Risk magazine/News
Front and Evolution formalise co-marketing agreement
Front Capital Systems, a provider of risk management technology, and UK consultancy firm Evolution today formalised an agreement to market each other's products.
Germany’s DZ Bank takes €100 million-plus swaps hit
DZ Bank, the largest central co-operative bank in Germany, has made significant trading losses from its zero-coupon interest rate swaps positions.
Merrill touts restructuring strategy
US investment bank Merrill Lynch is advising investors to 'buy restructuring' as part of their credit portfolio strategy, according to a new report, 'Credit Derivatives Protection Strategies'.
Euronext.Liffe launches one-month eonia futures
Euronext.Liffe launched its new one-month eonia (euro overnight index average interest rate) futures contract this morning.
No place for government in energy price reporting or clearing, says Ferc head
Pat Wood, chairman of the US Federal Energy Commission (Ferc), has said he does not believe regulatory agencies should be involved in compiling energy price reporting. He also said the government has no place in suggesting that energy merchants should…
GFI outsources non-core software development offshore
Inter-dealer broker and technology developer GFI has launched a pilot project to explore the opportunities of moving some of its IT development offshore. The move largely applies to non-core development work.
Deutsche Bank Brazil appoints head of global markets
Deutsche bank has hired Daniel Luiz Gleizer, a former deputy governor for international affairs at the central bank of Brazil, as managing director and head of its global markets division in Brazil.
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.
Shift in risk sentiment shores up Australian options market
A change in risk sentiment, coupled with major underlying spot moves in local currencies, is bringing extra foreign exchange options business to Australia, according to local dealers.
Credit default swaps remain tight despite falling equities
Credit default swap spreads in Europe have remained relatively tight this week despite falling equities. The trend is being supported by the current dislocation between credit and equity, and also continued large issuance of synthetic CDOs, according to…
Fimat to launch volatility arbitrage index
Fimat, the brokerage subsidiary of Société Générale, plans to launch what it claims will be the first volatility arbitrage strategies index by the end of the first quarter.
US listed equity option competition set for increase
Competition in the US equity options market is set to increase with the electronic linkage of five exchanges.
ABN and Deutsche roll out iBoxx 100-linked note
ABN Amro and Deutsche Bank have joined forces to launch a credit default swap product linked to the iBoxx 100 index. The iBoxx 100 note reflects the performance of the top 100 names in the iBoxx euro corporate overall index, weighted by their duration…
Morgan Stanley says restructuring will not be required for capital relief
A subcommittee will recommend to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision that capital relief from credit derivative hedging should not require the inclusion of restructuring as a credit event, Morgan Stanley analysts said in a report yesterday.
Top dealers plot ‘Project Red’ revival
The backers of ‘Project Red’, a credit derivatives reference entity database (Red) set up by top dealers Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to remove basis risk in credit trading, have conditionally agreed to sell the service to UK credit risk…
Bank of America to set up global forex structuring team
Bank of America plans to set up a global foreign exchange structuring team with the appointment of Eric Ohayon from Lehman Brothers.
Italian securitisation volumes slightly up on last year
The Italian securitisation market saw minimal growth last year, according to reports from the two major rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Moody’s estimated a total of €36.7 billion in credit risk transferred – a 16% rise compared with…
Japan credit default swap spreads wider on weak stocks
Japanese credit default swap spreads were generally wider this week following weakness in stock prices, but dealers said participants with short positions have helped support the derivatives market and dampened the widening trend.
Kiodex adds forex capability to energy trading platform
Kiodex, a New York-based energy risk management technology company, has released an updated version of its flagship web-based platform, the Kiodex Risk Workbench. Enhancements include a foreign exchange risk management module, new value-at-risk and…
Egar fends off competitors to grab Sberbank risk management contract
The Savings Bank of the Russian Federation (Sberbank), Russia's largest bank, has selected Egar Technology’s Focus product for its trading, treasury, operations and risk management needs. Egar Technology, a New York-based supplier of trading and risk…
Managed synthetic CDOs to grow rapidly in 2003, says Fitch
A new report by credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has predicted rapid growth in managed synthetic collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) this year.
Primus appoints Li as credit market strategist
Primus Financial Products, a New York-based wholesale provider of credit risk protection, has hired Rongfeng 'Becky' Li as a credit market strategist.
BNP Paribas to launch multi-dealer Japanese credit index
French Bank BNP Paribas is preparing to launch a new credit index in Japan that tracks the 50 most liquid Japanese names in the country’s credit default swap market.
Merrill hires Galishoff to head proprietary mortgage arbitrage desk
Merrill Lynch has hired Alan Galishoff, previously head of the collateralised mortgage obligation (CMO) desk at JP Morgan Chase, to head its newly created mortgage relative value business.