Top Headlines

Citi Ready to Plead Guilty to FX Antitrust Charge? – Profit & Loss (free story)
Citi could be ready to plead guilty to an antitrust charge in order to help resolve one of the ongoing FX lawsuits against the bank.

Big Banks Finalise $6 Billion-Plus Settlements on Foreign Exchange –Financial Times (subscription)
Five of the world’s biggest banks are finalising agreements to collectively pay more than $6 billion for allegedly manipulating foreign exchange markets, with an announcement expected as soon as Wednesday.

Barclays’ Forex Accord May Involve Job Terminations: NY’s Lawsky – Reuters
Barclays’ upcoming settlement of regulatory charges into whether it manipulated foreign exchange rates is likely to result in the termination of employees, New York state’s banking regulator said on Monday.

BP Trader Said to Be Put on Leave Amid ‘Cartel’ Currency Probe – Bloomberg
A senior currency trader at BP has been placed on leave after conversations emerged linking employees at the oil giant to an online chat room used by the world’s biggest banks to rig the foreign exchange market.

Asian Currencies Hit by Bond Market Turmoil – Wall Street Journal(subscription)
Currencies in emerging Asia hit their weakest in months after days of grinding lower, as bond markets reverse gains and fresh signs of sluggish growth in the global economy appear.

Sterling’s Election Surge Expected to be Short-Lived – Profit & Loss (free story)
Despite a Sterling jump on Thursday evening after a BBC exit poll indicated a surprise outcome in the UK general elections, market analysts believe that the rally will be short-lived as the currency markets settle down to business as usual.

China Adopts IMF Accounting Practice in Reserve Currency Push – Bloomberg
China adopted the International Monetary Fund’s standards for its latest balance of payments data as the nation seeks to obtain reserve-currency status for the yuan.

Regulatory News

BIS Working Group to Develop Single Code of Conduct for FX – Profit & Loss(free story)
The Bank for International Settlements has set up a working group with the aim of establishing a single global code of conduct in the foreign exchange markets.

EU Watchdog Says QE Adding to Liquidity Headache – Reuters
The ECB’s trillion euro money printing programme has put asset managers at the frontline of a possible liquidity crunch, though bringing in new rules to curb investment risk would be wrong for now, a top EU markets supervisor said on Monday.

ESMA Consults on Technical Standard No 4 on Central Clearing of IRS
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has opened a consultation seeking stakeholders’ views on proposed regulatory technical standards on the clearing obligation under Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and Council on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories (EMIR).

ASIC Cancels Rainbow Legend Group’s Licence
Following an investigation, ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of FX provider Rainbow Legend Group for failing to comply with its obligations, including making false and misleading statements.

Company News

Goldman Finds New Home for US Forex Unit – Financial News (subscription)
Goldman Sachs is shifting its FX team catering for corporate clients in the US into a new, broader group in its investment bank, in a fresh sign of the efforts Wall Street firms are making to capitalise on opportunities created by volatile currency markets.

FXCM Reports Q1 Revenue Drop, Increases Value of Leucadia Investment –Profit & Loss (free story)
FXCM reported a downturn in trading revenues for Q1 but has already tripled the investment made by Leucadia to bail out the troubled firm in the wake of January’s removal of the CHF ceiling by the Swiss National Bank.

Tullett Prebon Launches Online Platform to Match Up Traders – Financial Times (subscription)
Tullett Prebon is launching an online platform designed to match up sellers of alternative investment positions with potential buyers, as new regulation and advances in technology pushes the industry of interdealer brokers to explore new markets.

Nomura Exits OTC Derivatives Client Clearing – the Trade
Nomura has joined the growing list of brokers to pull out of providing OTC clearing services due to continued regulatory uncertainty.

Market Savvy  

FX Update: USDJPY Upside Risk if Bond Yields Continue Higher
Saxo Bank
A rather quiet Monday yesterday, save for further fireworks in GBP to the upside and NZD to the downside, making the GBPNZD pair an odd focus as a monumental upside-down head and shoulders pattern neckline near 2.1000/50 was broken yesterday and will now be the support on retracements.

Eurogroup Statement Fails to Provide Clarity on Greece
BNP Paribas
The Eurogroup statement on Greece, released on Monday evening, was in line with expectations with ministers acknowledging that progress is being made but that “more time and effort are need to bridge the gap on remaining issues”.

Press Releases

GAIN Capital Announces Monthly Metrics for April 2015
GAIN Capital has reported certain operating metrics for the month of April 2015, including City Index that was acquired on 1 April 2015. Total institutional trading volume was $436.3 billion, a decrease of 17.4% from March 2015 and a 6.1% increase from April 2014.

ECB Mourns Alexandre Lamfalussy, One of the Euro’s Founding Fathers
It is with great sadness that we received the news of the passing away of Alexandre Baron Lamfalussy. The staff and the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB), as well as the members of the Governing Council and of the General Council of the ECB, are mourning a very dear former colleague and friend.

Industry Events