Technology/Exchanges

The right tool for the job

The use of derivatives and structured products in mutual funds is on the increase, especially since the liberalisation of the UK's authorised collective investment scheme and the introduction of Ucits III. But is the asset management industry equipped to…

Banks get stressed

The UK's Financial Services Authority has called on banks to improve stress testing of possible disruptive events, while the Basel Committee declared last year that firms must supplement their value-at-risk models with stress tests. But some bankers…

Coping with setbacks

Most risk managers and employees in energy companies are familiar with the concepts of market risk and credit risk, but operational risk is receiving more attention in corporate boardrooms these days, writes Sandy Fielden

Deciding on a future

A handful of companies are exploring how markets can improve decision-making, while academics are using futures trading to predict influenza outbreaks. Prediction markets have come a long way since the collapse of a controversial Pentagon-funded project…

Caruana to end stint as Basel Committee chairman

Jaime Caruana will step down as chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in July, when his six-year tenure as head of the Spanish central bank expires. A Bank for International Settlements (BIS official says the Committee plans to discuss…

MiFID support high, despite the costs

In the first of a new series of articles surveys exploring in more detail the inner workings of the op risk and compliance disciplines, Georgina Kenyon examines the results of a recent survey into the controversial MiFID directive

A case for convergence?

With Basel II regulatory capital becoming increasingly more risk-sensitive, the value of a separate economic capital system must be questioned. Christopher Hall of Risk Advisors considers the differences between economic capital and regulatory capital,…

In defence of Gazprom

The Russian gas giant's recent price dispute with Ukraine has not given it the best start to the year, but the cat calls of political bullying are not deterring Gazprom's European customers, writes Oliver Holtaway