News
Life & Pension Risk Nordics: Orsa risk quantification will not require internal model - Eiopa
And Danish regulator says there has been too much focus on Solvency II’s capital requirements
Burns joins US SEC trading and markets
SEC appoints James Burns as deputy director in trading and markets division
IOR elects three new council members
Institute of Operational Risk appoints three new council members
SEC appoints deputy chief of staff
SEC appoints Erica Williams as deputy chief of staff
HFT adds value to the forex market, says Bank of England
The effects of high-frequency trading activity should continue to be monitored, but the practice adds value to the forex market, argues a senior Bank of England official
People moves
The latest people moves in the securities services industry
No improvement in porting since Lehman, CCPs say
The collapse of MF Global last year saw clearing houses struggle to port client collateral to other firms - repeating problems seen after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2008
Seaway pipeline reversal: beginning of the end for negative WTI-Brent spread?
Analyst forecasts of how the reversal of the Seaway pipeline will affect the West Texas Intermediate-Brent spread vary widely. Jay Maroo reports
Actively managed ETFs in North America see dramatic inflows
Pimco and State Street launch new actively managed ETFs as US and Canadian markets see strong surge in assets under management
Life & Pension Risk Nordics: Market volatility and Solvency II 'present opportunities for life sector'
Solvency II must be implemented on time, says Länsförsäkringar Liv CFO
Coutte leaves SG CIB
Flow fixed-income and currencies co-head is latest in a series of senior sales and trading figures to leave the bank
Power and utilities M&A declines in volume but grows in value: Ernst & Young
Slow global economic recovery led to weak M&A activity in the global power and utilities sector in the first quarter of 2012, but deal value increased almost 20% from the previous quarter
Energy Risk USA: Storms, warm winter, fuel interest in weather derivatives
The extreme weather that hit North America recently has spurred interest in tools designed to hedge weather risk, according to participants speaking at Energy Risk USA
UK utilities face swap counterparty shortage
Bank downgrades could leave many structured finance transactions without acceptable swap providers - a potential nightmare for UK utilities
Readiness of IFAs for Retail Distribution Review called into question
Most independent financial advisers are still unprepared for the implementation of the FSA's Retail Distribution Review, according to market participants
Banks spend 25% of compliance budget on overseas regulation
New research finds banks face steep extraterritorial compliance costs
Europe’s institutional investors look to alternatives and cost-effective exposure
Institutional investors in Europe favour fixed-income and alternative assets as they continue de-risking their portfolios, with a focus on cost-effective market exposure and downside protection
S&P licenses new Italy LargeMidCap index to JP Morgan for bespoke products
JP Morgan is to use S&P Indices' new Italy LargeMidCap Index as the basis for bespoke structured products
Banks consider OTF aggregation in response to Mifid
Uncertainty over the future of single-dealer platforms under new European trading rules is prompting banks to consider price aggregation of OTC trading platforms
Dual directional products are ‘exceedingly complex’ says US securities research firm
Thirty-five dual directional structured products have been issued so far this year in the US, but research from a securities consulting firm warns against them
Real estate returns to ETF radar
Real estate exchange-traded funds have been attracting big inflows as property market returns beat equity benchmarks
FSA crackdown on Ucis to hit private wealth management hardest
The potential ban on the sale of unregulated collective investment schemes to retail will also reduce the range of investments in the private wealth sector, say industry participants
European certificates and leverage products see Q1 trading surge
European exchanges record higher trading volumes in investment certificates and leverage products in the first quarter of the year
Energy Risk USA: End-user exception to clearing impractical experts warn
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s proposed rule on the end-user exception to clearing is unworkable for many energy firms that use swaps for hedging say market experts