Top Headlines

Pound Approaches Seven-Year High Versus Euro on Jobs Data, BOE – Bloomberg
The pound approached a seven-year high versus the euro after reports showed UK unemployment fell, average earnings rose more than economists estimated and the Bank of England said it sees inflation rising “fairly sharply” as the effects of weaker oil prices fade.

Canada Has 3-4 Years to Take Advantage of Renminbi Hub: Chinese Banker – Reuters
Canada will have only three or four years to take advantage of its renminbi trading hub before China liberalises its capital account and so reduces the competitive advantage the hub creates, a Chinese banker key to the operation says.

Bank of New York Revises Results to Book Added FX Litigation Expense – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Bank of New York Mellon said it would adjust its fourth-quarter results to include an additional litigation expense of $598 million as it nears resolving several legal issues, including most of its foreign exchange-related matters.

Yen Blips Higher After BoJ Holds Fire – Reuters
The yen steadied in early European deals on Wednesday, after a brief jump in Asian trading driven by the Bank of Japan’s confirmation it saw no need to print more money to stimulate the economy.

Pressure Builds to Weaken the Yuan – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Investors see more pain ahead for the Chinese yuan, as pressure mounts for Beijing to address slowing growth by devaluing its tightly controlled currency.

Norway Gets Caught in Currency Race to Bottom – The Business Times
Scandinavia’s richest economy will need to keep cutting rates to stop its currency strengthening amid historic monetary stimulus elsewhere, according to some of the region’s biggest banks.

Australian Miners Embrace Options to Hedge Currency Fall – Asia Risk (subscription)
After a 15-year break Australian miners have started to hedge their currency exposure using options structures in response to a prolonged fall in the value of the Australian currency versus the US dollar. For the past decade-and-a-half, the mining industry has shied away from large-scale foreign exchange hedging mindful of losses sustained when they last implemented structured derivatives.

 

 

Regulatory News

European Trade Reporting Still Causing Headaches – Financial News (subscription)
Banks and other market participants have said there are still basic issues preventing the European trade reporting regime from working as intended, despite reassurances from the European Securities and Markets Authority that improvements are on the way.

 

 

Company News

JP Morgan Weighs Leaner Trading Units as Rules Hit Profitability – Bloomberg
JP Morgan is considering shrinking some trading businesses such as such as interest rates trading and prime brokerage because new rules make them less profitable.

BATS Moves Towards Another Try at an IPO – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
BATS Global Markets is preparing to replace its chief executive officer as it lays the groundwork to take another stab at an IPO. Chris Concannon, a former executive at the high-speed trading firm Virtu Financial who joined BATS as president in December, is expected to be appointed as CEO this summer.

GMEX Plans Late Second Quarter Launch – FOW Intelligence
GMEX chief executive Hirander Misra said the exchange group is now targeting late May or June for the launch of its fledgling swap futures platform.

FSA Extends Administrative Measures Against Alpari JP for One More Month – LeapRate
The Japanese regulator, Kanto Local Finance Bureau, has extended the period of administrative actions on Alpari Japan. pertaining to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act for one month from 16 February, 2015

FXCM to Stop Trading in Selected Currencies – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Foreign exchange broker FXCM Inc. will stop trading a number of currencies later this week to avoid volatility caused by possible future intervention by governments in currency markets, according to a person familiar with the matter.

 

 

Market Savvy  

Traders Burned on Swiss Franc Carry Shun Free Money
Bloomberg
When it comes to Swiss-franc carry trades, it’s a case of once bitten, twice shy. Switzerland’s negative interest rates mean investors are effectively being paid to borrow francs, which they could then use to purchase higher-yielding assets denominated in other currencies. Carry trades funded in the Swiss franc would have made more this month than deals using either euros or yen, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

 

 

Press Releases

Thomson Reuters FX volumes, January 2015
The total average daily volume of FX trading across Thomson Reuters’ platforms in January totalled $398 billion – an on-year rise of 7%. The total reflects trading volumes on Thomson Reuters Matching and FXall in all transaction types.

BGC Urges All GFI Stockholders to Tender Their Shares into Its $6.10 per Share Offer Before It Expires
BGC Partners today urged GFI Group stockholders to tender into its $6.10 per share offer to purchase all outstanding shares of GFI before its expiration on February 19, 2015.

Oanda Bolsters Trading API Offering
Oanda has made significant enhancements to its Application Programming Interface suite for traders, developers, and partners.

 

 

Industry Events