News
RBS leading UK forex race
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) reported a 24% increase in foreign exchange revenues for 2003, the largest year-on-year rise among UK banks reporting their results last week, reports Risk’s sister publication, FX Week .
Fannie Mae appoints Leslie Rahl to board of directors
US mortgage agency Fannie Mae has appointed Leslie Rahl to its board of directors, filling the seat Stephen Friedman vacated after he resigned to become assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council.
Standard Bank takes on structured product marketers
Standard Bank London (SLB) has hired Rupert Boyd from Morgan Stanley and Michele Maffei from JP Morgan Chase for its sales and structured products marketing teams.
University of California adds four to Enron lawsuit
The University of California continues to add plaintiffs to its lawsuit against Enron. RBC, Goldman Sachs and two law firms are now facing the university's wrath.
All change on the BIS op risk team
Three well-known regulatory figures will be changing places over the course of February as various secondment arrangements between the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Bank of England (BofE) and the Federal Reserve in the US come to an end.
ABN Amro bolsters equities franchise in Hong Kong
Dutch bank ABN Amro has boosted its equities franchise in the Asia-Pacific region with a series of appointments in sales, trading and research in Hong Kong.
Ex-Merrill Lynch energy trader pleads guilty to fraud
At 24, Daniel Gordon headed Merrill Lynch's energy trading business. He has now pleaded guilty to a $43 million fraud.
UK regulator clamps down on structured product selling
The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) is set to finalise tough new guidelines for marketing retail structured products this month, as it moves to strengthen oversight after 2003's 'precipice' bond controversy, which saw Lloyds TSB fined almost £2…
Hatstadt leaves Merrill after less than a year
Philippe Hatstadt, a managing director and head of structured credit derivatives trading at Merrill Lynch in New York, has resigned.
ISE appoints vice-presidents
The International Securities Exchange (ISE) has elected Thomas Bendixen as vice-president of corporate initiatives and Robert Cornish as vice-president of automation and development.
Philippine National Bank installs Misys’ Opics
The Philippine National Bank (PNB) has installed Misys Wholesale Banking Systems’ treasury, derivatives and capital markets product, Opics. This should reduce risk and increase efficiency as part of improvements to its IT infrastructure.
Merrill Lynch reshuffles Asian debt and equity operations
US investment bank Merrill Lynch has created an integrated Pacific Rim debt and equity strategic solutions group, combining its debt and equity solutions groups to offer asset and liability services under the same umbrella.
UBS signs global data deal with Reuters
The investment banking arm of Switzerland’s UBS has signed a global deal with Reuters that will ensure its risk management systems receive market data in real time.
Foreign exchange restructuring at Merrill Lynch
A major restructuring of Merrill Lynch’s foreign exchange management is under way, according to sources close to the bank in New York, reports Risk’s sister publication, FX Week .
NAB names new chairman
National Australia Bank (NAB) has appointed Graham Kraehe as chairman following the resignation of Charles Allen from the bank. The move comes just over a month after the bank announced that it was set to lose an initial estimate of A$180 million from…
FXCM hits back at CFTC charge
Online trading firm Forex Capital Markets (FXCM) hit back at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week, after the regulator charged it with liability for an allegedly fraudulent trading firm, reports Risk’s sister publication FX Week .
Blewitt to head BoA’s structured product sales
Bank of America has promoted Dik Blewitt to head of structured sales, reporting to Mike McLaughlin, head of global structured products at the US bank and Bob Johnson, head of asset securitisation and investment-grade sales.
Top six HK banks may adopt IRB
As many as six Hong Kong banks may implement the internal ratings-based approach (IRB) to Basel II by the end of 2006, potentially accounting for as much as 50% of Hong Kong's banking assets, says Simon Topping, executive director of banking policy at…
CME takes aggressive measures to promote electronic trading
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has announced a number of initiatives designed to facilitate a shift of trading of its Eurodollar futures contracts away from traditional open outcry to electronic trading on its Globex platform.
Default rate in EU to decelerate further, says S&P
Default rates in the European Union (EU) are set to decline further, following a dramatic decrease last year, said rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P).
IASB to create advisory group
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is investigating the establishment of an advisory forum, following comments from euro official Frits Bolkestein last month that standards for the treatment of derivatives are still unsuitable for…
US Congressman blasts Basel II while supervisors forge ahead
A US Congressman sent waves of panic across Europe when he announced at a fringe event of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in late January that he had serious reservations about whether the US would ever adopt Basel II.
Bank of Israel signs up for SuperDerivatives
The Bank of Israel, Israel’s central bank, has adopted UK-based technology vendor SuperDerivatives' foreign exchange option pricing and analytics system.
Nymex to clear OTC average-price options
The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has received permission from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to clear a number of over-the-counter mid-price commodity options.