Risk management
S&P GSCI Index Commodity Swaps to clear on CME ClearPort
Standard & Poor's has signed a licensing agreement with CME Group to clear swaps on the S&P GSCI Excess Return Index.
ICE offers margin offsets on coal and emissions contracts
ICE Futures Europe has introduced margin offsets between its Coal Futures and Emissions contracts.
VTB Capital enters steam coal market
Russian bank VTB Capital has joined coal trading marketplace globalCOAL to develop its risk management operations in the Pacific region steam coal market.
ICF offers risk management for energy companies
Consultant ICF International has announced that it will offer risk management services to the energy sector.
FCStone Group increases bad debt provision for energy trading account
FCStone Group expects to incur an additional $60m to $80m pre-tax bad debt provision in connection with previously-reported losses on a significant energy trading account.
Icap clears first ag swap through ICE
Interdealer broker Icap has executed the first ever cleared agricultural swap transaction through IntercontinentalExchange clearing house ICE Clear US. Regulatory approval for such transactions was granted by the CFTC in December last year.
Eurex to launch commodity index futures in March
Eurex will be the first European exchange to offer trading in commodity index derivatives with the launch of four new contracts on March 30.
Asian airlines struggle with volatile oil prices
A major contributor to the large fuel-hedging losses suffered by Chinese and Taiwanese airlines for 2008 were collar strategies - the purchase of call options and simultaneous sale of put options. But some Asian carriers, such as Malaysia's Air Asia and…
US and European firms in bid for LCH
A consortium of major US and European financial institutions is lining up a bid for London-based derivatives clearing house LCH.Clearnet. Deutsche Bank is acting as adviser on the acquisition, as well as being part of the bidding group.
Give us credit
Credit is widely seen as the biggest challenge facing energy risk managers in 2009, with many believing a radical overhaul of existing risk practices is due. Pauline McCallion investigates
Managing credit risk - Escaping credit risk
Managing credit risk is now one of the most pressing issues in energy trading. Britta Berlinghof, senior credit officer at Nuon, looks at implications of the 2008 crisis, and suggests some best practices in managing credit risk
Choppy outlook
Dry freight rates begin the year at levels far below the start of 2008 on plummeting demand. Peter Norfolk at SSY discusses the outlook for 2009
One stop shop
The world’s biggest commodity exchanges continue to expand the range of products they offer, often into diverse commodity classes. Rachel Morison looks at the benefits and drawbacks for traders as commodity exchanges branch out beyond their traditional…
Commodity Rankings 2009
Results and analysis of the 16th annual Commodity Rankings, the largest poll of its kind in the energy and metals markets. Research by Xiao-Long Chen , reporting by Roderick Bruce and Donna Haws
The fight is on for LCH
US clearing giant The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has insisted that a merger with London-based clearing house LCH.Clearnet would be completed by the end of March, despite a possible rival bid.
DGCX plastics contracts launch postponed
The launch of two new plastics futures contracts at the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has been delayed.
Derivatives to move to exchange-cleared platforms in 2009
Financial industry experts are predicting a further shift in how derivatives are traded in 2009, with exchange-traded products expected to take over from OTC derivatives, according to a survey by derivatives technology provider Sophis.
FFA market shifts further towards clearing
Fears of counterparty credit risk have led to a sharp migration towards clearing in the freight derivatives market over the past four months. The ratio of cleared forward freight agreement (FFA) trades to non-cleared over-the-counter trades in the last…
CME and JSE to cooperate on corn futures contract
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is to license CME Group's benchmark corn futures settlement prices to create a new JSE cash-settled corn futures contract.
FCStone buys Australian risk management firm
US commodity risk management firm FCStone Group has bought the risk management arm of Australian rural services provider Elders for an undisclosed sum.