Feature
EU officials act on post-Enron policy issues
European Union (EU) finance ministers and central bankers ordered a review on Saturday of the supervisory issues for derivatives trading and the preparation of financial data to try to avoid any Enron-like collapses in Europe.
Merrill makes more key FX hires
Merrill Lynch has made another number of key hires to its FX team following the appointment of Michael deSa as global head of FX late last year. The US investment bank has lured Adam Kreysar, the highly rated global head of FX options at UBS, as its new…
Credit Markets Update: Merrill spreads hit as disclosure fears grow
The cost of five-year protection on Merrill Lynch's senior debt rose a sharp 16 basis points today, due to ongoing investigations into conflicts of interest between its equity research and corporate finance divisions.
Options on fixed exchange rates and the Argentine peso devaluation
Sponsor`s statement
Electronic platforms short circuit
E-trading
Cognotec in Asian sales push with new hire
Irish e-commerce FX trading services company, Cognotec, has hired Patrick Lim from Standard Chartered to boost its sales in Asia.
Engineering forex
Mathematical Methods for Foreign Exchange – A Financial Engineer’s Approach, by Alexander Lipton World Scientific 700 pages, $75 (hardback), $48 (paperback) ISBN 981-02-4615-3 (hardback) ISBN 981-02-4283-7 (paperback)
Credit Markets Update: Telecoms hit as Qwest, Nortel contagion spreads
Credit default swaps on Qwest Communications rose to 900bp/950bp over Libor in the five-year, with a significant inversion on the swap curve, according to credit derivatives traders in New York and London. Qwest's problems led to default protection costs…
Green scheme down under
Robin Lancaster reports on Australia’s government-mandated renewable energy certificates market, which – after a slow start – is expected to pick up fast
Many are called, few are chosen
The market for power trading technology in Europe is mirroring the energy industry in the intensity of its competition. Benjamin Tait reports
Navigating a troubled road
Don Stowers finds the online energy trading market place as competitive as ever, with several new platforms ready to enter the fray
Pause for thought?
Electricity deregulation in Ontario promises to avoid the price hikes and power shortages seen in some markets. So why are end-users unhappy? Kevin Foster reports
Stand-off over hub plans
German firms Ruhrgas and BEB Erdgas & Erdöl and Norway’s Statoil say they want to work with Gasunie on developing the northwest European natural gas trading hub. Gasunie is making similar noises. So why the separate plans, asks Peter Joy
Counterparty concerns
Following the California crisis and the fall of Enron, energy firms are finally paying more attention to credit risk. Here Fred Cohen, Satyan Malhotra and Rafael Cavestany present some overarching issues senior management must address in implementing an…
Building blocks for complex probability distributions
Brett Humphreys demonstrates how to construct more accurate return distributions and use them to price options
Covering the threat
Since September 11, energy companies have had to re-assess the threat of terrorist attack. Despite the insurance industry introducing new terms and products, some companies remain unprotected, as Joel Hanley discovers
Floating towards disaster
Argentine peso risk
Towards the mainstream
Emerging forex modelling
Against the currency grain
Mexican peso modelling
Can we say goodbye to currency crises?
Currency divergency
Exotic FX pulse set to race
The forex business
Every currency counts
Overlay management
Will the latest delay sink Basle II?
Reactions to the latest delay in the Basle II banking accord timetable were mixed, with some bankers and regulators fearing the pact could unravel, while others were optimistic that the roadblocks to agreement would be cleared away.
SPE accounting proposal threatens CDO market
Proposed changes to US accounting standards for special-purpose entities (SPEs) could cause a dramatic decline in issuance of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs), analysts say.