Top Headlines
Dollar Slips as North Korea Fires Missile Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting – Reuters
The dollar came under pressure after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea ahead of a summit between US and Chinese leaders, losing its grip on gains made earlier against the yen.
RMB Trading Band Fixed Firmer Ahead of Xi-Trump Summit – Financial Times (subscription)
China’s central bank has nudged the renminbi’s trading range against the dollar firmer in the first daily guidance after this week’s national holiday and ahead of a summit between the US and Chinese presidents.
Pound Pops Higher After Surprisingly Robust UK Service-Sector Data – Financial Times (subscription)
Just when you think you have a handle on where UK economic data are heading, it seems the country’s financial services industry is doing some serious heavy lifting to counteract stress among consumers.
South Africa’s Rand Falls After ANC Says It Stands by Zuma – Reuters
South Africa’s rand and government bonds weakened, giving up earlier gains, after the ruling African National Congress Party (ANC) rejected calls for President Jacob Zuma to quit.
Mexico Peso Pares Losses Ahead of Intervention – Reuters
The Mexican peso pared losses after the country’s central bank announced it would intervene in the foreign exchange market in an effort to ease pressure on the currency.
Markets Gear Up for End of Czech Koruna Cap – FX Week (subscription)
With inflation at its highest level since 2012, the CNB’s change of language leads analysts to herald end of EUR/CZK floor.
More Good News from Platforms – Profit & Loss
CME Group, EBS and FXSpotStream have all reported positive data for March, following similar reports from FastMatch, Gain GTX and Hotspot earlier in the week.
London Must Lose ‘Euro Business’ After Brexit, EU’s Weber Says – Bloomberg
A top European Parliament ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said London’s financial-markets business tied to the euro must be pared back after Brexit, highlighting one of the possible red lines in the upcoming negotiations.
Barclays Traders Victims of SFO Tunnel Vision, Lawyer Says – Bloomberg
The lawyer for a former Barclays trader on trial for manipulating Libor took aim at prosecutors during closing arguments, saying the UK Serious Fraud Office suffered from “tunnel vision” that blinded investigators to the weakness of their case.
Regulatory News
Trump Promises to Help Bankers ‘Petrified’ of Regulators – CNN
Trump promised to “do a very major haircut on Dodd-Frank.”
Parting speech from the Fed’s regulatory guru outlines changes that could help big banks.
Official says he may have given the impression to a Medley Global analyst he was confirming confidential information.
ESMA Specifies Non-Equity Tape – Markets Media
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued specifications for a consolidated tape for non-equity instruments which may lead to a number of tapes for separate asset classes.
FCA Plans Delay for Non-EU Firms Under MiFID II – FOW (subscription)
The FCA’s first policy statement on the MiFID II and MiFIR implementation published last Friday contains a clause that could provide non-EU firms providing direct electronic access to UK trading platforms.
Wall Street Regulators Are Struggling with Vacancies That Must Be Filled – The Hill
Long-running vacancies have become more common at independent financial regulatory agencies.
Trade Surveillance Goes Cross-Product – Markets Media
Detecting potential cross-product market manipulation is becoming a greater necessity for firms as the Securities and Exchange Commission has brought one enforcement case against the practice in recent weeks.
Russia to Raise Daily Forex Purchases to 3.5 Billion Roubles – Reuters
Russia’s finance ministry said it would step up its daily foreign exchange purchases to 3.5 billion roubles ($62.57 million) over the coming month.
Company News
Someone Made a $100 Million Trade with JPMorgan on their Cell Phone – Business Insider
JPMorgan is investing in technology in a big way – and it’s paying off.
Faryar Joins Divisa Capital – Profit & Loss
Multi-asset prime brokerage firm Davisa Capital has hired Hormoz Faryar as head of global institutional sales.
ICE Bets on Data to Resurrect Libor’s Reputation – Financial Times (subscription)
Three years since taking over the benchmark, executive says use of data is helping.
Moex Reports First FX Deals By Corporations with Direct Access to Market – Finance Feeds
Effective January 16, 2017, Russian business entities that are not credit organisations or professional security market participants may get direct access to the forex market.
Banks Deploy Cloud Technology to Flush Out Rogue Traders – The Trade
Major global banks are increasing their adoption of cloud technology in an effort to monitor the actions of traders and avoid future scandals, according to new research.
Market Savvy
Asian Currencies Slip, Focus on Coming US-China Summit – Reuters
Some Asian currencies edged lower, ahead of a United States-China summit that could highlight trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Most Currencies Firm Against the Dollar During Asian Trade – Financial Times (subscription)
Currencies were mostly firmer in Asian trade, helped by an easing US dollar.
Kuna Slides on Agrokor; Polish, Romanian Rates Seen on Hold – Reuters
The kuna fell, reflecting uncertainty over the debt of Croatia’s biggest private company Agrokor, as parliament started to discuss a bill to protect the economy from fallout from any problems at major companies.