Structured Products
Gold producer hedging drops to record lows
LONDON - Gold hedging plunged by another 18% in the first quarter of 2008, shrinking the global delta-adjusted hedge positions to 22 million troy ounces (Moz).
Reuters’ RTFX offers algo strategies
LONDON – Thomson Reuters is teaming up with Credit Suisse to introduce algorithmic trading strategies on the Reuters Trading for Foreign Exchange (RTFX) product next month.
Death by association
The application of credit technology to diverse underlyings led to the birth of collateralised foreign exchange obligations in 2006. But despite being built from uncorrelated underlyings, their fortunes have proven highly correlated with the wider market…
BarCap offers retail white-label service
LONDON - Barclays Capital is breaking into the mass and private wealth management markets for foreign exchange with the launch of a white-label margin FX trading service called Barx White Label for Private Investors.
Merrill Lynch FICC team faces cuts
LONDON - Merrill Lynch put more than 80 members of staff in its fixed-income currencies and commodities (FICC) group in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region on a 90-day consultation period last Wednesday (April 23).
A call for old-fashioned banking?
Over the past few years, buy-side traders have been demanding a levelling of the playing field as they increasingly make markets in foreign exchange like their sell-side peers. So it was surprising, and even refreshing, to hear some calls for old…
Deutsche Bank continues ETN issues
NEW YORK - Deutsche Bank has launched four commodity-linked exchange traded notes (ETNs), in response to growing demand from retail and institutional investors for exposure to the commodity markets.
BarCap aims to capture FX volatility
LONDON - Barclays Capital has launched three foreign exchange volatility indexes, the BetaVol, Smart BetaVol and AlphaVol. The indexes, which are designed to provide portfolio diversification and event hedge protection against sudden market downturns,…
Yen rise triggers PRDC hedging
TOKYO - The sharp appreciation of the yen in March has left dealers jostling to hedge exposures to power-reverse dual currency notes (PRDCs) and other similar structured products.
Merk offers Asian currency fund
PALO ALTO, CA - Merk Investments launched the Merk Asian Currency Fund (MACF) on Tuesday (April 1), a mutual fund that invests in a basket of Asian currencies, aimed at retail investors.
Small retail FX firms face extinction
Felix Shipkevich, general counsel, and Anna Vidiaev, staff attorney, at online foreign exchange trading company Capital Market Services in New York say a proposed rise in capital requirements for retail brokers will result in an anticompetitive market
A matter of preference
Jeffrey Todd Lins, director of quantitative analysis at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen, advances the tired debate over hedging versus alpha generation in wealth management.
Dresdner enhances risk appetite tool
LONDON - Dresdner Kleinwort has enhanced its proprietary multi-asset class risk appetite measurement tool, ARPI (aggregate risk perception index), ahead of a strong global push later this year.
Oiling the FX wheels
The Royal Bank of Canada is offering capital protection with a new FX-linked product that is based on currencies from six countries, including two of the world's biggest oil producers
US dollar plummets against the yen
LONDON - Despite USD/JPY hitting 12-year lows last Thursday, traders are expecting a further collapse of the US unit versus the yen.
Retail FX might go down, but it's not out
Last week's turbulence in the currency markets certainly gave those considering a strategy to enter the retail foreign exchange market pause for thought.
US dollar plummets against the yen
LONDON - Despite USD/JPY hitting 12-year lows last Thursday, traders are expecting a further collapse of the US unit versus the yen.
ABN targets retail investors
DUBAI - ABN Amro has launched the Bric Infrastructure, Water and FX capital-protected note, targeted at retail investors globally.
MF Global loses $141.5m from rogue wheat trade
NEW YORK - Interdealer broker MF Global has lost $141.5 million after it was forced to cover trading losses made by one of its employees.
UBS receives India banking go-ahead
MUMBAI - UBS joined an elite pool of foreign banks to receive an Indian banking licence last Monday (Feb 18) from the Reserve Bank of India.
Fenics Enterprise extends GFI's options data reach
LONDON - GFI Group plans to further embed itself in the trading process with a bespoke version of its Fenics FX options pricing, risk management and trading tool, Fenics Enterprise.
Goldman Sachs launches new Redi FX platform
LONDON - Goldman Sachs has launched Redi FX, a stand-alone, single-bank foreign exchange trading platform.
FX-linked investments rise as US dollar weakens
NEW YORK - Forex-linked investments enjoyed rapid growth in the US last year, as the dollar experienced further decline.