Glencore pays $1bn settlement to US authorities after admitting bribery in UK court May 24, 2022 Commodity trader Glencore has agreed to pay more than $1bn to US and Brazilian authorities to settle corruption investigations, after indicating it will plea guilty to bribery charges in the UK. Glencore said it will pay a combined sum of $1.06bn to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and [...]
Traders increasingly short ‘awfully cheap’ Pound as inflation and cost-of-living crisis drive UK towards hard recession May 23, 2022 Traders are increasingly taking short positions against the Pound Sterling as the economic outlook for Britain deteriorates. Institutional investors, asset managers and other key players in the US, the world’s largest financial market, currently hold more than 128,000 short positions against the Pound, compared to just 32,000 long positions, according to the most recent figures [...]
Brexit boost: UK trademark disputes double following Britain’s exit from the European Union May 23, 2022 The number of UK trademark disputes has soared to record highs due to a surge of trademark applications following Britain’s exit from the European Union. Disputes in the UK more than doubled from 3,584 in 2020 to 8,026 in 2021, according to new research from intellectual property (IP) law firm Mathys & Squire. The surge [...]
Ay caramba! UK kicks off negotiations with Mexico for £4bn post-Brexit trade deal May 20, 2022 International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan is set to fire the starting gun on free trade talks between the UK and Mexico during the visit of her Mexican counterpart, Tatiana Clouthier to London this afternoon. Officials said UK negotiators would be looking to go “further and deeper” in terms of integrating ties in a relationship already [...]
Boost for the City as UK trading venues regain top spot for Sterling swaps with even greater share than before Brexit May 16, 2022 UK trading venues have recovered their position as the biggest location for on-venue execution of GBP interest rate swaps (IRS), giving them a greater market share than pre-Brexit. In fact, a third of all GBP swaps and 57 per cent of on-venue GBP swaps are now executed in UK venues, the highest ever recorded share, [...]
Exclusive: Ukraine war puts major dent in derivative margin costs May 15, 2022 The war in Ukraine has caused huge increases in margin across derivatives markets, with firms having to find new sources of financing or reducing their positions in order to meet the collateral requirements from brokers, The margin rate for Brent Crude futures on Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) now stands at over $10,00 per lot. With the [...]
A volatile week draws to a close on Friday the 13th with ‘a UK economy that has more or less ground to a halt’ May 13, 2022 There were more wild swings in equity markets over the last 24 hours, largely driven by a concern over slowing growth, and sticky inflation, raising fears of looming stagflation and possible recession. These worries manifested themselves in the guise of fluctuating bond yields, and weaker commodity prices, while Federal Reserve officials continued to show little [...]
US-UK trade deal ‘never going to happen’, warns former Bank of England bigwig as he says high inflation is down to Brexit May 10, 2022 Most of the UK’s inflation is a direct result of Brexit, according to a former heavyweight at the Bank of England. Former BoE policymaker Adam Posen, said that around 80 per cent of the reason why the IMF expects UK’s inflation to remain high is directly linked to Britain’s departure from the EU. The economist, [...]
Boris Johnson’s disastrous India trip: Little progress on trade deal, partygate rows, Tory donor bulldozers and Modi stays close to Putin April 23, 2022 Boris Johnson today indicated at a press conference in India that he did not try to encourage the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, to go further in dropping India’s neutrality over the Russian President’s invasion of Ukraine. Also, Johnson’s two-day trip was dogged by questions over the deepening partygate scandal, with a Tory rebellion leading [...]
India calling: Boris Johnson to tour Delhi and Ahmedabad as much-delayed post-Brexit trip is going ahead April 17, 2022 The Prime Minister will meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi this coming week, with the aim of deepening the security partnership between the two countries. Boris Johnson is set to embark on the much-delayed trip to India on Thursday, where he will focus on defence and trade. The visit to India’s capital [...]