Trading
JSE trades first $20m options contract
JOHANNESBURG - The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has traded its first currency options contract with a notional value of $20 million.
JDFX gets smart with Kontrol
ZURICH - Foreign exchange trading company JDFX has capitalised on an increasing focus on risk management within financial markets by launching Kontrol, a system built to eliminate inefficiencies and dangers caused by calculating risk several times a day…
Króna in chaos during Iceland's meltdown
REYKJAVIK - Confusion reigned in Icelandic króna trading last week, as the country's central bank, Sedlabanki, abandoned its peg to a basket of nine currencies a day after it was effected.
Baxter enters algo execution
NEW YORK - Baxter Financial Services will add algorithmic execution features over its electronic communications network (ECN) Baxter FX by the end of the year.
Korea's KEB begins trading on EBS
SEOUL - Interdealer broker Icap is deepening its footprint in the emerging markets, with Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) now using its spot-broking system, EBS.
RealStream Margin revamped
LONDON - Cognotec is set to roll out the latest version of its web-based margin trading system, RealStream Margin 3.0, in response to market demand for efficiency and enhanced risk management products.
ICE launches FX futures
ATLANTA - The Intercontinental-Exchange (ICE) is launching ICE Millions, a suite of foreign exchange futures contracts, on November 6, in the latest move by an exchange to capitalise on fears over counterparty credit risk.
Saxo Bank aces as US dollar rallies
Saxo Bank topped this week's three-month currency forecast rankings with expectations the dollar would stage a comeback based on improved US balance of trade.
FXMarketSpace abandoned
CHICAGO & LONDON - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Thomson Reuters have confirmed their joint venture platform FXMarketSpace will be shut down, ending speculation over the system's future.
CME outsources E-quotes data app to CVS
CHICAGO - CME Group has rolled out a new version of its web-based E-quotes data display application and wireless add-on - built and hosted by technology partner Computer Voice Systems (CVS) -which incorporates data from acquisitions the Chicago Board of…
Korea delays liberalisation
SEOUL - South Korea's Ministry of Strategy and Finance is considering delaying the liberalisation of the country's foreign exchange market, due to current global market volatility.
Icap spot forex surges 60% after Lehman Brothers collapses
LONDON - Spot foreign exchange volumes at Icap skyrocketed by more than 60% on September 15 and 16, days after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Another FX trader fined
STOCKHOLM - Sweden's financial regulator has imposed a maximum penalty on Forex Bank for insufficient money laundering controls, signalling a global clampdown by regulators on risk management failings at retail foreign exchange institutions.
Cutting costs
Pat Lefler, director, product marketing, at Wall Street Systems in New York, looks at ways smaller banks could reduce their trade-processing costs and remain competitive
OMS vendors tackle multi-asset risk
LONDON - Order management system (OMS) vendors are enhancing their multi-asset pre-trade analytics to address the growing trend among financial institutions of broadening the asset classes and geographies in which they trade.
Sentimental value
Naomi Fink, Japan strategist in global markets sales and trading at the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ in Tokyo, assesses the slump in corporate sentiment in Japan, and what this bodes for the country's economic growth
Currency strategies add value in September
LONDON - Currency managers employing value strategies are the most likely to have been rewarded by strong profits over the past 12 months, according to research by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Carpe diem: forex beats the retreat
Despite inconsistent liquidity since mid-September, volumes at major trading platforms continue to remain buoyant.
ETP boom fuels concern over counterparty risk
GLOBAL - Issuance of currency-linked exchange-traded products (ETPs) has soared in the past year, but concerns are emerging over the counterparty risks inherent in these products.
StanChart up as US weakness spreads
Standard Chartered dominated this week's one-month historical index rankings with its view the US economic weakness would turn into a global phenomenon.
CFTC fines FX fraudsters $24m
WASHINGTON, DC - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained orders for five traders to pay $11.7 million in restitution and disgorgement, and $12.25 million in civil monetary penalties for selling and soliciting illegal foreign exchange…
Gold rush on Lehman's European FX team
LONDON - Dealers are willing to pay top dollar for Lehman Brothers' foreign exchange team in Europe, following the failure of administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to agree a sale of the defunct bank's European fixed-income unit last week.