Top Headlines

FX Survey 2019: JP Morgan Retains its Lead; Deutsche Bank is Back in Business – Euromoney
This year, Deutsche Bank’s FX business is back at number two, confirming the faith the bank’s beleaguered senior management has expressed in it as an area of core strength.  Admittedly, its share was not enough to unseat JP Morgan, which, for the second year running has won the survey, but the gap from JPM to runner up is now only 1.4%. 

Report Warns DLT Technology Could Backfire – Profit & Loss

A new report from Greenwich Associates warns that, if taken too far, distributed ledger technology could reintroduce problems financial markets have been working to alleviate for more than 500 years.

Speed Bumps Are the New Black – Tabb Forum

While the IEX speed bump has been in production for more than six years, lately, speed bumps have been all the rage. In recent weeks, it’s been hard to read any market structure news without noticing a new trading venue that is announcing or implementing a new and more novel trading delay.

Upcoming US Cross-Border Swap Rules May Ease Trading Costs – Bloomberg (subscription)

Some swap-related regulatory burdens may lighten for investment banks, especially non-US companies trading with US banks, when the CFTC releases three new cross-border proposals, which is likely to happen this month. Non-US clearinghouses and registration of swap dealers will be the primary focus. Finalization won’t come until 2020.

Regulatory News

Could CFTC Bring Back Reg AT? – FX Week (subscription)

Market participants and Republican regulators slammed Regulation Automated Trading (Reg AT) when it was first proposed in late 2015, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission seemed to drop the proposal after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. But a changing of the guard at the commission could see the much-maligned algo-trading rule revived – albeit in a less extensive form.

Brexit Nudges New Trad-X Swaps Service to Paris – Risk.net (subscription)

Interdealer broker Tradition is to launch a new dealer-to-client central limit order book (Clob) in Paris rather than at its London hub, as Britain’s ongoing lurch out of the European Union leaves too many nuts-and-bolts questions in the air.

A Watchdog Says Hedge-Fund Secrets Kept by the CFTC Are Vulnerable to Hacking – Bloomberg (subscription)

Confidential market information collected from hedge funds and brokers by the main US derivatives regulator is vulnerable to hacking because of the agency’s outdated computer systems, according to an internal watchdog.

CFTC Attacks Insider Trading in Futures Market – Crain’s Chicago Business

Regulators have long tracked and targeted insider trading in the stock market. Not so much in the futures market, until now.

Libor Leaders: How Seven Firms Are Tackling the Transition – Risk.net (subscription)

BMO, Prudential, Associated British Ports, LCH and others reveal their plans to move off the troubled benchmark.

FSB Report Considers Implications of Decentralised Financial Technologies – FX Week (subscription)

A new report from the Financial Stability Board has assessed the regulatory and governance implications of decentralised financial technologies, as well as their potential effects on financial stability.

Crypto News

Crypto Exchanges Are Facing Their Biggest Regulatory Hurdle Yet – Bloomberg

Bitcoin and its fellow cryptocurrencies have surged in popularity partly because they’ve offered a way to skirt the government oversight exercised over traditional financial systems. Well, get ready to kiss much of that autonomy goodbye.

BitMEX, CryptoCompare and Refinitiv to Jointly Build Real-Time Crypto Futures Dataset – CoinTelegraph

Crypto derivatives platform BitMEX and provider of crypto data CryptoCompare will jointly build a real-time crypto futures dataset. The BitMEX cryptocurrency futures dataset is designed for institutional investors and will be delivered to Refinitiv through the CryptoCompare contributions conduit. 

Nasdaq Teams Up with CryptoCompare for Pricing Data – The Trade Crypto

US exchange operator Nasdaq has teamed up with CryptoCompare to launch a cryptocurrency pricing product which will be made available through its data platform.

Investors Have Slim Legal Path When Digital Coins Vanish – Law360 (subscription)

Cryptocurrencies are already considered risky investments because of their volatility, but investors could face a whole new set of legal risks if cybercriminals steal their digital assets. 

Company News

Peer-to-Peer Matching: FX HedgePool Tries a New Approach – Profit & Loss

There have been numerous attempts in the past to create buy side to buy side matching pools for FX, with very limited success. FX HedgePool is the latest venture seeking to do this and, as the company edges towards launch, P&L takes a look at what it is doing differently.

Tradepoint to Roll Out Fixing Algo – FX Week (subscription)

Tradepoint is to launch a fixing algo that replicates the WM/Reuters and Bloomberg fixing rates in a more efficient way than what it says is currently available to market participants.

MEFF Launches FX Futures – MEFF

MEFF, Bolsas y Mercados Españoles’ (BME) derivatives market, has broadened its product range for members and investors with the launch of new FX futures contracts called FX Rolling Spot Future (xRolling FX), scheduled for 21 June. The contracts are perpetual futures and will be operational for 17 currency pairs with extended market hours.

Kooltra Targets Brokers with Cloud-Based Solution – Profit & Loss

Kooltra has launched a new platform, called FXCore, which is designed to fast-track the entry of new broker participants into the FX market.

Jamie Dimon: Why JP Morgan is Really Like Netflix – Financial News (subscription)

JP Morgan’s CEO says the bank ‘has a lot of subscription-like businesses’ and wants to convince the market his earnings aren’t volatile.

Targui Promoted to Co-Head Role at UBS – FX Week (subscription)

Stephane Targui has been promoted to co-head of foreign exchange, rates and credit Asia sales, banks and corporates at UBS.

Cboe Looks to Add Speed Bump to Equities Exchange – The Trade

Exchange operator Cboe Global Markets has submitted an application to US authorities to implement a ‘speed bump’ on its equities exchange.

Market Savvy

Research Contradicts US Officials on USD Strength – Profit & Loss

A research note from Societe Generale found that, despite claims from senior US officials, the USD has generally weakened against other major currencies over the last two decades.

Sterling Edges Up as UK Opposition Tries to Block No-Deal Brexit – Reuters

The pound rose towards a three-week high on Wednesday after Britain’s main opposition party said it would try to introduce parliamentary legislation to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Dollar Slips for Second Day on Growing US Rate Cut Bets – Reuters

The dollar edged lower for a second consecutive day on Wednesday on growing expectations of a US rate cut next week while high-yielding currencies suffered due to ongoing trade tensions.

Key Currency Test Looms for Unshockable Markets – Financial Times (subscription)

Investors have shrugged off a series of significant developments but challenges lurk.

Why ‘Cracking Seven’ is a Big Deal for China’s Currency – Financial Times (subscription)

If China’s renminbi slips past Rmb7 a dollar – “cracking seven” in trader talk – it would take the currency to a level of weakness not seen since the depths of the global financial crisis 11 years ago.