Foreign exchange
FXMS embarks on global push
LONDON, CHICAGO & NEW YORK – Eight new roles have been created at Reuters and CME joint venture FXMarketSpace (FXMS), to drive the platform's continued global expansion.
Parker index rises on risk-adjusted basis
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT – The Parker FX index saw a 1.99% return in April, with three-quarters of indexed programmes recording positive results, the remainder reporting losses.
Exchange-traded rupee futures contract to launch
DUBAI – On June 7, the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) will launch the first exchange-traded Indian rupee futures contract.
Banks strike landmark deal in Vietnam
HONG KONG – HSBC and Standard Chartered last week entered into the first interbank Vietnamese dong interest rate swap, marking a landmark deal for the local currency derivatives market.
CFTC charges Florida firm with FX options fraud
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission last week (May 25) charged Addison Enterprise with illegally selling FX options and defrauding customers.
Trading Places
HSBC, Joseph De Feo, Merril, Nixon, Citi, Bear Sterns, Credit Suisse, Calyon, RZB, WestLB, ANZ, CMC
Algorithmic trading:the race for better value
The rocketing popularity of algo trading is examined byMark Akass, chief technology officer of BT Global Financial Services
Credit Suisse expands asset management coverage
LONDON – Credit Suisse has made three senior London-based hires, in a continued push to grow its institutional distribution efforts.
Survey reveals forex risk as a major concern
EDINBURGH – The majority of corporate treasurers view FX risk as their biggest concern, according to a survey released earlier this month.
BIS review reveals slowing growth in OTC derivatives
BASEL – Growth in over-the-counter FX derivatives slowed in the second half of 2006, rising only 5% versus 21% in the first half of the year, according to research released last week.
EBS acquisition drives Icap results
LONDON – Interdealer broker Icap’s profits for the year ending March 31 rose 11%, largely on the back of last year’s acquisition of electronic broker EBS.
UniCredit strengthens forex in London and New York
LONDON & NEW YORK – UniCredit has strengthened its selling power by making additional FX sales hires in two areas.
EBS puts key stations in front of buy side
LONDON – Interdealer broker Icap is to begin piloting an extension to EBS Prime, to enable manual keyboard access to the EBS platform for the buy side in coming weeks.
NFA suspends two FX FCM principals
The National Futures Association (NFA) has suspended the membership of two FX futures commission merchant (FCM) principals.
Forex traders face greater pressure from e-trading
LONDON – The surge in electronic trading and advances in derivatives structuring is putting greater demands on FX traders, say market participants.
BNP hires in structuring
LONDON – BNP Paribas has created four fixed-income structurer roles in London as part of a drive to build this area of the bank's business.
Fenics FX adds emerging markets and exotics support
NEW YORK – Interdealer broker GFI is releasing version 10.5 of its options pricing software Fenics FX with added support for emerging markets and exotic options.
Retail investors drive strong FX trading volumes
GREENWICH, CT – Retail FX trading volumes accounted for around $11 trillion of the $70.6 trillion global FX market in 2006, according to research released last week.
JP Morgan to offer structured deposit system
SINGAPORE – JP Morgan plans to go live with a structured deposit pricing and processing system by mid-June, to automate the roll-out of dual currency investment products.
Caplin Systems unveils web trading tool
LONDON – Market data systems vendor Caplin Systems is today (May 21) launching Caplin Trader, an out-of-the box web trading application that enables banks to build multi-product trading portals in FX and fixed income, officials at the company told FX…
Automation hot for Russia
MOSCOW – Automation was the central theme at the third annual international foreign exchange seminar in Moscow last Tuesday (May 15).
Lehman hires in London and Hong Kong, loses in NY
HONG KONG, NEW YORK & LONDON – Lehman Brothers is building up in structuring and sales with hires in Hong Kong and London.
StanChart hires global head
SINGAPORE – Standard Chartered has hired Leonard Feder to run its global financial markets unit.
China widens trading band
BEIJING – China widened the USD/CNY trading band to 0.5% from 0.3% effective today (May 21), signalling a more aggressive move towards CNY appreciation, said analysts.