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The global regulatory investigation into possible manipulation by foreign exchange dealers of the WM/Reuters (WMR) 4pm London fix benchmark could be ignoring the structure of currency markets and the way spot desks routinely execute large client transactions, three London-based currency managers tell Euromoney on condition of anonymity.

As the global economy recovers, banks’ dependence on short-term wholesale funding, and repo in particular, could rise to levels that pose a danger to the financial system, especially if asset bubbles begin to build again.

The rebound in the Australian dollar might set off alarm bells and prompt the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to enter a new round of currency wars, warns the world’s largest custodian bank.

A sharp spike in US equity markets – with the Dow, S&P500 and Nasdaq jumping by more than 2% on news that US lawmakers might agree to extend the debt-ceiling deadline by six weeks with no fiscal conditions – drove Asian equity markets and key emerging market currencies higher against the dollar, albeit in narrow ranges amid thin trading, according to currency managers.

Foreign exchange markets spent last week in thrall to US political headlines as the dollar reversed its weakening trend amid range-bound and volatile trading in G10 crosses.

A research report published this week by Aite Group highlights the extent of the cyber threats faced by banks and corporations.

As more banking is done online, financial institutions have had to rethink their customer authentication strategies to ensure they remain relevant in a rapidly changing technological age. But for all the talk of biometric security, the principal focus remains relatively low tech.

Includes Bonds, Equities, Loans, M&A, MTN, Project Finance

The deadlock in Washington over the US budget has seen FX volumes drop sharply as investors stumble for direction.

As September draws to a close, I am starting to wonder if I am living in a parallel universe. Ben Bernanke seems to have gone barmy. And I wouldn’t blame him. Saving the financial world from itself has been a Herculean task.

This quarter it is Latin America and the Caribbean that have taken the biggest hit to their average ECR scores, seemingly in response to the anticipated impact of Fed monetary policy tapering – deferred perhaps, but still on the cards for January – amid weakened commodity prices due to China coming down from its breakneck expansion and the threatened slowdown in US growth spreading south. This has taken place in a quarter in which the LatAm risk dispersion, dividing high-flying Chile from low-ranking Nicaragua, has reached a record 48.6 points.

Middle East scores continue to flounder – doubly so with North Africa included – in light of attenuated risk profiles for low-scoring Syria and Yemen, both riven by instabilities, and with confidence in Bahrain slipping, to highlight the effects of political and social instabilities.