Top Headlines
Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff Loses Crucial Impeachment Vote – The Daily Telegraph
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was on the brink of impeachment tonight after congress dramatically voted in favour of ousting her from office. After a chaotic weekend in Brasília, the lower house backed a motion to remove Ms Rousseff on charges of manipulating government accounts.
Commodity Currencies Hit Hard, Yen Climbs after Doha Disappoints – Reuters
Commodity currencies slumped on Monday while the safe-haven yen soared after major oil producers failed to agree on an output freeze, sending oil prices tumbling anew. The Canadian dollar and its Australian counterpart were both marked more than 1% lower.
Draghi Seen Putting ECB Stimulus Back on Agenda after Summer – Bloomberg
No sooner will Mario Draghi return from his summer vacation than he’ll be looking to boost euro-area stimulus yet again, economists predict.
RBI’s Foreign Reserves with Overseas Banks Have More than Tripled – The Economic Times
The amount of foreign currency reserves that the Reserve Bank of India keeps with overseas bans has more than tripled, signalling that it may be preparing to intervene more effectively in the currency market due to impending volatility because of global factors and the possible exodus of about $30 billion of non-resident Indian deposits.
People worried about Hong Kong’s currency peg at the beginning of this year. But they may have misplaced their concerns.
Swiss Debt and Currency Models Hot Topics at World Finance Meeting – SwissInfo
Switzerland emerged as a “model student” at the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, according to finance minister Ueli Maurer, who highlighted its debt and currency management models at the gathering of global leaders.
No Basis for Further Currency Depreciation: China Central Bank – NDTV
China’s central bank has said there is no basis for “further depreciation” of its currency but asserted that it would continue to pursue market-based exchange rate reform.
Nikkei Tumbles as Earthquake, Strong Yen Reduce Risk Appetite – Reuters
Japanese stocks tumbled on Monday after a stronger yen hurt the outlook for corporate profits, while risk appetite was hurt by the earthquakes on the southern island of Kyushu.
Regulatory News
Foreign Exchange Market to Open for 30 Minutes Longer – Korea Times
The government is seeking to extend the deadline for the foreign exchange market by 30 minutes, in a bid to join Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) index for developed markets.
Banks vs. Regulators – The Washington Post
There has been a little something for everyone in the latest news from the ongoing battle between the financial sector and federal regulators.
Company News
Standard Chartered Lines Up Tucker for Chairman – The Times (subscription)
Standard Chartered has spoken to Sir Paul Tucker, the former deputy governor of the Bank of England, about becoming its chairman. The embattled emerging markets bank faces the threat of a significant protest vote from shareholders at its annual meeting on May 4 if it has failed by then to line up someone for the role.
Walsh Gets New Citi Role? – Profit & Loss
Market sources indicate that Citi veteran Fergal Walsh is taking over the head of algo trading position at the bank, thereby filling the gap left by James Dalton, who left last month to join NAB in Sydney.
FastMatch Hires Again – Profit & Loss
FastMatch has announced that Soren Klausen will join the company on April 18 as director of sales, Europe.
Market Savvy
China Could be Stabilising as Stimulus Efforts Pay Off – The Daily Telegraph
It is too early to sound the all-clear. After all, we haven’t yet heard the fat lady sing. She hasn’t even begun to mount her rostrum (if indeed she has one). So you could reasonably accuse me of being premature. But it is beginning to look as though the Chinese economy has stabilised and may even be about to turn up.
British Exit from European Union Could Drain £4bn In Subsidies – The Times (subscription)
Britain could lose about £4 billion a year of investment in housing, universities and utilities if it leaves the European Union, Labour will warn today. The funds come from the European Investment Bank, which provides long-term debt at super-cheap rates for infrastructure projects. As the equal-largest shareholder in the EIB, the UK is one of its main recipients.
Bailout Talks to Resume but Swift Conclusion not Expected – Kathimerini
Greece’s lenders are due back in Athens on Monday following a brief break in the bailout negotiations for the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings, but the prospects of the program review being completed in time for Friday’s Eurogroup appear slim.
Press Releases
TriOptima, a leading provider of OTC derivatives post-trade infrastructure, announces that Nasdaq members completed the first successful compression cycle for cleared Swedish Krona (SEK) interest rate swaps. Over 40% of the cleared outstanding SEK swap inventory was eliminated in this first collaboration between Nasdaq and TriOptima.
High-frequency traders (HFTs) have received a mixed reaction from academics and practitioners with some people underlining their role as liquidity providers and others highlighting the problems that they could bring to the market.
Industry Events
Profit & Loss Latin America, 20 April in Mexico City
ACI World Congress 2016 – Indonesia, 26-30 April, Jakarta
Eurofinance: Asia Treasury, 18-20 May in Singapore
Profit & Loss Forex Network New York, 26 May, New York City
FIA: IDX 2016, 7-8 June in London, England
Profit & Loss Forex Toronto, 9 June, Toronto
Profit & Loss Scandinavia, 13 September, Copenhagen
Profit & Loss Forex Network Chicago, 28-29 September, Chicago, IL
Sibos 2016, 26-29 September in Geneva, Switzerland
FIA: Expo, 18-20 October in Chicago, IL