News
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.
New head of European FX derivatives marketing for HSBC
HSBC has appointed Ferruccio Ferrara from Deutsche Bank as European head of FX derivatives marketing.
German insurer and bank credit spreads hit by downgrade fears
The cost of protection for German reinsurance company Munich Re and German banks Deutsche, Commerzbank and Dresdner widened today following negative rating and outlook changes by Moody's Investor Services.
Job cuts at Nordea Securities to have minimal derivatives impact
Nordea's decision to slash nearly 20% of its Nordea Securities investment banking workforce should have only a limited impact on the Nordic bank’s derivatives business, it announced yesterday.
Japanese bank credit spreads tighten on central bank bailout
Credit protection sellers in Tokyo welcomed the Japanese authorities’ plan to buy shares from the banks to help stop the deterioration of banks’ financial ratios due to the fall in stock prices, helping Japanese bank credit default swap spreads end the…
Bank of England’s Allsopp questions role of interest rates in bubbles
Christopher Allsopp, a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC), has cast doubt on the effectiveness of using interest rates to head-off asset price bubbles.
Swiss Re expects cat bond deluge
Swiss Re, one of the world's top three reinsurance companies, plans to issue 50% to 100% more insurance-linked securities over the next year, in line with an expected rise in total industry issuance, said Swiss Re chief economist for North America, Kurt…
Isda sees Basel II cross-border operation as major concern
LONDON - The biggest concern arising from the complex Basel II bank capital accord is about how it will operate for banks across national borders, Tanya Castell, London-based head of investment bank UBS Warburg’s risk policy group, said today.
JP Morgan says disposable computing is key to IT
JP Morgan Chase has solved the problem of how to provide computationally intensive derivatives pricing and risk modelling capabilities across products and throughout the firm, without vastly expanding its IT budget with what Steve Neiman, head of high…
Business managers play key role in shrinking Merrill IT budget
Merrill Lynch has stemmed IT cost overruns by shifting the responsibility for technology project costs to business managers and away from IT managers.
GFI launches new credit portal
GFI Group has launched its new Credit Portal, which provides online access to GFI’s databases and risk management tools.
Fortis London commodities unit to implement Ubitrade system
Fortis Commodities Brokerage, the London commodity trading unit of Benelux bank Fortis, has signed up to Ubitrade Futures & Options, a capital markets trading and risk management system developed by French company Ubitrade.
CalPERS presses ahead with $37 million STP plan
The California Public Employees Retirement System is moving forward with its $37 million four-year straight-through processing project, despite the delay of the T+1 deadline, and the economic conditions that have shrunk the fund manager’s assets under…
Banks in 50 countries will complete Basel II QIS 3 survey
Two hundred and sixty-five banks from nearly 50 countries have agreed to take part in the key third quantitative impact study, QIS 3, that seeks information on how the complex Basel II capital accord will affect banks, the world’s top international…
Mizuho to launch ¥1.27 trillion CuBic One synthetic CLO
Mizuho Corporate Bank, a unit of Japan's Mizuho Holdings, is launching a ¥1.27 trillion ($10.4 billion) three-year synthetic balance sheet collateralised loan obligation (CLO), via special purpose vehicle CuBic One Limited. Mizuho International and…
Lehman takes a proprietary route to STP integration
US investment bank Lehman Brothers will rely on proprietary technology rather than industry standards to achieve straight-through processing (STP), Patrick Maher, Lehman vice-president of operations technology told delegates at Waters Magazine’s 2002…
Banks in 50 countries will complete Basel II QIS 3 survey
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – Two hundred and sixty-five banks from nearly 50 countries have agreed to take part in the key third quantitative impact study, or QIS 3, that seeks information on how the complex Basel II capital accord will affect banks, the…
Single bank capital accord for all banks is impossible, says Basel Committee chief
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – Differences between banking systems make it impossible to conceive of a single bank protective capital accord that would work for all banks in all countries, the world’s top international banking regulator said today.
ORX loss database operational by the end of the year
FRANKFURT, GERMANY - The Operational Riskdata eXchange Association (ORX), a not-for-profit venture to pool op risk loss data resources, expects its operational risk database to be operating by the end of 2002, Fred Peemoeller, chief risk officer,…
Insurers to have largest exposure to credit derivatives by 2004, says BBA
Insurance companies are expected to overtake banks for market share in the global credit derivatives market within a couple of years, according to a new report published by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) today.
US corporate hedging declines, says AFP
A majority of US corporate respondents to a recent survey by the Maryland-based Association of Finance Professionals (AFP) reported that overall hedging activity has declined, with a third citing derivatives accounting rule FAS 133 as the reason for the…