JP Morgan
Rates Markets Update: Swap flows increase on economic news
Dollar-swaps saw big flows this week following a US Treasury announcement on Monday that it plans to borrow $120 billion to cover its budget shortfall. Ten-year swap spreads had come in from 57.5 basis points at the start of the week to 52bp midweek,…
Static data moves forward
Firms tackling high-speed and information-intensive tasks such as straight-through processing or risk management without accurate instrument and counterparty reference data may be taking enormous operational and credit risks. Clive Davidson reports on…
JP Morgan restructures credit and interest rate operations
JP Morgan Chase is creating a global credit management group, incorporating credit risk management, corporate banking and credit lending. The new division is intended to reflect a market trend away from differentiating between different debt instruments…
JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche join Currenex as member banks
JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank have joined Currenex, the electronic foreign exchange trading portal. Currenex said the additions will enhance liquidity on the FX trading platform, and the news follows from the collapse of rival Atriax earlier this…
ABN Amro launches Asian absolute return group
ABN Amro has hired Richard Johnson and David Kwan as directors to create a new Asian absolute return strategy group in Hong Kong.
Exposing exposures: how far will it go?
The Enron debacle has spurred investors and creditors to press for greater disclosure of corporate risk and hedging strategies. Companies are beginning to respond. How far will it go?
FASB reverses on loan commitments
The US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has ruled that undrawn loan commitments will not be subject to derivatives accounting rules and do not have to be marked-to-market – a victory for commercial lenders.
NSSB hires fixed-income derivatives structurer
Nikko Salomon Smith Barney (NSSB) has hired Tatsuya Takeda as a director in its fixed-income derivatives team, according to an official at the bank in Tokyo.
LeBlanc leaves DrKW to head risk management at Barclays
Robert LeBlanc has joined Barclays Capital as its new head of risk management, after less than a year at German rival Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW). Both banks declined to comment on the move.
JP Morgan launches European credit index-linked security
JP Morgan Chase today launched a security that gives investors exposure to a broad range of European credits.
Calls mount for bank and rating agency disclosure on Enron
Leaders of the US House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday called on 10 investment banks and three credit-rating agencies to turn over records linked to Enron. Questions to the banks focused on loans to Enron and whether future business with Enron…
Barclays hires two for Latin America credit trading
Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank, has hired Michael McGowan and Ronaldo Lyrio as directors of credit trading for Latin America, as part of the bank’s effort to grow its presence in the region.
Credit risk reporting: Managing the exposure challenge
Mass financial shocks – including Enron and Argentina – are forcing banks to disclose more information, faster, about their credit exposures to satisfy skittish investors. How are banks' technology infrastructures coping with this challenge?
Little change expected for yen in run-up to fiscal year-end
Japan's former vice-minister of finance for international affairs, Eisuke Sakakibara, aka 'Mr Yen', has suggested the yen should ‘ideally’ depreciate to the 160-180 range against the dollar, further fuelling speculation that the yen could decline sharply…
JP Morgan Chase launches short-term FX predictor
JP Morgan Chase today launched an Economic Activity Surprise Index (Easi) that it claims will help users predict short-term currency moves.
JPMC promotes Winters and Wilson
JP Morgan Chase has promoted Bill Winters and Don Wilson, co-heads of the firm's credit and rate markets business - including credit and rate derivatives - to its 15-strong executive committee.
Enron exposure hurts JP Morgan credit position
Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has placed JP Morgan Chase on negative ratings outlook following the financial institution’s unveiling of a $322 million loss in fourth-quarter 2001, in part caused by its exposure to failed US energy company Enron.
Linear, yet attractive, Contour
Banks’ Potential Future Exposure models are at the core of the advanced EAD (Exposure At Default) approach to capital requirements for credit risk considered in the New Basel Capital Accord. Juan Cárdenas, Emmanuel Fruchard and Jean-François Picron look…
FASB: loan commitments must be treated like derivatives
The US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) ruled last month that some unfunded loan commitments made by banks should be treated like derivatives and marked-to-market. The ruling came nearly nine months after Goldman Sachs first proposed the…
Basel II sets the pace for operational risk reform
Basel II is set to come into play in 2005, bringing a host of opportunities for vendors along with the new framework for banking supervision. Andrew Partridge examines the potential and some of the challenges for the suppliers and users of financial…
ABN Amro expands forex strategy team
Dutch bank ABN Amro is expanding its London foreign exchange strategy team by hiring Aziz McMahon, formerly a treasury economist with Ulster Bank, as a forex strategist.
JP Morgan accuses WestLB on $165m Enron swap
JP Morgan Chase has accused WestLB of failing to make payment on a $165 million letter of credit (l/c) backing an Enron-related swap. JP Morgan Chase made the dispute public, though it did not name West LB, instead merely referring to “a European…
Top investors in credit
This year has been an eye-opener for investors in European credit, with some fund managers living dangerously by under-investing in credit expertise
JP Morgan Chase admits $500 million exposure to Enron
JP Morgan Chase said today that it has $500 million of unsecured exposure to Enron.