News
IMF issues credit derivatives warning
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes the lack of financial disclosure and transparency in the credit derivatives market has the potential to increase market risk, as participants find it more difficult to gauge the depth of credit deterioration…
IntesaBCI puts weather risk on hold
IntesaBCI has shelved its plans to trade weather derivatives this year, in a move likely to prompt closer scrutiny of weather trading performance at other banks.
UK regulator disappointed at latest Basel II delay
Britain’s principal financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), was “a little disappointed” at the latest delays to the Basel II banking Accord, a senior FSA official said today.
No compromise from Feinstein on energy bill
Californian Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein and Texan Republican Senator Phil Gramm have failed to reach a compromise over Feinstein’s proposed energy bill, which could give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) authority on over-the-counter …
Dynegy joins TradeSpark online trading platform
Houston-based energy company Dynegy has become a partner in TradeSpark, the online energy trading platform. The firm has linked its own proprietary trading system, Dynegy Direct, to TradeSpark as part of the deal.
Blundell new CME managing director in Europe
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has named Mark Blundell as managing director, CME Europe, based in London.
RiskMetrics launches visual risk service
New York-based technology firm RiskMetrics has developed a new visual tool that allows investors to see stock volatility at a glance. The Risk Map of the Market, as the new service is known, plots both the Standard & Poor’s index and the Nasdaq 100 index…
UBS increases use of credit derivatives
Swiss investment bank UBS Warburg hedged around 30% of its corporate and institutional lending in 2001 using credit derivatives and other credit instruments. The inceased focus on credit risk follows the record number of global corporate defaults in 2001.
UK regulator will not shoe-horn insurers into banking regime
UK financial supervisors do not intend to 'shoe-horn' insurance companies into a regulatory regime designed for banks, a senior regulator said today.
CMXchange and Opt4Derivatives partner for OTC metals trading
Illinois-based Commodities Management Exchange (CMXchange), an electronic metals exchange, and Berkeley-based technology firm Opt4Derivatives are to launch CMXflexclear, an electronic market-place for trading and matching over-the-counter (OTC)…
Moody's extends RiskCalc coverage to UK
Moody's Risk Management Services (MRMS) has added non-financial private UK company data to its Web-based default estimator tool, Moody's RiskCalc.
LeBlanc leaves DrKW to head risk management at Barclays
Robert LeBlanc has joined Barclays Capital as its new head of risk management, after less than a year at German rival Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW). Both banks declined to comment on the move.
EU postpones new bank rules following Basel II delay
The European Commission has postponed the coming into effect of its own plans for risk-based bank regulation by at least a year, following the further delay to the controversial Basel II bank Accord, Commission officials said.
Rusnak's fraudulent trading strategy revealed
The independent report commissioned by Allied Irish Banks, carried out by US banking specialist Eugene Ludwig, details how former Allfirst foreign exchange trader John Rusnak managed to hide his forex trading losses with the creation of bogus options…
SunGard acquires Kronos Software
Pennsylvania-based technology firm SunGard Trading and Risk Systems has acquired London-based Kronos Software, the real-time risk management and trading solutions provider.
Macquarie issues dividend warrants in Hong Kong
Macquarie Equities Asia, a division of Australia’s Macquarie Bank, has launched a new warrant product into the Hong Kong market. Called the dividend accumulator warrant, it pays investors dividends equal to the underlying share over the life of the…
Delay to QIS3 survey delays Basel II to 2006
Regulator determination to get a key survey of banks right was a major factor in the decision to postpone again the coming into effect of the complex Basel II banking Accord until late 2006, from an undetermined date in 2005, banking regulators said.
Ascher named chief executive officer of Nasdaq Liffe Markets
Nasdaq Liffe Markets (NQLX), the electronic exchange joint venture by Liffe and Nasdaq launched in March 2001, has appointed Thomas Ascher as chief executive officer. Ascher will be responsible for the strategic, long-term vision and operations of NQLX,…
PRMIA adds Shanghai chapter
The Professional Risk Managers' International Association (PRMIA) has added a 25th chapter, in Shanghai, China. Hu Bingxing, senior risk manager with China Guotai Fund Management, is regional director of the new chapter.
ABN Amro adds to institutional forex sales
ABN Amro has made three new hires in institutional foreign exchange sales – part of its global financial markets business. All three report to Chicago-based Robert Rodman, ABN's global head of forex product sales to financial institutions and the public…
Merill Lynch hires for European derivatives sales
Merrill Lynch has made two new hires for its derivatives sales force in Europe. Robert Machin joins as a director of interest rate derivatives, and Konstantin Krebs joins as a senior vice-president, marketing credit derivatives, interest rate derivatives…
SuperDerivatives adds deal capture facility
SuperDerivatives, a UK-based online foreign exchange pricing firm, has added a deal capture facility linking its currency options pricing service to back-office risk management systems. SuperDerivatives said the feature has been added due to client…
Malaysia to launch bond futures contract
Malaysia Derivatives Exchange (MDEX) has announced that it will launch a five-year government bond futures contract at the end of March, the first such contract to be issued in Malaysia.
SunGard makes two senior hires for collateral management and energy businesses
Pennsylvania-based technology firm SunGard Trading and Risk Systems has hired Michael Clarke as a senior vice-president of the SunGard Collateral operating unit, while Michael DeMaise has joined the energy operating unit as vice-president of product…