Trading
Saxo Bank upgrades options trading platform
COPENHAGEN – Danish firm Saxo Bank has enhanced its SaxoTrader 2 platform to offer live streaming prices on options in all major currency crosses.
CFTC fines SA resident for forex fraud
WASHINGTON, DC – A New York court has fined a South African resident over $1 million for FX fraud, in an action brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Time for a kiwi revival
John Horner, FX strategist for Deutsche Bank in Sydney, points to reasons to be positive on the New Zealand dollar
GFT benefits from low-vol prediction
ADA, MICHIGAN – Online currency trading firm Global Forex Trading (GFT) has been by far the most consistently accurate forecaster for the three-month period this year. It has topped the three-month historical index every week since March 13. Its short…
Trader Tools to offer ASP for wider access
NEW YORK – Trader Tools is set to launch an application service provider (ASP) product targeted at mid-tier banks to enable a wider range of institutions to access the vendor’s FX technology.
Further boost for Wachovia
HONG KONG – Wachovia has poached two forex sales personnel from Standard Chartered in Singapore and Hong Kong, as it continues to increase its presence in Asia.
IFX launches multi-manager fund
LONDON – IFX Capital Markets, part of IFX Group, has launched a currency multi-manager portfolio targeted at retail and institutional customers.
Currenex adds precious metals
NEW YORK – Currenex is expanding its footprint into precious metals with the addition of gold and silver trading.
UBS maintains results trend
ZURICH & BASEL – UBS has continued the trend of strong FX results posted by US and European banks with record results for the second quarter.
Management changes at top banks
GLOBAL – It has been a week of senior management movement at two top banks, with Deutsche and Standard Chartered seeing changes to their line-ups.
Anonymity does not always equal profitability
FXall has jumped on the anonymity bandwagon, and the Reuters/CME venture offers another way to access liquidity discretely. But whether these ventures will succeed is debatable.
Penson enhances FX offering
MONTREAL – Trading platform Penson FX has enhanced its capabilities to introduce auto-dealing and allow access via FIX.
Bond and cyclical trades best for currencies
LONDON – Bond spread and cyclical divergence trades should make up a greater share of currency portfolio risk in coming months, according to research from JP Morgan.
Travelex makes first foray into Austria
EUROPE – Travelex, the FX specialist, has acquired the overseas business of ReiseBank for e3.4 million.
Shock departure from Hotspot FX
JERSEY CITY, NJ – The surprise departure of John Eley, president and chief executive officer of electronic communications network (ECN) Hotspot FX last week has puzzled industry participants.
Building long AUD/NZD positions with less risk
Besa Deda, Sydney-based currency strategist for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, looks at how to gain long exposure to AUD/NZD amid high volatility
Commerz hires trading trio
FRANKFURT – Commerzbank Corporates & Markets (CBCM) has boosted its Frankfurt-based forex trading desk with three new hires in over-the-counter options and warrants trading.
Automating FX – algorithmic trading in foreign exchange
Interest in algorithmic trading in FX is growing. John Bates, vice-president, Apama Products, Progress Software, discusses the advantages, and analyses the latest market innovations
Forex trader faces possible execution
HANOI – A bank employee faces possible execution in Vietnam after the bank lost some $5.4 million in allegedly unauthorised prop trading.
Pension funds should increase FX exposure – Deutsche Bank
LONDON – Pension funds should substantially increase their exposure to forex in order to increase returns and decrease volatility of returns, according to research from Deutsche Bank released last week.
Lloyds benefits from strong sterling
A view that sterling would soar against the US dollar saw LloydsTSB Financial Markets claim top spot in the one-month table, with a forecast for cable of 1.87 against an average prediction of 1.85.
Rouble hits seven-year peak against dollar
MOSCOW – The rouble hit its highest level against the US dollar for seven years last week, as the soaring price of oil boosted the Russian unit.
MarketSpace gears up for launch
CHICAGO & NEW YORK – FXMarketSpace, the CME/Reuters joint venture, is set to reveal its offering with a prototype graphical user interface (GUI) to be released later this month as it makes its first hires.
COESfx fined over fraud
WASHINGTON, DC – Two more cases of forex fraud were revealed last week, with US FX platform COESfx fined for misleading customers who suffered heavy trading losses.