Foreign exchange
Is it all over for over-the-counter?
Bills proposed in the US Congress to limit the influence of speculators and boost transparency could significantly alter the OTC commodity trading landscape. Roderick Bruce reports
EDF slammed by Tartam tariff pricing
The French government's implementation of regulated energy prices has hammered its state-owned champion's 2008 results and undermined market liberalisation. Roderick Bruce reports
Constellation refocuses
Loss-making firm Constellation Energy looks to restructure and focus on power generation after rejecting a merger deal with MidAmerican
Banks pull back from market-making
A lack of OTC market-making is causing concern about long-term liquidity in the energy markets. The future of market-making depends on the banking industry, reports Katie Holliday
Banks pull back from market-making
A lack of OTC market-making is causing concern about long-term liquidity in the energy markets. The future of market-making depends on the banking industry, reports Katie Holliday
Dow Jones offers South Asian Federation indexes
Index provider Dow Jones Indexes and the South Asian Federation of Exchanges (Safe) have launched the Dow Jones Safe 100 Index and the Dow Jones Safe Pakistan Index, which measure the performance of blue-chip companies in five of the eight member states…
UBS admits Sfr20.9 billion loss for 2008
Swiss bank UBS recorded a bigger-than-expected net loss of Sfr20.9 billion ($18.03 billion) for 2008, driven by losses and writedowns on exposures to US real estate assets.
Bank nationalisation not an option, conference told
Calls for the short-term nationalisation of US banks are impractical, since the US government cannot nationalise all banks simultaneously, and nationalising only a few will prove unworkable, delegates at the Chicago Board Options Exchange risk management…
Time ripe for inflation investments and hedges, says Sinopia chief
The launch of a variety of fiscal stimulus packages by Asian and western governments combined with quantitative easing by some central banks has renewed concerns about the risk of significant increases in future inflation rates around the world.
SunTrust broadens exposure with deposit product
SunTrust Bank has launched a certificate of deposit (CD) for US investors which offers exposure to a World Basket of US, Japanese and European equity indexes. The five-year CDs pay a minimum fixed return of 3% at maturity, plus 100% of initial investor…
Agora-X launches OTC platform for energy and metals
Agora-X, an electronic trading platform, has launched a new platform for the negotiation, execution and clearing of over-the-counter (OTC) trades in energy and metal contracts.
Bernanke calls for regulatory overhaul of financial system
An overhaul of how the government regulates the financial system is required to prevent future economic crises, said US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke in a speech delivered before the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington today.
Roubini: Short-term nationalisation of US banks is best means to end recession
Ailing US financial institutions being propped up by capital injections from the Federal Reserve should instead be put into short-term nationalisation to hasten the end of the recession, a leading academic has said.
Japanese CDO market shrinks in 2008, says Moody's
The collateralised debt obligation (CDO) market in Japan last year contracted by 12% to about ¥1 trillion ($10.2 billion) in terms of deals rated by Moody's Investors Service.
Sassoon report suggests folding FSA into the Bank of England
Daily news headlines
Single Family Offices reduce equities, increase cash, and ETF education
Education will increase the allocation that family offices in Europe make to structured products and exchange traded funds (ETFs), says Gary Dugan, chief investment officer EMEA of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Bruce Love of Campden Research…
Risk South Africa: investors have changed commodity markets
Increased investor involvement in commodity markets has changed the way they operate, according to Danny Masters, co-founder of commodity hedge fund Global Advisors and former head of the global energy trading group at JP Morgan.
Ice launches US CDS clearing service
Atlanta-based derivatives exchange IntercontinentalExchange (Ice) launched its credit default swap (CDS) central clearing platform on March 9 after receiving the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 6.
US Wrap: Equity bulls come out in force with growth structures
Accelerated growth products were the only structures to be launched in the US market yesterday, linking to both international and domestic equity. International exposure was provided by two products linked to the iShares MSCI Eafe Index fund. It was…
Risk South Africa: more transparency needed to end crisis
Government programmes aimed at ending the global financial crisis require greater transparency to shore up investor confidence, said Robert McAdie, global head of credit strategy at Barclays Capital.
Brokerage launches environmental arm
Phoenix Partners Group, an interdealer credit and equity derivatives broker, has launched an environmental brokerage service for the worldwide renewable energy and emissions markets.
Bank of England reveals £75 billion asset purchase programme
The Bank of England plans to buy up £75 billion of assets over the next three months, including medium-term government bonds (gilts) in the secondary markets and commercial paper from the private sector.
IASB amends fair-value disclosure
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has amended disclosure requirements for the fair-value measurement of financial instruments, further aligning International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) with US Generally Accepted Accounting…