Bank of America
BNP Paribas beats SG for ZCM assets
French bank BNP Paribas has entered the final stages of negotiations to purchase about 140 structured transactions linked to funds investments from Zurich Capital Markets (ZCM), a division of Swiss insurer Zurich Financial.
Lessons in loaning
Lenders and borrowers alike are becoming ever more innovative at a worrying time for energy company financing. But will the new ideas catch on? Paul Lyon reports
More power to the banks
Banks now have greater freedom to participate in derivatives markets based on physical commodities thanks to two recent ruling by US regulators. As a result, the balance of power looks set to shift from Houston to New York. By Paul Lyon
Bear Stearns hires head of fixed-income trading in Japan
Bear Stearns has hired Raymond Wong as a senior managing director and head of fixed-income trading for Asia and Japan.
Derivatives concentrated in largest US banks, says OCC
Seven banks in the US account for almost 96% of the total notional amount of derivatives in the commercial banking system, the Office of the Comptroller (OCC) of the Currency has said in a report.
BoA boosts European structured products and rates groups
Banc of America Securities, the investment-banking arm of Bank of America, has hired Edward Charles to spearhead the European structuring side of its global structured products unit, and Ashwin Kumar as European head of interest rate derivatives trading.
Prop desks set to reap rewards of forex volatility
Banks could be reaping rewards from their proprietary foreign exchange trading desks, as swift intra-day market moves continue, dealers told RiskNews ’ sister publication FX Week .
David Mooney
With 34 trading offices active in 40 countries, Swiss commodity trading house Trafigura is no small concern. But while the firm – perhaps best known for its oil, petroleum products and metals trading activities – employs some 600 energy traders worldwide…
Industry leaders revive client-facing forex options teams
Top-tier banks are moving to set up core groups of client-facing options specialists, turning away from a previous trend to re-train all sales dealers to have derivatives expertise.
BoA links major and emerging forex forwards in risk strategy drive
Bank of America (BoA) has merged its forwards and emerging markets forwards businesses in London, and hired three forwards traders globally as part of a continued drive to move to a strategic risk management model, a senior official told RiskNews' sister…
Deutsche Bank hires BoA veteran in Hong Kong
Deutsche Bank has hired Linda Fok as director and head of local corporate relationships in its global banking division in Hong Kong.
BoA adds to European structured debt and risk management team
Banc of America Securities, the investment banking arm of Bank of America, has boosted its European debt capital raising and risk management group.
BoA axes global head of forex exotics role amid restructuring
Bank of America (BoA) has cut three management positions, including its head of global exotics, as part of an ongoing strategy to consolidate global foreign exchange trading and sales, a senior official at the bank in New York told RiskNews ’ sister…
BoA’s Mooney joins Trafigura
David Mooney has left Bank of America in New York and joined Trafigura, a privately owned Swiss-based commodity trading company with offices in 30 countries. Mooney, former head of commodity derivatives at BoA, joined Trafigura’s London office as head of…
Deutsche hires Letica to head agency CMO trading
Deutsche Bank has hired Nicholas Letica as head of agency collateralised mortgage obligation (CMO) trading.
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.
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.
Merrill boosts structured products team in Asia
Merrill Lynch has bolstered its Asia-Pacific debt markets team with the addition of six new hires around the region. The newcomers will focus on structured products for both asset and liability customers.
SEC charges Merill Lynch in Enron case
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday charged Merrill Lynch and four of its former senior executives with aiding and abetting Enron’s alleged securities fraud – the first time a regulator has charged a bank with aiding the Houston…
In need of reassurance
The knock-on effects of the crisis in equities has hit the insurance sector particularly hard – so much so that UK regulatory body the FSA has been forced to step in and allow certain insurers to breach mimimum solvency ratios.
Isda muddies debt waters
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) has finally released its 2003 credit derivatives definitions, which take effect on March 17.
Knight Trading creates institutional options and ETF team
US equity and derivatives market-maker Knight Trading has established an institutional options and exchange-traded funds (ETF) sales and trading team with six new appointees, mostly from Merrill Lynch.
Korea’s Koram Bank joins SuperDerivatives
Korea’s Koram Bank, a joint venture established by a consortium of local conglomerates, has joined SuperDerivatives, the internet-enabled currency options pricing system.