Exchanges
Fallout for energy markets
Enron’s collapse led to short-lived increases in electricity and natural gas volatility. As the markets settle down, the question now is who will fill Enron’s shoes? By Kevin Foster
Software survey 2002 |
Some online risk management products failed to live up to expectations last year, but software vendors forge ahead, developing products that support fast-growing markets such as credit derivatives and CDOs, and tools to help banks meet Basel II…
Review of the year
A look back at the significant risk events of 2001.
JP Morgan accuses WestLB on $165m Enron swap
JP Morgan Chase has accused WestLB of failing to make payment on a $165 million letter of credit (l/c) backing an Enron-related swap. JP Morgan Chase made the dispute public, though it did not name West LB, instead merely referring to “a European…
Credit derivatives see six-fold increase in three years
The over-the-counter (OTC) credit derivatives market stood at $694 billion in June, a six-fold increase in the last three years, according to the latest global triennial survey released by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today.
Open interest on E-mini futures surges; S&P 500 vol relents
Open interest on Nasdaq 100 and S&P E-mini futures contracts, electronically traded index futures and options that are smaller than standard futures contracts, has increased by 63% and 15%, respectively, since October. The ratio of open interest to…
Euronext agrees €130m Portuguese exchange takeover
Pan-European exchange Euronext has reached agreement with the Bolsa de Valores de Lisboa e Porto (BVLP) to buy out the Portuguese group for €130 million in a cash and shares offer. The move is the latest part of Euronext's effort to create a truly pan…
Creditex sees limited structured products growth
Creditex, the online credit derivatives broker that launched in March 2000, has been growing its business in structured credit transactions, according to company executives. Officials said the privately owned firm’s revenue has increased six-fold since…
Liffe's new futures under the weather
Two working days after launching its weather futures contracts, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe) has yet to see a trade. Despite this, Ian Dudden, director of non-financial products at the London-based exchange -…
EEX to launch three-month energy futures
Frankfurt-based European Energy Exchange (EEX) plans to launch three-month, or quarterly-term, electricity futures on December 17. The quarterly-term futures closely mimic existing over-the-counter contracts, and reflect a constant delivery of…
Icap loses head of weather
Dan Tomlinson, head of weather derivatives at Icap, has left the London-based inter-dealer broker and joined WeatherXchange, a joint initiative between the UK’s Meteorological Office and Umbrella Brokers.
CBOE launches exposure instrument on S&P 500
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) yesterday launched Standard and Poor’s Depository Receipts (SPDRs), designed to give dealers, through a single product, exposure to the S&P 500 share index.
BOTCC strikes metals derivatives deal with CMXchange
Chicago's Board of Trade Clearing Corporation (BOTCC) has entered an agreement to process and guarantee the forward and over-the-counter derivatives transactions of internet-based metals exchange, CMXchange, located in Northfield, Illinois.
FIA reports record volumes for futures and options in the US
The volume of futures and options traded on US exchanges so far this year is up by over 15% on last year, and looks likely to set an all-time record in spite of the terrorist attacks in September, said the US-based Futures Industry Association (FIA).
Will Germany scupper Basel II?
How real is Germany’s threat to veto the proposed Basel II bank capital accord if the country fails to get the concessions it wants on the accord’s treatment of bank lending to small to medium-sized companies (SMEs)?
Regulators looking at possible changes to Basel II credit risk plans
Basel - Global banking regulators are studying possible changes to the credit risk proposals of the complex Basel II bank capital accord, after seeing evidence that banks face higher capital charges under Basel II than they do under the current Basel I…
Could the Basel II op risk charge be cut again?
BASEL - Might banking regulators agree again to lower the capital charge for operational risk proposed under the controversial Basel II bank capital accord as part of horse-trading over the credit risk charge?
Building for Basel
The 2005 implementation date for the new Basel II Accord – already postponed by a year – is looming large. Whilst the banking sector is steadily gearing up for the proposed changes, there are fears that some institutions may be left behind.
Is there hope in the advanced measurement approaches?
Basel II is mistaken in assuming a stable relationship between expected and unexpected losses, argues Jacques Pézier in his second article on the Basel Committee’s recent operational risk working paper.