Foreign exchange
WEF backs calls for reverse stress tests
"Glaring gaps in risk management" represent one of the biggest dangers facing the world in 2009, and financial institutions must improve their modelling and testing as a matter of urgency, according to a World Economic Forum report launched today.
New financial regulation research centre launches
The International Centre for Financial Regulation (ICFR), an independent global research institute focused entirely on financial regulation, launched today in London.
Asset price crashes could continue this year, says World Economic Forum
There is still a significant risk of asset prices falling through 2009, according to the World Economic Forum's assessment of global economic risks this year, revealed at a press conference today in London.
European Commission initiates legal action against Standard & Poor's
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Direxion launches latest leveraged ETFs
Direxion, a US-based provider of alternative investment strategies, has unveiled two three-times leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in its range. The Direxion Mid Cap Bull 3x Shares and Direxion Mid Cap Bear 3x Shares ETFs provide 300% of the daily…
Liquidity floods into Powernext Gas
French exchange Powernext's recently-launched natural gas spot market has already become the most liquid in continental Europe, says Powernext.
MCX launches India’s first electricity futures
Mumbai-based Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) launched India's first electricity futures contract on January 9.
Fed offers $150 billion to banks via TAF
The Federal Reserve announced it would offer $150 billion in 28-day discount-rate loans via its term auction facility (TAF) today; the auction will settle on January 15.
JP Morgan wins Risk's derivatives house of the year award
JP Morgan has won Risk magazine's derivatives house of the year award for the second successive year. In a 12-month period that saw the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, unprecedented volatility in the market and capital injections into…
SEC in the dock over Madoff fraud
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HKMA urges firms to heed Lehman advice
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Uruguayan pension fund goes supranational for second time
Uruguayan pension fund, Republica Afap, has invested in a EUR/USD-linked participation note with the intent to hedge its portfolio against the depreciation of the euro against the dollar. The structured product, issued in October 2008, is the second such…
Caution prevails; invest in government bonds, says Merrill Lynch GWM
"We are very cautious on 2009," says Gary Dugan, chief investment officer of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management in Europe, Middle-East and Africa and author of Year Ahead 2009 . "Equities are attractively valued but investors need to take a limited…
Dugan: more US banks will fail in 2009
In an exclusive interview with Risk , John Dugan, the US Comptroller of the Currency, said he expected more US banks to topple in the year ahead.
Russia gas dispute hits European markets
Two days of Ukrainian natural gas transit flow cuts, combined with cold weather, have sparked a rise in both short and medium term European natural gas prices.
Stress tests were ignored in lead-up to crisis, Basel risk head says
Banks around the world ignored and marginalised the severe stress tests that could have prepared them for the crisis, according to Klaas Knot, the head of the Basel Committee's risk monitoring and management group.
NCDEX launches gold and silver contracts
India's second largest commodity exchange, the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), added gold and silver futures contracts to its portfolio at the end of December 2008. According to the exchange, the contracts were launched in response…
Fed expands MMIFF
The Federal Reserve has expanded its Money Market Investor Funding Facility (MMIFF) to include a wider range of money-market investors.
BPS and RiskBusiness announce integrated GRC platform
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Charges recommended for securities settlement failures
US Treasuries dealers should start imposing penalty charges on counterparties that fail to deliver securities on time, an industry group has recommended.
$428bn of Tarp funds to be exhausted by end of year
This year the US government will distribute $180 billion under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (Tarp) on top of the $248 billion it gave to financial institutions in 2008, the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted yesterday.
Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine halted
Exports of Russian natural gas to Europe through Ukraine have now been completely halted, according to statements from Ukraine's Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom.
European talks stall on CDS clearing
The European Commission's initiative to move the majority of over-the-counter credit default swaps (CDS) onto central clearing facilities has stalled after failing to get written commitments from certain parties.
FSA lifts short-selling ban but disclosure rules stay
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