Top Headlines
Forex Counsel Awarded $300M in Fees for $2.3B Deal – Law360 (subscription)
A New York federal judge on Thursday awarded more than $300 million in attorneys’ fees to Scott + Scott and Hausfeld, the firms representing an investor class in securing $2.3 billion in settlements over claims that 15 banks colluded to rig benchmark exchange rates in the foreign exchange markets.
- Forex-Rigging Settlements Yield $300M for Class Counsel – Bloomberg Law (subscription)
- Banks Face New FX Lawsuit – Profit & Loss
CLS Volumes Down in October – Profit & Loss
Data from CLS shows that the utility handled $1.71 trillion per day in October, slightly down from September’s $1.729 trillion but 5.8% up year-on-year.
Retail and Institutional FX: Never the Twain Shall Meet? – Euromoney
The distinction between retail and institutional FX
business is well established, but there is a growing sense that both types of
client can be supported on the same platform.
CTAs Continue to
Struggle – Profit & Loss
All of Societe Generale’s CTA indices were down in October and are now in negative territory year-to-date.
SGX to Exit Swaps Clearing Business – Risk.net (subscription)
SGX will stop clearing over-the-counter interest rate swaps from April 2019, leaving users without a home for some of their cleared contracts – thought to be an unprecedented event for an OTC product.
‘Red October’ Proves to Be a Gift for Brokers and Exchanges – Financial Times (subscription)
Brokers and exchanges have emerged as the big winners in October’s market turmoil, and the futures market suggests investors are braced for further volatility.
Regulatory News
FCA “Utterly Useless” Engaging with EU over Brexit – The Desk
Veteran city commentator Anthony Hilton delivered a harsh verdict on the UK financial regulators’ efforts to support Britain’s finance industry ahead of the country’s departure from the European Union.
EU Plans Reprieve to Derivatives Deals to Avoid Brexit Chaos – Financial Times (subscription)
Regulators will allow temporary exemptions to prevent disruption to thousands of uncleared derivatives contracts.
- BofA Has Spent $400 Million Preparing for Hard Brexit, CEO Says – Bloomberg
- UBS’s Brexit Dog Whistle is Loud and Clear – Bloomberg
Kay Swinburne: The Reality of MiFID III – The Trade
Kay Swinburne talks about the reality of MiFID III.
- Swinburne: Traders Should Beware of Radical Change in Europe – The Desk
- Brexit Will Drive Regulatory Changes Within MiFID II Review, Says MEP Swinburne – The Trade
- Investment Research in the Era of MiFID II: Is Variety Still the Spice of Life? – Tabb Forum
Westpac Fined A$3.3 Million Over Australia Rate Rigging Case – Bloomberg
Westpac Banking Corp. has been fined $3.3 million ($2.4 million) for engaging in “unconscionable conduct” in attempting to manipulate a key Australian money market rate.
CFTC Fines Ex-Deutsche Trader for Hiding Swaps Losses – Profit & Loss
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has fined a former Deutsche Bank inflation swaps trader for attempting to cover up losses. The Commission has also closed its related investigation into the bank, citing its self-reporting of the incident and its cooperation.
Take a Modular Approach to Layering Regs, Industry Told – The Desk
Officials at industry associations and technology firms suggest that with Brexit on the horizon and further changes to existing regulations likely, a fire-fighting approach to regulation is no longer appropriate.
Banks Warned of Capital Add-Ons for Legacy Libor Contracts – Risk.net (subscription)
Banks are being warned that supervisors – especially in the UK – could use additional capital requirements on contracts that reference Libor as a way to speed the transition to newer benchmarks considered less vulnerable to manipulation.
Crypto News
Wall Street’s Crypto March Slowed by Appetite of Large Investors – Bloomberg
The biggest roadblock to Wall Street behemoths rolling out cryptocurrency businesses could come from their own clients, rather than from regulators.
Crypto Exchange Founder Fined in First SEC Registration Case – Bloomberg
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has taken its first enforcement action against a cryptocurrency exchange, resolving allegations against the founder of a digital trading platform accused of failing to register his company with the agency.
Crypto Exchanges Must ‘Grow or Die,’ Says Exec at Fintech Firm Cinnober – CoinDesk
A financial technology company that was founded a full decade before the bitcoin white paper came out is looking to help today’s cryptocurrency trading platforms mature.
Crypto Custodian Eyes Broker-Dealer License – Global Investor (subscription)
Digital Asset Custody Company has applied for an SEC licence through Finra instead of setting up a trust company.
Libra to Support Circle’s OTC $2 Billion Trading Operation – The Trade Crypto
Cryptocurrency technology provider Libra has agreed to provide support for Circle’s global OTC trading operation as it continues to grow its presence in the digital asset infrastructure world.
Company News
How Will FinTech Shape Emerging Markets? – Profit & Loss
Jon Vollemaere, CEO of R5FX, talks about whether fintechsolutions will be used in China, and emerging markets more broadly, toeffectively replicate existing FX markets or create an entirely new ecosystem.
Mosaic Launches FICC Analytics Product – Profit & Loss
FICC data analytics company Mosaic Smart Data has launched a new feature for its MSX platform enabling users to instantly generate text reports on their trading activity data using machine learning.
Thacker Exits Standard Chartered, Allington Soon to Follow – Profit & Loss
Neh Thacker has left Standard Chartered, where he was global head of macro trading, and Chris Allington is also going to be leaving his position as regional head, financial markets west.
Refinitiv Expands in Mena, Launches Sentiment Feed in Japan – FX Week (subscription)
Refinitiv, formerly the Financial & Risk business of Thomson Reuters, is expanding its footprint in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) by adding Sunday trading to its equities platform, enabling clients around the world to access a range of markets in the region.
Market Savvy
Dollar Rises Toward 16-Month High After Hawkish Fed Guidance – Reuters
The dollar rose towards a 16-month high on Friday after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady and reaffirmed its monetary tightening stance, cueing up investors for a rate hike in December.
Sterling Falls as Brexit Deal Optimism Fades – Reuters
Sterling fell on Friday after the US dollar rallied and investors began to doubt recent optimism about an imminent Brexit deal.
Buy ‘Cheap’ Yen Before its Big Awakening in 2019, SocGen Says – Bloomberg
It’s time to start loading up on “cheap” yen. Using options to bet on gains for Japan’s currency is a smart wager for 2019, according to Societe Generale.