STOCKS | Barclays Risk Platform Reportedly Fails, Disrupting Some FX Derivatives Trading

Barclays traders reportedly worried about being left in an information blind spot around this year’s Federal Reserve rate decisions and other busy market periods. According to Sina Finance, six people with direct knowledge said one of the bank’s long-used risk engines has been failing frequently. The platform, called Beowulf, has reportedly hindered traders in foreign-exchange derivatives such as options and forwards. The people familiar with the matter said rates derivatives traders were also affected, although disruptions in those assets were usually shorter. Barclays said its trading platforms continue to provide reliable support to clients under a range of market conditions. In an emailed statement, the bank said stability-related incidents had fallen by more than 70% over the past four years and that it had found no evidence linking Federal Reserve announcements to platform outages.