Tech and data
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.
CME outsources E-quotes data app to CVS
CHICAGO - CME Group has rolled out a new version of its web-based E-quotes data display application and wireless add-on - built and hosted by technology partner Computer Voice Systems (CVS) -which incorporates data from acquisitions the Chicago Board of…
Cutting costs
Pat Lefler, director, product marketing, at Wall Street Systems in New York, looks at ways smaller banks could reduce their trade-processing costs and remain competitive
OMS vendors tackle multi-asset risk
LONDON - Order management system (OMS) vendors are enhancing their multi-asset pre-trade analytics to address the growing trend among financial institutions of broadening the asset classes and geographies in which they trade.
Dealers report liquidity still 'patchy'
LONDON & HONG KONG - Global foreign exchange markets continued to suffer from lapses in liquidity in another week plagued by turmoil in the financial markets.
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