Trading
South Korea interbank FX volumes shoot up
SEOUL - Average daily volumes in South Korea's interbank FX market rose to $19.71 billion in 2007, up from $11.8 billion a year earlier, according to official statistics released last week.
ABN targets retail investors
DUBAI - ABN Amro has launched the Bric Infrastructure, Water and FX capital-protected note, targeted at retail investors globally.
MF Global loses $141.5m from rogue wheat trade
NEW YORK - Interdealer broker MF Global has lost $141.5 million after it was forced to cover trading losses made by one of its employees.
EBS Spot aims for NDF supremacy
LONDON - The battle to gain market share in electronic non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) broking is gathering pace, with the launch of seven Asian NDFs and Russian rouble trading on electronic spot broking system EBS Spot today (March 3).
Good news puts CMC top with stable yen view
Expectations of a re-emergence in risk appetite generated a yen forecast that lifted CMC Markets to the top of the three-month currency forecast rankings.
Forex delivers for StanChart and RBS
LONDON - Income from FX helped Standard Chartered boost profits to a record high, as British banks announced full-year results tempered by exposure to subprime investments.
Dollar view pays off for Gain Capital
A bullish dollar view based on recent US rate cuts has seen Gain Capital take pole position in this week's one-month currency forecasts rankings.
Thomson gets go-ahead for purchase of Reuters
LONDON & STAMFORD, CT - Thomson Corporation received approval from the European Commission, US Department of Justice and Canadian Competition Bureau to acquire Reuters last Tuesday (February 19).
Mifid compliance: a matter of principles
Since the EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) went into effect on November 1, 2007, financial firms have been racing to implement principles-based regulation to remain compliant and competitive. With various EU members in different…
Letter to the Editor
I read your comments regarding our acquisition of FX Solutions (published February 11) and just wanted to make a couple of comments.
UBS receives India banking go-ahead
MUMBAI - UBS joined an elite pool of foreign banks to receive an Indian banking licence last Monday (Feb 18) from the Reserve Bank of India.
Deutsche offers CRI-linked auto-callables
LONDON - Deutsche Bank is now selling auto-callable and target redemption notes linked to its Currency Return Index (CRI).
StanChart launches quant academy to crack market
LONDON & SINGAPORE - Standard Chartered is boosting its quantitative skills base through a new quant academy programme.
Riding the US recession
Adam Cole, global head of foreign exchange strategy at RBC Capital Markets in London, evaluates the prospects of a US dollar recovery amid a US recession
Barclays Capital rises above credit crisis
LONDON - Barclays Capital released solid full-year results last week, as banks across mainland Europe posted results tarnished by the effects of the credit crisis.
Taiwan banks accuracy warning
TAIPEI - The Taiwanese monetary authority issued a circular to banks last week warning dealers to ensure the necessary paper work is accurately reviewed when executing currency forwards and non-deliverable forwards trades.
Harnessing the future
Standard Chartered's decision to launch a quant academy programme is further evidence of banks putting more resources in developing the markets through human capital.
Clients pay a price for transparency
Although some banks appear to be experiencing initial success with the rollout of algorithmic execution services to clients in foreign exchange, it seems any extension of the portfolio of tools available could be curtailed by limited data from electronic…
Thai currency restrictions here to stay
BANGKOK - The Thai central government stopped short of lifting controversial foreign currency restrictions last week, despite embarking on a push to relax capital controls last month.
EBS opened to third-party vendors
LONDON - Icap is expanding access to electronic spot foreign exchange broking platform EBS by allowing selected third-party independent software vendors (ISVs) to write directly to the platform.
Doubts over CLS 'warehouse' system
LONDON & ZURICH - The competitive nature of back-office capacity could curtail adoption of a proposed solution by settlement system CLS to manage strains placed on these systems by surging ticket volumes, say industry experts.
August leaves Merrill for TD Securities
LONDON - Mark August, former head of UK real-money business, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), at Merrill Lynch in London, has been hired by TD Securities as managing director and head of institutional foreign exchange distribution for Europe.