By Huw Jones June 24, 2021, Reuters Britain’s financial watchdog said on Thursday it was proposing to temporarily allow a “synthetic” version of some yen and sterling-denominated Libor interest rates.

The London Interbank Offered Rate or Libor is being scrapped at the end of December, but to avoid disruptions to contracts that cannot be quickly moved to alternative rates in time, the Financial Conduct Authority said it would allow some Libor rates to continue temporarily in “synthetic” beyond that date.full article

By Silla Brush June 23, 2021, Bloomberg Britain’s financial markets regulator is under pressure from a UK parliamentary committee to overhaul its operations after failing to stop a scandal that exposed consumers to hundreds of millions of pounds in losses.

The Treasury Committee concluded that the Financial Conduct Authority must set key milestones to transform its culture and system of overseeing firms. Senior executives should have more accountability for their work, and the FCA shouldn’t overly rely on collective responsibility, the committee said.full article

By Miles Kruppa and Gary Silverman June 26, 2021, Financial Times On private video calls last week, some of the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency start-ups educated global financial regulators on a corner of the market that has largely evaded oversight: the booming world of decentralized finance.

The event featured presentations by the decentralized exchange Uniswap and derivatives trading venue dYdX, among other popular so-called DeFi programs, according to people familiar with the conference. full article

By Adam Samson and Philip Stafford June 27, 2021, Financial Times The UK’s financial watchdog has ordered Binance to stop all regulated activities in Britain and imposed stringent requirements in a stinging rebuke of one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges.

The intervention by the Financial Conduct Authority in recent days is one of the most significant moves any global regulator has made against Binance, a sprawling digital asset firm with subsidiaries around the world. The exchange has until Wednesday evening to confirm it has complied with the watchdog’s demands.full article

By Huw Jones June 23, 2021, Reuters The collapse of London Capital & Finance showed how Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority appeared unable to meet standards of accountability it imposes on firms it regulates, a parliamentary report said on Thursday.

The report from the Treasury Select Committee said the FCA put an “over-reliance” on its collective responsibility for the investment firm’s failure in early 2019, rather than on accountability of senior officials at the regulator.full article

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a statement that the Fed will launch a centerpiece research paper this summer on digital currency and seek public input. Bloomberg’s Mike McKee reports on “Bloomberg Markets: The Close.”

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan says that there are side effects of the Fed’s asset purchases. He still supports the ‘substantial further progress’ benchmark to gauge the Fed’s readiness to raise rates. He joins David Westin on “Bloomberg Wall Street Week.”

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard says policy makers must show continued patience as the economy is still far from the central bank’s objectives. She speaks at a virtual event hosted by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.

Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief economist says he sees US inflation rising but only temporarily. He spoke on “Bloomberg Surveillance” about the economy, the jobs report and the Federal Reserve.

Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief economist says he sees US inflation rising but only temporarily. He spoke on “Bloomberg Surveillance” about the economy, the jobs report and the Federal Reserve.

Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan discusses the Colonial Pipeline cyber attack and its impact on his district, the outlook for discussions on tapering the Fed’s asset purchases reductions, and the central bank’s planned path of inflation on “Balance of Power.”

The Federal Reserve’s latest semi-annual financial stability report is waving a red flag on the increased vulnerabilities in asset prices amid stretched valuations and high corporate indebtedness. Kathleen Hays reports on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia.”

Last spring, the US Securities and Exchange Commission admonished Tesla and CEO Elon Musk for allegedly violating terms of a 2019 revised settlement agreement, according to correspondence first obtained and reported on by the Wall Street Journal. Jay Clayton, former SEC chairman, joined “Squawk Box” on Wednesday to discuss.

By Hamad Ali March 19, 2021, WatersTechnology Some bond market participants are cautiously optimistic that an EU consolidated tape for fixed income could speed up the electronification of the corporate bond market—but aggregating the data needed for the tape is not a straightforward task.

The European Commission (EC) says it is planning a consolidated tape for fixed income, which it hopes will bring transparency to the market and encourage trading in these instruments. Traders and vendors in the fixed-income space say better data availability would promote electronification of the traditionally voice-dominated corporate bond market.

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By James Politi and Colby Smith March 19, 2021, Financial Times The Federal Reserve has announced that it will let looser capital rules for banks introduced at the start of the pandemic expire at the end of March.

The US central bank’s decision could disappoint banks, which had been pushing for an extension of the capital relief.full article

By Karen Bretell March 18, 2021, Reuters The Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to raise the maximum amount money funds can lend into its reverse repurchase agreement facility should ease some stresses for money market funds that are struggling with too much cash and too few places to park it.The jury is still out, however, on whether the US central bank will also need to adjust benchmarks in an effort to keep some rates in positive territory.full article

By Wendy Lisney March 18, 2021, Global Investor Group The principle of deference in derivatives markets could be critical in resolving the post-Brexit question of equivalence between the European Union and the UK, the acting chairman of US derivatives regulator the CFTC has suggested.

“Derivatives markets…are global in nature,” said Rostin Behnam. “They cross jurisdictions across the globe and under appropriate conditions regulatory deference, this concept of deference with like-minded jurisdictions, is a critical tool, has been a critical tool for many, many years and one that I think has served markets well.”full article

By Annabel Smith March 18, 2021, The Trade The markets regulator in Europe has raised concerns over trading venues’ reliance on third-party data and software providers following several major technical outages that took place globally in 2020.

In its first trends, risks, and vulnerabilities (TRV) report of the year, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) cited major blackouts at Euronext, the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), and warned against reliance on third-party data and software providers. full article

By Joanna Wright March 18, 2021, WatersTechnology When the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finalized a rule that made major changes to US equities market infrastructure in December 2020, it opened the door for interested technology vendors to become suppliers of consolidated market data.

The new rules create a system in which, instead of two exchange-run securities information processors (Sips) pumping out bid/ask quotes consolidated from US trading venues to consumers, a decentralized system of entities called competing consolidators will perform that role.

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By Thomas Helm March 18, 2021, Practice Insight from IFLR Fragmentation is more of an issue post-Brexit,” Bhas Nalabothula, head of European interest-rate derivatives at Tradeweb told Practice Insight. “On the dealer-to-customer side, which we are a part of, we have seen clients migrate between venues to optimize their access to liquidity. For euro-denominated interest rate swaps, trading activity from some UK-based clients has shifted to US SEFs.”

In the current market state, European banks cannot provide liquidity on UK MTFs [multilateral trading facilities] for DTO [derivatives trading obligation] products, Nalabothula added, as they would not be able to fulfill both the UK and EU trading obligations simultaneously. “EU buy-side clients have moved their trading to EU MTFs to fulfil their own trading obligations, while clients in the UK switch between venues according to where they can maximize liquidity,” he said.full article