Top Headlines
Europe’s Traders Throw in the Towel in Race with Wall Street – Bloomberg
A decade after the financial crisis, firms that had spent years pursuing the US heavyweights are cutting jobs and allocating less capital to the business of trading securities. They’re all but throwing in the towel on a key piece of investment banking after yet another year in which their trading divisions failed to keep up with their American rivals.
Trading Firms Seek ‘In-Flight’ TCA to Flag Potentially Bad FX trades – The Trade
Foreign exchange market participants are seeking efficient methods of alerting traders if an ongoing transaction isn’t going as planned using real-time, or ‘in-flight’, transaction cost analysis.
Buy-side Urged to Better Understand Underlying Liquidity in FX Algos – The Trade
Institutional investors have been urged to gain a better understanding of the underlying liquidity in foreign exchange algorithms by major market makers and sell-side institutions.
The Habits of Highly Successful Investment Bankers – eFinancialCareers
It takes a certain kind of person to get, and remain, in the senior ranks. These are the habits you’ll need to succeed in the industry over the long term, according to current and former senior investment bankers.
Regulatory News
EU Should Trust UK on Clearing Post-Brexit, Says BoE – Financial Times
EU regulators should drop ambitions for greater direct supervision of London clearing houses after Brexit, to avoid imposing potentially “conflicting requirements” on institutions that play a key role in global markets, according to a top official at the Bank of England.
Regulators to Scrutinise CCP Default Auctions – Risk.net (subscription)
Global regulators are debating options to improve the design of clearing house default auctions, amid calls from banks and other market participants for a tightening of default management procedures at central counterparties in the wake of the €107 million loss suffered by members of Nasdaq Clearing.
We’re Suing the SEC to Protect the Stock Market – The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
On Thursday the NYSE took the extraordinary step of suing the SEC in federal court to protect the interests of public companies and those who invest in them. An ill-advised price-control program would reduce transparency and increase volatility.
The ‘to do’ list for buy-side firms impacted by UMR’s Initial Margin requirement is quite long. The drive should begin with fundamental questions about automation.
Mifid Data Publishers Drag Feet on Esma Guidelines – Risk.net (subscription)
Europe’s vast market transparency rules are now more than a year old, but some of the teething troubles have not gone away. Transparency relies on data that was supposed to be provided for free, but some of that data is still inaccessible.
Crypto News
JP Morgan’s Crypto Coin Puts Ripple’s Relevance in Question – Bloomberg
The newest cryptocurrency on the block has been used in just one trial transaction and it’s already being hailed as a game changer for digital assets.
Experts Split over SEC Approach to Crypto Regulation – Global Investor (subscription)
The SEC’s approach to crypto regulation splits opinion among experts at DTCC and Panxora.
Crypto Exchange Binance Says it’s Still Profitable ‘Even in this Bear Market’ – CNBC
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is still profitable despite last year’s market meltdown, its chief financial officer said.
Company News
FastMatch Settles with Galinov – Profit & Loss
FastMatch and Dmitri Galinov, the founder and former CEO of the company, have resolved the lawsuit filed by Galinov against FastMatch and its parent company, Euronext US. Under the terms of the settlement, neither party admits any liability or wrongdoing.
Deutsche Boerse Eyes FX “Pay-Off” – Global Investor (subscription)
Deutsche Borse anticipates growth in its foreign exchange derivatives amid a shift from OTC to exchange.
CME Group Tops Profit Estimates on Higher Market Volatility – Reuters
CME Group’s fourth-quarter profit trounced Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as a broad market sell-off toward the end of the quarter prompted investors to rebalance their portfolios and boosted trading volumes.
ICE Combines Bond Trading Platforms Under New Unit – The Trade
ICE has established a new fixed income trading business which combines its three platforms TMC Bonds, BondPoint and ICE Credit Trade.
Digital Asset Hires New Chief Strategy Officer – The Trade
Digital Asset looks to steam ahead after Blythe Masters, the former CEO and a long-time face of blockchain innovation, stepped down at the end of last year.
HSBC Forex Trading Costs Cut Sharply by Blockchain: Executive – Reuters
HSBC has reduced the cost of settling foreign exchange trades by a quarter through its blockchain-based system, an executive overseeing the project says, offering a glimpse of the savings the technology could offer banks.
Market Savvy
Hedge Funds Play Tug-of-War with the Volatile Australian Dollar – Bloomberg
Hedge funds are ratcheting up wagers on the Australian dollar – in both directions – after it became the most-volatile Group-of-10 currencies in the past month.
Sturdy Sales Data Pushes Pound Higher amid Brexit Concerns – Reuters
The pound edged higher on Friday as strong British retail sales data lifted sentiment, though investors were considering the consequences of a Brexit vote defeat in parliament for Prime Minister Theresa May.
Dollar Rises after Dismal Data, Trade Talks in Focus – Reuters
The dollar recovered on Friday after dismal US retail sales and major currencies remained range-bound as the market awaited developments in trade talks between Washington and Beijing.