News
Offers of protection remain thin in subdued credit markets
Credit default swap spreads have tightened again in Europe in the second half of this week, but markets have remained thin and subdued, say London-based credit derivatives traders.
JP Morgan names Standing’s replacement
Tom Hoppe, global chief operating officer (COO) of JP Morgan Chase’s credit and interest rate markets business, will replace Rob Standing as head of the division. Standing is leaving the bank to run the London Diversified Fund, a hedge fund.
No change to retail hedge fund regulations, says FSA
The Financial Services Authority (FSA), the main UK financial services regulator, has said it will not change regulations relating to the marketing and distribution of hedge funds to retail investors in the UK.
SEC announces details of hedge fund forum
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a US financial regulatory authority, plans to hold a hedge fund round table on May 14 and 15 to debate whether such funds negatively affect public investors.
Fitch Risk launches Credit Rating System
CreditVantage, the credit risk management division of Fitch Risk, has launched Credit Rating System (CRS), a suite of credit rating products designed to assist banksin implementing industry best practices in their credit analysis and capital allocation…
SG appoints new head of global forex institutional sales
SG, the corporate and investment banking arm of Société Générale, has appointed Dominick Errichetti, previously head of foreign exchange trading and sales for the Americas, as head of the French bank's global institutional foreign exchange business.
Credit swap spreads edge out on Iraq war fears
Spreads in the credit default swap market started widening in trading this week, as sellers of credit protection left the market due to increasing uncertainty about a quick resolution of the US-led invasion of Iraq, London-based traders said today.
Deutsche hires Letica to head agency CMO trading
Deutsche Bank has hired Nicholas Letica as head of agency collateralised mortgage obligation (CMO) trading.
CBA to use Fenics FX for options trading on worldwide basis
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has employed New York-headquartered GFI Group’s Fenics FX system as its global standard foreign exchange options pricing and analysis tool. The bank will deploy the system as the standard interface in all of its…
FSA releases operational risk feedback
London - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) should continue issuing operational risk guidance rather than rules, according to the majority of respondents to the UK regulator’s July 2002 consultation paper on operational risk.
Risk management enters a new phase, says Guardian Life's Abbott
Risk management has entered a new phase where continued change to overall risk parameters is the norm, according to Mark Abbott, head of risk management quantitative research at The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.
BarCap creates new rates sales position
Barclays Capital has hired Chico Khan-Gandapur as a London-based managing director within its European rates sales team. Gandapur will start work in the newly created role within the next few months, a BarCap spokeswoman said.
FASB must not 'cave in' on employee stock options treatment, says S&P index chief
US accounting standards setter, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), should not "cave in" to corporate pressure by failing to require that companies treat employee stock options as an expense, warned David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index…
Tullett signs up to SwapsWire
Inter-dealer broker Tullett today said it has joined the industry-backed electronic platform SwapsWire to provide its interest rate derivatives clients with straight-through-processing (STP) capabilities. SwapsWire, built by a consortium of 23…
Corporates not properly hedging equity exposures, says UBS banker
Corporate accounting scandals and weak equity markets have made companies use less equity derivatives strategies, and this is to their detriment, according to a senior investment banker speaking today at the San Antonio Risk Management Conference.
Merrill to settle its forex trades via Citi
Citigroup has won a coveted deal to settle Merrill Lynch’s forex trades on its behalf on the new Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) service for FX.
Nybot launches market data service
The New York Board of Trade (Nybot) last week launched Nybotlive, which delivers real-time global futures and options data over the internet.
Goldman down, Bear Stearns up in Q1 forex
Goldman Sachs last week reported reduced foreign exchange revenues within its fixed-income, currency and commodities (FICC) division for Q1, although other US investment banks fared better.
Dhown joins Deutsche from JP Morgan Chase
Deutsche Bank has hired Raj Dhown, who previously sold structured interest rate and credit derivatives products at JP Morgan Chase, as head of UK, Scandinavia, Holland and Ireland fixed-income, cash and derivatives marketing.
KMV enhances Portfolio Manager analytics
Moody's KMV, a provider of quantitative credit risk tools to investors and corporations, has added its LossCalc model to its Portfolio Manager risk management product. LossCalc is used to determine the risk and return characteristics of portfolios of…
Deutsche hires Sekiguchi as head of emerging markets strategy
Deutsche Bank has appointed David Sekiguchi as global head of emerging markets strategy, in a role that covers research on fixed income, foreign exchange, interest rate and credit derivatives, structured products and macroeconomic analysis.
CMA to use Creditex data
Credit Market Analysis (CMA) is to use Creditex's credit default swaps (CDS) pricing data within its credit analytics.
European credit spreads remain tight
Spreads in the credit derivatives market continued to stay tight in Europe this week, based on expectations of a swift war in Iraq. London-based traders said overall liquidity has remained very thin since the official start of the conflict on Wednesday.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange to launch Russell 1000 futures
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) plans to launch its new Russell 1000 futures contracts on April 28. The new stock index futures will trade on the CME's Globex electronic platform virtually 24 hours a day.