Commodities
Launched in 1994, Energy Risk is an online publication and in-person events company dedicated to the energy risk management and risk transfer business.
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Growing up fast
Weather trading is seeing strong volume growth in the US, largely due to the influx of hedge funds into the market. Why such a big increase in interest, and what sort of strategies are the funds adopting? By Joe Marsh
Baiting the hook
End-users such as utilities and industrial companies are not showing the same keenness as hedge funds for trading weather derivatives, despite the efforts of banks, dealers and brokers to lure them in. By Joe Marsh
Clearing houses prepare to fight for FFAs
New angles
Playing catch-up
Automated settlement
The CDO detectives
Cover Story
The final countdown
The Basel Committee's most recent quantitative impact study shows a wider variation in capital among participating banks than many had been expecting. But Gerhard Hofmann, Germany's representative on the Basel Committee, reckons Germany's banks are well…
Knocking down barriers
A new reinsurance directive passed by the European parliament in early June will eradicate the collateral requirements demanded by European supervisors. With a unified framework agreed for Europe, politicians are now turning their sights on the US. By…
MiFID: the race to comply
The EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive has been described as one of the most far-reaching overhauls of the financial industry ever. But with Basel II dominating the headlines, few firms have yet started to prepare in earnest for the 2007…
BNP Paribas strengthens energy derivatives team
French bank BNP Paribas has strengthened its commodity derivatives team in New York, London and Singapore, particularly on the energy side.
Former Swiss Re weather experts launch hedge fund
Weather risk veterans Mark Tawney and Bill Windle, who left global reinsurer Swiss Re on July 7, are starting a hedge fund, named Takara, Energy Risk has learned. Weather trader Bill MacLauchlan departed Swiss Re at the same time, for personal reasons.
Nymex, Icap to launch gas, crude oil daily settlement derivatives
The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and inter-dealer broker Icap are to launch an electronic market in same-day over-the-counter (OTC) options on prompt-month settlement prices for crude oil and natural gas. Starting on Monday (July 18), the…
Nymex and Icap launch same-day OTC energy options
The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and brokerage firm Icap are to launch an over-the-counter (OTC) market in same-day options on crude oil and natural gas on July 18.
Five new Dow Jones-AIG indexes launched
Dow Jones Indexes and AIG Financial Products have released five new indexes and sub-indexes covering futures on commodities including agricultural products and energy.
Some brokers taking wrong approach to freight, says senior broker
Inter-dealer brokers could be taking the wrong approach by entering the freight derivatives market through joint ventures with physical shipping brokers rather than directly broking physical freight, says a senior energy broker.
Struggling for growth
All three Canadian energy exchanges – NGX, Watt-Ex and NetThruPut – are finding it slow-going with their expansion plans. Meanwhile the rivalry between NGX and Watt-Ex is growing. Joe Marsh reports
Storage strategies
Companies are increasingly realising they can use natural gas storage to add value to their bottom line. TransCanada’s Farzan Nathoo weighs up the strategies available for optimising value through storage
SEC: What's Next?
William Donaldson's quick retirement from the chairmanship of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month brings to mind the pithy Italian proverb from the recent Papal Conclave: "After a fat Pope, a skinny pope."