Tech and data
US meltdown spurs central clearer debate
LONDON & NEW YORK - The fallout from the collapse of Lehman Brothers and implosion of insurance company AIG has spurred renewed debate over the central-counterparty model for spot foreign exchange, as concerns over counterparty risk take centre stage.
IG buys 87.5% of FXOnline Japan
TOKYO - IG Group, a London-based spread-betting company is acquiring an 87.5% stake worth about $207 million in Tokyo-based margin foreign exchange trading company FXOnline Japan.
EPFR tests EM forex flows
BOSTON - Fund flows data vendor EPFR Global is testing a new dataset that shows money flows into and out of emerging market (EM) and global currencies.
Barclays launches forex trend index
LONDON - Barclays Capital launched the Barclays Adaptive FX Trend Index last week, the latest in its range of investable foreign exchange indexes.
Strong Q3 for Goldman and Morgan Stanley
LONDON - Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley revealed strong third-quarter performances for their currencies operations, despite analysts casting doubt over the future of both businesses as standalone investment banks.
OCBC cashes in on Asian DCR growth
SINGAPORE - OCBC Bank expects to see 20% growth in its dual currency returns (DCR) business in Singapore next year, following implementation of a structured deposit pricing and processing system from FinIQ, said bank officials.
Lehman's fall leads to liquidity drought
GLOBAL - Heightened concerns over counterparty credit risk caused a dry-up of liquidity in the currency markets last week, as dealers feared a domino effect from the collapse of Lehman Brothers on Sunday, September 14.
Fenics Enterprise takes off
NEW YORK & LONDON - GFI is today (September 22) announcing the launch of Fenics Enterprise through Fenics FX 11.1, the latest version of its pricing and risk management software.
Sibos: market must clear processing bottleneck
VIENNA - During a panel discussion at last week's Sibos conference, CLS Bank, Credit Suisse, Traiana and Bloomberg agreed collective action was needed to avoid a serious processing bottleneck in the foreign exchange market.
UBS: an FX beacon in a sea of doubt
UBS practically swept the leader board in the currency category of FX Week sister publication Risk 's 2008 interdealer survey released last week.
The post-trade value chain
Nick Dyne, head of business development at post-trade technology vendor Logicscope in London, evaluates the prospect of a 'virtual' back office
Banks scale back options market-making
GLOBAL - Risk aversion and a sharp rise in foreign exchange options volatility is prompting banks to scale back their market-making activities in foreign exchange options, say traders.
Natixis in Bear Stearns forex hiring spree
NEW YORK - Natixis has hired 17 foreign exchange staff from defunct US investment bank Bear Stearns to kick-start the expansion of its FX platform.
Interdealer brokers' merger talks over
LONDON & NEW YORK - Stock prices of interdealer brokers Tullett Prebon and GFI Group plummeted on September 9, as a failure "to reach acceptable economic terms" halted ongoing merger talks.
GTS Pro broadens range
LONDON - City Index will extend the list of tradable products on recently acquired retail foreign exchange trading platform GTS Pro for non-US customers in October, a senior official has told FX Week .
Credit Suisse algos on Bloomberg
LONDON - Credit Suisse is offering its foreign exchange algorithmic trading strategies on Bloomberg FX Dealing, as the bank continues on its path to offer the service to a broader client base.
DealHub's BAM goes with the flows
LONDON - Option Computers Limited (OCL) has completed development of its business activity monitoring module (BAM), which enables users to view clients' foreign exchange trading activity.
CME/FXMS venture over?
LONDON - CME Group (CME), Thomson Reuters and FXMarketSpace (FXMS) have not confirmed a media report alleging CME has decided to end its involvement in FXMS, its joint venture FX platform with Thomson Reuters.
Cognotec broadens FX analytics
LONDON - Cognotec is offering users of its web-based margin trading platform access to charting software developed by Boulogne Billancourt-based IT-Finance.
TFX revamps forex trading
TOKYO - The Tokyo Financial Exchange (TFX) is set to launch a new trading platform for its foreign exchange market, Click 365, on October 27, to support rising volumes as it expands its list of market-makers and products.
Algo FX: the battle for market share
Algorithmic trading in foreign exchange is tipped to experience continued growth, but the uptake is not without its obstacles. Susanna Robinson reports