Barclays has agreed to pay $50 million to settle claims by Plaintiff Axiom Investment Advisors that it “misused a system intended to block stale foreign exchange prices as a way to boost the bank’s profits while hurting clients.” Barclays has also agreed to provide information that Axiom believes will help it pursue similar claims against other banks using “Last Look” practices – Law360
China’s top securities regulator is stepping down after 6 months of “policy missteps” that “contributed to a heavy stock selloff” – WSJ
Adam Davidson’s On Money feature this weekend sets Robert Gordon’s recent “The Rise and Fall of American Growth”—with its argument that “the pace of real transformative innovation has radically slowed during the past half century (despite the Internet and tech boom)—against tech-optimists, Davidson included, who think that the integration of this recent technology into our daily lives (which often takes a generation) may prove Gordon wrong – NYTimes
Breakingviews is keeping an eye on the Fed as it loosens some capital rules to allow banks to lessen the risk of undercapitalization, suggesting that the move, though good for lenders, could “singe[] the central bank’s reputation for toughness” – NYTimes
Finra’s in the process of finalizing new rules that aim to take a bite out of large broker fees by increasing disclosure requirements in the bond market – WSJ
We know that Iran’s not playing along with the proposed oil cap, but Iraq’s weighed in with a “only if you guys all do it, too” position on limiting production – WSJ
An update on China’s foreign exchange reserves, which have dropped a rather astounding 20% since summer 2014 (with 1/3 of that coming in just the last 3 months). Among the many effects of this smaller reserve pool are a decreased ability to address an economic crisis and to control China’s currency – NYTimes
Don’t bank on IPO craziness in the year ahead [at least not homegrown]. Insiders are blaming “widespread anxiety” for companies’ decisions to keep it in the family in 2016 – WSJ
Well, no real surprise here. You play Icarus with the markets, you’re gonna take a nasty fall – WSJ
Even with the misstep yesterday, perhaps the best news coming out of the markets this week is that, for the first time in a while, they’re falling out of lockstep – Bloomberg
Tough Q4 for Walmart, whose profit fell 8%, despite 8% growth in sales during the period – NYTimes and Bloomberg
A deeper dive for you on negative interest rates – Bloomberg
On designing for an iconic skyline: 6 architects and their thoughts on building in NYC – LouisianaChannel
Have a good weekend.
