Today's news headlines: 

‘UK tax body opens almost 13,000 probes into use of Covid schemes’ 
The 1,250 staff Taxpayer Protection Taskforce will help investigate about 7 thousand cases for suspected furlough fraud and 5 thousand cases of suspected self-employment fraud, hoping to recover about £1bn pounds.  This effort is likely to take considerable time since it must build white collar crime cases, although the body does have serious police powers so there is confidence of an eventual outcome.  (Financial Times)

‘Financial watchdog bans crypto exchange Binance from UK’
Following numerous suspected breaches of regulatory authorisation in Europe and Japan, the FSA has taken a strong step by banning Binance Markets Limited from conducting any regulated activity in the UK.  It also took the extra step of directly warning consumers against the London-based branch of a Cayman registered parent entity.  This marks a watershed moment of government reaction to so called DeFi or Decentralised Finance which represents a new paradigm in financial services but has yet to garner government approval. (Financial Times)

Today's events, rates, and data 

• It's a very quiet day on the data front today, but we have a few central bankers speaking.  Last week the market was processing the Fed member’s dissension with Chairman Powell and we subsequently witnessed a moderation in interest rate expectations.   The Dollar also spent the entire week backing off from the previous Fridays high, dropping significantly on Monday but settling by the end of the week.  The opening tone of this week is cautious because Covid Restrictions are back in the news and there is little economic data until mid-week. 

Today's events

EU German Import Prices m/m                                       1.7% vs 1.4% last month
EU German Buba President Weidmann Speaking          1PM
UK MPC Member Haldane Speaking                              1PM
US FOMC Member Williams Speaking                            2PM

Interbank rates:

GBP/USD - 1.3900
GBP/EUR - 1.1650
EUR/USD - 1.1930
USD/CAD - 1.2300

The markets are moving. To speak to our team, please call +44 (0)20 3465 8200.