FX World Needs Rules on Undoing Trades after Franc Events

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Top Headlines

FX World Needs Rules on Undoing Trades after Franc Events: Oanda – Reuters
Major banks behaved badly in refusing to stand by exchange rates agreed when the Swiss franc surged in value in January, the head of one large retail brokerage said, calling on regulators to lay down new rules to protect smaller foreign exchange traders from such second guessing.

Emerging Markets Liquidity Hit as Banks Pull Back from Risk Warehousing – FX Week (subscription)
Offloading emerging market currency risk in the interdealer market can take up to three times longer than in the past with significantly higher costs, as banks reduce their exposure to non-deliverable forwards, traders say.The pullback from risk warehousing comes ahead of the July 21 deadline for the kick-in of the Volcker rule.

Unchained: How Blockchain and Bitcoin Are Going Mainstream – John Lothian News Special Report
Blockchain technology, defined as a ledger of all bitcoin transactions that have been executed, both threatens and offers a unique opportunity for the financial markets. Because blockchain technology is able to hold critical information on the ownership of a particular contract or security, value, prior owner, as well as the matched sale of that asset, it could change the industry at the exchange or broker-dealer level.

Yuan Trade Volumes in London More Than Double – South China Morning Post
Chinese renminbi trade volumes in London more than doubled last year, according to figures from the City of London Corporation on Friday, in a further sign of deepening financial links between Britain and China.

Citi Managers ‘Low-Balled’ Libor, Hayes Defence Argues – Operational Risk & Regulation
The Citi senior manager who heard “alarm bells” over Libor scandal trader Tom Hayes’s trading methods himself appeared to agree to manipulate the benchmark, a London court heard.

 

Regulatory News

MEPs Escalate Concerns over Mifid II Process – Financial News (subscription)
Senior politicians in Brussels have penned a letter to the European Commission voicing “major” concerns that the region’s top regulator is not sharing information on its efforts to overhaul trading rules.

ESMA Appoints New Chairs to Standing Committees (press release)
The Board of Supervisors of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has appointed new chairs of its standing committees.

 

Company News

Blythe Masters’ Blockchain Startup Makes Two Acquisitions – Bloomberg
Digital Asset Holdings announced two acquisitions meant to help the start-up run by former JP Morgan executive Blythe Masters overhaul how Wall Street settles trades. The company bought San Francisco-based Hyperledger and Budapest-based Bits of Proof for undisclosed amounts.

Aston Capital Management Launches Market Making Service – Profit & Loss (free story)
Hedge fund, Aston Capital Management, has launched an FX market making business with three initial customers.

Saxo Shuts Retail MT4 Offering – FX Week (subscription)
Saxo Bank has decided to shut down Saxo Capital Markets CT, a Cyprus-based provider of retail MetaTrader 4 solutions. Licensed and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, the subsidiary owned by Saxo Bank has stopped taking on new clients and will cease operation in the coming months.

Swap Dealer Group in Search for New Chairman – FOW (subscription)
A powerful consortium of the world’s top swaps dealers has opened talks with senior figures at its member firms about becoming the new chairman of OTCDerivNet after its former head Gavin Dixon left BNP Paribas and stepped down as chair of the group.

Shanghai Gold Exchange in Talks with CME to List Contracts – Bloomberg
The Shanghai Gold Exchange is in discussions with the CME Group about listing each other’s contracts on their respective exchanges, according to Shen Gang, vice president of the SGE.

 

Market Savvy  

The Morning Track – Unwinding
Track.com
TGIF? The Thank God it’s Friday trading is lost as the weekend ahead repeats the last weekend of worry with Greece still the main focus and driver of fear. The plan B meetings on Saturday aren’t so hopeful sounding. Capital controls in Athens Monday are becoming more likely should the markets not hear what they want Sunday evening – namely a deal where the EU and Syriza agree to bail each other out.

‘Blame the Robots’ for Greek Market Wobbles
Financial Times
Rabobank is chanelling a criminally-underrated Genesis track in its daily markets note on Greece today. The title: “Land of Confusion.”
“If it weren’t for the robots, financial market participants were keeping a remarkably cool head in the developing Greek saga yesterday,” writes Elwin de Groot at the bank.

Asia FX Pessimism Eases on Slow US Rate Hike View, Greece Hopes
Reuters Poll
Sentiment towards emerging Asian currencies improved in the last two weeks as the US Federal Reserve indicated it may hike interest rates more slowly and on hopes for a deal to avoid a Greek debt default, a Reuters poll shows.

China Seen Winning IMF Reserve Currency Endorsement in 2015
Bloomberg
China’s goal to attain endorsement of the yuan as a reserve currency will be achieved this year, according to most economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

 

Press Releases

Thomson Reuters Launches New Valuations & Transparency Capability
Thomson Reuters has launched Pricing Service Plus (TRPS Plus), a new DataScope capability for structured notes and hard-to-value over-the-counter derivatives.

 

Industry Events