Top Headlines

Swiss Franc Antics Threaten Banks’ Grip on Currency Trading – Bloomberg
The grip of the world’s biggest banks on the $5.3-trillion-a-day currency market is under attack. After the Swiss National Bank stunned the world in January by abandoning its price cap on the franc, some banks sought to reduce their losses by trying to renege on transactions. Dealers including Bank of America, Barclays and Goldman Sachs approached customers about changing some trades, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Bloomberg Terminal Outage Result of Network Failure – Profit & Loss (free story)
Bloomberg terminals around the globe crashed Friday morning, with the outage affecting the close of trading in Hong Kong and the London open.

Draghi Warning Unheeded as Euro’s Best Streak in a Year Stalls – Bloomberg
The euro’s longest winning streak in a year stalled Monday as regional leaders wrangled with a defiant Greece over how to avoid a default. Draghi said in Washington Saturday that while the situation is “urgent”, it’s premature to speculate about a Greek exit from the currency union.

Regulators Need to Differentiate Between Retail and Institutional FX – Profit & Loss (subscription)
Of all the outcomes the FX industry may face in the coming months as the world continues to digest the fallout from 15 January, I hope one of them will be the re-separation of retail and institutional – because the FX industry needs to distance itself at this crucial time from what is, in reputational terms, the toxic offspring that retail represents.

Aussie, New Zealand Dollars Helped by China Stimulus – Reuters
The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose on Monday after China boosted banks’ lending power to support Asia’s biggest market, prodding investors globally into traditionally higher-risk currency plays.

RBA’s Stevens Fights a Resurgent Carry Trade in the Aussie Dollar – Sydney Morning Herald
Add a resurgent carry trade to the list of things keeping Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens from getting a weaker Aussie dollar. A widening yield advantage on the nation’s debt amid a drop in currency volatility is luring investors back to the strategy.

IMF’s Review on Inclusion of RMB in SDR Basket Underway – Xinhua.net
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is conducting a comprehensive assessment over the Chinese currency, or RMB, in its special drawing right (SDR) review to decide whether the currency will be included in the SDR currency basket or not, Zhu Min, deputy managing director of the IMF.

Non-Chinese Companies Warm to Renminbi – Financial Times (subscription)
Non-Chinese companies are increasingly using the renminbi as an international currency and expect to more than double the volume of transactions in the next five years, despite several obstacles, according to research.

KPMG Finds Most Alpari UK EUR/CHF Trades Were Correctly Priced – Profit & Loss (free story)
The administrators for bankrupt Alpari UK, KPMG, have determined that all EUR/CHF transactions executed on 15 January after the removal of the ceiling by the Swiss National Bank were “within the parameters of the client agreement and in accordance with regulatory requirements”.

Regulatory News

Banks Could Face Tougher Penalties in Currency Probe, Justice Official Suggests – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Banks already in trouble with the Justice Department for previous misconduct could face tougher penalties in a federal probe into currency rigging, a top federal prosecutor suggested Friday.

FSB Chair’s Letter to G20 on Financial Reforms – Progress on the Work Plan for the Antalya Summit
The FSB Chair’s April letter includes information on ongoing work to finalise post-crisis reforms in two particular areas: measures to help end too-big-to-fail for different types of financial institutions, including a coordinated work plan to promote central counterparty (CCP) resilience, recovery planning and resolvability; and initiatives to make derivatives markets safer.

FCA Criticises Deutsche Bank Over Libor – Reuters
Britain’s financial regulator has harshly criticised Deutsche Bank’s top management for failing to cooperate in its probe of the rigging of benchmark interest rate Libor, German magazine Der Spiegel said on Saturday.

Sixth Broker Pleads Not Guilty to Libor Fraud Charges in UK Court – Reuters
A former Tullett Prebon broker on Friday pleaded not guilty in a London court to a criminal charge he conspired to manipulate Libor benchmark interest rates.

Company News

Standard Chartered to Launch Full FX Intermediation Service – Profit & Loss(free story)
Standard Chartered Bank has launched its spot FX intermediation service and is planning to rollout full FX intermediation and FX clearing services in the second half of the year.

UBS Plans to Add Up to 350 in Compliance After Billions in Fines – Bloomberg
UBS Group, which has paid more than $3 billion in fines since the start of the financial crisis, plans to hire as many as 350 more workers to monitor regulatory compliance.

FxPro Raises CHF Leverage to 100x, MT5 Dynamic Leverage to 500x –LeapRate
FxPro, a European retail forex broker, has just unveiled a set of improvements to its trading conditions, with traders who like generous leverage sure to rejoice.

Mt Gox ‘Lost Coins’ Long Before Collapse – Financial Times (subscription)
Mt Gox, once the world’s most popular venue for trading and storing Bitcoin, was in effect insolvent long before it collapsed, according to a report that claims thieves were routinely stealing the digital currency from its thinly protected vaults.

Market Savvy  

EUR Under Pressure as Greek Deal Stalls
BNP Paribas
The EUR is likely to remain under downside pressure as Greece’s negotiations with its EU partners stalls. Our economists now argue that an imminent deal for the release of the last tranche of bailout funds is fairly unlikely as eurozone finance ministers prepare to meet on 24 April; they see the Eurogroup meeting on 11 May is a more likely date for a potential deal. While Greece may impact intra-day volatility, in the absence of extreme scenarios we remain focused on monetary policy and capital flows as the main EUR drivers.

Press Releases

Dukascopy Resumes Offering of USD/RUB Pair
After a break in RUB trading provision Dukascopy took following the turmoil of Russian national currency at the end of 2014, USD/RUB trading is back to the instruments list and already available to Live traders of Dukascopy group. Maximum leverage was set to 1:10.

Industry Events