News
Basel II op risk floor abandoned
Global banking regulators said today they would eliminate the floor on capital charges under the advanced approaches to measuring operational risk in the Basel II bank accord.
Isda welcomes “positive” Basel II statement
The progress statement on the Basel II bank accord issued today by global regulators was mostly positive, said officials at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda), the trade body for the world’s financial risk management industry.
National regulators able to ‘opt out’ of Basel II maturity treatment
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the architect of Basel II, has climbed down from its initial plans to force banks to include a full maturity adjustment on capital allocated against risk of defaulting loans, in its proposed mark-to-market…
Aquila backs Feinstein energy trading proposals
Missouri-based energy company Aquila today said it strongly supports Senator Dianne Feinstein's proposal for more aggressive Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight of energy derivatives trading.
Credit Markets Update: Vivendi and Alcatel protection still available
Credit default swaps are still being trading on troubled French companies Vivendi and Alcatel, although at spreads of between 1,500 to 2,500 basis points for five-year protection, traders in London said today.
DrKW sets up prime brokerage service
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) has launched a prime brokerage business, offering financing and support services to hedge funds and alternative investment funds.
UK bankers fear capital floors higher under latest Basel II plans
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) is concerned that global banking regulators appear to have raised and expanded the application of the capital charges floor in the Basel II bank Accord, a BBA official said today.
ING re-enters Asian equity derivatives market
ING Financial Markets has appointed Trinh Du as director and head of structured and listed equity derivatives trading, marking the Dutch institution’s return to the Asian equity derivative markets after an absence of five years.
Isda to testify before Senate committee
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association will today testify that there is no need for further over-the-counter energy derivatives regulation. Representatives of the trade association, due to speak before the US Senate Committee on Agriculture,…
JP Morgan names most vulnerable European corporates
US investment bank JP Morgan Chase named ABB, Alcatel, Alstom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Fiat, France Telecom, ICI, Invensys, Repsol-YPF, Rhodia, Vivendi Universal as the most exposed credits post-WorldCom in its latest credit research report.
ICE to buy Enron’s back-office architecture
Atlanta-based commodities market-place the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) plans to acquire the assets of CommodityLogic, a collection of back-office software and hardware, from bankrupt energy trader Enron. The purchase and sale agreement is subject to…
US institutions take greater risks in convertible arbitrage
US institutions that invest in convertible securities, such as convertible arbitrage hedge funds, take more risks than their European counterparts, according to a research report published by US-based financial consultancy Greenwich Associates.
DrKW adds to credit derivatives team
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) has continued to expand its credit derivatives team and hired Hideyuki Kudo in Japan and Hans-Juergen Brasch and Kaveh Taleghani in London.
BIS head defends complexity of Basel II
The most advanced approaches under the Basel II bank capital adequacy accord are likely to be complex if banks are to have the right incentives to measure and manage their risks, a senior international central banker said today.
Bank of America traders launch forex hedge fund
Three senior forex traders from Bank of America (BoA) in New York last week launched Scalene Partners, a new intra-day forex hedge fund.
IFX expands sales force
Margin forex player IFX plans to expand its sales force in the coming months, as part of a drive to increase its client base, an official told RiskNews ' sister publication FX Week .
Tokai equity trading team quits to set up hedge fund
Mark Page, who quit as head of equity trading at Tokai Bank Europe in April 2002, plans to launch a multi-strategy hedge fund called Eriswell Capital.
CLS completes first live trials
Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS), a global system designed to substantially reduce foreign exchange transaction risk by settling trades in real time, moved a step closer to implementation today with the completion of its first live trials.
AMP Henderson to use credit default swaps in Australia
Investment management firm AMP Henderson Global Investors is preparing to use credit default swaps in Australia for the first time, to obtain credit exposure to Australian companies outside the domestic corporate bond market.
Mixed results for sales of SG's 'gemstones'
SG, the investment banking arm of French bank Société Générale, is seeing mixed results this year from its sale of equity-linked structured products to the European retail market.
ING to use Credient for credit portfolio management
The Netherlands-based ING Group has selected SunGard Trading and Risk Systems’ Credient application to support its credit portfolio management business. The application service provider-run product will provide ING with a global, integrated, real-time…
Credit Markets Update: France Telecom fluctuates in thin markets
The cost of credit protection on troubled telco France Telecom fluctuated this week within a 100 basis point range, causing knock-on effects on the spreads of other European telecoms in jittery markets that saw little trading activity. But positive…
Confident regulators expect to issue upbeat Basel II statement next week
Global banking regulators are expected next week to make an upbeat statement on progress with the controversial Basel II bank Accord. This follows several months of uncertainty in which some bankers doubted the Accord would ever see the light of day.
JP Morgan Chase to release ratings-based JECI, while ABN launches iBoxx note
JP Morgan Chase is planning to launch a ratings based version of its JP Morgan European credit index-linked security (JECI) in the next few months. The new JECI products will incorporate credits with specific ratings, initially focusing on AA and A rated…