Stories related to: derivatives market

Germany's president, a former head of the International Monetary Fund, blasted the system of financial markets responsible for the global credit crisis as a “monster," Der Speigel reports today. Horst Köhler said the world “came close to a collapse of the global financial markets" as the system "greatly disgraced itself in pursuit of profit. More »

American International Group posted a record-breaking $7.8 billion first-quarter loss yesterday, reports the Wall Street Journal . The insurance giant blamed the poor results on the sagging housing market, the credit crunch and the see-sawing stock market. It announced plans to raise $12.5 billion to patch up the damage to its balance sheet from heavy writedowns. More »

Rogue SocGen trader Jerome Kerviel, whose unauthorized deals led to a $7.2 billion loss for the French bank, continued his trading for more than a year after the first warning flag was raised in the department that was supposed to detect risky trading, reports the Wall Street Journal. Kerviel wrote at least seven bogus emails flagged for anomalies, and his trades tripped 24 alarms over a 14-month period beginning in July 2006, the bank admits in a report  released yesterday. More »

Chicago's Board of Trade and the Mercantile Exchange—bitter rivals for decades—will merge to form the world's largest derivatives market in a deal worth close to $12 billion, the Chicago Tribune reports. The merger ends months of jockeying and speculation as another suitor, Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange, failed to mount a competitive bid. More »