Top Headlines
Worst Day of an Awful Year Leaves No Corner of Market Unscathed – Bloomberg
One of the toughest years for financial markets in half a century got appreciably worse Tuesday, with simmering weakness across assets boiling over to leave investors with virtually nowhere to hide.
FX: Blockchain Seen as the Solution to Enhanced Post-Trade Efficiency – Euromoney
Under-investment in post-trade infrastructure is driving interest in distributed ledger technology as a means of reducing back-office costs.
Currency Traders a Bright Spot in Gloomy CTA Report – Profit & Loss
The flash estimate for the Barclay CTA Index, compiled by BarclayHedge, indicates a 1.29% loss in October. Year to date, the Index is down 2.87%. “Although many traders were able to profit from the US dollar’s strength against most of the major currencies, the profits were offset by losses in the equity, interest rate, and commodity sectors,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
Costs Deter Clearing Clients from Using Back-Up Dealers – Risk.net (subscription)
More than one-third of derivatives users that rely on just one clearing provider to tap the market say that cost constraintsblock them from sourcing a back-up, a report by internationalstandard-setters shows.
Regulatory News
FSB Reports “Good Progress” on OTC Derivatives Reform – Profit & Loss
Studying the period from end-June 2017, the report concludes that 21 out of 24 FSB member jurisdictions have comprehensive trade reporting requirements in force, up by two since end-June 2017. The three to yet put the reporting frameworks in place are Argentina, South Africa
- FSB Publishes Reports on Implementation of OTC Derivatives Reforms and Removal of Legal Barriers – Financial Stability Board
- Some Aspects of Post-Crisis Reform Disincentivise Central Clearing – Regulation Asia
UK Gets New Libor Transition Head – Profit& Loss
The Bank of England and the UK’s Financial ConductAuthority (FCA) have announced the appointment of Tushar Morzaria as the new chair of the Sterling Risk Free Reference Rates Working Group.
US Derivatives Regulator Presses Industry Body Over Reforms – Financial Times (subscription)
The main US derivatives regulator has raised the pressure for a clean-up of credit default swaps after a series of controversial trades shook the market this year.
CFTC to Probe CCP and Vendor Risk Management – Global Investor (subscription)
The US regulator will begin a “critically important conversation” about third-party vendor risk management.
Crypto News
‘Panic Time’: Sentiment Turns Grim on Bitcoin Discussions Boards – Financial Times (subscription)
As crypto prices have swooned enthusiasm has morphed into malaise.
Bitcoin-Rigging Criminal Probe Focused on Tie to Tether – Bloomberg
As Bitcoin plunges, the US Justice Department is investigating whether last year’s epic rally was fueled in part by manipulation, with traders driving it up with Tether – a popular but controversial digital token.
US Firms Forming Crypto Self-Regulatory Body: Sources – Global Investor (subscription)
Broker BTIG is at the helm of the group dubbed Association of Digital Asset Markets.
Three major crypto currency over-the-counter traders – Genesis Trading, Cumberland, and Circle Trade – announced they would provide data for a new index, dubbed MVIS Bitcoin US OTC Spot Index.
Company News
Gillies Joins Sucden – Profit & Loss
Sucden Financial has appointed Kirsty Gillies as global head of e-FX sales as it seeks to further enhance its presence across worldwide FX markets.
Avelacom Opens in Singapore – Profit & Loss
Connectivity and IT infrastructure solutions provider Avelacom has opened a new office in Singapore, managed by Gabriel Bassas, who has been appointed VP sales for APAC.
Integral Partners with Moex – Profit & Loss
Integral development Corp has announced a partnershipwith Moscow Exchange (Moex). Under the deal, through its Open Currency Exchange, Integral will deliver access to liquidity, higher performance and lower latency to Moex customers and Moex will now provide liquidity to the Integral network.
Market Savvy
Sterling Steady as PM May Looks to Seal Brexit Blueprint – Reuters
Sterling rose slightly on Wednesday, supported by hopes that Prime Minister Theresa May can agree a blueprint for Britain’s post-Brexit ties with the European Union.
Euro Rises on Hopes of Italian Budget Compromise – Reuters
The euro rose on Wednesday, buoyed by reports that Italy may be open to reviewing its draft budget for 2019, potentially easing a confrontation with
Investors Head for Havens as Market Volatility Picks Up – Financial Times (subscription)
The Swiss franc is leading the way among some of the most common investor havens as market volatility has risen this month.
Emerging Currencies, Stocks Stabilise after Dive – Reuters
Emerging markets steadied on Wednesday, with shares flat after their worst day in more than a week, while Russia’s rouble and SouthAfrica’s rand led a rebound in currencies.