Top Headlines
Brexit is a Test Like No Other for Currency Traders – Financial Times (subscription)
This is hardly the first time in the past 30 years that the foreign exchange market has had to deal with potential shocks – bothpositive and negative – for the pound. Unlike the present situation, however,those past periods of uncertainty have tended to emerge around events thatpresented fairly simple sets of alternative outcomes.
- Theresa May to Restart EU Negotiations after Aborting Brexit Vote – Financial Times (subscription)
- EU Said Open to Assurances But Not Renegotiation of Brexit Deal – Bloomberg
- The Five Brexit Gangs of the Square Mile – Financial News (subscription)
Brexit Anxiety Mounts for UK Clearing Houses and EU Banks – Financial Times (subscription)
European banks face a crucial two-week period before finding out if they will receive
Treasury Official Tapped to Head Commodity Futures Trading Commission – Politico
Heath Tarbert, a top Treasury Department official, is slated to be nominated by the White House to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Tarbert is expected to be named soon to succeed Chris Giancarlo as chairman of the US derivatives regulator.
Regulatory News
FCA Seeks to Cement CFD, Binary Options Rules – Profit & Loss
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has issued two consultation papers ahead of the imposition of rules to address what it terms “harm to retail consumers from the sale of certain complex derivative products”, specifically retail –orientated contracts for difference and binary options.
Leaked EU Paper Softens French Blow to Mifir Equivalence – Risk.net (subscription)
Council draft ditches national licensing but introduces conditions on equivalence for some services.
MiFID II Goes Global as Buy-Side Implement Global Unbundling Policies – The Trade
Study from Liquidnet finds that more than half of asset managers have implemented a global policy for unbundling under MiFID II.
US Regulators Have Growing Concerns over Data Cloud Providers; SEC ‘Letter’ In Focus – Tabb Forum
US securities and banking regulators are becoming increasingly concerned over the concentration risk posed by data cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services. One particular worry is the unwillingness by such cloud-services companies to comply with a requirement that would allow the SEC to obtain a firm’s books and records on demand.
Crypto News
Tokenization: The Flip Side of the Coin – Waters Technology (subscription)
Turning traditional assets into digitally traded data is one of the most commonly cited benefits of emerging technology, including distributed ledgers. But the reality is that the process is far more difficultthan it seems.
Layoffs Become the Latest Thing in Cryptocurrency – The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Cryptocurrency companies are laying off employees in an effort to survive the nascent market’s biggest selloff to date. Blockchain venture firm ConsenSys said Thursday it would cut 13% of its staff, days after announcing an overhaul of its business model.
How Bakkt Could Reveal Natural Demand in the Bitcoin Market – Tabb Forum
Bakkt believes it will ‘add to the utility of bitcoinbeyond simply trading.’ But will it create the natural demand needed to lift the price of bitcoin or just create another opportunity for speculators to short it?
Cryptocurrencies and the Rise of Blockchain – Refinitiv
If you look beneath the ‘crypto’ applications, and at the essential nature of the underlying technology, one can see that the revolutionary ideas of non-state sponsored means of exchange and store of value become something of a side-show, or at least, a separate issue. What emerges isthat the disruptive potential of the underlying technology appears increasinglyappealing and transferable.
Company News
Flow Traders to Provide Liquidity for Eurex FX Futures – Profit & Loss
Flow Traders has become a liquidity provider for Eurex FX futures products. Effective immediately, Flow Traders will provide liquiditythroughout the whole range of monthly and quarterly deliverable FX futures, aswell as in the non-deliverable rolling spot futures offered by Eurex.
Societe Generale Builds Clearing Hub in Paris Ahead of Brexit – Reuters
Societe Generale is opening a Paris hub this month to clear derivatives in the European Union in the latest sign of euro business moving from Britain to the bloc ahead of Brexit.
ICE Clear Credit Gains Clearing House Status in Singapore – The Trade
ICE Clear Credit is now a recognised clearing house in the country after gaining approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
UBS Hires Deutsche Bank Research COO in Big Data Push – Financial News (subscription)
The Swiss bank has been investing heavily in its new technology-led research platform.
TP ICAP Rules Out Big Deals to Concentrate on Integration – Financial Times (subscription)
The new chief executive of TP ICAP has ruled out making big deals for the coming year, preserving cash in favour of finishing off a delayed integration of its £1.3bn purchase of rival ICAP two years ago.
Market Savvy
Sterling Rises off 20-Month Lows in Volatile Trade – Reuters
Sterling recovered some ground on Tuesday from the 20-month lows it hit after British Prime Minister Theresa May called off her Brexit vote, as dollar weakness encouraged some traders to buy the pound.
Goldman Sachs Sees Risk of Greenback Nearing a ‘Messy Top’ – Bloomberg
As market odds increase that the Federal Reserve will pause its rate-hike path, Goldman Sachs says its prediction for a weaker dollar could come sooner rather than later.
Indian Rupee Drops 1.6% after Central Bank Governor Resigns – Financial Times (subscription)
India’s rupee fell as much as 1.6