Russia’s Moscow Exchange Temporarily Suspends Forex Trading

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Russia’s Moscow Exchange Temporarily Suspends Forex Trading – Reuters
Russia’s Moscow Exchange said on Thursday it had temporarily suspended foreign exchange trading.

ECB March Meeting: What the Analysts Are Saying – Financial Times(subscription)
The ECB will announce its latest policy decision at 12.45 GMT. It is expected to provide further detail today on how it plans to buy €1.1 trillion-worth of eurozone assets as part of its landmark quantitative easing programme, announced at its first meeting of the year.

Volumes Drop Across the Board in February – Profit & Loss (free story)
Foreign exchange volumes on reporting venues declined in February from a month earlier and in some cases fell year-on-year.

Why Are People Still Behaving Badly? – Profit & Loss (subscription)
Without in any way pre-empting an investigation and without in any way accusing unknown people of insider trading, I do have to wonder if the message on compliance and conduct is getting through?

Central Banks, US Jobs Data Keeps FX Traders On Edge – Forbes
With the US dollar peaking at 11-year highs versus a basket of currencies on Wednesday, and ahead of several major central bank rate announcements, investors would be wise to remain vigilant in a currency war that’s being redefined by new monetary policy extremes.

Euro Weakens to 11-Year Low Before ECB Decision as Kiwi Slides –Bloomberg
The euro weakened to an 11-year low against the dollar as traders waited for the European Central Bank to announce details of its debt-purchase programme.

Turkish Lira Hits Another Low Against Dollar – Wall Street Journal(subscription)
Turkey’s lira slumped to yet another record low against the dollar on Wednesday, as political pressure on the central bank exacerbated a broader emerging market selloff amid concern that policy makers will prematurely cut interest rates.

Swiss Government Has Not Asked for New Currency Cap – Reuters
The Swiss government has not asked its central bank to introduce a new cap on the value of the Swiss franc, a spokesman for the government said on Wednesday, after a Swiss newspaper reported that two ministers had suggested such a move.

Tullett Prebon Sheds 166 Brokers in Cost-Cutting Exercise – Profit & Loss(free story)
Tullett Prebon made 217 employees redundant in 2014, including 166 brokers and 51 support staff, according to its annual report. The inter-dealer broker attributed the headcount reduction to a challenging market environment and shrinking profits.

Join FXPA at FIA Boca
Attending FIA Boca next week? Please join the membership of the Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA) for a Meet & Greet session at the FIA Boca conference. Representatives from the FXPA will be in the Lounge Area adjacent to Bar Luna from 5:30-6:30 on Tuesday, 10 March. Please rsvp tojros@profit-loss.com

Regulatory News

Landmark Clearing House Ruling Goes in Favour of UK – Profit & Loss (free story)
The General Court of the European Union has protected London’s position as a major financial centre and prevented clearing houses from being forced to move large chunks of their euro-denominated operations to continental Europe.

UK Bankers to Face Higher Conduct Standards From 2016 – Profit & Loss (free story)
From next year UK financial watchdogs will be able to fine or sanction senior bankers for wrongdoing that occurs in their areas of responsibility, as part of the government’s reforms to the banking sector.

ASIC Faces Big Task Looking Into Movement Before RBA Interest Rate Annoucements, Medcraft Says – Sydney Morning Herald
The corporate watchdog has put local foreign exchange traders on notice, demanding information from them as part of its inquiry into uncanny moves in the Australian dollar seconds before the release of the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decisions in February and March.

Benchmarks Questioned After BoE Review – Financial News (subscription)
Few mechanisms underpin financial markets to the same extent as benchmarks. But responses to a wide-ranging Bank of England review of fixed income, currency and commodity markets reveal a strong sense that something is not quite right with them.

Company News

Citi Cuts EMEA Jobs While Goldman Sachs Reduces Singapore Business –Profit & Loss (free story)
Citi is planning a further round of redundancies from its markets and securities business in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, coinciding with Goldman Sachs having reduced the size of its investment banking team by about a third so far this year.

China Grants First Cross-Border OTC Derivatives Licence to Citic – Risk.net(subscription)
Citic Securities, one of China’s largest securities firms by assets, has been approved by the country’s regulator to conduct cross-border over-the-counter derivatives business – a move that makes it the first onshore firm to gain direct access to international markets.

Market Savvy  

Yuan Short Positions Near Five-Year High, Asia FX Sentiment Worsens
Reuters
Short positions on China’s yuan hit a near five-year high in the last two weeks as the central bank cut interest rates, adding to a flurry of regional policy easing which is dampening sentiment toward most emerging Asian currencies, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.

Press Releases

Clearstream Adds Omani Rial and Appoints Standard Chartered, Oman as Correspondent Bank
The Omani rial (OMR) will become an eligible settlement currency for the first time at Clearstream Banking. Standard Chartered Bank, Oman (SCB Oman) will become Clearstream’s cash correspondent bank (CCB) for OMR.

Trading Technologies to Provide Access to GMEX Exchange 
Trading Technologies will provide its customers with access to GMEX when the exchange launches in Q2 2015. Connectivity through X_TRADER will be available on day one of trading, while access through the next-generation TT platform will commence in Q3 2015.

EBA Reviews Guidelines on Remuneration Policies
The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a three-month public consultation on its Guidelines on sound remuneration policies. These draft guidelines set out the governance process for implementing sound remuneration policies across the EU, as well as the specific criteria for mapping all remuneration components into either fixed or variable pay.

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