European Commission Raises Hopes of a Brexit Deal – Financial Times
Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, has opened the door to a possible Brexit deal, saying he was ready to scrap the controversial Irish “backstop” if Boris Johnson came up with a viable alternative.
- What Happens if Johnson’s Plan is Unlawful, Supreme Court Asks – Bloomberg
- EU Wary of Brexit Crash Landing at High-Stakes October Summit – Reuters
- Pound Could Slump to Parity on a Hard Brexit, BNY Mellon Says – Bloomberg
- Pound Rally Slows as Ireland Puts Damper on Brexit-Deal Hopes – Bloomberg
Federal Reserve Intervenes for Third Day to Ease Market Strains – Financial Times
The Federal Reserve intervened in the US money markets for the third day in a row on Thursday and promised it would do so on Friday, too, as pressure mounted for the central bank to open a permanent facility to ease pressure on short-term lending.
- Prolonged Funding Stress Boosts Calls for Permanent Fed Fix – Bloomberg
- The Repo Markets Mystery Reminds Us that We are Flying Blind – Financial Times
- US Commercial Paper Supply Posts Biggest Drop Since May – Reuters
Fed Will Weigh Resuming Balance Sheet Growth at October Meeting – Wall Street Journal
Decision to add new Treasuries wouldn’t represent a resumption of crisis-era quantitative easing stimulus.
Lagarde Says Global Growth ‘Fragile’, ‘Under Threat’ – Reuters
Incoming European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said that global growth is ‘fragile’ and ‘under threat’, the AFP news agency reported on Friday.
Deal Must Come Soon or Trump will Escalate Trade War, Top Adviser Warns – South China Morning Post
Tariffs on Chinese goods ‘could go to 50 per cent or 100 per cent’, Michael Pillsbury says, but the American leader is not pursuing ‘cold war 2.0’, and US-China decoupling would be a ‘consequence of no agreement’ by Beijing.
- US, Chinese Trade Deputies Face Off in Washington Amid Deep Differences – Reuters
- Trump Won Round One of the Trade War. In Round Two, China has the Upper Hand – South China Morning Post
Real Crunch from Saudi Arabia’s Oil Outage Has Yet to be Felt – Reuters
Saudi Arabia’s ability to avert a global oil supply crunch will only become clear in a few weeks, because for now its crude held in storage can fill the gap and mask the scale of damage to its facilities, traders and analysts say.
Bank of Japan Keeps Monetary Policy on Hold – Financial Times
The Bank of Japan has kept monetary policy on hold but hinted at possible action in October as it frets about a slowdown in the global economy.
Swiss National Bank Lowers Growth and Inflation Forecasts – Financial Times
The Swiss National Bank has held interest rates steady even as it slashed its growth forecast for the year amid rising global headwinds.
Regulatory News
Row Over Brexit Harms Derivative Trading, French Watchdog Argues – Bloomberg
France’s top markets regulator said Brexit threatens to push derivatives away from Europe toward London and the U.S., calling for major changes to European rules to prevent an exodus.
ISDA Publishes Final Consultation on Benchmark Reform – Profit & Loss
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has launched a new consultation to finalise the methodologies for the adjustments that will be made to derivatives fallbacks in the event certain interbank offered rates are permanently discontinued.
BOE’s American Guru Might Be Closest Fit to Carney as Governor – Bloomberg
If the UK wants to replace Bank of England Governor Mark Carney with someone with a similar resume, one outside-the-box pick would be former Federal Reserve policy maker Kevin Warsh.
EU Seeks to Offer Reassurance on Brexit Clearing Exemption – Risk
Commission can act quickly to stave off no-deal market disruption, insists official.
FCA Urges Dealers to Quote Sonia Swaps on Clobs – Risk
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is encouraging dealers to stream firm Sonia swap prices to lit venues as part of plans to create a term version of the new risk-free rate for sterling markets.
Stump Calls for Closer Alignment – FOW
CFTC commissioner calls on Esma for greater clarity on third country CCP rules and coordination over swap data reporting.
Crypto News
China’s Crypto Czar: Facebook-Led Libra “Might be Unstoppable” – Coindesk
China’s cryptocurrency czar believes that while the world powers do not welcome Facebook’s Libra, the stablecoin’s advance might now be unstoppable.
Bitcoin Price Dips to $9.6K as Bear Cross Looms – Coindesk
Bitcoin (BTC) slipped to an 18-day low today, as a key indicator threatens to turn bearish for the first time in a year.
Genesis Acquires Quant Firm – Profit & Loss
Digital assets market maker, Genesis, has acquired Qu Capital, a New York-based quantitative investment and research firm.
Itiviti, a leading technology and service provider to financial institutions worldwide, today announced a partnership with Seed CX, an institutional exchange and settlement platform for digital assets. This partnership ensures that traditional institutional firms currently utilizing Itiviti’s NYFIX network, now can access Seed CX’s digital asset exchange and settlement ecosystem.
Institutional Trading Could Kill Crypto Exchanges: Opinion – MarketsMedia
Can crypto exchanges survive the expected deluge of institutional investment? Today, that bet is even money.
Company News
LSE CEO Schwimmer Says Feels ‘Very Good’ About Refinitiv Deal – Reuters
London Stock Exchange Group Chief Executive David Schwimmer said he feels “very good” about the proposed $27 billion acquisition of data and analytics company Refinitiv, in which Thomson Reuters has a minority stake.
Virtu Financial Extends TCA to FX and Fixed Income – The Trade
Virtu Financial has confirmed an extension of its transaction cost analysis (TCA) and market impact models to cover foreign exchange and fixed income markets.
EBS Direct Gets a New Platform – Profit & Loss
EBS is replacing the platform for EBS Direct with one designed to provide enhanced capacity and speed, delivering roundtrip processing times below 50 microseconds.
FXPB: It’s Been a Bumpy Road – Profit & Loss
Ask anyone who has been around in the FX market for the past 20 years to list the key developments that have shaped the industry and inevitably FX prime brokerage (FXPB) will feature on this list.
Deutsche Opens Bidding for Interest Rate Derivatives – Risk
Deutsche Bank has kick-started the sale of fixed income assets with a notional value of more than $100 billion.
Banks Move Just 1,000 Jobs Despite Brexit Exodus Fears – The Times
Large investment banks have so far relocated out of Britain fewer than 1,000 jobs with six weeks to go before the country is due to leave the European Union.
Market Savvy
Brexit Angst Spurs Record Bets on UK Interest Rates – Financial Times
Investors have taken out a record number of options contracts to bet on or hedge against moves in UK interest rates, amid rising concerns that Britain may leave the EU at the end of October without an agreement on its future relationship with the bloc.
RBA Rate Cut Chances Surge After Jobs Data – Australian Financial Review
Expectations for the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut the official interest rate to 0.75 per cent in less than a fortnight have surged following a worse than expected unemployment rate and pressure to cut following the US Federal Reserve move on Thursday.
Upbeat Data Suggest US Economy Still on Moderate Growth Path – Reuters
The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits increased less than expected last week, pointing to strong labor market conditions that should continue to support an economy growing at a moderate pace.
In Markets Tussle with Central Banks, Neutral is the New Hawkish – Bloomberg
Global investors are urging central bankers further and further down the monetary stimulus road, but they can’t drag them all the way.