Credit risk
CFTC position limits rule blasted by commodity merchants
Vitol, Louis Dreyfus and other commodity trading firms say the proposed bona fide hedge exemptions in the CFTC's revived position limits rule are too narrow and discriminate against merchants
Dodd-Frank swap dealer rules tricky, says Cargill compliance head
A lack of guidance on the swap dealer provisions of the US Dodd-Frank Act is turning compliance into a guessing game for swap dealers such as Cargill Risk Management, suggests the firm's chief compliance officer in a video interview
Commodity traders won’t replace banks, says Citi’s Staley
Citi head of global commodities “doesn’t lay awake at night awaiting a full-scale assault” from non-bank companies, such as oil majors and commodity trading houses
Energy Finance House of the Year: SG CIB
Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking has enjoyed a big 18 months in energy finance, completing a swath of bumper-sized transactions
Research House of the Year: Marex Spectron
The increasing prevalence of financial trading in commodities means there is a need for innovative technical analytics, which broker Marex Spectron has done well at providing
JP Morgan and Mercuria reveal post-transaction plans
Icap Energy chief Newman steps down; PetroChina hires products head; BAML makes commodities hires; E.on recruits Barclays power and gas head; Evolution launches US power desk
Credit fears hold back US solar securitisation deals
In a major breakthrough for renewable energy finance, California-based SolarCity has issued the first securities backed by distributed solar assets. But many hurdles remain before solar securitisation can truly take off, Alexander Osipovich finds
Bank-led commodity decorrelation theory rejected by analysts
Unctad economists' argument that bank withdrawals are loosening correlation between commodities and equities "doesn’t make any sense", say analysts
Trafigura paper reignites debate on systemic risk
Commodity trading houses "are not too big to fail" argues white paper published by Trafigura, attracting mixed views from market observers
Banks counter Fed worries on physical commodities
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley stress public benefits of allowing banks to trade physical commodities, while downplaying fears of catastrophic risk
Citi hires Morgan Stanley oil veteran Randall O’Connor
Head of strategic transactions quits to join Citi as Morgan Stanley pulls back from physical oil trading
Banks tussle to join next generation of commodity dealers
Facing low volatility, a lack of trading opportunities and compliance headaches, major global investment banks are pulling back from commodities. But at the same time, a number of smaller and regional players are actively seeking to increase their…
CFTC upping enforcement effort, warns former chief
David Meister, former director of enforcement at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, speaks exclusively to Alexander Osipovich about market manipulation, high-frequency trading and the value of Dodd-Frank reporting rules for financial watchdogs
Commodity trading houses have banks on the ropes: so what?
Commodity trading houses may well be the new market heavyweights. But contrary to arguments made by bankers, that isn’t necessarily a problem
Banks welcome FCA focus on commodity trading houses
UK regulator right to question risk posed by commodity trading houses, bankers argue
Commodities investing is still fundamentally sound
Commodity investors may have had a bad year, but putting money into commodities of finite supply continues to makes sense
Trade reporting special report
Derivatives trade reporting is mandatory in the US and Europe under Dodd-Frank and Emir rules. Energy Risk presents a special report
Risk & Energy Risk Commodity Rankings 2014 – energy
The past 12 months proved tough for energy dealers, with low volatility, poor liquidity and sluggish levels of client activity. Given this, some banks decided to scale back their commitment to the market – a trend that is reflected in this year’s results…
Commodity position limits may make hedgers think twice
Dodd-Frank and Mifid II position limits could cause firms to withdraw from commodity derivatives
Commodity traders not too big to fail, suggests FSB report
Trafigura, Vitol and other trading houses unlikely to be captured by proposed criteria for global systemically important financial institutions
Trading OTC may be costlier than you think
Debate continues to rage about the merits of clearing, with some market observers arguing that the benefits of using central counterparties are outweighed by the precipitous costs involved. But such criticisms fail to take the full burden of over-the…
Study casts doubt on mandatory futures insurance
Mandatory insurance for assets held by futures brokers would be extremely costly, concludes industry-backed report
Risk management should be more than just a decoration
Despite massive investment in human capital and technical resources, risk managers failed to warn about the dangers of toxic assets and excessive leverage in the run-up to the global financial crisis. Their lack of authority is partly to blame, writes…
Commodity investment goes back to fundamentals
The past year has not been a good one for commodity investment. Passive commodity indexes have delivered disappointing returns, while a number of high-profile commodity hedge funds have been forced to close. What is the outlook for investor interest in…