It has been a big day for FX news: with countless retail brokers kicking the can after getting crushed by the Swiss National Bank, and junk bond underwriter Jefferies set to buy FXCM, here is the latest shocking announcement from the shopping block. Because just when you thought the absolutely epic momentum ignition and spoofing in the USDJPY couldn't get any worse, as well as bid ask spreads approaching several pips, it is about to get a whole lote worse.
Reuters just reported that none other than the HFT's bestest buddy exchange, BATS, which earlier this week was slapped with the biggest monetary penalty ever for continuing the practice of Hide Not Slide (at least until UBS' dark pool was slapped with an even bigger fine for conducting subpennying without informing most of its clients), is about to buy the FX trading platform of KCG, formerly Knight Capital which too blew up after one of its algos went haywire and blew up the firm in milliseconds.
- BATS GLOBAL MARKETS IN TALKS TO BUY FX TRADING PLATFORM HOTSPOT FROM KCG HOLDINGS KCG.N FOR NEARLY $400 MLN - SOURCES KCG.N - RTRS
Which, of course, is great news for all those who have stepped back from the rigged circus and merely enjoy "markets" for the comedic farce they have become. Because when the USDJPY suddenly trades from 115 to 0.0001 in 1 millisecond just because some frontrunning BATS algo went haywire, and causes the Bank of Japan to be margin called out of existnece, anyone who isn't laughing yet, will have no other choice.
