News
IBM offers bleak news for traders
LONDON – Nine out of 10 traders in the City of London will be out of a job in 2015, mainly because of the rise of algorithmic trading, according to an IBM white paper released last week. However, bank officials and analysts doubt the numbers.
Students to trade forex, with a $10,000 prize
AUSTIN, Texas – Online forex platform GFT has set up a competition that pits students’ wits against a simulated FX market. The prize is $10,000 with which to trade on the real thing.
Bank of China broadens CLS horizons
HONG KONG & BEIJING – Bank of China (BoC) has become a shareholder in CLS Group, as the world’s largest emerging economy takes another step towards integration into global capital markets.
Credit Suisse starts algorithmic trading
LONDON – Credit Suisse is developing multi-asset algorithms to complement its Advanced Execution Services (AES) suite of algorithmic trading capabilities, according to an official at the bank.
UK business unprepared for hedging changes
LONDON – Medium-sized UK companies are unprepared for forthcoming rule changes on accounting standards that require more rigorous reporting of FX exposure, according to forex specialist HiFX.
'Boiler room' retail FX fraudsters face US court for high-pressure techniques
NEW YORK – The retail foreign exchange market suffered another blow at the end of last month, as 11 men were indicted by a US court on charges of ‘boiler room’ fraud.
Asian expansion for Fimat
ASIA-PACIFIC & MIDDLE EAST – Fimat, the brokerage arm of Société Générale, is slated to use BT Radianz’ Proximity Solution in Asia to provide low-latency access to derivatives exchanges in Korea, Singapore and Japan.
Bumper September for CME
CHICAGO – CME recorded another record month for FX trading in September, with an average of some 520,000 contracts transacted per day, up 26% on the same period for 2005.
MarketSpace adds more participants
CHICAGO – CME/Reuters’ joint venture FXMarketSpace has signed a second group of banks, saying this indicates widespread acceptance from market participants.
BIS: debt now bigger problem than inflation
BASEL – The main structural threat to global economic growth is no longer runaway inflation, but a slower rebalancing of excess debt, according to a working paper released by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
Bank of China broadens CLS horizons
HONG KONG & BEIJING – Bank of China (BoC) has become a shareholder in CLS Group, as the world’s largest emerging economy takes another step towards integration into global capital markets.
AIB to pay €30m for overcharging
DUBLIN – Allied Irish Bank (AIB) is to pay over €30 million in further damages relating to foreign exchange overcharging, ending a two-year investigation into the matter.
BarCap joins algo bandwagon
LONDON – Barclays Capital (BarCap) has joined a select group of banks that has started offering algorithmic trading for forex over their single-bank platforms.
Lloyds shifts trading capabilities
LONDON – London-based Lloyds TSB bank is moving all staff to a building at 10 Gresham Street in the City of London.
BarCap enhances white-labelling
LONDON & MOUNTAIN VIEW – Barclays Capital has enhanced its white-label offering, signing an agreement with California-based Integral.
Safe to implement trial FX reforms in China
BEIJING – Chinese authorities last week approved the trial of FX reforms in a pilot project to be established in the northern financial district of Tianjin.
Fundtech adds new modules
JERSEY CITY, NJ – Software vendor Fundtech introduced additional modules for its CLS settlement system, PAYplus for CLS, last week.
FXMarketSpace builds Americas sales force
LONDON – Forex trading platform FXMarketSpace has appointed Phillip Harris as senior vice-president and head of sales, Americas, as it continues to add staff ahead of its launch.
LavaFX adds timeslice tool
NEW YORK – Electronic communications network (ECN) LavaFX introduced a timeslice tool to its platform last month.
High-pressure tactics earn Presidential fine
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – A Virginia-based FX trading firm was fined last week after a judge found it was engaged in "high-pressure sales tactics".
Currenex ties up with TwoFour
Software vendor TwoFour Systems has linked up with multi-bank portal Currenex to enable clients to consolidate positions across all transactions.
Rabobank becomes EBS Prime bank
LONDON – Rabobank has become the latest institution to join spot broker EBS’ Prime initiative as a prime bank.
SwapsWire for Nordea
Swedish bank Nordea has started using electronic confirmation system SwapsWire to confirm its OTC interest rate derivatives trades.