Citigroup Reportedly Lost More than $150 Million On Forex Trading

From Nasdaq -

“Citigroup Inc. lost more than $150 million after the Swiss central bank's decision to let the franc trade freely against the euro, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with matter.

The report said that the losses occurred on the New York-based bank's trading desks and were n't tied to its relationships with FXCM Inc. and other retail trading platforms. Citigroup's head of European investor sales, foreign exchange and local markets, Alex Jackson, left the firm this week.

Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays Plc also incurred losses after the Swiss National Bank scrapped its three-year-old policy of capping its currency against the euro. Deutsche Bank lost $150 million and Barclays less than $100 million.”

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And 2014's Worst Currency Was...Bitcoin

From Bloomberg –

“It's been a bad year for the Russian ruble and a terrible 12 months for the Ukrainian hryvnia. But it's been a catastrophic 2014 for Bitcoin, the virtual currency. While acknowledging that my currency forecasting prowess means I'm driving a desk rather than tanning on a beach, the gyrations do seem to offer some valuable lessons.

Bitcoin is second only to gold on the list of topics guaranteed to arouse the wrath of the Internet trolls. Yet relentless promotion can't hide these facts: The digital currency peaked at a value of $1,130 just over a year ago. Its plunge of more than 56 percent in 2014 makes it the world's worst performing currency this year, according to Bloomberg, which tracks 175 foreign-exchange values.

Bitcoin claims to provide Web buccaneers with a secure store of value free from the risk of government confiscation or interventionist devaluation, making it the currency of choice for old-fashioned money-launderers and modern-day snake-oil salesmen.”

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UK to extend Libor manipulation laws to cover gold, oil, silver

From Reuters –

“Britain will widen the scope of laws which make the manipulation of market benchmarks a criminal offense to include seven more rates covering the currency, gold, oil and silver markets by April 1, the government said on Monday.

The move is the latest by the Conservative-led government to clamp down on malpractice in the City of London whose reputation has been tarnished by an interest rate-rigging scandal and claims that traders colluded to manipulate currency rates.”

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Carney: Bad bankers should risk salary losses

From USA Today

“Bankers involved in excessive risk-taking or wrongdoing should risk having their fixed salaries cut as well as their bonuses, the head of the G20's global financial monitor said Monday.

Financial Stability Board Chairman Mark Carney raised the new penalty idea in a speech just days after six major U.S. and overseas banks were fined $4.3 billion over broker attempts to manipulated the $5.3 trillion-a-day financial currency market.

"Standards may need to be developed to put non-bonus or fixed pay at risk," Carney, who's also governor of England's central bank, said in a financial reform lecture for the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

He called for international standards and coordination to ensure a level playing field on potential penalties involving bank pay.”

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UK MPs accuse bank bosses of misleading Parliament while traders rigged foreign currency rates

From This is Money

“The bosses of the UK's biggest banks have been accused by MPs of misleading Parliament by claiming they had cleaned up their culture as their traders rigged foreign currency rates.

Mark Garnier, a conservative member of the Treasury Select Committee, said bosses were ‘either lying or incompetent’ when they assured MPs that they were stamping out corruption in their banks after a string of scandals.

Labour MP and fellow Treasury Committee member John Mann said senior bank executives had ‘misled Parliament’ and called for a ‘full inquiry’.”

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Currency Market Unsettled by Trader Exits on Lawsky Probe

From Bloomberg

“The foreign-exchange trading business was in upheaval across Wall Street as senior executives resigned and others were fired amid an expanding probe of possible currency manipulation.

Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services, asked more than a dozen firms including Deutsche Bank AG (DB), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Citigroup Inc. (C) for documents on their currency-trading practices, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Deutsche Bank, the top foreign-exchange trader, fired four dealers after an internal probe, people with knowledge of the move said. Goldman Sachs lost two partners while Citigroup said its foreign-exchange chief will leave in March.”

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International Payments Training Course – Johannesburg – 22 & 23 May 2014

Probably the least understood aspect of modern banking practice is that which relates to international payments. Yet this practice is as old as history itself.

The course has been specially designed to provide a comprehensive foundation for understanding payments in a global context, covering the key principles, concepts, infrastructures, practices, issues, and current developments in the world of international payments and international trade.

This course will be of especial interest to payments professionals who wish to expand their knowledge base and advancing their careers into the global payments arena.

Join us in Johannesburg, South Africa on 22 & 23 May 2014 for a 2-day intensive course on International Payments.

Places are limited so you need to act NOW!

What You Will Learn

• Foreign exchange & currency principles 
• High-value global payments 
• Retail International Payments 
• Alternative Payment Arrangements & Systems (Correspondent Banking, Hawala) 
• Purpose & role of SWIFT, 
• Purpose & role of CLS 
• International Payments & the Law 
• International Standards, Conventions & Principles 
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 
• Anti-Money Laundering 
• Global Clearing & Settlement 
• Liquidity & Treasury management 
• International trade facilitation 
• How International Trade is financed 
• Risk management, and 
• Legal & Regulatory issues.

Which organizations should attend?

• Commercial Banks 
• Central Banks 
• Investment Banks 
• Bank Regulators 
• Asset management firms’ representatives 
• Pension funds 
• Hedge funds 
• Leasing companies 
• Insurance companies 
• Fund managers 
• Other financial institutions

Who should attend the Course?

This is an intensive 2-day primer for payments professionals on International Payments. This course has been tailored for payment professionals, either in commerce or banking who need to gain a closer understanding of International Payments.

For more details about our Johannesburg International Payments training course please visit our BLOG

For a full brochure e-Mail us at courses@citadeladvantage.com with INTPAY-JHB in the subject line or REQUEST BROCHURE on-line.

To Register for this course: e-mail us at courses@citadeladvantage.com requesting a registration form or REGISTER ON-LINE