Risk magazine/News
Basis trade opportunities created by volatile credit market
The upswing in credit market volatility in the past three months has led to an increased dislocation between cash bonds and credit default swaps, with investors profiting from basis trading opportunities.
Barclays Capital adds to futures sales desk in Singapore
UK bank Barclays Capital has hired James Clarke in its futures sales desk in Singapore, according to an official at the bank in Hong Kong.
Tullet releases SwapMarkerEurope on Bloomberg
Tullett Financial Information, a subsidiary of brokerage firm Tullet & Tokyo Liberty that provides data on derivatives products, has launched its SwapMarkerEurope interest rate swaps service on Bloomberg.
Greenspan attacks regulation of OTC derivatives again
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has again warned that forced disclosure of proprietary information would undercut innovation in the over-the-counter derivatives markets.
Basel II system improvements still unclear, says UK regulator
The precise steps banks need to take to ensure their risk management systems are compliant with the proposed Basel II capital accord aimed at making the world’s banking system safer is unclear, a UK regulator said yesterday.
Op risk rules inadequate, says Isma professor
The Basel II capital accord rules regarding operational risks for financial institutions are inadequate, Jacques Pézier, a visiting professor at Reading University’s Isma Centre, told delegates at a conference in London this morning.
JP Morgan Chase concedes failures in loan hedging programme
Hit by increased loan loss provisions, credit rating downgrades and a below-book-value market capitalisation, JP Morgan Chase is conceding that a plan to reduce concentrations of credit risk in the firm’s loan and derivatives portfolio has been overtaken…
Weak equity markets continue to fuel widening in European credit spreads
Equity weakness continued to dominate the direction of European credit default swaps, pushing the cost of protection wider for volatile insurers and telecoms.
General Motors signs up for online commodities hedging
US auto manufacturer General Motors has signed up to the online commodities hedging service Reval.com, a provider of risk management and US derivatives accounting rule FAS 133 compliance services.
CLS endorses ‘in-principle’ Hong Kong and New Zealand dollars
CLS Bank, which launched continuous linked settlement (CLS), the global foreign exchange settlement system, on September 9, has said that Hong Kong and New Zealand dollars should become eligible currencies once they have satisfied CLS Bank rules.
Dresdner corporate and markets head Fischer resigns
Leonhard Fischer, head of corporates and markets at Dresdner Bank, has resigned, according to senior Dresdner officials.
UK expects EU countries to reopen Basel II arguments
UK regulators expect that other European Union (EU) countries will try to reopen Basel II bank accord discussions within the EU framework, a senior UK supervisor said on Monday.
SGX and Tocom sign licensing agreement with Platts
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (Tocom) have signed licensing agreements with energy information provider Platts, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, to use Platts' Middle East benchmarks for the SGX and Tocom Middle…
SSgA may implement genetic programming investment model
The investment committee of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), manager of $770 billion in assets, will decide on October 16 whether to implement an investment model derived from genetic programming exercises to its $390 million emerging market equities…
Poor vendor data delays BofNY securities ‘master’ project
The Bank of New York said its efforts to build a ‘master’ securities database was delayed due to poor data from between 13 to 15 data providers.
London Bridge buys stake in Amelia Financial Systems
London Bridge Software has bought a minority stake (less than 20%) in UK-based operational risk management software company Amelia Financial Systems. It refused to provide more specific details on the financial terms of the deal.
FSA urges UK banks to look hard at EU capital proposals
UK banks should look hard at a draft text of European Union (EU) capital rules that the European Commission plans to issue around the end of October, the UK’s senior financial regulator said today.
Top regulators denounce attempt to resurrect OTC energy bill
The four most senior financial regulators in the United States have joined forces to express concern at legislative proposals to expand regulation of over-the-counter energy derivatives.
One-month delay for UK warrants market
The UK covered warrants market will not launch until October 28, more than a month later than the initially proposed date of today, according to the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Banks advised to make Basel II views known in QIS 3
Banks would be wise to make their views on the complex Basel II bank capital accord known via the key QIS 3 survey due out on October 1, the UK’s chief financial regulator said today.
Bear Stearns to use Derivatech for FX options
Bear Stearns has taken Derivatech’s FX risk management platform to support its expanding FX options trading and distribution operations in New York and London.
SGX to launch world's first DRAM futures
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) plans to offer the world's first futures contract based on dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips by the first quarter of 2003, according to the exchange.
Swaps spreads for US banks and brokers widen
The cost of protection for US banks and brokers widened following a 17% plunge in third-quarter profits at Morgan Stanley and bleak forecasts by JP Morgan Chase on Tuesday that resulted in credit downgrades by rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch…
ABN Amro hires head of European CMBS
Dutch bank ABN Amro has appointed David Newby in a dual position as head of European commercial mortgage-backed securitisation (CMBS), and UK and Irish securitisation.