News
Moody’s to launch RiskCalc for Japanese firms
The risk management unit of international rating agency Moody's has completed the development of its RiskCalc model for estimating probability of default for Japanese private companies.
Anti-hedger Newmont ups the ante in Normandy bid
The takeover battle for Australia’s leading gold mining firm, Normandy Mining, took another twist today, as a revised $2.2 billion bid from the US’ Newmont Mining, renowned for its anti-hedging policy, appeared to gain support from Normandy’s board.
Enron's bankruptcy leaves freight derivatives opening
Enron's bankruptcy has left a vacant brokers' position in the small but growing freight derivatives market, which is being eyed up by a number of players. Enron had been one of the main market-makers in the forward freight agreements (FFAs) market, with…
Commerzbank loses head of alternative investment unit
Kevin Ferro, formerly head of Commerzbank’s New York-based Alternative Investment Strategies (AIS) unit, has left the firm, along with five members of his team. A Commerzbank spokesperson in New York said that Ferro and his colleagues have set up a new…
Goldman's Litzenberger retires
Bob Litzenberger, head of firm-wide risk management for Goldman Sachs, retired last week. Noel Donohoe, chief operating officer for the firm-wide risk management group, has replaced him.
Survey shows corporate risks are going unhedged
Two-thirds of senior executives at US companies are not satisfied that their company has successfully identified and managed all their significant business risks, according to a recent joint report by Andersen and Financial Executives International.
Icap loses head of weather
Dan Tomlinson, head of weather derivatives at Icap, has left the London-based inter-dealer broker and joined WeatherXchange, a joint initiative between the UK’s Meteorological Office and Umbrella Brokers.
CBOE launches exposure instrument on S&P 500
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) yesterday launched Standard and Poor’s Depository Receipts (SPDRs), designed to give dealers, through a single product, exposure to the S&P 500 share index.
SunGard in deal with Spanish bank association
SunGard Trading and Risk Systems, based in New York, today announced that it has licensed its market and credit risk management system, Panorama, to the Confederacion Española de Cajas de Ahorros (CECA), an association representing Spain’s 47 savings…
FIA reports record volumes for futures and options in the US
The volume of futures and options traded on US exchanges so far this year is up by over 15% on last year, and looks likely to set an all-time record in spite of the terrorist attacks in September, said the US-based Futures Industry Association (FIA).
CME taps Sears to run forex business
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), currently the world’s third-largest derivatives exchange by volume, has appointed Richard E. Sears to a new position as managing director in charge of managing the CME’s foreign exchange business.
Isda frowns on IRS proposal
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) has criticised proposed changes by the IRS to the accounting regulations for notional principal contacts (NPCs).
Icap recovers after WTC attacks
Icap, the word’s largest inter-dealer broker, says that a busy period for its interest rate swaps business during October and November, due to economic uncertainty and volatile interest rates across the globe, helped spur a 22% rise in global revenues,…
Algo to offer Basel II-compliant credit risk solution
Algorithmics, the Toronto-based risk management technology firm, says it is working with its clients to include a credit solution in its suite of products which meets the specific data architecture, data modelling and technology requirements required…
Capital Risk signs with Longitude to offer weather products
New York-based weather risk specialist, Capital Risk, has teamed with Longitude, a developer of financial technology to facilitate new derivatives markets, to develop weather risk management products.
Cognotec selects Radianz to expand customer base
Cognotec, the Dublin-based foreign exchange and money-market trading solutions provider, has signed a three-year contract with US financial services e-network supplier Radianz. The multi-million dollar contract connects Cognotec to RadianzNet extranet –…
Rolfe & Nolan and TruExchange in partnership for STP
Rolfe & Nolan Systems, the UK-based supplier of derivatives technology solutions, and TruExchange, a Massachusetts-based vendor of trading and matching engines for electronic exchanges and derivatives markets, have entered a partnership to provide a…
Asian bond platform goes live
BondsInAsia (BIA), a group formed through the collaboration of BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Reuters, has started live trading on its electronic trading platform for Asian fixed-income securities, BIA Trading…
Isda moves to clarify credit derivatives language
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has moved to further clarify the definition of what constitutes a credit event in the credit derivatives business, in a new paper, 'Supplement relating to successor and credit events', published as a…
Isda appoints head of research
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, has made David Mengle its new head of research, a newly created position. Mengle will be responsible for providing research and analytical support for various Isda derivatives committees and…
BNP Paribas extends derivatives back-end system
French banking group BNP Paribas is extending its Ubitrade Futures and Options back-end system to manage all its global custody and stock-broking activities. This is part of an ongoing process to restructure its futures and options business following the…
Danaharta launches Malaysia’s first CLO
Malaysia’s national asset management company Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad (Danaharta), which is targted at resolving the country’s non-performing loan problem, has issued its first asset-backed securitisation (ABS) worth $81.6 million.