Risk management
Risk manager of the year (sovereign): Mexico’s Ministry of Finance and Public Credit
Oil hedging stabilises Mexican state finances amid price crash
Derivatives house of the year: Citi
Bank wins with help of book purchases and willingness to take on trickier trades
Deal of the year: Citi
Citi acquired at least a dozen commodity books from rival dealers in 2014
Price reporting veteran set to leave Platts
Goldman makes top-level changes; APX CEO to step down; Citi hires JP Morgan risk head; Calpine hires Goldman’s Griggs; Neas adds in power and gas
Highlights from Energy Risk Summit USA 2015
Exclusive coverage of the flagship congress for senior energy risk managers and traders
Kraft allegations raise concern among energy end-users
A CFTC complaint against the successor firms of Kraft Foods is a good indicator of how it might deal with end-users holding dominant positions in other markets, say panellists at Energy Risk Summit USA
US energy firms lament liquidity 'void' after bank exits
The retreat of banks from commodities has caused liquidity to dry up, making it much tougher to hedge, say participants at Energy Risk Summit USA
Applied risk management series: Counterparty risk exposure metrics
The use of static counterparty exposure metrics, which provide an incomplete view of the risk of individual deals and portfolios, may lead risk managers to take decisions with unintended consequences. Carlos Blanco outlines a better approach using…
Practitioners must take risk measures with a pinch of salt
While useful, it is possible to rely too heavily on conventional risk measures such as volatility and value-at-risk – a point made recently by billionaire US investor Warren Buffett. Every aspiring practitioner should know about their drawbacks, writes…
Dealing with stressed contracts in the energy sector
The recent collapse of crude oil prices is inevitably putting many contracts in the energy sector under strain. Ashley Wright and Richard Steenhof of Norton Rose Fulbright explore the legal options available to energy companies that need to manage the…
CFTC sent special calls by mistake, Giancarlo says
Hundreds of special call letters were sent to end-users of over-the-counter derivatives in error, CFTC commissioner Chris Giancarlo says
Anatomy of a model: Valuation of physical assets
This paper dissects the layers of valuation models for physical assets. While their joint functioning is crucial, the integrity of the layers is not always well understood. Rossen Roussev warns of the trend to over-engineer the parts and mis-model the…
Socar snaps up Phibro's London-based trading team
DME's Fix moves to Singapore; EDF Trading names North America head; Glencore oil veteran departs; Goldman loses commodity heads; BGC starts US base metals desk
Risk and Energy Risk Commodity Rankings 2015 photos
Winners of the 2015 Risk and Energy Risk Commodity Rankings were honoured on February 19 at a champagne reception in London’s West End. Energy Risk offers a sneak peek
Right-way risk can create a false sense of security
Dealers typically find comfort in right-way correlations between their exposure to energy sector counterparties and the creditworthiness of such companies. While this reasoning is unquestionably correct, it may create a false sense of security, writes…
Goldman and Citi defy gravity on commodity VAR
Commodity VAR at Citi and Goldman Sachs stays about the same or increases from 2012–2014, as other major dealers pare back
Energy Risk Software Rankings 2015
Energy Risk conducted a survey in which it asked energy trading firms to nominate their top ETRM vendors, implementation specialists, data vendors and data managers during December 2014 and January 2015. We present the top ranked firms below
CFTC reveals members of rebooted energy committee
Koch eyes global expansion; Mercuria names Good CFO; BTG Pactual suffers departures; Trafigura hires CFO in Houston; Quantum CEO moves on; Birol picked for top IEA job
Traders and politicians can learn from dead pilots
Flying a plane requires calm execution, attention to risk and counterintuitive strategies to avoid disaster
Morgan Stanley names new commodities co-heads
Evolution unveils European coal desk; Mercuria hires Goldman's cross; New Danske CEO gets to work; Ex-Deutsche Asia power head joins GDF Suez; Gunvor COO steps down
SG CIB wins Risk and Energy Risk Commodity Rankings
Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking has topped the poll for the third year in a row in this year’s Risk and Energy Risk Commodity Rankings, which are marked by several dramatic exits and one impressive comeback
Energy traders shun trade surveillance, survey finds
Result comes despite tougher rules on market manipulation and abuse
Commodity derivatives lead the way for OTC reform
Enron proved merits of bottom-up evolution, not change imposed from above
Energy Risk Awards 2015 now open for entries
Awards recognise excellence across global commodities market