News
Swiss and UK banks set to win as Japanese lose in Basel II
Swiss and UK banks are poised to be the main beneficiaries from the proposed new regulatory capital accord, Basel II, according to results from the Basel committee’s quantitative impact study 2.5 (QIS2.5).
BoA's corporate risk veteran Vandiver to retire
Bank of America’s (BoA) corporate risk management executive Bill Vandiver will retire in March, following 35 years with the Charlotte-based financial services company. He will be replaced by Amy Woods Brinkley, presently deputy corporate risk management…
Creditex sees limited structured products growth
Creditex, the online credit derivatives broker that launched in March 2000, has been growing its business in structured credit transactions, according to company executives. Officials said the privately owned firm’s revenue has increased six-fold since…
Deutsche and Fleet unveil $40 billion OTC deal
Deutsche Bank and the US' FleetBoston Financial have revealed one of the largest over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives deals in history. The portfolio deal, with a notional value of about $40 billion, was executed in June to protect Fleet from short-term US…
Tamesis hires derivatives veteran Benson
Tamesis, the London-based supplier of risk management and trading solutions to investment banks, has hired derivatives veteran Robert Benson as a board director.
Aquila chooses Panorama
US energy firm Aquila has selected SunGard’s Panorama system to be its cross-commodity trading and risk management system. Aquila becomes the third of the 10 largest US energy companies to select the Panorama system developed by SunGard, a global risk…
Liffe's new futures under the weather
Two working days after launching its weather futures contracts, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe) has yet to see a trade. Despite this, Ian Dudden, director of non-financial products at the London-based exchange -…
EEX to launch three-month energy futures
Frankfurt-based European Energy Exchange (EEX) plans to launch three-month, or quarterly-term, electricity futures on December 17. The quarterly-term futures closely mimic existing over-the-counter contracts, and reflect a constant delivery of…
Moody’s to launch RiskCalc for Japanese firms
The risk management unit of international rating agency Moody's has completed the development of its RiskCalc model for estimating probability of default for Japanese private companies.
Anti-hedger Newmont ups the ante in Normandy bid
The takeover battle for Australia’s leading gold mining firm, Normandy Mining, took another twist today, as a revised $2.2 billion bid from the US’ Newmont Mining, renowned for its anti-hedging policy, appeared to gain support from Normandy’s board.
Enron's bankruptcy leaves freight derivatives opening
Enron's bankruptcy has left a vacant brokers' position in the small but growing freight derivatives market, which is being eyed up by a number of players. Enron had been one of the main market-makers in the forward freight agreements (FFAs) market, with…
Commerzbank loses head of alternative investment unit
Kevin Ferro, formerly head of Commerzbank’s New York-based Alternative Investment Strategies (AIS) unit, has left the firm, along with five members of his team. A Commerzbank spokesperson in New York said that Ferro and his colleagues have set up a new…
Goldman's Litzenberger retires
Bob Litzenberger, head of firm-wide risk management for Goldman Sachs, retired last week. Noel Donohoe, chief operating officer for the firm-wide risk management group, has replaced him.
Survey shows corporate risks are going unhedged
Two-thirds of senior executives at US companies are not satisfied that their company has successfully identified and managed all their significant business risks, according to a recent joint report by Andersen and Financial Executives International.
Icap loses head of weather
Dan Tomlinson, head of weather derivatives at Icap, has left the London-based inter-dealer broker and joined WeatherXchange, a joint initiative between the UK’s Meteorological Office and Umbrella Brokers.
CBOE launches exposure instrument on S&P 500
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) yesterday launched Standard and Poor’s Depository Receipts (SPDRs), designed to give dealers, through a single product, exposure to the S&P 500 share index.
SunGard in deal with Spanish bank association
SunGard Trading and Risk Systems, based in New York, today announced that it has licensed its market and credit risk management system, Panorama, to the Confederacion Española de Cajas de Ahorros (CECA), an association representing Spain’s 47 savings…
FIA reports record volumes for futures and options in the US
The volume of futures and options traded on US exchanges so far this year is up by over 15% on last year, and looks likely to set an all-time record in spite of the terrorist attacks in September, said the US-based Futures Industry Association (FIA).
CME taps Sears to run forex business
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), currently the world’s third-largest derivatives exchange by volume, has appointed Richard E. Sears to a new position as managing director in charge of managing the CME’s foreign exchange business.
Isda frowns on IRS proposal
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) has criticised proposed changes by the IRS to the accounting regulations for notional principal contacts (NPCs).
Icap recovers after WTC attacks
Icap, the word’s largest inter-dealer broker, says that a busy period for its interest rate swaps business during October and November, due to economic uncertainty and volatile interest rates across the globe, helped spur a 22% rise in global revenues,…
Algo to offer Basel II-compliant credit risk solution
Algorithmics, the Toronto-based risk management technology firm, says it is working with its clients to include a credit solution in its suite of products which meets the specific data architecture, data modelling and technology requirements required…