Energy
Rallying cry for Italy
Italian banks are racing to catch up with their largest US and European competitors in risk modelling. Inspired by Mauro Maccarinelli, IntesaBci is leading the pack.
ABN’s Mulder calls for faster op risk implementation
Bankers were urged to accelerate implementation of operational risk management practices to better serve their institutions ahead of Basel II by Herman Mulder, senior executive vice-president for group risk management at Dutch bank ABN Amro, during a…
FSA chairman voices CDO concerns
The Financial Services Authority (FSA), the UK's principal regulator, is concerned that the rapid growth of credit risk transfers between banks and insurers/ reinsurers could affect financial stability.
CORRECTION: I-Wex backs hourly data to boost weather market
A correction has been made to the final paragraph of this story, published on RiskNews, January 25. Element Re, and not Aquila, as stated in the original story, has become QuantWeather's first customer.
I-Wex backs hourly data to boost weather market
I-Wex, a UK-based data provider, has launched QuantWeather.com, an online platform for historical weather data. Speaking at the product’s launch, at Risk ’s WeatherRisk 2002 conference in New York, Nick Mooney, I-Wex’s chief executive, claimed…
Market upbeat as WeatherRisk 2002 opens
The WeatherRisk 2002 conference in New York opened today in upbeat mood, with speakers predicting strong future growth in the market despite the pull out of two leading weather derivatives trading firms, Enron and BNP Paribas.
BNP Paribas closes weather derivatives unit
BNP Paribas has withdrawn from the weather derivatives market in a move likely to prompt closer scrutiny of weather-trading unit performance at other banks.
LNG comes in from the cold
Will the current rise in activity in the liquefied natural gas industry result in the product being traded in the same way as other commodities? By Eurof Thomas
On a slow road
Many in the energy industry are touting Italy as the next country in Europe to fully open its energy market to competition. But on closer examination, the country has a long way to go if it is to emulate the UK, the Nordic region and Germany. By Robin…
Regulators want active dialogue on op risk
BASEL - Active dialogue between banks and their supervisors is the key to the continued development of approaches to managing operational risk, global banking regulators said in a much-delayed paper on op risk sound practices issued in December.
FASB: loan commitments must be treated like derivatives
The US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) ruled last month that some unfunded loan commitments made by banks should be treated like derivatives and marked-to-market. The ruling came nearly nine months after Goldman Sachs first proposed the…
Basel II sets the pace for operational risk reform
Basel II is set to come into play in 2005, bringing a host of opportunities for vendors along with the new framework for banking supervision. Andrew Partridge examines the potential and some of the challenges for the suppliers and users of financial…
2002 the year ahead
Market overview
Regulators want active dialogue on op risk
BASLE II UPDATE
The silver lining
Enron’s collapse could ironically give a boost to the telecoms market, as Enron Broadband Services bows out of the limelight. By Laurence Neville
Race to replace Enron in freight
Sarfraz Thind talks to firms with the potential to take up the slack following Enron’s departure from the freight derivatives market
Fallout for energy markets
Enron’s collapse led to short-lived increases in electricity and natural gas volatility. As the markets settle down, the question now is who will fill Enron’s shoes? By Kevin Foster
Software survey 2002 |
Some online risk management products failed to live up to expectations last year, but software vendors forge ahead, developing products that support fast-growing markets such as credit derivatives and CDOs, and tools to help banks meet Basel II…
Enron and systemic risk
Regulators worry that concentrating derivatives market-making in a few major dealers poses severe systemic risk issues. Could one big player’s failure break the whole system? David Rowe says Enron is an ideal test case, with some encouraging indications
JP Morgan accuses WestLB on $165m Enron swap
JP Morgan Chase has accused WestLB of failing to make payment on a $165 million letter of credit (l/c) backing an Enron-related swap. JP Morgan Chase made the dispute public, though it did not name West LB, instead merely referring to “a European…