Top Headlines

Deutsche Boerse to Acquire 360T  – Profit & Loss (Free Story)

Deutsche Boerse AG has today announced that it will buy Frankfurt-based 360T’s FX trading platform for 725 million euros ($795 million). Jefferies acted as sole financial advisor.

FSB Report Outlines Progress on G20 Derivatives Reforms – Profit & Loss (Free Story)

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a report stating the
implementation of the G20-mandated OTC derivatives market reforms is well underway and that the foundational authority needed to give effect to the full range of these reforms is in place in most FSB member jurisdictions.

Hayes saw his Libor Requests as a ‘Numbers Game’ – Judge – Risk.net (subscription)
Judge Jeremy Cooke said today (July 24) that Tom Hayes thought of his scheme to influence the yen London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) as a “numbers game” – the more requests he made, the more chances he would have of the reference rate being set in his favour.

Fund Managers Make the Case for Dedicated FX – Euromoney

FX managers see growth in active currency hedging and alpha-generating FX funds in the years ahead.

ICE Delays Singapore Platform Launch to Later This Year – Reuters
Intercontinental Exchange will launch its Singapore platform later in the year, the bourse said on Monday, following delays after China opposed the inclusion of cotton and sugar futures that would use Chinese prices as references.

Disrupted Currencies, Will Greece be the First Country to Formally Adopt an Electronic Currency? – MondoVisione
The Greek crisis is not going away in a hurry. Even if the various parliaments and lawmakers across the Eurozone ratify the latest agreement between the Euro Group and Greece, it will be some time – maybe a few weeks, maybe a month, maybe longer – before Greek banks return to normal and capital controls are completed lifted.

Greek Bailout Talks Pushed Back by a Few Days on Logistics – Reuters
Talks between Greece and its international creditors over a new bailout package will be delayed by a couple of days because of organizational issues, a finance ministry official said on Saturday.

Beijing Widening of Yuan Trading Band Aimed at IMF, Pushes for Market Reforms – South China Morning Post
China’s decision to widen the yuan’s trading band marked Beijing’s latest efforts to push ahead with market reforms to increase its chance of being included in the IMF’s currency basket later this year despite the backdrop of a weakening economy.

Regulatory News

Hermes Chief Executive Joins Banking Standards Board  – eFinancialNews (Subscription)

The Banking Standards Board, set up to improve levels of conduct and behaviour in the City, has announced the appointment of its first board member from the buyside.

Ex-Deutsche Bank Chief Anshu Jain Cleared of Misleading Regulators Over Libor Rigging  – Wall Street Journal (Subscription)

German regulators told former Deutsche Bank AG co-Chief Executive Anshu Jain this month that they no longer suspected he purposely misled German central-bank officials in a private 2012 query about market manipulation, according to a confidential letter.

Company News

Goldman-Backed Instant Messaging Company Seeks New Investment – Wall Street Journal (Subscription)

Symphony Communication Services LLC, the instant-messaging software company backed by many of Wall Street’s biggest firms, is seeking another investment round that may value the startup at as much as $1 billion.

Bloomberg Becomes Regulated Trading Venue in Europe – Financial Times (Subscription)

Bloomberg is set to fall under the same trading platform regulations as its rivals after the UK markets watchdog approved the fixed-income venue’s application to upgrade its legal status.

State Street Reports Y-o-Y FX Revenue Rise – Profit & Loss

State Street has reported a year-on-year revenue increase from foreign exchange trading, although quarter-on-quarter revenue dropped.

Market Savvy  

Emerging Market Currencies Tumble to Record Low in ‘Violent’ Selloff – Bloomberg

Emerging-market currencies are in free fall. An index of the major developing-nation currencies fell to an all-time low.

9.4 Trillion Reasons why Europe Needs a Weak Currency – South China Morning Post

Continued ultra-loose European Central Bank monetary policy, accompanied by a weak, or indeed weaker euro, must be an essential part of a euro zone policy toolkit being deployed to tackle a broader debt management issue than just that of Greece.

What do Stock Markets tell us about Exchange Rates? – Bank of England Working Paper

The sign of the correlation between equity returns and exchange rate returns can be positive or negative in theory. Using data for a broad set of 42 countries, we find that exchange rate movements are in fact unrelated to differentials in country-level equity returns. Consequently, a trading strategy that invests in countries with the highest expected equity returns and shorts those with the lowest generates substantial returns and Sharpe ratios. These returns partially reflect compensation for global equity volatility risk, but significant excess returns remain after controlling for exposure to standard risk factors.

Press Releases

Tony Dalton Joins R.J. O’Brien as Head of FX Division

Chicago-based R.J. O’Brien & Associates (RJO), the oldest and largest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the United States, announced that Tony Dalton has joined the firm today in its New York office as Head of the FX Division. Dalton is widely considered one of the pioneers of foreign exchange (FX) prime brokerage, after building that business for three major global banks.

CFTC Chairman Massad Announces the Appointment of Eileen T. Flaherty as Director of the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight

 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Timothy Massad today named Eileen T. Flaherty as the agency’s Director of the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight.

Industry Events