News
Economy buoys UK banks’ forex vols
LONDON -- UK banks have managed to avoid the widespread year-on-year downturns in foreign exchange revenues suffered by their US counterparts, financial reports revealed last week.
CME launches CME$Index futures contract
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) launches its new ‘CME$Index’ futures contract, an index of seven foreign currencies against the US dollar, today (March 3). The contract is intended to provide end-users with a broad tool to gain or reduce…
Refco launches web prime brokerage using Currenex
CHICAGO -- Refco F/X Associates, part of Refco Group, has taken its FX prime brokerage service online in a bid to improve efficiency, a senior official at the broker in Chicago told FX Week .
Trading places
Reuters hires Moneyline founder for fixed income
CLS settles a trillion a day
NEW YORK -- Continuous Linked Settlement, the new settlement service for foreign exchange, settled a record $1 trillion in FX payments on February 18.
Rob Standing quits JPMC with spun-off hedge fund
LONDON -- Rob Standing, head of European rates at JP Morgan Chase in London, will leave the bank to head the London Diversification Fund (LDF) in the coming months, a spokesperson for the bank told FX Week .
IG takeover sparks FX job worries
LONDON -- FX jobs could be under threat if City Index, the London-based spread-betting shop owned by Intercapital private group, goes ahead with a takeover of rival IG Index.
Traders reap rewards in LatAm markets
MEXICO CITY -- As clients and banks scour the globe for volatile FX markets, Latin America has become a key battleground for new FX business, senior market participants told FX Week .
Hotspot FXi opens in Europe
NEW JERSEY -- Online institutional FX trading platform Hotspot FXi has hired Rakesh Shah to head its new European office in London.
FX offers hope for Reuters
LONDON -- Dealing 3000, Reuters’ FX trading system, lost some ground last year, but FX provided some joy for the information and technology giant in its annual results published last week.
ABN Amro overhauls FM division
AMSTERDAM -- ABN Amro last week completed a thorough overhaul of its financial markets division, in a reorgnisation that will affect foreign exchange in two key ways.
Market static as uncertainty rules
LONDON -- There was little action in G3 FX last week, as the geopolitical stand-off over Iraq extended to the markets.
BoA props up trading business
BoA props up trading business
Technology Briefs
CL uses City Networks for CLS
RBA unwinds Australian dollar holding
SYDNEY -- The Reserve Bank of Australia took profits on its Australian dollar holdings earlier this year, selling nearly A$500 million, according to the bank’s February bulletin.
China forex volumes rise
BEIJING -- Forex turnover in the Chinese market rocketed by 73% in January, according to data made public last week.
Dollar downtrend halts decline in US hedging
NEW YORK -- The US dollar’s decline in recent months has sparked an increase in hedging activity among US companies, six months after senior FX officials reported that many firms were unhedged.
Trading places
BoA hires China head
eSpeed to add spot and forwards forex
LONDON -- Electronic broker eSpeed is adding spot and forwards FX broking to its platform in the second half of this year to cater for traders who cover multiple asset classes.
BIS expands derivatives data
BASEL -- The Bank for International Settlements said last week that it is expanding its statistics on banks’ country risk exposures to include data on derivatives exposures to individual countries.
Rusnak lessons still unheeded
NEW YORK -- Global banks are yet to implement key recommendations to limit rogue trading losses, one year on from John Rusnak’s record $700 million forex fraud.
Tech briefs
CBA adds FXall link
BoA loses global market head
NEW YORK -- Duncan Goldie-Morrison, Bank of America’s global markets chief will leave the firm at the end of this month following a reorganisation of BoA’s global markets group.
eSpeed to add spot and forwards forex
LONDON -- Electronic broker eSpeed is adding spot and forwards FX broking to its platform in the second half of this year to cater for traders who cover multiple asset classes.