Currency
BAML live on CLS/Traiana by October
NEW YORK - Bank of America Merrill Lynch is due to go live on the CLS/Traiana joint venture trade-aggregation service by October, making it the last of the eight founding banks to begin processing through the service.
Lufthansa wary of OTC regulations
Corporates across the globe have lobbied to ensure end-users are not subjected to new clearing requirements for derivatives. For Lufthansa’s treasury department in Frankfurt, ensuring it is able to continue to hedge its foreign exchange and interest rate…
Currency managers down in June
STAMFORD, CT - The Parker FX index made a loss at -0.79% in June, as currency markets saw a broad-based reversal of currencies versus the US dollar.
Gold points to repeat of summer 2008
Simon Derrick, chief foreign exchange strategist at Bank of New York Mellon in London, looks at where gold is heading and what this says about investor sentiment
Markets brace for stress tests
LONDON – The euro traded firmly ahead of the European bank stress test results last Friday (July 23), despite expectations several banks will fail. But analysts warned the common currency is still a risk asset.
CLS targets buy side with Omgeo
NEW YORK - CLS and Omgeo have teamed up to improve post-trade reporting by the buy-side community with the addition of CLS FX instructions to Omgeo’s standard settlement instruction (SSI) database.
EBS chases competition with decimalisation launch
NEW YORK - EBS's plans to offer decimalisation at the end of August could lead to a fall in market liquidity, caution traders.
Hotspot FX volumes up year-on-year
JERSEY CITY, NJ - Hotspot FX reported average daily volumes of $37.2 billion – double count – in June, up from $22.5 billion a year earlier.
2010 the year of the yen
Simon Smith, chief economist at retail trading company FxPro in London, says the yen will drive currency markets in the second half of the year
CIBC continues FSG build
TORONTO - CIBC has made four key hires in its financial institutions group (FSG) in London, Toronto and Hong Kong, as it builds up its global capabilities.
Nomura becomes settlement member of CLS
LONDON - Nomura has gone live as a CLS settlement member and shareholder as of July 12, having previously used third-party settlement services from Citi, the bank announced on July 19.
Post-trade innovation set to drive up volumes
NEW YORK - Post-trade functions will become more important in foreign exchange trading operations as the FX market evolves through greater use of high-frequency trading, according to speakers at the FX Week USA conference on July 13.
ParkerFX makes small gain in May
STAMFORD, CT - The Parker FX Index has reported a return of 0.14% for May, as currency markets were marked by risk aversion amid fears of a double-dip recession, increased risk contagion from the European sovereign debt crisis and significant declines in…
RBS adds in e-sales
STAMFORD, CT – Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is increasing coverage of electronic sales to financial institutions with a hire from Barclays Capital in the US.
Exshaw signs up former colleague
NEW YORK - Christian Exshaw, head of distribution and global derivatives at CIBC, has recruited former Dresdner and Deutsche Bank colleague Ricardo Zulliger in New York.
Portware eyes streaming liquidity, TCA in FX upgrade
NEW YORK - Execution management system (EMS) vendor Portware has targeted liquidity management, extended algorithmic execution and transaction cost analysis (TCA) with version 5.0 of its Portware FX trading platform, released on July 13.
Short volatility up in June
LONDON - Currency managers going short volatility would have been top performers in June, benefiting from European market stress, indicates research from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
FX central clearing: A work in progress
No-one’s the wiser about the implications of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on forex options. And perhaps it won’t even matter by the time the legislation becomes fully scripted.
BlackTree live on dbSelect
LONDON - BlackTree Investments, a London-based currency manager founded by an ex-Lehman Brothers fixed-income team, has gone live on Deutsche Bank’s multi-manager managed account platform, dbSelect.
The challenges of CVA
The onset of the financial crisis spurred banks to charge for counterparty credit risk in their forex dealings. But how to do that is proving theoretically and practically challenging. By John Ferry
Morgan Stanley looks to extend Matrix
LONDON - Morgan Stanley is set to launch streaming Asian and Latin American non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) next month, on its cross-asset front end, Matrix, following its recent global launch.
BNPP eyes European FXPB business
BNP Paribas moved steadily to launch into the foreign exchange prime brokerage market with the acquisition of staff and infrastructure from defunct insurance company AIG last year. But with that business focused on the US, rivals argue the French dealer…
EU regulation will force insurers to up FX hedging programmes
BRUSSELS - The EU’s current proposals for risk-based insurance regulation – referred to as Solvency II - will result in firms based in countries with shallow domestic bond markets ramping up up their FX hedging programmes, according to Lars Oswald Dahl,…
Credit Suisse continues Asia build
HONG KONG - Credit Suisse made a significant push to expand its presence in the foreign exchange market in the Asia-Pacific, with six sales hires in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.