The Foreign Exchange Market and Central Counterparties

The financial crisis has led to considerable efforts to improve risk management practices in financial markets. One of the main proposals being suggested in international fora is to increase the use of central counterparties. This article discusses the potential for central counterparty arrangements to complement existing risk management practices in the foreign exchange market.foreign exchange; OTC derivatives; central counterparties; regulatory reform

Lasiosiphon rigidus, a new species from the Tankwa Karoo and two new combinations in the genus for South Africa

Thymelaeaceae are well represented in southern Africa, with ± 190 species in nine genera (Bredenkamp & Beyers 2000; Beaumont et al. 2009). Preliminary phylogenetic analyses of nuclear and plastid DNA sequences (Van der Bank et al. 2002; Beaumont et al. 2009) indicate the need for substantial revision in the generic circumscriptions in subfamily Thymelaeoideae.Web of Scienc

Two new species of Trachyandra sect. Liriothamnus (Xanthorrhoeaceae, Asphodeloideae) from the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa

Trachyandra eriocarpa and T. bulbosa are two new species from Northern and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. They are placed in T. sect. Liriothamnus based on their wiry roots, the cataphylls not forming membranous collars, and the remains of the outer leaves forming a fibrous collar. Trachyandra eriocarpa from the Great Winterberg in Eastern Cape is recognised by its unusual, villous ovary and capsules; and T. bulbosa from north of Springbok in Northern Cape by the irregular, bulbous rhizome, microscopically puberulous leaves and maculate tepals.Web of Scienc

A review of the Schizobasis group of Drimia Jacq. (Hyacinthaceae: Urgineoideae), and the new species D. sigmoidea from Western Cape, South Africa

AbstractWe review the Schizobasis Baker group of Drimia Jacq. in southern Africa. We adopt a broad circumscription of D. intricata (Baker) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt as occurring widely through the summer-rainfall parts of southern and tropical Africa, and describe a second species, D. sigmoidea J.C.Manning & J.Deacon, for populations from the Worcester–Robertson Karoo in winter-rainfall Western Cape. It is distinguished from D. intricata by its distinctive, deflexed pedicels that are sharply sigmoid in fruit, and conspicuous anther connective appendage. Both species are fully described and illustrated, with a map of their distribution in southern Africa