Tech and data
Harsh climate suits Aus FX
SYDNEY - Australian foreign exchange dealers expect to continue benefiting from increased deleveraging and client hedging activities seen since September.
AthenaTrader 4.2 features more FX tools
NEW YORK - Custom trading and testing software vendor Aegisoft will add new tools to the next release of AthenaTrader, aimed at giving the end user greater control of foreign exchange trades.
Monier: Markets feel structural shift
SINGAPORE - "We might be entering more of a structural shift than just another crisis," said Stephane Monier, global head of fixed income and currencies at Fortis Investments, at the FX Week Asia Congress last week.
A return to vanilla
GLOBAL - Banks are preparing for a vanilla year next year in the derivatives market, as investors seek transparent structures in an environment of heightened volatility and inconsistent liquidity.
Ex-Lehman staff form action group
LONDON - A group of around 30 former Lehman Brothers employees in London have formed an action group seeking to win compensation from the collapsed US investment bank.
BoNY signs up to GFI's Fenics FX
NEW YORK - Bank of New York Mellon has signed a three-year licence for GFI Fenics FX, a pricing and risk management software system.
Wall St Systems launches ESN
LONDON & PARIS - Wall Street Systems is in discussion with a Tier II and two Tier III US banks for use of its pay-as-you-go post-trade processing utility, Electronic Settlement Network (ESN).
Icap gains foothold in China
BEIJING - Icap has cast a wider net into the Chinese foreign exchange market by forming a strategic partnership with the country's largest data and information vendor, Xinhua News Agency.
City Index drops three in London
LONDON - Retail trading company City Index laid off three foreign exchange staff from its margin FX provider, IFX Markets, in London last Thursday (October 16), as it integrates the FX business with recently acquired FX Solutions.
BarCap picks Caplin for rates
LONDON - Barclays Capital has signed a contract to purchase web-based application Caplin Trader for its fixed-income electronic commerce system.
Interbank lending eases further
LONDON - The Ted spread, along with overnight and three-month Libor, fell for the fourth day in succession after European governments announced bail-out packages on Monday (October 13), and the US followed suit on Tuesday.
Opportunity no longer knocks
The past week has highlighted what a questionable time it is for the industry
Caplin Systems a star onboarder
LONDON - Caplin Systems, a London-based web technology vendor, has signed two major European banks to its multi-asset trading platform, Caplin Trader.
Japan traders dump short yen positions
TOKYO - Japanese retail foreign exchange margin traders abandoned $16 billion worth of short yen positions within days last week, in a scramble to limit losses from unwinding carry trades.
Strike while the iron is hot
Pete Luxton, economic adviser, and Shant Movsesian, manager, foreign exchange options, at Informa Global Markets in London suggest a basket strategy to play euro weakness
JSE trades first $20m options contract
JOHANNESBURG - The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has traded its first currency options contract with a notional value of $20 million.
JDFX gets smart with Kontrol
ZURICH - Foreign exchange trading company JDFX has capitalised on an increasing focus on risk management within financial markets by launching Kontrol, a system built to eliminate inefficiencies and dangers caused by calculating risk several times a day…
Króna in chaos during Iceland's meltdown
REYKJAVIK - Confusion reigned in Icelandic króna trading last week, as the country's central bank, Sedlabanki, abandoned its peg to a basket of nine currencies a day after it was effected.
Baxter enters algo execution
NEW YORK - Baxter Financial Services will add algorithmic execution features over its electronic communications network (ECN) Baxter FX by the end of the year.
RealStream Margin revamped
LONDON - Cognotec is set to roll out the latest version of its web-based margin trading system, RealStream Margin 3.0, in response to market demand for efficiency and enhanced risk management products.
FXMarketSpace abandoned
CHICAGO & LONDON - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Thomson Reuters have confirmed their joint venture platform FXMarketSpace will be shut down, ending speculation over the system's future.