News
ABN Amro names Singapore head of credit structuring
Dutch bank ABN Amro has promoted MC Subramaniam to head of credit structuring and loan products in Singapore. Subramaniam will take responsibility for the bank's origination, risk management and execution activities relating to loan products business…
Fitch first to assign CDO asset manager ratings
Fitch will become the first rating agency to assign credit ratings to CDO (collateralised debt obligations) asset managers. The New York-based agency is taking a new, flexible approach to its methodology for its forthcoming rating process, aimed at…
Bank of England governor casts doubt on rates rise
The governor of the Bank of England, Edward George, yesterday claimed the Libor interest rate futures curve was overplaying the chances of a future UK rates rise.
CBA buys Ubitrade derivatives solution
Sydney-based Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has bought French software firm Ubitrade's futures and options package for use across its trading operations in Sydney.
EFTs, e-minis defy low equity derivatives flows
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and e-mini contracts defied January's trend of unusually low derivatives volumes and volatility, according to Joanne Hill, managing director and head of trading research at Goldman Sachs.
DBS signs up to Front for credit derivatives
Singapore's largest bank, DBS, is to install Front Arena software to support its credit trading activities, including credit derivatives and credit basket trading. Front Arena was developed by Front Capital Systems, an operating unit of SunGard.
ING Direct selects BancWare for ALM
ING Direct, the telephone/internet banking arm of Dutch group ING, has implemented a suite of SunGard Trading and Risk Systems' BancWare products to manage global interest rate risk in three countries.
Icap offers eurobond e-broking
UK inter-dealer broker Icap has extended its e-broking offering to include euro-denominated eurobonds, but has yet to offer interest rate swaps - its dominant trading product.
Administrators to pay £24 million to close out Enron Europe contracts
Enron Europe’s administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said today that 250,000 over-the-counter energy derivatives contracts still need to be closed out to unwind the business.
Nybot lobbies against proposed futures transaction tax
The New York Board of Trade (Nybot) has sent a letter to the US Congress detailing its opposition to the Bush administration’s fiscal year 2003 budget proposal seeking a new tax to be levied on each commodity futures and options contract traded on a…
India relaxes rules on exchange-traded derivatives
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ended many of its restrictions on foreign institutional investors, granting them permission to trade all exchange-traded derivatives products.
Siam Commercial signs to ActiveBank.net
Thailand's Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has adopted UK-based Financial Objects' ActiveBank.net system to support its treasury operations in Singapore and Hong Kong, and its offshore loan business in Bangkok.
New regulation proposed for OTC energy derivatives
A bill was introduced in the US Senate yesterday that seeks to expand regulatory oversight of the over-the-counter energy commodity derivatives market. Bill sponsor Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, wants the Commodity Futures Trading…
Hedge fund moves into market-making
Algometrics, a London-based hedge fund, is looking to raise around $500 million to become a liquidity provider in cash and derivatives equity markets.
ICE cool over EnronOnline’s revival
Atlanta-based trading portal IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) remains bullish about its prospects, despite the re-launch of a repackaged EnronOnline. The new version of the bankrupt Enron’s Web-based energy market was launched on February 11 by Swiss…
Rolfe & Nolan to launch RANorder Pro
UK derivatives systems provider, Rolfe & Nolan (R&N), is poised to launch a new trade-order entry system for institutional traders called RANorder Pro.
Latest patsystems ceo faces non-confidence vote
Shareholders of London-based electronic trading connectivity and front-end vendor, patsystems, have called for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to seek the removal of David Jones as chief executive.
Merrill takes on more risk, sets up equity prop-trading unit
Merrill Lynch appears determined to take more risk on its own books as part of an effort to boost profits. The firm’s latest move is to set up an equity prop-trading unit to trade equity-linked products. The development follows a decision last year to…
Basel II final paper delayed until 2003
Global banking regulators now expect to issue their final version of the complex and controversial Basel II bank capital adequacy accord “some time next year” rather than by the end of this year as previously hoped.
Nymex and CME offer joint energy futures
The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) is to offer smaller versions of its energy futures contracts via the electronic trading platform of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
Credit Lyonnais boosts Asian hedge fund team
The emerging markets arm of Credit Lyonnais has made three new hires to its specialist hedge fund team in Hong Kong.
UK to set up 'information clearing house' for disaster recovery
The Bank of England plans to launch a prototype ‘information clearing house’ on disaster recovery for financial firms in the near future, a senior official of the UK’s central bank said.
No systemic risk management failure at AIB, says Moody's
Rating agency Moody's has confirmed its Aa3 rating for Allied Irish Banks' long-term debt, despite the bank'sannouncement of a suspected $750 million fraud at its US subsidiary, Allfirst Financial.
Senators move to block preferential employee stock options tax treatment
Four US senators will today introduce a new bill, the 'Ending the Double Standard for Stock Options Act', that will require US corporations to treat employee stock options in the same way in both their tax returns and financial statements.