Half euro zone banks wouldn't survive cash drought: ECB
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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Half of the euro zone’s biggest banks wouldn’t survive a six-month cash drought, with larger firms and subsidiaries of foreign institutions among the most vulnerable, the European Central Bank said on Monday.

The ECB’s test of 103 lenders laid bare some weak spots in the euro zone’s banking system at a time of growing fears about an upcoming recession and upheaval in the U.S. money market.

It showed that four banks wouldn’t survive six months if they were frozen out of the wholesale funding market and 52 would go under within six months if financial counterparties and some commercial clients took their money out.

“Universal banks and global systemically important banks would generally be affected more severely than others by idiosyncratic liquidity shocks as they typically rely on less stable funding sources,” the ECB said in a press release.

Twenty-six banks would survive longer than six months even under an “extreme shock” in which their credit rating is downgraded by three notches and more deposits leave.

It added the results were “broadly positive”, noting that current rules only required banks to have enough liquid assets to survive 30 days.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecb- ... SKBN1WM1E5

Quarterly Investment Strategy – Key highlights by Lombard Odier Bank

October 7, 2019
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Key highlights
-Without a genuine de-escalation of the US-China dispute, involving a significant reduction in existing import duties, a revival in global output and trade is not to be expected.
-Resilient consumption has upheld US growth in recent months – although the picture is becoming more complicated as job growth slows and sectors like manufacturing and business investment emit signs of concern.
-In Europe, the ECB is taking extensive action to counter the continuing – even extending – slowdown, but the potency of its measures is doubtful.
-Having just implemented the much-awaited VAT hike, Japanese policymakers will now focus on containing the near-term economic fallout.
-Trade uncertainty is taking its toll on emerging economies, but improved fundamentals and extensive monetary easing are helping them navigate the tougher global waters.
-The 4th quarter could see a continuation of recent market dynamics, with the global trade outlook determining investor appetite for equities. We maintain a defensive asset allocation, underweighting equities and overweighting both gold and the Japanese yen – while still clearly favouring carry strategies.
-Although the USD will retain its safe haven status, we continue to expect modest medium-term weakness – the misalignment with fundamentals is becoming stretched and further Fed rate cuts will likely weigh on the greenback.


The 4th quarter could see a continuation of recent market dynamics, with the global trade outlook determining investor appetite for equities. We maintain a defensive asset allocation, underweighting equities and overweighting both gold and the Japanese yen – while still clearly favouring carry strategies.

Source : https://www.lombardodier.com/contents/c ... gy--k.html

You can also find the detailed analysis concerning the AM story via a portable format @ https://www.lombardodier.com/files/live ... .04_EN.pdf

CFTC Launches Enforcement Action Against Company Relating to Binary Options on Forex and Cryptocurrency Pairs

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed a civil enforcement action against David Gilbert Saffron and Circle Society Corporation, based in Nevada. The CFTC alleges fraudulent solicitation, misappropriation, and registration violations relating to an $11 million binary options scheme Saffron operated through Circle Society.
...The CFTC states that the defendants fraudulently solicited funds from at least fourteen members of the public to participate in a pool operated by Circle Society. Saffron alleged claimed his trading expertise could guarantee rates of return up to 300%.

Instead of trading with the funds, Saffron “misappropriated funds, including by retaining participants’ funds in Saffron’s personal electronic cryptocurrency wallet and by using funds to pay other participants, in the manner of a Ponzi scheme.”...
Detail : https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2019/1 ... ncy-pairs/

ps: a fucking ponzi game again.

Russian c-bank detects over 140 illegal Forex brokers in first 9 months of 2019

The Central Bank of Russia has identified more than 140 illegal Forex brokers during the January-September period of 2019. The data was provided by Valery Lyakh, Head of the Bank of Russia’s Department for Countering Malpractice, in an interview with Russian information agency TASS.

The information about the majority of these entities has been sent to the police and the Financial Sector Computer Emergency Response Team in order to block the websites of the unauthorized firms.

Mr Lyakh noted that quite often such entities are registered overseas and transfer funds via foreign payment systems which complicates proving their activities are not legitimate. He also stressed the problem of the activities of pseudo training centers which lure clients for illicit online trading firms.

Let’s recall that, earlier in October, Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service published a warning about a number of foreign entities that illegally offer online trading services to Russian investors.

These entities, according to the regulator, abuse the insufficient knowledge of Russians about the securities market regulation, and solicit investments into activities such as Forex trading. Typically, the fraudsters create a facade that the deposit of investors are increasing thanks to gains and demand additional investments. Then, any attempt by the clients to withdraw their money, the balance suddenly becomes “zero” and the firm stops communicating with its clients.

According to the regulator, the companies that most often engage in such fraudulent activities with regard to the Russian market are: «Teletrade», «GRANDCAPITAL», «Delloy Trаde», «GLOBAL FX», «Kappabrokers», «GO CAPITALS FX», «KBCapitals»; «10 BROKERS»; «Swis Trade»; «BORN to TRADE», «Barclays Trade», «WerCrypto».

All of these companies are non-Russian entities and do not have the requisite licenses nor are they members of self-regulatory organizations.

Source : https://financefeeds.com/russian-c-bank ... nths-2019/

ps: 140 illegal Forex brokers within 9 month is a record. isnt it?

Kevin Merrill from Maryland was sentenced by a U.S. federal court to 22 years for robing over 200 investors in a 396 million USD Ponzi scheme.

Merrill, who has a 11 million USD vacation home in Naples, Florida, was indicted in September 2018 and ordered to forfeit $9 million USD, six real estate properties, 25 cars, a boat and other assets. Now he will have to pay restitution in the amount of 189.1 million USD to over 160 victims in monthly installments.

Among his victims was a Louisiana couple in their 70s, who were defrauded of their 2 million USD retirement fund.