Foreign exchange
ABN Amro cuts back London forex staff
LONDON – ABN Amro has made cuts to its London FX team, resulting in the departure of John Marley, European head of sales.
FXall volumes surged 45% in 2006 on growing market
LONDON – Trading volumes on multibank platform FXall surged 45% in 2006, with over $9.8 trillion traded on a single-count basis.
Oregon state, CFTC fines Orion founder
OREGON – The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the District Court of Oregon have fined Russell Cline, founder of foreign currency trading firm, Orion International $33 million.
India pledges to pursue a less restrictive FX strategy
MUMBAI & HONG KONG – Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh issued a statement last week, confirming the country's commitment to gradually move towards a less restrictive forex regime.
China launches benchmark Shibor rate
SHANGHAI – China has taken further steps towards developing its interest rates derivatives market, with the launch of the Shanghai interbank offered rate (Shibor) last Thursday (January 4).
StanChart restructures institutional sales team
LONDON – Standard Chartered has implemented a new structure for institutional sales in London, following the departure of Tara Hunt, head of global investor sales in October last year.
Algo trading goes mainstream
COPENHAGEN – Saxo Bank is bringing algorithmic trading into the mainstream with plans to launch an algo trading tool for retail investors this quarter.
Nybot launches peso and real FX futures to support coffee traders
NEW YORK – The New York Board of Trade (Nybot) is preparing to launch futures in the Colombian peso and Brazilian real next month.
Spotradar from Nostradamus predicts good times ahead
LONDON – Nostradamus, a forex predictions company, is looking to sign a raft of new clients for its Spotradar automated trading system in the next few months.
A flying start to 2007
GLOBAL – The year is off to a flying start as currency markets opened with a healthy level of volatility last week, said traders.
Algo trading goes mainstream
COPENHAGEN – Saxo Bank is bringing algorithmic trading into the mainstream with plans to launch an algo trading tool for retail investors this quarter.
May 2006 - Reuters and CME to set up FXMarketSpace
CHICAGO & LONDON – Industry heavyweights Reuters and the CME announced plans to establish a centrally-cleared FX market-place for early in 2007.
November 2006 - RBS and JP Morgan scale back prop trading
LONDON & NEW YORK – November saw mixed fortunes for FX traders. Just as volatility returned to the market, two major banks made cuts to their prop trading desks.
April 2006 - Icap purchase of EBS completed for $775m
LONDON – In mid-April, Interdealer broker Icap agreed to a deal that saw it acquire electronic forex heavyweight EBS. The deal saw Icap pay $775 million for EBS Group, with a share alternative option for EBS shareholders to switch a third of their cash…
January 2006 - Acquisitions in e-FX take precedence
LONDON – The year started with a bang with two high-profile acquisitions in the electronic trading space.
February 2006 - BoA builds algorithmic forex capabilities
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS – Bank of America (BoA) took a major step towards building up its algorithmic trading capabilities in the FX space, with the acquisition of algorithmic-driven pricing and trading specialist, Financial Labs.
March 2006 - FXCM abandons Refco negotiations
NEW YORK – Forex Capital Markets (FXCM) abandoned negotiations with Refco creditors to acquire the assets of the defunct brokerage's unregulated currency trading operation.
Bank of Thailand backtracks on reserve requirements
BANGKOK – The Bank of Thailand (BOT) went back on regulations introduced on December 18, by removing the 30% foreign currency reserve requirements on current account activities and equity investments.
October 2006 - Flextrade to launch block trading platform
CHICAGO, NEW YORK AND LONDON – October was a month where new players looked to make their mark on the industry. Reuters CME joint venture FXMarketSpace announced 20 more banks signed to be clearing prime brokers while it emerged trading technology vendor…
July 2006 - FXall stake sold to TCV for $77.5 million
NEW YORK – FXall sold a minority stake worth $77.5 million to private equity firm Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV).