Top Headlines
Why Are So Many Traders Winning Unfair Dismissal Cases? – Profit & Loss (subscription)
People are fond of “looking at the bigger picture” but when it comes to the legal profession and FICC markets, frankly the bigger picture confuses me. How else can we explain how a number of traders are facing jail time for their role in the Libor scandal, Mark Johnson is facing the same – subject to appeal – in the FX space; and yet so many traders are winning their unfair dismissal cases?
Banerjee Ruling Leaves RBC Looking at a Big Bill? – Profit & Loss
The judge’s summary in the unfair dismissal case in which John Banerjee won his claim against Royal Bank of Canada has been published by a London employment tribunal and could see the bank facing a large compensation bill. Rarely for such a case, Banerjee’s claim for whistleblower status was not dismissed, with Employment Judge James Tayler finding that he was unfairly dismissed principally for “the making of a protected disclosure”.
Trade Dispute Teeters on Verge of Currency War as Trump Weighs In – Financial Times (subscription)
The US-China trade dispute is on the verge of turning into a currency war after President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday that China and the EU were “manipulating their currencies” to gain a price advantage in trade, shining a political spotlight on the renminbi, which has weakened 5% since June.
- China’s Stealth Yuan Devaluation Catching Trump’s Attention – Bloomberg
- Currency War Erupts, Threatening to Ripple Across Global Markets – Bloomberg
In the FICC of It – Profit & Loss (podcast)
In this week’s In the FICC of It podcast, Galen Stops breaks ranks to say he found one of Colin Lambert’s columns interesting, while the latter makes an appeal for expert knowledge on risk-free rates – if only so he doesn’t have to blag another podcast feature.
Firms Likely to Dominate Markets Using AI – Profit & Loss
The increasing use of AI technology is likely to create incumbent firms that dominate markets, said panellists at the Profit & Loss Forex Network New York conference. However, they also said it might not be the biggest firms in the markets today that become these incumbents.
Survey: Financial Firms Look Towards Public Cloud – Profit & Loss
In a new survey conducted by Thomson Reuters, 90% of financial services firms said that they will use public cloud for the majority of their market data needs in less than four years, while 24% said that they will do so within just one year. Meanwhile, respondents said their firms would be increasing investment in public cloud by over a half, from 30% of IT budgets in 2017 to 47% in 2019.
Regulatory News
Decade After Crisis, a $600 Trillion Market Remains Murky to Regulators – New York Times
A decade after a financial crisis fuelled in part by a tangled web of derivatives, regulators still have an incomplete picture of who holds what in this $600 trillion market.
Brussels Rejects UK’s Financial Services Brexit Plan – Financial Times (subscription)
Brussels has rejected the UK’s proposals on how to govern the City of London’s access to the European market after Brexit, saying Theresa May’s latest financial services plan would rob the EU of its “decision-making autonomy”.
FCA Fines Fall 60% as Brexit Dominates Watchdog’s Workload – Financial News (subscription)
Financial penalties imposed by the UK’s markets regulator fell by more than 60% last year – a period the authority said was increasingly dominated by its work on Brexit.
Are Credit Default Swaps a Cardinal Sin? – The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
The CFTC chairman tangles with the Vatican over Pope Francis’s criticism of derivatives—specifically credit-default swaps – as a kind of “economic cannibalism” that leads to profit from the misfortune of others.
Spain Plays Catch-Up on MiFID Markets Law as EU Sues Over Delay – Bloomberg
The Spanish government is racing to put the MiFID II financial-markets rules on its books – more than a year after the deadline – after it was sued by the European Union.
New Rules for Europe’s €1.3 Trillion Money Market Fund Sector – Financial Times (subscription)
Reforms to Europe’s €1.3tn money market fund industry, which became effective for new funds today, will raise investor safeguards.
Crypto News
The Reality of What Asset Managers are Really Doing about Cryptocurrencies – The Trade Crypto
In what may seem like conflicting stances, some of the world’s largest traditional asset managers are exploring cryptocurrencies, while at the same time seeing little demand from clients, according to multiple industry experts.
Former CFTC Chair Has Bitcoin on the Brain – The Wall Street Journal (subscription)
A decade after the financial crisis, The Wall Street Journal has checked in on dozens of the bankers, government officials, chief executives, hedge-fund managers and others who left a mark on that period to find out what they are doing now. Today, we spotlight former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Gary Gensler.
Broker to World’s Biggest Banks Explores Crypto Trading – Financial News (subscription)
TP Icap, one of the largest brokers sitting between banks in the global financial markets, has set up a working group to examine how it should approach cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinbase Forms Political Action Committee – Reuters
Coinbase has formed a political action committee (PAC) to raise money to spend on US elections, the cryptocurrency exchange said here in a filing made public on Friday.
Company News
Will CME and NEX Transform the Global Marketplace? – TABB Forum
The acquisition of NEX, the largest US Treasury dealer trading platform, by CME Group, operator of the primary US futures exchange, creates a trading powerhouse. But the deal also can catalyze CME’s global reach into sovereign markets, leveraging NEX’s full trade lifecycle FX and bond platform technology.
FX Connect Releases Automated Order Router Tool – Profit & Loss
State Street’s FX Connect says the AOR will allow buy side firms to further streamline their current execution process by allowing for rules-based trading for Request for Stream sessions. Buy side firms can establish a rule-set inclusive of defined attributes, which will determine the submission and/or acceptance of orders with minimal human involvement.
MOEX Commits to FX Global Code – Moscow Exchange
Moscow Exchange has signed a statement of commitment to the FX Global Code, pledging to support robust, fair, liquid, open and transparent foreign exchange markets.
State Street to Buy Investment Firm Charles River – Reuters
The acquisition gives State Street a service platform through which clients would be able to get in and out of funds as well as access investment and portfolio data.
360T Reports Uptick in FX Volumes – Profit & Loss
Deutsche Borse says that FX volumes handled by its 360T unit averaged $67.8 billion per day in June, up 3.1% from May and up 5.4% year-on-year.
Market Savvy
Weaker Renminbi a New Risk for Asian Currencies – Financial Times (subscription)
For investors the latest shift suggests that a risk of broader market and economic stress is rising.
Dollar and Trade Protectionism Jitters Will Dominate Sentiment – Financial Times (subscription)
A busy week of earnings and data awaits investors, while the strength of the US dollar and trade protectionism jitters dominate trading sentiment.
Flailing Euro Is Unlikely to Find Any Succor From ECB Meeting – Bloomberg
The euro has been treading water. It is unlikely to find a rescuing hand from the European Central Bank, whose policy makers meet this week. While analysts expect the shared currency to strengthen as the year progresses, conviction in that view is shaky, with strategists having pared their calls recently.
Sterling Falls to Three-Week Low Versus Resurgent Yen – Reuters
Sterling fell to a three-week low against a resurgent yen on Monday after the Japanese currency received a boost from reports that the central bank was contemplating scaling back its stimulus.
Japanese Yen Stands Tall As Policy Stimulus Unwind Bets – Reuters
The Japanese yen rallied to near two-week highs against the euro on Monday following reports the central bank was debating moves to scale back its massive monetary stimulus.
Trump’s Fed Bashing Could Backfire by Stiffening Rate-Hike Resolve – Bloomberg
President Donald Trump’s extraordinary broadside against the Federal Reserve on Thursday may end up getting him exactly what he doesn’t want: higher interest rates.