News
Raft posts loss as deal flow fails to materialise
AIM-listed risk management technology supplier, Raft, has made a loss of £826,000 for its financial year, a result said to be well below city expectations. The previous year's results had showed a profit of £171,000.
Isda's Euro Protocol draws 242 signatories
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) said this week that 242 dealers and end-users signed its 2001 Euro Protocol by the November 30 deadline. Isda issued the Euro Protocol in September in response to documentation concerns voiced by…
Open interest on E-mini futures surges; S&P 500 vol relents
Open interest on Nasdaq 100 and S&P E-mini futures contracts, electronically traded index futures and options that are smaller than standard futures contracts, has increased by 63% and 15%, respectively, since October. The ratio of open interest to…
Lo wins Iafe financial engineer of the year award
The International Association of Financial Engineers (Iafe) has named Andrew Lo, Harris & Harris group professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the director of MIT's Laboratory for Financial Engineering, as financial engineer of the year.
Costas named chief executive at UBS Warburg; Arnold ousted
UBS Warburg, the investment banking unit of Switzerland’s UBS, has promoted John Costas to chief executive. Based in London, Costas will assume the day-to-day operational leadership of the business group and will sit on the UBS group executive board.
Swift moves a step closer to STP
Swift, the industry-owned provider of messaging services and interface software to over 7,000 financial institutions, has teamed with Financial Fusion and Global Crossing to provide a FIX hub messaging application to the securities industry. The move…
HKMA to form direct link to Euroclear
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Euroclear plan to build a direct link between the HKMA’s central money markets unit (CMU) and the Brussels-based international central securities depository.
Ferc to examine derivatives accounting
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) is considering adopting new accounting rules governing the use of derivatives by energy companies.
Icap raises £2.8 million in charity day
UK-based interdealer broker Icap donated £2.8 million – its total broking commissions for December 12 – to a range of charities around the world. The brokerage’s ninth annual charity day involved 12 offices and began with the opening of trading in Sydney.
Financial institutions reassess risk probabilities
Financial institutions are now increasingly concerned with the likelihood of certain risks following the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, Enron’s near-collapse and Argentina’s debt problems, the US Securities Industry Association (SIA) said in a…
EasyScreen lures in Warburg's Kleinops to boost US effort
EasyScreen, the London-based front-end futures and options software vendor, has made Jim Kleinops its new head of technical sales and design for its US office in Chicago.
Basel II op risk sound practices paper expected next week
Global banking regulators hope to issue their much-delayed paper on sound practices for managing operational hazards such as fraud, technology failure and trade settlement errors next week.
JP Morgan Chase claims success for new high-yield bond index
JP Morgan Chase is claiming success for HYDI-100, its six-week-old credit default swap index, which is referenced to 100 of the most liquid names in the bank’s high-yield bond index.
InvestorForce in hedge fund data clarity drive
Pennsylvania-based technology vendor InvestorForce has launched an online service that lets investors access data and information from the murky world of hedge fund managers.
Euronext agrees €130m Portuguese exchange takeover
Pan-European exchange Euronext has reached agreement with the Bolsa de Valores de Lisboa e Porto (BVLP) to buy out the Portuguese group for €130 million in a cash and shares offer. The move is the latest part of Euronext's effort to create a truly pan…
SME debate delays Basel II consultative paper
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has delayed its next consultative paper for Basel II, the new rules that will determine the amount of regulatory capital internationally active banks put aside against risk, following a meeting of the committee…
Swiss and UK banks set to win as Japanese lose in Basel II
Swiss and UK banks are poised to be the main beneficiaries from the proposed new regulatory capital accord, Basel II, according to results from the Basel committee’s quantitative impact study 2.5 (QIS2.5).
BoA's corporate risk veteran Vandiver to retire
Bank of America’s (BoA) corporate risk management executive Bill Vandiver will retire in March, following 35 years with the Charlotte-based financial services company. He will be replaced by Amy Woods Brinkley, presently deputy corporate risk management…
Creditex sees limited structured products growth
Creditex, the online credit derivatives broker that launched in March 2000, has been growing its business in structured credit transactions, according to company executives. Officials said the privately owned firm’s revenue has increased six-fold since…
Deutsche and Fleet unveil $40 billion OTC deal
Deutsche Bank and the US' FleetBoston Financial have revealed one of the largest over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives deals in history. The portfolio deal, with a notional value of about $40 billion, was executed in June to protect Fleet from short-term US…
Tamesis hires derivatives veteran Benson
Tamesis, the London-based supplier of risk management and trading solutions to investment banks, has hired derivatives veteran Robert Benson as a board director.
Aquila chooses Panorama
US energy firm Aquila has selected SunGard’s Panorama system to be its cross-commodity trading and risk management system. Aquila becomes the third of the 10 largest US energy companies to select the Panorama system developed by SunGard, a global risk…
Liffe's new futures under the weather
Two working days after launching its weather futures contracts, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe) has yet to see a trade. Despite this, Ian Dudden, director of non-financial products at the London-based exchange -…
EEX to launch three-month energy futures
Frankfurt-based European Energy Exchange (EEX) plans to launch three-month, or quarterly-term, electricity futures on December 17. The quarterly-term futures closely mimic existing over-the-counter contracts, and reflect a constant delivery of…