Risk magazine
BNP boosts Asia-Pacific fixed-income derivatives team
French bank BNP Paribas has made three new hires to its Asia-Pacific interest rate derivatives trading team in Singapore.
AngloGold cuts hedging by 12%
South Africa’s largest gold producer, AngloGold, reduced its hedge book by 12% in the first quarter, as it moved to gain exposure to a rising spot price.
WorldCom spreads blow out
The cost of protection on WorldCom’s five-year debt blew out today, following the resignation of chief executive Bernard Ebbers.
ABN Amro snaps up HVB’s Seeger
Dutch bank ABN Amro has hired Kai Seeger from HypoVereinsbank as part of its step-up in credit derivatives activity under the stewardship of Arnie Groes, head of global credit derivatives.
Wall Street Systems offers rates module
Wall Street Systems has released an interest rate derivatives (IRD) module, which supports traditional analytic models as well as multiple-term structure models such as Black-Derman-Toy, Hull-White and Black-Karasinksi.
Citi and JPMC days away from FX Connect integration
The integration of Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase on State Street's FX Connect is only days away, said Simon Wilson-Taylor, managing director of Global Link.
Basel regulators hope for SME solution by mid-June
Global banking regulators are optimistic they can resolve by mid-June the vexed question of the treatment of lending to small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under the proposed Basel II bank capital adequacy Accord.
GFI unveils Fenics 2002 upgrade
Interdealer broker GFI today unveiled details of enhancements to its Fenics options pricing system, which is used by an estimated 85% of global options dealers.
German securitisation volumes quadruple in Q1
The German securitisation market quadrupled in the first quarter of 2002 to end at $8.42 billion, compared with $2.16 billion in Q1 2001. This makes Germany the largest securitisation market by volume in Europe, with the UK second with $8.3 billion and…
Rates Market Update: US spreads hit four-year low
US swap spreads reached a four-and-a-half year low this week, as expectations of increased treasury issuance combined with a large amount of corporate activity brought an influx of floating rate receivers into the market. Ten-year swap spreads ended the…
Morgan Stanley arranges €4bn-plus synthetic CDO
US investment bank Morgan Stanley is arranging a €4 billion plus synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) due to be managed by London-based investment boutique Cheyne Capital Management.
Euronext to launch dedicated warrants platform
Pan-European exchange Euronext is set to launch a platform dedicated exclusively to warrants, in a move designed to enhance the visibility of the market and promote trading.
Credit Markets Update: Repsol spreads widen due to Argentina concerns
The cost of credit protection on Repsol, the Spanish-Argentine oil and energy group, widened 30 basis points today after Moody’s placed it under review for possible downgrade yesterday. Moody’s concerns reflected the ongoing deterioration in the economic…
Nera readies for CDO ‘notching’ investigation
New York-based economic consulting firm National Economics Research Associates (Nera) has finalised its research plan for its structured finance ratings comparability study.
FASB names Robert Herz new chairman
Robert Herz, a senior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York, has been named as the new chairman of the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the body responsible for derivatives Financial Accounting Standard 133.
Volcker challenges the benefits of financial engineering
Paul Volcker, US Federal Reserve chairman between 1979 and 1987 and present chair of the Independent Oversight Board for embattled Enron auditor Arthur Andersen, has said he is "ambivalent" about the value of financial engineering to the US economy.
GFI and ACM offer online freight derivatives
New York-based brokerage GFI has teamed with shipping brokers ACM in London to offer online freight derivatives trading on GFInet, the firm’s electronic broking platform.
LSE predicts UK equity derivatives surge
Clara Furse, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), today warned that stamp duty on UK share trading could increasingly damage London’s competitive advantage in international financial markets and thereby reduce the likelihood of the UK…
Credit Markets Update: Telecoms reeling on bad news
The battering of US telecoms credit default spreads continued this week, following a grim financial forecast by WorldCom last Friday that sparked a flurry of downgrades on the company’s debt. Five-year protection spreads on WorldCom widened to 1,700…
Hedge fund backed by Lehman launched today
Edgeworth Capital, a London-based hedge fund backed by investment bank Lehman Brothers, was launched today. The firm's first two funds, a global fund following a macro strategy and a pan-European long/short equity fund, will be launched in September.
Gold hedging falls 4.5% in 2001, says study
Gold hedging fell 4.5% last year, as producers saw little premium from selling gold forward due in part to the low interest rate environment.
Risk 2002 Europe: Derman highlights new behavioural finance direction
A fresh perspective on the risk-reward payoff that drives financial markets can be gained by abandoning the traditional concept of time in financial models, according to Emanuel Derman, a New York-based managing director in Goldman Sachs’ firm-wide risk…
Borsa Italiana launches new derivatives trading platform
Borsa Italiana, the Italian equity and derivatives exchange based in Milan, has launched its new electronic trading platform for derivatives, called OM Click. The platform, which uses technology from Sweden’s software and financial services provider OM…