FXPA Unveils New Officers, Board Members

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FXPA Unveils New Officers, Board Members – FXPA

The Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA) has announced the election of Chip Lowry, senior managing director of State Street Global Markets, as its new chair, with Jill Sigelbaum, EVP and global head of foreign exchange at Traiana, as vice chair.

Global Code of Conduct Gets First Airing – Profit & Loss

The BIS FX Working Group has circulated to the various foreign exchange committees a first draft of the impending global code of conduct for comment and feedback.

Chinese FX Reserves Sink Again: Analysts React  – Financial Times (subscription)

China’s foreign-exchange reserves plummeted by nearly $100bn in January, according to data released yesterday, slumping to the lowest level since May 2012. The drop, which was slightly more modest than expected, means reserves have shrunk by 19% from the peak in June 2014 as authorities seek to prevent a disorderly slide.

BoJ Probes Monetary Policy Leak – Profit & Loss

The Bank of Japan is continuing to probe events surrounding its monetary policy meeting at the end of January, which resulted in the historic decision to cut rates into negative territory.

A Dying Breed: Currency Traders Are Left Out of New Wall Street – Bloomberg

Charlie Stenger, a currency-broker-turned-recruiter, has seen it all. One fired trader wept in his office. Another admitted he hadn’t told his wife he was unemployed, and left the house every day in a suit to sneak off to a coffee shop. Then there are the delusional guys, who carefully explain how they’re not interested in jobs that don’t pay as well as those they just lost.

Russian Hackers Moved Currency Rate With Malware, Group-IB Says – Bloomberg

Hackers used malware to penetrate the defenses of a Russian regional bank and move the ruble-dollar rate more than 15 percent in minutes, according to a Moscow-based cyber-security firm hired to investigate the attack.

Five UK Fund Houses Explore Blockchain Technology – Financial Times (subscription)

Five of the UK’s biggest fund houses have joined forces on  secret project to test if blockchain, the nascent technology underpinning Bitcoin, the digital currency, can be used to save billion of pounds in trading costs.

Regulatory News

CPMI IOSCO Clarifies CCP Responsibilities for Deliverable FX Clearing – Profit & Loss

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have issued a joint statement clarifying the requirements for CCPs clearing deliverable FX products.

EU’s Hill Says Will Alter Global Bank Capital Rules to Suit Europe – Reuters

The European Union will adapt global bank capital rules to ease the burden on smaller lenders and encourage more investment in companies and infrastructure, the bloc’s financial services chief said on Friday.

OTC Derivatives Clearing and Reporting Requirements Delayed for Hong Kong Firms – Finance Magnates

Reporting and clearing guidelines of firms regulated by Hong Kong financial regulators will begin to be implemented later this year.

Venezuela to Overhaul Currency Controls Soon, Minister Says – Reuters

Venezuela will overhaul its labyrinthine currency controls in the coming days to jolt its economy, the country’s trade and investment minister said.

Company News

Mixed ADV News for Thomson Reuters – Profit & Loss

Spot trading volumes across Thomson Reuters’ platforms offered the now familiar picture of a month-on-month growth but a year-on-year decline – of the platforms to report data only FastMatch has seen a year-on-year increase.

Banks Explore Spin-Offs for Cleared Swaps Desks – Risk.net (subscription)

Large derivatives dealers in the US and Europe are exploring the spin-off of their cleared swaps desks, in a move that could slash the capital they consume – by more than half, according to one estimate – and help them go toe-to-toe with aggressive new entrants such as Citadel Securities.

Market Savvy 

Ruble Gets Boost from Taxes as Oil Swings Keep Currency Volatile – Bloomberg

The ruble’s correlation with oil approached a record as the price of Russia’s main export earner climbed, while the currency got an extra boost from companies converting foreign revenue to pay local taxes.

Euro Advances Toward Three-Month High as Risk Appetite Sours – Bloomberg

The euro approached a three-month high and the yen pared earlier declines as lower stock markets and crude oil prices hurt appetite for riskier assets, boosting demand for currencies used to fund those investments.

Saudi Currency Devaluation Would Carry Major Political Risk – Reuters

A devaluation of Saudi Arabia’s currency could cause such political instability that Riyadh has little choice but to stick to its promise to use vast foreign exchange reserves to defend the riyal’s 30-year-old peg to the U.S. dollar.

Press Release

CME Group Reports Strong Fourth-Quarter 2015 and Full-Year 2015 Financial Results

CME Group today reported revenue of $814 million and operating income of $470 million for the fourth quarter of 2015.  Net income was $292 million and diluted earnings per share were $0.86.  Adjusted for non-recurring items, net income would have been $311 million and diluted earnings per share would have been $0.92.

Where Are We in The Credit Cycle?

Standard Life Investments, the global investment manager, warns investors should expect another year of volatile outcomes in global credit markets, with further dispersion in regional performance.

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