Risk management
Pay as you go
It is going to be a hard day at the office for Joe Risk Manager. The risk management committee might welcome his new risk charge system, but how would the traders take it? By Brett Humphreys and David Shimko
China Aviation Oil ceases oil derivatives trading
China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp has ceased all oil derivative trading activities after announcing a $550 million trading loss and seeking court protection from creditors last week, the company said late Wednesday.
Satya Capital sues China Aviation Oil
Indonesian firm Satya Capital Limited is suing China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp and it parent company China Aviation Oil Holding Company for over $28 million for an alleged breach of a share purchase agreement, CAO (Singapore) Corp said late Wednesday.
China Aviation Oil chief arrested
Chen Jiulin, the suspended chief executive of China Aviation Oil, has been arrested on his return to Singapore early Wednesday as investigations begin into the company’s huge trading losses.
BarCap launches commodity-linked credit product
Fixed-income investors can now make use of a credit instrument that provides access to commodities as an asset class, says Barclays Capital. The investment bank has launched Apollo, a collateralised commodity obligation (CCO), which uses derivatives…
AsiaRisk Awards
Here we feature two outstanding winners from our sister publication AsiaRisk’s Annual Awards, published in October. Thanks largely to Macquarie Bank, alternative investments are gaining a real foothold in Australia, while Westpac has been instumental in…
Weather wisdom with risk management
Mark Tawney from Swiss Re spells out the implications of not keeping an eye to the weather
Static emissions price “does not reflect fundamentals”
The European emissions trading market, with its static price over the last four to five weeks, “is not a good market,” and does not reflect fundamentals, said Chris Rowland, managing director of utilities research at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
Energy users demand trading oversight
The debate continues over whether speculative traders are distorting energy prices, following a letter sent by the Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) to Congress last week. “Energy markets have changed drastically, and regulatory oversight,…
EEX to launch spot carbon contract
German-based electronic exchange European Energy Exchange (EEX) is to launch a spot contract to trade EU carbon emissions allowances in January 2005.
European emissions trading on track
The EU emissions trading scheme is on track to start in January 2005, with the European Commission having approved 16 out of 25 of the EU member National Allocation Plans that lie at the heart of the scheme, said Peter Vis, acting head of the Industrial…
Ten years at the top
A decade of commodity rankings has seen many players come and go – but as James Ockenden finds, the top two investment banks, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, have been solid all the way
Taking cover
US energy companies are increasingly taking out terrorism cover, even though none has yet made a claim. This is partly because the cost of policy premiums is falling. But this trend may be under threat. Joe Marsh reports
Agree to disagree
Volatility in the dry freight market has led to the use of derivatives such as forward freight agreements and the development of other innovative products. But will they have a lasting impact on the energy markets? By Hann Ho
Risky liquidations
It is all too easy to go for the simplest solution when liquidating an energy portfolio of different positions. Brett Humphreys discusses some of the problems with appropriately calculating the VAR associated with liquidating a portfolio
A popular punt
Experts remain bullish about the flow of new money into catastrophe cover. But an influx of hedge funds backed increasingly by institutional capital has led to worries of a “domino effect”. By Maria Kielmas
A legal rollercoaster
US-based Polygon wants to see a better restructuring deal for British Energy’sshareholders. But the hedge fund faces a struggle to prevent the UK nuclear powergenerator from delisting. Joe Marsh reports
Pressure on Puhca
The US General Accounting Office is to investigate whether the SEC has been lax in its oversight of the Public Utility Holding Company Act. How will this affect firms subject to Puhca requirements? By Paul Lyon
Bilateral collateral
Until recently, there was little legal protection from foreign investment risk.But the past few years have seen the rise of the bilateral investment treaty(BIT). Matthew Saunders shows how BITs can benefit the energy sector
Found in translation
While risk managers have become focused on value-at-risk and similar risk metrics,these may not be the best way of communicating risk to stakeholders. BrettHumphreys discusses how to improve communications
The windy city rules
The Chicago Climate Exchange is going from strength to strength if its new initiatives,new members and volumes are anything to go by. Here PaulLyon talks to CCX founderRichard Sandor about the exchange’s future
Oneok gets new $1bn financing and agrees to buy US gas co
Oklahoma-based energy company Oneok has obtained a five-year, $1 billion credit line from a group of banks to fund asset purchases. The company has also agreed to buy pipeline operator Northern Plains Natural Gas Company from asset acquisition company…
Dominion forward-sells shares to obtain equity on demand
Virginia-based energy company Dominion has forward-sold 10 million shares of its common stock in a block trade to JP Morgan Securities. The deal was done in connection with a forward-sale agreement between Dominion and investment bank Merrill Lynch. It…
Shaping the curve
A shaped forward curve is important for both trading and risk management. Here, Giorgio Cabibbo and Stefano Fiorenzani provide a model for shaping electricityforward curves that is consistent with both financial theory and market practice.Here, they…