News
Weill defends Citigroup's actions over Enron
Citigroup’s chief executive Sandy Weill yesterday defended his company's actions amid increased US government scrutiny into its relationship with bankrupt energy trader Enron.
Barclays grabs Lehman's forex trading head
Barclays has hired John Caccavale, head of forex trading at Lehman Brothers in New York, to head trading for the Americas. He will report to Thomas Kalaris, Barclays’ chief executive of the Americas, based in New York. According to a recruiter, Caccavale…
More US companies to expense stock options
Two more US companies are set to follow Coca-Cola’s example of expensing their stock option plans. The Atlanta-based drinks company last week said it plans to expense the cost of all stock options the company grants beginning in the fourth quarter.
Equity slump sees upsurge in long-dated hedging
The European interest rate swaps market has seen a return of the long-dated hedging programmes that first surfaced at the end of last year, according to traders at investment banks.
Deutsche in major shake-up of credit responsibilities
Deutsche Bank has shaken up its credit derivatives business, making Boaz Weinstein its global head of investment grade credit risk. Weinstein took up the newly created role in June, continuing with his responsibilities as Deutsche Bank’s head of credit…
Rothschild Australia to offer fund of hedge funds
Rothschild Australia Asset Management will launch a fund of local hedge funds in the second half of the year, according to Andrew Baker, head of products at the asset management firm.
Goldman Sachs claims proprietary leap in MBS options pricing
Goldman Sachs claims it has developed a revolutionary new model for pricing mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Alan Brazil, head of mortgage, ABS and rates research at Goldman Sachs in New York, said the new valuation model enables the increasing…
Isda requires CDS reference obligation specification at trade date
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has decided that confirmations should specify reference obligations as of the trade date for credit default swap (CDS) transactions.
Deutsche hires senior FX strategist from JP Morgan Chase
Deutsche Bank has hired Bilal Hafeez from JP Morgan Chase as a senior foreign exchange strategist.
German Finance Agency initiates swaps programme
The German Finance Agency has begun its interest rate swaps programme to manage the risk on its debt portfolio. The Agency first gave an indication it would enter the swaps business in January, and now plans to transact up to €20 billion in swaps…
CreditTrade prepares credit volatility pricing tool
Credit derivatives inter-broker dealer and data provider CreditTrade is developing an algorithm to price options on credit default swaps for 20-25 European corporate credits.
JP Morgan and Citigroup pass Enron blame to Andersen
Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase yesterday sought to shift blame on to auditor Andersen for its role in approving 'prepay' transactions, which masked Enron’s financial malaise.
Credit Markets Update: Insurer protection remains under pressure
The cost of protection on insurance companies remained under pressure in the credit derivatives market this week, with spreads widening across the sector as the fall in equity values caused investor concern about insurers being forced to sell equities to…
Algorithmics hires van den Akker to push Algo Credit sales
Algorithmics, the Toronto-headquartered provider of risk management software, has appointed Mark van den Akker as a sales specialist to head its Algo Credit risk sales in North America.
Further surge in investment grade synthetic CDO issuance expected, says BofA
A further surge in static and managed corporate synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) issuance is expected this year, according to new research by Bank of America.
DrKW hires senior credit structurer in Japan
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), the investment banking arm of Germany's Dresdner Bank, has hired Carlos Cala as director and senior structurer within its global credit derivatives team. Based in Tokyo, he will report to Rick Weinstein, London…
Korea's IBK to enter equity derivatives business
The Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) plans to enter the equity derivatives business in South Korea by the end of the year in anticipation of an increase in equity derivatives activity in the country, said Kyu-Bong Hwang, IBK's head of the derivatives…
Barclays nabs Bear Stearns' European credit derivatives head
Andrew Whittle, Bear Stearns head of European credit derivatives in London, left the bank yesterday, a spokesman for the US bank in London has confirmed.
Cooper joins RBS from JP Morgan Chase
Royal Bank of Scotland Financial Markets has hired Simon Cooper from JP Morgan Chase as head of programme management.
SwapsWire eyes October launch
SwapsWire, the inter-dealer interest rate derivatives trading system backed by a consortium of 23 banks, is to launch in October after extensive delays and an entire systems overhaul, according to its chief executive Chip Carver. The system has also…
Merrill Lynch restructures credit and structured finance units
Merrill Lynch today unveiled a significant restructuring of its European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) credit and global principal investment and structured finance (GPISF) businesses, headed by Tim Grell and Dale Lattanzio respectively.
Bear Stearns hires Merves as senior hedge fund analyst
Bear Stearns Asset Management has hired Scott Merves as managing director and senior analyst to its equity hedge fund group, New Castle Partners.
Rolfe & Nolan secures £1 million from global banks
UK derivatives back-office vendor, Rolfe & Nolan, has secured funding of just over £1 million for its Merlin technology project from two sponsor banks, Deutsche Bank and UBS Warburg.
DrKW’s Piranha bites into online options services
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), the investment banking arm of Dresdner Bank, has added an options service to its Piranha online foreign exchange trading system.