Saxo Bank Comments On Eurozone Sitation Ahead Of EU Leaders Summit

Saxo Bank has released a new macro view video with Steen Jakobsen, Chief Economist, commenting on the situation for the Eurozone ahead of the EU leaders’ summit and in light of the major global central banks’ intervention to boost liquidity. The concerted central bank action has effectively resulted in the US printing money for Europe seeing as the European Central Bank will not, says Steen, adding that it’s like flying in a jet with one engine only – hardly a safe scenario.

The surprising joint intervention by the world’s largest central banks to make it cheaper for financial institutions outside America to borrow dollars has had a positive effect on risk sentiment, but is not expected to last long. For an extended rally or to just sustain gains something more needs to be put on the table, like better fundamentals, plus structural changes and real commitments to toing the line in Eurozone nations, says Steen. The reason being that the severe solvency issues in Europe and deep rooted growth problems are still very much plaguing outlooks.

One could argue that with the central banks having joined forces the pressure is now more so on European politicians to implement lasting austerity and commit to cleaning up their backyards and follow standard rules. The question is whether EU leaders will be able to set things straight once and for all when they meet for the seventeenth time to solve the issues. Steen remains doubtful.

In the meantime, the central bank action has resulted in the cost of emergency dollar funding being cheaper for European banks than US banks. Therefore there is increased expectation now that the Federal Reserve will lower its discount rate by at least 25 basis points before the new dollar swap rate kicks in on December 5. A deeper cut is also possible, he says but that would mean the Federal Reserve is virtually letting go and committing to printing money forever.

Steen also commented on the global macro situation, in particular China, following the Reserve Requirement Ratio cut amid a slowing growth scenario and in terms of timing in a global context. Meanwhile US data continues to please for now at least but he warns that the better numbers may be petering out.

The full video can be viewed at http://www.tradingfloor.com/blogs/macro-ad-hoc/global-central-bank-action-puts-heat-on-eu-summit-to-deliver-886705704.

Via EPR Network
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Saxo Bank Releases New Asia Focus Video

Saxo Bank, the online trading specialist, has released a new Asia Focus Video which features Andrew Robinson, Forex Analyst for Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore, analysing the People’s Bank of China’s decision to lower its reserve requirement ratio, whether it’s a taste of more cuts to come and how much it is a clear signal that the world’s second-largest economy is really slowing after all.

The unexpected People’s Bank of China’s announcement that it will lower its reserve requirement ratio on December 5, representing the first cut in three years, initially surprised markets and started a risk-on sentiment, particularly in equities and incited market hunger for more monetary easing.

As such, reserve requirement ratio cuts rarely come in isolation and more are likely soon, probably as early as next month, confirmed Andrew Robinson, FX Analyst, Saxo Capital Markets. He said the timing of this easing has to do with the flow of data of late which has pointed to a slowing in the economy and that it was acknowledgement of this situation. Furthermore it pre-empted the latest purchasing manager index data which confirmed a contraction scenario for the economy.

Commenting on the recent data from China, Andrew said: “Last month’s data was looking particularly soft and the expectations for this month are not particularly encouraging. If we look at the data that’s been coming out recently, it’s certainly suggesting that the market is slowing down.

“I think this is a pre-emptive move by the PBOC and they’re looking to continue it and build the economy.”

The focus in the coming days will now shift to inflation data with more declines in the consumer price index and an even greater drop in the purchasing prices index seen. Combined, this confirmation of a softening in price pressure effectively removes a hurdle the People’s Bank of China was facing in terms of the freedom to continue to ease monetary policy.

The video can be viewed at http://www.tradingfloor.com/blogs/macro-ad-hoc/more-chinese-easing-as-price-pressure-abates-removing-pboc-hurdle-1126984016, with many other forex videos available on the Saxo Bank site.

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PCI-PAL And SecureTrading Pal Up To Enhance Call Centre Payment Security

PCI-PAL, a market leading contact centre solution has entered into a partnership with SecureTrading, the UK’s leading independent payment processor specialist, to allow call centre agents to take card payments safely and securely.

The solution de-scopes the call centre PCI risk by permitting callers to enter sensitive credit card data using their telephone keypad whilst remaining in conversation with the call centre agent at all times. The encrypted card holder data is sent securely to SecureTrading’s PCI-DSS Level 1 infrastructure.

PCI compliance for contact centres is an on-going process. It is time-consuming and costly and if not obtained, it can lead to data security breaches which may result in significant reputation and financial loss for organisations. PCI-PAL allows businesses to overcome this challenging area of compliance by restricting sensitive card data from entering organisations’ premises and networks, which bears significant cost savings for the call centres.

Both PCI-PAL, which is a division of IPPlus PLC Group, and SecureTrading have large client bases which affords a mutually beneficial business relationship. PCI-PAL hopes to add real value by utilising their bulk buying power to allow customers to access SecureTrading’s extremely competitive rates, as well as high levels of customer service.

William Catchpole, CEO at PCI-PAL comments: “We are very excited about the prospect of working with SecureTrading for PCI-PAL. The need for contact centres to achieve PCI compliance is a challenge faced by operations and technical teams across the sectors. Together we can supply a simple customer and agent friendly data gathering service with secure, competitive payment processing.”

Tim Allitt, Head of Sales & Marketing at SecureTrading, comments: “It is always satisfying to work with a business that shares our passion for customer service and technical innovation. We look forward to working with PCI-PAL over the coming months as they seek to enhance their clients’ customer experience through reduced PCI costs and increased customer service.”

Via EPR Network
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