Foreign exchange
Roubini: Short-term nationalisation of US banks is best means to end recession
Ailing US financial institutions being propped up by capital injections from the Federal Reserve should instead be put into short-term nationalisation to hasten the end of the recession, a leading academic has said.
Japanese CDO market shrinks in 2008, says Moody's
The collateralised debt obligation (CDO) market in Japan last year contracted by 12% to about ¥1 trillion ($10.2 billion) in terms of deals rated by Moody's Investors Service.
Sassoon report suggests folding FSA into the Bank of England
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Single Family Offices reduce equities, increase cash, and ETF education
Education will increase the allocation that family offices in Europe make to structured products and exchange traded funds (ETFs), says Gary Dugan, chief investment officer EMEA of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Bruce Love of Campden Research…
Risk South Africa: investors have changed commodity markets
Increased investor involvement in commodity markets has changed the way they operate, according to Danny Masters, co-founder of commodity hedge fund Global Advisors and former head of the global energy trading group at JP Morgan.
Ice launches US CDS clearing service
Atlanta-based derivatives exchange IntercontinentalExchange (Ice) launched its credit default swap (CDS) central clearing platform on March 9 after receiving the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 6.
US Wrap: Equity bulls come out in force with growth structures
Accelerated growth products were the only structures to be launched in the US market yesterday, linking to both international and domestic equity. International exposure was provided by two products linked to the iShares MSCI Eafe Index fund. It was…
Risk South Africa: more transparency needed to end crisis
Government programmes aimed at ending the global financial crisis require greater transparency to shore up investor confidence, said Robert McAdie, global head of credit strategy at Barclays Capital.
Brokerage launches environmental arm
Phoenix Partners Group, an interdealer credit and equity derivatives broker, has launched an environmental brokerage service for the worldwide renewable energy and emissions markets.
Bank of England reveals £75 billion asset purchase programme
The Bank of England plans to buy up £75 billion of assets over the next three months, including medium-term government bonds (gilts) in the secondary markets and commercial paper from the private sector.
IASB amends fair-value disclosure
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has amended disclosure requirements for the fair-value measurement of financial instruments, further aligning International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) with US Generally Accepted Accounting…
Iosco aims to boost oversight on commodity futures
Today, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (Iosco) published guidelines for improving the transparency and supervision of commodity futures markets.
Basel Committee to look at Tier 1 capital quality
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Basel Committee to look at Tier 1 capital quality
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is preparing radical changes to its rules on capital quality, including a 'soft target' of 75% for equity capital - up from 50% today - and the possible abolition of two-tier capital, according to a senior…
Fed approval leaves Ice/TCC on brink of CDS clearing
Intercontinental Exchange's (Ice) application to become a member of the Federal Reserve System has been approved by the US central bank, overcoming one of the final obstacles preventing the firm from launching its central clearing platform for credit…
Shrinking dividends may be a mixed blessing
Implied dividends beyond 2009 remain at highly distressed levels, creating torment for dealers and hedge funds with dividend exposures, but providing opportunities for market participants elsewhere.
Treasury launches Talf, drops compensation caps
The US Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of New York launched the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (Talf) yesterday, but opted to remove restrictions on executive remuneration for participating institutions.
Boillereau takes over cash FX at HSBC as Brown departs
Frederic Boillereau, global head of foreign exchange and metals at HSBC in London has added cash FX to his responsibilities. Andrew Brown, global head of FX and a nine-year veteran of the bank, has left the bank. Boillereau's new role will bring together…
Islamic exchange traded gold tracker launched in Dubai
Dubai Gold Securities, a limited liability partnership formed in January 2009 between the Dubai Multi Commodity Centre Authority and Dubai Commodity Asset Management, has launched the sharia-compliant gold security, an exchange traded commodity security…
Casam lists 11 new ETFs as issuance accelerates
Credit Agricole Structured Asset Management (Casam) has listed 11 new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) covering different sectors in Europe, Eastern Europe, broad European equity exposure and two Asian markets.
EM focus pays off again for Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered Bank, the emerging markets specialist, has again bucked the trend in the banking industry, reporting a double-digit rise in earnings for 2008 and a cautiously positive outlook for 2009 today.
SG offers yen warrants to UK retail investors
Société Générale has listed 10 new FX-linked covered warrants on the London Stock Exchange. The warrants fluctuate in value according to the exchange rate between either the Japanese yen against sterling, or against the US dollar.
US Wrap: Reverse convertibles hold sway as underlying scope widens
Reverse convertibles dominated US issuance on Friday, as did Barclays Bank, which issued 13 of the notes. Alongside the usual smattering of energy companies, two gold producers were included - a different perspective from investing in the precious metal…
Barcap offers new accounts for offshore bond series
Barclays Capital has launched two new structured deposit accounts for its offshore bond series: the three-year guaranteed digital and the five-year guaranteed FTSE 100 deposit accounts. The accounts are designed exclusively for use within offshore bonds…