News
Commerzbank builds sales desk
FRANKFURT – Commerzbank is looking to boost its distribution in Europe with the hire of a new head of sales in Frankfurt.
ING boosts FX research with senior strategy hire
LONDON – ING Bank's financial markets division has enhanced its FX research offering with a senior hire.
Brokers pulled into NAB scandal
MELBOURNE – National Australia Bank NAB) is demanding more than A$539 million ($394 million) in compensation from interdealer broker Icap and another unnamed broker for losses the bank incurred following last year's rogue-trading scandal.
National Australia Bank FX back in the black after trading scandal
MELBOURNE – National Australia Bank's FX business is showing signs of recovery nearly two years after the A$360 million forex options trading scandal was unearthed.
Future for Refco's FX clients still unclear
NEW YORK & LONDON – Hedge fund firm Man Group won an auction for the futures business of the stricken Refco last Thursday (November 10), but the fate of institutional FX clients hangs in the balance.
Icap goes with Kalahari
SYDNEY – Interdealer broker Icap has gone live with UK-based vendor Kalahari's Australian dollar interest-rate derivatives pricing tool.
Wanted: structurers who can sell
LONDON – FX structurers who can sell FX products to clients are increasing in demand, yet the dearth of available talent in this space will remain into next year, say market participants.
Deutsche Bank FX desk signs up to Iokio data navigation service
LONDON – Deutsche Bank's FX sales desk has signed up to a new data navigation service from Iokio.
CLS builds up fund presence
NEW YORK – The fund management community are warming up to CLS, with a growing number of funds settling payment instructions over the system.
Gaitame chooses Internap
TOKYO – Gaitame, an FX broker in Japan, has picked internet services firm Internap Network Services to speed up connectivity for its clients.
Renminbi NDFs launch in Hong Kong
HONG KONG – Retail renminbi non-deliverable forwards contracts went live last week after the Treasury Markets Forum (TMF) of Hong Kong got the nod from the original seven member banks.
Hedge funds lose their shine
A trader at a German bank in London said the “mental bubble” traders had when considering the merits of joining a hedge fund has burst.
IAS 39 sparks hedging concerns
LONDON – Accounting rule IAS 39 is causing distortions between economic reality and financial reporting, with rules regarding the use of derivatives likely to impede companies.
SG calls time in Montreal
MONTREAL AND TORONTO – Société Générale’s investment banking arm SG CIB has closed its Montreal FX dealing room, the bank confirmed.
FX next big thing for algorithmic trading
LONDON – FX is set to be the most actively traded asset class using algorithms, according to an audience at an event on the subject held last week.
European banks up in third quarter
ZURICH, AMSTERDAM & FRANKFURT – European banks have had a strong third quarter in foreign exchange, with many up substantially over the same period last year.
Currency product ‘growth to continue’
LONDON – Demand for currency-linked structured products is set to continue into next year, according to market participants who have already posted strong sales this year.
Refco’s demise aids competitors
LONDON – The black cloud of Refco’s demise is proving a valuable silver lining for other players in the field.
BNP to target real-money sales in 2006
LONDON – BNP Paribas is to invest heavily in the real-money space early next year, as it looks to gain traction in an area where the bank has so far had limited presence.
Changes to Travelex board
LONDON – Foreign exchange specialist Travelex has announced changes to its board, with the appointment of a new executive chairman, group chief executive and chief financial officer.
Trading places
BMo in capital markets rejigBank of Montreal (BMo) in Toronto has undergone a major restructure in capital markets at senior level following the retirement of its head, David Hyma.
Value strategies decline in October
LONDON – Currency managers using value strategies are likely to have had a weak month in October according to results of a naive currency management simulation by ABN Amro.