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John Lothian Newsletter
April 19, 2024 "Irreverent, but never irrelevant"
 
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff

I would like to apologize to Elon Musk. I was wrong. Halving Day is not on 4/20, but rather it will be later today. There is a chance it could occur early Saturday morning, but still, I apologize. It is not a sure thing.

Yesterday I moderated a fireside chat with Darin Hurd, CISO at Guaranteed Rate at the Global Security Initiative annual conference. CISO is an acronym for chief information security officer. There are also BISOs, which are business information security officers. I mentioned I had been to a dinner the night before and we all had a chance to introduce ourselves and many were CISOs for different companies.

I was the last to introduce myself, though Kasi Paturi, president of Pan Asian American Business Council and CEO of the Global Cyber Security Initiative, gave me a big plug first, thanking me for all the support for the conference over the years. I was trying to relate myself to this audience, and be funny, so I said, "Being full of myself in an amusing way, and having edited the John Lothian Newsletter for 24 years, I guess you could call me the unofficial Chief Information Securities Officer of the futures industry."

However, overnight I rethought my comment. Even trying to be funny, I had not gotten it right. I did not protect information, but rather shared information so that people could act in an appropriate way. So I told the conference at the beginning of the fireside chat that the title I should have shared on Thursday night was "Business Operations Securities Officer."

When I put it that way, some things make a lot more sense.

Join your friends for an unforgettable day of networking and golf at the FIA Operations Americas Division Chicago Golf Outing on July 29th at the scenic Arrowhead Country Club. Hosted by the FIA Operations Americas Division, this event offers a variety of options including a golf tournament, a golf clinic, or a networking dinner-only option. The day kicks off with a pre-golf lunch at 11:00 a.m., followed by tee-off at noon. For those looking to sharpen their skills, a golf clinic is available at 3:30 p.m., followed by cocktails at 5:30 p.m. to loosen your tongue. The evening continues with a delightful dinner, awards ceremony, and raffle starting at 6:00 p.m. Plus, your participation supports two worthy causes - the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the Greenwood Project. Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to connect with industry peers and contribute to meaningful causes. Limited sponsorship opportunities, including Hole Sponsorships and the Golf Clinic, are still available. Contact Bill Metzger at +1 312.622.1322 or Linda Haven at +1 312.636.4715 for sponsorship inquiries. Register now HERE.

The SEC Division of Examinations is issuing a Risk Alert to highlight investment advisers' compliance with the amended Rule 206(4)-1, also known as the "Marketing Rule," under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The alert aims to provide information to investment advisers, investors, and other market participants. While the Division continues its focus on compliance with the Marketing Rule, it shares preliminary observations to encourage accurate completion of Marketing Rule items in Form ADV and promote compliance with other related rules, including the Compliance Rule, Books and Records Rule, and the Marketing Rule's "General Prohibitions."

Join the US Patent and Trademark Office on May 22 for a Dialogue on intellectual property (IP) and space commercialization, either in person or remotely from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. The free program will feature industry experts discussing the evolving landscape of space commercialization and its IP considerations. Topics include current developments in space commercialization, IP and space law, collaborative research and development, and opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises and startups. The event will be held at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, and live streamed. Advance registration is required by May 15.

We have quite a few FIA Boca videos queued up to go out, so look for them to start coming out soon.

Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL

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The theme for Earth Day 2024 is "Planet V. Plastic." In anticipation of this call to action a group of 160 financial firms urged governments to agree to a treaty to end plastic pollution that would help spur private sector action. Read the article, "Finance firms urge ambitious action on plastic pollution" by Reuters reporters Virginia Furness and Simon Jessop. HERE. ~ SAED

Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Oil Traders Wager on $250 Price by June as War Risk Escalates from Bloomberg via Yahoo News.
- Miami International Holdings Announces Untimely Passing of MGEX CEO Mark Bagan from MIAX.
- OCC Comment on BCBS-CPMI-IOSCO Consultative report, Transparency and responsiveness of initial margin in centrally cleared markets from the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). ~JB

Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).

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Options Discovery Episode 32: Portfolio Margining in Options; Doug Engmann, Senior Consultant at SageTrader LLC, Discusses This and More With JLN's Asma Awass.
JohnLothianNews.com

In this episode of Options Discovery, Asma Awass explores portfolio margining in options. This episode includes a breakdown of what portfolio margin accounts are and how they different from strategy based margin accounts. Asma then sits down with Doug Engmann, a senior consultant at SageTrader, who shares more insight into his role in making portfolio margining mainstream. You can check out SageTrader here: https://sagetrader.com/

Watch the video »

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Portfolio Margining in Options: Doug Engmann, Senior Consultant at SageTrader LLC, Discusses Portfolio Margining and Its History In This Options Discovery Full Interview
JohnLothianNews.com

In this Options Discovery full interview, Asma Awass speaks with Doug Engmann, a senior consultant at SageTrader. Doug addresses a variety of topics from his career, including what got him started in the options industry. He gives more insight into what portfolio margining is and he goes deeper into the influential role he had in making portfolio margin accounts mainstream in the options industry. You can check out SageTrader here: https://sagetrader.com/

Watch the video »

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Chairman Behnam Announces CFTC's First DEIA Strategic Plan; Plan Emphasizes A Workplace Where Employees are Empowered, Valued, and Respected
CFTC
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam today announced the agency's first Strategic Plan to Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA Plan). This two-year DEIA Plan represents a critical step forward in aligning our organization with a collective DEIA vision that not only provides genuine support for our valued team members, but ensures the CFTC is a source of future leaders. "As we embark on this transformative journey, I look forward to seeing the opportunities that lie ahead and the positive impact this DEIA Plan will have on our agency and the broader financial community," said Chairman Behnam. "The changing derivatives and financial markets require us to think, work, and operate differently than we have before. I am grateful for the dedication of our Chief Diversity Officer Tanisha Cole Edmonds, her team, and our entire workforce in motivating this new, transformative direction."
/jlne.ws/3U2zpTX

****** I don't always agree with the CFTC, but I do here. Employees who are empowered, valued and respected are going to make the CFTC a better regulator. ~JJL

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How one author found Mongolian herders trading crypto and microchipping camels
Johan Nylander - National Geographic
Mongolia is home to one of the world's few remaining truly nomadic cultures. About a fifth of the population are herders, and nomadism is intricately woven into the country's spirit. But modern life is catching up with the people on the steppe at rapid speed. This is in large part what my book is about: an outsider's exploration of a society undergoing modernisation while trying to hold fast to its deeply rooted traditional values.
/jlne.ws/49HQ315

****** Microchipping camels? One chip for each hump? ~JJL

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ESG Poster Child Unilever Waters Down Green Pledges; CEO Hein Schumacher is scaling back some commitments on plastics and diversity against a backdrop of wider investor unrest around such strategies.
Dasha Afanasieva - Bloomberg
Unilever Plc plans to abandon or water down a string of environmental and social pledges against the backdrop of a growing backlash from investors, consumers and politicians against companies pursuing non-financial objectives. The move by Hein Schumacher, Unilever's chief executive officer, marks a major shift for the £95 billion ($118 billion) consumer group - home to brands ranging from Hellmann's mayonnaise to Domestos bleach - which has built its business strategy on a bedrock of ESG policies for more than a decade. Seen as the corporate world's biggest cheerleader for the idea that companies should do good in the world, the downgrading of some commitments will be watched closely by other businesses under shareholder pressure to reduce costs and boost stock market performance.
/jlne.ws/4d1neQ5

******The next time you are in the market for ESG friendly products, you might remember the move Unilever did to scale back its green pledges THREE DAYS BEFORE EARTH DAY. What are Unilever products? They are food and beverages brands like Lipton, Knorr, Hellmann's, Ben & Jerry's, and Magnum, personal care products brands like Dove, Axe, Sunsilk, Rexona, and Lux, home care products brands like Surf, Omo, Cif, Sunlight, and Domestos, beauty and skincare products: Brands like Vaseline, Simple, St. Ives, Pond's, and TRESemme and health and hygiene products brands like Lifebuoy, Signal, Closeup, Pepsodent, and Vaseline.~JJL

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Thursday's Top Three
Our most read item on Thursday was the MIAX press release Miami International Holdings Announces Untimely Passing of MGEX CEO Mark Bagan. Condolences to Mark Bagan's family and friends, of whom there are many. Second was The Smartest Way to Use AI at Work, from The Wall Street Journal. Third was the MIAX press release from April 9, Miami International Holdings Announces Troy Kane Joins Executive Management Team as President of MGEX.

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John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals.
 
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John Lothian News Editorial Staff:
 
John Lothian
Publisher
 
Sarah Rudolph
Editor-in-Chief
 
Jeff Bergstrom
Editor
 
Patrick Lothian
Head of Video
 
Robert Lothian
Videographer
 
Sally Duros
Freelance Editor reporting on ESG
 
Asma Awass
Intern
 
Corties Draper
Intern
 
 
 


Lead Stories
AI-Driven Power Demand Is Set to Jump 900% in Chicago Area, Exelon CEO Says; Artificial intelligence is transforming electric grids; Power availability starting to to limit new data center builds
Mark Chediak and Josh Saul - Bloomberg
Artificial intelligence is poised to help drive a 900% jump in power demand from data centers in the Chicago area, according to Exelon Corp. Chief Executive Officer Calvin Butler. About 25 data center projects that would consume around 5 gigawatts of power total- roughly equivalent to the output of five nuclear plants - are undergoing engineering studies in Exelon unit Commonwealth Edison Co.'s territory, Butler said. That compares with about 400 megawatts of data center demand currently on its system. Butler expects up to 80% of the planned developments to be completed.
/jlne.ws/49RBJ6o

Nigeria Plans to Offer Crude Trading on Bourse for First Time; Up to 20% of nation's oil production to trade on Lagos bourse; Offering on commodities exchange will deepen capital markets
Emele Onu - Bloomberg
Nigeria's commodities exchange plans to offer crude oil and gas trading to deepen access to financing for the industry that's the biggest foreign-exchange earner for the nation. The Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission to meet trading requirements after obtaining guidance from the Abuja-based agency, Chief Executive Officer Akinsola Akeredolu-Ale said. "The consideration is that 10 to 20% of Nigeria's crude oil production be provisioned for trading on the floor of the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange," he said in an interview, without being drawn on when it would start.
/jlne.ws/49DPGER

A $9.5 Trillion Investor Group Wants Private Market Reforms
Frances Schwartzkopff - Bloomberg
Global ESG investors with $9.5 trillion under management say it's time to demand more accountability from private markets, amid evidence they're increasingly absorbing fossil-fuel assets. The Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, whose 89 members include CalPERS, Zurich Insurance and Munich Re, is expanding its protocol to include all private asset classes. It previously excluded debt funds, directly held real estate debt funds and residential mortgage loans. The update, part of an ongoing expansion of asset classes targeted by NZAOA, means investors agree to a series of measures that add pressure on private markets to cut portfolio emissions.
/jlne.ws/3w2A6Vp

Jamie Dimon Has a New Vision for Money in an AI World
Emily Chang - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon makes no secret that his firm is all-in on artificial intelligence. Now, the head of the world's biggest bank is laying out his vision for the future of money in an AI world. Will you be able to turn to the bank's future chatbot-let's call it ChatJPM-and say, "I have 30 years, what should I do?" Yes, says Dimon, kicking off the second season of the Bloomberg Originals series The Circuit with Emily Chang. "We, in some ways, can do that a little bit already today," he said in an interview.
/jlne.ws/44252Sk

A Century-Old Lending Lifeline for Troubled Banks Has a Major Flaw. The Fed Wants to Fix It; Borrowing from the discount window carries a stigma officials hope to reduce
Andrew Ackerman - The Wall Street Journal
After Silicon Valley Bank's sudden collapse last year, regulators found the California lender was unprepared to borrow from an emergency central-bank facility that might have slowed the firm's failure. The episode is fueling a rethink of the so-called discount window, which dates to the founding of the Federal Reserve in 1913 and is its primary channel for lending directly to banks. At present, banks are desperate to avoid using it for fear of looking weak.
/jlne.ws/3Q7gy92

'Flash Boys' Ditch Happy Hour to Compete With Chess Grandmaster
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
The up-and-comers of Wall Street gathered not around an open bar, but tables with chess boards. Traders and quants from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Jane Street and Bank of Montreal were among those congregating at the headquarters of IEX Group Inc. to compete in a bi-annual chess tournament. ClearBridge Investments and WorldQuant were represented, too. But it was BlackRock Inc.'s Rusa Goletiani - and her 10-person entourage - who stole the show.
/jlne.ws/3Jt9bFr

Flood of Cheap Chinese Steel Fuels Global Backlash; The country's exports have shot up as its property-market downturn left producers with a surplus of the metal
Jason Douglas - The Wall Street Journal
China's epic property bust has saddled its steelmakers with a glut of unsold metal. They are now shipping it overseas at knockdown prices-and the U.S. isn't the only country pushing back. President Biden on Wednesday asked U.S. trade officials to hit imports of Chinese steel with heftier tariffs, the latest move in a broader campaign against cheap Chinese exports that Washington says are swamping U.S. and global markets.
/jlne.ws/4d1uTxP

USDA faulted for disclosing scant information about outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu in cattle
Helen Branswell - STAT News
With H5N1 bird flu spreading to more dairy cow herds, scientists and pandemic experts in this country and abroad are calling on the U.S. government to release more information to help them assess the risk the outbreaks pose to cattle operations and people. Three and a half weeks after first announcing the startling news that cows from a milking herd in Texas had tested positive for H5N1, the government agencies involved in the investigations have not yet revealed what research shows about whether pasteurization of milk kills this specific virus. And until Thursday, U.S. officials had not disclosed whether the now 29 affected herds in eight states form a single linked outbreak fueled by the movement of cattle from the Texas panhandle, where the first outbreak was discovered. At present, STAT was told, that does not appear to be the case.
/jlne.ws/3Q8OhyV

New York jury convicts man in first-ever cryptocurrency market manipulation case
Dan Mangan - CNBC
A New York federal jury on Thursday convicted a Puerto Rico man of a $110 million scheme that was the Department of Justice's first-ever cryptocurrency open-market manipulation case, prosecutors said. The man, 28-year-old Avraham Eisenberg of San Juan, faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison for the charges of wire fraud, commodities fraud, and commodities manipulation.
/jlne.ws/49GS3GY

Jane Street Wants Its Secrets Back; A [redacted] trading strategy, Elon Musk's options math, BloomTech loans, private equity skin in the game and AI investment returns.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
One sort of thing you could do, if you work at an investing firm, is say "I like Microsoft Corp., I think this artificial intelligence thing is big, I think the stock will go up." And then you buy Microsoft stock with your firm's capital, and hopefully it goes up. Another sort of thing you could do, if you work at an investing firm, is design a complex software system that ingests millions of data points to find predictive signals and then uses those signals to make automated low-latency trades in multiple assets on multiple exchanges with limited human supervision. You write thousands of lines of code, you test the system, you put it into production, it runs on its own and hopefully it makes money.
/jlne.ws/3xP0nH8

Yuan Usage Extends Global Climb as Euro Share Slips, Swift Says
Carter Johnson and Alex Tanzi - Bloomberg
The Chinese yuan is accounting for a growing share of international payments, while the euro's share continues to ebb, according to transaction data compiled by global financial messaging service Swift. The portion of transactions involving the yuan rose to 4.7% in March, the highest since Swift created a new baseline in July. The euro's share dipped below 22% last month, under the 24.4% level logged when Swift introduced the new scale.
/jlne.ws/3JqyTdO

Supreme Court: Companies can't be sued for not disclosing climate risk
Leah Garden - GreenBiz
The US Supreme Court unanimously ruled shareholders cannot sue companies for securities fraud when they fail to disclose information about future risks, unless the omission made their statements deliberately misleading. The decision benefits companies by allowing them more leeway to pick and choose what they disclose to investors. If a company is silent about a risk it faces, it cannot be sued, the court said. But if a company makes a statement that is misleading because it omits information necessary to understand the risks in full, it may still be liable for fraud, the ruling says.
/jlne.ws/4aG6wEb

Relationships between the buy-side and market makers look to be solidifying in the face of low volumes, survey finds; In late 2023, The TRADE and Optiver partnered on the buy-side European cash equity trading survey, uncovering key trends in the space through original research, delving into: market structure, real time transaction cost analysis (TCA), buy-side broker relationships, data costs, consolidated tape plans and more.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
More than 25% of buy-side firms are currently sending more than 10% of their flow directly to market makers, a recent survey conducted by Optiver in partnership with The TRADE has found. The burgeoning relationship between the two sides demonstrated by this insight was an almost unheard-of phenomenon a decade ago, prior to the introduction of Mifid II in 2018.
/jlne.ws/3vPuY77



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Ukraine Invasion
News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact
JPMorgan Chase sues Russia's VTB Bank over effort to unfreeze assets
Jonathan Stempel - Reuters
JPMorgan Chase sued Russia's state-owned VTB Bank on Thursday to halt its efforts to recover $439.5 million from an account that was blocked after Russia invaded Ukraine and VTB was hit with sanctions. In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, JPMorgan said VTB filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in Russia to recover the money in "blatant breach" of its agreement to have disputes addressed in New York.
/jlne.ws/4d0OIW1

Ukraine warns of WW3 ahead of long-stalled Congress aid vote
Sumi Somaskanda & Holly Honderich - BBC News
Ukraine's prime minister has told the BBC there will be a "Third World War" if Ukraine loses its conflict with Russia, as he urged the US Congress to pass a long-stalled foreign aid bill. Denys Shmyhal expressed "careful optimism" that US lawmakers would pass the hotly contested measure, which has $61bn (£49bn) earmarked for Kyiv. The House of Representatives is set to vote on the package this Saturday.
/jlne.ws/3WaxmA9

Poland arrests man suspected of spying for Russia to aid Zelenskyy assassination plot
Associated Press
A Polish man has been arrested on allegations of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia's military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish prosecutors said Thursday. The office of Poland's National Prosecutor said in a statement that the man, identified only as Pawel K. under Polish privacy laws, was accused of being prepared to pass airport security information to Russian agents and that he was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/3TYniHA

Russia pummels exhausted Ukrainian forces with smaller attacks ahead of a springtime advance
The Associated Press
Russian troops are ramping up pressure on exhausted Ukrainian forces to prepare to seize more land this spring and summer as muddy fields dry out and allow tanks, armored vehicles and other heavy equipment to roll to key positions across the countryside. With the war in Ukraine now in its third year and a vital U.S. aid package for Kyiv slowed down in Congress, Russia has increasingly used satellite-guided gliding bombs - which allow planes to drop them from a safe distance - to pummel Ukrainian forces beset by a shortage of troops and ammunition.
/jlne.ws/3Jo1DUa

Ukraine's growing arms sector thwarted by cash shortages and attacks
Max Hunder - Reuters
Hundreds of Ukrainian businesses making weapons and military equipment have sprung up since Russia's full-scale invasion, but some are struggling to fund production and all are afraid of being targeted in intensifying Russian missile strikes. Owners say they have pumped in their own cash to survive and moved locations at their own expense to stay ahead of Russian intelligence. They are now urging the government to cut what they describe as excessive red tape around its arms purchases.
/jlne.ws/3Udqm2S

With Friends Like Congress, Ukraine Hardly Needs Enemies; Even if the badly needed aid bill passes, it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry at what Congress and America have become.
Andreas Kluth - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/49ZaRkZ

EU watchdog warns bloc still needs Russian LNG; Warning comes as Nordic and Baltic countries seek total ban on imports of the fuel from Moscow
Shotaro Tani, Alice Hancock and Henry Foy - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3xIO27t

Ukraine cannot fight evil with empty hands; The trapped US funds are the difference between life and death for many of us
Oleksandra Matviichuk - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4aE3QH7








Israel/Hamas Conflict
News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas
Israel Strikes Iran in Narrow Attack Amid Escalation Fears; Blasts reported near central city of Isfahan; Iran rescinds airspace restrictions as state media plays down incident
Dov Lieber, Aresu Eqbali, Benoit Faucon, and Rory Jones - The Wall Street Journal
Israel retaliated overnight against Iran's massive drone and missile attack on its territory, people familiar with the matter said-with what appeared to be a limited strike aimed at avoiding an escalatory cycle that could push the countries closer toward war. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to say whether the U.S. had received advance warning of Israel's strike. "I'm not going to speak to that, except to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations," Blinken said at a press conference at the end of a Group of Seven conference in Capri, Italy. His Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani, said earlier Friday that Israel informed the U.S. of its plan "at the last minute."
/jlne.ws/3JqqLty

Israel Hits Back at Iran With Limited Drone Strike on Air Base; Oil reverses gains after Iran, West play down extent of attack; US urged Israel not to react aggressively to weekend assault
Patrick Sykes, Arsalan Shahla, Donato Paolo Mancini, and Courtney McBride - Bloomberg
Israel reportedly struck back at Iran on Friday morning, hitting a military site in a drone operation that was limited in scale and seemed to cause little damage. Iranian state media confirmed an attack had taken place in the city of Isfahan and said it failed. The country's officials - who were bracing for Israel to respond to Saturday's unprecedented drone and missile assault by the Islamic Republic - signaled they weren't inclined to launch a counterstrike.
/jlne.ws/3JoOXfN

Blinken Is Sitting on Staff Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Military Units Linked to Killings or Rapes; A special State Department panel told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the U.S. should restrict arms sales to Israeli military units that have been credibly accused of human rights abuses. He has not taken any action.
Brett Murphy - ProPublica
A special State Department panel recommended months ago that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses. But Blinken has failed to act on the proposal in the face of growing international criticism of the Israeli military's conduct in Gaza, according to current and former State Department officials.
/jlne.ws/49LQYgO

Another Shock From the Middle East for Markets; The revenge cycle shows no sign of letting up. Now, Tehran will weigh the level of escalation.
John Authers - Bloomberg Opinion
Revenge Served Hot
Earlier this week, Points of Return likened the situation in the Middle East to the cycle of revenge in a Greek tragedy. Unfortunately, the analogy appears to have been apt. At the time of writing, global markets - presently trading in Asia - have reacted with alarm to reports of explosions in the Iranian city of Isfahan, home to some significant centers of the nation's nuclear program. It wouldn't be appropriate to try to analyze the wisdom of what Israel appears to have done at this stage, but it's worth looking at the market response. This is how the Brent crude price has traded since last Friday, when it became clear that Iran intended to attack Israel over the weekend:
/jlne.ws/3JqyiZj








Exchanges, OTC & Clearing
Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities
Revised: New Product Summary: Initial Listing of Mini RBOB Gasoline vs. Eurobob Non-Oxy NWE Barges (Argus) (34,986 gallons) Futures Contract (Go-Live Date Amendment)
CME Group
Initial Listing of Mini RBOB Gasoline vs. Eurobob Non-Oxy NWE Barges (Argus) (34,986 gallons) Futures Contract (Go-Live Date Amendment).
/jlne.ws/44m7i7f

Performance Bond Requirements - Interest Rate, Metal Margin - Effective April 19, 2024
CME Group
As per the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc., Clearing House Risk Management staff approved the performance bond requirements for the following products listed in the advisory at the link below. The rates will be effective after the close of business on April 19, 2024.
/jlne.ws/3JrCyIi

Performance Bond Requirements: Agriculture, Equity, FX, Metal and Cryptocurrency Margins - Effective April 19, 2024
CME Group
As per the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc., Clearing House Risk Management staff approved the performance bond requirements for the following products listed in the advisory at the link below. The rates will be effective after the close of business on April 19, 2024
/jlne.ws/3JvQsJ7

Johannesburg Bourse Plans Overhaul to Encourage Smaller Listings; Stock exchange proposes splitting its main board into two; Company listings from the JSE have dropped over the past year
Khuleko Siwele and Colleen Goko-Petzer - Bloomberg
The operator of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange has proposed easing some listing requirements in a bid to encourage smaller companies to the bourse, removing some of the red tape it says has become an obstacle. The exchange intends to split its main board into two - what it called a Prime Segment and a General Segment - as part of efforts to streamline regulations to better suit the needs of smaller firms, JSE Ltd. said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3Uq6kU6

Joint Provision of Linked Service for Spot and Futures Trading Related to Electricity
JPX
Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX) (Chairperson: Kanemoto Yoshitsugu) and Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX) (Director & Representative Executive Officer, Group CEO: Yamaji Hiromi) will jointly provide a linked service (JJ-Link (Tentative Name)) for spot and futures trading related to electricity as part of measures based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on January 19, 2023. JJ-Link is a service to procure and sell through JEPX spot trading the electricity that underlies positions in electricity futures on the JPX Group's Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM). The service will be provided in two phases.
/jlne.ws/442EH6s

Regular Constituents Change in KRX Post IPO Index
KRX
There will be regular consituents change in KRX Post IPO Index. Effective date : April 26th, 2024 Please refer to the index website menu or index data product file for details and target weight.
/jlne.ws/3QaNAoP

ETF Market Report: 1st Quarter 2024; Discover the latest figures about the development of the ETF segment at SIX Swiss Exchange, one of Europe's top 3 ETF venues - including statistics for Quote on Demand (QOD).
SIX
ETF Market Report: 1st Quarter 2024; After last year's final spurt, the 1st quarter in the ETF market in 2024 was rather subdued, despite the positive market environment. This resulted in a decline in turnover of 24.08% compared to the 4th quarter. This resulted in a total turnover of CHF 15.829 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, however, the number of trades was up 2.32%. In terms of numbers, the first three months were very lively. The figure for the previous quarter was exceeded by 17.64% and that of the same quarter of the previous year by 14.88%. The average ticket size in the 1st quarter was down 18.12%, and the median was 4.29% above the previous year's figure. The number of newly listed ETFs on SIX Swiss Exchange rose by a further 50 units in the first three months of 2024. On 31 March, the total number of ETFs listed on SIX Swiss Exchange amounted to 1,719 units. Bond and equity ETFs were the focus of the new listings. Sustainability remained a preferred criterion. In addition, some new topics enriched the very diverse spectrum of the existing offering.
/jlne.ws/3vYJPMn




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Fintech
A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors
Why Wise Hates Making So Much Money; Rules that prevent the fintech paying interest on UK customer balances are inflating its profits at customers' expense.
Chris Bryant - Bloomberg
Companies don't usually complain that their profits are too high, but such is Wise Plc's predicament. The fintech isn't allowed to pay interest to UK customers because it isn't licensed as a bank. Absent progress persuading officials to cut it some slack, customers should ensure they're not leaving money on the table. Co-founded by Estonian entrepreneurs Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus in 2011 and formerly known as Transferwise, the British firm went public in 2021 and offers more than just cross-border money transfers - it holds more than £13 billion ($16.2 billion) of customer balances and provides debit cards.
/jlne.ws/3QdU5r1

No Link Too Tenuous for Retail Traders in China AI Gold Rush; Hunt is on for potential homegrown winners - however obscure - as China builds out an alternative ecosystem.
Bloomberg News
Chinese retail investors don't have Reddit. But they do have something else just as associated with stock market hype: exchange-backed Q&A platforms. In recent weeks, these forums were buzzing about one thing: The likely winners as China builds out an alternative AI ecosystem. Since February, users have peppered listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchange boards with over 11,000 AI-related queries, according to data complied by Bloomberg News.
/jlne.ws/4aB6WvA

Exclusive-Microsoft's OpenAI partnership could face EU antitrust probe, sources say
Foo Yun Chee - Reuters
Microsoft's $13 billion investment in OpenAI could face an EU antitrust investigation as regulators are building the case for such a move, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Microsoft's OpenAI partnership, together with those between Alphabet, Amazon and Anthropic, have triggered scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic as antitrust enforcers seek to understand how these deals affect competition.
/jlne.ws/4aVXtiR

Question of pay-off from AI hangs over Big Tech earnings; The likely message from the leading companies is: be patient
Richard Waters - Financial Times
How long can Wall Street's artificial intelligence-fuelled rally continue without clear evidence that generative AI is giving a meaningful lift to business? That question will hang over the tech sector next week as some of the biggest companies report their latest quarterly earnings. The industry's big claims for the technology behind ChatGPT have spurred massive spending on the infrastructure required to generate text, images or video. But there is not likely to be much in the numbers yet to show that the ultimate customers for the technology - companies applying it in their operations or people using it in their daily lives - are ready to pay up.
/jlne.ws/3W1tNfv

Fintech finally starts to add up for investors; More firms may be seeking listings in the next year
David Stevenson - Financial Times
For all the excitement over artificial intelligence, I'd wager that most investors would struggle to identify many sectors where there is hard financial evidence of it helping businesses boost sales or improve margins. But in fintech, the benefits are becoming plain to see. Reports emerged a few weeks back from Microsoft-backed OpenAI that its work for Klarna - the "buy now, pay later" group soon to float - had already yielded a $40mn improvement in Klarna's profits this year.
/jlne.ws/3QbDmVj

Google streamlines structure to speed up AI efforts; Teams tackling artificial intelligence models unified under leadership of DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis
Stephen Morris - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4b0N5FR



Vermiculus



Cybersecurity
Top stories for cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Venture Market Rebounds With Tailwind From AI; Funding for startups in the cybersecurity sector jumped 69% in the first quarter from the prior quarter, according to Crunchbase
Marc Vartabedian - The Wall Street Journal
Cybersecurity software firm Rubrik recently filed paperwork for an initial public offering. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company's investors include Microsoft and Lightspeed Venture Partners. While startups across most sectors face a difficult fundraising environment, cybersecurity startups are showing signs of life, thanks in part to their sector's ties to artificial intelligence.
/jlne.ws/4aHTVjO

Five Things You Should Know About Burnout In Cybersecurity But Probably Don't
Jinan Budge - Forrester
The cybersecurity industry continues to focus almost exclusively on technology at the expense of dealing with the heart of cyberdefenses: the people. Yet the stress of expectations, limited resources, and detriments to well-being continues to cause havoc with the mental and physical health, productivity, and retention of the cybersecurity workforce.
/jlne.ws/3UnPzsv

Trust is at center of all cybersecurity work, DOD's Shyu tells CERIAS crowd
Eugune Spafford and Heidi Shyu - Purdue University
Cybersecurity in defense comes down to one word: trust. That was the message from Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, the fireside chat guest at the annual Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) Security Symposium April 2 at Purdue University's Stewart Center.
"Cybersecurity is tantamount to everything we do," Shyu told Eugene Spafford, CERIAS' executive director emeritus and founder of the organization, who led the discussion. "If you can't trust the system, you don't want it."
/jlne.ws/3vYIaq7





Cryptocurrencies
Top stories for cryptocurrencies
Holding 0.001 Bitcoin Could Make You A Multimillionaire, According To Fidelity Director
Caden Pok - Benzinga
Bitcoin has made its name as a deflationary and decentralized asset. These properties are written into the source code and cannot be altered. Many see these characteristics and think about how it could potentially send the price higher and wonder how a small investment in Bitcoin could create generational wealth. Take a look at what some of the top analysts are saying about where the price of Bitcoin (BTC) could go in the coming years and decades. One of the more compelling predictions for the future price of Bitcoin comes from Fidelity Investments. Jurrien Timmer, Fidelity's global head of macro, has claimed that Bitcoin could go as high as $1 billion by 2038. The prediction is mostly based on Metcalfe's law, which states that a networked financial asset's value is equal to the square of the number of users in the network. The law, which places a numerical emphasis on network effects, has mostly been applied to technologies such as the internet and social media. However, Timmer believes that the law is also applicable to Bitcoin.
/jlne.ws/3UlTpCy

Jamie Dimon calls bitcoin a 'fraud' and a 'Ponzi scheme' - and says the crypto is hopeless as a currency
Theron Mohamed - Business Insider
Bitcoin is a scam and fails as a currency, Jamie Dimon said. "If you mean crypto like bitcoin, I've always said it's a fraud," the JPMorgan CEO told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. "If they think they're a currency, there's no hope for it. It's a Ponzi scheme," he added. However, the billionaire banker did say tokens that serve a purpose may not be worthless. "If it's a crypto coin that can do something like a smart contract, that has value," he said. "There will be smart contracts, and blockchain works - to the extent crypto is accessing certain blockchain things, yeah, that might have some value."
/jlne.ws/4aACAt8

Bitcoin is a "Decentralized Ponzi Scheme," JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon Reiterates Negative Stance
Hope C - CoinMarketCap
During a recent interview with Bloomberg, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan, reiterated his long-held belief that Bitcoin is a "public decentralized Ponzi scheme." Dimon expressed his skepticism about Bitcoin's potential as a currency, stating that he has always maintained his view that it lacks prospects in that regard. In addition, Dimon called Bitcoin a fraud, saying, "if you mean crypto like Bitcoin, I've always said it's a fraud." However, he did acknowledge the value of blockchain technology and smart contracts, recognizing their potential applications. Dimon clarified that if a cryptocurrency can offer something useful like smart contracts, which hold inherent value, then blockchain technology has a purpose. He said: "to the extent crypto is accessing certain blockchain things, that might have some value."
/jlne.ws/445tgLm

Coinbase International Exchange, Advanced to offer WIF perpetual futures trading to non-US customers
Elizabeth Napolitano - The Block
Coinbase International Exchange (CIE) and Coinbase Advanced will offer dogwifhat perpetual futures trading later this month. The exchange's services for non-U.S. users will open perpetual futures trading for the Solana-based memecoin on April 25 at 9:30 UTC, CIE said Thursday in a post on X.
/jlne.ws/3Uo73VE

What Is Bitcoin Meant to Hedge?
Daniel Kuhn - CoinDesk
Uh oh, it's starting again: People are again debating whether bitcoin {{BTC}} is actually a hedge. The conversations began on Saturday, after the cryptocurrency tanked nearly 10% - from around $70,000 to below $62,000 - following Iran's failed missile attack on Gaza. The move inspired a few columns on Monday, including insightful ones from Fortune's Jeff John Roberts, which put it in context of gold's 17% rally, and Blockwork's Casey Wagner, who looked at how gas prices tend to move during crises in the Middle East.
/jlne.ws/4d1pI0R




FTSE



Politics
An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets
Could Fossil Fuels Re-Elect Biden? Oil and gas are doing more for the economy than his climate dreams.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
Despite President Biden's best efforts, U.S. fossil-fuel production continues to grow, and it's supporting the economy he touts. That's one notable finding from the Bureau of Economic Analysis's recent report on state GDP growth in 2023 that is always instructive about regional and industrial economic trends. The U.S. economy last year expanded by 2.5%, and while the rest of the press missed it, fossil-fuel producing states led the way. These include North Dakota (5.9%), Texas (5.7%), Wyoming (5.4%), Oklahoma (5.3%), Alaska (5.3%), West Virginia (4.7%) and New Mexico (4.1%). Mining contributed about two to three percentage points to GDP growth in these states.
/jlne.ws/3Jr9sIY

Trump Is Misleading You With Covid-Era Statistics. So Is Biden. Biden and Trump are both campaigning on warped economic statistics, cherry-picking weird data from the Covid crisis.
Victoria Guida - Politico
According to Donald Trump, he oversaw sky-high economic growth, soaring markets and half-century-low unemployment. Joe Biden says Trump was the first president to preside over a net loss in jobs since Herbert Hoover. Biden boasts that his own presidency is defined by booming job growth and plunging deficits. Trump says consumers haven't felt worse in decades, because of inflation.
/jlne.ws/3U3Tf15

Boris Johnson broke rules over hedge fund behind Venezuela trip, says watchdog; Former UK prime minister accused of being 'evasive' about relationship with Merlyn Advisors
Lucy Fisher - Financial Times
Boris Johnson breached UK government rules by failing to disclose his relationship with a hedge fund that organised his visit to meet Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, according to the Whitehall appointments watchdog. Lord Eric Pickles, chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, reported the breach in a letter to deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden on Friday.
/jlne.ws/4aHEic7

'Insane' and 'dangerous' to give up on EU nature law, says Belgian minister; Alain Maron faces strong resistance from capitals - and his own PM - as he tries to rally countries to back the law.
Louise Guillot - Politico
Ignore the prime minister, Belgium is committed to getting the EU's new nature rules approved. That's according to Brussels Environment and Climate Minister Alain Maron, who is responsible for steering talks among EU ministers on the highly controversial law and says he remains committed to passing the legislation despite pushback from capitals and skeptical comments from his PM.
/jlne.ws/3W6B3qy

US Presses China to Be More Transparent on IP Protection; IP chief raised concerns at meeting with top Chinese official; Trade issues loom large ahead of US presidential election
Bloomberg News
Beijing needs to be clearer on how it's protecting intellectual property and address new forms of infringement, US commerce official Kathi Vidal said as trade tensions loom in an US election year. "We're still seeing major issues with regard to transparency," Vidal, under secretary of commerce for intellectual property, told Bloomberg TV in an interview in Shanghai on Thursday. "It's about transparency in terms of judicial decisions, and transparency in terms of enforcement."
/jlne.ws/3U4lP2y

Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from China store under pressure from Beijing; Internet regulator orders delisting of two Meta-owned apps over 'national security concerns'
Eleanor Olcott and Ryan McMorrow - Financial Times
Apple said it had removed Meta mobile communications applications WhatsApp and Threads from its online store in China under direction from the country's internet regulator. The iPhone maker said on Friday that the Cyberspace Administration of China had ordered the applications' removal from the Apple App Store in the country because of "national security concerns".
/jlne.ws/4aEPCWJ



Regulation & Enforcement
Stories about regulation and the law.
Chairman Behnam Announces CFTC's First DEIA Strategic Plan; Plan Emphasizes A Workplace Where Employees are Empowered, Valued, and Respected
CFTC
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam today announced the agency's first Strategic Plan to Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA Plan). This two-year DEIA Plan represents a critical step forward in aligning our organization with a collective DEIA vision that not only provides genuine support for our valued team members, but ensures the CFTC is a source of future leaders.
/jlne.ws/4b0zHSb

SFC welcomes SEHK's conclusions on climate-related disclosure requirements for listed companies
Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today welcomes the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited's (SEHK) publication of its consultation conclusions on the enhancement of climate-related disclosure requirements for listed companies in Hong Kong. The new climate-related disclosure requirements, which will be implemented in phases starting from 1 January 2025, is the first step to align local sustainability disclosure requirements with the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards published by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), as part of Hong Kong's overall strategy to develop a comprehensive sustainability disclosure ecosystem. SEHK has also published an Implementation Guidance to assist listed companies in complying with the new requirements (Notes 1 and 2).
/jlne.ws/3W7SwPm








Investing & Trading
Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities)
AIA's $100 Billion Stock Selloff Defies Bulls, Trading History; The stock is down 30% this year while China stock gauge flat; AIA has unanimous buy ratings as analysts expect a rebound
Charlotte Yang - Bloomberg
The prolonged slide in shares of AIA Group Ltd. stands at odds with the street's unanimous bullish recommendation and has now diverted the stock from its usual course of tracking the Chinese equity market. Concerns over slowing growth in the world's second largest economy and Beijing's capital controls have erased more than $100 billion from the Hong Kong insurer's market valuation since early 2021. The options market signals more pain ahead, with the stock's volatility skew at the highest level in two months, an indication of increased demand for downside protection.
/jlne.ws/3Q8OKBq

Municipal CUSIP Request Volumes Rise for Second Consecutive Month; Corporate Volumes Slow in March
CUSIP Global Services
CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for March 2024. The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity over the next quarter, found a monthly increase in request volume for new municipal identifiers, while requests for corporate identifiers slowed on a monthly basis.
/jlne.ws/3W4zBoz

Cargill to sell group of grain elevators to CHS Inc.; Cargill called CHS "the right partner for this sale" based on the Minnesota-based organizations' partnership.
Nick Williams - Star Tribune
Cargill made the decision during a regular portfolio review, which the privately-held company routinely does "to ensure assets best fit our strategy to meet long term market demands," the agricultural giant said in a statement to the Star Tribune. Grain elevators in the southwest and western regions of Minnesota are among a group of eight being sold. Other elevators are located in Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado and South Dakota.
/jlne.ws/3xHWRyu

Nigerian court adjourns Binance and executives' tax evasion trial to May 17
Camillus Eboh - Reuters
A Nigerian court on Friday adjourned a tax evasion trial against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and two of its executives to May 17 after the matter was stalled because the exchange has not been formally served with the charges. Binance and its executives Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and head of financial crime compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who is a regional manager for Africa, face four counts of tax evasion.
/jlne.ws/49Iui12






Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance
Stories about environmental, social and governance investing
Earth Day 2024: Investing in a Warming Planet; How financial markets play a role in mitigating climate change.
Leslie P. Norton - Morningstar
When Earth Day rolls around each year, it reminds us that the planet and our environment are fragile, and time is short to address the problems of carbon emissions and global warming. The world is way off track when it comes to meeting the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, which would avert the worst consequences of climate change. (For a good primer on climate goals and terminology, read this.)
/jlne.ws/3xJ6vAU

The Missing $1 Trillion; It's still unclear how the world will pay for developing nations to fight climate change.
David Gelles and Manuela Andreoni - The New York Times
For the past two years, world leaders, economists and activists have called for sweeping overhauls to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund that would make the two lending institutions more adept at combating climate change. Discussions about how to reform lumbering multilateral bureaucracies can get tedious quickly. But ultimately the debates are all about money. How to make more money available for developing nations that are being battered by extreme weather? And how to make sure poor countries don't spend too much money servicing their debt?
/jlne.ws/3Q7LWV7

'Wake-up call': pipeline leak exposes carbon capture safety gaps, advocates say; Estimated 2,548 barrels of carbon dioxide leaked from Exxon pipeline in Louisiana on 3 April, triggering alarm among residents
Nina Lakhani - The Guardian
A major leak of CO2 from an ExxonMobil pipeline in Louisiana exposes dangerous safety gaps that should halt the planned multibillion-dollar carbon capture industry, environmental advocates say. An estimated 2,548 barrels of carbon dioxide (CO2) leaked from the Exxon pipeline in Sulphur in Calcasieu Parish on 3 April, triggering an emergency response and alarm among residents who live in close proximity to scores of polluting pipelines, petrochemical and fossil fuel facilities.
/jlne.ws/3vXlpmC

European carbon trading catching less than quarter of airline emissions, data finds; With long-haul flights exempt from charges and carriers given free allowances, large share of flights not covered by system
Philip Georgiadis - Financial Times
Less than a quarter of airline emissions were caught by Europe's carbon trading schemes last year, according to new data that illustrates the limitations of one of the key tools to fight pollution from aviation. Airlines and other carbon-intensive industries are charged under emissions trading systems in the EU, UK and Switzerland, which require companies to buy allowances to cover the carbon dioxide they give off.
/jlne.ws/49LtrNh

JPMorgan warns of need for 'reality check' on phasing out fossil fuels; US bank says higher interest rates, inflation and global conflict have dented outlook for energy transition
Malcolm Moore - Financial Times
The world needs a "reality check" on its move from fossil fuels to renewable energy, JPMorgan has warned, saying it may take "generations" to hit net-zero targets. In a global energy strategy report sent to clients this week, the US investment bank said efforts to reduce the use of coal, oil and gas had been set back by higher interest rates, inflation and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
/jlne.ws/49OQbM5

Europe's Top LNG Plant Operator Wants to Move Into Ammonia, CO2; Spain's Enagas to take advantage of its regasification plants; Move to be included in strategic plan, CEO says in interview
Thomas Gualtieri - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4b2zLRm

Clean Hydrogen's Best Bet May Be a Rainforest State in Borneo; Sarawak in Malaysia has an abundance of rainfall and rivers, and powers its transport network with hydrogen. Exporting the fuel is its next goal.
Ram Anand and Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4aHOKAq








Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds
The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures
Top Barclays Banker Says 'Rapid' Flight From Risk Will Endure; 'You will see this flight to safety continue:' Stephen Dainton; Dainton speaks with Bloomberg TV's Haslinda Amin in Singapore
Haslinda Amin and Jennifer Surane - Bloomberg
A senior Barclays Plc investment banker said investors are rapidly moving away from risk assets due to concerns about an escalation in the Middle East conflict. "The elevated geopolitical risk in the Middle East, that has been evident over the course of the last four or five months, has really come to the fore," Stephen Dainton, head of investment bank management for the British lender, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Singapore. "You will see this flight to safety continue."
/jlne.ws/3W6BMrA

Deutsche Bank Has Cut Dozens in Asia Private Banking Overhaul; Bank trimmed 10 roles last week, about 60 over past year; Roles include wealth bankers, support staff in Singapore, HK
Chanyaporn Chanjaroen and Cathy Chan - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG trimmed 10 private banking roles in Asia over the past week, adding to dozens of cuts in recent quarters as it zooms in on more profitable markets and weeds out underperformers, according to people familiar with the matter. As many as 60 roles were culled in Singapore and Hong Kong at the German bank over the past year, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Those affected include relationship managers that joined last year from Credit Suisse for Greater China, as well as employees in products and supporting roles, said the people.
/jlne.ws/3QdUhXh

Delays to OFR funds recognition scheme leaves UK out in the cold; Post-Brexit overseas funds regime has yet to be implemented, depriving UK investors of some of latest innovative funds
Emma Boyde - Financial Times
More than two months since the UK said it would give a green light to asset managers keen to bring innovative European-domiciled funds to the UK market, exchange traded fund providers are still waiting for the final go-ahead. mCity minister Bim Afolami attempted to provide assurance at the end of January when he said in a statement to MPs that the overseas fund regime would treat European Economic Area regulation as equivalent to its own.
/jlne.ws/3WcGiEO

Man Group Stock Slides After Clients Pull $1.6 Billion From its Hedge Funds
Caitlin McCabe - The Wall Street Journal
London-based Man Group is the world's largest listed hedge-fund business. It runs both algorithmic and discretionary strategies, which rely on the skill and judgment calls of traditional hedge-fund portfolio managers. The broader industry has weathered two years of outflows from clients like pension funds, endowments and family offices. Some pressure stems from the rise of other alternative investments like private equity and private credit. For its part, Man Group has pushed into private markets, buying private-credit manager Varagon Capital Partners last year.
/jlne.ws/3vZBcRI




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Work & Management
Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends.
What to Know about the Job-Search Process
Yale School of Management
Valerie Fred serves as a dedicated career coach for the Master's in Asset Management program, helping students secure post-graduation jobs. Here, she answers some frequently asked questions about the Career Development Office (CDO) and the recruiting process.
/jlne.ws/448Epeg








Wellness Exchange
An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information
We found unhealthy pesticide levels in 20% of US produce - here's what you need to know; Consumer Reports recently conducted its most comprehensive review of pesticides in 59 US fruits and vegetables. Here the organization shares what it found
Catherine Roberts - Consumer Reports via The Guardian
When it comes to healthy eating, fruits and vegetables reign supreme. But along with all their vitamins, minerals and other nutrients can come something else: an unhealthy dose of dangerous pesticides. Though using chemicals to control bugs, fungi and weeds helps farmers grow the food we need, it's been clear since at least the 1960s that some chemicals also carry unacceptable health risks. And although certain notorious pesticides, such as DDT, have been banned in the US, government regulators have been slow to act on others. Even when a dangerous chemical is removed from the market, chemical companies and growers sometimes just start using other options that may be as dangerous.
/jlne.ws/3U8xbCq








Regions
Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions
Dry, Hot Summer Threatens Grain Crop in Top Australian State; Soil is extremely dry in Western Australia, group says; Overall crop area is still seen as similar to last year
Keira Wright - Bloomberg
A lingering dry, hot summer is increasing concerns for grain farmers in Australia's top producing state as they begin planting the next crop, according to the Grain Industry Association of Western Australia. Growers are taking a cautious approach as the soil is extremely dry, the association said in a monthly report Friday. Farmers are still expected to plant 8.6 million hectares of crops, including 4.96 million hectares of wheat. Sown crop area was just under 8.5 million hectares in 2023.
/jlne.ws/4d3cznQ

Poland's Tauron seeks to spur renewables expansion
Reuters
Poland's Tauron aims to expand in renewable energy as the profitability of coal assets declines, the state-controlled power utility said on Friday. It had 693 megawatts (MW) of installed renewable capacity at the end of 2023 and is building 364 MW more but sees room for greater expansion. "We want to make renewable growth more dynamic, the pipeline of projects is larger than what is currently being built," Michal Orlowski, deputy CEO in charge of asset management, told a news briefing. "There are price challenges, but we are looking for ways to accelerate."
/jlne.ws/3xIV6RE

Pop-Up Russian Oil Traders Emerge as US Tightens Sanctions
Serene Cheong and Rakesh Sharma - Bloomberg
As the US intensifies sanctions pressure on Moscow, Russia's crude trade with India has begun to resemble a game of oil whack-a-mole. Just as one trader begins to lose prominence, another pops up. New firms, going by names unfamiliar to even the most experienced merchants across Asia, have been constantly emerging to handle shipments between the the OPEC+ producer and the world's third-largest importer and consumer, according to traders and Indian refinery executives. Highlighting the difficulties of global sanctions enforcement, they are often connected to the same individuals.
/jlne.ws/4d4Yjen

Krone Billionaires Lure Norway's Bankers All the Way to the Alps; DNB leads banks targeting clients relocated to Switzerland; Norway's tax hikes have pushed some wealthy to move south
Ott Ummelas - Bloomberg
Steep increases in wealth and dividend taxes by Norway's left-leaning government have prompted dozens of the Nordic nation's rich to move to another prosperous, mountainous country to the south. Their bankers now have Switzerland in their sights too.
/jlne.ws/3xQom8R








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