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A record number of over-the-counter interest rate swap trades were cleared in Q2 2010 by LCH.Clearnet’s IRS clearing service SwapClear.
The total number of trades for the quarter reached 191,694 trade sides, a 30 per cent increase on Q2 2009, driven by record volumes in May of 73,440 trade sides.
The increased figures bring the total outstanding amount of IRS transactions to USD224.6trn.
Established over ten years ago, SwapClear’s membership has increased to 32 direct members and the product scope has grown to cover the world’s 14 largest currencies with tenors up to 50 years in USD, EUR and GBP.
Swift plans to acquire the assets of SunGard’s Ambit Messaging Hub solution for high-volume financial messaging.
The transaction is subject to a number of closing conditions that are expected to be fulfilled by the end of the quarter.
SunGard’s AvantGard Ecosystem Communication Hub (Echos) for corporate-to-bank messaging is based on the AMH technology.
The transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed, is not expected to have a material impact on SunGard’s results.
The acquisition extends Swift’s connectivity portfolio. Ambit Messaging Hub is a modular, multi-network, high-volume financial messaging solution that can be tailored to an individual customer’s needs
The Dutch environmental exchange Climex and its clearer APX-Endex have won a tender issued by the Dutch Ministries of Housing, Spatial planning and the Environment and Economic Affairs to auction four million emission allowances over two auctions.
Climex and APX-Endex have been selected to execute these auctions.
Climex still has to wait for the written confirmation before it starts the preparations of the auction.
“We are extremely happy that Climex has been selected as the best suited exchange for the auctions,” says Sascha Bloemhoff, director of Climex. “Climex has always maintained accessibility for the compliance industry itself, with free membership,
Algorithmics, a provider of risk solutions, has cautioned against the danger that is inherent in proposals to use standard liquidity ratios that do not account for bank size, resulting in a simplistic indication of a bank’s liquidity position.
The comments are contained in its recent submission to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s consultative document, “International framework for liquidity risk measurement, standards and monitoring”.
The Basel document proposes two standard ratios that all banks should be obliged to maintain above a defined minimum: liquidity coverage ratio and net stable funding ratio. Algorithmics warns that applying these ratios without considering
Hedge funds lost 0.96 per cent in June, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
The index is now up 0.13 per cent year-to-date.
All but five of Barclay’s hedge fund indexes lost ground in June.
The Barclay Equity Long Bias Index fell 2.95 per cent, healthcare and biotechnology lost 2.62 per cent, the Technology Index was down 2.22 per cent, equity long/short lost 1.78 per cent, and Pacific Rim equities were down 1.52 per cent.
“Fears of a ‘double-dip’ recession helped drive equity markets lower for a second month,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of
The Ucits HFS Index gained 0.41 per cent in the second week of trading in July 2010, but is still down by 0.05 per cent month to date.
Out of the 11 strategies five performed negative the last five trading days, but only currency lost significantly, down 1.09 per cent, and is now down 1.59 per cent month to date.
The three best performing strategies from a weekly perspective were convertible (+1.42 per cent), L/S equity (+0.98 per cent) and event driven (+0.68 per cent), thereby also turning into the three best performing strategies month to date.
Due to the
Channel Islands law firm Carey Olsen has promoted Robert Milner and Simon Marks to partner in the Jersey corporate and finance practice area.
Milner specialises in finance and fund structures with a particular focus on vehicles aimed at institutional and sophisticated investors. He also advises an international base of clients and lenders where property-holding structures involve Jersey vehicles.
Milner established the first Jersey unregulated fund limited partnership and has established a number of funds which are listed on global stock exchanges. He joined Carey Olsen in Jersey in 2005 from another Jersey law firm, having qualified as an advocate of
Private equity lawyer Matthew Hudson has formed a new law firm, MJ Hudson, to provide legal advice on the formation of specialist investment funds and structuring deals.
MJ Hudson has been formed to strengthen the partnership between advisers and their clients and to more deeply align their interests.
With a career spanning 25 years in the alternative asset industry, Hudson says there is a growing requirement for law firms to offer a broader, business based offering with a more creative and competitive pricing model, as well as having a clear specialism and total fund management industry focus.
Rather than charging
NYSE Euronext has launched a London-based securities market, NYSE Euronext London, aimed at attracting international issuers looking to list in London.
NYSE Euronext London is complementary to NYSE Euronext’s other European securities markets and will enhance the visibility and prominence of its Continental Europe listing and trading venues.
Dominique Cerutti, president and deputy chief executive of NYSE Euronext, says: “This is a natural next step in NYSE Euronext’s evolution and a logical extension of our European cash markets. NYSE Euronext London combines the strength and visibility of our global brand and our leadership position in European cash markets with NYSE
Final performance for the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index is confirmed down 0.84 per cent in June.
Overall, performance was up 0.63 per cent in the first half of 2010.
Five out of ten sectors posting negative performance for the month.
Among the top performers for the month were dedicated short bias (+ 5.45 per cent) and fixed income arbitrage (+ 0.92 per cent).
Oliver Schupp, president of Credit Suisse Index, says: “Dedicated short managers have capitalised on overall negative equity market performance while fixed income arbitrage managers have generated returns by seizing various arbitrage opportunities amid higher
