News
Duke sells part-built power plant to Nevada Power
The big US energy asset sell-off continued late last week, when Nevada Power Company bought a part-built 1,200 megawatt power plant for $182 million from Duke Energy. North Carolina-based Duke will receive proceeds and tax benefits of $330 million from…
Calpine to provide Newmarket with energy services
Calpine Energy Services (CES), part of California-based power company Calpine Corp, is to provide energy services to Newmarket Services Company. Newmarket is a newly formed subsidiary of New York- and London-based asset acquisition firm MMC Energy and…
CBOT develops liquidity analytics tool
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) will introduce a new market data display application this week, in an effort to provide greater market transparency and help participants make better intraday trading decisions.
Basel II could raise tensions between global banks and sovereign states
The new Basel Accord for bank safety, also known as Basel II, is likely to raise the level of tension between global banks and sovereign states, according to governor Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Nymex European launch imminent
Nymex aims to launch an open outcry exchange in Europe, most likely initially in Dublin using Nybot’s Finex facilities, according to president James Newsome.
SG expands Italian derivatives business
SG, the investment banking unit of French bank Société Générale, has expanded its institutional derivatives sales force in Italy by merging its equities arm with its interest rate and credit divisions.
RBS hires head of US dollar options trading
RBS Greenwich Capital has appointed Michael Lyublinsky as global head of US dollar option trading in its interest rates division.
CSFB appoints derivatives sales director for Germany
Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) has hired Konstantin Krebs as a director of fixed-income derivatives sales.
Rio quits Commerzbank to head Swapstream
Swapstream, a medium- and long-term interest rate swaps trading platform, has appointed Stéphane Rio as chief executive. Rio was previously head of rates trading at Commerzbank for five years, and replaces Marcus Grubb, who left Swapstream in early July…
Cairn Capital adds asset-backed specialist
Cairn Capital, a London-based advisory and investment firm specialising in structured credit, has hired Jenna Collins as an analyst. Collins, who will join Cairn in November, was an asset-backed securities analyst at Merrill Lynch in London.
UK standards setter pushes for full implementation of IAS 39
The UK’s Accounting Standards Board (ASB) believes UK companies should implement International Accounting Standard 39 in its entirety, despite a European Union decision to water down the hedge accounting rule across Europe.
18 EU states urged to implement energy law
Most European Union countries have not transposed the internal-market electricity and natural gas directives into national law, according to the European Commission. The commission today sent formal letters to 18 of the 25 EU member states asking them to…
Nymex names head of new strategy department
John D’Agostino will head up a new department at the New York Mercantile Exchange, which will focus on strategic options for expansion and growth. The exchange has promoted D’Agostino to vice-president of strategy and business development from manager…
BNP restructures European credit research
BNP Paribas, the French banking group, has restructured its credit research division after three members were poached by Lehman Brothers in September.
KIDB-Icap gets approval to launch Korean interdealer broking business
Icap, the world’s largest interdealer broker, said its Korean joint venture KIDB-Icap has received final approval from the Ministry of Finance and Economy to launch a new interdealer broking business.
Basel II revised default correlation values reflect industry experience, says Fitch
Basel II revised credit card default correlation values will be crucial guidelines to credit portfolio analysis under the IRB approach, says Fitch Ratings, a rating agency based in New York.
Deutsche gets China derivatives licence
Deutsche Bank has become the latest institution to gain a licence to trade derivatives onshore in China. A Deutsche official in Singapore told RiskNews that the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) gave the German bank the go-ahead yesterday.
Barclays boosts Asian credit team
Barclays Capital has continued its drive to boost its Asian credit derivatives business with another new hire in Hong Kong. William Pang joined the bank yesterday as director of Asian credit derivatives with responsibility for market risk.
Cash margin squeeze benefits Japan forex derivatives dealers
Derivatives dealers in Japan are in demand, as spread compression in vanilla foreign exchange has prompted foreign banks to look elsewhere for margin.
Totem adds to its interest rate valuations service
Totem Market Valuations, a provider of over-the-counter derivatives price information, is to expand its interest rate derivatives pricing service to include Swiss francs, Hong Kong dollars and Korean won. The products covered will be interest rate…
Front teams with NIWS to offer Arena in Japan
Front Capital Systems, an operating unit of SunGard, has begun marketing a localised version of Front Arena's treasury trading and back-office solution to regional banks in Japan through a distribution agreement with NIWS, a Tokyo-based business server…
Remove barriers to group-wide Know Your Customer standards, urges Basel Committee
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has called on all national jurisdictions to remove legal restrictions that impede effective consolidated Know Your Customer (KYC) risk management processes, and facilitate the process by providing an appropriate…
Basel II is a bonus for economic stability, says Greenspan
Better management of banking risk and new rules on capital hold the promise of a stronger banking system that will contribute to economic growth, according to US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.