Top Headlines

US Justice Officials Seek Details on Tullett-ICAP Deal – Reuters The U.S. Department of Justice has requested additional information over British interdealer broker Tullett Prebon Plc’s proposed acquisition ICAP Plc’s voice broking business, the companies said on Tuesday.

Citi Strikes $23M ‘Ice Breaker’ Settlement in Libor Action – Law360 Citigroup has reached a $23 million “ice breaker” settlement in a class action suit alleging it and other banks conspired to fix yen-denominated Libor interest rates, the first deal to be struck in the case, according to a filing in New York federal court.

China Will Probably Tighten Capital Controls, SocGen Says – Bloomberg China will probably have to step up capital controls as even the world’s biggest foreign-exchange stockpile won’t be sufficient to defend the yuan, according to Societe Generale SA.

Fed’s George Sees More Rate Hikes Coming Despite Market Swings – Reuters The Federal Reserve should push ahead with interest rate hikes because of the strong fundamentals of the U.S. economy, a Fed policymaker said on Tuesday, downplaying the impact of financial market volatility.

If No BOE Rate Hike Until 2018 Sounds Crazy, What About a Cut? – Bloomberg Here’s one question we never thought we’d ask in 2016: Is the Bank of England going to cut interest rates?

Wheeler Signals RBNZ Won’t Rush to Cut Rates on Low Inflation – Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank signaled it won’t rush to cut its official cash rate further as inflation hovers near zero, saying it has the flexibility to look through the oil-price slump.

Q&A: WSJ Interview With ECB Executive Board Member Yves Mersch – Wall Street Journal (subscription) European Central Bank executive board member Yves Mersch sat down with The Wall Street Journal to discuss the European economic and inflation outlook.

 

 

Regulatory News

Eurex Clearing Receives US Regulatory Approval Eurex Clearing, Europe’s leading clearing house and part of Deutsche Börse Group, has been approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a registered Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO).

FCA Warns on CFDs – Profit & Loss The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a letter to CEOs of firms offering investors contract for difference trading, including “rolling spot FX” trading which suggests that these firms “may not be acting in the best interests of their clients”.

EU Says Money Laundering Law Should Cover Virtual Currency – Law360 The European Commission said Tuesday that it plans to bring exchanges for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin under the European Union’s anti-money laundering regime as part of a broader strategy to crack down on the financing of terrorist organizations.

 

 

Company News

CME Picks Former FX Research Head as Digital Lead Sandra Ro, who ran research and product development for FX and metals, has relocated from London to New York for her new role as digitisation lead. Ro joined CME in October 2011, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Goldman Sachs and IBM Join Investment in Digital Asset Holdings – Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and IBM are the latest firms to invest in Digital Asset Holdings, the startup led by former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker Blythe Masters that aims to adapt blockchain technology to financial markets.

Japan’s Largest Bank Latest to Develop Own Digital Currency – CoinDesk Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG) has revealed that it has developed its own digital currency nicknamed “MUFG coin” as part of its research into blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

 

 

Market Savvy  

Record Low US Treasury Yield In Sight as Global Slowdown Seen – Bloomberg Treasury benchmark yields fell to within half a percentage point of a record low as interest rates plunged around the world, raising concern the move foreshadows a global economic slowdown.

Fed vs. the Dollar: Why Yellen Can’t Win – Wall Street Journal (subscription) The U.S. dollar sits at the center of a tangle of negative feedback loops that are roiling financial markets and economies around the world. It is coming to the point where the Federal Reserve may have to try to cut through the snarl.

Yen Loses Half Post-BOJ Slide as Japan Yield Drops to G-7 Record – Bloomberg Negative Japanese policy rates have pushed the yield on the nation’s benchmark bond to the lowest among Group-of-Seven economies, but it’s not working its magic on the yen or domestic stocks, which are reversing course as a renewed selloff in crude oil makes investors risk-averse.

This Man Wants to Upend The World of High-Frequency Trading – MarketWatch When developers at a top U.S. stock exchange needed help debugging a program that puts time stamps on quotes and trades in July, they could have hired a high-profile consulting firm.

 

 

Press Releases

CME Group Hit Record Average Daily Volume of 18.2 Million Contracts per Day in January 2016, up 16 Percent from January 2015 CME Group announced that January 2016 volume averaged a record 18.2 million contracts per day, up 16 percent from January 2015.  Total volume for January 2016 was more than 345 million contracts, of which 85 percent was traded electronically.

Moscow Exchange Trading Volumes in January 2016 Moscow Exchange (MOEX) announces trading volumes for January 2016. The FX Market and Derivatives Market posted the strongest growth, with volumes increasing 157.1% and 94.6% YoY, respectively.

DTCC’s Legal Entity Identifier Service, GMEI Utility, Hits Key Milestone; Issues Over 200,000 LEIs 

 

 

Industry Events