Risk magazine
GFI and Traiana offer processing boost for forex options trading
Foreign exchange options trading may get a boost with broker GFI and technology vendor Traiana both launching automated processing services in the market.
BarCap teams with HFR to offer hedge fund options
Barclays Capital and HFR Group are offering transparent pricing for hedge fund-linked tradable options. Based on the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, BarCap will offer a two-way market in European call options to its institutional clients and counterparties…
UK's 50-year linker breaks new ground
The United Kingdom yesterday priced the first issuance of a 50-year inflation-linked bond. The 1 1/4% gilt of 2055 is the longest-dated sovereign index-linked bond in the world.
OneChicago seeks BookDepth traction
Chicago-based equity stock futures exchange OneChicago is preparing a marketing push to boost usage of the depth-of-book data it now distributes over CFN (CBOE Financial Network) from its co-parent Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Lehman hires new FX forwards trading head
Lehman Brothers has hired Jason Margiotta from rival Merrill Lynch to run its forex forwards trading desk in New York.
Citi continues risk advisory and structured products build-up
Citigroup has made two hires as it builds its foreign exchange risk advisory and structured products teams in London. Both teams sit within the bank's value-added services and products group (Vasp), which it established a year ago.
ING Vysya strengthens wholesale operations
Bangalore-based ING Vysya bank has hired Janak Desai as country head of financial markets for India. He will join the bank on November 1 and report to ING Vysya chief executive Bart Hellemans.
ABN Amro beefs up Asian distribution
ABN Amro plans to build up its Asian marketing effort by adding two staff to its derivatives sales and solutions group (DSSG) in Hong Kong.
Structured products in the spotlight
Concerns over the mis-selling of structured products to investors in the US have prompted the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) to issue guidelines to ensure members fall within the scope of sales practice codes.
Risk ALM USA 2005: Panel discusses differing approaches to ALM
Leonard Matz, a managing director at Kamakura Corporation – a Hawaii-based risk technology vendor – has cautioned against misuse of VAR. “I believe it’s a huge mistake to apply VAR to look at the funding [side] of the balance sheet,” said Matz who was…
Most US lenders would survive bursting of a real estate bubble
Research by Standard & Poor’s suggests that most US mortgage firms would be able to withstand the bursting of a US housing bubble, despite the greater credit risk associated with current mortgage portfolios.
Siam Commercial picks Kamakura risk software
Siam Commercial Bank of Thailand has chosen Kamakura's Risk Manager software for its market risk management operations.
DrKW builds exotic equity team
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has added four members to its exotic equity derivatives business. The hires were made to expand the team and the bank's structured products business.
Five market-makers back CME eurozone inflation futures
Barclays Capital, Ixis Corporate and Investment Bank, Lehman Brothers, Nomura International and the Royal Bank of Scotland have all agreed to become market-makers for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) new eurozone inflation futures contract. The…
Lloyds TSB appoints head of quantitative analytics
Lloyds TSB Financial Markets has appointed John Crosby as global head of quantitative analytics and research in London. He will lead a team of quants and will be responsible for developing models for pricing derivatives instruments across all asset…
Icap bolsters structured credit team
Inter-dealer broker Icap is raising the stakes in the competitive structured credit broker market with three new appointments – two of which were poached from rival CreditTrade.
BNP Paribas adds to structured credit team
BNP Paribas has hired Damian Saunders as a senior syndicate manager in its structured credit team in London. Saunders will report to Guy Rose, head of BNP Paribas' European structured credit syndicate.
Isda’s ‘novation protocol’ aims to tackle derivatives backlogs
The world's major derivatives dealers have signed up to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s long-awaited ‘Novation Protocol’, which seeks to facilitate the transfer of existing trades to third parties.
ABN Amro reinforces equity derivatives team
ABN Amro has added two senior traders to its equity derivatives team in London, hoping to tap a larger investor market.
MarketAxess launches CDS index trading platform
MarketAxess has launched a multi-dealer credit default swap (CDS) index trading service in London and New York. The New York-based company is targeting end-users to use the service.
Lloyds TSB hires Fortis Bank's structured credit team
Lloyds TSB Financial Markets has brought Fortis Bank's structured credit team to London to reinforce its own structured credit operation.
Banc of America hires eight for European equity team
Banc of America Securities has taken on eight traders and marketers to increase the size of its London-based European equity derivatives team.
TriOptima run sees $127 billlion in CDS torn up
Stockholm-based TriOptima said its latest credit default swaps (CDS) tear-up run has eliminated contracts with a notional value of $126.6 billion.
Russell attributes options volume growth to alternative investors
According to Washington-based Russell Investment Group, monthly volumes for derivatives referencing its indexes hit new highs last month. Kelly Haughton, the group’s Strategic Director of Russell Indexes, attributed some of the upturn to an increase in…