Brexit Outcome Stuns Markets – What Comes Next?

The outcome of Thursday’s historic EU referendum, in which nearly 52% of UK voters opted to leave the European Union, stunned markets globally in its immediate aftermath on Friday morning. The vote counting began with a surprisingly sizeable lead for Leave at over 60% of voters in Sunderland, and the pro-Brexit camp never looked back as it continued to maintain a modest advantage throughout the vote tally, even after the expectedly pro-Remain London votes came in.

Prior to the voting results being known, most of Thursday and the previous several days were characterized by the financial markets’ strong conviction that Remain would prevail. Despite an extremely tight contest in pre-vote polling, this was partly due to betting odds-makers predicting an overwhelmingly high probability of a Remain victory. To say that financial markets were caught off-guard when the Leave camp began early in the vote count to show its strength would be an understatement. After the referendum’s outcome, when UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced his upcoming resignation as a result, the market impact was even more pronounced.

As it became increasingly clear during the vote count that a Brexit outcome might actually occur, markets experienced exceptionally high volatility, most notably in the currency markets. In particular, the British pound and Japanese yen underwent vast and rapid swings throughout the course of the vote count. As expected, the British pound was most heavily pressured due to the widely-projected, negative economic implications of a Brexit, with GBP/USD plunging at one point to more than a 30-year low of 1.3226 in the aftermath of the referendum outcome. Also as expected, the Japanese yen surged strongly due to its status as a safe haven currency in times of market turmoil, with USD/JPY dropping to a new multi-year low just below 99.00.

When the pound and yen were pitted against each other in the form of GBP/JPY, the results were even more dramatic. The currency pair dropped by a massive 20 big figures to a new 3½-year low just above 133.00. Finally, although the euro rose sharply against the even more heavily-pressured pound, the common currency had its own fair share of trouble after the referendum results. EUR/USD plunged to a low of 109.10 before paring much of its losses on Friday morning.

The market impact was not limited to currencies, however, as gold spiked due to its status as a safe haven asset and global equities experienced large initial drops on the news. By Friday afternoon in Europe, most of these reactions had been cut back significantly, but exceptional pressure on sterling continued to define the financial markets.

Now that the news is out and the immediate market reactions have occurred, what might be next with respect to the Brexit outcome? The process of separation between the UK and European Union is expected to be long and drawn-out, likely taking at least a couple of years with many negotiations, both political and economic, occurring in the process. On the near-term horizon, however, Brexit implications will probably be felt relatively quickly and on a global basis. The obvious question now is which EU countries might be next in holding their own referenda for leaving the European Union. If this becomes an increasing occurrence amongst current EU countries, the viability of both the European Union and the Eurozone (and in turn, the euro currency) could become even more questionable.

But even more pressing at the moment is Brexit’s potential impact on major central banks. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney made a televised appearance on Friday morning stating that the central bank “will not hesitate to take measures as required” with respect to the extreme volatility in the pound as a result of the referendum. The other major currency most affected by Brexit, as noted, has been the Japanese yen. There have been numerous warnings in the recent past and the immediate run-up to the referendum from Japanese officials touting Japan’s readiness and willingness to intervene should the yen become too strong or experience exceptional volatility. If the yen spike continues, given that the USD/JPY dropped well below 100.00 at one point on Friday, this could very well fulfill the prerequisites for an impending currency intervention by Japan in attempts to stem the yen’s rise.

Finally, the Brexit outcome is very likely also to have a substantial impact on the US Federal Reserve. Since the results of the referendum have been announced, the implied probability of a Fed rate hike any time this year has plunged dramatically, with some market participants now even speculating on a possible rate cut. If this actually comes to pass, the Fed will have finally relented by joining other major central banks on the prevailing global trend of monetary easing.

As the Brexit outcome continues to be digested and through the next few weeks, the markets should continue to exhibit lingering volatility as the trends going forward are being determined. For both the pound and euro, this could mean persistent pressure for the time being, particularly for the euro if other EU countries begin to take the UK’s lead. Safe haven assets like gold, the yen and the Swiss franc, should also remain supported as markets fluctuate and find direction. The noted prospect of Japanese (and possibly Swiss) intervention, however, could potentially help to limit the yen’s gains if it occurs. As for the US dollar, if Brexit affects the Fed’s prior monetary stance as much as might be expected, the greenback could also come under significant pressure going forward.

There is an incredible theory that a Brexit won't actually happen even if the public votes for it

A really crucial detail about the upcoming EU referendum has gone virtually unmentioned and it is probably the most crucial detail: Parliament doesn't actually have to bring Britain out of the EU if the public votes for it.

That is because the result of June 23 referendum on Britain's EU membership is not legally binding. Instead, it is merely advisory, and, in theory, could be totally ignored by UK government.

Instead, what will happen next if the public votes for a Brexit will be purely a matter of parliamentary politics.

The government could decide to put the matter to parliament and then hope to win the vote, Green says. Alternatively, ministers could attempt to negotiate an updated EU membership deal and put it to another referendum. Finally, the government could just choose to totally ignore the will of the public.

Pro-EU MPs could even argue that ignoring the public's will would be parliamentary sovereignty in practice - something that Leave campaigners argue has been conceded to Brussels.

The only way that a Brexit vote would have weight in law would be if the government decided to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. This is when an EU member state chooses to activate the process of withdrawing from the 28-nation bloc.

Article 50 would make Britain's EU membership a legal matter. However, even if the June 23 referendum produces a Leave majority, the government would not be obliged to invoke the legislation.

A vote for Brexit will not be determinative of whether the UK will leave the EU. That potential outcome comes down to the political decisions which then follow before the Article 50 notification. The policy of the government (if not of all of its ministers) is to remain in the EU. The UK government may thereby seek to put off the Article 50 notification, regardless of political pressure and conventional wisdom.

This has to go down as one of the largest pieces of small print in British political history.

The overwhelming majority of the British public is probably totally unaware of this legislative loophole. As far as most Brits understand, Britain will no longer be an EU member if Leave wins next week's referendum.

Interestingly, parliament choosing to ignore the British public isn't as unthinkable as conventional wisdom leads us to believe. In fact, according to the BBC, MPs have already discussed the possibility.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this month, an unnamed pro-EU MP said: "We would accept the mandate of the people to leave the EU. But everything after that is negotiable and parliament would have its say. The terms on which we leave are entirely within my remit as a parliamentarian and that is something for me to take a view on."

SNB Braces for Brexit Tsunami as Officials Prepare Franc Defense

If Thomas Jordan finds himself in the midst of a foreign-exchange tsunami this month, it won’t be of his own making.

Brexit Watch: The pound, the polls, and the probability of Brexit, all in one place

In January 2015, the Swiss National Bank shook markets when it gave up its cap on the franc. Now central bankers the world over are casting a nervous eye toward London amid fear the U.K.’s departure from the European Union could upset investors, disrupting economic growth and forcing officials to maintain their extraordinarily loose policy even longer. SNB President Jordan warned back in April that a so-called Brexit would cause “enormous stress” in Europe.

A British vote to leave the EU on June 23 would practically guarantee a surge in the franc, popular among investors at times of market stress, according to a Bloomberg survey of 23 economists. The SNB will counter that appreciation with more aggressive interventions, the majority of those polled said. Some even expect a cut to the deposit rate, already at a record low of minus 0.75 percent.

“Obviously Brexit would be a game-changer,” said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital Group Ltd. in Dublin. “If the franc appreciated back to the 1.00-1.05 range and held there for a prolonged period, then the SNB would have to consider its options, with cutting the deposit rate further the most likely initial response.”

Having dropped its 1.20-per-euro ceiling on the franc -- described by Swatch Group AG Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek as a “tsunami” at the time --, the SNB spent the past year using negative interest rates and occasional interventions to take pressure off the currency, and succeeded in weakening it roughly 3 percent in the past 12 months.

Yet with the franc back on an appreciation course and the cost of hedging its gains on the rise, the Brexit vote is threatening to erodemonths of the SNB’s hard work. Last week, the Swiss currency appreciated past 1.09 per euro for the first time since mid-April. It traded at 1.08862 at 2:23 p.m. on Zurich on Monday.

One Week

The SNB’s next quarterly interest-rate decision is scheduled for Thursday. Given that’s a week before the U.K. plebiscite, it’s unlikely to make any adjustments to policy. In addition to keeping the deposit rate unchanged, economists see it holding its target for three-month franc Libor at between minus 0.25 percent and minus 1.25 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The central bank’s announcement on June 16 will come with an updated growth and inflation forecast and Jordan and fellow rate setters Fritz Zurbruegg and Andrea Maechler will brief the press in Bern. That’s a few hours before the rate decision of the Bank of England, whose Governor Mark Carney has warned a vote to leave on June 23 could usher in a recession.

In the U.K., polls have been too close to call.

Another cut to the SNB’s deposit rate is “possible,” Zurbruegg, the SNB’s vice president, told Basler Zeitung in an interview published on June 4. Yet a few days later, his predecessor Jean-Pierre Danthine, who has retired from policy making, said that the effective lower bound was “very close to minus 75 basis points” and that to go much lower, “radical measures” that are “simply not democratically enforceable today” would be needed.

According to the 22 economists who answered the question, the SNB can go as low as minus 1.25 percent before investors begin to hoard cash in a bid to circumvent the charge. Concerning interventions, which the SNB uncharacteristically admittedto having done at the height of the Greek debt crisis a year ago, the central bank can grow its balance sheet to 140 percent of annual output, from just over 100 percent currently, the survey found.

SNB will be able to intervene a lot more before its credibility gets called into question,At the moment, the SNB’s policy is broadly supported -- even with a constantly growing balance sheet.