News/Risk management
Kamakura upgrades key risk management system
Kamakura, a Honolulu-based risk management technology company, has released a new version of Kamakura Risk Manager (KRM), its integrated risk management application.
Nomura victory sets precedent for credit derivatives delivery
A landmark ruling, favouring Nomura over Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), in London yesterday will set a clear precedent for the credit derivatives market, the Japanese investment bank said. Nomura challenged CSFB on the deliverability of convertible…
Emerging market credit quality improving, says S&P
Emerging market credit quality is “on the mend”, according to rating agency Standard & Poor’s, but Latin America faces the biggest vulnerability among the regions.
Mark-it plans to offer data pricing service for structured credit
Mark-it Partners, a two-year-old company founded by senior bankers at Canada’s Toronto Dominion, is in advanced negotiations to set up a data pricing service for collateralised debt obligations (CDOs). If successful, this could become the first such…
McDonough paints brave new world of bank regulation
Echoing remarks made earlier in the week, William McDonough, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, stressed that the results of the third Quantitative Impact Statement (QIS3) being compiled at the moment show that few changes will have to be…
UK FSA announces own conflict-of-interest rules for banks
Today the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) has released Consultation Paper 171, designed to address conflict-of-interest issues and bias in analyst recommendations.
ORIAG paper published on FSA website
The Operational Risk Implementation Advisory Group (ORIAG), which is chaired by the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA), has posted its working paper, "Implementation of the Capital Accord for Operational Risk" on its website.
FSA calls for firms to keep business continuity a priority
The UK's chief financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has called on the 12,000 firms it regulates to keep business continuity as a priority.
Isda publishes new credit derivatives definitions
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has produced a new set of credit derivatives definitions. Robert Pickel, chief executive of the trade body, said the updated definitions “reflect changes in industry dynamics over the past three years”.
PwC: Poor governance will cost capital
HONG KONG - Sixty percent of respondents to a recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study indicated that trust in financial institutions had been eroded globally.
McDonough speaks on QIS3 results, and US regulatory changes
"At this early stage, the results suggest that the incentives built into the New Accord are functioning as we had hoped," said William McDonough, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the head of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision…
Basel II likely to boost credit markets, says Fitch
The Basel II capital Accord is likely to boost credit market funding activities, particularly for lower investment-grade companies seeking financing, according to Fitch, the credit rating agency.
BIS to offer derivatives statistics for individual countries
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said today that it is expanding its statistics on banks' country risk exposures to include data on derivatives exposures to individual countries.
Tiner defends insurance margin changes
In a speech today to the Westminster & City Twentieth Anniversary life insurance conference, the Financial Services Authority's John Tiner sought to clarify a letter, released last Friday, that relaxed the solvency regime for UK life assurers.
Tiner says risk management must improve at life insurers
"Changes are...underway in the relationship between insurance companies and their supervisors," said John Tiner, head of the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) in a speech today to the Westminster & City Twentieth Anniversary life insurance…
Corporate governance hots up on the continent
Continental European countries are increasing their focus on corporate governance issues.
Fitch upgrades OpVar tool for operational risk
Fitch Ratings has added a range of new services to its OpVar software suite, an operational risk management quantification tool. Version 5.0, scheduled for release in March, now offers an enhanced data collection module and improved data management…
Barclays merges FX/FI prime brokerage
Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of the UK’s Barclays Bank, will complete the merger of its foreign exchange and fixed-income prime brokerage businesses by the end of March.