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Fuelling doubts
Violence and uncertainty in the Middle East have caused energy market volatility to soar, testing the mettle of even the most sophisticated corporate hedgers. Will it prove to be the last straw for the world’s ailing airlines? Navroz Patel reports
RiskNews review
October’s leading stories from RiskNews. Breaking news on derivatives and risk management, see RiskNews – www.RiskNews.net
Banding together for SME credit risk analytics
Germany’s banking associations are taking a leading role in getting the country’s fragmented banking sector ready to comply with the Basel II capital Accord. Germany’s savings banks association, in particular, says it has internal ratings-based systems…
The beta-blocker
Doug Dachille, chief operating officer at Zurich Capital Markets and formerly global head of proprietary trading at JP Morgan, believes the economic downturn has finally crystallised investor attention on beta. Christopher Jeffery reports
Basel II and pro-cyclicality
The main argument for making regulatory capital requirements more risk-sensitive is to improve allocational efficiency. But this may lead to intensified business cycles if regulators fail to take measures to prevent such an impact. In this first column…
Wall Street Systems names McDermott as Japan country manager
US-based Wall Street Systems has hired Sean McDermott as its country manager for Japan, as part of its on-going expansion into the Asia-Pacific markets.
BarCap lures Aguais from Algorithmics
Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank, has lured Scott Aguais from enterprise risk management vendor Algorithmics, to work as its new head of credit risk methodology in London.
De Vries takes on global FX for ING Financial Markets
Ted de Vries, Amsterdam-based global head of ING Financial Markets, has taken over direct responsibility for global foreign exchange, the bank said last week.
DrKW names new head of convertible asset swap trading
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) has appointed Yannick Naud as head of convertible asset swap trading in London.
Thomson reorganises in Europe and targets low-cost data provision
Thomson Financial Europe has promoted its sales and trading head, Donal Smith, to the newly created position of chief operating officer as part of a reorganisation today that centralises sales, application and product management, and customer services…
DBS pair scoop Asia Risk risk manager of the year award
Two risk managers at the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) have picked up Asia Risk’s first risk manager of the year award. Oon Kum Loon, who was head of group risk management at the bank until July, and is now chief financial officer, shared the award…
Samsung Securities poaches Goldman specialist Choi
Korea’s Samsung Securities has poached Alex Choi from Goldman Sachs to head its newly established capital markets division in Seoul. Choi was previously executive director for liabilities management at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong.
BarCap lures forex structurer Siddiqi from Deutsche
Barclays Capital, the investment banking unit of Barclays, has lured Lutfey Siddiqi from Deutsche Bank to work as its global head of foreign exchange structuring.
Schachter quits Caxton for Sac Capital Advisors
Barry Schachter, a prominent name in the financial engineering industry, has left his position as head of enterprise-wide risk management at hedge fund Caxton Corporation to work for rival Sac Capital Advisors.
Credit Agricole in risk and derivatives hiring spree
French bank Credit Agricole Indosuez has added a number of hires to its fixed-income and risk groups, following the restructuring of its fixed-income department in early September. Marc Romano and Vincent Fleury join the French bank as co-heads of its…
Dynegy exits trading and cuts jobs
Dynegy became the latest big-name US energy company to confirm its withdrawal from the worldwide energy-trading arena in October, as attempts to find a partner for its trading business failed.
QIS 3 suggests Basel II op risk charges and insurance role
BASEL - The third Basel II quantitative impact study, or QIS 3, brings bankers up to date with the latest thinking of global banking regulators on the treatment of operational risk under the complex Basel II bank protective capital accord.
ING hires head of Asian hedge fund sales
ING Financial Markets, a unit of ING Group, has hired Daren Riley as global head of Asian hedge fund sales. Riley took up his new position last week.
Merrill ousts European debt derivatives head Chattwell
Merrill Lynch has ousted its European head of fixed income and foreign exchange derivatives, Kevin Chattwell, as part of the US investment bank’s efforts to flatten its senior management structure.
Iafe due to name Ingersoll as its financial engineer of the year
Jon Ingersoll is due to be named this year’s financial engineer of the year by the International Association of Financial Engineers (Iafe) within the next few days, according to a number of industry sources. Ingersoll is the Adrian C Israel professor of…
Pensions to increase alternatives allocation
A survey of pension funds offered by Axa, IBM UK, TRW, London Pension Fund Authority and Lloyd's of London, reveals an increasing interest in hedge funds
3A seeks higher returns by favouring immature funds
funds under three years' old achieve higher returns, says 3A
Washington fund operation profits from being spun out
restructuring of Washington Financial group successful