News
China's foreign assets reach $1.63 trillion
BEIJING – China's foreign financial assets increased 33% year-on-year to reach $1.63 trillion by the end of 2006, according to a statement released on May 25 by the regulator Safe (State Administration of Foreign Exchange).
Banks strike landmark deal in Vietnam
HONG KONG – HSBC and Standard Chartered last week entered into the first interbank Vietnamese dong interest rate swap, marking a landmark deal for the local currency derivatives market.
CFTC charges Florida firm with FX options fraud
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission last week (May 25) charged Addison Enterprise with illegally selling FX options and defrauding customers.
Trading Places
HSBC, Joseph De Feo, Merril, Nixon, Citi, Bear Sterns, Credit Suisse, Calyon, RZB, WestLB, ANZ, CMC
Lehman set to capitalise on FXCM
LONDON & NEW YORK – Lehman Brothers is in the running to acquire a 35% stake in online currency trading platform FXCM, FX Week has learned.
Credit Suisse expands asset management coverage
LONDON – Credit Suisse has made three senior London-based hires, in a continued push to grow its institutional distribution efforts.
Man Financial takes on TwoFour
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK – Broker Man Financial has licensed technology vendor TwoFour’s trade processing tool for its European and US treasury operations.
Survey reveals forex risk as a major concern
EDINBURGH – The majority of corporate treasurers view FX risk as their biggest concern, according to a survey released earlier this month.
BIS review reveals slowing growth in OTC derivatives
BASEL – Growth in over-the-counter FX derivatives slowed in the second half of 2006, rising only 5% versus 21% in the first half of the year, according to research released last week.
Japan volumes breach symbolic barrier
TOKYO – Retail margin trading volumes in Japan hit ¥109 trillion ($896 billion) in the first quarter, smashing the symbolic ¥100 trillion mark for the first time, the Financial Futures Association of Japan said last week.
Credit Agricole and Macquarie post mixed results
PARIS & SYDNEY – Credit Agricole and Macquarie Bank posted differing results earlier this month, with the former experiencing buoyant gains in its FX business, the latter a decline.
EBS acquisition drives Icap results
LONDON – Interdealer broker Icap’s profits for the year ending March 31 rose 11%, largely on the back of last year’s acquisition of electronic broker EBS.
GCC currency uncertain after Kuwait abandons dollar peg
SAFAT, KUWAIT – The decision to abandon the Kuwaiti dinar’s peg to the US dollar in favour of a basket of major currencies has brought into question plans to introduce a single currency for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.
UniCredit strengthens forex in London and New York
LONDON & NEW YORK – UniCredit has strengthened its selling power by making additional FX sales hires in two areas.
EBS puts key stations in front of buy side
LONDON – Interdealer broker Icap is to begin piloting an extension to EBS Prime, to enable manual keyboard access to the EBS platform for the buy side in coming weeks.
Progress offers algo platform as a customised
BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS – Progress Software Corporation has packaged its Apama algorithmic trading platform for sell-side banks to offer as a complete web-based service to buy-side clients.
NFA suspends two FX FCM principals
The National Futures Association (NFA) has suspended the membership of two FX futures commission merchant (FCM) principals.
Forex traders face greater pressure from e-trading
LONDON – The surge in electronic trading and advances in derivatives structuring is putting greater demands on FX traders, say market participants.
Lehman set to capitalise on FXCM
LONDON & NEW YORK – Lehman Brothers is in the running to acquire a 35% stake in online currency trading platform FXCM, FX Week has learned.
BNP hires in structuring
LONDON – BNP Paribas has created four fixed-income structurer roles in London as part of a drive to build this area of the bank's business.
Fenics FX adds emerging markets and exotics support
NEW YORK – Interdealer broker GFI is releasing version 10.5 of its options pricing software Fenics FX with added support for emerging markets and exotic options.
Retail investors drive strong FX trading volumes
GREENWICH, CT – Retail FX trading volumes accounted for around $11 trillion of the $70.6 trillion global FX market in 2006, according to research released last week.