Top Headlines

What Happens to the Yuan Now? – Wall Street Journal (subscription) China’s central bank says it wants the yuan to be stable, but slowing growth could pressure officials to weaken the currency.

Inflation Pickup Too Little Too Late to Keep ECB From Easing – Bloomberg A pickup in euro-area inflation in November may prove too tame to stop Mario Draghi in his tracks.

Bloomberg, Schapiro to Chair New RMB Group – Profit & Loss A group of senior figures from the US financial services industry, including Michael Bloomberg and Mary Schapiro, have formed The Working Group on US RMB Trading and Clearing, to establish Chinese renminbi trading and clearing in the US.

Bank of England Sees Countercyclical Buffer Rising on Risk – Bloomberg The Bank of England said it may begin forcing banks to set aside capital as soon as March to support lending in a downturn.

UK Banks May Face Another £40 Billion in Fines for Misconduct, Bank of England Warns – Standard The figure, which was included in the central bank’s stress test results on Tuesday, is virtually double what banks have already set aside to cover the cost of historic crimes and misdemeanours.

Regulatory News

Trade Repositories Lagging in Development of Financial Market Infrastructure – Profit & Loss The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have highlighted the slow progress of trade repositories (TRs) in their latest review.

US Regulators Propose Powers to Scrutinise Algo Traders’ Source Code – Financial Times Futures trading is dominated by computers, and nothing is more valuable than the “source code” of these high-powered machines.

Company News

Barclays Seeks to Clarify Last Look Use to Clients – Profit & Loss Barclays has sent a disclosure clarifying its use of ‘last look’ functionality out to its clients.

UBS Traders Facing Sanction? – Profit & Loss Up to seven UBS FX traders are facing official sanction from Switzerland’s regulator Finma following its investigation into allegations of currency market rigging.

Morgan Stanley Investors Pushed for Cost Cuts – Wall Street Journal (subscription) Shareholders peppered executives with questions on why the bank hadn’t cut expenses despite few signs of a fixed-income revival.

Barclays Boss Faces 10-Year Wait for Bonus – The Times The new boss of Barclays has become the first chief executive of a British bank to have a decade-long “claw-back” clause written into his contract.

Market Savvy  

Treasuries Retreat Before Yellen; Europe Stocks Rise, Oil Drops – Bloomberg Treasuries retreated while the dollar edged higher against most peers before a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen. European equities rose before an inflation report and Chinese shares surged into the close.

Australian Dollar Turns Away From Iron – Wall Street Journal (subscription) Recent strengthening comes despite a fall in iron ore prices.

Press Releases

Cyber Security Remains Risk Managers’ Focus: Survey – Profit & Loss A new survey on risk trends impacting the financial services industry reveals that 61% of risk managers believe the probability of a high-impact event in the global financial system has increased during the past six months.

Industry Events

11th Annual FIA Asia Derivatives Conference, 8-10 December in Singapore