GFXC to Add Algo Guidance to Global Code – Profit & Loss

The Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC) at its meeting in Sydney this week established five areas of focus for its work to maintain the FX Global Code, with algo execution and transaction cost analysis (TCA) being added to the existing workstreams around buy side outreach, disclosures, anonymous trading and execution principles.

Trump Put His Interests Ahead of that of Country, Impeachment Report Finds – New York Times

The House Intelligence Committee concluded that President Trump tried to “use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election.”

Proper US-China Trade Deal More Important than Timing: US Commerce Chief – Reuters

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Tuesday rejected any deadlines on a trade deal with China and launched a fresh attack on telecoms giant Huawei, further dimming hopes for an end to a 17-month trade war that has slowed global growth.

China’s Top Diplomat Says China, US Must Boost Strategic Communication: Xinhua – Reuters

China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, said that Beijing and Washington must increase strategic communication and work together based on the consensus reached by the two countries’ heads of state, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.

UK Election: The Tactical Fight to Beat Boris Johnson – Financial Times

The electorate is more volatile than ever as voters abandon party affiliations after Brexit vote. 

France Fights Back Over US Tariff Threat – Reuters

France and the European Union said they were ready to retaliate if US President Donald Trump acted on a threat to impose duties of up to 100% on imports of champagne, handbags and other French products worth $2.4 billion.

Germany’s ECB Nominee Expresses Doubt Over Fresh Bond-Buying – Financial Times

Isabel Schnabel says she probably would not have supported bank restarting asset purchases.

Euro to Rival Dollar as Top Funding Currency: Deutsche Bank – Bloomberg

The euro is being transformed into the currency of global borrowing, explaining its struggle to rally this year and suggesting it may slowly replace the dollar, according to Deutsche Bank.

Regulatory News

Federal Reserve Terminates BofA FX Action – Profit & Loss

The US Federal Reserve has announced it is terminating its 2015 enforcement action against Bank of America for unsound practices in its FX business that led to the bank paying a $205 million fine.

The IMF Supertanker May be Changing Course – Financial Times

The IMF is rethinking the once rigidly “neoliberal” advice – stressing open markets and free-floating currencies – that it doles out to economies great and small.

Final Volcker Rule Spurs Rethink on FRTB Trading Desks – Risk

Regulators encourage structural alignment between the two rules, but hurdles remain.

CFTC Sets Sights on Clearing, Market Structure – FOW

US regulator has established sub-committees to target risks linked to central counterparties and market structure.

Crypto News

State Street Slashes DLT Developer Team as Bank Rethinks Blockchain Strategy – Coin Desk

State Street, the global custodian bank, has taken a new direction with its blockchain strategy and cut scores of developer jobs in the process, people familiar with the situation said.

How Binance is Buying Up the Crypto Industry – Decrypt

With Dappreview, Binance has now acquired four companies in the crypto space.

Winklevoss Crypto-Exchange Hires Starling Bank Co-Founder – Financial Times

The cryptocurrency exchange set up by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss has hired the co-founder of UK digital bank Starling to kick-start a European expansion, even as the fever over digital currencies cools.

Are Bitcoin Traders That Bought at $3-6k Starting to Sell BTC Now? – NewsBTC

On-chain metrics can offer valuable insights into Bitcoin market movements and the latest data is showing that unrealised losses are mounting up.

Data Shows Crypto Exchange Volume May Not Equate to Website Traffic – Coin Telegraph

As a young industry, the cryptocurrency space has been like a revolving door, seeing numerous companies, projects and assets come and go with the wind. 

Court Backs Nordea Bank Bid to Block Staff from Trading Crypto – Coin Desk

Nordea Bank has won a court battle over its bid to bar employees from buying and selling cryptocurrencies outside of work.

Company News

Self-Learning FX Algos: Part of the Shifting TCA Battleground – Profit & Loss

Profit & Loss takes a deep-dive look at how Goldman Sachs is adding self-learning elements to its FX algos, and where this technology fits into the shifting analytics landscape across FICC markets.

Citi Partners with Rapid Addition for Fix Connectivity – Profit & Loss

Citi has appointed electronic trading platform provider Rapid Addition as one of its core FIX platform partners for currency trading and integrated the Rapid Addition Fix engine, as well as the Rapid Addition Hub platform, into its new pricing technology for spot FX, which clients can connect to in co-locations across London, Tokyo, New York, and Singapore. The Fix engine delivers low latency trading, while the Hub platform delivers scalability in client on-boarding and configuration.

Fidelity Investments Names New Head of $3 Trillion Asset Management Division – Reuters

Fidelity Investments has named Bart Grenier, who was at the centre of a tickets scandal at the mutual fund company more than a decade ago, to lead its nearly $3 trillion asset management division.

Australian Fund Managers are Already Betting on Quantitative Easing – Bloomberg

The Australian central bank may buy up to A$50 billion of Australian government bonds as part of a QE package as early as next year, according to JPMorgan.

Bridgewater Co-CEO Eileen Murray to Depart – Wall Street Journal

Former Treasury official David McCormick will run the world’s largest hedge fund on his own.

Is the Fintech Bubble Bursting? – Financial Times

This year, it has felt like hardly a week has passed without some fintech declaring nonchalantly that it’s raised another few hundred million pounds, but one chart suggests the boom is over.

Market Savvy

Sterling Jumps to Seven-Month High vs Dollar, Euro – Reuters

The pound rallied to a seven-month high versus the US dollar and the euro in early trading on Wednesday as some weakness in the greenback triggered some technical demand for the British currency.

Yen, Swiss Franc Hold Gains as Trade War Worries Deepen – Reuters

The yen and Swiss franc held gains against the dollar on Wednesday as appetite for safe-havens spiked after US President Donald Trump warned a trade deal with China might not come until after the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Fiscal Stimulus Is the New Monetary Easing as Stocks Seek Driver – Bloomberg

The outlook for markets in the next year varies “drastically” from country to country in line with the ability of each to deploy fiscal stimulus, said Hannah Anderson, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.

China Capex Growth Hits Three-Year Low as Weak Economy, Trade War Drag – Reuters

Capital investment by Chinese firms has ground to its slowest pace in three years, as a weakening economy, tight credit and prolonged trade war with the United States dent sales growth and cash reserves, a Reuters analysis showed.

China’s Economic Outlook is Uncertain – Except for One Thing: Growth is Sure to Decline – South China Morning Post

Already grappling with its own deleveraging campaign, rising inflation and an ageing population, China is reeling from US tariffs that strike at the heart of an economy whose explosive growth was grounded in free trade and globalisation.