Trading
Pegging hopes on GCC currency reform
Marios Maratheftis, Dubai-based regional head of research for Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan at Standard Chartered, calls for currency reform by the GCC
Hotspot FXi revamp means faster trades
JERSEY CITY, NJ - Electronic communications network (ECN) Hotspot FXi plans to implement a multiple-server matching engine architecture to replace its single matching engine in January 2008, to improve the platform's performance.
Credit Suisse e-trades exotics
LONDON - Credit Suisse has enabled trading in structured exotic foreign exchange options on its proprietary electronic trading platform, Merlin, with select institutional clients globally, the Swiss dealer said last week.
Wayward US forex brokers struck off the register
WASHINGTON, DC - The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has revoked the introducing broker registrations of Next Financial Services Unlimited and New World Trading, due to fraudulent FX activities.
Overlay launches EM currency fund
DUBLIN - Overlay Asset Management has launched a specialist fund to invest exclusively in emerging market currencies.
Forex cons caught red-handed
DETROIT - The Michigan Federal Court has ordered Millenium Trading Group and Worldwide Clearing of Florida, as well as Florida resident Cedric Stanton, to pay more than $10 million in sanctions.
Icap and CME post strong FX gains
CHICAGO & LONDON - Interdealer broker Icap and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) continue to report strong month-on-month gains in foreign exchange trading volume.
Icap strengthens grasp on emerging markets
LONDON - Interdealer broker Icap has expanded in emerging markets, signing Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich (RZB) onto EBS Prime, its professional foreign exchange prime-brokerage solution.
South Korea FX on the rise
SEOUL - Average daily volumes in South Korea's interbank foreign exchange market rose 33.2% in the third quarter of this year versus the second quarter, reaching $23.05 billion, amid heightened FX volatility.
Lehman joins retail FX rush
NEW YORK - Lehman Brothers is entering the burgeoning retail foreign exchange market with the acquisition of a 9.9% share in online retail trading company FXCM, ending months of speculation regarding the deal.
USD weakness means positive Gain
A bearish position on USD has helped retail trading company Gain Capital reach top spot in FX Week 's 12-month currency forecast rankings.
Plain vanilla no longer flavour of the month
LONDON & NEW YORK - Foreign exchange staff working in plain vanilla trading and sales will need to look out for their jobs in 2008, as banks reduce hires, recruitment consultants tell FX Week .
StanChart names flow head
SINGAPORE - Standard Chartered has named its new global head of flow foreign exchange options trading, a year after Richard Leighton was promoted to London-based global head of FX from a role as global head of FX options.
Automated trading to make up 90% of futures by 2010
NEW YORK - Pit trading is fading fast. An estimated 50% of all futures markets transactions in 2007 occurred through automated trading strategies - including market-making and quantitative black-box trading activities - and this proportion will rise to…
VAR exceptions rise in third quarter
NEW YORK & ZURICH - Volatility in financial markets led investment banks to far exceed thresholds for trading losses in the third quarter, casting doubt on their risk modelling.
Commerzbank loses sales chief
LONDON - Commerzbank has seen the departure of Hugues de la Marnierre, London-based global head of sales, amid a restructure at the bank.
Safety in numbers
Global FX strategists Niels From and Sebastien Galy at Dresdner Kleinwort in Frankfurt and London illustrate the perils of strategy diversification with a strategy based on current account extremes
Fincad launches in the UK
DUBLIN - Financial analytics software and service provider Fincad has expanded its international operations by establishing an EMEA headquarters in Dublin.
Volatility profits Icap
LONDON - High volatility in currency markets led to a 35% rise in first-half foreign exchange revenues at interdealer broker Icap, according to results released last week.
New Deutsche indexes map currency correlation in Asia
SINGAPORE - Deutsche Bank has launched a set of indexes designed to capture returns generated by the apparent growing co-ordination of currency policy among Asian central banks.
BGC departs retail FX
LONDON - Interdealer broker BGC Partners is exiting the retail foreign exchange market to focus on core interdealer broking business, a source has told FX Week .
Woe is USD
The US financial crisis needs to deepen to realise a structural super-bearish USD view, says Mike Gallagher, director of research at IDEAglobal in London
Citi and Goldman break into retail FX
NEW YORK & COPENHAGEN - Citi and Goldman Sachs are breaking into the retail foreign exchange market by launching an online FX margin trading platform and buying a 10% stake in an online retail CFD company, respectively.
India to trade rupee futures
MUMBAI - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing to introduce rupee futures to create more hedging tools in light of rising capital inflows.