Enron
Bond Market Association warns Congress of catastrophe bond market disruption
Christopher McGhee, head of insurance risk-linked securities trading at insurance and reinsurance broker Marsh & McLennan Securities in New York, told a US House of Representatives financial services subcommittee yesterday that pending accounting changes…
Top regulators denounce attempt to resurrect OTC energy bill
The four most senior financial regulators in the United States have joined forces to express concern at legislative proposals to expand regulation of over-the-counter energy derivatives.
Isda worried about OTC regulation threats
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association is still voicing concern about attempts by US Californian Democrat senator Dianne Feinstein to regulate the energy and commodity derivatives market.
Icap signs letter of intent to buy out APB
The world’s largest inter-dealer broker, Icap, has entered preliminary agreement to buy out privately owned Kentucky-based energy broker APB Energy. APB brokers gas, electricity, weather and coal derivatives on its online platform, True Quote, and…
FOA updates end-user derivatives guidelines
UK trade body the Futures and Options Association (FOA) yesterday launched updated guidelines for derivatives end-users, which take into account electronic trading and the past year’s big US corporate failures.
IntesaBci pulls back from credit derivatives; overhauls risk
Italy’s largest bank, IntesaBci, plans to downsize its credit derivatives business as part of a dramatic restructuring of its business.
OTC power market down by 60% as firms switch to regulated markets
There has been a sharp decline in the number of over-the-counter gas and power contracts since the demise of Houston-based energy trader Enron. Firms initiating power trades are increasingly conducting them via exchanges or through their clearing…
September 11 accelerated energy sector woes, says S&P
Last year’s September 11 terrorists attacks that resulted in the destruction of New York's World Trade Center may have accelerated the onset of the US energy sector’s problems, according to a new report by Standard & Poor’s.
Online trading moves forward
Online energy trading seems to have a bright future, despite the two biggest players – Dynegy Direct and EnronOnline – leaving the market, finds Catherine Lacoursière
Corporate Collapses Change Role Of Compliance
To prevent exposure to massive claims, compliance technology is increasingly moving to the front office.
Ex-Aquila weather head says reinsurers are still backing his team
Five reinsurance companies that invested in troubled energy company Aquila’s weather business, which closed earlier this month, are likely to retain their partnerships with the old weather trading team headed by Ravi Nathan, former chairman of the…
Senator calls for speedier Enron indictments
North Dakota’s Democrat Senator Byron Dorgan has written a letter to US Attorney General John Ashcroft inquiring why there has been no action in prosecuting former Enron executives.
Rift emerges at CFTC over Feinstein bill
Thomas Erickson, a commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), yesterday said he fully supports increased oversight of energy derivatives trading, in the wake of Enron’s collapse. Erickson, testifying before the US Senate…
US central banker urges pillar 3 action now in light of scandals
Recent accounting scandals mean international banks should start improving their disclosure of risks and capital adequacy now and not wait for the pillar 3 disclosure provisions of the Basel II bank accord to take effect in late 2006, a senior US central…
Insurers play catch-up
Insurance companies around the globe are beginning to look at their own risk management practices and are finding them wanting. As a result, many firms are beginning to upgrade their risk procedures.
Chief risk officers
Risk is the business of insurance companies, but risk management in the sector is not nearly as developed as it is in the banking industry. Now, a new crop of chief risk officers will be trying to change all that.
Prosecutions of Enron staff highly unlikely, says ex-employee
A senior ex-Enron employee at the heart of the scandal that led to history's largest corporate bankruptcy told RiskNews' sister publication Energy & Power Risk Management that he expects no prosecution to be brought against Enron staff.
Senate kills proposed OTC energy regulation
The US Senate has blocked a measure to re-regulate the trading of over-the-counter (OTC) energy derivatives. Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic Senator from California, had proposed a bill amendment that would permit the Commodity Futures Trading Commission…
eSpeed licenses futures trading patent to Ice
Technology company eSpeed has licensed its electronic futures trading patent to online energy platform Intercontinental Exchange (Ice). The move will enable Ice to expand its electronic trading platform to cover energy futures and options contracts…
Exposing exposures: how far will it go?
The Enron debacle has spurred investors and creditors to press for greater disclosure of corporate risk and hedging strategies. Companies are beginning to respond. How far will it go?
FSF chair backs SPVs but calls for better disclosure
The Financial Stability Forum (FSF), a body of national supervisors set up in 1999, has emphasised the need for greater disclosure and corporate governance in the wake of a number of high-profile bankruptcies, at its first meeting following the collapse…