News
Lau-Hansen named marketing head at Primus
Primus Financial Products, an AAA-rated company offering credit risk protection on investment grade corporates, financials and sovereigns, has hired Candace Lau-Hansen from JP Morgan Chase as its new global head of marketing.
BofA becomes first Moody’s KMV CreditMark client
Bank of America (BofA) has signed up to a new product offered by credit risk management company Moody’s KMV, called CreditMark, which allows financial institutions to mark-to-market their corporate loans.
Merrill Lynch reshuffles Asia-Pacific equity derivatives team
In an effort to boost its market share in global structured equity derivatives, US investment bank Merrill Lynch has set up an equity structured solutions group. Brent Clapacs, Hong Kong-based head of equity trading for the Asia-Pacific region, will…
HSBC launches retail hedge fund in Hong Kong
HSBC Asset Management today launched its first fund of hedge funds product to retail investors in Hong Kong.
Synthetic CDOs lead growth in European securitisation, says Moody’s
Collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) saw the greatest volume of growth in the European structured finance market in 2002, said ratings agency Moody’s in a report today. Last year, issuance rose to €182 billion, an increase of 42% on the total in 2001,…
ABN Amro names swaps expert King as Taiwan country rep
ABN Amro Taiwan has made Terry King its country representative, in addition to his existing role as head of financial markets of ABN Amro Taiwan, a position he has held since 2001.
Julius Baer NY hires in FX forwards
Swiss bank Julius Baer has hired Remo Caderas to trade foreign exchange forwards and fixed-income products in New York as part of an ongoing effort to ramp up its forex business.
RBC signs up to GFI forex option pricing system
RBC Capital Markets, the corporate and investment banking arm of Canada's RBC Financial Group, has signed up to use the Fenics FX system of New York-based broker and technology provider GFI, for its foreign exchange options marketing.
Asia's ABS market breaks records in 2002
The Asian securitisation market had its most successful year ever in 2002, with cross-border issuance reaching a record $5.56 billion, according to a report by ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service.
Mirek steps down from Currenex
Lori Mirek, chief executive of Currenex, has stepped down following a raft of senior management changes at the foreign exchange trading portal. The development was viewed as a shock by many forex market participants – Mirek was one of the best-known…
S&P exits data business with sale of ComStock to Interactive Data
Interactive Data Corp, a unit of UK media company Pearson, has agreed to buy Standard & Poor’s (S&P) ComStock for $115 million in cash, adding real-time market data to its stable of products.
McDonough bows out from New York Fed
William McDonough, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the past 10 years, will retire on July 21 this year.
McDonough bows out from New York Fed
William McDonough, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the past 10 years, will retire on July 21 this year.
Barclays Capital sets up fixed-income prime brokerage units
Barclays Capital is setting up fixed-income prime brokerage units in London and New York, the bank said. The units will trade corporate and government bonds and their related derivatives.
CreditTrade to supply benchmark data through Reuters
CreditTrade, the London-based inter-dealer broker and provider of credit derivatives data, has signed an agreement with Reuters, the UK information and technology group, to distribute CreditTrade's benchmark credit derivatives data via its screens.
Japanese credit default swap spreads tighten as liquidity returns
Japanese credit default swaps were generally tighter this week, as more participants came back to the market, putting an end to several weeks of illiquidity during the holiday season.
Rogue trader Rusnak receives prison sentence
John Rusnak, the former Allied Irish Banks (AIB) trader responsible for $691 million in fraudulent losses related to yen-dollar currency forwards, has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
Entergy Koch enters Spanish power market
US energy trader Entergy Koch Trading (EKT) has started to trade derivatives in the Spanish power market. The move will enhance EKT’s cross-commodity capabilities across power and weather, and will add to cross-border trading activities, an EKT…
Telco bond issues spark flurry of activity in credit markets
The €5.5 billion new bond issue by France Telecom on Wednesday followed by a smaller €500 million issue by Deutsche Telekom, yesterday, sparked a flurry of activity in the European credit markets.
Crosbie says departure from Moody’s KMV was amicable
Peter Crosbie, outgoing president and chief executive of Moody’s KMV, said his decision to leave the credit risk management company formed when Moody’s bought KMV last year was amicable.
Schroders to enter HK retail hedge fund market
Schroders Investment Management plans to launch its flagship fund of hedge funds products in Hong Kong, says Nicholas Chalmers, associate director in the alternative investment group at Schroders in Hong Kong. The move follows regulatory changes last May…
BNP to launch European power trading desk
BNP Paribas today said it plans to start a European powertrading desk as part of its energy and commodity business.
FDIC plans series of Basel papers
The US-based Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has announced plans to issue a series of papers over the coming months that will analyse the impact that the revisions to the Basel II Accord will have on the US banking system.
Hedge funds provide poor stress-testing disclosure, says Iafe
Hedge funds offer poor stress-testing results and ‘greeks’ disclosure to third parties, according to a new survey by the International Association of Financial Engineers (Iafe).