Top Headlines
Turbulence for Euro Ahead of Expected ECB Monetary Easing – Financial Times (subscription)
Turbulence in the euro dominated currency trading on the eve of the European Central Bank’s crucial policy meeting, amid heightened expectations it will expand monetary easing.
NZ’s Surprise Rate Cut Sends Kiwi Tumbling, Stokes Talk of Global Currency War – Reuters
New Zealand’s central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates to a record-low 2.25 percent on Thursday, triggering a slide in the local dollar and sparking talk of a global currency war as countries seek to revitalize their economies in a world of slow growth.
SNB Reports 2015 Loss – Profit & Loss
Figures released by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) this week show that the central bank lost a total of CHF 23.3 billion during 2015. The SNB’s official annual results confirm the validity of provisional calculations released in January that indicated a loss of circa CHF 23 billion.
Indian Rupee to Lead Emerging Market FX Higher, According to HSBC – Pound Sterling Live
The rupee (INR) is expected to see a rise in the short-term as several factors holding back the emerging market (EM) foreign exchange (FX) multiverse loosen their grip allowing currencies to rebound.
China, Fighting Money Exodus, Squeezes Business – The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Chinese officials are trying anew to slow a money exodus from the country, clamping down on individuals seeking to flee the yuan and making life tougher for companies that need to trade the currency for dollars to do business.
Venezuela to Implement New Foreign Exchange System on Thursday – Bloomberg
Venezuela will move to a floating exchange rate for non-essential imports on Thursday and allow the state-owned oil company to sell dollars into the new market, said Miguel Perez Abad, vice president for the economy.
Whipsaw trading this week in Japanese government bonds is intensifying concerns that debt markets are vulnerable to a shock if global central banks wrong-foot expectations they will soon expand stimulus.
Regulatory News
Should Financial Regulators Work with Academics? – Profit & Loss
A new research paper claims that the tools currently used by regulators to identify risks in the banking system are “not fit for purpose”. It further calls for a new and combined approach between regulators and academics.
Deutsche Bank, HSBC Fight Fed’s `Unfair’ Too-Big-to-Fail Plans – Bloomberg
Foreign banks including HSBC Holdings Plc and Deutsche Bank AG are pushing back against the Federal Reserve’s proposals on implementing rules designed to end too-big-to-fail, saying they are burdensome and unfair to the U.S. units of the world’s biggest lenders.
Buyside Firms Face Mifid II Reporting Headache – Financial News
Buyside firms in Europe could face hefty fines if they fail to get up to speed with new reporting requirements being imposed on them under the region’s new trading rules, practitioners have warned.
Company News
Pritzker Family Turns to Jen to Hedge Swings in Currencies – Bloomberg
Investment managers for U.S. Secretary of Commerce and billionaire Penny Pritzker and other members of her family are seeking to shield their fortune from foreign currency swings.
Thomson Reuters Consolidates Buy Side Offering on Eikon – Profit & Loss
Thomson Reuters has consolidated 10 different financial desktop applications onto its Eikon platform. The firm says that the consolidation will provide analytical tools and workflow capabilities to professionals across all segments of the buy side industry.
CME to Clear Swaptions – Profit & Loss
CME Group says it will become the first clearing house to clear interest rate swaptions on April 11.
Canada Manufacturers See Expiring Forex Hedges Lifting Exports – Reuters
A long-awaited rebound in Canadian manufacturing is finally taking hold as currency hedges and contracts priced when the country’s dollar was stronger expire, giving exporters a competitive edge, executives in the sector say.
Market Savvy
Forget the ‘Greenspan Put’; Fear the ‘Yellen Call’ – Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Before investors get too comfortable with the rebound in share prices, they should beware the “Yellen call.”
BlackRock’s Rieder ‘Reversed’ Trade That Shorted Dollar While Favoring Yen – Reuters
BlackRock Inc’s chief investment officer of global fixed income, Rick Rieder, said on Wednesday his team cut a February position they held shorting, or betting against, the U.S. dollar while betting on Japanese yen appreciation.
In Liquidity Boost, Egypt Lifts Forex Restrictions for Importers of Essential Goods – Reuters
Egypt’s central bank on Wednesday removed caps on foreign exchange deposits and withdrawals for companies importing essential goods, the latest in a series of steps to boost liquidity in a dollar-starved economy.
Press Releases
Mifid II/Best Execution Legal Opinion with Regard to Routing Multiple Trading Venues
An important aim and consequence of the MiFID regime for investment firms has been the introduction of competition, resulting in the establishment of multiple equity and derivatives exchanges. Banks and investment firms need to consider how they will manage the multitude of execution venue-choices in their duty of care towards clients for the MiFID II enhanced Best Execution requirements.
Brexit: What do the FX Option Volumes Tell Us?
Regular readers may recall that we looked at the break of the SNB’s EUR/CHF cap back in January 2015 in this blog. “Francaggedon” was a unique event without any pre-warning, and yet we were still able to see evidence in the data of fortuitous/lucky/profitable trading strategies in fairly decent size.
VTB Bank connects to CIPS – Finextra
VTB, the second largest bank assets in Russia, has joined the China International Payment System (CIPS).
Industry Events
FX Week Australia, 10 March in Sydney, Australia
FIA: Boca 2016, 15-18 March in Boca Raton, FL
FOW: Derivatives World, 12-13 April in Hong Kong
FX Week FX Invest North America, 12 April in Boston, MA
Profit & Loss Forex Network London, 14 April in London, UK
Profit & Loss Latin America, 20 April in Mexico City
ACI World Congress 2016 – Indonesia, 26-30 April, Jakarta
Eurofinance: Asia Treasury, 18-20 May in Singapore
Profit & Loss Forex Network New York, 26 May, New York City
FIA: IDX 2016, 7-8 June in London, England
Profit & Loss Scandinavia, TBD September, Copenhagen
Profit & Loss Forex Network Chicago, 28-29 September, Chicago, IL
Sibos 2016, 26-29 September in Geneva, Switzerland
FIA: Expo, 18-20 October in Chicago, IL