Market volatility has impacted FX risk-management processes, although differing approaches to technology investment means the effect on market participants has been uneven.

Inertia around the mandating of FX activity on swap execution facilities (SEFs) by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) continues to favour Europe as a trading location.

A series of market disasters in recent years, culminating in the SNB’s decision to abandon its peg to the euro, have forced banks to reconsider their commitment to the prime brokerage (PB) business, leaving many smaller hedge funds and other clients in the cold – but a new generation of providers is taking their place, promising to revolutionize the business.

As the Bank of England (BoE) prepares to publish its final report on fair and effective FICC markets on Wednesday, a senior official acknowledges there is little support to extend exchange trading beyond what is mandated by the G20.

Fear is spreading over the financial system’s vulnerability to increased volatility stemming from a broken and illiquid credit bond market. All participants agree the secondary trading is undergoing fundamental change as the big banks that used to make markets withdraw their capital, but no one has a vision for how it will alter. A new breed of banks, though, is making headway against the headwinds.

Mifid II forbids the free provision by banks of any benefit to asset managers that induces business, and that will have a big impact on bond research.

The convulsions after the SNB’s decision to cease pegging the Swiss franc to the euro are still being felt, with regulators in Europe and Australia debating the merits of tougher controls on leverage in FX markets for retail investors.

Despite its extension to FX last year, market participants acknowledge it is likely to be some time before they feel the full impact of the liquidity-enhancing trading enablement standardization initiative (TESI).

Is the eagerness of bank executives to spend heavily on retraining bankers to change their culture achieving anything?

Asset managers are still losing millions of pounds a year in hidden foreign-exchange bank charges, research shows, despite the advancement of money-saving solutions such as independent live benchmarks and transaction cost analysis (TCA).

With volatility returning to bond markets, investors are fretting once more about illiquidity. Policymakers too worry that it might turn a bond market meltdown systemic. A new project for a shared messaging language to improve the flow of information connecting holders of inventory sounds unglamorous next to all-to-all trading platforms and central limit order books. But the rush of support from both buy-side and sell-side suggests Project Neptune could make a vital contribution.

The full-scale disruptive potential of social trading is beginning to become clear, according to proponents. But there are fears that it is encouraging inexperienced traders to load up with risk in the pursuit of large returns and there have been calls for tougher regulation.

The debate around how to strengthen the regulation of FX markets continues to rage. Advocates highlight examples of regulations that have benefited the markets in the long run, while detractors warn of unintended consequences and cite their own examples of risk-mitigating measures evolving naturally within the industry.

Key players in the global foreign-exchange community are lobbying the European Commission to widen the definition of spot FX and free up companies from onerous reporting requirements, before a vital consultation on the subject closes for comments in a fortnight.

Dismayed by the media coverage of the FX fixing controversy as the new Li[e]bor, which suggests the fixing practice of FX dealers, exposed to principal risk for large orders, constitutes an open-and-shut case of outright manipulation and is a new controversy? Well, continue reading.

ESMA has had frequent discussions over the definition of liquidity during the past three years and is mindful of the need to monitor the impact regulations such as Mifid II could have on liquidity on the FX markets, its executive-director tells the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.

Europe’s securities market regulator is seeking clarification from the European Commission on what constitutes a derivative under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), in an effort to address inconsistencies in the definition, particularly around FX forwards.

As more financial scandals continue to emerge, regulators and banks are hoping technology and new internal controls will allow them to get to grips with the rogues. Trading floors might never be the same again.

The recent loosening of rules regarding leverage ratios and collateral by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision might boost banks’ available trading resources, but FX is not out of the regulatory woods.

A new Isda report reveals how the fight for currency liquidity is on as foreign exchange trading venues struggle to adapt to the new regulatory landscape

Five years on from the financial crisis, high-frequency trading remains under an intense spotlight, with regulators on both sides of the Atlantic determined to crack down on alleged manipulation of markets, triggering an inevitable backlash from market players that claim illiquidity, price distortions and regulatory arbitrage will come to the fore if regulators make good on draconian threats.

While the contentious proposed EU cap on banks’ card fees has drawn much attention, the Payment Services Directive is also courting controversy, with respect to the ability of third-party providers to offer payment initiation services and refund obligations for Sepa direct debits.

In an exclusive interview, Benoît Coeuré, member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, discusses the challenges that Europe faces in stimulating financing to small and medium-sized enterprises, including the creation of a truly pan-European and cross-border capital market in the region and how securitization can be used to re-establish funding to these firms.

In an exclusive interview with Euromoney, Benoît Cœuré, member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, discusses the challenges that the region faces in stimulating financing to small and medium-sized enterprises and says non-bank investors are a useful spare tyre.

Banks need to be better regulated. But a financial transactions tax is more than wrongheaded. As currently formulated, it would be hugely damaging.

Three years on from the infamous flash crash of 2010, there is relief for some that speed limits do not feature in new European rules on high-frequency trading, but others now see a gap in the market for a slow lane.

European authorities hope their repeated assurances that Cyprus is a special case will curb contagion and ensure the fiasco there does not set a precedent for future bank crises.

A large proportion of corporate treasurers have missed the deadline for the implementation of new rules for derivatives reporting and are falling behind on preparations for more requirements later this year, according to the UK’s Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT).

The two main pieces of regulation about to hit European financial markets and the derivatives market, in particular – Mifid and EMIR – have sparked fears over their unintended consequences to collateral velocity, liquidity and transparency. But some industry participants believe these regulatory shifts will yield benefits.

As the US moves toward mandatory over-the-counter trading on swap execution facilities this year, European derivatives dealers are still waiting for European authorities to clarify the regulatory pipeline as fears over market liquidity grow.