-product web-based client connectivity platform, Caplin Trader, said an official at the company.
Icap grows in Middle East
BAHRAIN - Interdealer broker Icap is expanding its footprint in the Middle East by adding the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) as an EBS Prime customer.
Wing Hang selects Misys Summit FT
HONG KONG - Wing Hang Bank has signed a deal with a global application software vendor Misys to instal treasury and capital markets software in its Hong Kong head office and subsidiary bank's operation in China.
Handelsbanken shuts down New York desk
NEW YORK - Handelsbanken Capital Markets is closing down its New York FX proprietary trading operation and concentrating this activity in Stockholm, where it is based, as part of a move to reduce earnings volatility.
US trading revenues plummet in 2007
NEW YORK - US commercial banks recorded $5.5 billion in trading revenues in 2007, down $13.3 billion from the record of $18.8 billion set in 2006, according to a report published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last week (April 2).
BoA and Deutsche shake-up e-FX
NEW YORK - Bank of America (BoA) and Deutsche Bank have realigned the senior management of their electronic foreign exchange businesses, and have seen senior departures from the banks in New York and London.
SocGen reshuffles FICC
LONDON & PARIS - Société Générale restructured its fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) division last week (April 3).