Top Headlines

Macro Hedge Funds Caught Off Guard by ECB’s Move – Wall Street Journal (subscription) Many anticipated greater stimulus, and had placed wagers on a weaker euro, stronger dollar, rise in European stocks.

Deutsche Bank Reveals Blockchain Bond Breakthrough – Financial News Deutsche Bank is moving ahead with experiments looking at how bitcoin’s underlying technology can be used in banking – a concept that is piquing the interest of the world’s largest banks.

• Bitcoin Fund Linked to Currency’s Rally – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Bank of Japan Kuroda Says no Need to Adopt Negative Deposit Rates in Japan – Reuters Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday he saw no need to implement negative deposit rates in Japan as borrowing costs were already very low due to the central bank’s aggressive asset purchases.

China’s Forex Reserves Show Third-Largest Monthly Decline – Financial Times China’s FX reserves posted their third-largest monthly decline on record, central bank data showed.

Regulatory News

Banks Said to Face SEC Probe Into Possible Credit Swap Collusion – Bloomberg US regulators are examining whether banks colluded in setting prices in the derivatives market where investors speculate on credit risk.

Fed Finds Fault With Its Own Stress Tests – Wall Street Journal (subscription) Problems center on computer models that assess how banks would fare in a recession.

Banks Escape Antitrust Charges as EU Shuts Down Swaps Probe – Bloomberg More than a dozen banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will escape fines after European Union regulators dropped a four-year investigation into suspicions they conspired to shut exchanges out of the credit-default swaps market.

Esma Board Sounded Mifid II Delay Warning Before Standards Release – Financial News Europe’s top markets regulator raised the possibility of delaying changes to the region’s trading rulebook – the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive – before publishing the technical standards underpinning the regulation, it has emerged.

Company News

OTC Clear Welcomes Citi as Its First Clearing Member From The US – Mondovisione OTC Clearing Hong Kong Limited, a subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited that provides clearing services for over-the-counter, has welcomed Citibank, NA, Hong Kong Branch as its first Clearing Member from the US.

Jes Staley Said to Mull Deeper Cuts at Barclays Investment Bank – Bloomberg Less than a week into his new job, Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley is mulling deeper cuts at the securities unit that could see an additional 20 percent of bankers lose their jobs.

Ex-Citigroup Trader Prasad Clears FCA Hurdle for New Hedge Fund – Bloomberg Anil Prasad, the former global head of foreign exchange and local markets at Citigroup Inc., and his business partner Farhang Mehregani will start operating their own hedge fund in January after clearing regulatory hurdles in the UK.

Market Savvy  

EBS BrokerTec: Settlement Solution Key for CNH Growth – Profit & Loss Implementing an effective settlement mechanism for CNH is likely to be a “tipping point” for increasing trading volumes in this currency, according to senior staff at EBS BrokerTec.

Foreigners Drawn in as Fear and Loathing Grip China’s Finance Industry – Reuters A widening regulatory probe into some of China’s biggest brokerages has set nerves jangling in a financial industry still recovering from a summer of turmoil, with fear of becoming entangled in investigations spreading among foreign investors.

Foreign Exchange Shift Drives US and Euro Equity Performance – Financial Times What a strange long trip its been. The year is almost over. Its biggest event as far as markets are concerned — the first rise in US target interest rates in almost a decade — is still ahead, but now seems a virtual racing certainty.

Press Releases

SGX Reports Market Statistics for November 2015 – SGX Total Securities market turnover value fell 16% month on month and fell 13% year on year to S$19.4 billion, during 20 trading days compared to 22 in October and 20 in November 2014.

BIS Quarterly Review Looks at Policy Divergence, Cross-Border Banking – Profit & Loss The Bank for International Settlements has released its December Quarterly Review looking at how global financial markets have responded in recent months to the prospect that monetary policy paths will diverge across the major advanced economies.

Industry Events

11th Annual FIA Asia Derivatives Conference, 8-10 December in Singapore