China Speeds Up Opening of Market to Investment Bank Giants

January 16, 2020, Bloomberg China brought forward the planned opening of its $21 trillion capital market by eight months, swinging the door open for global investment banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The New York-based powerhouse, and rivals...

ISDA chief calls for certainty on Chinese netting

By Joe Walters January 15, 2020, Global Investor Group The head of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has called on China to adhere to an internationally-recognized protocol used in the event of a counterparty default. In a...

E.U. financial regulation in 2020: what to expect (Part III)

By Alice Tchernookova January 16, 2020, Practice Insight from IFLR Below is the third part of our (non-exhaustive) list of key regulatory changes that market participants should expect this year. Consolidated tape The debate on whether a consolidated tape...

House passes bills to require more reports from bank regulators

By Hannah Lang January 14, 2020, American Banker The House passed a bill requiring prudential banking regulators to give annual testimony to the Financial Services Committee, as well as a bill that aims to bolster cyber security at the...

New York Fed Paper Warns a Cyber Attack on Banks Could Cause Major Disruption

By Michael S. Derby January 13, 2020, The Wall Street Journal A well-planned cyberattack on the U.S. banking system could have a devastating effect on U.S. financial stability, according to new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New...

U.S. Government Recommends Time Served for ‘Flash Crash’ Trader

By Julie Steinberg January 15, 2020, The Wall Street Journal The U.S. government said Navinder Singh Sarao, the British trader accused of contributing to the 2010 stock-market “flash crash,” shouldn’t serve any more time in jail. The government’s recommendation,...

Fed Fuels Rise in Assets Via ‘Derivative’ of QE, Kaplan Says

By Steve Matthews and Craig Torres January 15, 2020, Bloomberg The Federal Reserve’s low interest rates, the perception that there is a high bar to future increases and expansion of its balance sheet are helping to lift asset prices,...

U.S. Curbing Early Access to Sensitive Data Threatens Arms Race

By Katia Dmitrieva and Vince Golle January 14, 2020, Bloomberg The Trump administration plans to restrict the news media’s ability to prepare advance stories on market-moving economic data, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that...

Trading venues decry disruptors as MTF battle heats up

By Ben St. Clair January 14, 2020, Risk Imagine, for a moment, a trading tool that allows buy-side users to send quote requests to multiple dealers in one click. The tool collects responses and then displays the quotes on...

Federal Reserve to keep repo interventions at elevated levels

By Colby Smith January 14, 2020, Financial Times The Federal Reserve signaled that it plans to maintain its interventions in short-term funding markets at an elevated level, even after a year-end cash squeeze passed without any jump in borrowing...

Hedge Funds Could Make One Potential Fed Repo Market Fix Hard to Stomach

By Daniel Kruger January 14, 2020, The Wall Street Journal One hurdle to a possible fix for recent volatility in the short-term cash markets: hedge funds. Federal Reserve officials are considering a new tool to ease stresses in the...

E.U. financial regulation in 2020: what to expect (Part II)

By Alice Tchernookova January 13, 2020, Practice Insight from IFLR Below is the second part of our (non-exhaustive) list of key regulatory changes that market participants should expect this year. SMCR Much of market participants’ attention this year will...

More Than Half of Financial Advisors Want Better Regulation Before Investing in Crypto

By Danny Nelson January 14, 2020, CoinDesk More than half of financial advisors in the U.S. are too spooked by regulatory uncertainty to initiate or expand their cryptocurrency investments, a new study by Bitwise Asset Management found. The annual survey, released...

Fed’s rush to complete stress buffer likely to unnerve banks

By Sharon Thiruchelvam January 13, 2020, Risk The U.S. Federal Reserve’s plan to introduce its proposed stress capital buffer in time for the next stress test cycle, potentially as early as February, is likely to cause sleepless nights for...

Global banks urge E.U. to ‘improve’ market access as Brexit looms

By Huw Jones January 13, 2020, Reuters International banks have called on the European Union to make its system for financial market access more transparent and predictable to avoid hurting markets and consumers. The Association for Financial Markets in...

Heading for the close

By Hayley McDowell January 13, 2020, The Trade As 2019, and indeed the decade, draws to a close, buy-side traders and market operators across Europe have been adapting to a recent trend which has made the final phase of...

Less Research? No Problem, Hedge Funds Say.

By Julie Steinberg and Paul J. Davies January 13, 2020, The Wall Street Journal Hedge funds are cashing in on an unintended consequence of European financial regulations on investment research: Less information about some stocks. Put in place two...

E.U. financial regulation in 2020: what to expect

By Alice Tchernookova January 10, 2020, Practice Insight from IFLR In its 2020 annual work program, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) defined the enhancement of investor protection and the promotion of stable and orderly financial markets as...

Some risks subsiding but investors overall still wary of new year

By Paulina Pielchata January 13, 2020, Pensions&Investments Money managers and asset allocators in Europe will not be immune to lingering risks in 2020 even if the Continent can avoid a recession, sources said. European institutional investors may begin to...

U.S. Says China Is No Longer a Currency Manipulator

By Alan Rappeport January 13, 2020, The New York Times The Trump administration formally removed China’s designation as a currency manipulator on Monday, offering a major concession to the Chinese government as senior officials arrived in Washington to sign...

Central bank easing triggers record corporate bond issuance

By Joe Rennison January 12, 2020, Financial Times Companies across the globe took advantage of lower borrowing costs to sell a record amount of bonds in 2019, prompting renewed concerns among policymakers about soaring levels of debt. Just over...

Mountain of risky corporate debt poses ‘stability concern’

By Joe Rennison January 8, 2020, Financial Times Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Wednesday that an increase in sales of riskier corporate debt poses a “financial stability concern”, noting that an economic downturn...

Traders across Europe face up to the cost of failure

By Philip Stafford January 9, 2020, Financial Times Banks and asset managers will soon be grappling with a revolution in European securities markets that could push up the cost of trading by billions a year. New European rules are...

Calls mount for real-time data tape in the bond markets

By Samuel Agini January 10, 2020, Financial News An influential lobby group representing almost 600 banks and asset managers has urged the creation of a tape of record for bond transactions in Europe, as pressure grows on the financial...

Bank of England deputy governor Sam Woods: ‘I will defend ringfencing of banks to my last drop’

By Lucy Burton January 12, 2020, The Telegraph Sam Woods, deputy governor of the Bank of England, celebrated 10 years spent repairing Britain’s financial system in unique style, with a Toblerone binge, Elton John’s biography and a fancy new...

U.S. watchdog moves to overhaul governance of equity consolidated tape

By Hayley McDowell January 10, 2020, The Trade Trading and investment firms in the U.S. could gain greater control over the equity consolidated tape, following years of debate around the alleged monopoly that incumbent exchanges hold on critical market...

FINRA outlines questions firms must answer on Reg BI compliance

By Mark Schoeff Jr. January 9, 2020, InvestmentNews FINRA gave its member brokerage firms a spoiler alert on Thursday regarding the implementation of investment advice reform this summer. In its annual examinations priorities letter, the broker self-regulator outlined a...

U.K. financial watchdogs to hone data crunching to spot problems sooner

By Huw Jones January 7, 2020, Reuters Britain’s financial regulators said on Tuesday they will transform their data crunching capabilities over the coming decade to spot problems in banks and markets earlier. Banks and insurers must report a wide...

E.U. watchdog says can meet deadline for U.K. clearers after Brexit

By Huw Jones January 9, 2020, Reuters Assessing if U.K.-based derivatives clearing houses can get access to European Union investors after Brexit can be done by June, but a final decision will hinge on broader E.U.-U.K. trade negotiations, the...

ESMA given new powers to increase cross-border supervision

By Joe Parsonss January 9, 2020, The Trade The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has been given new powers that will increase its cross-border and non-E.U. supervision capabilities. Among its new powers and responsibilities is a new role...