Top Headlines
China Seeks to Reassure Trading Partners on FX, Markets Ahead of G20 –Reuters

Chinese policymakers on Thursday ruled out an imminent devaluation of the yuan as they seek to reassure trading partners ahead of the G20 summit that they can manage market stability while driving structural reforms.

Sterling Plunges vs Dollar on Brexit Fears; Yen Up Broadly – Reuters
Sterling tumbled to a seven-year low against the dollar on Wednesday on heightened fears of a possible British exit from the European Union, while mixed risk appetite drove the yen broadly higher.

‘Brexit’ Lifts UK Currency Hedged ETFs – ETF.com

Supersized Currency on Europe’s Fringes Defies Big Banknote Clamor –Bloomberg

As some of the biggest central banks debate the future of their high-denomination bills, a former Soviet republic stranded between Russia and the European Union is about to increase the value of its biggest banknote 25-fold.

Argentina Nears $5B Settlement In Default Saga – Law360 (subscription)
Argentina is near a $5 billion settlement with creditors including NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Partners that would resolve 15-year old litigation over the country’s debt default, an attorney for the firms told the Second Circuit on Wednesday.

IMF Report Urges G20 to Prepare Global Economic Stimulus Plan – Reuters
The Group of 20 nations must plan now for a coordinated stimulus program to keep a slowing global economy from stalling, International Monetary Fund staff said in a report on Wednesday.

ISDA Publishes Principles for US/EU Trading Platform Recognition
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today published a set of principles for achieving comparability determinations between US and European Union (EU) trading platforms.

How Long Before the Cracks Show in China’s Great Currency Wall? – Reuters
China still owns the world’s largest currency reserves, but it has been burning through them at such a pace that some think Beijing might soon have to allow a sharp fall in the yuan or back-pedal on liberalization and tighten its capital controls.

Regulatory News

EU Banking Watchdog Reveals 2016 Stress Test Scenarios – Financial Times (subscription)
Banks across the EU will be tested to see if they could survive the perfect storm of an emerging market shock, stagnant profitability and increasingly unmanageable public and private sector debt.

Canadian Securities Regulator Seeks Comment on Derivatives Rule Relating to Mandatory Central Counterparty Clearing – MondoVisione

Members of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today published for comment Proposed National Instrument 94-101 Mandatory Central Counterparty Clearing of Derivatives and its companion policy (the proposed instrument), which introduces requirements for central counterparty clearing of certain over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transactions.

Don’t Misuse FX Rates to Boost Growth, Germany’s Schaeuble says – Reuters
Foreign exchange rates should not be misused to boost domestic growth at the cost of other economies and financial markets need to be more stable, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview published on Wednesday.

IMF Calls on Nigeria to Lift Foreign Exchange Curbs – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) called on Wednesday for Nigeria to lift foreign exchange curbs and let the naira reflect “market forces” more closely, also urging more fiscal discipline and structural reform to bolster growth.

Japan Considers Regulating Bitcoin as Currency – CoinDesk
Regulators in Japan have reportedly proposed treating digital currencies like bitcoin as methods of payment, a distinction that would make them legally equivalent to conventional currencies in the country.

Company News

CLS Appoints Marquard – Profit & Loss

CLS Group has appointed Alan Marquard to lead its new Corporate Strategy and Development division.

Old National Bank Chooses New FX Trading Portal from SS&C – PRNewswire

CLS Appoints Marquard – Profit & Loss
SS&C Technologies Holdings, a global provider of financial services software and software-enabled services, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to provide Foreign Exchange (FX) software and services to the largest Indiana-based bank, Old National Bank. Together, the companies will implement SS&C’s online customer FX Trading portal to offer a full-service trading solution tailored to the needs of Old National’s customers The move comes on the back of an increase in FX related activities at the bank.

WisdomTree Unveils New Dynamic Currency-Hedged ETFs –Wealthmanagement.com

A few years ago, WisdomTree Investments made a bet on a steadily rising dollar with its currency-hedged ETFs, and the strategy’s paid off. In 2015, the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ) returned about 6 percent and led the entire ETF industry in net inflows, taking in nearly $14 billion last year, according to Morningstar data.

Market Savvy

Won Feels the Force of China Worries – Financial Times (subscription)
Still worried about China? Sell South Korea. The won is the latest member of the growing group of proxies for negative views on the Asian giant. Other trades have included selling the Australian dollar, dumping miners worldwide, and shorting Hong Kong-listed Chinese names — not to mention betting directly on a weaker renminbi.

C$ Strengthens, Rebounds From 1-Week Low, as Oil Rallies – Reuters

The Canadian dollar rallied against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, rebounding from a one-week low earlier in the session as oil prices and U.S. stock markets rose after previous losses.

Press Releases

Trading Desk Optimization: Talent Trumps Tech – Greenwich Associates

The institutional financial markets are undergoing continual change as new regulatory requirements and technological advances make change inevitable. This report estimates that buy side trading desks spent a collective $15.6 billion to fulfill trader compensation and technology expenditures in 2015.

FlexTrade Integrates Symphony’s Secure and Compliant Communications

FlexTrade Systems, a global leader in multi-asset execution and order management systems, today announced the integration of Symphony Communication Services LLC’s platform with FlexTRADER EMS. The integration brings secure and compliant messaging directly into the trading blotter for any FlexTrade clients using Symphony.

Oanda Acquires Tradestation Forex Accounts

Oanda, a leading provider of online foreign exchange and over-the-counter commodities and indices trading services, today announced an agreement to acquire all of the forex accounts of IBFX (aka, Tradestation Forex), the forex dealer firm subsidiary of Tradestation Group, as IBFX exits the forex dealer business.