4Cast buys SocGen's directory and website

The London-based FX analyst has assumed responsibility for the publication and its website www.reddbook.com and is already developing its 2005 edition.

Rowland Park, 4Cast's London-based director, said it will introduce a dealers' forum on the website with a search engine allowing members to obtain information on banks and the industry in general. 4Cast is also considering introducing other features to the website to provide traders with information and search capabilities on banks' forex capabilities.

Park said sales of the book would cover the cost of publication. He added it was seeking to make profits from sponsorship of the online directory.

The number of banks listed in the directory has declined dramatically from 1999 to the current edition. Park put this down to bank mergers and the number of dealing rooms that have closed over the past five years.

He said there is scope to increase the number of banks listed in the book as some banks had not previously been contacted about the possibility of inclusion. He added that there is further opportunity for expansion through including smaller banks outside the major centres.

Park acknowledged that the directory can be used as a recruitment tool by rival banks, but said other advantages outweighed such problems. He said the exposure of being in the book would give benefits to smaller banks.

Doug Plant, business development manager of www.reddbook.com, praised SG for fully supporting the brand "to its present status". He said: "We now believe it is appropiate to pass the product to a company whose core competence and reputation in the market-place will enable the brand to develop to its full potential."