Trump Drags Dollar to Center Stage at G-20 as Trade War Heats Up – Bloomberg (subscription)

President Donald Trump believes the dollar is too strong, a senior administration official said Tuesday. Last week, Trump accused Europe and China of weakening their currencies to gain a competitive advantage. Wall Street banks are even starting to ponder the risk that the US could seek to drive the dollar lower.

Bitcoin Price Hurtles Toward $13,000 – Financial Times (subscription)

The price of bitcoin soared to its highest level since January 2018, as the cryptocurrency’s recent rally shows little signs of fizzling out. 

Global Regulators Deal Blow to Facebook’s Libra Currency Plan – Financial Times (subscription)

Global Regulators Deal Blow to Facebook’s Libra Currency Plan – Financial Times (subscription)

Both the international Financial Stability Board and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority have said they will not allow the world’s largest social network to launch its planned digital currency without close scrutiny.

Robots Can Now Decode the Cryptic Language of Central Bankers – Bloomberg (subscription)

Machines that mimic the human brain are analyzing dense policy statements in seconds – and getting it right.

Regulatory News

10 Years On – G20 Reform Agenda Continues with Crypto in Sights – Profit & Loss

A decade after it was tasked with driving reform of the financial system, the Financial Stability Board has reported to G20 leaders that while much has been achieved, “promoting global financial stability is a continuous task”.

Brexit Bill for UK Financial Services Reaches £4bn – Financial Times (subscription)

UK financial services companies have racked up a Brexit bill of close to £4bn as they prepare to shift people and capital to the EU, according to EY, the consultancy.

CFTC Clarifies Process for Removing Cross-Border Relief – FOW (subscription)

CFTC hopes other regulators will follow suit as it clarifies the process for terminating exemptive relief to foreign firms

Woodford Fund Scandal Shows Flaw in Brussels Rules, FCA Says – Bloomberg (subscription)

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has defended its handling of fund manager Neil Woodford’s woes, saying some of the problems resulted from loopholes in regulations devised by the European Union. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA, said Woodford’s managers were able to engage in “regulatory arbitrage” by exploiting gaps in highly-detailed regulations known as UCITS.

Crypto News

Icap Launches Digital Assets Business – Profit & Loss

The push to attract institutions to the digital assets space has been boosted by news that Icap, part of inter-dealer broking firm TP-Icap, has launched a digital asset markets venture, which will initially operate in the crypto-asset derivatives space.

LedgerX Gets Nod for Physically Settled Bitcoin Derivatives – Profit & Loss

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved LedgerX, a cryptocurrency trading venue, as a Designated Contract Market.

JP Morgan Sees Client Interest in JPM Coin for Bond Transactions – Bloomberg (subscription)

JP Morgan is seeing interest from clients in the US, Europe and Japan on the potential for its prototype digital coin to speed up trading of securities such as bonds.

SEC Begins Accepting Public Comments on ETF Backed by Bitcoin and T-Bills – CoinDesk

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is kicking off the public comment period for a proposed exchange-traded fund (ETF) backed by bitcoin and Treasury bills.

Company News

OneZero Secures Private Equity Investment – Profit & Loss

Private equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners (LMP) has completed a minority investment in oneZero Financial Systems, a provider of FX and multi-asset class liquidity, distribution and risk management solutions. LMP is joined in this investment by Phil Weisberg, the former CEO of FXall, who has also served as senior advisor to oneZero since June 2018.

INTL FCStone Partners with Integral for FX App – Profit & Loss

INTL FCStone has deployed an FX trading app built on the Integral platform to expand mobile trading services to its institutional customers.

Swiss Life Asset Managers Connects to Eurex as Direct Clearing Member – The Trade

Swiss Life Asset Managers has signed up to Eurex Clearing as a direct clearing member via its buy-side clearing access model, with ABN AMRO Clearing operating as the clearing agent.

City Banks Prepare to Step Up Brexit Job Moves – Financial News (subscription)

Investment banks have already shifted nearly 1,000 jobs to the continent ahead of the UK’s departure from the European Union, but that is only 15% of the total number of planned relocations, according to the EY’s Financial Services Brexit Tracker.

Lloyds Hires Saggers as Head of E-Trading – FX Week (subscription)

Nicholas Saggers joined Lloyds Bank in London as a managing director and head of e-trading in London last week.

BofA Commodity Arm Fined by DOJ for Trading Practices – Reuters

Between 2008 and 2014, traders employed by Merrill Lynch Commodities deceived other traders by injecting misleading information into the precious metals futures market, the DOJ said in a statement.

Market Savvy

Pound Heads Back Towards Five-Month Lows on No-Deal Brexit Fears – Reuters

Sterling edged back towards five-month lows on Wednesday after the top contender to replace Prime Minister Theresa May reaffirmed his desire to take Britain out of the European Union with or without any agreement.

Returns from Emerging Markets are Best When Headlines are Worst – Financial Times (subscription)

Number-crunching by Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore, the British investment manager, suggests the best time to buy EM assets is during media blitzes — all driven by bad news — while the worst is when the EM world is so tranquil it barely garners a column inch.

Dollar Gains After Fed Pushes Back on Big Rate Cut Bets – Reuters

The dollar rose on Wednesday as expectations dwindled for aggressive cuts in US interest rates after comments by Federal Reserve officials.