Top Headlines

FXPA to Host ‘Last Look’ Webinar: Implications of the Recent Last Look Settlement on Your Business – FXPA Join the Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA) for a webinar on Tuesday, January 12, at 10am (Eastern)/3pm (GMT)/11pm (Asia), that looks at what the recent Last Look settlements mean and what you can do to safeguard your business: What are the key takeaways? What are some of the best practices now emerging? Are there public policy implications?

Bankers in No Hurry to React to Brexit Alarm – E Financial News There was a dismissive wave of the hand from a global investment banking head sitting in his London office when Financial News asked whether the UK’s possible departure from the European Union gave him cause for concern.

Wall Street to Get Graded on How Much Spoofing It’s Facilitating – Bloomberg US regulators have grown so concerned that traders are using high-speed computers to manipulate markets that they’re planning a new tactic to clamp down on the practice – rating brokers on how much spoofing flows through their order books.

US Banks Pin Treasury Market Headaches on High-Speed Trading: Fed – Reuters A large share of Wall Street securities dealers believe that the growing presence of high-frequency trading firms has made it more difficult to operate in the market for US government debt, according to a Federal Reserve survey.

 

 

Regulatory News

CFTC De Minimis Report Worries US Energy Firms – Risk A long-awaited report from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has shed light on the agency’s thinking with respect to the de minimis threshold for swap dealer registration – and the results are proving worrisome for energy firms, which fear a lower threshold will saddle them with onerous new regulations and damage liquidity in commodity derivatives markets.

Accountants Voice Concern Over EU Guidelines For Bank Auditors – Reuters Draft European Union rules requiring accountants to tell regulators about problems they uncover at banks are likely to be far costlier than expected and difficult to apply at global lenders.

 

 

Company News

Investors Poured Record $236 Billion Into Vanguard Last Year – Wall Street Journal (subscription) Largest annual flow of money to a mutual-fund firm is latest sign of shift away from money managers who try to handpick winners.

Barclays to Cut Asia Investment Banking Jobs Next Week – Reuters Barclays will announce investment banking job cuts across Asia next week, including closures in South Korea and Taiwan, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Senior Morgan Stanley Bosses Depart – The Trade Two Morgan Stanley senior directors with combined service of 34 years have departed less than a month after the bank’s announcement to cut 1,200 jobs worldwide.

Greenwich: Top 10 Market Structure Trends for 2016 – Profit & Loss Greenwich Associates has released a report on “Top 10 Market Structure Trends” to watch in 2016.

XTX Markets Hires Barclays Duo – Profit & Loss XTX Markets has hired Matt Clarke and Moez Ghanmi in London.

 

 

Market Savvy  

Global Stocks Pressured by North Korea, China – Wall Street Journal (subscription) News of a possible nuclear test in North Korea and lingering concerns over China kept investors cautious Wednesday, sending global stocks lower again in a shaky start to the year.

Pressure Grows on Saudi Arabia to Ditch Dollar Peg – Wall Street Journal (subscription) Forward contracts surge to 16-year high this week seen as sign of increasing strain on the peg.

Early Bearishness – a Blip or a Trend? – Profit & Loss Markets have started the new year under pressure, with Chinese equities down 7% on 4 January (before automatic circuit breakers kicked in), the Dow Jones shedding 1.6% and the FTSE nursing a 2.4% loss.

 

 

Press Releases

Monthly SEF Volumes Lower, But FX Nudges Higher – Profit & Loss Trading activity on swap execution facilities (SEFs), measured by average daily notional volume, averaged $370.2 billion per day in November, down 13% from the previous month, but up 10% from November 2014.

FXCM in German Link-Up – Profit & Loss Online FX broker FXCM announces its new partnership with German broker FXFlat.

 

 

Industry Events