7I

NEWS

Forexia's New Owner To ExpandUS And European CoverageLONDON-Forexia, the foreignexchange forecasting and analysisservice, is to expand in the US andEurope foilowing a change inownership.

New owner Hilfe Communica-tions, a German forecastingcompany wants to build beyondForexia's current concentration ofclients in the Far East. Hilfe boughtthe UK company on May 13.

In particular, the German fore-casting company will be addingfixed-income research to theservice, says Paul Bristol, chairmanof Hilfe in London.

The move reflects a growingtrend in the market to treat foreignexchange and fixed income as one

€Ustom House London City Brokers Going GlobalGo lnt€rnet

not tied to anything. That ildeperr-dence is very important."

Hilfe's in-house researchers rvil1take over the production of For-exia's forecasting from CharlesRanald.

Ranald, founder of Forexia, leftthe company on May 72, alter ?7

years.Forexia's forecasting ancl

analysis will also nou'be availableon Hilfe's ne\v subsidiarr-Hilcom.com - lt'hich contains thecompany/s range of online financialportals.

The Securities and FuturesAuthority, which regulates Forexia,has approved the change ofownership.

600 firms and more are being added.Atherton even promises that

London Cin- Brokers will hy andfind the baslc cieiails of a broier, iJ

users are unable to find the comp-any thev are Iooking for on the site.

Dailv market commentary is alsoavailable on the site each morningand there is a 'brokers forum',where users of the site mav posttheir vierr's and communicate n-ithfelIou professionals.

The firm also plans to add a

broker's recruitment section. "So faru,e've had around 80 e-mai1s h"ombrokers looking for emplor-mentand recruitment services," he savs.

"We've been approachecl br-several City recruiting firms rr-ith a

view to creating a job service for thesite."

The firm is currentlv seeking afinancial partner and has beenaggressively advertisir-rg L-roth on-and offline, according to Atherton.

All services on the site arefree and can be found atr.otuw.l on don ci tyb r oke r s. c om

v,

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VICT.O,,,RIA, BC - Canadian retailFX Fmkerage Custom Flouse:eurr-ney Exchange last weekunveiled its interaet-based FXtrading system.

The move could be followed bysi lar foray.sirto web-hasbd FXo.eivices by'3adi@nal voi€brokers, say analysts.

The Custom House system,CurrencEtrade, allows its- cust-$r:rers t$ oxecutei settle trackFX tlad$s in over 60 cutr:p ies, offits bh. d e ice alsa,-affersusers newi, and ffiy--,,tifF.,,

-"'i,The firm claims to service over

40,000.,b,*sinesses, :uith aruaal FXtrade volumes of around $+billion. Custom House has 65offices globally and employs 230FX tra eis. The s€Ficeis,:airned atmHdiuql.sl .d corp,mrgtes-'

CuiiencEtrade is set to belaunched in stases sloballv andwill be accessible 24 hours a day.

product, as cross-product salesflows increase.

Hilfe will use its global lists toexpand the client base, savs Bristol,and also continue the final stage ofthe transfer of Forexia's research toelectronic delivery.

The acquisition represents anexpansion into foreign exchangefor Hilfe. Before the purchase, Hilfehad no dedicated forex componentfor its range of economic, financialand political analysis.

"There is an enormous demandfor currencv forecasting,// saysBristol. "Institutions, strategists,researchers and traders wantcomparisons to their own research.We're selling our view and we're

LONDON-London City Brokers isto launch websites across the globeto complement its site atrL1 rL1 iL1 . I o n tJ o n c i t t1 b r ok e r s . c o m,according to chief executive officerNick Atherton.

Atherton says that the firm nowhas around 20 website addresses forsites aimed at the US and Asia.

The original site was launched inthe new year and is the first special-ized directory website for thebrokerage industry, according toAtherton. The site features a rangeof resources for FX brokers, andfutures and options, commoditiesand stock Lrrokers.

The service is Atherton s brain-child, born from over 10 years expe-rience as both an FX broker andtrader. The site was around 6 monthsin development and Athertonbelieves it fills a gap in the internet'sprovision for financiaI services.

Users of the site can find broker-age houses operating in the City,searching by name, street name orpostcode. The site currently features

fxweek Yay 7), )000

eek Vo I No2l

Yay )),7000

the global business f ore gn exchangeof

ln this issue... ACI Throws Open lts Arms ToTrading Places: Who'sGoing Where, When?......2-3

Market Yoice: LatecomersTo Internet-BasedFX Trading Beware ............3

Nikko Bank Shuts DownLondon 0peration.. ............4

Forexia Expands UnderNew Owner ........................6

CurrencEtrade fromCustom House....................6

London City BrokersGoing GIobal ......................5

Cognotec LaunchesAutodeal Direct ..................7

BIS Hints At Cost 0fCLS Delays ........8

Finex Looks

For Contracts ....................9

The Anzac Dol,lar? ..............9

Bear Stearns To AppealNegligence Judgment ........11

www.fxweek.com@ 200C Risk lnlormatlon Selrces lnc. UrautrorizedDhoio.opying or facsimlle distriDliior of ihrs cor).ighted .ewslette- is p.ohiriied All rights reser!,edrSsN 050-0782

FellowP-\RIS - -{CI - the Frrranci.rl\larkets Association - annor-Lncetlsrreeping changes to its men-rber-sl-rip structure on Saturdav at its-1 I st Inlernational Congiess irrParis.

ACI membership rvill nor.r, beopen to all applicants 'dealing infinancial instrurnents', after aproposal was passed by a largemajority of the organization'scouncil last Thursday, May 18,2000.

Prerriously, membership wasconfined to those specificallvinvolved in the foreign exchangebusiness.

The move to increase theinvolvement of other financialmarket professionals comes as ACImembership is declining, in linewith the trend towards consolida-

Professionalstir.n anr-l economies of scale in theF\ L.r"rsirress.

"Our L.u,.ir-ress is changing. It'sr-rot jr-r:t ioreigrr exchange anyinore, It's across all financialmarkets, " sar s \Ilke Eastaway,vice-presirler-rt of t1-re ACI.

"We're trr-ir-rg to t rirrg the realityof r,r'hat's I-rapper-ring in the dealingroom tbgether rrith rr-hat ourmembership base sl-rould be. If r,vewant to be here in five vears' time,we've got to take the bu11 bv thehorns. If rve don't someone elsewill."

An ACI strategy planrring groupset up in April 1999 quickl,vconcluded that the consequences ofignoring nrarket trends andkeeping the organization as a forexclub would be dire.

CONI NUES ON PAGE.+

Financial

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PUBTIGATIltHS

Bank of America e-FX Ready, ExpandsForex Sales And Trading OperationsNEW YORK-Bank of Arnerica ispreparing for the laut-rch of itsinternet FX trading services andaggressively expanding FX salesand trading operations, accordingto global heacl of sales ChrisMandeil.

Critics have pointed out thatBoA's system has been some timein the making, but Mandell refutesthese suggestions: "A three-monthwait is less important than gettingthe business model right.

"We've quietly watched ourpeers roll out their e-dealingservices with mixed successes.

Although we've been trading elec-tronicaiiy for a long time, currentlycustomization is the key for us."

The bank is to launch a series o{dealing modules, individuallvcustomized to specific clientgroups over the course of this year.

"The business models for elec-tronic execution are currentlychanging very rapidly. It's impor-tant not to just grab the first servicethat comes out," says Mandell.

"Clients seem to be taking acautious approach to internettrading - client surveys show

COI\i NUES ON PAG.tr