history of Swiss Finance Corporation

(SFC) was founded in 1988 as a broker on the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE). Very soon, SFC accounted for a large proportion of the IPE’s daily turnover, broking for global institutional clients as well as sovereign names.

Buoyed by this success, we looked for opportunities to expand our operations. In 1991 SFC became an interbank market maker in the fast developing foreign exchange market. The company began quoting on all major futures and option exchanges worldwide.

As the foreign exchange market developed, we began to position the company to better service our clients' specific needs in this market.

In 2001 we moved out of the IPE and LCH to concentrate on developing our expertise in the foreign exchange market.

Operating in London today – the pre-eminent foreign exchange location in the world – SFC continues to deliver the benefits of its experience and collective knowledge to an ever-increasing number of clients.

About GFX Group SA

GFX is a Forex broker based in Geneva, Switzerland. Our powerful and easy-to-use software, secure trading environment, and superior trading conditions have made GFX one of the leading Forex dealers in the world. GFX is by many financial websites dedicated to forex.

The GFX "GlobalTrader" software sets new standards in online trading functionality, performance, and ease of use. GlobalTrader takes only seconds to download and install, and performs flawlessly on Windows operating systems. Clients can trade 49 currency pairs, as well as gold and silver. Other advantages include instant online fills, free charts, real-time profit and equity tracking, fractional lot size capabilities, hedging capabilities, and 0.5% margin requirements. Try a free demo.

With 35% of the world's private assets managed by financial intermediaries based in Switzerland, the country has a long established tradition as one of the world's largest financial centers. Customers are assured that GFX consistently meets the strictest standards of financial stability and proper handling of client funds. Furthermore, client funds are maintained segregated from GFX's capital, thereby offering security of funds.

GFX encourages clients to conduct as much due diligence as possible in their trading activities and in their choice of broker. We welcome client visits to our headquarters in Geneva, whether to meet our professional staff or simply see our operations first-hand.

GFX is supervised as a Financial Intermediary according to Swiss regulation with regards to anti-money laundering.

During the course of 2009 GFX plans on becoming a Swiss Bank, thereby offering its valued clients an even wider spectrum of financial products.

Swiss Finance Corporation

Swiss Finance Corporation (SFC) is an independent brokerage firm founded in 1988. The company acts as a market maker in "interbank" foreign exchange and precious metals, and as a broker in futures.

From our head office in Central London we have built an international reputation, with representatives in place in key locations throughout the world. Today hundreds of professional investors and institutions profit from SFC’s truly global access to the foreign exchange market place.

Independent Foreign Exchange Specialists

SFC is a specialist principal and price-maker in foreign exchange markets. As an independent trading firm SFC operates without traditional constraints and moves fast to service our clients’ needs.

South Korean Won Slips To 9-day Low Against Dollar

The South Korean won lost ground against the dollar after hitting a 2-day high of 1382.10 at 9:25 pm ET Wednesday. The dollar-won pair that closed yesterday's New York session at 1390.40 reached 1398.65 by about 11:05 pm ET. This set a 9-day low for the won. If the Korean currency weakens further, it may likely target the 1402.5 level.

Carbon Emitters Hold Global Warming Talks In Tokyo

TOKYO (AFP)--The world's major carbon emitters were in "full negotiation mode" Thursday as they met in Tokyo with the clock ticking to draft a new U.N. treaty on fighting global warming.

Representatives from 22 countries, including major CO2 emitters China, India and the U.S., as well as the European bloc are taking part in the informal two- day session.

It marks one of the first negotiating opportunities on climate change since the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama, who has pledged to step up efforts by the world's largest economy to help slow down the planet's warming.

"We are now changing gears and entering a full negotiating mode," said co- chairman Sergio Barbosa Serra of Brazil, which organized the event with Japan.

The other co-chair, Akihiko Furuya of Japan, voiced hope for "ideas for a breakthrough" during the closed-door session, the beginning of which was open to the press.

U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer is also participating in the session, which comes ahead of a December meeting in Copenhagen meant to approve a new treaty on global warming.

The Copenhagen treaty will cover the period after the Kyoto Protocol's obligations to curb carbon emissions expire in 2012.

"This year 2009 is of course of critical importance," Furuya said. "We have now only less than 11 months before Copenhagen."

"So it is important for all of us to work hard, even harder than before," he added.

Japan, host of the Kyoto Protocol, is badly behind in meeting its own targets as the government hesitates at restricting industry amid an uncertain economy.

During this week's meeting, WWF International said, Japan would outline six options for its mid-term emission reduction target, which would "range from a 5% increase of emissions to a reduction of 25% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels."

Kim Carstensen, director of the environmental group's Global Climate Initiative, said these options were too weak.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso "will be seen as a laggard in the U.N. climate talks who also fails to set his country on track for a green economy boom," Carstensen said.

Japan, which has pledged to reduce carbon emissions by up to 80% by 2050, will announce its mid-term target by June, Aso said last month.

Indian Govt. To Infuse Rs.3.8K Cr. Into Three PSBs For Re-Capitalization

The Indian Cabinet approved on Wednesday a re-capitalization package under which, the government would infuse Rs.3,800 crore in three public sector banks, the UCO Bank, Central Bank of India and Vijaya Bank, reported the PTI. This would help the banks to have more than adequate capital against various risks.

The Home Minister P. Chidambaram reportedly said that the government would infuse Rs 1,650 crore into these banks this fiscal and Rs 2,150 crore in 2009-10. Central Bank of India would get Rs.1, 400 crore and UCO Bank and Vijaya Bank would get Rs.1,200 crore each in tranches.

This fiscal, Central Bank would get Rs.700 crore initially and Vijaya Bank Rs.500 crore and UCO Bank Rs.450 crore. In the next tranche, UCO Bank will get Rs 750 crore, while Central Bank of India and Vijaya Bank will receive Rs 700 crore each.

He further said that the capital infusion would help the banks raise capital adequacy to over 12%, much above the Basel II norms of 9%. He said the amount would form a part of Tier I Capital, adding that the infusion would increase the government holding in the three state-owned banks.

MARKET SNAPSHOT: Did Investors Simply Sell The News Of Bank Bailout?

A debate raged among market analysts Wednesday about whether the prior day's sell-off was based on sheer disappointment with the U.S. Treasury Dept.'s bank rescue plan, or was a simple "sell the news" event.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) slumped more than 380 points, or nearly 5%, marking the blue-chip average's worst drop in more than two months.

The sell-off came after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled the latest attempt by the government to rescue banks and the financial system.

"The response from Wall Street in response to [...] Geithner's non-plan plan was a resounding 'No,'" said Dan Greenhaus, market strategist at Miller Tabak, in a note.

Many analysts and media reports explained the market reaction as disappointment that the plan was short on details, specifically, on how the government would deal with the toxic assets that have plagued banks' balance sheets and the financial system for more than a year and a half.

"Nonsense," said market veteran Barry Ritholtz, CEO and director of equity research at Fusion IQ.

"If you look at the run-up in the market prior to the announcement, for three days there was already a big boom in all these [financial] stocks," he said. " The second [Geithner] started to speak, the market just fell apart, a classic 'sell-the-news' type of reaction."

On Wednesday, stocks first seemed to regain some footing. But the Dow industrials recently fell 10 points to 7,878, the S&P 500 index (SPX) was down 2 points, or 0.3%, at 825, and the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) was down 10 points, or 0.7%, at 1,514.

The financial sector of the S&P 500, which slumped 12% on Tuesday, still rebounded, gaining 1.5%. Shares of Bank of America (BAC) gained more than 7%, J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) was up 3% and Citigroup (C) rose 5%.

"People are looking at yesterday, [and thinking] they overreacted too much," said Todd Leone, managing director at Cowen & Company, I think people expected too much." Listen to Leone.

All in the mind

While the truth about the market's reaction probably lies, as usual, somewhere in the middle, the mix could be quite revealing about the state of mind of investors and the short-term direction for stocks.

Have investors priced in most of the bad news out there and are ready to move forward on any positive sign? Or will lingering uncertainty about government fixes keep the market vulnerable to what most expect to be consistently bad economic news for the foreseeable future?

Over the past few weeks, investors have been buying stocks on the back of dismal economic news, including the January employment report, which showed the biggest monthly loss of jobs since 1974.

Analysts have interpreted this trend to mean that the market has already largely discounted a terrible outlook for the economy and earnings this year.

But just how much worse things could get remains an open question, and many analysts and investors have turned to the government's plans for banks and the economy to provide the answer.

Maybe the market sold the news on Wednesday, said Michael Farr, market analyst at Farr, Miller, and Washington. But "Geithner's speech raised more questions than answers," he wrote in a note.

And one thing markets hate is uncertainty.