Top Headlines

JP Morgan, Citi Said to Face EU Fines Over Currency Collusion – Bloomberg (subscription)

Banks including JP Morgan and Citigroup are set to be fined imminently by the European Union over collusion on foreign exchange trading. The European Commission may announce fines as soon as this week as part of a settlement that sees the lenders get reduced penalties for agreeing not to challenge the findings.

Bank by Bank, These are all the New Hiring and Firing Plans for 2019 – eFinancialCareers

2019 has not started well for the world’s leading investment banks. What does this mean if you’re already working for one, or planning to work for another?

Primary Venues Hit Lows; Confirm April FX Slowdown – Profit & Loss

Data from three primary venues in the FX market confirms numbers from last week suggesting that turnover in April slumped, with one reporting an all-time low in activity and two others the quietest month since 2016.

CTAs Continue Positive Performance – Profit & Loss

Following on from an improvement in February and a strong March, April has been another positive month for CTAs, according to the latest data by Societe Generale CTA indices.

Regulatory News

Final FRTB Tweak ‘Will Kill Correlation Trading’, Say Dealers – Risk.net (subscription)

The latest version of the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book, finalised in January, prevents banks from offsetting credit default swap indexes against their single-name constituents. Credit correlation trades depend on arbitraging these two components.

UK Regulators to Form Post-Trade Technology Working Group – Finextra

UK regulators are to convene an industry-led ‘Technology Working Group’ to drive reforms in post-trade processing in a bid to encourage innovation, reduce complexity and increase systemic resilience.

Bank of England Explores Synchronised Settlement – MarketsMedia

The Bank of England is exploring synchronised settlement and wants to increase the use of legal identity identifiers to make them more useful to end users.

Crypto News

Bitcoin Breaks Above $6,000 Level for First Time Since November – Bloomberg (subscription)

The biggest cryptocurrency outperformed its closest peers again in the digital market on Thursday and has now rebounded more than 90% from its trough last December.

Crypto Traders Ponder Blacklist to Keep Scammers, Thieves at Bay – Bloomberg (subscription)
Firms including DRW Holdings’s Cumberland crypto unit, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Holdings and Ripple have discussed creating a blacklist of counterparties known to renege on trades or engage in nefarious activities. An alternative suggestion is to establish an accreditation of firms in good standing as approved by a loose association of crypto businesses known as the Crypto OTC Roundtable Asia, or CORA.

Mike Novogratz Says Bitcoin Won the War of Cryptocurrencies – Bloomberg (subscription)

Bitcoin has won the war of cryptocurrencies, said Michael Novogratz, the billionaire co-founder and chief executive officer of Galaxy Investment Partners. The original cryptocurrency is viewed as a store of value, like gold, while other coins still have to find their uses.

Binance CEO Spurs Outcry by Suggesting Blockchain Rollback – Bloomberg

Binance’s chief executive officer has said that he considered making a push to rewrite a chunk of the digital ledger than underpins Bitcoin to invalidate the overnight theft of about $40 million of the digital coins, suggesting that the Bitcoin network may not be as immutable as advertised.

TradAir Integrates with Zero Hash for Digital Asset Settlement – Profit & Loss

TradAir customers will now be able to leverage the over-the-counter trade settlement services for digital assets recently launched by Seed CX’s subsidiary, Zero Hash.

Company News

Born Again: Citi’s Forex Prime Brokerage – Risk.net (subscription)

After a $180 million gut-punch, the brokerage is now evangelising to amused rivals about the perils of mispricing.

Traiana Provides Central Clearing Connectivity to Eurex – CME Group

The connectivity allows Traiana to provide venues, trading parties and clearing members with an end-to-end clearing solution for OTC interest rate swaps. 

Record Boosts Presence in North America – FX Week (subscription)

Record Currency Management is strengthening its team of foreign exchange specialists in New York.

ICE Creates Daily Credit Risk Monitoring Tool – Risk.net (subscription)

The company muscles into Bloomberg’s fixed income data territory with a bond analytics service.

IS Prime Extends Liquidity Partnership with Integral – Profit & Loss

IS Prime’s FX and index swaps liquidity is now available through Integral’s OCX platform. Index swaps are IS Prime’s proprietary product, delivering pricing and execution on indices and commodities globally.

Market Savvy

Sterling Remains Under Pressure as Brexit Talks Go Nowhere – Reuters

The British pound was little changed around $1.30 on Thursday amid doubts that Brexit negotiations between the ruling Conservative and opposition Labour parties would get anywhere.

Yen Surges to Three-Month High on Fears of US Tariffs – Reuters

The Japanese yen surged to a 3-month high against the dollar on Thursday as investors piled into the safe-haven currency fearing that the US-China trade conflict could escalate.

Eerie Calm in FX Leaves Market Vulnerable in More Volatile World – Bloomberg (subscription)

Foreign exchange options traders may seem out of step, given that the outlook for currency swings has barely moved despite fears of a breakdown in US-China trade talks sending global shares spiraling and volatility in other assets surging.