| July 30, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The CME Group member class action lawsuit has lost its judge, as the Honorable Celia G. Gamrath, Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, has been appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the First District Appellate Court. She is filling the unexpired term of Justice Mary Ellen Coghlan, who will retire effective August 31, 2024. Gamrath is running unopposed for this same position in the November election to fill the term that ends on December 2, 2024.
What this means is that the case will get a new judge. Gamrath struck the CME's motion for a summary judgment scheduled for September 17, 2024 from the schedule, as she no longer has control of the case as an Appellate Court judge.
This will cause months of delay for the case as a new judge is assigned the docket and gets up to speed on the cases, including this 10-year-old one.
Fenics Market Data announced in its newsletter that Sean Smith will be joining the firm as managing director of business development and will be focused on developing relationships with FMX Futures clients while also advising on the index and benchmarking business. Sean most recently was with Qontigo and has had stops with FTSE Russell, CME Group (twice) and Eurex US. He began his career at O'Connor & Associates in the mid-1980s as a runner on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. He later became an equity derivatives trader in New York on the NYSE and AMEX and also traded on the CME in S&P options and Eurodollars.
FMD also announced that Vernice Moh has joined the firm as managing director, head of sales for Asia Pacific. She will be based in Singapore.
The Financial Times is reporting that the cost of Miami office space has reached a record high, driven by strong demand from blue-chip companies relocating from cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Brazilian bank Banco Master recently leased the final 26,000 square feet in the prestigious 830 Brickell building for nearly $200 per square foot, almost double the city's previous record. This surge is fueled by the migration of top financial, legal, and tech firms to Florida's tax-friendly environment. The 830 Brickell building, completed in 2023, is Miami's only new luxury office building, housing tenants such as Microsoft, Citadel, Thoma Bravo, Marsh, and Kirkland & Ellis. While other U.S. office markets face high vacancy rates, Miami's demand remains strong, with limited inventory available. Citadel founder Ken Griffin plans a $1 billion waterfront development in Brickell, which will include offices, shops, and a luxury hotel.
Here are some excerpts from stories from FOW from in front of its paywall for the last two days: Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has appointed Vicky Chan as the new head of post-trade, marking the third senior executive change under the leadership of the new CEO within four months. Meanwhile, CME Group is set to enhance its product offerings in the crypto and equity markets, aiming to capitalize on trading growth amid market uncertainties. In a notable development, UBS and CIBC executed the first intraday foreign exchange swap on a regulated venue, facilitated by TP ICAP, which is seen as a significant step towards establishing super short-term interbank markets. Additionally, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved a rule allowing U.S. introducing brokers direct access to registered foreign boards of trade. The London Metal Exchange (LME) has recognized Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as a new delivery point for copper and zinc, highlighting the region's growing importance in commodities trading. In the crypto space, Cantor Fitzgerald plans to launch a Bitcoin financing business, coinciding with Donald Trump's outreach to crypto voters. The weather derivatives market is also poised for a transformation as liquidity increases, attracting more end users. The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has introduced its first environmental futures contracts, marking a significant milestone in carbon trading in Australia and New Zealand. Lastly, One Trading has received a license for crypto derivatives trading in the Netherlands, marking a significant regulatory achievement.
Matt Kluchenek, who started as a staff attorney at the Chicago Board of Trade and later served as a director and associate general counsel for the CME, is starting a new position as partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, he shared on LinkedIn. He has been a partner at Mayer Brown since 2019.
Today we have a video interview I shot a couple of months ago with Rich Feltes, who is the retired head of research at RJO. His was a name I heard throughout my career as a broker as he was one of the most highly thought of market analysts. He was asked by the head of the retirement community academy to put together a presentation about the grain markets after having given a well-received presentation on polio. He contracted polio when he was 11 months old. This video is long, but is a good, in-depth look at the world grain markets, delivered at the consumer level, not to the business crowd Rich was used to delivering to.
We also have a video from our OIC coverage, this one with Kevin Darby of CQG, who goes in-depth to talk about CQG's AI and machine learning offerings and how you can use them in your trading.
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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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Covid halted variance trading. Can Cboe revive the market? from Risk.net.
- Some $6 trillion of funds are about to shift - and here's where they may end up from MarketWatch.
- US-listed crypto stocks retreat following Trump-fueled spike from Reuters. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Rich Feltes' Farm to Table Journey Through the Grain Markets
JohnLothianNews.com
Rich Feltes is retired and living in a Del Webb community just outside of Nashville, TN. He recently gave a presentation for the Del Webb Academy on polio, its history, and the current state of the disease. Feltes contracted polio when he was 11 months old, making this an issue near and dear to him.
Watch the video »
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CQG's Kevin Darby Discusses AI Innovations and Market Integration at Options Conference
JohnLothianNews.com
Kevin Darby, vice president of CQG, sat down with John Lothian News at the Options Conference in Asheville, North Carolina, for the JLN Industry Leader video series sponsored by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). JLN asked Darby about CQG's advancements and strategies in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) within the financial markets.
Watch the video »
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Elon Is Playing a Dangerous Game With Kamala Harris Deepfake; Posting a manipulated recording of the US presidential candidate's voice is no joke. It will embolden others to follow suit.
Parmy Olson - Bloomberg Opinion
A video that Elon Musk posted on X over the weekend has the voice of Kamala Harris speaking over her first big campaign ad, describing herself damningly as "the ultimate diversity hire" who does not "know the first thing about running the country." It's a powerful, devastating twist on the original ad because the voice is unmistakably Harris'. But it's been digitally manipulated, most likely by an AI tool. X prohibits users from posting media that has been "deceptively altered" and "likely to result in widespread confusion on public issues." But such rules apparently do not apply to Musk himself. The original poster of the video marked it as a parody and got 22,000 views. Musk made no such disclosure when he reposted the video, which has been watched more than 128 million times.1 That may make him the site's worst spreader of misinformation.
/jlne.ws/46nevF3
***** There appear to be two sets of rules at X/Twitter and this does not set a good precedent.~JJL
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Trump's Embrace of Bitcoin Is the Art of the Grift; More cryptocurrency in politics is the last thing we need.
Lionel Laurent - Bloomberg
Financial bubbles are inherently political. John Law's doomed pumping of Mississippi Co. stock in 18th-century France came with the state's blessing. Deregulation also helped fuel Japan's 1980s market boom. More recently, Sam Bankman-Fried, the frizzy-haired mogul jailed for his role in cryptocurrency exchange FTX's collapse, was accused by prosecutors of using over $100 million in stolen money to fund his lobbying efforts. When the good times roll, politicians rarely want to stand in the way.
/jlne.ws/4doyJjO
***** Try to read this article, but take former President Trump out of it. Try to remove that noise and you will see why this is an important article.~JJL
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How One Man Lost $740,000 to Scammers Targeting His Retirement Savings; Criminals on the internet are increasingly going after Americans over the age of 60 because they are viewed as having the largest piles of savings.
Tara Siegel Bernard - The New York Times
For nearly three months, Barry Heitin, a 76-year-old retired lawyer, thought he was part of a government investigation that felt like something out of the movies. He was actually assisting criminals in stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars - of his own money. Last fall, he spent just about every weekday doing the legwork and making withdrawals from his bank accounts as part of an intricate scam: He believed he was helping the feds safeguard his money and catch thieves who were after it.
/jlne.ws/4fsXX2z
****** Did I tell you I am not over 60, I am just two times 30, plus 3.~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our top story Monday was Trump faces outrage after telling Christian audience they won't have to vote again, from the Independent. Second was Samir Mayekar and Nadya Mason: The quantum revolution is coming to Illinois, an opinion piece from the Chicago Tribune. Third was Trump Backs U.S. Bitcoin Reserve and Says Democrat Win Will Be Disaster for Crypto: 'Every One of You Will Be Gone', from CoinDesk.
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| Lead Stories | Carbon Credits Found to Be Mostly 'Ineffective' in Key Study; SBTi publishes review into role of CO2 offsetting instruments; Review has been highly anticipated after period of controversy
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
The world's top arbiter of corporate climate goals has described as mostly "ineffective" a financial instrument that's used by a number of major companies to back up their emissions claims. The Science Based Targets initiative, the de facto global regulator of private-sector CO2 targets, said its review of third-party studies indicates that "various types of carbon credits are ineffective in delivering their intended mitigation outcomes." What's more, corporate use of carbon credits could stall decarbonization efforts and reduce the flow of climate finance, SBTi said in a report published on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/4d23cVc
ETFs are eating the bond market; And changing its nature in the process
Robin Wigglesworth and Will Schmitt - Financial Times
At the start of the century, Barclays Global Investors launched a weird little fund in Canada, a backwater of global finance. Today, its myriad offspring are rewiring swaths of the $130tn bond market. BGI's creation was an exchange-traded fund, which occupied a pretty exotic corner of the investment industry. ETFs had only been around for a decade and there were less than 90 in existence, with total assets of $70bn. But this was a niche product even for a niche industry: rather than some big stock market index, this ETF would track the Canadian bond market.
/jlne.ws/3zWzIt5
US IPO Market to Slow After Lineage, With Quiet Summer Ahead; Bankers predict little activity until September-October period; End of year will be slow and opportunistic, due to election
Amy Or - Bloomberg
The pricing of Lineage Inc.'s $4.4 billion first-time share sale helped make last week into the busiest for US initial public offerings in two and a half years. That excitement will be short-lived, according to bankers, who predict the rest of the summer will be more subdued. There was $6.1 billion worth of IPO activity in the US last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Levels were boosted by temperature-controlled storage giant Lineage's upsized offering and KKR & Co.-backed software company OneStream Inc.'s pricing above its marketed range to raise $490 million.
/jlne.ws/3yuAYTT
Artificial Intelligence Gives Weather Forecasters a New Edge; The brainy machines are predicting global weather patterns with new speed and precision, doing in minutes and seconds what once took hours.
William J. Broad - The New York Times
In early July, as Hurricane Beryl churned through the Caribbean, a top European weather agency predicted a range of final landfalls, warning that that Mexico was most likely. The alert was based on global observations by planes, buoys and spacecraft, which room-size supercomputers then turned into forecasts.
/jlne.ws/4cZ89Os
Industry-Governed Body DMIST is Setting Standards
Shanny Basar - MarketsMedia
The origins of the Derivatives Market Institute for Standards (DMIST) go back to the Covid pandemic in 2020 when a massive backlog of exchange-traded derivatives built up between February and mid-March. Central counterparties (CCPs) were asked to extend their clearing windows, but there were long delays in the allocation and give up process and, in some cases, it took many days to correct trades that were in the wrong place.
/jlne.ws/3WI7riQ
Betting On the Energy Transition Has Turned Painful for UK's Impax; The world's largest publicly traded fund manager that focuses on sustainability reported its largest-ever outflows in the first half of 2024.
Gautam Naik - Bloomberg
For more than 25 years, Impax Asset Management has been betting that an inexorable shift to a cleaner, greener global economy can also deliver strong investment returns. The wager has paid off well enough to turn Impax into the world's largest publicly traded fund manager focused on sustainability, with assets under management now totaling about £37 billion ($48 billion). Ian Simm, its chief executive officer and founder, has amassed a net worth of at least £40 million. A glass cabinet at the firm's London headquarters showcases a clutch of honors for its environmental, social and governance-focused investing.
/jlne.ws/3WJ8Qpu
Foundations Are Reluctant to Invest for Impact. Here's How Nathan Cummings Did It.
Abby Schultz - Barron's
Philanthropic foundations often operate in two worlds: one that makes grants in line with a philanthropic mission and another that invests the organization's assets to earn top returns. Those worlds can often be at odds. A foundation aiming to address climate change, for example, could be investing in a fossil-fuel company creating greenhouse gas emissions that's only making the situation worse.
/jlne.ws/3StFcSO
Short-Seller Andrew Left Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud Charges; Left's trial date over fraud allegations set for September
Tom Schoenberg and Maia Spoto (BLAW) - Bloomberg
Famed short-seller Andrew Left pleaded not guilty to US charges that he committed fraud, setting the stage for a high-profile legal battle over his strategies. Left on Monday made his first appearance in federal court in Los Angeles since being charged last week by the Justice Department. Prosecutors allege Left manipulated the market to benefit his trading and made false statements to investigators. If convicted, he could face decades behind bars. During a hearing that lasted about 40 minutes, Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver imposed a $4 million bond with $1 million of it collateralized. She gave him until Aug. 5 to come up with the $1 million.
/jlne.ws/3WGQRjy
Baupost Opts Out of IPO for Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Fund
Katherine Burton - Bloomberg
Seth Klarman's Baupost Group decided against investing in Bill Ackman's new US closed-end fund that's slated to price in coming days, according to people familiar with the matter. Ackman had named the Boston-based hedge fund as one of the potential backers in a letter last week to investors in Pershing Square's management company. He also told them that the initial public offering would raise $2.5 billion to $4 billion, far below the $25 billion estimate he originally floated.
/jlne.ws/4c4f0F9
UBS Vetting of Credit Suisse Clients Being Reviewed by Regulator
Myriam Balezou and Bastian Benrath-Wright - Bloomberg
Switzerland's financial regulator is taking a close look at how UBS Group AG is bringing over Credit Suisse clients, as the country seeks to mitigate risks at its largest bank. UBS is providing updates to Finma on the type of wealth management clients it is on-boarding from Credit Suisse in the process of integration, people familiar with the matter said. The people asked not to be named discussing private details.
/jlne.ws/3Yo8hm6
BOE Tells Banks to Speed Up Digital Efforts as Cash Use Declines
Irina Anghel - Bloomberg
The Bank of England wants British banks to find faster ways to make day-to-day digital payments with pounds, as it tries to keep a grip on money in an increasingly cashless world and keep up with progress in other nations. Innovations that allow people to pay businesses directly from bank accounts instead of through credit and debit cards would save consumers and retailers time and money, according to a paper published Tuesday by the BOE.
/jlne.ws/3SuGqNg
US accounting firms rethink global networks; Mid-tier outfits under increasing pressure to overhaul networks as more clients want international services
Stephen Foley - Financial Times
Grant Thornton is leading a charge by mid-sized US accounting firms to rethink their global operations in ways that could radically alter the industry below the dominant Big Four. The tier of firms beneath KPMG, Deloitte, PwC and EY are racing to meet the needs of increasingly multinational clients while at the same time seeking to make better use of their global networks to spread the cost of technology and staff.
/jlne.ws/3Yo1WqQ
Wealthy investors help drive surging demand for gold; Family offices and rich individuals likely to be behind record second quarter, says report
Harry Dempsey - Financial Times
Wealthy families and individuals worried about US government debt levels were the probable drivers of a record second quarter in demand for gold, according to an industry report, pushing the price to all-time highs this year. Opaque private purchases of the haven asset surged to 329 tonnes in the three months to June, almost five times higher than the previous quarter, according to a report by the World Gold Council, an industry promotion group.
/jlne.ws/4d27IDa
China Rules Solar Energy, but Its Industry at Home Is in Trouble; The solar sector shows how China conducts industrial policy: It chooses industries to dominate, floods them with loans and lets companies fight it out.
Keith Bradsher - The New York Times
Over the past 15 years, China has come to dominate the global market for solar energy. Nearly every solar panel on the planet is made by a Chinese company. Even the equipment to manufacture solar panels is made almost entirely in China. The country's solar panel exports, measured by how much power they can produce, jumped another 10 percent in May over last year. But China's solar panel domestic industry is in upheaval.
/jlne.ws/3So4Ubh
HKEX appoints new head of post-trade; Incoming appointment returns to HKEX after initially serving for 15 years; previous experience includes roles at AIA Group, Goldman Sachs, UBS and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing (HKEX) has appointed Vicky Chan managing director, head of post-trade, effective 5 August. Chan returns to HKEX after previously serving for 15 years at the group in a range of teams including cash settlement, clearing operation and platform development.
/jlne.ws/3Sso4g5
Transforming broker-dealer operations with automation
The Trade
With broker-dealers seeking ways to enhance efficiency and reduce costs, many are turning to automation. Unfortunately, broker-dealers can't trust artificial intelligence (AI) yet with crucial aspects like compliance and risk management. Recent Large Language Models (LLM) achievements show remarkable results in summarising existing information and recognising patterns in mixed content like recorded sound, images, and video. However, decision-making processes that are a crucial part of compliance and risk management are far from being fully automated by the usage of the LLM-like AI. In particular, so-called AI hallucinations are a noticeable side effect of the LLM application in different spheres of IT and automation.
/jlne.ws/3SpZufW
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine Is Conscripting Thousands More Troops. But Are They Ready?
Constant Meheut - The New York Times
Ukraine's campaign to replenish its war-weary troops is ramping up and should help fill personnel gaps on the front line in the coming weeks, according to Ukrainian officials, soldiers and military analysts. The mobilization push has so far not significantly bolstered Ukraine's forces on the battlefield, those people say. Many conscripts are still completing the weekslong training process and have yet to reach the front. And some recruits who have arrived are not physically fit for combat, members of Ukrainian units have noted.
/jlne.ws/4d1hdCB
U.S. to Arm Ukraine's F-16 Jets With Advanced Weapons; The Biden administration says it will provide missiles and bombs for the American-made aircraft
Lara Seligman and Alistair MacDonald - The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. has agreed to arm dozens of F-16 jet fighters being sent to Ukraine with American-made missiles and other advanced weapons, addressing a longstanding question about the Western aircraft. Denmark and the Netherlands are preparing to send the first American-made F-16s to Ukraine this summer, and more will come later from Belgium and Norway. But until now the source of critical weapons for the planes has been unresolved.
/jlne.ws/3LICMLY
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Israeli military warns of 'anarchy' as far-right protesters storm army bases; Unrest breaks out after military police detain soldiers over alleged 'serious abuse' of Palestinian prisoner
James Shotter and Neri Zilber - Financial Times
Far-right protesters have stormed two army bases in Israel after the military police detained nine soldiers as part of an investigation into the alleged "serious abuse" of a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman prison camp. The unrest began on Monday after protesters broke into Sde Teiman after the military police arrived to detain the soldiers for questioning. The military prison camp has been the subject of legal challenges by human rights groups seeking to have it closed down following multiple reports of serious abuse of Palestinian prisoners.
/jlne.ws/4fn06wx
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Covid halted variance trading; Can Cboe revive the market? With liquidity in variance swaps drying up, traders may finally be ready to give futures a shot
Helen Bartholomew - Risk.net
After two failed attempts at listing variance futures on the S&P 500, Cboe is taking a third run at convincing traders to adopt the contracts. Twenty years after its first try, the exchange is betting a more user-friendly structure and new margin requirements for non-cleared trades will stimulate demand for a new version of a product it delisted in 2022. "This time, what's really different - and how the market has changed - is there have been some changes to uncleared margin rules that have
/jlne.ws/3LIujbJ
HKEX Names Head of Post Trade
HKEx
Hong Kong Exchange & Clearing Limited (HKEX) is today (Tuesday) pleased to announce the appointment of Vicky Chan as Managing Director, Head of Post Trade. Ms Chan will join the Group on Monday 5 August, reporting to Vanessa Lau, HKEX Co-Chief Operating Officer and Group Chief Financial Officer. Ms Chan rejoins the Group after previously spending 15 years with HKEX in various teams including Cash Settlement, Clearing Operations and Platform Development, leaving in 2017 to relocate to Canada with her family. In her new role, she will be responsible for leading the Post Trade team to further elevate HKEX's service offering across its clearing and settlement systems. Ms Chan succeeds Hector Lau, Head of Clearing and Depository, who after seven years at HKEX has decided to explore opportunities outside the Group.
/jlne.ws/4dnzlGi
Nasdaq Announces Pricing of Secondary Offering of Nasdaq Common Stock
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) (the "Company" or "Nasdaq") today announced the pricing of the previously announced secondary public offering by Argus Seller, LP (the "Selling Stockholder"), an affiliate of certain funds managed by Thoma Bravo, L.P., of 41,604,207 shares of Nasdaq's common stock at a price to the public of $65.30 per share. The offering is expected to close on July 30, 2024, subject to customary closing conditions. Nasdaq is not selling any shares of its common stock in the offering and will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares by the Selling Stockholder in the offering.
/jlne.ws/3zZfIpI
Abaxx Announces Post Abaxx Exchange Launch Investor Events
Abaxx
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (CBOE:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, indirect majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd. ("Abaxx Singapore"), the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, "Abaxx Exchange" and "Abaxx Clearing"), and producer of the SmarterMarkets Podcast, announces participation in three upcoming investor-focused events:
/jlne.ws/3WHZiLi
ASX launches Environmental Futures contracts to support liquidity and scale across
Australian and New Zealand carbon and renewable energy markets
ASX
ASX today listed three Environmental Futures contracts, marking the next maturity phase for carbon and renewable energy markets in Australia and New Zealand. These new contracts allow participants to price and hedge emissions reduction risk amid the transition to a lower carbon economy.
/jlne.ws/4fnuQgU
OPTARE SOLUTIONS' new BME Growth Incorporation Document
BME
The Market Coordination and Incorporations Committee considers that OPTARE SOLUTIONS will meet the requirements to join BME Growth. The company's Board of Directors has taken a reference price of 6.25 euros per share as the starting point for trading in the shares. The value of the company will be published in an addendum to the DIIM after the end of the IPO. The company's Registered Advisor is Renta 4 Corporate, while Renta 4 Banco will act as Liquidity Provider.
/jlne.ws/4fncL2y
First Initial Access Document on BME Scaleup from INBEST GPF VI and INBEST GPF VII
BME
The Market Coordination and Incorporations Committee considers that INBEST GPF VI SOCIMI, and INBEST GPF VII SOCIMI, will meet the requirements to join BME Scaleup. There are now 17 companies that have registered an Initial Access Document (DIAM) on this BME market. The Boards of Directors of INBEST GPF VI SOCIMI and INBEST GPF VII SOCIMI have taken as a reference for the commencement of trading of the shares a price of one euro per share, which represents a total initial market capitalization of the companies of 3.6 and 5 million euros, respectively. The companies' Registered Advisor is Deloitte Auditores.
/jlne.ws/3WtdFlg
Initial Listing of the WTI Houston vs. WTI Midland Trade Month Average Price Option Contract
CME Group
/jlne.ws/3LIAcG3
Exchange Sets Scheduled Date for Roll-out of GPW's New Trading System WATS
GPW
The Management Board of the Warsaw Stock Exchange has set the scheduled date for the production roll-out of GPW's new trading system WATS at 10 November 2025. The decision is based on the recommendation of the GPW WATS Implementation Committee which is overseeing the preparations.
/jlne.ws/4d7o1yv
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Nvidia Releases Software, Services to Boost Rapid Adoption of AI
Ian King - Bloomberg
Nvidia Corp., the world's most valuable chipmaker, announced a raft of updates to its software offerings that aim to make it easier for a wider variety of businesses to use generative artificial intelligence. The chip company officially released what it calls NIMs, or Nvidia inference micro services, which are software packages that take care of many of the logistical issues needed to use AI for a specific purpose. Generative AI, the technology behind chatbots, voice recognition and other automated human interactions with computers, often requires the orchestration of numerous pieces of hardware, software and information retrieval. Many companies don't have the expertise so Nvidia is trying to do that for them, for a fee.
/jlne.ws/3LItU98
Samsung Begins Closing Gap in Making AI Memory Chips for Nvidia; 'We've never seen Samsung in this position,' one analyst said; Head of semiconductor unit was replaced after several setbacks
Yoolim Lee and Ian King - Bloomberg
Samsung Electronics Co., after a series of setbacks in developing the type of memory chips crucial for the artificial intelligence market, is beginning to make progress in narrowing the gap with rival SK Hynix Inc. Samsung has made important headway in its comeback, including winning the long-awaited approval from AI giant Nvidia Corp. for a version of its high-bandwidth memory chips called HBM3, according to people familiar with the matter. It also anticipates approval for the next generation, HBM3E, in two to four months, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal developments.
/jlne.ws/3Wp5Kpo
AI Startup Perplexity Partners With Time, Fortune After Plagiarism Claims; The AI search company has inked revenue-sharing deals with several big publishers and hopes to add more this year.
Shirin Ghaffary - Bloomberg
Perplexity AI is launching revenue-sharing partnerships with several major publishers less than two months after some news outlets publicly accused the artificial intelligence startup of plagiarizing their stories. Perplexity, which offers an AI search engine to compete with Alphabet Inc.'s Google, announced Tuesday that it has struck deals with Time, Fortune, WordPress.com-owner Automattic and several other media companies. Publishers will receive a "double digit" percentage of revenue from sponsored questions that appear below results in the search app, Perplexity's Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko told Bloomberg News. Perplexity doesn't currently have advertising in its core product, but the startup plans to introduce it in the coming months.
/jlne.ws/3WHJQyT
The UK must continue to innovate in digital payments; Tokenisation could allow payments to be embedded more efficiently and deeply into our increasingly digital economy
Sarah Breeden - Financial Times
It's easy to think - as we've moved over my lifetime from paying with cheques to smartphones, and to settling large value payments in real time through the Bank of England - that payments in the UK are safe, easy and efficient. They are, but that does not mean things cannot be made better. In countries such as India, Brazil and Sweden, people can pay retailers directly from their bank accounts without using cards, and can pay using a mobile phone number or a QR code - allowing even the tiniest businesses to accept payments cheaply.
/jlne.ws/4dkMNLg
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Scammers Target Middle East Influencers With Meta's Own Tools; Victims see their content removed from Instagram unless they pay steep ransoms.
Tekendra Parmar - Bloomberg
In May 2023, Esaa Ahmed-Adnan, an Iraqi social media influencer who's amassed more than 500,000 followers on Instagram with his videos about environmental issues, received a curious message from the platform. A sponsored post for a local restaurant he'd made had been taken down after being flagged for a copyright violation. Ahmed-Adnan, who knew to avoid doing things likely to inspire trouble, such as adding copyrighted music to his posts, was confused. This particular video consisted entirely of him touring the restaurant and trying various dishes. Not long after, other videos started disappearing: A post he made promoting an area volunteer effort to clean up the Tigris River, which flows through Baghdad, was also flagged for a copyright violation.
/jlne.ws/4dkIijQ
Information security: mind the first-line gap; G-Sibs' second-line cyber teams still growing, survey shows; others are overhauling KRIs and switching vendors
Tom Osborn - Risk.net
Information security (infosec) was the top concern among respondents to Risk.net's Top 10 Op Risks poll this year, including global systemically important banks (G-Sibs) this time - by a large margin. It's not hard to see why. A rise in high-profile cyber attacks has caused many to reappraise the effectiveness of established risk measurement and mitigation practices, our survey shows: banks are overhauling key risk
/jlne.ws/3ym9gIZ
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | US government-associated crypto wallet transfers $2 billion of DOJ-seized bitcoin: Arkham data
RT Watson - The Block
A wallet labeled as belonging to the U.S. government transferred $2 billion worth of bitcoin to an unidentified wallet on Monday, according to Arkham Intelligence data. The nearly 28,000 BTC, valued at over $2 billion, appears to be tied to funds the U.S. Department of Justice previously confiscated from the now-defunct dark web market Silk Road. Late last year, a U.S. appeals court finalized a mandate that formalized the forfeiture of 69,370 of bitcoin and other crypto connected to Silk Road.
/jlne.ws/4dqljEb
'The first crypto president': bitcoin fans bet on Donald Trump to change fortunes; Cryptocurrency market backs former president after 'brutal assault' under Biden administration
Alex Rogers in Nashville, Nikou Asgari in London and George Hammond in San Francisco - Financial Times
Donald Trump promised thousands of bitcoin enthusiasts at the weekend that as president he would make America "the bitcoin superpower of the world", winning him widespread support within a market resentful of regulatory scrutiny. "My job will be to set you free," said Trump. With an enthusiastically pro-crypto speech on Saturday, the former president sought to deepen his ties to an industry fed up with its perceived persecution at the hands of the Biden administration and prepared to spend heavily to secure a more crypto-friendly audience in Washington.
/jlne.ws/4dnYd0Y
Ether ETFs See $340 Million Outflow in First Week of Trading; Grayscale's Ether Trust lost over $1.5 billion last week; Inflows for the eight new Ether ETFs was $1.17 billion
Benjamin Taubman - Bloomberg
The nine US ETFs holding the Ethereum cryptocurrency saw outflows of $340 million during their first week of trading as investors pulled money daily from a high-fee legacy product that was converted to an exchange-traded fund. The eight new Ether exchange-traded funds minted following last week's approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission took in $1.17 billion in the four trading days ended July 26, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The biggest inflows were seen by funds from BlackRock, Bitwise and Fidelity, which took in $442 million, $266 million and $219 million, respectively. Grayscale's incumbent Ethereum Trust lost $1.5 billion.
/jlne.ws/3SpSgsk
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | What a Trump Presidency Could Mean for the Cryptocurrency Industry
WOLF Financial - The Street
In a notable shift from his previous criticism, former President Donald Trump has recently adopted a more favorable view of cryptocurrencies. This change could significantly impact the cryptocurrency industry if he were to return to office. Previously labeling digital currencies as a threat to the U.S. dollar and denouncing their volatility, Trump has now recognized their potential benefits. His new stance was highlighted in recent public speeches, where he discussed the innovation and opportunities digital currencies could bring to the financial system. This change of heart is significant as Trump spoke at the Bitcoin Conference last week in Nashville, TN.
/jlne.ws/4d247Fa
Undocumented Immigrants in US Pay Nearly $100 Billion in Taxes; About 26% of the group's income went to taxes in 2022: report; Border policies have major implications for government revenue
Nic Querolo - Bloomberg
Undocumented immigrants paid almost $100 billion of taxes, underscoring the importance of border policies on the country's tax collections, according to a new report. One of the most common arguments for curtailing immigration is the cost borne by the US government. But undocumented immigrants pay more than a quarter, about 26%, of their income in taxes, in line with the median taxpayer, according to a report released Tuesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank.
/jlne.ws/4c8hD8V
Biden Wants More Money to Buy Oil for US Emergency Stockpiles
Bloomberg
The Biden administration wants more money to purchase oil as it seeks to expand its efforts to refill the depleted US emergency cache. The Energy Department has been slowly replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which reached a four-decade low following an unprecedented drawdown in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Two years ago, the Biden administration ordered the release of a record 180 million barrels from the emergency oil supply in the face of surging retail gasoline costs.
/jlne.ws/46qrJk9
Trump Says He Will 'Probably End Up' Debating New Rival Harris; Campaign previously declined to commit to scheduled forum
Stephanie Lai - Bloomberg
Donald Trump said he expects to eventually debate Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, after previously declining to commit to appear at a scheduled face-off. "Yes. I'll probably end up debating," Trump said in an interview with Laura Ingraham that aired Monday evening on Fox News. He added that "the debates should take place before the votes start being cast."
/jlne.ws/3yrIYoD
Russia, Iran, China Seek to Shape US Election, Officials Say; Americans are said to be involved wittingly or unwittingly; Report suggests Russia favors Trump, Iran opposes him
Jamie Tarabay and Chris Strohm - Bloomberg
Russia, China and Iran are all recruiting Americans to spread propaganda advancing their interests ahead of the US presidential election, American intelligence officials said Monday. Some US citizens have been knowingly helping foreign governments "seed, promote and add credibility to narratives that serve the foreign actors' interests," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in its latest update on election security. Others in the US have been duped into aiding the foreign actors, according to the report.
/jlne.ws/4cZSuyA
Kremlin rejects Western media speculation that Russia was behind rail sabotage in France
Reuters
The Kremlin on Monday dismissed Western media speculation that Russia was behind a series of attacks against the French railway system and said that Western media frequently tried to blame Moscow for everything without evidence. Saboteurs struck France's train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks across the country on Friday, causing travel chaos and exposing security gaps just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
/jlne.ws/4cdCiIU
Australia's foreign minister says Russia-North Korea defense deal is 'risky for the world'
Hyung-Jin Kim - Associated Press
/jlne.ws/3A1q5JV
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Artists sue SEC over whether NFTs are securities, use Taylor Swift tickets as example
Sarah Wynn - The Block
A pair of NFT artists sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to seek a court's answer on whether non-fungible tokens fall under the agency's jurisdiction. Law professor Brian Frye and "Song a Day Mann" songwriter Jonathan Mann filed the complaint against the SEC and its five commissioners on Monday in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Lawyers for Frye and Mann accused the SEC of waging a "campaign to assert jurisdiction over sales of digital art," citing two recent cases of the agency honing in on NFTs. Both have NFT projects in the works and are seeking a declaratory judgment from the court.
/jlne.ws/3YkgxDP
SEC Intends to Amend Complaint Against Third Party Tokens (Like SOL) in Binance Case; Third-party tokens are digital assets alleged to be unregistered securities by the SEC that were issued by various companies not named Binance.
Amitoj Singh - CoinDesk
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may be dropping it's charges against so-called third-party tokens, such as Solana's SOL and Polygon's MATIC, which have been part of its case against Binance, according to a court filing early Tuesday morning. According to the filing, the SEC has already informed the defendants, Binance and affiliated entities (namely Binance.US and founder Changpeng Zhao), that it "intends to seek leave to amend its complaint, including with respect to the 'Third Party Crypto Asset Securities'... "obviating the need for the Court to issue a ruling as to the sufficiency of the allegations as to those tokens at this time."
/jlne.ws/3Wis9EI
CFTC Approves Final Rule Allowing U.S. Introducing Brokers Direct Access to Registered Foreign Boards of Trade for the Submission of Customer Orders
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced it approved final rules amending Part 48 of its regulations. The final rules permit a foreign board of trade (FBOT), registered with the CFTC, to provide direct access to its electronic trading and order matching system to an introducing broker (IB), located in the United States and registered with the CFTC, for the submission of customer orders to the FBOT's trading system for execution. The final rules also establish a procedure for an FBOT to request revocation of its registration and remove certain outdated references to "existing no-action relief" in Part 48. The final rules are effective 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.
/jlne.ws/3WGnm1h
NFA orders Chicago, Ill. commodity pool operators Turing FX LLC and Rockhill Capital Management LLC not to reapply for NFA membership and orders their principal not to reapply for NFA membership for seven years
NFA
July 29, Chicago--NFA has ordered Turing FX LLC (Turing) and Rockhill Capital Management LLC (Rockhill), NFA Member commodity pool operators located in Chicago, Ill., not to reapply for NFA membership or act as a principal of an NFA Member at any time in the future. NFA has also ordered Christian Hillenbrand, the sole principal and associated person of both Turing and Rockhill, to withdraw from, and not reapply for, NFA membership status for seven years and to comply with other requirements and undertakings, including paying a $150,000 fine if he seeks to reapply for NFA membership in the future.
/jlne.ws/3LMum6u
NFA orders Florida-based former NFA Associate Richard Alexander Acosta to not apply for NFA membership status for five years
NFA
July 29, Chicago--NFA has ordered Richard Alexander Acosta (Acosta) to not apply for NFA membership status for five years and not to act as a principal of an NFA Member for seven years. Acosta is a former NFA Associate and a previous associated person and principal of Bit5ive Mining Fund Advisor, LLC (Bit5ive Advisor), a former NFA Member commodity pool operator located in Doral, Florida.
/jlne.ws/3YptqMN
SEC Charges Broker with Fraud Related to Sale of GWG L Bonds
SEC
On July 29, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in Federal Court in Charlotte alleging Garrett Moretz fraudulently sold high-risk debt securities known as L Bonds, which were issued by GWG Holdings, Inc. ("GWG"). The SEC's complaint alleges that Defendant Moretz misrepresented L Bonds to investors as "guaranteed" from at least September 2019 until about August 2020. Moretz's conduct during that period continued a long standing pattern of misrepresenting L Bonds as guaranteed to investors and potential investors.
/jlne.ws/4c4ilUG
SEC Charges CEO of Houston Energy Company with Fraud
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it filed charges against Thomas San Miguel, founder and former Chief Executive Officer of SGR Energy, Inc. ("SGR Energy"), a Houston-based fuel-blending business, for engaging in an unregistered and fraudulent securities offering.
/jlne.ws/3WrHGSF
SEC Wins Summary Judgment Against Former Silicon Valley Software Engineer in Multimillion Dollar Insider Trading Ring Case
SEC
On July 25, 2024, Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the SEC's motion for summary judgment against Sivannarayana Barama and entered a final judgment against Barama, finding him liable for almost $8.5 million as a result of insider trading.
/jlne.ws/4cbh8Lg
Dr Roger Munro unsuccessful in criminal appeal
ASIC
The Queensland Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Dr Roger Munro against his conviction on three counts of fraud. In May 2022, Dr Munro was sentenced to four and a half years jail with a non-parole period of 15 months, after pleading guilty to the fraud charges (22-102MR). He was released in August 2023, after serving his non-parole period.
/jlne.ws/3SrI5Di
ASIC proposes to extend relief for employee redundancy funds
ASIC
ASIC is seeking feedback on our proposal to extend the relief currently provided to employee redundancy funds from the AFS licensing and managed investment provisions of the Corporations Act. The relief is due to expire on 1 October 2024. The proposal involves remaking ASIC Corporations (Employee redundancy funds relief) Instrument 2015/1150 and extending the relief for a period of five years.
/jlne.ws/3WGUki1
Melbourne accountant Stephen Allen convicted for falsifying signatures on audit documents
ASIC
Stephen Robert Allen, the sole director of K.H.N Holdings Pty Ltd trading as Alkemade & Associates, was sentenced to serve a Community Correction Order of 70 hours over 12 months and fined $20,000 for making false statements to induce others, by the Melbourne County Court on 29 July 2024. Mr Allen was also convicted and fined $2,500 for making a statement knowing it to be false. Mr Allen operated accounting business Alkemade & Associates and held accounting qualifications and memberships, but he has never been a registered company auditor and K.H.N Holdings Pty Ltd has never been an authorised audit company.
/jlne.ws/3SrIKVi
NSW director charged with dishonestly causing a financial disadvantage to his company
ASIC
Mark Stevens of Kurraba Point, NSW, today appeared at the Downing Center Local Court charged with dishonestly causing a financial disadvantage by deception contrary to section 192E(1)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). Following an ASIC investigation, it is alleged that between 3 June 2016 and 10 June 2016, Mr Stevens dishonestly caused $110,000 payable to his company MWCLMS Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) to be redirected to Australasian Justice Services Pty Ltd (In Liquidation).
/jlne.ws/4dpkP18
FMA warns individual for market manipulation
FMA
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has issued a warning to an individual online trader for suspected market manipulation. Following an investigation, the FMA concluded that the individual likely breached the Financial Markets Conduct Act by engaging in trading which was likely to have the effect of creating a false or misleading appearance regarding the price of shares for a listed company.
/jlne.ws/3Wp33E3
Update on motor finance work
FCA
We're proposing to extend the current pause to the time firms have to respond to consumers about motor finance complaints involving a discretionary commission arrangement (DCA). We now intend to set out next steps in our review into the past use of DCAs in May 2025. By then, we expect to have analysed the data we have collected from firms and assessed the outcome of the Barclays judicial review of the Financial Ombudsman's decision to uphold a DCA complaint.
/jlne.ws/3YrOLVU
MAS Reprimands RVP One Pte. Ltd. and its Chief Executive Officer for Breaches of the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations
MAS
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reprimanded RVP One Pte. Ltd. (RVP), a registered fund management company (RFMC), and its chief executive officer (CEO) and director, Mr Viktor Panisch, for breaches of the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations (SFR).
/jlne.ws/4d1QOV5
Former banker ordered to disgorge $3 million illegal gains from insider dealing
SFC
The Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) has ordered Mr Wu Kam Shing, a former executive deputy general manager of China CITIC Bank International Limited, to disgorge close to $3 million in ill-gotten gains after the Tribunal found that he had engaged in insider dealing in the shares of Bloomage BioTechnology Corporation Limited (Bloomage) following proceedings brought by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) (Notes 1 to 4). Between March 2017 and June 2017, Wu worked with a team of staff members of the bank in respect of a loan transaction to finance Grand Full Development Limited's offer to privatise Bloomage.
/jlne.ws/4dnC1DQ
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Singapore's Temasek to Invest $30 Billion in US Over Five Years; State-owned investment firm looking to US for AI opportunities; Temasek's Americas investments have surpassed those in China
Marion Halftermeyer - Bloomberg
Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd. plans to invest $30 billion in the US market over the next five years as the firm remains cautious on putting money into China. "The Americas is going to be and continue to be the largest recipient of capital," Jane Atherton, Temasek's head of North America, said in an interview Monday. Temasek's investments for North and South America surpassed China for the first time in at least a decade this year. Americas investments now account for 22%, or $63 billion, of its portfolio. Chinese investments make up 19% of the portfolio, and those in Singapore account for 27%.
/jlne.ws/3YrM1I6
S&P Global raises annual profit forecast on demand for analytics products
Reuters
Financial information company S&P Global (SPGI) raised its full-year profit forecast on Tuesday and reported second-quarter adjusted earnings that rose 30% on the back of strong demand for its data and analytics products.
/jlne.ws/3YqJspU
India's duty cut to revive gold demand after weak June quarter, World Gold Council says
Rajendra Jadhav - Reuters
India's gold demand in the June quarter fell 5% from a year ago, but consumption in the second half of 2024 is set to improve due to a correction in local price following a steep reduction in import taxes, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Tuesday. Higher purchases in the world's second-biggest gold consumer could support global benchmark prices, which are trading near record highs.
/jlne.ws/3yjBP9U
Chinese Bullion Demand Takes a Hit in Risk to Gold Price Rally
Bloomberg
China's gold demand has cracked in the face of record-high prices for the precious metal, with sales at the country's jewelers in a funk as buyers hold off on purchases. Total demand for bullion fell almost 6% from a year earlier in the first half to 524 tons, the China Gold Council said in a quarterly report. The data imply a dramatic 52% plunge in jewelry purchases in the second quarter, according to Bloomberg calculations.
/jlne.ws/3WsYadm
ADM's Profit Shrinks More Than Expected on Industry Downturn; Second-quarter earnings plunge to a four-year seasonal low; Ampler supplies, lower processing margins weigh on results
Gerson Freitas Jr and Tarso Veloso - Bloomberg
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.'s quarterly profit shrank more than expected as the grain trading giant faces a downturn in crop markets. Chicago-based ADM reported earnings excluding some items of $1.03 a share for the second quarter, down 46% from a year earlier. That was the lowest profit since 2020 for the period, trailing the $1.24 average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company's shares slid 2.4% in New York before regular trading hours.
/jlne.ws/4cZQpCx
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | US home insurers suffer worst loss this century; Natural disasters, inflation and population growth prove toxic mix for industry
Ian Smith - Financial Times
US home insurers last year suffered their worst underwriting loss this century as a toxic mix of natural disasters, inflation and population growth in at-risk areas put a vital financial market under acute pressure. Insurers providing policies to homeowners suffered a $15.2bn net underwriting loss last year, according to figures from rating agency AM Best, a figure it said was the worst since at least 2000 and more than double the previous year's losses.
/jlne.ws/3WsNzPl
Kamala Harris will not ban fracking if she wins White House, campaign says; Harris, who had previously urged fracking ban, plans to highlight climate contrast between Democrats and Trump
Oliver Milman - The Guardian
Kamala Harris will not seek to ban fracking if she becomes US president, campaign officials have confirmed, with the de facto Democratic nominee expected to focus instead on aggressively promoting the stark contrast on the climate crisis between Joe Biden's administration and Donald Trump.
/jlne.ws/4dozIk0
How the US Power Grid Became a Mess-Just When We Need It Most; To make the transition from fossil fuels and keep up with new demand, America's electric system is overdue for an upgrade.
Naureen S Malik - Bloomberg
The US power grid is under stress. Outages are much more common than they were two decades ago, even as electricity consumption has remained little changed. One culprit is the extreme weather brought on by human-caused climate change. Another is the age of the grid, much of which was built in the 1960s and '70s. That would be enough of a national problem by itself. But utilities are also under pressure to satisfy a growing need to connect renewable energy sources, which requires building even more transmission lines to carry electricity and more substations to regulate voltage. And electricity consumption is suddenly climbing-or is about to-in large parts of the country. Some utilities are doubling their demand forecasts for the next five years. The main reasons: the electrification of transportation and buildings and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, which requires uniquely power-hungry data centers.
/jlne.ws/4dqUSOJ
Gov. DeSantis' veto of a beach bill roils environmentalists
Tom Bayles - NPR (WSUF)
Environmentalists remain perplexed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' recent veto of a wildly popular bipartisan bill to safeguard the state's coastlines and protect the health of beachgoers because he believed it gave the Florida Department of Health too much power.
/jlne.ws/4dmvDgl
Europe Needs COP29 Host Azerbaijan to Keep Exporting Fossil Fuels; The world may have agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at the last UN climate talks, but buyers more than producers of oil and gas will influence how quickly that happens.
Jess Shankleman - Bloomberg
From the city of Baku's shoreline along the Caspian Sea, amid restaurants and high end hotels, Azerbaijan's relationship with fossil fuels is plain to see by the rigs and tankers that dot the horizon. Azerbaijan, one of the birthplaces of the modern fossil fuel industry, will become another oil and gas exporter tasked with hosting the annual round of United Nations climate talks when delegates and world leaders descend on COP29 in Baku this November. The former Soviet republic of 10 million people follows the United Arab Emirates, which held the event last year.
/jlne.ws/4doz0mQ
Rio Tinto iced out by investor advocate ACCR over climate stance
Reuters
An Australian shareholder advocacy group said it would no longer engage with Rio Tinto after the miner lobbied the Australian government to remove a reference to climate change impacts in impending environmental legislation. Rio Tinto, Hancock Prospecting, and several other Western Australian industry parties sent a letter to Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressing concerns about the government's 'nature positive' environmental reforms.
/jlne.ws/3ynqyp9
The Rush to Shore Up the Power Grid Against Hurricanes, Heat and Hail; Energy companies are working to adapt as they confront record-setting temperatures, floods and windstorms
Phred Dvorak - The Wall Street Journal
Extreme weather is putting power supplies around the U.S. to the test. Energy companies are racing to find answers. Hurricane Beryl knocked out power for millions in Houston and surrounding areas this month. CenterPoint Energy, the city's main utility, took nearly two weeks to get power completely restored.
/jlne.ws/4c73ZCQ
Business school teaching case study: can biodiversity bonds save natural habitats? Colombia's pioneering initiative aims to protect the environment as the country moves from conflict to peace
Andrew Karolyi and John Tobin-de la Puente - Financial Times
In June, the Colombian subsidiary of Spanish banking group BBVA announced that it was issuing what it described as the financial sector's "first biodiversity bond", in order to finance habitat conservation and restoration projects in the South American country. The $50mn initiative - backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector-focused arm of the World Bank, as structurer and investor - marks a turnaround for a nation recovering from half a century of violence and guerrilla activity. It also places Colombia among a select group of pioneers, including the Seychelles and Belize, that are using the financial markets to support the conservation of nature.
/jlne.ws/3YqASYi
'Your body is completely drained': US workers toil in heatwaves with no protections; Though 2,300 people in the US died from heat-related illness in 2023, workers await robust protection laws
Michael Sainato - The Guardian
/jlne.ws/3WrKajX
'Freedom from fossil power reliance': Renewables records toppled across EU and UK; New analysis and official data confirm clean energy roll out is bolstering energy security, with wind and solar now generating more electricity than fossil fuels across the EU
James Murray - BusinessGreen
/jlne.ws/3A2xE2N
Robots Are Coming, and They're on a Mission: Install Solar Panels
The New York Times
/jlne.ws/4fsSKaL
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Proxymity and Deutsche Bank Extend Their Partnership With Singapore Market Deployment; Deutsche Bank Singapore goes live with Proxymity Vote Connect Global, the first Proxymity partner to launch in Singapore, expediting the arrival of true shareholder democracy worldwide with complete global meeting coverage.
Proxymity
Proxymity, the leading digital investor communications platform, announces a significant milestone as Deutsche Bank Singapore goes live with Proxymity's Vote Connect Global (VCG) product. Deutsche Bank is the first client to launch part of Proxymity's Vote Connect system in Asia, with Singapore serving as the inaugural market for Proxymity in the region. Proxymity's VCG product is live for both the Singapore domestic market but also where Deutsche Bank Singapore acts as a global hub providing access to global markets.
/jlne.ws/3StZlbn
Ex-Citigroup Sales Trader Sues for 2019 Unfair Dismissal in Hong Kong; Citi fired traders in 2019 after internal investigation in HK; Lui seeks damage for lost job opportunities, bonus and wages
Cathy Chan and Kiuyan Wong - Bloomberg
A former Citigroup Inc. trader sued the bank for wrongful dismissal in Hong Kong as part of a saga that prompted regulators to impose a $44.6 million fine on the company in 2022. Cindy Lui, who was a vice president in Hong Kong before getting fired in 2019, is seeking an unspecified amount of compensation for lost job opportunities and about HK$2 million ($256,000) in accrued pension benefits, including one month's wage, as well as her 2018 bonus.
/jlne.ws/3WGUk1y
Hedge Funds Selling Industrials at a Record Pace, Goldman Says
Esha Dey and Natalia Kniazhevich - Bloomberg
Hedge funds are rapidly unwinding their bets in industrials stocks, and rotating into the corners of the market exposed to commodities, such as energy and materials, amid growing geopolitical risks and concerns about economic slowdowns in the US and China. Industrials was the most net-sold US sector last week, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s prime brokerage desk report. More strikingly, the risk unwinds in the group in total dollar terms since July 11 were the largest on record over a two-week period, the report said, noting that it points to "capitulatory behavior" in the space, Vincent Lin wrote in the note to clients.
/jlne.ws/3ActzJm
Baupost Opts Out of IPO for Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Fund
Katherine Burton - Bloomberg
Seth Klarman's Baupost Group decided against investing in Bill Ackman's new US closed-end fund that's slated to price in coming days, according to people familiar with the matter. Ackman had named the Boston-based hedge fund as one of the potential backers in a letter last week to investors in Pershing Square's management company. He also told them that the initial public offering would raise $2.5 billion to $4 billion, far below the $25 billion estimate he originally floated.
/jlne.ws/4dezOeg
Hedge funds pile into euro systematic gamma selling; Range-bound rates markets in Europe entice hedge funds to sell short-dated straddle positions
Rebekah Tunstead - Risk.net
As a degree of certainty starts to emerge regarding the path of interest rates in Europe, dealers say hedge funds are increasingly willing to systematically sell rates volatility to take advantage of range-bound markets. Coming into the year, euro rates markets expected a series of cuts from the European Central Bank, but these only materialised on June 6 when the central bank lowered its policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%. Since then, two-year rates have remained between 3.4% and 3.05% and
/jlne.ws/3WkpH0q
Ackman's US Closed-End Fund Eyes $2 Billion in IPO Next Week
Bailey Lipschultz - Bloomberg
Bill Ackman's planned initial public offering for a US closed-end fund is expected to bring in $2 billion, less than 1/10th the target the billionaire hedge-fund manager suggested the sale could raise earlier this month. Pershing Square USA Ltd.'s IPO is expected to price on August 5 after the close, according to a term sheet seen by Bloomberg News. Pricing is contingent on the US Securities and Exchange Commission declaring effective an IPO registration statement. The fund would debut on the New York Stock Exchange the next day.
/jlne.ws/4dmDo5N
ETFs help fuel 25% jump in Taiwan fund assets in six months; Domestic equities ETFs continue to benefit from an unceasing flood of retail investors
Sinyi Au - Financial Times
The total onshore assets of Taiwan fund firms grew 24.8 per cent to NT$8.41tn ($257.41bn) in just six months as issuers of domestic equities exchange traded funds continue to benefit from the unceasing flood of retail investors into the market. This has helped to push assets under management for 16 out of the 38 fund houses in Taiwan past the NT$100bn milestone as of the end of June, according to the latest data from the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association.
/jlne.ws/4dkG1oQ
Funds Pull $20 Billion From Copper as Mega Bull Trade Unravels
Mark Burton - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3LLhA8c
Dmitry Balyasny: It's 'Very Hard' to Compete With Big Multistrategy Funds; Hedge fund founder comments in interview with David Rubenstein; Balyasny's multistrategy hedge fund oversees about $22 billion
Amanda Cantrell - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4dpmCDo
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | The Best Country for Remote Workers is Spain, New Report Says; Nine out of the top 10 digital nomad programs are located in Europe, says a new report.
Lebawit Lily Girma - Bloomberg
At a time when the opportunities for flexible work continue to shrink, the options for where to work as a digital nomad continue to grow. Just this year popular destinations such as Greece, Italy, Japan and Thailand have added digital nomad programs, in an effort to compete for foreign talent. But which country is the best all around option for remote workers? A new digital nomad report from global advisory firm Global Citizen Solutions, released on July 25, answers the question by reviewing relocation programs from 65 countries around the world.
/jlne.ws/3WFMHZc
When it's too hot to work; As temperatures soar to record levels, millions of people in the United States work in jobs that expose them to deadly heat. A new federal proposal could change that. So why are some employers fighting the changes?
The Washington Post (podcast)
This month, Earth hit its hottest days recorded in history. But even on the warmest days, millions of workers in the U.S. labor in heat that is increasingly hazardous to their health. This month, the Biden administration proposed a rule that, for the first time, would protect such workers, whether their jobs are indoors or outdoors. The proposal sets out two heat index triggers that would apply nationally and require employers to offer drinking water, among other safeguards. Yet some employers, in areas such as agriculture, construction and tourism, are resisting the changes, arguing that they would make their sectors less competitive.
/jlne.ws/4d25UtQ
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Hospitality Development Mirroring Societal Focus on Wellness; Bleisure Travel Trend Exemplifies Need for Creative Amenities
Shannon Seay - CoStar
With the global wellness market expected to exceed $1.8 trillion in 2024, hotel developers must consider how to best court the health-inclined traveler. Hospitality promises delivery of satisfaction, contentment, rest and well-being to travelers, and today, there is both a renewed interest and investment in carrying these ideals forward through innovative design and clever application of hotel fundamentals.
/jlne.ws/4d7xKF1
20 Simple Wellness Rituals These Fitness Founders Swear By
Mimi Carr - Camille Styles
Self-care takes on countless forms. It can be embodied through the stillness of watching the sunset, sweating it out in a hot yoga sesh, or cooking your favorite protein-packed meal with your partner at the end of a long workday. But with so many ways to experience wellness, why is it so hard to incorporate into our daily routines? For answers, I went straight to the source and asked my favorite female fitness founders to share the wellness rituals they swear by.
/jlne.ws/3WK1Clg
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Singapore's Temasek to Invest $30 Billion in US Over Five Years
Marion Halftermeyer - Bloomberg
Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd. plans to invest $30 billion in the US market over the next five years as the firm remains cautious on putting money into China. "The Americas is going to be and continue to be the largest recipient of capital," Jane Atherton, Temasek's head of North America, said in an interview Monday.
/jlne.ws/4c2RGrf
India not rethinking issue of allowing Chinese investment, trade minister says
Manoj Kumar - Reuters
India is not re-thinking the issue of allowing Chinese investments into the country, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. Earlier in July, India's Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said in the government's annual economic survey that New Delhi should focus on direct investments from China to boost its exports and help keep India's growing trade deficit with Beijing in check.
/jlne.ws/4d4MR20
India Boosts Planting of Oilseeds After Better Monsoon Rains
Pratik Parija - Bloomberg
India's farmers increased sowing of oilseeds and pulses as the nation records monsoon rains higher than the seasonal average. Oilseed crops have been planted on about 17.17 million hectares (42.4 million acres), up 3.8% from a year earlier, according to a statement from the farm ministry on Friday. India is the world's top importer of edible oils.
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French Olympic Security Tripped Up by Attacks Outside of Paris; Scale and coordination has taken authorities by surprise
Benoit Berthelot and Hugo Miller - Bloomberg
During the Olympics, Paris has become a maximum security-site on high alert for potential terrorist attacks. Instead, saboteurs attempted to knock out train and internet infrastructure. Both incidents involved fiber optic cables. Attacks on France's high-speed railway hours before the opening ceremony on Friday targeted signaling cables. Then, overnight Sunday across France, cables in multiple locations carrying broadband service were cut. "They've put a very effective ring around Paris and you look for the very soft underbelly, and that's everything outside Paris," said Dale Buckner, Chief Executive Officer of security firm Global Guardian.
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IDB to expand contingent swap scheme in Latin America; New mechanism gives regional development banks cheaper FX rates with hedges linked to credit events
Cole Lipsky - Risk.net
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) plans to expand a new programme enabling regional development banks to convert US dollar-denominated loans into local currency at a much cheaper rate via a novel cross-currency swap transaction. A contingent cross-currency swap trade, the first of its kind to be executed by a multinational development bank, was completed in June with the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), one of the largest sovereign-owned borrowers in Latin
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