Risk magazine
Deutsche hires European head for structured capital markets
Deutsche Bank has hired Matt Press as managing director and European head of structured capital markets within its global markets unit. The hire is a newly created position, said a Deutsche spokeswoman.
ISE elects Frank Jones as vice chairman
US electronic equity options market, the International Securities Exchange (ISE), has elected Frank Jones as vice chairman. He replaces Ivers Riley, who has been appointed chairman of the two-year-old ISE.
Credit Markets Update: bleak market sentiment and TMT woes drive spreads
European credit default swap spreads have continued to follow the equity market’s lead this week, tightening on Monday but widening again today. The volatile technology, media and telecoms sector set the tone for the wider market.
Liffe debuts Schatz contract
The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe) says it is pleased with the turnover of its two-year Schatz German government bond futures contract which debuted yesterday. There were 16,020 Schatz lots traded on the exchange,…
Swiss Re closes first round of catastrophe risk securitisation
Swiss Re Capital Markets has closed the first round of an innovative $2 billion natural catastrophe risk securitisation programme. The multi-peril, multi-year programme is known as Pioneer 2002, according to a catastrophe risk investor, who wished to…
CBOT to debut five-year swaps future
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) will launch a futures contract on five-year US dollar interest rate swaps on Friday, following up on the success of its 10-year swaps contract, launched in October. The exchange also plans to offer options on the five-…
UBS Warburg hires Mallory Brooks to head cross rates group
UBS Warburg has hired Mallory Brooks as head of the cross rates group in North America and co-head of the global hedge fund group in the bank's interest rates and foreign exchange (FX) division.
Algorithmics cashes in on regulator demands
Toronto-based risk technology company Algorithmics attributed record revenues for its fiscal year 2002 to increasingly stringent banking regulator demands on financial institutions for greater implementation of risk management software.
Korea's Kookmin Bank to launch equity derivatives desk
Anticipating an increase in South Korean equity derivatives activity, Korea's Kookmin Bank is looking to establish a dedicated equity derivatives desk by the end of the year, said Nicholas O'Kane, Kookmin's Seoul-based business head for derivatives and…
DrKW gets five-day OTC derivatives trading ban in Japan
Japan's financial market regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has suspended Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) from trading over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives for five days. This follows an inspection that resulted in claims the German bank…
OTC market may have to accept regulatory change post-Enron, says CFTC head
The over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives industry may have to accept changes to regulation following the collapse of Enron, James Newsome, chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) warned this morning.
Single-stock futures regulation just days away, says Newsome
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is keen to hammer out regulatory issues related to the trading of single-stock futures in the US in "a matter of days", CFTC chairman James Newsome said this morning.
ING names new head of financial markets in Singapore
ING Financial Markets, a unit of Dutch banking and insurance group ING Group, has named Percy Rueber as managing director and head of financial markets in Singapore.
FXall and FXpress plan STP link
Foreign exchange trading platform FXall and FXpress, a Pennsylvania-based currency risk management company, are integrating their systems to allow straight through processing (STP) of trades.
Voltrex appoints European director
Voltrex Options, a derivatives brokerage house based in London, has appointed Arnaud Fransioli as director for Europe. Fransioli assumes responsibility for developing the company’s business on all main continental European derivatives markets, starting…
Aquila cuts energy staff, seeks partner
US energy company Aquila, which announced plans to wind down its energy derivatives trading book yesterday, took a large step towards doing so today by letting go 44% of its Merchant Services energy risk management workforce worldwide, including 71 of…
Crédit Lyonnais builds up credit derivatives capability in Tokyo
French bank Crédit Lyonnais intends to develop its credit derivatives activity in Japan, with two new hires, one internal transfer and possibly one further hire, said Edward Willems, head of credit derivatives in Tokyo.
Op risk is much more than a capital allocation exercise, says Moody's
Moody's Investors Service said banks should treat operational risk management as much more than just another regulatory capital allocation exercise. In a special report, the international rating agency said capital is "an incomplete line of defence"…
BrokerTec confirms takeover talks
Bond trading platform BrokerTec has confirmed widespread industry rumours that it is the subject of takeover talks. BrokerTec issued a statement on Friday stating it received approaches from several parties about "possible strategic combinations”, and…
New Hong Kong IRS benchmarks could boost local derivatives market
New longer-dated benchmarks for Hong Kong interest rate swaps could boost the city’s local derivatives market, say some market participants.
Goldman study: S&P 500 volatility rockets in Q2
Single-stock and index volatility has shot up since the end of the first quarter of 2002, according to research by investment bank Goldman Sachs.
GFI to offer price data on S&P Comstock
Rating agency and financial information provider Standard & Poor’s has teamed up with New-York based brokerage and data provider GFI to deliver GFI’s real-time market data on its Comstock feed. S&P will deliver GFI data on foreign exchange (FX) options,…
Creditex updates PriceTracker
New-York based provider of credit derivatives data and trading service Creditex has released a new version of its PriceTracker pricing service that covers new sectors and search criteria. Creditex will also add Standard & Poor’s credit ratings to the…
Credit Markets Update: European spreads drift wider due to negative sentiment
Credit default swap spreads in Europe drifted gradually wider during the week, reacting to weakness in the equity markets and general economic pessimism. Five-year debt protection spreads were 30 to 40 basis points wider on European telecoms, 3-8bp wider…