Spot FX shies away from regulatory yoke

As Europe weighs Aussie-style rules for spot trading, some see benefits – but many fear the burden

The $2 trillion-a-day foreign exchange spot market underpins a huge array of basic economic activity, from going on holiday, to cross-border trade and investment. This vast market has also given rise to more than $10 billion in fines for banks that had rigged it against their customers – and it has largely escaped direct oversight.

In Europe, that may be about to change. Regulators in the European Union are now weighing whether to bring spot FX into the scope of Mifid II, the bloc’s far