Top Headlines
BP Probes In-House Foreign Exchange Traders – Financial Times (subscription)
BP is investigating whether in-house financial traders at the oil and gas group were involved in a foreign exchange manipulation scandal that has led regulators to levy $4.3 billion in fines on six banks.
Traders Enjoy Best Year Since 2008 as Swings Return – Bloomberg
An index of foreign exchange returns has risen for the past six months, the longest stretch since 2005 and turning this year into the best since 2008. That marks a comeback for traders who, as recently as September, were facing a fourth year of losses as record-low volatility limited opportunities to make money.
Euro Dips to 29-Month Low as Greek Vote Sparks Anxiety – Reuters
The euro dipped to a 29-month low against the dollar on Tuesday as the announcement of a snap election in Greece threw the country into a fresh round of political turmoil.
Outlook 2015: A Welcome Return for Volatility? – Profit & Loss (subscription)
As usual, in the run-up to the New Year institutional economists and analysts have been working furiously to produce outlooks for the year ahead, trying to predict how various global events will affect different currencies.
Brazilian Real Leads Major Currency Advances After Budget Cuts – Bloomberg
Brazil’s real rose the most among major currencies as the government’s plan to save an estimated $6.7 billion a year by reducing some pension and jobless benefits eased concern that the nation faces a reduced credit rating.
CFTC Committee Makes Recommendations for FX NDF Clearing – Profit & Loss (subscription)
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) sub-committee on foreign exchange markets has submitted a report to the global markets advisory committee (GMAC) with a number of recommendations regarding a clearing mandate for non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).
Bitcoin 2014 Review: Venture Capital, Fintech and Wall Street Push the Digital Currency Forward – LeapRate
The forex industry and regulators are still trying to make sense of the digital currency phenomenon; but it didn’t stop 2014 from being a year of wider adoption from venture capital money and Wall Street executives looking to bring the cryptocurrency out of the dark. |