News
EBS adds NZ dollar to platform
Interdealer broker Icap is adding the New Zealand dollar to EBS Spot, its spot broking platform, on April 26.
NFA cracks down on futures brokers
CHICAGO – The National Futures Association (NFA) ordered Richmond, Virginia- based futures broker Forefront Investments to liquidate all customer and firm positions by last Wednesday (March 21).
HDFC Bank chooses Misys for rates derivatives
MUMBAI – HDFC Bank in India will adopt Misys Summit to process interest rate and currency derivatives. The system is scheduled to go live at the end of this year. HDFC and UK technology provider Misys are also in discussion to use the system for equity…
Bloomberg adds Asian NDIRS to its terminal
SINGAPORE – Bloomberg has added trading in Asian non-deliverable interest rate swaps to its Professional terminal, signalling the continued push by platforms to expand coverage of the region.
HSBC hit by departures in FX
LONDON & HONG KONG – HSBC's international FX operations saw the loss of a number of staff last week.
Merrill Lynch to boost FXPB
LONDON – Merrill Lynch looks to be building up its foreign exchange prime brokerage (FXPB) capabilities, with the hire of Roger Allen in London.
Wall Street Systems realigns technology profile
NEW YORK & LONDON – Technology vendor Wall Street Systems has repositioned its products in an attempt to target banks in addition to corporates.
WestLB relocates Asian forex hub to Sydney
SYDNEY & Düsseldorf – WestLB is relocating the Asian hub for its 24-hour FX trading business from Singapore to Sydney.
RBS builds macro team
LONDON – The Royal Bank of Scotland Global Banking and Markets has established a new macro proprietary trading team in London.
FXMarketSpace build-up continues with eight hires
LONDON, NEW YORK & CHICAGO – FXMarketSpace, the Reuters and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) joint-venture platform, has made eight new hires ahead of launch at the end of this quarter.
WestLB plugs into Gissing Software
LONDON – German bank WestLB is using technology from Gissing Software to distribute foreign exchange and money market prices across its offices globally.
GFI gains Fenics FX client in Singapore
SINGAPORE – A major Singapore bank, thought to be DBS, is deploying foreign exchange option pricing and risk management software, Fenics FX, from interdealer broker GFI.
Calpers begins trading over LavaFX
SACRAMENTO – The California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) has begun trading over electronic communications network (ECN) LavaFX.
Bullish results for US investment banks
LONDON & NEW YORK – US investment banks have continued to report year-on-year growth, in first quarter results released last week.
Dresdner recruits in New York
NEW YORK – Dresdner Kleinwort has hired Ira Koyner as head of FX options in New York.
Oanda adds five exotic currency pairs
TORONTO – Online FX trading company Oanda has added five new currency pairs to its trading platform FXTrade.
BarCap gains and loses in EM
LONDON – Barclays Capital has made a gain and a loss on its emerging markets options desk in London, indicating the competitive landscape for emerging markets traders.
ICE pilots Nybot index
ATLANTA – The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) began piloting the New York Board of Trade (Nybot) US dollar index and FX futures products last Friday (March 16), with a full launch due in April.
Saxo Bank opens virtual head office
CYBERSPACE – Saxo Bank has opened a virtual headquarters in social networking site Second Life.
HSBC hit by departures in FX
LONDON & HONG KONG – HSBC's international FX operations saw the loss of a number of staff last week.
State Street acquires Currenex
BOSTON & NEW YORK – State Street has completed the acquisition of multibank platform and technology vendor Currenex for $564 million.
Nordea triples its autoquote limits
COPENHAGEN – Nordea is continuing to develop its e-commerce capabilities, with an almost threefold increase to autoquote limits across all platforms to which it deals.
AIG launches emerging markets FX indexes
NEW YORK – AIG Financial Products last week launched emerging-markets (EM) foreign exchange indexes, to leverage the continued investor interest in the area.