Mis-selling of derivatives is fast becoming a hot topic in foreign exchange, as industry players come under pressure from businesses, regulators and the press to be transparent on price and product. Concerned market participants are urging the City watchdog to investigate forex mis-selling and, in the meantime, are educating businesses on how to avoid sales sharks and dodgy derivatives.

Accessing Africa's FX flows

View results from Euromoney's 15th annual cash management survey, the global industry benchmark for banks providing international, regional and local cash management services to non-financial and financial institutions.

Saxo Bank has thrown open its doors to third-party institutions and developers to use its trading infrastructure with the launch of OpenAPI, bringing multi-asset trading capabilities to institutional and retail traders. It hopes the move will encourage a new generation of apps and services, harnessing the innovative spirit of a new wave of fintech companies.

Proponents of central limit order book (CLOB) point to its ability to deliver liquidity at times of extreme market stress, but they have yet to convince the majority of market participants that the price is worth paying.

The drive away from the dollar and towards meaningful use of the kwanza could make Angola’s poor even more vulnerable.

Emerging markets are working for a multipolar monetary world. Beijing is spearheading the push to establish rivals to the World Bank to globalize the renminbi, establish markets for its excess capacity and plug the infrastructure deficit. But, for now, a post-Bretton Woods era is fantasy.

The importance of foreign exchange is fast rising on the buy-side agenda, as asset managers start to question how good a deal they get on their currency trades in light of the benchmark reform after the fix scandal, according to market participants at this year's TradeTech FX conference.

Clients are demanding better price transparency, regulators are sniffing around common trading practices, and markets are bracing for further Asia-driven volatility, say foreign-exchange professionals at this year’s TradeTech FX conference.

Volatility is back with a bang as traders seek to make sense of an uncertain global macroeconomic outlook. Fund managers lay out trading strategies drawing from CHF and CNY lessons, and one fears Japan and China are now in similar situations to Switzerland.

Market propped up by $200 billion in July and August; brokerage probes undermine drive to reform.

Chief executive admits concerns; equity trading planned for 2016.

$5.8 billion bill for loan conversion; portfolios ‘impossible to price’, say analysts.

As the regulatory landscape for FX continues to evolve – including shifts in best-execution practice and new supervisory frameworks for a slew of products – investment managers have been left uncertain about the implications for some of their trades.

Battle-ready long-term investors could pick up equity and debt on the cheap, according to research, as S&P finally cuts Brazil to junk after Euromoney Country Risk rankings.

Regulators might be suspicious of it, but even market participants who have shifted their stance on last look reckon clients should be allowed to make up their own minds.

Tighter dollar liquidity will be bad news for emerging market banks and their lending boom of recent years is about to grind to a halt.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has worked hard to weaken its currency in recent months and had achieved some considerable success with its quantitative easing (QE) programme, with yen levels at their weakest against the dollar for more than a decade. The global panic after China’s devaluation of the renminbi saw the yen quickly bounce back, but authorities are unlikely to give up.

With the recent upheaval in emerging markets (EMs) heightening the importance of hedging strategies, treasury management systems (TMS) providers look set to cash in.

Abenomics had been designed to rescue Japan from its awful deflationary torpor, but the economy is struggling again and its troubles could become a lot worse if China buckles.

Emerging market (EM) FX is convulsing amid deflationary fears in China – the engine of EM growth – with the crash in its equity market illustrating the loss of control of its authorities. Meanwhile, the US inches closer to raising rates, while there is a risk of a technical blow-up among EM market-makers.

China’s economic downward spiral and weakening renminbi has dragged down neighbouring countries’ currencies and burnt investor appetite for emerging markets (EMs), but as currencies hit record lows and approach fair value, some market participants smell a ‘buying opportunity’.

China’s shock RMB devaluation is unlikely to influence the Federal Reserve’s decision to hike, or otherwise, in September, but it could shape the path of subsequent increases, say analysts.

Analysts foresee a surge in corporate FX hedging activity, onshore and offshore RMB spreads to normalize, and a dip in dim sum issuance after the RMB’s shock adjustment.

The jury is out on whether the rise of tech-savvy non-banks means FX banks should adopt either a full service, market champion model or a simplified, limited service provider model, or something in between.

Everyone knew a revaluation of renminbi was coming sooner or later, yet China's announcement, including reform of the dollar fixing mechanism, caught many off guard. The move left observers debating whether it was stimulating its economy or acquiescing to calls for exchange-rate liberalization.

Areas of the FX market where outsourced or cloud solutions have the potential to exert a greater impact include platforms that electronify the workflows associated with FX options trading, although bank conservatism is likely to prolong the lifespan of in-house solutions.

While substantial investment has been made in FX technology since the global financial crisis, there are areas of the market where its impact has yet to be felt.

Fuelled by regional treasury centres, electronification of FX is gathering pace in Asia.

FX traders have happily reported an increase in volatility during the past year, driven by the onset of divergent G7 central bank policies, after several years of relative abeyance. Though volatilities have softened in recent summer months, US rate rises from September could re-trigger turbulence.