The board of the London Metal Exchange meets today to decide whether to permanently close its open-outcry trading ring. LME has been taking feedback on the proposal for months, which has included staunch opposition from major members and floor traders.

JPMorgan strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote that if bitcoin does not rise back above $60,000 in the near future, "[m]omentum signals will naturally decay from here for several months, given their still elevated level." The strategists say the buildup on long futures positions, and their recent unwinding, was likely driven by Commodity Trading Advisers and crypto funds.

The upcoming generation of financial traders will need to be fully equipped with quant, data and coding skills, says Sarah Heffron, global co-head of electronic client solutions and program trading for equities at JPMorgan Chase. In a wide-ranging interview, Heffron and fellow JPMorgan executive Joanna Martin discuss the future of trading along with the necessity of liquidity, the impact of Brexit on their operations and returning to the office after pandemic lockdowns.

Miami International Holdings' MIAX Futures exchange has hired two executives as part of an expansion of its futures division. Matt McFarland, formerly of Cboe Global Markets, has been named vice president of derivatives products and business development, and former Citigroup executive Thomas Jarck will serve as vice president of proprietary product development.

Recent Commodity Futures Trading Commission changes to real-time reporting rules for derivatives trades are just the first step in providing more "clarity and efficiency" for markets, DTCC Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel Debra Cook writes in a recent column. "Where the definitions, format, and allowable values in data elements are implemented differently, standardization falls short and the benefits of harmonization are unfulfilled," she said.

UK-based renewable power generator Drax has signed agreements with Barclays and NatWest Markets to apply long-term environmental, social and governance key performance indicators to short-term foreign-exchange trades. The agreements will become an overlay to their existing International Swaps and Derivatives Association master agreements.

An independent review of UK crisis-era rules led by former Standard Life Aberdeen chief executive Keith Skeoch is expected to report to the Treasury within a year and recommend changes where appropriate for the post-Brexit era. The review "presents a unique opportunity to consider whether the ring-fencing regime and the rules applied to proprietary trading have met the original intentions of the legislation... and whether they strike the right balance for today's world," says Skeoch.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Dawn DeBerry Stump told Texas A&M's Bitcoin Conference that the agency was not targeting crypto when it took enforcement actions against Derivibit, BitMEX and TeraExchange. "As for enforcement activities related to bitcoin (and other digital assets), the CFTC has taken actions against unregistered derivatives exchanges, and registered derivatives exchanges that have violated requirements imposed on them by the CEA and CFTC regulations," said DeBerry Stump.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority will act against online search and social media companies that expose the public to risky investments, CEO Nikhil Rathi says. "If these platforms choose to display and profit from adverts for risky -- and in some cases fraudulent -- investments, they should also comply with financial promotions rules," Rathi says.

The eurozone is ahead of other economies in preparations for a digital currency, but reconciling conflicting concerns by the public could be a challenge, columnist Martin Sandbu writes.

Join us for FIA's virtual Law & Compliance Division Conference (L&C-V), taking place 28-30 April 2021. L&C-V will cover legal and regulatory issues impacting the derivatives industry as well as practical considerations driven by the remote work environment. L&C-V meets the needs of multiple levels of practitioners in the industry, from the new law firm associate to the chief compliance officer. Between live and on demand sessions, this year's program offers approximately 20 hours of CLE credit covering topics like ethics, enforcement, climate risk, digital asset regulation, SEC issues, clearing models and much more - register today!