Foreign exchange
Review of 2004 - October: Shock job losses at Tullett
LONDON – Tullett Liberty suffered a surprise defeat in the integration of its forex business with rival Prebon Yamane. Broking sources in London said Tullett’s FX forwards team left in the two weeks following the completion of parent Collins Stewart…
Review of 2004 - February: RBS and Deutsche lead the way
FRANKFURT AND LONDON – February was a good month for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Deutsche Bank with both reporting figures showing that they were gaining on their rivals.
Euro gains status as reserve
FRANFURT – Buying by some of Eastern Europe’s and Africa’s central banks is buoying the euro as the central bankers come to the realisation the currency is here to stay, according to a leading forex fund manager.
Review of 2004 - January: NAB saga starts in earnest
MELBOURNE – The saga of National Australia Bank’s rogue trading scandal came to light on January 13. The bank said it had uncovered losses of up to A$180 million (US$140 million) from unauthorised trading in forex options during the fourth quarter.
Asian currencies resilient
HONG KONG – Asia’s currencies have proved resilient after the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami disaster that struck the region last week, said analysts.
Review of 2004 - July: AIB repays E26m for overcharging
DUBLIN – Allied Irish Banks (AIB) said it would repay the e26 million ($32 million) it overcharged clients on 3 million FX deals, after a regulator slammed the bank in a report in July.
IFX goes gaming
LONDON – IFX Markets, the financial trading and spread-betting firm, in December acquired a majority stake in FX Player, a virtual reality forex gaming business.
Banks' 'indifference' to IAS 39 hints at software panic-buying
LONDON -- Software vendors are preparing to take advantage of any bank glitches once the IAS 39 accounting standard is implemented on January 1.
The American double-accrual forward
With expected further euro appreciation, EUR/USD forwards are trading at a premium. Here, Anna Leung, head of corporate treasury marketing at HSBC, shows a way to get access to future hedging at a lower cost
Deutsche cuts global forex
FRANKFURT & SINGAPORE -- Deutsche Bank is understood to be in the process of a major restructuring of its foreign exchange capabilities around the world.
NAB annual results sees FX slip into the red
MELBOURNE -- National Australia Bank recorded a loss in its forex business and a fall in income from forex derivatives trading, in its full-year results released this month.
Refco relaunches e-platform
NEW YORK -- Refco Group, the New York-based brokerage, has updated its e-FX trading platform.
Dresdner joins cutting queue
FRANKFURT/NEW YORK – The future for FX staff at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) looks bleak as the bank makes major job cuts on a global scale.
CLS below half of FX activity
LONDON – CLS lacks traction outside the major banks and still accounts for far less than half of all FX transactions, according to a report by the Bank of England published this week.
Conservative approach to further dollar weakness
A one-year 'leveraged ratchet forward' may help hedgers looking for a conservative strategy who are expecting a lower EUR/USD next year, say Eric Ohayon, European head of FX structuring, and Chris Weiss, FX structurer, at Bank of America in London
EBS signs up more prime banks
LONDON – EBS has signed agreements with nine more institutions enabling them to become prime banks, bringing the total to 16. The new banks on EBS Prime are: ABN Amro, AIG, Bank of America, Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, UBS, Lehman Brothers and…
Opec turns its back on dollar
BASEL – Opec members have been reducing US dollar exposure in favour of the euro over the past three years, according to statistics released by the Bank for International Settlement (BIS) last week.
Dollar/won move boosts options market activity
HONG KONG -- Volumes in the forex options markets have surged off the back of the rapid move in the dollar/won over recent weeks, say analysts.
UK's Hargreaves Lansdown launches onto forex market
BRISTOL -- A leading UK stockbroker and financial advice firm is to launch into the FX market, offering its 500,000 customers access to Saxo Bank's rates.
BTM lead in Japanese forex slipping
TOKYO -- Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTM) remains the top Japanese foreign exchange house in the country, with revenues for the first half of the Japanese fiscal year ending September 30 totalling ¥36.1 billion.