Regulation
Traders surprised by Australian rate cut
Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to cut interest rate to 2.75% came earlier than traders expected
CFTC issues reprieve on mid-market disclosure
CFTC issues no-action letters on certain external business conduct standards under Dodd-Frank, but some participants say the relief has come too late
Banks eye July 12 exemptive order deadline
A CFTC exemptive order expires in July, meaning new regulations could capture a broader range of clients as US persons
FX prime brokers welcome CFTC relief
CFTC provides last-minute relief for FX prime brokers, having listened to arguments that the market could be seriously impeded by business conduct rules
FXCM launches unregulated FXCM Markets
Margin foreign exchange broker targets traders outside of US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia and Japan
France leads eurozone in Chinese renminbi payments
Aims to promote Paris as an international hub for the renminbi are paying off, as France sees a 249% increase in yuan-denominated transactions
US futures brokers to meet new capital requirements from June 30
Regulators push to prevent abuse of loophole in capital requirements between retail forex and futures brokers
Icap: Sefs could lead to ‘sub-optimal hedging’
Moving NDFs to trade on Sefs could mean less hedging at longer end of the curve, says senior executive at Icap
City Index Australia compliance failing investigated
Retail broker set to appoint adviser to resolve weaknesses in compliance with new rules
CFTC should extend US persons fix, says O'Malia
Agency has not begun debating final definition of US person and "will need to provide relief" when temporary exemption expires, says CFTC commissioner
Futures will not beat swaps on margin alone, say buy-side firms
Swap futures have a number of advantages, but OTC instruments will continue to be popular, leading buy-side firms say
Industry reiterates need for FX exemption in uncleared margin rules
Responses to a second consultation on the margining of uncleared derivatives are strongly in favour of an FX carve-out
FX Invest North America: Extent of FX exemption still unclear
The US Treasury has exempted FX swaps and forwards from mandatory clearing and reporting requirements, but the extent of the carve-out is still uncertain, panellists at FX Invest North America warned
FX Invest North America: Platform proliferation creates buy-side headache, say panellists
An overcrowded market will lead to platform consolidation, but it is too difficult to predict which venues will survive
FX Invest North America: Central banks ‘getting away with murder’
Central banks are pursuing the wrong policies and will find it difficult to know when to tighten monetary policy, says Axel Merk at Merk Investments
Reserve managers avoid Bric currencies despite increase in risk appetite
Central banks look to diversify reserves in search of higher yield, but still consider emerging market currencies too risky
MarkitServ upgrades CCP interfaces to enable FX reporting
Middleware provider has revamped the FX clearing interface with LCH.Clearnet and CME Group, to meet CFTC rules requiring CCPs to report
AIFM directive unlikely to cause significant changes in Cayman
The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has opened negotiations with Esma on a co-operation agreement on the EU’s AIFM directive. Separately, its consultation on hedge fund directorships has closed
Depositors will trust EU guarantee despite Cyprus, says BdF official
Policy-makers have incentive to accelerate deposit guarantee plans, says Sylvie Matherat of the Banque de France
Trade reporting hits hurdles as regulators overwhelmed by data
The CFTC last week admitted it is having trouble making sense of the masses of OTC derivatives data now being reported to repositories, casting doubt on the stability of the new reporting regime
Rolling spot faces inclusion in Dodd-Frank
FX spot is expected to be exempt from US clearing and exchange trading rules, but rolling spot could be classified as a CFD and so included within the scope of Dodd-Frank
CFTC ‘neglect’ of Sef rules angers platform providers
After missing numerous deadlines to finalise the criteria for Sefs, the CFTC will not publish the rules until late April at the earliest, much to the frustration of market participants
Complexity and costs of clearing continue to cause concern
Mandatory clearing of OTC derivatives could lead buy-side firms to leave a greater portion of their risks unhedged, warn speakers at a buy-side conference in London
Corporates await final Dodd-Frank details as deadline approaches
As Dodd-Frank deadlines loom for corporate derivatives users, treasury desks with sophisticated FX hedging programs should be steadily adapting compliance systems. But with regulatory energy focused on swap dealers, corporates are still waiting for…