Foreign exchange
US-UK regulators clash over Basel II implementation
Last week, senior executives from the US Federal Reserve and the UK Financial Services Authority clashed over the differing implementation plans for the Basel Accord revisions in a pair of speeches delivered to two financial industry trade organization…
Duke exits North America prop trading
Duke Energy has closed its proprietary trading business at its North American merchant energy businesses, Duke Energy North America (DENA) and Duke Energy Merchants (DEM). The move by the Charlotte, North Carolina-based energy company was not entirely…
Offshore outsourcing poses serious risks for brokers
MASSACHUSETTS - A report issued in March by Massachusetts-based consulting firm TowerGroup - Offshore outsourcing onslaught to impact brokerage spending, staffing, and service landscape - examines how growing numbers of US securities firms are opting to…
Exceptional operational risks: Three myths debunked
Are there common features among exceptional operational risks beyond their defining characteristics of rarity and severe consequences?
Isda AGM: Buffett’s criticisms of the derivatives market rebuffed
A wide range of leading derivatives practitioners attending the International Swaps and Derivatives (Isda) annual general meeting spoke out against last month’s comments by US investor Warren Buffett, in which he compared derivatives to “weapons of mass…
Moody’s sees record Japanese yen CDO issuance
International rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said today it rated a record ¥3.02 trillion ($25 billion) of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) in the first quarter of the year. That compares to full-year volume of ¥3.14 trillion in 2002.
Buy side slow on FpMLtake-up
LONDON - One would be forgiven for thinking that Financial Products Mark-up Language (FpML) is another information exchange standard that has been superseded or has simply run out of steam, given the protocol's low media profile in the wake of the…
Derivatives disclosure calls mount
Warren Buffett's stinging critique of the derivatives business in March represents the latest call for more derivatives disclosure. But despite some notable moves in this direction, most financial institutions remain stubbornly opaque.
Banks set to define op risk modelling for regulators at May conference
NEW YORK - The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's Risk Management Group is organising a conference in New York at the end of May designed to help the international regulatory body understand current bank op risk modelling practices and inform the…
European Commission publishes consultation results
Brussels - Over 100 written responses to a consultation on a new framework on capital requirements for banks and investment firms have been published on the European Commission's website.
City firms focus on business continuity as Iraq war increases terrorist threat
The threat of terrorist attacks in response to US and UK military intervention in Iraq has highlighted the need for financial institutions operating in the UK to have suitable business continuity arrangements, a senior UK regulator said in March.
The data deluge
Instant messaging and e-mail are critical tools for traders. But the need to oversee and archive the huge volumes of data they create has become a serious operational risk issue for broker-dealers. Clive Davidson examines the ways firms are dealing with…
Profile: JP Morgan treasury services moves beyond measurement
"We've got to an environment were there are enough scorecards and metrics in place," says Angus Grandfield, head of operational risk for the treasury services division of JP Morgan Chase's Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.
Widening the net
Compliance
Risk 2003 Europe: Liquidity risk best practice needed, says Nordea’s Hansen
The absence of either established best practice or sufficient academic theory in the area of liquidity risk management is problematic, said Mads Smith Hansen at the eighth annual Risk Europe conference in Paris yesterday.
Buy side faces increased op risk scrutiny
NEW YORK - Buy-side firms' ability to effectively manage operational risk is attracting more scrutiny from sell-side colleagues, according to a panel held on March 26 at Risk Waters Group's OpRisk 2003 USA conference in New York.
Risk Europe 2003: Still no "best practice" for integrating economic and regulatory capital, says Buerger
There is still no "best practice" approach to implementing an effective risk management framework that integrates economic and regulatory capital requirements, Peter Buerger, head of group risk control at Germany's Commerzbank, told delegates attending…
Fractured consensus
The dispute between the US and many of its allies over Iraq has eroded US commitment to multilateralism and damaged the credibility of multilateral institutions. How will this affect Basel II?
Op risk charge up for grabs again?
The charge for operational risk may be altered in the upcoming third consultation paper (CP3) from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, due out in May.
Risk Europe 2003: High credit volatility is here to stay, says Lehman’s Rieder
The high volatility of the US credit markets witnessed in the past couple of years will become a permanent market feature in the future, according to Rick Rieder, head of global credit at Lehman Brothers. Rieder, a keynote speaker at Risk ’s eighth…
IT infrastructure influences credit ratings, say agencies
NEW YORK - Credit rating agencies, including Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody’s Investor Services and Fitch Ratings, are now more frequently assessing buy-side technology in terms of supporting operations and, in some instances, sources of operational risk.
Isda AGM: Japanese derivatives slowdown due to poor health of financial intermediaries, says Broadman
A slowdown in outstanding derivatives volumes in Japan over the last few years can be partly attributed to the poor financial health of the country’s intermediaries and banks, according to Bart Broadman, vice-chairman and head of credit and rate markets…
Risk Europe 2003: Still no “best practice” for integrating economic and regulatory capital, says Buerger
There is still no “best practice” approach to implementing an effective risk management framework that integrates economic and regulatory capital requirements, Peter Buerger, head of group risk control at Germany’s Commerzbank, told delegates attending…
Isda AGM: BOJ reiterates intention to purchase corporate ABS
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) today reiterated its intention to buy asset-backed securities from small and medium sized companies in an unprecedented move to remedy the ills of the Japanese financial system.