Top Headlines

Banks Ease Expectations of Euro-Dollar Parity – Wall Street Journal (subscription) Softening of expectations follow ECB’s decision to not expand asset-purchase program.

IEA Sees Oil Glut Worsening as Demand Growth Slows – Reuters Global oil markets will remain oversupplied at least until the end of 2016 as demand growth slows and OPEC output booms, putting oil prices under further pressure, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.

The Future of The RMB: Special Focus – Euromoney  A guide to global currency wars; how Beijing is seeking to globalize the renminbi, through currency swaps and trade-financing facilities; the rise of the offshore bond market; and how fee-hungry banks are salivating at the prospect of the RMB’s growth.

Forget Turning Bullish on Battered Rand, Zuma Has Other Ideas – Bloomberg South Africa’s rand was being tipped by some strategists as one of 2016’s likely currency winners as recently as Wednesday.

Regulatory News

Basel Restores Rating Role in Overhaul of Banks’ Credit Risk – Bloomberg Rating companies are set for a comeback in global rules for how lenders assess credit risk, as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision reverses course after pushback from the financial industry.

EU Regulator Stands by Mifid II Bond Rules – Financial News (subscription) Europe’s top markets regulator has stood by his proposals to bring greater transparency to the region’s fixed income markets despite fears the rules could reduce already low levels of bond liquidity.

Company News

Icap’s Charity Day Breaks $200m Mark – Profit & Loss Icap raised $11.3 million on its 23rd annual Charity Day yesterday, bringing the total amount raised to date by the firm to over $200 million.

Smart Leaves RBS – Profit & Loss Jeremy Smart has left his role as managing director, head of fixed income electronic distribution at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Markets & International Banking.

Eggleston, Hopkins Leave Morgan Stanley – Profit & Loss The departures at Morgan Stanley continue with sources saying that Peter Eggleston and Guy Hopkins have both left the firm.

Market Savvy  

Bonds Benefits from Electronic Trading – Profit & Loss The rise of electronic trading continues apace with a new study showing that US bond investors are following in footsteps of other major financial markets and transacting more business online than ever before.

Junk Fund’s Demise Fuels Concern Over Bond Rout – Wall Street Journal (subscription) Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund takes rare step, seeking an orderly liquidation as junk-bond market swoons.

Press Releases

Corporate Bond Liquidity Healthy by Most Measures – FINRA Analysis of TRACE data also finds potentially significant changes in market structure.

Industry Events

·                   Forex Network London, 14 April 2016 in London

·                   Forex Network Chicago 2016, 28-29 September 2016 in Chicago