UK Banks on Alert Awaiting Brexit Outcome

Major banks are preparing for two days of unprecedented uncertainty by stuffing cash machines full of money, placing senior bankers on high alert in emergency war rooms around the City and switching off computer-driven “black box” trading systems to avoid incurring huge losses in violent swings in shares, bonds and currency markets.

With uncertainty about the precise moment the outcome of the EU referendum will be known, dealing rooms are opening across the City on Thursday night and into Friday morning to allow trades to be executed for customers needing to respond to the results of the 382 polling areas as they start to be announced.

Unlike a general election, no exit polls have been commissioned by broadcasters and the first results are expected at 12.30am on Friday and then throughout the night. It is possible the result may not be known by the scheduled opening of the stock market at 8am on Friday morning.

Some banks have told investors that they will only conduct trading by taking verbal orders rather than through computers, while other banks are ready to override their algorithmic trading systems by closely monitoring them over night on Thursday.

via The Guardian

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza