Johnson Vows Final Brexit Offer to End Stand-Off with Brussels – The Times
Boris Johnson will today make the EU what Downing Street says is his “final offer” on Brexit, including a “fair and reasonable compromise” over the Irish border.
- Brexit Plan Revealed: What Johnson Will Offer Brussels – Daily Telegraph
- Johnson Has Rolled the Diplomatic Dice, but the Rules of the EU Game are Stacked Against Him – Daily Telegraph
- EU Ready to Consider Major UK Concession on Irish Backstop – Bloomberg
- If Reported UK Brexit Proposal is Final Offer, It Won’t Fly: EU Sources – Reuters
US Economy’s Slowdown Spurs Concern It’s Nearing Stall Speed – Bloomberg
The US economy is losing speed, something that has economists wondering how slow the economy can go and still avoid crashing into a recession.
Draghi Says Fiscal Boost Could Allow ECB to Raise Rates Sooner – Bloomberg
Mario Draghi said looser budget policies complementing the European Central Bank’s monetary stimulus would augur a quicker end to ultra-low interest rates, lessening the damage they cause.
Accusations of Currency Manipulation Have Dogged the ECB. Now It’s Fighting Back with Data – Fortune
As the euro plumbs new lows, the European Central Bank has decided on a new show-your-cards policy, coming clean to the markets whenever it intervenes in foreign exchange interventions. So far, there’s been very little to see.
IMF’s Lipton Sees Sharper World Slowdown as Trade Tensions Flare – Bloomberg
The International Monetary Fund expects a more significant global slowdown than it did three months ago, said First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton, adding it’s difficult to see an economic recovery if the trade uncertainty continues.
Germany Would be Able to Counter an Economic Crisis: Scholz – Reuters
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that Europe’s largest economy would be able to counter an economic crisis if there were one but added that he did not expect a downturn as bad as in 2008/2009.
Slowing Trade Hits Global Manufacturing – Wall Street Journal
US factory activity contracts for second straight month; WTO warns that slowing world trade could hit investment and jobs.
Regulatory News
Fed Wrestles with Role of Regulation in Repo Squeeze – Financial Times
The Federal Reserve is looking at whether regulation played a role in the sudden rise in short-term interest rates that rocked markets last month, when the largest US banks, despite being flush with cash reserves, did not lend them out overnight as expected.
European FRTB Proposals Spark XVA Overload Fears – Risk
It is no secret that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s trading book rules will upend the way banks calculate capital requirements for their markets businesses. A clue is in the name: the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book. What Europe’s market risk managers are just coming to learn, though, is how much the new regime could shake up the use of derivatives valuation adjustments by trading desks.
“Inertia” is Hampering Libor Transition: Expert – FOW
The Bank of England issued a note on Tuesday that shows the value of contracts referencing Libor is increasing ahead of its cessation.
CFTC Fines Six Banks for Reporting Failures – Profit & Loss
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued six banks with regulatory orders over reporting failures.
Outlier? Influencer? Fed’s Bullard Catches Trump’s Eye – Reuters
In 11 years as head of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, James Bullard has found himself on most sides of the big debates inside the US central bank.
US SEC Proposes Exchanges Seek Public Consultation on Data Fee Changes – Reuters
The US securities regulator on Tuesday proposed a change to the way exchange operators alter their fees, in a move aimed at improving transparency but which could make it harder for operators to compete on price to propel revenue growth.
Crypto News
How Facebook’s Libra Could Kick Off a Digital Currency War – Singularity Hub
Facebook’s plans to launch a digital currency, Libra, has sent shockwaves through the international finance world and may have sounded the starting gun on a digital currency race.
Visa, Mastercard, Others Reconsider Involvement in Facebook’s Libra Network – Wall Street Journal
Cracks are forming in the coalition Facebook Inc. assembled to build a global cryptocurrency-based payments network.
Block.One Headed – Financial Times
In the year between June 2017 and 2018, Block.one – an unspecified blockchain platform – raised several billion dollars from an initial coin offering. Yes, that’s billion with a capital B.
Ripple Buys Icelandic Crypto Trading Exchange – Decrypt
The regional hub will help to provide liquidity on Ripple’s payment network, boosting cross-border payments.
Broadridge Adds Crypto and ETD Capabilities with Acquisition – Finance Magnates
Fintech firm Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. announced this Tuesday that it has added cryptocurrency and exchange-traded derivatives capabilities through the acquisition of Shadow Financial Systems, Inc.
Company News
Royal London Selects TradingScreen – Profit & Loss
Order and execution management system provider TradingScreen has been selected by UK investment management firm, Royal London Asset Management.
Platforms Report Mixed Results for September – Profit & Loss
There’s been little by way of discernable trends amongst the trading volumes reported for September by the first set of FX trading platforms to do so publicly.
With $0 Fees, Schwab Risks Blowing Up Brokerage Model It Built – Bloomberg
Not too long ago, Charles Schwab Corp. helped to usher in the golden age of low-cost, online stock trading. Now, the brokerage may help to kill off the fee-based business model altogether.
Norway Unexpectedly Withdraws Cash from Massive Wealth Fund – Bloomberg
Norway unexpectedly took almost $400 million from its sovereign wealth fund in August, marking the first withdrawal in over a year as western Europe’s biggest petroleum producer takes advantage of its enormous piggy bank amid a decline in oil prices.
Tech Forecast to Destroy More Than 200,000 US Bank Jobs – Financial Times
US banks will cut more than 200,000 jobs in the next decade as robots and other technology bring about the “greatest transfer from labour to capital” the industry has seen, a report by analysts at Wells Fargo claims.
Market Savvy
Why the RBA Will Have to Keep Pushing on the Monetary Pedal – Australian Financial Review
Reserve Bank boss Philip Lowe has little choice but to keep leaning on the monetary levers as he tries to avert the threat to the Australian economy from the darkening global outlook, at a time when credit conditions at home have snarled and consumers are feeling decidedly cash-strapped.
There’s No End in Sight for Soaring Palladium Prices – Financial Times
With stocks running low, it is difficult to see where further supplies will come from.
German Fiscal Stimulus Already Creeping In, Whatever Merkel Says – Bloomberg
To much of the outside world, Germany seems so wedded to its balanced budget policy that it won’t deploy fiscal stimulus until it’s too late.
Repo-Market Ructions Were a Reminder of the Financial Crisis – Economist
For anyone who lived through the global financial crisis, trouble in the market for repurchase agreements, or repos, induces a cold sweat.
Why Buffett is Wrong to Dismiss the Benefits of Gold – Financial Times
Legendary investor Warren Buffett’s much-quoted dismissal of the investment merits of gold is simple: the metal is “neither of much use nor procreative.” But the Oracle of Omaha has got this wrong. Gold is constantly offering useful insights, if you look closely enough.