Top Headlines
Barclays FX ‘Superstar’ Trader Ashton Loses Dismissal Suit – Bloomberg
A “superstar” Barclays trader fired amid the foreign-exchange market manipulation scandal lost his unfair dismissal case in London, three weeks after regulators banned him from the US banking industry.
Pound Sterling Value Drops as Theresa May Signals ‘Hard Brexit’ at Tory Conference – Independent
Theresa May said she will launch formal Brexit talks with EU leaders before the end of March 2017.
- Sterling Hits Three-Year Low vs Euro as Brexit Deadline Set – Reuters
- Brexit Trigger News Sends British Pound Lower – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
IMF Leader Cites ‘Historic Milestone’ for China – ABC News
Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, is calling the inclusion of China’s renminbi as the fifth currency in an elite group of the world’s reserve currencies an “important and historic milestone” for the international financial system.
FXCM Sells Research Website for $40m – Profit & Loss
FXCM has agreed to sell DailyFX, its news and research website, to IG Group for $40 million.
Ramy Soliman Launches New Prime-of-Prime Brokerage Stater Global Markets – Finance Magnates
The FCA-regulated brokerage launches today with a double digit number of bank and non-bank liquidity providers, the CEO of the company explained.
Germany’s government may well be duty bound not to offer state assistance to Deutsche Bank, one of the world’s largest FX dealers, therefore if it goes to the wall, a liquidity contraction could occur.
Size of Korea-Japan Currency Swap Deal Draws Attention – Korea Herald
Attention is being drawn to the size of a currency swap deal to be resumed between South Korea and Japan.
Kenya Avoids Brexit Moment as Markets Disregard Doomsayers – Bloomberg
Almost six weeks after Kenya capped banks’ lending rates at four percentage points above the central bank benchmark, its currency is little changed against the dollar.
Why the Yuan Will Never Be a True International Currency – South China Morning Post
Beijing’s obsession with the yuan’s ranking among global trade currencies is meaningless trivia.
Deutsche Bank Reflects Shattered Ambition and Schadenfreude – Financial Times (subscription)
Bid to forge new identity in investment banking has turned spectacularly sour.
CME Disappears From Dealmaking, and That May Not be Bad – Chicago Business
Once an aggressive acquirer, CME Group is getting more attention lately for the deals it isn’t doing.
Can the Currency of the Darknet Find Its Way Into the Light? – Wall Street Daily
When Forbes, Fortune, and the Financial Times are covering every development, you know a new “revolutionary” technology is being ushered into the mainstream.
Regulatory News
Peso Undervalued By Any Measure With Room to Rise: Carstens – Bloomberg
Mexico’s peso is undervalued by “all measures,” and has quite some room to appreciate under normal circumstances, central bank Governor Agustin Carstens said.
ESMA Appoints Chairs to Standing Committees – FOW (subscription)
The European Securities and Markets Authority has appointed new chairs to three of its fourteen standing committees as it gears up for the implementation of its MiFID II reforms.
Five Differences Between UK and France on MiFID II Research Rules – Financial News (subscription)
UK and French regulators have always held divergent views on new EU rules designed to split payments for research and execution.
Company News
LCH Adds Its First Australian PPS Bank – Profit & Loss
LCH has announced that Commonwealth Bank of Australia has become its first Australian Protected Payments System bank.
Samsung Puts MiFID II Compliance Officer in Traders’ Pockets – Financial News (subscription)
Samsung is launching a product that will allow banks to record all the calls and texts made on its smartphones by trading employees – and track their movements.
Having acquired Interactive Data last year, ICE plans to sell off the part of the business that it has no use for.
Euro to Pound Exchange Rate to Offer a new 2016 Best Over Coming Weeks – Pound Sterling Live
The British Pound remains a core ‘short’ with Credit Suisse who say any strength in the currency is only likely to be corrective in nature.
Market Savvy
Yuan Begins Post-SDR Run With Little Fanfare as China on Holiday – Bloomberg
The yuan began its first trading day as a global reserve currency with little fanfare, barely moving in overseas markets as Chinese investors stayed away on a week-long holiday.
Deutsche Bank Relief, China Factory Activity Support Asia FX – Reuters
Most emerging Asian currencies rose as risk sentiment improved after reports of Deutsche Bank’s was negotiating a smaller fine with the US Department of Justice and a survey showing China’s manufacturing stabilising.
Speculators Push US Dollar Bets to Six-Week High – Reuters
Speculators boosted net longs on the US dollar to their highest in six weeks, Reuters calculations and data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.