Bank of Japan Shakes Its Money Tree: Raises Annual Monetary Base to $718 Billion

The Bank of Japan takes the unprecedented step of including equity and real-estate assets as part of its stimulus programme. With the monetary base expected to rise and keep rising year-on-year, the outlook for Yen pairs is bleak. 

As the Fed Mulls Pulling the Normalization Trigger, Can Bullish Markets Bear It?

The Fed's October meeting is highly anticipated and awaited by market participants of all types. Despite the Fed's pretence, if QE3 officially ends today QE4 will be what the markets scream out for in 2015.

UBS Adds $2 Billion to Its Litigation Warchest as Regulators Sharpen Their Sabres

The Top 10 banks are building sizeable capital reserves to mitigate a looming regulatory backlash specifically aimed at FX-rate manipulation. Regardless of the penalties, "litigation and regulatory matters will remain elevated for the foreseeable future".

LME Confirmed as New Metals Ringmaster as Market Rigging Fears Take Benchmarking Digital

With palladium and platinum price 'fixing' shifting to the LME in December, is benchmark manipulation likely to be curbed or compounded? Any system or solution is only as good as its wielder.

Debt, Tax Evasion and Competing Economic Doctrines Dominate IMF and World Bank Discussions

The rate of debt acquisition has slowed but its reduction will not begin until 2019 at the earliest. Posturing and political points scoring continue to lie at the heart of Europe's bureaucracy rather than economic sense.

Russian Central Bank Conducts Ruble Intervention and Widens Trading Band

A political crisis in the Ukraine leads to economic calamities in Russia and forces the central bank to defend the Ruble in multiple bouts of intervention already this week. When it comes to fighting the tide, resistance is futile.

Russia Scrambles to Defend Rouble Amid Capital Security Concerns

The CBR is rumoured to be on the verge of implementing capital controls for the first time since 1998, as the country maintains its overwhelming dependence on lofty oil prices and artificial market controls in Rouble flows.

UK Treasury Plans to Criminalise All Benchmark Fixing LIBOR-Led by Example

After the horse has already bolted, the UK Treasury begins a consultation into closing the barn door.