Feature
FEMR responses show split on last look debate
Market participants are split on how and if last look practices should be regulated
Currency manager calls for Swiss franc liquidity inquest
The collapse of foreign exchange liquidity during and after the huge Swiss franc move on January 15 caught market participants by surprise. Some are calling for an official enquiry
Challenger platforms face first real test as FX markets pick up
Numerous trading platforms have sprung up since 2011, bang in the middle of years of stagnating volumes. As volatility comes roaring back, they face a crucial year
Prime of prime providers see growth despite SNB fallout
Credit provision to smaller firms is increasingly becoming the domain of PoPs, but the focus will shift to pre-trade risk management
FX Focus - Doubts over agency desk execution grow
Banks are turning to agency desk execution to cut the cost of trading. Some market participants claim it could be the source of as much as half of all turnover in the FX market within five years. Others are more sceptical, and there are fears that a mass…
FX Focus - How to reform FX benchmarking
The long-running investigation into FX benchmarks looks to be coming to a close, with banks being hit by fines running into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Attention will now turn to the myriad possible reforms to the fixing process. Which changes…
Dollar bull run threatens corporate earnings
The days of not hedging earnings risk are over for many corporates, according to banks and treasurers, with the dollar's strength and more international trade set to be the catalyst
FX Focus - Corporates accused of pricing complacency
Corporates are in a pricing ‘nirvana’ at the moment. Hedging is cheap, transparent and easy, but how long will this last? Some treasurers have concerns over complacency towards the impact of market volatility, while regulatory reform could push up prices…
FX Focus - No corporate love for Clobs
Corporates have yet to yield to the charm of central limit order books, as regulatory pressures and pricing issues keep them tied to the request-for-quote model. Meanwhile, swap execution facility liquidity is improving, but worries over market…
Consultants fear mis-selling as forex brokers discover new options
Foreign exchange brokers – which execute spot and forward currency trades with smaller businesses – are now offering options-based structures to clients in the UK. Consultants worry about the potential for mis-selling as the trades they are seeing are…
FX Focus - The regulation blues
Senior bankers have often derided the Basel Committee’s intraday liquidity measure as an ineffective and burdensome piece of regulatory overkill. Nevertheless, they will be expected to implement it from January 2015. Readiness isn’t perfect, and banks…
FX Focus - The magic world of cash management
Several of the largest banks have merged treasury and FX desk services to help clients dispense with costly local currency accounts. Corporate treasurers have often viewed this as some form of alchemy, but the significant savings promised by banks seem…
To fund or not to fund?
Low-volatility, low-yielding currencies may favour carry trade, but there are no high-yielding alternatives to buy
Trade surveillance comes with a hefty price tag
Costs subject to rate and volume of transactions, and number of locations
FX Focus - Banks fear Sef arbitrageurs
Some banks are scared to make prices on platforms offering both order book and request-for-quote trading, claiming users may be able to game them by using the two approaches in conjunction, with the result that dealers stop being 24-7 liquidity providers…
FX Focus - Sef volumes still struggling
Sef volumes are struggling to get off the ground as the industry waits for trading options and NDFs via a Sef to become mandatory. Can smaller Sefs survive this barren patch? By Michael Watt
FX Focus - Is Sef equivalency still solvable?
Negotiations for an equivalency system to allow European platforms to offer Sef-like liquidity to US persons fell apart in mid-May. Participants blame CFTC intransigence and warn of permanent fragmentation of the market. Can a solution still be found?…
Market participants lose out as renminbi volatility increases
The renminbi’s depreciation in early 2014 caused a scramble among FX users, and there may be more volatility on the way
NDF liquidity in doubt as clearing approaches
Central clearing has been a long time coming for the non-deliverable forwards market and participants worry its eventual arrival may damage liquidity. By Robert Mackenzie Smith
Tarf trouble in Taiwan: Sliding renminbi threatens heavy losses
Derivatives linked to the US dollar-renminbi exchange rate have been successful during the Chinese currency’s four-year rise. But now it is sliding, corporate users are looking at heavy losses
The squeeze on spot FX
Market-makers battle compressed margins in spot currency trading
FX Focus - Currency managers see brighter days ahead for FX markets
Currency managers are attracting more interest from clients as differentials grow between developed-world economies, but patience may still be required in the wait for higher returns
FX Focus - EM currency markets face fragmented 2014
Emerging markets were rattled by the Federal Reserve’s talk of tapering its quantitative easing programme in 2013. Will 2014 see more of the same? Or will emerging market currencies dance to a different tune?
Currency managers report pick-up in investor interest
Buy-side firms are starting to see some opportunities following a decoupling of central bank policy that has in turn sparked client interest in FX markets