Top Headlines
The Bank of England waded into the highly charged debate on the nation’s membership in the European Union, saying the possibility that Britain chooses to leave the bloc represents the biggest domestic risk to the stability of the U.K. financial system.
Libor Trader Tom Hayes Denied Appeal – Financial Times (subscription)
Tom Hayes, the first person to be found guilty by a jury of manipulating Libor in the global investigation, had his request to appeal against the conviction to the UK‘s highest court denied.
Yuan Global Push Seen Losing Momentum as Li Silent on Reforms – Bloomberg
The lack of new foreign exchange policies in Premier Li Keqiang’s annual report to legislators is prompting economists to speculate that China will probably slow efforts to increase the yuan’s global usage and focus more on keeping the currency steady.
RBA’s Lowe Sees Room to Ease, Wants Lower Currency Like Peers Do – Bloomberg
Australian central bank Deputy Governor Philip Lowe reiterated that low wage growth and contained inflation provide scope to cut rates further and said, like most of his global peers, he’d prefer a weaker currency.
Currency Warrior Hungary Seen Targeting De Facto Cap on Forint – Bloomberg
Hungary is the latest country to enter the global currency war.
Rand Leads Global Currency Declines as Current-Account Gap Grows – Bloomberg
The rand fell the most in two weeks, leading global currency declines against the dollar, after South Africa’s current-account deficit widened more than economists’ expectations while outflows from the nation’s stock and bond markets hastened.
Gold’s Best Start Since 1974 Shows Not Just Inflation Hedge – Bloomberg
For an asset touted as a hedge against inflation, gold’s doing pretty well right now. The metal is off to its best start to the year since 1974 even as expectations for gains in consumer prices are near their weakest since the global financial crisis seven years ago.
Regulatory News
Regulators Aim to Strengthen Accountability with New Regime – Profit & Loss
Senior managers in the banking sector will have now their decisions evaluated in the context of a new Senior Managers Regime (SMR), the product of a lengthy period of evaluation and review by both the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK.
John McAfee: Electronic Currency Is Inevitable, and We Must Accept it – Entrepreneur
Cybersecurity legend John McAfee shares how electronic currency, whether bitcoin or something else, is going to challenge government. “Let’s face it, Pandora’s box has been opened – it is here,” he says. “There will be an electronic currency, and it will be universal, and we must accept that fact.”
Manipulation or Brilliant Trade? The Curious Case of Don Wilson – Bloomberg
When Don Wilson spotted a chance in 2010 to take another bite at a trade that had mostly eluded him as a younger man, he never expected he’d be defending his actions six years later in a Manhattan federal courtroom.
Credit Suisse, Deutsche, Others Urge Forex MDL Dismissal – Law360
Seven major financial institutions, including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley, on Monday said those accusing them in multidistrict litigation of rigging the foreign exchange market have failed to prove they were involved in incriminating chat rooms in which they exchanged sensitive information.
Company News
LSE-Deutsche Boerse Merger Would Signal End to Exchange Mega-Deals – Reuters
If the merger between London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse goes ahead, it could be the final mega-deal in the industry as further combinations of such scale are likely to hit antitrust buffers.
Citigroup Warning on Trading Revenue Drags Down U.S. Bank Shares – Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. joined U.S. rivals in signaling another dismal start to the trading year, spurring a slide in Wall Street bank stocks.
Juzenas Joins Bloomberg From CFTC – Profit & Loss
Eric Juzenas has left his position at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to join Bloomberg’s regulatory policy group in Washington.
Market Savvy
Are Negative Rates Economically Negative? – Nikkei News
There may be good reasons to be cautious about negative rates. They are not the same as low interest rates, and they can produce some very specific problems.
Fed: This is What it Sounds Like When the Doves Cry – Olivier de Barres
The Federal Reserve is unlikely to hike its policy rate from 0.25-0.50% at its 16th March 2016 meeting and may have little choice but to revise down its expectations to around 3 hikes for 2016 in its accompanying projections.
PBOC Using Stealth Intervention as Reserves Decline, Daiwa Says – Bloomberg
China’s central bank is probably using stealth measures to intervene in the foreign-exchange market and shore up its currency reserves, according to Daiwa Capital Markets.
Press Releases
Unconventional Monetary Policy – Speech by Martin Weale
In a speech delivered at Nottingham University, Martin Weale discussed a range of unconventional policy options available to central banks. He underlined that he not believe the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will need to expand its use of unconventional policy any time soon, but it was important to assess these options as “the Committee does not want to be a monetary equivalent of King AEhelred the Unready”.
Andrew Bailey appointed CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority – Bank of England
Andrew Bailey, Deputy Governor, Prudential Regulation at the Bank of England and Chief Executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), has been appointed as the new CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and will leave the Bank after 30 years of service.
Industry Events
FX Week Australia, 10 March in Sydney, Australia
FIA: Boca 2016, 15-18 March in Boca Raton, FL
FOW: Derivatives World, 12-13 April in Hong Kong
FX Week FX Invest North America, 12 April in Boston, MA
Profit & Loss Forex Network London, 14 April in London, UK
Profit & Loss Latin America, 20 April in Mexico City
ACI World Congress 2016 – Indonesia, 26-30 April, Jakarta
Eurofinance: Asia Treasury, 18-20 May in Singapore
Profit & Loss Forex Network New York, 26 May, New York City
FIA: IDX 2016, 7-8 June in London, England
Profit & Loss Scandinavia, TBD September, Copenhagen
Profit & Loss Forex Network Chicago, 28-29 September, Chicago, IL
Sibos 2016, 26-29 September in Geneva, Switzerland
FIA: Expo, 18-20 October in Chicago, IL