Opinion
The challenge of re-setting precedents
As if there weren’t enough inconsistencies between regulators, the Bank for International Settlements' head of monetary and economic policy, Stephen Cecchetti, has said corporates should not be exempt from clearing over-the-counter derivatives through…
New rules for new markets
It’s all about the emerging markets managing their exposure to the eurozone. Last week, Hong Kong and Malaysia also moved to offer a common bond-settlement system.
On your marks...
One of the foreign exchange market mega-trends in 2010-2020 will be the use of the Swiss franc as a proxy for the old German mark, says Mansoor Mohi-uddin, global FX strategist at UBS in Singapore
The euro's new clothes
Nick Beecroft, senior markets consultant at Saxo Bank in London presents a gloomy prediction of the next phase in the 2007-2010 debt crisis
No margin for error
Are money market margins a new science or just an overhaul? By Carl Martin, group technology director at Eurobase Banking Solutions in London
Confusion over regulations continues
The new foreign exchange committee could not have come at a better time, with much confusion over the status of currency derivatives in Germany, following its government’s decision to backtrack on a proposed ban earlier last week.
Latin America: Looking beyond the correction
Morgan Stanley analysts believe there will be scope for a recovery in emerging market assets once the positioning becomes more balanced – primarily with respect to real-money investors, which will mean a bit of repricing
Out of crisis comes opportunity?
The past few weeks of rampant volatility have no doubt put the technology of a number dealers to the test. particularly interesting though are the strategic rumours circulating about an unlikely dealer.
Asia's currencies steady under pressure
Callum Henderson, global head of foreign exchange research at Standard Chartered in Singapore, says the Asia play is far from over, despite the recent pullback in the region’s currencies
Euro and sterling – love to loathe
Daragh Maher, foreign exchange strategist at Crédit Agricole in London, discusses the struggle of the euro and sterling in the face of recent political events, and asks which is winning the battle of the battered
China draws on Japan experience
The message was clear at the FX Week China congress in Beijing last Tuesday, China will move on its currency, but at it’s own pace.
Why aren’t the Greeks using CLS?
A lesson learned from the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy was that, at times of stress, CLS plays a central role in ensuring forex traders are protected. It seems surprising then that only one Greek bank is using the settlement system.
Brazil raises intervention stakes
Nick Chamie of Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto reports on Brazil’s stance on intervention, as relayed by its finance minster at the Brazil Summit in April, and predicts how this will affect the real
Euro loses as markets play it safe
Greece continues to dominate the headlines. However, the contagion effect to other eurozone peripherals as well as concerns over Chinese monetary tightening and proposed financial regulatory reforms have been driving financial markets recently –…
Banks widen scope of IT budgets
Speakers at the FX Week webinar, FX technology arms race: the battle for market share, last Tuesday (April 20) covered a wide range of issues facing the industry post-crisis, including regulation, customers' increased demands and post-trade processing.
What the global power shift means for FX
A reoccurring theme prevailing among the buy side is the implications of a shift in power from the developed markets to the emerging economies.
The UK election: Lessons from the past
Pete Luxton, economic adviser at Informa Global Markets in London, looks at past UK elections in an effort to predict the upcoming May 6 election's impact on the sterling
White-labelling: Why re-invent the wheel?
Christian Bock, managing partner of Consulting for Banking and Brokerage Solutions (CBBS) in Zurich, looks at the benefits of using a white-labelled platform and the issues to consider when choosing one
Clearing exemption too close to call
Exempting commercial hedgers from mandatory clearing could create a loophole for the institutional investors often blamed for driving up commodity prices, according to the chief lawyer for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), reports Risk.net.
Morgan Stanley plays the Japan card
Morgan Stanley’s FX prime brokerage business has gained a strategic advantage in the Japanese market through a new partnership with Japanese heavyweight Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG).
EBS contemplates new direction
Interdealer broker Icap is continuing to evaluate ways to expand its business proposition, perhaps employing the more technology vendor-approach taken by rival platforms Currenex and FXall.
Smaller banks shut out by new regulations
A heavy regulatory burden will have the unintended effect of killing off competition, according to speakers at a conference held in London last week.
Sovereign power
Peter Luxton, global economic adviser at Informa Global Markets in London, looks at how sovereign risk is increasingly playing a role in the currency markets
Buy side resigned to higher pricing
Buy-side traders have emerged as post-crisis neo-realists, with a sense of resignation, and some scarring, in the tone of speakers at the FX Invest Europe congress in Zurich last Tuesday (March 9).