Trading
Forwards spreads start to tighten
LONDON & NEW YORK - Dealers are reporting a retreat in forwards spreads, reflecting marginal improvements in liquidity as Libor eases after weeks of government and central bank action.
StatPro chooses GFI for options data
LONDON - StatPro, a London-based vendor of analytics and data systems for the asset management industry, has signed a contract to use GFI's foreign exchange options data in its pricing and risk management services.
A call to action on electronic pricing
The protracted explosion in bid/ask spreads and implosion in liquidity since mid-September is causing mounting frustration among algorithmic traders.
Strong FX fails to lift CME in Q3
CHICAGO - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) posted record volumes in foreign exchange products in Q3 but suffered a $28 million loss associated with FXMarketSpace, its joint-venture platform with Thomson Reuters.
Investors shun FX-only funds
LONDON - Fund managers are abandoning foreign exchange-only funds in favour of currency overlay programmes, according to research by London-based client strategy firm ClientKnowledge.
Forecasting tricky as markets churn
Extreme volatility in the foreign exchange markets over the past month has provided challenging conditions for forecasting short-term moves, as evident by this week's one-month forecast rankings.
South Korea hits back at foreign media
SEOUL - The South Korean government hit back at foreign media last Wednesday (October 29), claiming Korea is better positioned to withstand the global economic crisis now than it was during the 1997 Asian crisis.
RBS sells e5m note linked to new FX Radar
LONDON - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has sold its first structured product linked to the new FX Radar Index, an automated index linked to 20 emerging market currencies.
Citi's Sherrard relocates to Asia
LONDON & SINGAPORE - Rodney Sherrard, a foreign exchange options trader for Citi in London, is transferring to the bank's Singapore office to work in correlation trading.
UBS chops 13 in forex
ZURICH - Stephane Treny, global head of foreign exchange corporate sales for UBS, was one of 13 redundancies from the FX team at the Swiss bank's Zurich office last Tuesday (October 28).
StanChart revamps e-pricing
SINGAPORE - Standard Chartered has gone live with a liquidity aggregator developed for its foreign exchange electronic pricing and trading division in Singapore.
MF Global gets new CEO as Davis quits
NEW YORK - Kevin Davis resigned as chief executive of MF Global on October 29 and has been replaced by Bernard Dan, after a turbulent few months for the institutional broker.
Harsh climate suits Aus FX
SYDNEY - Australian foreign exchange dealers expect to continue benefiting from increased deleveraging and client hedging activities seen since September.
Averting the crisis
Nicholas Kwan, regional head of research, Asia, at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, says Asian countries need to work together to avert the worst effects of the financial crisis
Westpac reports rise in FX revenues
SYDNEY - Westpac has reported a rise in foreign exchange and energy revenues amid heightened market volatility.
The need for speed
Irene Aldridge, quantitative portfolio manager and managing partner at Able Alpha Trading in New York, looks at what defines a good high-frequency system
AthenaTrader 4.2 features more FX tools
NEW YORK - Custom trading and testing software vendor Aegisoft will add new tools to the next release of AthenaTrader, aimed at giving the end user greater control of foreign exchange trades.
FX results up down under
LONDON & SYDNEY - Australian lenders ANZ and National Australia Bank (NAB) have announced strong full-year revenues for foreign exchange, despite revealing overall profits affected by tumultuous financial market conditions.
NFA in FX regulatory crackdown
CHICAGO - The National Futures Association (NFA) is proposing an overhaul of the regulations governing foreign exchange trading for members, in a bid to protect the interests of retail traders in the US.
Managed Models adds two new clients
LONDON - London-based data analytics company Managed Models has signed on two more banks, as institutions seek to add efficiency to foreign exchange liquidity management operations.
E-trading could free Asia from dollar dependency
SINGAPORE - The expansion of electronic trading could lessen Asia's dependency on the US dollar as a vehicle currency, according to Yosuke Tsuyuguchi, director of Bank of Japan's Centre for Monetary Co-operation in Asia.