News
BHP Billiton buys into weatherXchange
Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton has bought a 7.5% stake in weatherXchange, an online weather derivatives data service, set up by the UK’s Meteorological Office and London-based Umbrella Brokers in June last year. BHP Billiton has an option to…
Bank of America to roll out derivatives system
Bank of America (BofA) is building a new derivatives trading platform called Advantage, which will be deployed in its Chicago, London, and Tokyo offices. It is also developing new trading floors in London’s Canary Wharf, New York, and Charlotte, North…
Electricity transmission changes fall by $10 billion, says study
Proposed changes to the US electricity transmission sector could save customers up to $10 billion per year, according to a study commissioned by the US federal energy regulator.
BNP Paribas begins issuing synthetic CDOs in Asia
French bank BNP Paribas plans to start issuing arbitrage synthetic collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) for the first time in Asia, ex-Japan, according to a Hong Kong-based official.
Aquila and Gensec offer weather derivatives in South Africa
Energy company Aquila and Gensec Bank have signed an alliance to market weather derivatives in South Africa. They will be the first weather products to be marketed in that country.
Swiss Re strikes $150 million contingent capital deal
Swiss Re, the Zurich-based reinsurer, has closed a $150 million contingent capital deal with MBIA, the world’s largest financial guarantor, based in Armonk, New York. The deal closed on December 27, but its details have been closely guarded until now.
Egar adds options component to equity derivatives suite
Egar Technology, the New York-based supplier of trading and risk management systems, whose best-known client is Canada's CIBC, has released a real-time equity options trading and risk management service developed for market makers.
FFastFill moves into US regulated market
London-based independent software vendor, FFastFill, has launched a new company, FFastTrade US, to deliver electronic trading systems to professional traders in the US.
UBS Warburg snares Merrill equity risk structurers
UBS Warburg has snared Min Park and Chang Sik Cin from Merrill Lynch to boost its equity derivatives risk services offered to institutional investors, corporate clients, and high-net-worth individuals.
Aurora buys Cygnifi Analytics
Aurora Software, a New York-based technology firm for fixed-income trading, has bought the Cygnifi Analytics Library. Cygnifi, the New York-based online derivatives service provider spun-off from JP Morgan in 1999, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy…
Risk tech firms partner to develop forex trading product
Risk technology firms, Pennsylvania-based Financial Software Systems (FSS), and New York-based PFS Trader Tools, said today that they are working together to develop a Web-based foreign exchange trading service. The risk management tool, branded…
Derivatives not to blame for Enron failure, says Greenspan
Alan Greenspan, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, yesterday defended the role of derivatives in financial markets during a testimony to Congress. "The record of [derivatives] performance, especially over the past couple of stressful years, suggests…
SS&C expands derivatives valuation system
SS&C Technologies, a Connecticut-based financial software provider, yesterday made available a new equity swaps module for its debt and derivatives accounting and valuation application.
Defaults hit new record levels, says Moody’s
International rating agency Moody’s said that credit losses due to defaults reached record levels in 2001, as loss rates on speculative-grade defaulted bonds surged and recovery rates on the defaulted bonds plummeted for the third straight year.
Swiss Re warns on losses
Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance groups, yesterday warned investors it expects to report a Sfr200 million ($115 million) loss when earnings are released in April. But the firm’s management will recommend an unchanged dividend of Sfr2.5…