News
UK’s Centrica signs five-year, £40 million weather hedge
British Gas Trading, a subsidiary of UK energy company Centrica, has concluded a £40 million weather hedge with Bermuda-based XL Capital. The multi-year deal may prove the largest in Europe this year.
Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian banks most risky in Asia
Banks domiciled in China, Indonesia and Vietnam are the most risky in Asia when it comes to economic and industry risk combined with problem assets, according to a 14-country study by rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P).
Europe allows wider role for op risk insurance in Cad 3
European banks and investment firms should be able to use operational risk insurance to reduce capital charges in all approaches to measuring op risk under new European Union (EU) capital adequacy rules.
Deutsche to roll out electronic bond platform in Thailand
Deutsche Bank’s global markets business unit plans to roll out its eCommerce bond and credit note trading platform in Thailand by the end of the month. Called ‘Autobahn’, the platform will trade Thai government bonds via Bloomberg terminals. The move…
GFI expands credit derivatives brokerage team in Asia
New York-based brokerage GFI Group is opening a Hong Kong desk to concentrate on non-Japanese Asian credit default swaps. The desk will serve Asian-based clients, adding to GFI’s existing credit derivative desks in Sydney, London and New York.
Spectron launches online weather trading
Energy market intermediary Spectron has launched an online platform for trading weather derivatives.
Chicago Board of Trade president Vitale resigns
David Vitale has resigned as president and chief executive of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Bernard Dan, an executive vice-president at the exchange who joined from Cargill Investor Services in 2001, where he was president and chief executive, will…
Strong Q2 causes BA protection cost to narrow 200bp
The cost of credit protection for British Airways (BA) has tightened by 200 basis points to 725bp following surprisingly strong second-quarter earnings figures released yesterday. The airline beat market expectations by pulling off a financial turnaround…
IDC acquires Meridien Research
IDC, the technology and e-business research subsidiary of IDG, the Boston-based technology media and conferences company, has acquired Meridien Research, a Massachusetts-based firm specialising in risk and trading technology, customer relationship…
CMS ponders future of energy trading business
Michigan-based CMS Energy may exit the energy trading business after it found that round-trip trades were undertaken by the company to raise CMS Marketing, Services and Trading's profile with existing and potential clients.
IAFE releases op risk white paper for buy-side firms
The International Association of Financial Engineers (IAFE) yesterday released a white paper on operational risk for buy-side institutions, which concludes that business reputation rather than Basel-inspired regulation is the real driver for implementing…
Scor ousts chief but sees no let up in cost of credit protection
French reinsurer Scor - plagued by profits warnings and a deteriorating financial position - has ousted its chairman and chief executive, Jacques Blondeau, with immediate effect, replacing him with Denis Kessler of the French insurance association.
IAFE releases op risk white paper for buy-side firms
The International Association of Financial Engineers (IAFE) yesterday released a white paper on operational risk for buy-side institutions, which concludes that business reputation rather than Basel-inspired regulation is the real driver for implementing…
Energy brokers form their first trade association
Seven of the largest US over-the-counter energy brokers have formed a trade association with the aim of enhancing the struggling energy trading markets.
KWI hires new financial engineer
KWI, the London-based energy risk management software company, has hired Oleg Zakharov as vice-president of financial engineering – a newly created position. In his new role, Zakharov will be responsible for KWI’s risk management framework, architecture…
Alpha appoints Rogers to new UK marketing role
New York-based Alpha Investment Management has hired Carcie Rogers to boost its marketing efforts to large financial institutions in the UK and the rest of Europe.
Reuters adds US/Singapore dollar forward pair to dealing platform
Dealers will be able to trade US dollar/Singapore dollar forwards on Reuters' electronic matching service from today, according to the UK information and technology group.
CreditTrade plans to offer web-based data service
CreditTrade, the London-based interdealer-broker and provider of credit derivatives data, plans to launch a new web-based data service, CreditTrade Insight, early next year.
US investors complacent about currency risk, says Merrill
A decade of US asset and currency outperformance has engendered complacency among US-based equity investors, according to Merrill Lynch’s foreign exchange strategy group.
Citi to outsource e-liquidity
Citigroup has launched a unique liquidity outsourcing platform for foreign exchange, a senior forex official at Citigroup in New York told RiskNews ' sister publication FX Week .
Clients of settlement members go live today on CLS
Clients of banks that have signed up as settlement members to CLS Bank can from today have their foreign exchange transactions settled on continuous linked settlement (CLS), the system built to reduce risk in the global forex markets.
BoA launches new China receivables capability
Bank of America Global Treasury Services (GTS) has launched a new receivables platform aimed at boosting its China cash management capabilities. The China receivables services will offer clients a renminbi collections services from the end of the month.
Moody's publishes CDO hedge counterparty guidlines
Rating agency Moody's Investors Service today said it has published a series of guidelines outlining the steps by which a collateralised debt obligation (CDO) hedge counterparty can better detach its own credit risk from the CDO itself.