Foreign exchange
Bullish results for US investment banks
LONDON & NEW YORK – US investment banks have continued to report year-on-year growth, in first quarter results released last week.
HSBC hit by departures in FX
LONDON & HONG KONG – HSBC's international FX operations saw the loss of a number of staff last week.
Nordea triples its autoquote limits
COPENHAGEN – Nordea is continuing to develop its e-commerce capabilities, with an almost threefold increase to autoquote limits across all platforms to which it deals.
AIG launches emerging markets FX indexes
NEW YORK – AIG Financial Products last week launched emerging-markets (EM) foreign exchange indexes, to leverage the continued investor interest in the area.
EBS to expand EM capability
SINGAPORE – Spot broker EBS plans to expand its emerging markets capabilities with a number of new currencies set for launch in the coming months.
Gain Capital rolls out web-based platform
BEDMINSTER, NEW JERSEY – Gain Capital has launched a Windows-based margin trading platform for institutional and individual investors.
CFTC stings Pioneer for record-keeping lapses
WASHINGTON, DC – The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has fined futures commission merchant Pioneer Futures $25,000 in civil penalties, for failing to keep up-to-date records.
BarCap loses three in Asia
HONG KONG – Barclays Capital has lost three members of its foreign exchange team in Asia, market sources told FX Week .
BoA hit by spate of forex departures
LONDON & NEW YORK – Gaps are widening within Bank of America's FX operations, with a flood of departures last week.
HSBC names new forex line-up in North America
NEW YORK – HSBC has named two new co-heads of FX for North America.
Bear Stearns poaches senior BNP Paribas staff
PARIS – Bear Stearns has hired two senior FX staff from BNP Paribas, as part of plans to launch its FX business in Paris, market sources say.
The risky business of trading
The case for banks entering the retail market with trading platforms of their own seems to be getting stronger.
EBS to expand EM capability
SINGAPORE – Spot broker EBS plans to expand its emerging markets capabilities with a number of new currencies set for launch in the coming months.
Trading platform volumes surge as stock markets plunge
LONDON - The sharp correction in stock markets around the world last week triggered the unwinding of the carry trade, bringing record trading volumes to foreign exchange platforms.
Raised margin requirements threat to global liquidity?
CHICAGO - The Chicago futures exchanges' decision to raise margin requirements could affect global liquidity, warn analysts.
South Africa looks to currency futures
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa will launch currency futures trading on its interest rate exchange platform, YieldX, in coming months.
Fimat opens Sydney FX desk
SYDNEY - Brokerage firm Fimat has launched an FX desk in Sydney as it expands its Asia-Pacific presence.
Forex drives major bank earnings
ZURICH, UK AND COPENHAGEN - European banks have reported a strong set of results for 2006, with FX businesses playing a key role.
Retail FX offers lucrative returns
LONDON - Retail FX traders account for $50 billion of the $2.5 trillion a day FX market, according to research released last week.
US derivatives volumes rocket on market fears
CHICAGO & NEW YORK - Several US derivatives exchanges broke their daily traded volume records by more than 20% during February 28.
Gains and losses at Credit Suisse
LONDON - Credit Suisse lost three members of its UK sales team in London last week.
Why retail FX should be taken seriously
According to research from client strategy firm ClientKnowledge, profits from retail FX traders can be anywhere between $1 billion to $2 billion a year.
Gains and losses at Credit Suisse
LONDON - Credit Suisse lost three members of its UK sales team in London last week.
Saxo adds ruble to SaxoTrader platform
Saxo Bank has added the Russian ruble to its online trading platform SaxoTrader. The currency can be traded versus the US dollar.