Bank of America
Merrill reaches agreement with SEC over Enron
Merrill Lynch has reached an agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay an $80 million fine as a result of its dealings with Enron.
Bank of America platform integrates derivatives financing capabilities
Bank of America has launched a new prime brokerage platform, integrating equity swap capabilities with traditional prime brokerage services.
Dollar downturn sparks rise in hedging activity
The fall of the US dollar in the past few months has sparked an increase in hedging activity among US companies, despite their reluctance to use hedges just six months ago.
BofA pushes out Goldie-Morrison
Duncan Goldie-Morrison, head of the global markets group at Banc of America Securities in New York, has become the latest high-profile casualty in the long list of Wall Street redundancies. His position has been abolished as part of another large…
BoA hires mainland China head
Bank of America (BoA) has hired Helen Pun as managing director, head of mainland China for bank and non-bank financial institutions. Based in Hong Kong, she assumes responsibility for marketing structured and cross-border products across the mainland…
BoA hires global markets head in Hong Kong
Bank of America (BoA) has hired Abidin Siregar in a newly created role as head of global markets, Hong Kong. He will assume responsibility for sales, trading and research as well as building the bank’s debt capital raising business across the region.
Nationalisation required for Japanese bank recovery, says Fitch
A partial nationalisation of Japan's ailing banks may be the only way to resolve the country's economic woes, with recent efforts by individual institutions to restructure their balance sheets unlikely to lead to an autonomous recovery in the banking…
Merrill touts restructuring strategy
US investment bank Merrill Lynch is advising investors to 'buy restructuring' as part of their credit portfolio strategy, according to a new report, 'Credit Derivatives Protection Strategies'.
Credit default swaps remain tight despite falling equities
Credit default swap spreads in Europe have remained relatively tight this week despite falling equities. The trend is being supported by the current dislocation between credit and equity, and also continued large issuance of synthetic CDOs, according to…
Bank of America to set up global forex structuring team
Bank of America plans to set up a global foreign exchange structuring team with the appointment of Eric Ohayon from Lehman Brothers.
Default swap curves flatten for France Telecom and Fiat
Default swap curves for volatile European corporate issuers, including France Telecom and Fiat, have flattened out, according to Chris Francis, a credit derivatives analyst at Merrill Lynch in London.
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…
European credit default swaps tightening lags cash market
Spread tightening continued across the European credit derivatives market this week, driven by increasingly positive sentiment towards credit risk. But traders noted that credit default swap spread tightening lagged the cash market.
Synthetics likely to dominate CDO issuance in 2003
Despite growing senior funding costs, the relative cheapness of super-senior swap funding should ensure that synthetic investment-grade issuance continues to outpace cash deals in 2003, according to Bank of America.
ABA sets up new op risk committee
The American Bankers Association (ABA) has created a new operating risk committee to help bankers reduce losses and comply with new capital requirements laid out in Basel II, the new regulatory capital accord being devised by the Basel Committee on…
US Senate calls for structured finance probe
The structured finance businesses of leading financial institutions in the United States are set to face a major business practice investigation during the next six months, with top US regulators set to introduce a new code of governance for structured…
Merrill Lynch takes Fenics
Merrill Lynch today said it will deploy the Fenics FX options pricing software from New York-based broker and vendor GFI Group in 100 global positions. Fenics replaces Merrill’s existing in-house pricing platform for FX options.
AIG makes senior FX appointments
AIG Trading Group has made four senior additions to its global foreign exchange operation over the past two months, a spokesperson in the bank’s Greenwich, Connecticut headquarters said.
Merrill Lynch in drive to promote active currency risk management
Any investor with international dealings should examine their currency exposure in a systematic way and treat foreign exchange as an asset class, according to securities house Merrill Lynch.
Attractive investment opportunities lie in managed synthetic CDOs, says Goldman
Managed synthetic collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) currently present an attractive long-term opportunity for investors, Goldman Sachs said in a new report this week. The CDOs, composed of credit default swaps on corporate credit, take advantage of…
US and European credit derivatives markets remain muted
Default protection costs continue to tighten in both the US and the European credit default swap market in line with the cash market, traders said today, adding that volumes continue to remain relatively muted, particularly in the European markets.
Riskmetrics aims for hedge funds
Peter Davies, recently appointed vice-chairman of New York-based risk management vendor Riskmetrics, has said the alternative investment industry - specifically hedge funds and funds of funds - is an area of focus for the company.
Basis trade opportunities decline as default market continues to tighten
The European default swap market continued to tighten substantially across certain sectors this week, correcting the recent dislocation between cash bonds and credit default swaps (CDS).