News/Wholesale
Cognotec moves into custody
SYDNEY – Technology vendor Cognotec this week launches a custody service that automates the forex component of securities transactions.
Students to trade forex, with a $10,000 prize
AUSTIN, Texas – Online forex platform GFT has set up a competition that pits students’ wits against a simulated FX market. The prize is $10,000 with which to trade on the real thing.
UK business unprepared for hedging changes
LONDON – Medium-sized UK companies are unprepared for forthcoming rule changes on accounting standards that require more rigorous reporting of FX exposure, according to forex specialist HiFX.
'Boiler room' retail FX fraudsters face US court for high-pressure techniques
NEW YORK – The retail foreign exchange market suffered another blow at the end of last month, as 11 men were indicted by a US court on charges of ‘boiler room’ fraud.
Asian expansion for Fimat
ASIA-PACIFIC & MIDDLE EAST – Fimat, the brokerage arm of Société Générale, is slated to use BT Radianz’ Proximity Solution in Asia to provide low-latency access to derivatives exchanges in Korea, Singapore and Japan.
MarketSpace adds more participants
CHICAGO – CME/Reuters’ joint venture FXMarketSpace has signed a second group of banks, saying this indicates widespread acceptance from market participants.
BarCap joins algo bandwagon
LONDON – Barclays Capital (BarCap) has joined a select group of banks that has started offering algorithmic trading for forex over their single-bank platforms.
BarCap enhances white-labelling
LONDON & MOUNTAIN VIEW – Barclays Capital has enhanced its white-label offering, signing an agreement with California-based Integral.
FXMarketSpace builds Americas sales force
LONDON – Forex trading platform FXMarketSpace has appointed Phillip Harris as senior vice-president and head of sales, Americas, as it continues to add staff ahead of its launch.
Rabobank becomes EBS Prime bank
LONDON – Rabobank has become the latest institution to join spot broker EBS’ Prime initiative as a prime bank.
New talent thin on the ground
LONDON – Banks are struggling to attract junior FX derivatives staff according to banks and headhunters.
Bloomberg revamps FX Dealing system
NEW YORK – Data and trading technology vendor Bloomberg has released a revamped version of its single and multibank request-for-quote (RFQ) system, FX Dealing.
Thailand coup makes little impact on baht
BANGKOK – Last week’s military coup in Thailand is unlikely to have a lasting impact on the baht, according to analysts in the region.
Senior hires at FXMarketSpace
LONDON – FXMarketSpace, the centrally cleared forex market-place established by Reuters and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), has made four senior hires to its global management team.
FXall sees strong take-up on MM platform
LONDON – More than 65 institutions have participated on the FXall money markets platform since it was launched in June, the platform said last week.
Mixed results for US banks
NEW YORK – Low volatility in currency markets provided a challenging third quarter for US investments banks, with a mixed bag of results released last week.
More fraud uncovered by CFTC
WASHINGTON, DC – The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has settled a forex fraud action resulting in over $2.5 million in civil penalties.
Bear builds metals business
NEW YORK – Bear Stearns has expanded its FX-aligned precious metals group to a global full-service hard-asset business through making hires and introducing product capabilities.
Merrill Lynch swoops on top Dresdner Kleinwort trio
LONDON – Merrill Lynch raided Dresdner Kleinwort last Thursday to take the bank’s most senior foreign exchange personnel.
Deutsche reorganisation sees commodities stripped from FX
LONDON – Deutsche Bank has restructured its forex capabilities, promoting global head of currencies and commodities Jim Turley to head the institutional client group.
FXdirekt expands eastern European footprint
Krefeld/Oberhausen – Online forex bank FXdirekt Bank is targeting its foreign exchange trading platform FEXtrader to Polish and Czech investors.
Merrill Lynch swoops on top Dresdner Kleinwort trio
LONDON – Merrill Lynch raided Dresdner Kleinwort last Thursday to take the bank’s most senior foreign exchange personnel.
Strategists in demand
GLOBAL – Forex strategists are en vogue this month, with a number of hires at major banks in the US and Europe.
ABN Amro rebuilds Swedish desk in London
LONDON – ABN Amro has re-established its multi-product Swedish coverage desk in London, as it continues to hub sales and trading in the city.