Top Headlines

Firm Yields Push Dollar to a Four-Month High – Reuters

The dollar hit a four-month high after a rise in benchmark US Treasury yields above three percent rattled some currency bears while a mixed picture from business surveys failed to help the euro before a European Central Bank meeting.

Sterling Stuck Near One-Month Lows as Dollar Bounces on Yield Rise – Reuters

Sterling fell against the dollar as the US currency strengthened on the back of rising Treasury yields, while traders remained cautious ahead of British GDP numbers due on Friday.

South Korea Finance Minister Says Watching Forex Market Closely – Reuters

South Korea’s finance minister said the government is closely watching currency markets as the won and other emerging currencies are weakening against the US dollar.

Survey: Derivatives Trading to Grow Despite Rising Costs – Profit & Loss

In a new survey conducted by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), a majority of respondents said that they expect derivatives volumes to stay flat or increase in the future, despite also predicting that the cost of trading these products will increase.

Esma Investigating Confusion Over Mifid II Data – Financial News (subscription)

Europe’s top markets watchdog is investigating whether finance firms are correctly adhering to new regulatory requirements to make trading data public, its chief has revealed.

Regulatory News

Uneven Basel Rule Adoption Threatens Regulatory Arbitrage – Risk (subscription)

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) named and shamed those member jurisdictions that have missed internationally-agreed implementation dates for financial system reforms.

CFTC: Deliberate Defaults May Be ‘Market Manipulation’ – Financial Times (subscription)

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission criticised intentional defaults in relation to credit default swap agreements, warning that they could “constitute market manipulation”.

SEC Upshifts on Market Structure – Markets Media

After a long period of regulatory status quo, Wall Street should brace for a quicker tempo from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the rest of the year.

Washington Wants to Weaken Bank Rules. Not Every Regulator Agrees – The New York Times

The debate is expected to be the first of many as financial regulators begin changing post-crisis rules through actions that do not require congressional approval.

Company News

Talk Series with Monex – Profit & Loss (subscription)

Profit & Loss sat down with Javier Alvarado, Monex Casa de Bolsa CEO, and Eduardo Gomez, Subdirector of Operations for FX at Monex, to discuss the group’s acceptance by CLS as the first Mexican member firm.

A Closer Look At: The Launch of a New Algo – Profit & Loss

Mark Goodman, head of electronic execution, E&C, at UBS, talks about the latest addition to the bank’s algo suite.

Startups Love This Cryptocurrency Strategy. Regulators Say Not So Fast – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Securities and Exchange Commission is skeptical of companies’ argument that tokens offered to wealthy backers aren’t an investment.

Market Savvy

Resurgent Dollar Hits EM Carry Trade Favourites – Financial Times (subscription)

The Bloomberg index of eight EM high-yield carry currencies has effectively erased its gains for the year with a decline of 2.3 per cent so far in April.

Bitcoin Climbs to Six-Week High as Market Sentiment Improves – Reuters

Bitcoin rose to a six-week high on positive headlines that included the possible entry of major financial institutions into the space, lifting sentiment on the overall cryptocurrency market.