BNP Paribas
Clean energy fund tops $200 million in first year
A clean-energy infrastructure fund managed by Fortis Investments has attracted €158 million ($232 million) in investment in its first year.
Eye on Asia
Alain Papiasse took over as chief executive of corporate and investment banking at BNP Paribas in April this year. Christopher Jeffery met with him in Hong Kong to talk about the French bank's strategy in Asia
Positive second-quarter results continue
UK and European banks have posted positive latest second-quarter results, led by strong investment banking revenues - but suffered from tightening credit spreads.
Banks' own credit risk hampers financial results
Own credit risk - the concept of including the credit risk of an institution in the measurement of the liabilities it issues - had a significant impact on banks' profits in the first half of 2009, as credit default swap (CDS) spreads referencing banks'…
Execution appoints Tranter head of derivatives
Nick Tranter joined equities broker Execution on August 3 as head of derivatives, a new role intended to develop the firm's institutional and hedge fund derivatives business .
European banks report modest Q2, despite increased provisioning
Top Spanish, German and Swiss banks have reported modest gains in the second quarter, although their profits have been constrained by an increase in non-performing loans and loan loss provisioning.
French and German banks to launch Sepa rival to Visa and MasterCard
Daily news headlines
Negative repos distort dividend hedging strategies
Abnormally low repurchase rates are forcing banks to hedge their dividend exposures with swaps instead of forwards.
Leading lights
As Structured Products magazine celebrates its fifth anniversary, the time is right to take a look back a mere 15-20 years to when it all began, and to interview a selection of 10 pioneers who created and fostered the business from its European…
AIG forex prime brokerage bought by BNP Paribas
The US foreign exchange prime brokerage business of AIG Financial Products (AIG FP) has been transferred to BNP Paribas, along with eight staff.
Holding counterparty risk at arm’s length
Exchange-traded funds have been as exposed to talk of counterparty risk as the next structured product, although the risk is lower. Under the European Union's Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities III regulations, ETFs are…
CDSs on UK financials widen
The cost of credit protection on major UK banks rose this morning. The move came on the back of Standard & Poor's putting UK sovereign debt on negative ratings watch last week.
CDSs on European and US banks continue to widen
The cost of credit protection on financial institutions increased today across Europe and the US. The move came after the Bank of England's quarterly inflation report showed UK GDP growth was slower than expected in the first quarter of 2009 yesterday,…
BoE inflation report pushes CDSs on European financials wider
The cost of credit protection on European financials increased this morning following the release of the Bank of England's quarterly inflation report. The report conceded UK GDP growth had been slower than expected in the first quarter of 2009, and…
CDSs on US banks widen
The cost of credit protection on US banks increased this morning, having fallen - in some cases by as much as 50 basis points - on Friday after the announcement of the US government's stress-test results last week.
CDSs on European financials tighten on positive Fed comments
The cost of credit protection on European financial institutions fell this morning following the US Federal Reserve's announcement yesterday that the economic outlook is improving.
Encouraging US data helps CDSs on European banks narrow
Five-year senior credit default swap (CDS) spreads referencing European banks narrowed this morning. With JP Morgan announcing a first-quarter profit of $2.1 billion, market participants hoped for more encouraging news from the US.
CDSs on European banks widen
The cost of credit protection on European banks increased this morning, as UBS predicted a first-quarter 2009 loss of Sfr2 billion.
CDSs on European financials tighten
The cost of credit protection on European banks decreased this morning, after Goldman Sachs reported a first-quarter net profit of $1.81 billion yesterday.