Top Headlines
The Unanswered Brexit Questions for Traders – Financial Times
This month regulators responsible for capital markets spanning both the EU and the UK have signed agreements on data-sharing and surveillance for trading and clearing. However, brokers, banks and investors remain anxious for guidance on what will happen to some key areas of trading should Britain leave the EU on March 29 without an agreement.
Banks’ Brexit Relocation Packages Leave Something to be Desired – eFinancialCareers
If you’re moving to Europe because of Brexit, don’t expect to feel rich. The more that new Brexit-inspired employment contracts are signed, the more their recipients are feeling the pinch. No bank has been especially generous. But some have been more so than others.
RBA Report Casts the Net Wide in Seeking Flash Crash Answers – Profit & Loss
A report in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Statement on Monetary Policy looks at the flash event in FX markets on January 3 when the yen appreciated some 3% in a matter of seconds before falling back, but fails to discern a single factor behind the move.
A former Barclays employee on trial for Euribor rigging has said he felt “let down and used” when he discovered that a colleague had been privately discussing with another trader at a rival bank how they could alter submissions for the interest rate benchmark.
Regulatory News
Libor May Linger as Regulators ‘Change Tune’ – Risk.net (subscription)
International regulators appear to be coming round to the idea that Libor may have to be kept alive to avoid chaos in some loan and bond markets after the end of 2021, when its contributor banks would otherwise be free to abandon it.
SEF Trading Sees New Highs in 2019 as CFTC Aims to Rewrite the Rules – Tabb Forum
Five years after the first swap trade was executed on a Swap Execution Facility, the CFTC is looking to amend the rules. TABB Group highlights the key proposed changes and their potential impact on the market.
EU Working to Brexit Deadline for CCP Relocation – GlobalCapital (subscription)
The European Parliament and European Union member states are holding talks on a set of EMIR amendments that would, in advance of Brexit, firm up European powers to relocate clearinghouses (CCPs) of “systemic” importance for the euro.
Switzerland Moves Ahead with Backward-Looking Term Rate – Risk.net (subscription)
The Swiss rates market has shelved attempts to create forward-looking term rates for Saron-linked cash products, and instead will link them to a compounded, backward-looking version of the new overnight rate – putting the Swiss market at odds with other financial centres.
Crypto News
NYSE Parent ICE Anticipates Over $20 Million Spend on Bakkt This Year – CoinDesk
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, estimates it will spend more than $20 million this year building Bakkt, its bitcoin futures trading and custody platform.
A Bitcoin ETF is ‘Virtually Certain,’ Finance Expert Ric Edelman Says – CNBC
The road to a bitcoin ETF has seen many roadblocks, but one finance expert said it’s an inevitability.
First US Pension Funds Take the Plunge on Crypto Investing – Bloomberg
Morgan Creek Digital has scored what it says is probably the first investment in the crypto asset universe from a US pension fund.
Security Tokens Are the New Crypto – But You Probably Can’t Afford Them – Bloomberg
It was only last year that startups launching new digital currencies were raising ever larger sums through initial coin offerings, giving investors who hadn’t bought Bitcoin when it was cheap a chance to get in on the crypto craze. Then the main US stock market regulator ruined the party, as it stepped up enforcement of its ruling that most ICOs were in fact securities that had to be registered with it. Now a bunch of startups are taking a different approach.
Company News
Goldman Sachs Goes Live with Smart NDF Algo – FX Week (subscription)
Goldman Sachs has introduced what it believes is the first “smart” algo for trading non-deliverable forwards, as it eyes growth in liquidity on external markets and a pickup in interest in the instrument.
Digital Vega Makes Two Senior Hires – Profit & Loss
Digital Vega hired Simon Lewis as head of interdealer solutions and Romain Camus as head of exotic options.
FX Options Streaming Added to KACE Platform – Profit & Loss
KACE, a division of Fenics Software, has released an update of its kACE Pro platform that will enable clients to stream FX options prices to internal and external clients, single-dealer platforms, execution venues and third party platforms.
Barclays to Shift Some Credit and Equity Derivatives Sales Jobs to Paris: Sources – Reuters
Barclays is shifting some jobs in its London-based credit and equity derivatives sales teams to Paris as it reorganizes its operations ahead of Brexit, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Eurex Clears First Swap Transaction for US End Clients – Eurex Clearing
Eurex Clearing has cleared its first swap transaction for end clients domiciled in the US. Citi is the first futures commission merchant offering client swap clearing through Eurex Clearing. Eight fund companies have already joined Citi to use the service.
Market Savvy
Sterling Falls to New Three-Week Low as Brexit Nerves Build – Reuters
The British currency fell against the dollar on Tuesday to a new three-week low, as doubts grow about whether Prime Minister Theresa May can convince the European Union to accept changes to her Brexit divorce deal.
IMF Backs Fed Rate Pause Citing Rising Global Risks – Financial Times
The IMF’s new chief economist has backed the Federal Reserve’s decision to shelve interest rate increases, citing “weakening momentum” and “considerable and rising” risks to the global outlook.
Darkening Swedish Economic Outlook Clouds Riksbank Rate-Rise Path – Financial Times
Traders will be keeping close tabs on Sweden’s Riksbank and its effects on the embattled krona when the central bank meets on Wednesday amid signs of slowing growth in the Nordic economy.