News
HSBC on global hiring spree
HSBC has made a series of hires across foreign exchange trading and sales in Asia and Europe, it confirmed today (August 17).
EC approves Aegon bailout without forcing coupon deferrment
Absence of measures forcing payments to Dutch state at expense of subordinated debt holders means Fitch upgrades firm's hybrid capital
Trading group fined $12 million for inflating oil price
CFTC fines ConAgra Trade Group for artificially pushing crude to $100 per barrel in January 2008, the year prices hit all-time peak of $147 per barrel
FSC clamps down on unsecured lending while bolstering Korean repo market
Reform to broaden the use of the onshore repo market in South Korea is expected to help smaller banks and financial institutions better manage their short-term funding and reduce systemic risk. It should also facilitate the development of interest rate…
Spanish bank borrowing from ECB continues to balloon
Spanish banks continue to depend on European Central Bank after stress tests exposed capital shortfalls
Australian superannuation funds holding operational risk reserves
An Australian study by Mercer says 75% of super funds hold op risk reserves
Interview: Donald Kohn
Blair Baker talked to Donald Kohn on 9 July about his career at the Federal Reserve, monetary policy, the crisis and the future of financial regulation.
‘Bail-in’ rather than bailout, says European markets group
Association for Financial Markets in Europe proposes regulator-enforced version of contingent capital to replace state-funded bailouts; proposals still troublesome, Goodhart says
S&P launches indexes to measure risk premiums between asset classes
Standard & Poor's has launched four indexes to measure risk premiums, which have gained a lot of interest from product providers.
UK Wrap: The holy grail - income and capital protection
Products are still being influenced by the pricing environment and despite a couple of spicy options most of the products seen this fortnight are safe repeats
FDIC creates new units as US regulators expand for Dodd-Frank systemic oversight
US regulators are hiring more staff in preparation for Dodd-Frank changes
Hedging costs to soar for UK pension funds
Best of RPI and CPI exposure will cost up to 100 basis points to hedge, as well as increase the size of liabilities, say participants
European distressed debt investors could benefit from double-dip
Alcentra head of special situations says second wave of global recession is likely, and predicts distressed debt opportunities in Europe.
Opaque bond documentation a risk to high yield investors
Market participants have warned an increasing number of European high yield bond offerings are accompanied by unclear – even misleading – documentation.
Gilliat Financial Solutions taps European distribution networks
Gilliat has joined the Federation of European Financial Advisers, enabling it to expand its distribution into Europe
China beefing up derivatives master agreements; possible Isda friction?
Efforts by Nafmii to bolster the definitions of China’s over-the-counter derivatives master agreements should help market development. But there are concerns about potential copyright infringement related to Isda master agreements.
Standard Chartered hires Arnold to head South-east Asia financial market sales
David Arnold joins Standard Chartered in Singapore from BNP Paribas in Hong Kong.
SMX gets nod from MAS to start operations
The Singapore Mercantile Exchange plans to create a commodity and derivatives trading platform on a par with the best global exchanges in New York and London.
Solvency II poses bigger danger to economic stability than bank refinancing
Refinancing risk dwarfed by Solvency II’s impact on insurer appetite for corporate debt
Barclays adds fixed-income exchange-traded notes to its $7 billion business
Barclays in the US has built on its exchange-traded note business with the launch of eight new fixed-income products.
RBS takes on Latin America DCM head from Credit Suisse
Charles Achoa joins Royal Bank of Scotland after 13 years at Credit Suisse.
Dodd-Frank prop desk carve-out creates restructuring risks
Intellectual property and internal talent could get caught up in bank prop desk divorce
US intensifies efforts to develop clean coal, carbon capture
The US Department of Energy has announced further funding for clean coal technology R&D as part of plan to maintain a diversified energy portfolio
India’s latest commodity exchange won’t compete, say experts
India's fifth commodities bourse - ACE Derivatives and Commodity Exchange - will struggle to compete with market leading platforms, say experts