Operational risk
End-users press Congress for Dodd-Frank fixes
US commodity firms blast the CFTC over hedge exemptions to position limits, as Congress launches the process of writing legislation to reauthorise the agency
EU commodity position limits prove tricky to hammer out
EU regulators are working on plans to implement commodity derivatives position limits under Mifid II. But their latest proposals have been criticised by energy firms, which point to questions over issues such as hedging exemptions and where the limits…
Rolling back the frontiers
Dr Igor Koprivnikar, member of energy trading and supply group Gen-i’s management board responsible for trading, talks exclusively to Energy Risk
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…
Vitol veteran Preston joins energy brokerage
Cornerstone Global Commodities builds its new commodity financing business with addition of Vitol’s Africa business development head
EU commodity position limits too cumbersome, firms say
Firms argue that EU commodity derivatives position limit proposals under Mifid II are bad for end-users and the energy market
Iosco likely to act on commodity storage concerns
The role of warehouses and other storage facilities in commodity derivatives is likely to be targeted in new Iosco principles, or a more rigorous application of existing ones, says a senior regulator
Power capacity mechanisms worry EU electricity traders
Power traders are concerned that a growth of interest in capacity mechanisms could threaten the potency of traded electricity markets across the European Union, while disrupting plans to forge a unified internal energy market
US record-keeping rule hits commodity derivatives end-users
Changes to CFTC rules following the US Dodd-Frank Act are forcing end-users to retain piles of pre-trade communications and other business records. The commission has moved to relax the burden on end-users, but companies are still grumbling about the red…
UK power grid needs investment to keep lights on in future
The lights stayed on in the UK last winter, despite thin supply margins and outages at important base-load power plants. But the country’s capacity crunch isn’t going away, and utilities will have to work harder to optimise their output in future, argues…
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
Commodities regulation since the financial crisis
Risk.net presents an interactive timeline looking at major regulatory developments affecting commodity markets since the global financial crisis of 2008
Energy firms hammer CFTC over position limits rule
The bona fide hedge exemptions in the CFTC's proposed position limits rule have come under attack from energy companies
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
Quant ideas: Building a better LNG forward curve
A robust suite of liquefied natural gas (LNG) forward curves is an important prerequisite for the proper valuation and risk measurement of LNG portfolios. This article provides an overview of effective methods for constructing long-term LNG forward price…
Metals traders shun clearing due to Emir, says LME chief
Emir's introduction of segregated clearing accounts is pushing firms towards trading OTC, says LME head Garry Jones
BP’s Alvarez reflects on oil spills and other challenges
Orlando Alvarez, president and chief executive of BP Energy Company, reflects on oil spills and other challenges of running a large trading organisation
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
Energy stirs political passions around the globe
The politics of energy are just as fascinating as the physical processes behind it, and are rarely subtle
Remit delegated reporting leaves unanswered questions
EU energy traders have until October to begin reporting the details of standard power and natural gas trades to regulators under Remit. But the exact process by which many of these initial contracts will be reported remains blurry
Oil rout roils E&P and airline hedging strategies
Corporate risk management programmes have had a mixed track record amid the recent plunge in crude prices. Oil producers with a conservative approach to hedging are emerging as some of the winners, while some airlines are feeling regretful about their…
Traders and politicians can learn from dead pilots
Flying a plane requires calm execution, attention to risk and counterintuitive strategies to avoid disaster
Republicans in Congress set to push Dodd-Frank fixes
With Republicans now in control of both houses of the US Congress, energy firms and other derivatives end-users are hoping for new legislation to ease some of the more troublesome aspects of the US Dodd-Frank Act. Their optimism is justified - up to a…
EU ETS risk and climate risk
Vertis has been active in carbon markets since 2001 – starting out as a developer of joint implementation projects, before entering into brokerage and dealing when the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was established in 2005. Vertis…