Top Headlines
FX Trading Volumes Flat in July vs Last Year: NEX Group – Reuters
Average daily trading volumes of currencies in July remained broadly flat compared to the previous year, NEX Group said on Friday, despite an uptick in tensions over global trade that rattled forex markets.
Brokers’ Cryptocurrency Deals Are Focus of SEC Review – Bloomberg
Wall Street’s main regulator is boosting its scrutiny of brokerages that deal in cryptocurrencies, according to two people familiar with the matter, the latest sign that authorities want to know more about a burgeoning market that they fear might be full of misconduct.
TCA Set For Arms Race – Markets Media
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and a move to the cloud are cited as trends in improving transaction cost analysis as regulators have focused on best execution.
Sterling Slides Below $1.30 as Carney Flags No-Deal Brexit Risks – Reuters
Sterling fell below $1.30 to an 11-day low on Friday after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said there was an “uncomfortably high” risk of Britain leaving the European Union without a deal.
- Carney Sees ‘Uncomfortably High’ Risk of No-Deal Brexit – Financial Times (subscription)
- Pound Loses BOE Crutch as Brexit Erodes Faith in Hawkish Outlook – Bloomberg
Dollar Ascends Further on Trade War Fears; US Jobs Data Eyed – Reuters
The dollar rose for a fourth straight day on Friday, benefiting from turbulence caused by an escalating US-China trade conflict, as investors prepared for a US jobs report due later in the day.
China State Banks Seen Selling Dollars to Arrest Sharp Yuan Losses: Traders – Reuters
Major state-owned Chinese banks were seen selling dollars on Friday afternoon in an apparent attempt to put a floor under a tumbling yuan, as the worsening trade dispute between the US and China drove the currency to a fresh 14-month low.
Regulatory News
Regulators Probe Options Market’s Major Clearinghouse – The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Probes from the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission include concerns that Options Clearing Corp. failed to accurately forecast how much cash would be needed to cover trading losses triggered by a spike in volatility last February.
Esma Omits Derivs from SI Calculation Data – Global Investor (subscription)
The European regulator postponed the systematic internaliser compliance date for derivatives to March 2019.
CFTC Announces Multiple Whistleblower Awards Totalling More than $45 Million – CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced multiple whistleblower awards totalling more than $45 million. The awards demonstrate the growing success of the CFTC’s Whistleblower Program, in particular the increasing volume and complexity of incoming whistleblower submissions.
Buyside firms will be directly concerned by initial margin rules in September. This may impact derivatives pricing and volumes ahead of 2020 when all counterparties trading over-the-counter derivatives are set to be included within the rules.
Crypto News
Bitcoin Whale’s Bad Trade Leaves Counterparties Holding the Bag – Bloomberg
A massive wrong-way bet on Bitcoin left an unidentified futures trader unable to cover their losses, burning counterparties and threatening to dent confidence in one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency venues.
Bitcoin Neither Money Nor New Asset Class: UBS – Global Investor (subscription)
With bitcoin still in its infancy, UBS experts doubt the cryptocurrency satisfies the definitions of an alternative asset class.
Crypto Bulls Pile Into ICOs at Record Pace Despite Bitcoin Rout – Bloomberg
This year’s selloff in virtual currencies has done little to dent investor enthusiasm for initial coin offerings, which attracted a record $12 billion in the first half.
Coexistence or Consolidation? Forex Brokers vs. Cryptocurrency Exchanges – Finance Magnates
Forex was one of the most dominant industries among the retail traders/investors for the last two decades. Now, with the growing popularity of crypto trading, the two industries are approaching a crossroad. It’s time to examine the relationship between forex brokers and crypto exchanges and to try to understand where this is going.
Bringing Cryptocurrency into the Institutional Order Flow – Traders Magazine
With more than 500 cryptocurrency exchanges in the world today and about 1,500 cryptocurrencies, digital assets are truly a global market that has grabbed the attention of everyone from the retail investor to major institutions. But with a market that has literally pulled in millions of individual accounts globally, it has brought in a small percentage of traditional institutional players.
Northern Trust Eyeing Potential Crypto Custody Model – The Trade Crypto
Northern Trust is currently providing accounting services for select clients that have a small portion of their assets in cryptocurrencies.
Company News
Thomson Reuters Rivals Bloomberg with Icap and Tradeweb Data Deal – The Trade
The deal will see the Reuters Capital Markets 19901 benchmark add US Treasury data from Tradeweb’s business Dealerweb, alongside continued USD interest rate swap and multi-currency information from Icap.
ICE Chief Sprecher Sees Libor as “Safety Net” – Global Investor (subscription)
The chief executive of ICE said his group has taken a “double-edged strategy” with regard to Libor.
CME Group Changes FX Options Expiration Time to Align with OTC Market Conventions – CME Group
CME Group will change the time its FX options expire to 10am ET. This change will begin with contracts expiring after June 9, 2019. Clients across time zones will be able to trade listed options that expire at the same time as most over-the-counter contracts.
Fast, Cheap & Global: P&L Talk Series with Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core Group – Profit & Loss
Dash, an open source, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that launched in early 2014 as a fork of the Bitcoin software, is aiming to shift its image from being known initially as ‘the privacy coin’, by redefining its benefits as a payments-oriented network with a new release on the way. CEO of Dash Core Group, Ryan Taylor, talks about what’s coming up for the altcoin in 2018.
Jefferies Group Issues Update on its $300 Million FXCM Loan – Finance Magnates
The company’s report indicates that FXCM has managed to pay back $343.4 million of the loan. As of June 30, 2018, the retail broker still has another $70.4 million to pay back.
Market Savvy
Turkish Lira Hits Fresh Historic Low – Financial Times (subscription)
The sell-off in the Turkish lira continued on Friday with the currency hitting a fresh record low against the dollar following US sanctions.
Hawkish Fed, Weak Yuan Signal More Trouble Ahead for Emerging Markets – Bloomberg
If you thought the first half of the year was rocky for emerging market economies, brace for turbulence ahead with dollar strength and a weaker Chinese currency set to keep investors on edge.
We Are Entering the Twilight of the Euro – Financial News (subscription)
Twenty years after its formal creation, few can honestly say that the single currency has been a success, and more trouble is looming.