News
Russian derivatives legislation stalls
MOSCOW – Efforts to fast-track the introduction of new legislation in Russia to provide legal certainty for derivatives contracts appear to have failed since a hearing on the subject at the Russian Federation state duma on September 27.
China rate hikes boost FX volatility
CHINA – Volatility in global FX has surged amid speculation that the first rate hike by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) in almost a decade could spark a sooner-than-expected yuan revaluation, according to analysts.
Trading Technologies strikes cash forex trades deal with Hotspot FX
CHICAGO – Trading Technologies International (TT) the Chicago-based software vendor, and Hotspot FX, which operates electronic FX marketplaces, have announced that Hotspot FX will allow TT's customers to transact cash FX trades via TT's X_Trader order…
JPMC to reshuffle research group
HONG KONG – JP Morgan Chase is reorganising its Asia economics and credit & rates research teams. The move is part of a transitional phase in light of the departure of Bill Belchere, head of Asia economic research and market strategy, at the end of the…
Public sector holds back on FX
LONDON – Public sector companies may be holding back on using currency derivatives until they fully understand the implications of the new IAS 39 accounting standard, which comes into force in early 2005, and how the implications of reporting under the…
Funds repatriation bill set to pass
NEW YORK – A bill offering US companies the chance to repatriate overseas earnings at a hugely discounted tax rate is set to be signed into law in the next week – much sooner than previous estimates, said analysts.
BoA loses three FX staff in London
LONDON – Three FX staff members have left Bank of America in London in the past two weeks, following a series of high-level departures earlier this year.
HSBC doubles EM strategy
NEW YORK – HSBC is doubling staff on its emerging markets (EM) currency strategy team to four, to help support the bank's growing sales and trading coverage of the sector.
GFI adds three for Fenics FX
LONDON – Inter-dealer broker and market data firm GFI Group has hired three new staff for its Fenics FX options pricing system in London and Singapore. The hires will help the firm meet increasingly sophisticated demands on the system from bank clients,…
Canadians join State Street's e-commerce settlement service
BOSTON – State Street Global Markets signed up the big five Canadian banks to its settlement and confirmation matching tool for FX last week.
Rupee trading set to double, say local traders
MUMBAI – Daily trading volume in the Indian rupee could double by the end of the year to $300 billion. Despite the potentially negative impact of the current high price of oil – India being a net crude oil importer – local market participants are…
Koram takes merger lead
SEOUL – Koram Bank's senior executives are taking the top positions in the merged FX group formed by Citigroup's purchase of the Korean bank, which starts trading as one entity on November 1.
Q3 hits earnings but Q4 sees pick-up
NEW YORK – All major US commercial banks have now reported their third-quarter results, confirming poor trading conditions have hit returns for FX.
Chinese currency to rise by 25% against dollar
LONDON – China's currency is up to one quarter below its true value and a significant adjustment on the forex market is inevitable.
Icap launches JV in Korea
SEOUL – KIDB-Icap, a joint venture between global inter-dealer broker Icap and Korean inter-dealer broker KIDB, has begun broking FX and interest rate derivatives in Seoul. The move takes place following the green light for the venture from the Ministry…
Reuters to build Chinese FX platform
SHANGHAI – The China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS), a subsidiary of the People's Bank of China, has signed up Reuters to develop a global foreign exchange trading system for it and its member banks.
Reuters outage spells pricing void
LONDON - The pitfalls of relying on electronic systems was made clear to FX traders last week, as a power outage at Reuters' technical centre left them without pricing in European currencies for seven hours. The outage, which began at 2.34pm in London (9…
Lava launches FX platform
NEW YORK – Lava Trading, the US-based equities technology firm Citigroup bought last month, has launched a foreign exchange trading platform called LavaFX.
US banks hit by flat trading
New York – Poor market conditions have led to a sharp fall-off in FX revenues for some US banks, but others managed to post increased returns in the third quarter.
Reech forecasts growth in demand from hedge funds
LONDON – SunGard Reech expects to see a growth in demand from hedge funds for its stochastic volatility model, Real Stochvol, as more people seek to invest in hedge funds, said Christophe Reech, chief executive of the SunGard unit.