Top Headlines
FXPA Chair Lowry, Vice Chair Sigelbaum Speaking at Forex Network London
Chip Lowry, chairman, and Jill Sigelbaum, vice chair, of the Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA) will be speaking at Profit & Loss Forex Network London next Thursday, April 14. Lowry will discuss the FX trade association’s mission and activities to date, as well as take a look at a number of developing and ongoing trends in the market during a one-on-one interview with David Clark, chairman of the Wholesale Markets Brokers’ Association (WMBA).
Trial Opens for Ex-Barclays Employees in Libor Case – The New York Times (subscription)
A group of former Barclays employees plotted to improve its own trading results by “dishonestly rigging” an important global benchmark interest rate known as Libor, British prosecutors said on Tuesday as the criminal trial of the former traders got underway.
China Forex Losses Jump 13-Fold as Investors Brace for More – Bloomberg
The impact of August’s yuan devaluation has shown up in Chinese publicly traded companies’ annual results — and investors are bracing for more pain.
Yen Surges to Strongest Since 2014 as Intervention Risk Weighed – Bloomberg
The yen climbed to the strongest level in 1 1/2 years against the dollar, threatening to undermine the Bank of Japan’s push for inflation, a key part of efforts to revive the world’s third-biggest economy.
‘Time to Rethink’: Big Day for Riksbank Watchers – fastFT (subscription)
The craze for Nordic drama continues, today starring Stefan Ingves, governor of Sweden’s Riksbank. Mr Ingves is today due to give a speech entitled “Time to Rethink”, giving Riksbank watchers hope/anxiety that he could potentially signal a shift on the central bank’s inflation target, something that has been generating ever lower interest rates and an aversion to currency strength even at a time when economic growth is blossoming.
Asian Currency Rallies no Longer Make Sense – The Japan Times
Recent currency rallies across Asia make zero sense, especially considering how central banks are increasingly heading in that direction — and beyond.
Currency Traders Brace for Wild Ride as Volatility Curves Invert – Bloomberg
The $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market is getting turned on its head. For the first time since 2010, traders of all five of the world’s most-transacted currency pairs are more wary of price swings in the next three months than over the next year.
Regulatory News
Basel Committee Proposes Revisions to Leverage Ratio Framework – Profit & Loss
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has today released a fresh consultative document and answered a set of frequently asked questions (FAQ) on revisions to its Basel III leverage ratio framework.
CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee to Meet on April 26, 2016
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC) will hold a public meeting on April 26, 2016 at the CFTC’s Washington, DC, headquarters.
Second Australian Bank Targeted by Regulator over Benchmark Fixes – Profit & Loss
Westpac today became the second local bank to be accused of “unconscionable conduct and market manipulation” by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) relating to the setting of the Bank Bill Swap Rate (BBSW) interest rate benchmark fix.
Esma Keeps Rules in Place for ETDs – Profit & Loss
The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) has decided not to temporarily exclude exchange-traded derivatives (ETDs) from the open access requirements for trading venues and CCPs within the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid II) and Regulation (Mifir).
Company News
Moex Bucks the Trend as More Platforms Release Data – Profit & Loss
Three more venues have released FX volume data for March, with EBS Brokertec and CME Group reporting declines, but Moscow Exchange (Moex) bucking the trend with higher volumes.
Barclays Becomes the First Big UK Bank to Back a Digital Currency Firm – Business Insider
Barclays has become the first big British bank to form a partnership with a digital currency firm, social payments app Circle, which runs partly on bitcoin’s blockchain network and launched in the UK on Wednesday.
CTAs Finish Q1 in Positive Territory despite March Dip – Profit & Loss
The Societe Generale CTA indices are up for the first quarter of 2016, despite all of the indices producing negative returns for March. The SG CTA Index ended Q1 at +4.05% despite being down -3% in March. The SG Short Term Traders Index fared the best, down -1.18% in March, and now leads returns year-to-date, up 5.47%.
Swift’s Cross-Border Payment Initiative Gains Traction – Profit & Loss
Twenty-one banks have joined Swift’s pilot for its global payment initiative, which is designed to the speed, transparency and predictability of cross-border payments. The pilot is planned to run through to December, the first results of which will be shared at Sibos 2016 in Geneva this September.
Market Savvy
Investors Pour Money Into Haven Assets – The Financial Times (subscription)
Investors poured money into haven assets on Tuesday as fears of fragile global growth intensified concerns that central banks are not powerful enough to generate a strong and sustained economic recovery.
Asian Currencies Have Gone Wild – Barron’s
Recent currency rallies across Asia make zero sense, especially considering how central banks are increasingly heading in that direction – and beyond.
Latam Currencies Fall Sharply on Global Risk Aversion – Reuters
Latin American currencies weakened sharply on Tuesday as concerns over global growth, lower commodity prices and prospects of higher U.S. rates drove investors to seek safety in the U.S. dollar.
Press Releases
FIA Pledges To Continue Working with Basel Committee on Impact of Capital – MondoVisione
FIA welcomed the Basel Committee’s consultation on proposed revisions to the leverage ratio today, but expressed disappointment that the new framework does not include an offset for initial margin.
Bats Global Markets, Inc. Announces the Launch of its Initial Public Offering
Bats Global Markets, Inc. (“Bats”), a leading global operator of exchanges and services for financial markets, today announced the launch of its initial public offering of 11,200,000 shares of its common stock by certain Bats stockholders. The initial public offering price per share is expected to be between $17.00 and $19.00.
Saxo Payments Offers Corporate Access to Real-Time FX Trading and Payments
Saxo Payments Banking Circle Real-time FX enables Corporate Treasury Departments to trade foreign currency highly cost-effectively. And by being part of the Saxo Payments Banking Circle, Corporate Treasury Departments can also manage international transactions using the cross border payments platform.
Industry Events
FOW: Derivatives World, 12-13 April in Hong Kong
FX Week FX Invest North America, 12 April in Boston, MA
Profit & Loss Forex Network London, 14 April in London, UK
Profit & Loss Latin America, 20 April in Mexico City
ACI World Congress 2016 – Indonesia, 26-30 April, Jakarta
Eurofinance: Asia Treasury, 18-20 May in Singapore
Profit & Loss Forex Network New York, 26 May, New York City
FIA: IDX 2016, 7-8 June in London, England
Profit & Loss Forex Toronto, 9 June, Toronto
Profit & Loss Scandinavia, 13 September, Copenhagen
Profit & Loss Forex Network Chicago, 28-29 September, Chicago, IL
Sibos 2016, 26-29 September in Geneva, Switzerland
FIA: Expo, 18-20 October in Chicago, IL