Former FX Traders Challenge Citi over Dismissal

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Former FX Traders Challenge Citi over Dismissal – Financial Times (subscription)
Four former Citigroup traders look set to be the first of the dozens of people fired over the FX-rigging scandal to challenge their dismissals in court. Carly McWilliams, Perry Stimpson, David Madaras and Robert Hoodless have filed unfair dismissal claims at the East London Employment Tribunal. Hearings are scheduled in the four cases between next week and November.

Banks Braced for Billions in Civil Claims over FX Rate Rigging – Financial Times (subscription)
Global banks are facing billions of pounds-worth of civil claims in London and Asia over the rigging of currency markets, following a landmark legal settlement in New York.

Why FX Platform Providers Are Targeting Corporates – Profit & Loss
Although the corporate segment has always been an attractive one to multi-bank FX platform providers, there appears to be a renewed focus on targeting this business.

Software Debate Threatens Major Fork in Bitcoin Blockchain – Profit & Loss
Two high profile developers in the Bitcoin community have released competing versions of the core software supporting the digital currency, sparking concerns that the Bitcoin blockchain could be split in two.

Treasuries Liquidity Fine in Good Times, NY Fed Research Finds – Bloomberg
It’s still easy to trade Treasuries, at least when times are good, say researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Sarao: Quiet Man or Criminal Mastermind? – Financial Times (subscription)
Navinder Singh Sarao has finally been released from prison after a judge agreed on Friday to reduce his bail from £5 million to £50,000. But to his US prosecutors, he remains a persistent and aggressive manipulator of the country’s biggest futures market, and someone who played a critical role in one of the most spectacular moves ever seen in its equity markets.

 

Regulatory News

Esma Defends Dual Reporting – International Financing Review (subscription)
The US derivatives industry is scrambling to develop a market-wide method for affirming voice-executed swap trades in just minutes, following a behind-the-scenes CFTC ultimatum to come up with a plan or expect a rule to be made. The agency is disappointed with the industry’s reluctance to move from manual affirmation processes that sometimes takes hours or days to an automatic affirmation process that should only take minutes.

Industry Attacks ESMA Buy-In Proposals – International Financing Review (subscription)
Banks and asset managers have attacked European regulator plans for new procedures to settle failed transactions, claiming that the three proposals are unworkable and will cost billions of euros to implement. European Securities and Markets Authority draft rules published under Central Securities Depository Regulations on June 30 set out three potential models for so-called buy-ins, under which the injured party in a failed securities or repo transaction can require its counterparty to make good by sourcing the security on the open market.

Financial Regulatory Nominations Backlog Grows – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
The resignation of Democratic Commissioner Mark Wetjen at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission adds yet another body to the Obama administration’s growing backlog of financial regulatory nominations. Wetjen’s departure will leave the agency with two vacancies on its five-member board.

Regulatory Options and Debate Heats up on High Frequency Trading – Australian Financial Review  
The debate about high frequency trading and its regulation heated up this week as academics and regulators assessed the effect of super-fast trading on financial markets and whether more needed to be done to balance fairness and liquidity.

 

Company News

Deutsche Bank Revamps its Fixed income and Currencies Arm – Financial Times (subscription)
Six “product pillars” have been marked out that will each have their own executive committees “responsible for managing risk, revenues, financial and other resources”.

CME Out to Tempt European Market-Makers – Financial News (subscription)
CME Europe is to introduce a new incentive programme for market-makers in FX futures in a bid to boost liquidity in the contracts, a move that comes as large exchange operators in the region increase their presence in the FX markets.

High-Speed Trading Firm Beats Back Allegations of Manipulation – Crain’s Chicago Business
Chicago high-speed trading firm Allston Trading has rid itself of two complaints against its trading practices: a federal case and a private arbitration case lodged against it. Allston is fending off complaints about its trading practices after a report earlier this year that the industry’s overseer, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, was investigating Allston over alleged market manipulation.

 

Market Savvy  

The Dark Art of Decoding Fed Minutes in Age of Transparency
Bloomberg
Every six weeks, minutes of Federal Reserve policy meetings are tossed out to eager central bank watchers looking for fresh insights into officials’ thinking.They appear at first blush to be a thorough and straightforward record of the to-and-fro that precedes each important Fed move. Don’t be fooled, say some former officials who helped produce the documents.

With Rate Hikes Looming, Multi-Asset Managers Need to Be Agile
Institutional Investor (subscription)
For most of the past five years of investing in multi-asset strategies, there has been a bull market for equities and bonds. Developed markets have outperformed emerging ones; Ditto for the US dollar versus other major currencies.

Russian Rouble Hits New 6-Month Lows as Oil Weakens
Reuters
The Russian rouble fell further to new 6-month lows on Tuesday, dragged down by continuing falls in international oil prices.

Emerging Markets Currencies Pummelled by Renminbi Ripples
Financial Times (subscription)
Russia, Turkey, Malaysia and Taiwan headed a lengthening list of emerging market countries seeing their currencies pummelled by markets’ continued fixation with China’s slowdown and an imminent US rate rise.

Stock Market Losses Aid Safe-Haven Currencies
Reuters
A 6% drop in Chinese stocks on Tuesday drove currency investors into safe-haven currencies such as the yen and the Swiss franc, albeit in thin volumes.

 

Press Releases

CBOE Launches Hedge Fund Benchmarks With Eurekahedge
Chicago Board Options Exchange has launched four new benchmark indexes in collaboration with Eurekahedge, a Singapore-based hedge fund research and data collection company, that measure the performance of hedge funds that employ volatility-based investment strategies.

 

Industry Events