Tech and data
Commerce FX storms US retail market
BOSTON – Commerce FX, a subsidiary of Boston-based Commerce Bank & Trust, is reaping the rewards of its entrance into the retail margin trading market last year, an official told FX Week .
Dollar/yen break-out expected
TOKYO – Technical indicators suggest dollar/yen could be set to break out of the tight trading range it has been trapped in since June. "Resistance is declining and support is rising. We will get a decent break-out trade soon," said Karen Griffith, head…
EBS reports per-minute record post jobs data
LONDON – Traders manning the traditionally quiet summer desks saw a surprise burst of action on August 6, as a massive surge in volumes followed shock jobs data out of the US.
RBS flicks to video switches for forex
NEW YORK – FX traders at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in New York are battling data latency by reverting to a traditional form of technology – video switches.
Hedging when the market moves against you
A nine month sliding forward structure can help your company achieve attractive FX hedging rates when the market has moved substantially beyond your budget rates, says Adam Gilmour, head of FX options sales in Citigroup's emerging markets sales and…
Return of the voice broker
Cantor Fitzgerald revives voice broking market with spin-off firm. NEW YORK - Cantor Fitzgerald reversed a trend of consolidation in the broking market last week by spinning off a new firm to focus exclusively on voice broking.
Rate differentials bolster peso trading
MEXICO CITY – Speculation on the direction of US interest rates is bolstering already high levels of trading in US dollar/Mexican peso.
SimCorp focuses on FX in IT/2 upgrade
COPENHAGEN – Treasury management vendor SimCorp released the latest version of its treasury management software IT/2 last week, which has enhanced FX position management and has "a heavy focus on FX", an official told FX Week .
BIS paper warns of outsourcing risks
BASEL – Outsourcing in the financial services industry is leading to increased compliance and regulatory risk, according to a consultation paper published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) last week.
Terror alerts spur DR plans
NEW YORK – Terrorist warnings last week from the Bush administration have jolted securities firms into action and underscored the necessity for creating and testing disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) plans.
Russian peg change to drive rouble trading
MOSCOW – A touted move from a dollar peg to a dollar-euro basket will be the key driver for trading in the rouble in coming months.
SuperD releases SD-FX upgrade
LONDON – Options pricing systems vendor SuperDerivatives launched an upgrade of its SD-FX system last week.
Currency transfers for multiple entities
Straight-through processing FX for intra-company transfers used to be impossible. Royal Bank of Scotland’s Stamos Fokianos explains how this can now be done via RBS FiX
Bloomberg and Cognotec partner on streaming rates
LONDON – Bloomberg is bringing streaming FX rates to users of its Bloomberg Professional terminals, courtesy of a joint venture with FX vendor Cognotec, the two firms will announce today (August 2).
IG Markets to add FX futures
LONDON – Spread-betting firm IG Markets will add streaming FX spot prices and futures execution to its online trading platform in Q4 to attract more institutional business, a senior official told FX Week .
ABN Amro launches IR Mini-Swaps for the risk averse
LONDON – ABN Amro has launched an interest rate hedging tool for clients who do not want to use derivatives to gain exposure to this market.
Swapstream raises quote sizes
LONDON – The four banks making markets on Swapstream – ABN Amro, Commerzbank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and HVB Group – have raised quote sizes on the electronic interest rate swaps trading platform from around e100 million to e200 million apiece.
Dollar vol could be back
LONDON – The global currency markets could be in for a bout of unseasonal volatility and trading activity if the US dollar breaks through its recent range against the euro, traders said last week.
SocGen using JRisk for forex options
LONDON – Société Générale is now using JRisk, a trading and risk management platform from Application Networks, to support its FX options business. The French bank began implementing the technology last July. Users are spread across the bank’s Paris, New…
CME volumes and income up by a third
CHICAGO – The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) last week reported record volumes and revenues for the second quarter, with average daily forex volume up 28% to $176,000 compared with $137,000 in Q2 2003.
FNX takes Aspen Hedge to Japan
TOKYO – Philadelphia-based FX vendor FNX will launch Aspen Hedge, its multi-asset product for hedge funds, in Japan in October.