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Greenspan highlights mortgage agency concerns
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan yesterday warned that government backing for US mortgage agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, may prompt those that trade their mortgage securities to take excess risks. His comments are likely to further heat up…
TFS-Icap signs up DerivaTech
TFS-Icap, the hybrid voice and electronic broker for currency options, today said it has started to use the DerivaTech platform as its foreign exchange tool for voice-brokered transactions.
Major Spanish client for patsystems
Banesto Bolsa, the Spanish brokerage arm of the Banesto banking group, has signed up to J-Trader Gold, a derivatives trading service supplied by patsystems, the London-based software vendor.
JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche join Currenex as member banks
JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank have joined Currenex, the electronic foreign exchange trading portal. Currenex said the additions will enhance liquidity on the FX trading platform, and the news follows from the collapse of rival Atriax earlier this…
SGAM to hedge Santander’s Supersatisfaction II
SG Asset Management (SGAM) has won a contract to hedge an expected €1 billion of equity-linked deposits issued by Spanish bank Santander Central Hispano (SCH).
Risk 2002 Europe: Risk management remains an ‘art’, says Breeden
Douglas Breeden, dean of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, said risk management remains an ‘art’ despite significant theoretical advances in the subject, using the example of disparate pricing in US mortgage securities to illustrate his…
Risk 2002 Europe: BarCap head says Enron hires nearly integrated
Barclays Bank’s investment banking unit, Barclays Capital, plans to launch a fully integrated commodities risk management and financing service following its energy hiring spree during the past three months.
Credit Markets Update: telecom spreads rally in strong US equity market
This week telecoms continued their rally on the back of a strong US equity market, with spreads tightening by up to 10 basis points. But telecom equipment makers were punished by weak results from Nokia, and saw credit default swaps widen.
Isda AGM: Isda names netalytics backers
Robert Pickel, Isda chief executive, today revealed that BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and Royal Bank of Scotland have all signed up to its online netting analysis tool, netalytics.
Isda AGM: FpML2.0 ready for widespread deployment
The latest version of Financial products Market Language (FpML) – the e-commerce standard supporting OTC trading for financial derivatives – which could potentially save the industry $1 billion per year in processing costs, has received ‘trial…
Rates Markets Update: Swaps ride out terrorist scare
Interest rate swap spreads continued in a narrow range this week, despite a slight widening caused by the fear that the crash of a small plane into a Milan office building on Thursday was the work of terrorists. Initial fears led to 10-year US dollar…
Isda AGM: UBS Warburg Energy to expand online product offering
UBS Warburg Energy may add interest rate swaps along with metals and currency derivatives to the online energy-trading platform it bought from bankrupt energy trader Enron in January this year.
Isda AGM: Sweden could pull back from swaps market
More bank credit rating downgrades could prompt Sweden’s Debt Office to pull out of the swaps market. That was the warning delivered today to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association meeting by Erik Thedéen, head of the debt management…
Isda AGM: Isda launches netting analysis tool
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association will unveil a new online netting analysis tool called netalytics at its AGM on Friday. The netalytics service, developed through a joint venture with law firm Allen & Overy, is only available to Isda…
Isda AGM: No room for doom and gloom
At the International Swaps and Derivatives Association's AGM today, outgoing Deutsche Bank chairman Rolf Breuer predicted more strong growth for the derivatives industry, despite problems faced by other financial markets.
Credit Markets Update: Spreads narrow as outlook turns positive
US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s testimony before Congress today indicated that the Fed does not plan to raise interest rates any time soon and this, along with signs that the US economy is strengthening, caused spreads in the credit…
Isda AGM: Carver takes on SwapsWire challenge
SwapsWire, the electronic derivatives trade processing platform backed by 23 leading dealers, has announced that Chip Carver, head of e-commerce for the rates business at Goldman Sachs, has been recruited as its new chief executive. He replaces Andrew…
Insurers downplay ART role
The present and future presidents of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) downplayed expectations that the hard insurance market will lead to a growth of capital market insurance structures, often called alternative risk transfers (ART).
Deutsche appoints new fixed-income head in Europe
Deutsche Bank has appointed Scott Gewirtz as head of fixed income in Europe.
Isda AGM: New Isda board members unveiled
Henning Bruttel, head of foreign exchange and local markets at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in Frankfurt, was made the new vice-chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association today. He replaces Thomas Montag, managing director of…
Isda AGM: Enron report warns against a clampdown on derivatives
There is no need for further regulation of the over-the-counter (OTC) energy derivatives market, concludes an International Swaps and Derivatives Association report on the bankruptcy of Enron, published today.
Isda AGM: OTC derivatives growth soars in H2 – Isda survey
The value of notional outstandings of over-the-counter derivatives contracts grew significantly in the second half of last year, according to a survey released today by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Credit derivatives saw the most…