Enron
Enron veteran quits rates IT role at UBS
Jay Webb, a managing director for fixed-income rates and currencies derivatives IT at UBS, has resigned, bank officials have confirmed.
Enron's former head of options trading joins Mobius
Mark Jackson, the former head of options trading at failed energy company Enron, has joined Houston-based energy risk advisory firm Mobius Risk Group as senior vice-president of quantitative services.
University of California adds four to Enron lawsuit
The University of California continues to add plaintiffs to its lawsuit against Enron. RBC, Goldman Sachs and two law firms are now facing the university's wrath.
Ex-Merrill Lynch energy trader pleads guilty to fraud
At 24, Daniel Gordon headed Merrill Lynch's energy trading business. He has now pleaded guilty to a $43 million fraud.
The science of compliance
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is placing urgent demands on many US companies for accurate reporting of financial information. Clive Davidson reports on the implications for financial technology.
Sponsor's article > Accounting for revenue uncertainty
The past 20 years have seen an increasing focus on mark-to-market accounting when determining corporate profits. This has been accompanied by a dramatic growth in contracts where multiple complex contingencies interact to affect valuation. David Rowe…
EU explores rating agency shake-up
The European parliament may be set to tighten the regulation of credit rating agencies after a paper from the parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs emphasised the growing significance of rating agencies in the financial systems and…
US Senate rejects energy derivatives legislation
The US Senate yesterday voted down proposed legislation that sought to impose tighter controls over energy derivatives trading.
Schwarzenegger pressed to give details of Ken Lay meeting
California-based lobby group, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), has asked Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s governor-elect, to explain the substance of his private May 2001 meeting with Enron chief, Ken Lay. FTCR, a non-profit…
CFTC to sue AEP over false gas trades
Ohio-based utility American Electric Power (AEP) has been charged with reporting 2,800 false natural gas trades to energy price index companies, such as Platts, and attempting to manipulate natural gas prices. The charges, levied by the US Commodity…
DoJ forces Merrill to disclose future structured product deals
In a deal struck with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over charges of conspiracy with Enron, Merrill Lynch has agreed sweeping reforms that will require all complex structured finance transactions effected by a third party with the bank to be…
RBC reaches settlement agreement in Enron bankruptcy case
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) yesterday reached a settlement agreement with Enron Corporation, the Enron Creditors' Committee and Netherlands-based Rabobank, resolving aspects of a share transaction known as ‘Cerberus’, which also involved the use of…
Ferc executes already dead Enron
Enron became the first company to face the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (Ferc) “death penalty” in June when the US energy regulator revoked the bankrupt firm’s authority to sell electricity at market-based rates.
Weather derivatives notional volumes fall by $100 million
The Weather Risk Management Association (WRMA), the international trade organisation of the weather derivatives industry, yesterday said that the notional value of weather derivatives contracts fell by $100 million from last year’s figures.
CROs seen as vital for restoring confidence
Chief risk officers (CROs) have a vital role in helping shape the future of thetroubled energy sector and should report directly to their company’s boardif investor confidence is to be rebuilt in the industry. Vincent Kaminski, seniorvice-president of…
Ferc calls for risk manager vigilance
The director of the office of market oversight and investigations (OMOI) at theUS Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc), has urged energy risk managersto alert his office to any suspicious market practices.
...while AEP exits Nordic energy trading
Ohio-based American Electric Power (AEP) last month completed its exit from theNordic energy trading market. The management team responsible for AEP’sactivities in the Nordic region will assume AEP’s Nordic trading book,office leases and related…
How to run a market
Former-derivatives-trader-turned-author Frank Partnoy wants to see tougher accounting standards and risk disclosures to deter corporate crooks. But are the regulators listening? Maria Kielmas reports
Enron will not centralise risk management
Failed energy trader Enron plans to package together the majority of its internationalassets into a company known as InternationalCo, the shares of which will be distributedto its creditors.
Cross-border conundrums
Credit Risk
CRO role vital for restoring confidence to energy sector, says Kaminski
Chief risk officers (CROs) have a vital role in helping to shape the future of the troubled energy sector, and should report directly to the board of energy companies if investor confidence is to be rebuilt in the sector, Vincent Kaminski, senior vice…
Enron will not centralise risk management for InternationalCo
Failed energy trader Enron plans to package together the majority of its international assets into a company known as InternationalCo, the shares of which will be distributed to its creditors. But Houston-based Enron spokesman John Ambler today told…
Own, sell or restructure
Finance
AEP exits Nordic energy trading
American Electric Power (AEP) today completed its exit from the Nordic energy trading market, an AEP spokesman told RiskNews . The management team responsible for AEP's activities in the Nordic region will assume AEP's Nordic trading book, office leases…