Foreign exchange
Trade associations launch IRB survey
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the Risk Management Association and the British Bankers' Association today launched a survey of the validation of banks' internal credit ratings, a key element underlying the internal ratings-based …
Cad 3 - Against their will [full story]
Europe's asset management industry is chiding Brussels bureaucrats for trying to bury it under a mountain of Basel-inspired regulation, which could boost costs and capital charges.
Small firms welcome EU proposals
BRUSSELS - European investment firms welcomed the European Commission's decision to create a special regime for them in terms of the operational risk provisions of proposed new capital adequacy rules, according to trade bodies representing the firms.
Capturing value from energy supply and trading
New Frontiers
Hetco stops power trading
Hetco, the New York-based proprietary energy trading company, has closed its power trading desk. Hetco was created in 1997 as a joint venture between US oil major Amerada Hess and Stephen Hendel and Stephen Semlitz, two former partners of Goldman Sachs,…
Commission highlights weak points of op risk insurance
BRUSSELS - The European Commission highlighted in November major drawbacks to the use of operational risk insurance to reduce op risk capital charges, despite its readiness to explore a wider use of insurance than that proposed in the Basel II bank…
Financial institutions must take lead in rebuilding public trust, says PwC
Financial institutions need to lead the way in improved transparency, but are uncertain about how best to improve their own standards of disclosure and governance, according to a study by financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Greenspan says international rules reflect cultural differences
WASHINGTON – Efforts to synchronise individual countries' regulatory systems are far more than a technical exercise – they largely reflect differing conventions of business behaviour, especially attitudes toward competition, US Federal Reserve Board…
OCC reports increase in derivatives notionals, but notes decrease in trading earnings
Derivatives held by US commercial banks increased by $3.1 trillion in the third quarter 2002, to $53.2 trillion, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said in its quarterly report. But the OCC also reported that earnings attributable to…
Europe's credit outlook remains bleak, says S&P
The most severe stage of the credit cycle may be over, but the creditworthiness of European companies and institutional borrowers will remain weak in 2003, according to rating agency Standard & Poor’s.
Academic voices dissatisfaction with Basel II
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision still has a great deal of work to do before the Basel II capital accord can be successfully implemented at financial institutions, Jacques Pézier, director of the risk management group of the ISMA Centre at the…
Fitch to investigate credit derivatives risk concentrations
Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings is concerned that the rapid growth and lack of transparency in the synthetic credit markets could be leading to alarming concentrations of risk with specific market participants.
Basel II to boost both large and small banks' loan prices
The prices of some loan products for retail and middle-market corporate clients will almost certainly rise when banks implement the Basel II capital Accord in 2006, according to speakers at Risk 's Capital Allocation 2002 USA conference this morning.
British and US banks placed on risk list
Banks in Britain and the United States are threatened by increased risks due to possible falls in asset bubbles, and are now vulnerable to financial stress, according to credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P).
Moody’s puts Natexis’ financial strength rating on review for downgrade
Credit rating agency Moody’s has placed the B- financial strength rating of Natexis Banques Populaires on review for possible downgrade, following the French bank’s confirmation late last week that it had made a significant loss at its structured equity…
MBIA and S&P join war of words with Gotham over reinsurer’s AAA rating
Jay Brown, chairman of US monoline reinsurance company MBIA, entered into a row with Gotham Partners Management yesterday over comments made in a report issued by the US hedge fund. Brown called the report, which suggested MBIA should lose its coveted …
Afa Systems to de-list from London’s main exchange
Afa Systems, a UK provider of pricing, portfolio modelling, trading and risk management software, plans to de-list from London’s principal stock exchange and move its shares to London’s Alternative Investment Market (Aim).
BIS: OTC derivatives notionals rise 15% in the first half of 2002
The Bank for International Settlements said total notional volume of over-the-counter contracts outstanding increased 15% to almost $128 trillion in the first half of 2002.
Cal-Comp Electronics offers US dollar-denominated convertible bond
Thailand’s Cal-Comp Electronics has closed the country’s first US dollar-denominated convertible bond since the Asian financial crisis of 1997, said sole bookrunner SG, the corporate and investment banking unit of French banking group Société Générale.
Basel II to boost both large and small banks' loan prices
The prices of some loan products for retail and middle-market corporate clients will almost certainly rise when banks implement the Basel II capital Accord in 2006, according to speakers at Risk ’s Capital Allocation 2002 USA conference this morning.
France Telecom’s imminent €1.5bn bond hits spreads by 7bp
France Telecom’s plans to tap the bond market for the first time this year with a seven-year, €1.5 billion bond issue caused its cost of credit protection on five-year debt to widen by 7 basis points to 280/290bp today.
Natexis hit by heavy equity derivatives losses
French bank Natexis Banques Populaires has made significant losses from its equity derivatives trading business due to poor risk control and failures in the bank’s valuation models.
ING provides swap for first Korean cross-border RMBS
Dutch bancassurer ING is to provide a 21-year swap for South Korea’s first cross-border residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS). “This is the first 21-year cross-border swap done in the Korean market,” said Marc Choo, a Hong Kong-based director in…
Asian high-yield bonds should prove a safe haven for 2003, says ING
Healthy economic growth in Asia and continued demand for Asian bonds from Asian investors – known as the ‘Asian bid’ – should immunise Asia’s high-yield bond market next year from the default problems plaguing the global corporate bond market in 2003,…