Top Headlines
Wall Street Plays Defense in Attempt to Dodge Midterm Punches – Bloomberg
The midterms come at a time when ballots globally – from Brazil to Italy to the UK – are reshaping the course of policy and fueling major shifts in market sentiment.
BNP Paribas FX Unit Co-Head Boehler Steps Down After Slump – Bloomberg
The co-head of a key markets business at BNP Paribas is stepping down after the French bank reported some of the worst fixed income trading results for the third quarter.
Machine Learning Hits Explainability Barrier – Risk.net (subscription)
Banks hire AI industry experts in the face of growing regulatory scrutiny.
Liquidity in FX: Not All Prices are Created Equal – Profit & Loss
When clients are looking at prices in an aggregator they could see a bunch of quotes that appear to be identical to one another. But as Roel Oomen, managing director, electronic FX spot trading at Deutsche Bank, explains, this does not mean that the transaction costs for dealing on each of those quotes is exactly the same.
JP Morgan, Citibank Under Probe Over Alleged Forex Rigging – The Korea Times
South Korea’s financial regulators are investigating the alleged involvement of foreign investment banks in colluding to secure and rig foreign exchange swap contracts, according to government and industry sources.
Market Volatility May Shift Rates Back to Voice in 2019 – The Desk
Ifpredicted volatility pushes firms towards voice trading next year, ratestraders will suffer from a heavier administrative burden.
Regulatory News
Rollback Begins on Post-Crisis Swaps-Trading Rules – The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Regulators started rewriting post-crisis swaps-trading rules on Monday, approving a proposal that would loosen requirements for how trades can be executed. By a 4-1 vote, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed changes that would allow more ways to trade swaps on electronic platforms known as swap execution facilities.
- Statement of Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo Regarding Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Swap Execution Facilities and Request for Comment on Post-Trade Name Give-Up – CFTC
- Statement of Commissioner Dan M. Berkovitz Regarding the De Minimis Exception to the Swap Dealer Definition; Final Rule – CFTC
- Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Dan M. Berkovitz Regarding Proposed Rulemaking on Swap Execution Facilities and Trade Execution Requirement – CFTC
- Statement of Concurrence of Commissioner Rostin Behnam Regarding Swap Execution Facilities and Trade Execution Requirement – CFTC
- Giancarlo Refutes “Naive Concerns” About SEF Reforms – Global Investor (subscription)
European Firms Look To UK Temporary Permissions – Markets Media
More than European 1,300 investment funds and firms have expressed interest in joining the Financial Conduct Authority’s temporary permission regime to allow them to continue operating in the UK after the country leaves the European Union.
Broker-Dealers Face Enhanced Order-Discloser Mandate – Markets Media
The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to adopt amendments that will require broker-dealers to disclose to investors new and enhanced information about the way they handle investors’ orders.
3 Days in D.C. – Spirited Sessions Drive Improvements – Tabb Forum
Three days of dialogue in Washington, D.C., were encouraging for the future of financial services. It was an excellent example of the industry and regulators working together to improve the market.
Libor: When to Jump on the SOFR – The Desk
Thetransition from the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) to overnight indexed swap rates is moving,but when should the buy-side make the switch?
EU Banking Watchdog Confirms New Paris HQ – Financial News (subscription)
The European Banking Authority, the regulatory body that oversees banks across the European Union, has confirmed details of its new headquarters after drawn-out wrangling over its departure from London.
Crypto News
The former Goldman Sachs partner and hedge fund manager’s third act: linking cryptocurrency and Wall Street.
P&L Talk Series with Carlos Mosquera Benatuil – Profit & Loss
CarlosMosquera Benatuil, the CEO of Mexico-based Solidus Group, which focuses ondigital finance through its crypto hedge fund, Solidus Capital, and crypto OTCdesk, Solidus Markets, talks about why cryptoassets are more than just avehicle for speculation in Latin America.
The SEC and Bitcoin ETFs – Another Chapter to Be Written Soon – Tabb Group
Bitcoin ETFs backed by positions in bitcoin futures present a perfect Catch-22: Bitcoin futures need more volume, and the ETFs would provide that; but ETFs backed by futures probably will not be approved until the liquidity of the futures market improves. But more information following a comment period is due from the SEC any day now.
Bitstamp Replaces Matching Engine with Cinnober Trading System – The Trade Crypto
European cryptocurrency exchange operator Bitstamp has decided to replace its current in-house matching engine with a trading system delivered by Cinnober.
Company News
JP Morgan is Selling its Trading Software to Investors – CNBC
At the heart of the world’s biggest investment bank is an all-seeing program that allows its traders and salespeople to value trillions of dollars in stocks, bonds and currencies. Now, JP Morgan is letting clients access the trading program – named Athena after the Greek goddess of wisdom – to run analytics on their own investments.
Shell Adopts New Bloomberg Treasury Service – Profit & Loss
Shell’s foreign exchange central treasury business has implemented a Bloomberg service that connects its subsidiaries globally.
Saxo Announces Senior Management Changes – Profit & Loss
Current member of the board, Søren Kyhl, has been promoted to deputy CEO while also continuing in his role as COO,and Damian Bunce has been appointed to the board with the new title of chief commercial officer.
Exchange and Clearing Vols Benefit from October Volatility – Global Investor (subscription)
Following an increase in market volatility, the OCC, Eurex, Nasdaq, CME Group, and ASX report strong October volumes.
ICE FX Volumes Drop 27% in October 2018 – Finance Magnates
ICE disclosed mixed metrics across its foreign exchange and credit volumes, which averaged 26,000 contracts per day.
Stater Appoints Agha as Strategic Adviser – FX Week (subscription)
Prime-of-prime provider Stater Global Markets has appointed Ashraf Agha as a strategic adviser, to benefit from the industry veteran’s expertise in operations and compliance.
Market Savvy
Sterling Dives After British MP Comments – Reuters
Sterling dived after a senior member of the Northern Irish DUP party said on Tuesday it looked like Britain would leave the European Union without a divorce deal.
Merkel’s Exit Might Help Boost the Euro – Bloomberg
Analysts at Morgan Stanley say that the common currency may reach $1.32, drawing strength from factors including a possible political outcome in which Friedrich Merz succeeds Merkel as leader of the Christian Democratic Union.
Aussie, NZ Dollars to Stick to Recent Ranges Near-Term as Headwinds Persist: Reuters Poll – Reuters
Foreign exchange analysts broadly stuck to their predictions for the Australian and New Zealand dollars while expecting a small rebound for the badly battered currencies over a 12-month horizon.