| February 11, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Valentine's Day is approaching. I can always tell because I get a love note in my inbox from the CFTC about romance scams
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has launched "Dating or Defrauding?", a national awareness campaign to warn Americans about relationship investment scams. In collaboration with federal, state, and nonprofit organizations, the initiative highlights scams where fraudsters use dating apps, social media, and wrong-number texts to build trust and solicit money through cryptocurrency, gift cards, or wire transfers.
Red flags include an unwillingness to meet in person, moving conversations to encrypted messaging apps, and repeated investment suggestions. The campaign, running on social media with the hashtag #DatingOrDefrauding, directs users to resources on recognizing and preventing scams.
Relationship investment scams, also known as "pig butchering," caused nearly $4 billion in losses in 2023, according to the FBI. Scammers use fake profiles, AI-generated content, and fraudulent trading platforms to manipulate victims. The campaign aims to raise awareness and prevent further victimization, especially among those living alone or frequently using social media.
The CFTC also released a customer advisory to help the public identify, report, and share information about these scams.
The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal weighed in on the steel and aluminum tariffs announced by President Trump with an editorial titled "The Truth About Trump's Steel Tariffs" with the subheadline "His first-term levies hurt consumers and U.S. manufacturers." The editorial can be boiled down to this: Trump's 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs hurt U.S. manufacturers and consumers while benefiting a few steel companies. Though framed as national security measures, production was already rising due to tax cuts and deregulation. Instead, the tariffs raised costs, leading to job losses, lower profits for Ford and GM, and retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Europe. Despite some exemptions, manufacturing declined, and steel demand fell. Now, steel producers are pushing for new tariffs to boost profits, as seen in Cleveland-Cliffs' 17.9% stock surge. This political rent-seeking enriches a few at the expense of many, yet Trump remains unmoved by evidence, doubling down on a failed policy.
The US and UK declined to sign a global AI safety declaration at the AI Action Summit in Paris, with US Vice President JD Vance warning against "overly precautionary" regulations, the Financial Times reported. Vance emphasized the US's commitment to maintaining AI dominance, ensuring advanced systems are built domestically. The summit's declaration, signed by about 60 countries, promotes safe and transparent AI development, but the US objected to language on multilateral governance, while the UK found it too restrictive. Amid rising competition with China, Vance cautioned against AI partnerships with authoritarian regimes. Meanwhile, Europe announced EUR200bn in AI investments to reduce reliance on the US and China.
CFTC Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger and SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce will engage in a virtual fireside chat on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, from 3:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST). This discussion, part of the Cryptocurrency After the Election event hosted by the Federalist Society, will likely explore the future of cryptocurrency regulation and policy in light of recent election outcomes.
The CME Group disciplined Derrick D'Angelo Edwards for violating COMEX Rule 432 by failing to appear for an interview in a disruptive trading investigation. Charged on November 8, 2024, he did not respond and was deemed to have admitted guilt. On January 22, 2025, the COMEX Business Conduct Committee found him guilty and imposed a $50,000 fine along with a permanent suspension from all CME Group trading and market access. The penalty took effect on February 10, 2025.
I think Matthew Tuttle played a little too much of the "Space Invaders" video game during college. Tuttle Capital has filed for the Tuttle Capital UFO Disclosure AI Powered ETF (ticker: UFOD), aiming to invest in companies potentially involved in reverse-engineering alien technology based on government UFO disclosures, the Financial Times reported. The fund, one of eight newly registered ETFs, will allocate at least 80% of its assets to aerospace and defense firms rumored to work with classified technology. It may also short companies at risk of obsolescence due to potential "alien-level" advancements. CEO Matthew Tuttle sees UFO technology as a game-changer but acknowledges the speculative nature of the investment, stating that the fund's launch depends on sufficient government disclosures. The firm's other ETFs focus on AI-driven investment strategies across various sectors.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: RJ O'Brien reaches strategic agreement with commodities fintech, SGX, ASX see monthly trading volumes rise amid hedging spike, EEX hits new Japanese power futures daily volume record, Former CFTC chair Behnam joins Georgetown's business school, Euronext latest to report a strong start to 2025 for volumes and ANALYSIS: CME adds options, smaller contracts to capture shifting commodity flows.
Normally, with gold making all-time highs, London gold PR maven Simon Rostron would be sharing statistics, records and insights about the London gold market on LinkedIn. However, he shared on the site today why he has been missing in action. He had a heart attack last Wednesday. He said he should be back "in the traces, tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon." Glad to hear he is recovering well.
Erica Elliott Richardson has taken on the role of chief of staff to ICI President and CEO Eric Pan, in addition to her responsibilities as the Investment Company Institute's chief strategic communications officer. Richardson served as the director of CFTC's Office of Public Affairs under Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo
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:
- Trump's Tariffs Make Currency Trading Cool Again After Years of Decline from Bloomberg.
- For Investors in Hedge Funds, 'Portable Alpha' Is Back from The Wall Street Journal.
- Trump Wants to Manage Your Investment Portfolio from The Wall Street Journal. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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 Bob Pisani: Sticking With It - Life Lessons from the NYSE Floor JohnLothianNews.com Bob Pisani is the last of his breed. Pisani was hired in the summer of 1990, a year after CNBC went on the air, and is one of the last original hires from that first year of operation. Pisani aspired to be both a physicist and a journalist and was determined not to follow his father's path into the real estate business. However, during his early college years, he discovered that his skills in physics were merely adequate, prompting a change in direction. Instead, he partnered with his father-an adjunct professor in real estate-to co-author a book on the subject. That book eventually led to an interview with the fledgling CNBC, and ultimately, a job offer to become the network's real estate correspondent. Watch the video »  Dr. Pedro Gurrola-Perez and Richard Metcalfe - World Federation of Exchanges Watch Part 1 » Dr. Pedro Gurrola-Perez and Richard Metcalfe - World Federation of Exchanges Watch Part 2 »
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Trump to loosen enforcement of US law banning bribery of foreign officials
Reuters
President Donald Trump on Monday planned to sign an executive order that directs the Justice Department to pause prosecutions of Americans accused of bribing foreign government officials while trying to gain business in their countries. According to a copy of a fact sheet seen by Reuters, the order is aimed at restoring American economic competitiveness by ordering "revised, reasonable enforcement guidelines for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977."
/jlne.ws/41bf0kg
***** This should open up the market for some memecoins. I mean why pay for bribes in hard currency.~JJL
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Thousands of Danes sign petition to buy California from U.S.
Travis Schlepp - KTLA
In response to President Donald Trump's continued musing about the U.S. acquiring Greenland from Denmark, Danish citizens have launched their own effort to purchase America's most economically prosperous state. An online petition seeking the "Denmarkification" of California has seemingly garnered nearly 200,000 signatures, with a pitch to Danish citizens that purchasing the Golden State would provide them with more sunshine, dominance in the tech industry, limitless avocado toast and easy access to Disneyland - which organizers say would be renamed to honor fairytale author and poet Hans Christian Andersen.
/jlne.ws/4aVYxUw
****** The better troll was the video of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announcing he was renaming Lake Michigan as Lake Illinois and annexing Green Bay.~JJL
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Statement on the Departure of Chairman Rostin Behnam
CFTC
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham and Commissioners Kristin N. Johnson, Christy Goldsmith Romero and Summer K. Mersinger issued the following statement: "We would like to recognize former Chairman Rostin Behnam for his years of public service to the American people and his lengthy tenure at the CFTC. He departed the CFTC on February 7, after having served as a Commissioner for nearly 8 years, including as the agency's 15th Chairman from 2021 to 2025. "Since joining the CFTC in 2017, former Chairman Behnam has been a steadfast supporter and staunch advocate for the CFTC's mission, our people, and the markets we serve. He led the agency through a time of rapid changes to the derivatives markets. "We wish former Chairman Behnam and his team the very best in their future endeavors."
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****** A gracious message from the remaining CFTC commissioners upon Russ Behnam's departure. ~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our top story Monday was ICE's video on LinkedIn of Jeff Sprecher talking about ICE's expansion of market access and transparency into energy, fixed income, and now the mortgage industry. Second was A Super Bowl ad featuring Google's Gemini AI contained a whopper of a mistake about cheese, from Fortune. Third was a tie between Trump's 'interesting problem' with Treasuries from the Financial Times and The Investor Betting on People In Their 50s and 60s-Because Older Is Better from The Wall Street Journal.
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| Lead Stories | Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl 'Trades' Pit State Regulators Against Feds; Crypto.com and Kalshi have made an end-run around state regulators to allow wagers on the NFL championship, the biggest betting day in American sports.
Ira Boudway and Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg
On Dec. 23, while many Americans were on holiday, the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com made an unexpected announcement: the Singapore-based company was inviting users in the US to "trade their own prediction" on sports events, including who would win the Super Bowl. Alongside the chance to buy and sell memecoins and NFTs, Crypto.com added markets for "yes" or "no" positions on the outcome of the NFL playoffs and college football bowl games. Technically, these are "swaps" contracts: For every "yes," there was a corresponding "no," with prices constantly moving. In late January, for example, a "yes" for the Kansas City Chiefs to win the NFL championship cost $56.75 and would paid $100 if they do; the "no" side cost $46.75 and would pay $100 if the Philadelphia Eagles win. (Crypto.com keeps the extra $3.50.) "It's a fundamentally new concept for sports, and we're thrilled to be the first regulated platform in the US to offer it," said Crytpo.com's co-founder and CEO, Kris Marszalek, in a press release.
/jlne.ws/4hrOKba
Has meme-stock kid Robinhood finally come of age? Online brokerage set to report blowout quarter as crypto trading has bolstered revenues
Jennifer Hughes - Financial Times
When Robinhood reports full-year earnings on Wednesday, it will mark a coming of age for the engine of 2021's fleeting meme stock mania. Analysts anticipate fourth-quarter profits of more than double any previous quarter off the back of a blowout period for rivals. The online broker is expected to report its first-ever annual profit, more than three years after it first went public. After shedding 80 per cent of its market capitalisation in the wake of its IPO, its shares have more than quadrupled over the past year, far outpacing rivals such as Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab. It now trades 40 per cent above its IPO price, with a market value closing in on $50bn.
/jlne.ws/4aTntvW
Multi-Manager Hedge Funds Pose Stability Risk, Says BOE's Bailey
Greg Ritchie - Bloomberg
The rise of multi-manager hedge funds poses a threat to financial stability, according to Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey. Bailey said there are signs of correlated activity, which combined with often ruthless risk-management policies could see these funds rush to the exits during market shocks. Multi-manager funds, also known as multistrats or pod shops, have taken the lion's share of investment flows in hedge funds in recent years, with clients attracted by the promise of steady and diversified returns from traders organized into distinct strategies, or pods.
/jlne.ws/4jLNPE2
Bank of England's Bailey Says Deregulation Can Be Bad for Growth; Governor cautions against political rush to rip up rules; Trump has prompted regulators like the BOE to pause Basel 3.1
Philip Aldrick - Bloomberg
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has warned politicians against slashing regulation for the sake of it, saying there is "no trade-off" between growth and financial stability. In a speech at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in London, he cautioned that "there is a reaction taking place against regulation," in particular the financial stability response to the 2008 financial crisis. "We must not forget the lasting damage done," he said.
/jlne.ws/4jMC28F
Snowstorm Bound for DC Prompts Government to Shut Offices Early; Flights and trains canceled or delayed across Mid Atlantic; A second winter system will take aim at Chicago Wednesday
Brian K Sullivan - Bloomberg
A fast-moving winter storm is forecast to batter the Midwest and Mid Atlantic with snow and ice, prompting federal offices in Washington to close early and snarling air and train traffic. As much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow will fall in the nation's capital starting at midday Tuesday, growing heavier at night, according to the US Weather Prediction Center. The US Office of Personnel Management said all federal employees must leave work by 2 p.m..
/jlne.ws/3EvnHgt
Elon Musk-Led Group Makes $97.4 Billion Bid for Control of OpenAI; Unsolicited offer complicates Sam Altman's plans to convert OpenAI to a for-profit company
Jessica Toonkel and Berber Jin - The Wall Street Journal
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk is offering $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, upping the stakes in his battle with Sam Altman over the company behind ChatGPT. Musk's attorney, Marc Toberoff, said he submitted a bid for all the nonprofit's assets to OpenAI's board of directors Monday. The unsolicited offer adds a major complication to Altman's carefully laid plans for OpenAI's future, including converting it to a for-profit company and spending up to $500 billion on AI infrastructure through a joint venture called Stargate. He and Musk are already fighting in court over the direction of OpenAI. "It's time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was," Musk said in a statement provided by Toberoff. "We will make sure that happens."
/jlne.ws/4hy5Iog
DOGE access to U.S. finances risks loss of American credibility that 'will prove difficult to regain', former Treasury secretaries warn
Fatima Hussein, David Klepper and The Associated Press via Fortune
The Department of Government Efficiency's embed into the federal government has raised a host of concerns, transforming a debate over how to cut government waste into a confrontation over privacy rights and the nation's financial standing in the world.
/jlne.ws/3QjVgVn
As he targets the CFPB, Elon Musk looks to dismantle his own potential regulator; The consumer watchdog would have oversight of X if it becomes a platform for processing digital payments.
Jordan Weissmann - Yahoo Finance
Elon Musk has spent years laying the groundwork to transform X into a digital payments platform. Now he appears to be helping dismantle the agency that would oversee it. Over the weekend, the Trump administration ordered a halt to effectively all work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the regulator that ensures companies like large banks, mortgage lenders, student loan servicers, and online payment apps don't bilk their customers. It also barred employees from showing up to the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters this week, apparently following the playbook it used to rapidly shut down USAID earlier this month.
/jlne.ws/4gClbmf
Lutnick Settlement on $50 Million Newmark Bonus Lets Him Keep It; Cantor Fitzgerald's Newmark Group has insurance to cover pact; Accord comes as Senate weighs Lutnick's Commerce nomination
Jef Feeley - Bloomberg
Cantor Fitzgerald LP Chief Executive Officer Howard Lutnick's settlement of an investor lawsuit over a $50 million bonus lets him keep the money, while the company's Newmark Group Inc. will be paid back by insurance, according to a court filing. Details of the settlement, which Newmark and shareholders agreed to in December, were outlined in a filing Friday in Delaware Chancery Court. Erica Chase, a spokesperson for Cantor Fitzgerald, declined to comment on the pact or its terms.
/jlne.ws/40X0FXo
Robinhood Rolls Out Options Trading in UK With ISAs to Come Soon
Aisha S Gani - Bloomberg
Robinhood Markets Inc. is launching US equity options trading for UK customers on Tuesday, as the investment firm looks to expand into tax-free accounts in Britain soon. The Menlo Park, California-headquartered firm said it has approval from UK regulators to offer options to retail investors. It comes months after Robinhood rolled out margin trading to British traders. Jordan Sinclair, president of Robinhood UK, said in an interview with Bloomberg News that customers had been asking for options since the company launched in the UK last year. He said the type of contract that customers can take out "represents an underlying NVIDIA stock or Tesla stock, or S&P 500 for an index option. So that piece is very well regulated," he added.
/jlne.ws/40SaS7t
Man Behind Fake SEC Bitcoin ETF Post Pleads Guilty; Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old from Alabama, was arrested in October for his role in the hack of the SEC's X account
Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal
An Alabama man has pleaded guilty to hacking into the Securities and Exchange Commission's official X account last year to manipulate bitcoin prices. Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old from Athens, Ala., on Monday pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to one count of conspiring to commit identity theft and access device fraud, according to the Justice Department. Council will be sentenced on May 16 and faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release.
/jlne.ws/4hO0owO
The Door Is Wide Open for Foreign Cash to Infiltrate Trump 2.0; The playbook for corrupting the US government from abroad has already been written. With Donald Trump back in power, it's now a question of who picks it up.
Bradley Hope - Vanity Fair
For anyone wondering how easily foreign agendas can infiltrate the White House, there's no better teacher than Jho Low. The Malaysian fraudster who became an alleged Chinese spy didn't just steal billions from his country's sovereign wealth fund in one of the largest financial scandals in history-he managed to infiltrate both the Obama and Trump administrations, using money and charm to extraordinary effect. (Low, currently a fugitive, has said he was an intermediary for deals and denies wrongdoing.) These aren't old stories. They're warnings.Just last month, Frank White Jr., a key Democratic fundraiser for Barack Obama and one of Low's early connectors to Obama's sphere, quietly settled with the Biden administration to return $20 million tied to Low's fraud, though White Jr. denies he knew the unlawful source of the funds or did anything wrong. Pras Michel, the Fugees rapper turned political middleman, is expected to be sentenced in the months ahead for the role he played in funneling foreign money into American politics.
/jlne.ws/4gCQqNI
The start of Trump 2.0 is not quite what Wall Street expected
David Hollerith - Yahoo Finance
The start of Trump 2.0 is not quite what Wall Street expected. Dealmaking had its slowest month in January in more than a decade. A prized tax break for hedge funds and private equity firms came under threat. And big banks got grilled over whether they "debanked" certain customers. These complications were not part of the plan when Donald Trump was elected in November, an event that set off a round of optimistic predictions about an M&A boom, looser rules and a more favorable approach to big Wall Street firms in Washington, DC.
/jlne.ws/3EwsMFs
FCA to delete most emails after 12 months; Campaigners say the policy risks hampering probes into the regulator that rely on historic email exchanges
Martin Arnold - Financial Times
The UK financial watchdog has decided to start deleting many emails a year after it receives them, raising concerns among staff and campaigners that it could frustrate efforts to hold the regulator to account. The Financial Conduct Authority told staff last week it would start automatically deleting emails that remained in their inbox for more than 12 months unless they were considered important enough to be saved in its data repositories.
/jlne.ws/3Ez3CWR
JPMorgan and bank capital requirements: the long-short story; Much ado about netting
Daniel Davies - Financial Times
Behind a contested headline is a complicated, somewhat philosophical question: we all know that JPMorgan has a very big trading business, but how big is it? As reported last month by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism's Josephine Moulds and David Kenner of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: A JPMorgan whistleblower said the world's biggest bank was misreporting its trading activity, which could have inflated its earnings by billions of dollars and added millions to executive pay packages. They reported the issue in a letter sent to board members, the Federal Reserve and the financial regulator, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) can reveal. Another banker familiar with the matter said other major US banks were doing the same - with tacit approval from the Federal Reserve, the US central bank.
/jlne.ws/3WYCdUn
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine 'may be Russian someday', Trump says ahead of Zelenskyy meeting with Vance; US president also says he wants a return on US aid given to Ukraine such as rare minerals, in interview with Fox News
Agence France-Presse via The Guardian
US president Donald Trump has floated the idea that Ukraine "may be Russian someday", as his vice-president JD Vance gears up to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy later this week. Pushing for an end to the nearly three-year war with Russia, Trump discussed the conflict in an interview with broadcaster Fox News that aired on Monday. "They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday," he said.
/jlne.ws/40UTZch
Ukraine attack damages industrial facility in Russia's Saratov, regional governor says
Reuters
A Ukrainian drone attack damaged an industrial facility in Russia's southern region of Saratov, its governor said early on Tuesday, while a Ukrainian official said an oil refinery had been hit. "There are no casualties," Roman Busargin, the governor of Saratov, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app, citing initial details, but without identifying the damaged facility. Russia's defence ministry said its air defences destroyed 40 Ukrainian drones overnight, 18 of them over Saratov.
/jlne.ws/3Qemlth
Talking to Putin Won't Be Enough to End Ukraine War; The Russian leader says he's ready to meet. He won't negotiate seriously until the costs of fighting are steeper.
The Editorial Board - Bloomberg
Later this week, White House envoys plan to discuss with their European counterparts how to end the nearly three-year war in Ukraine. For any negotiations to produce a durable settlement, however, the US and its allies must show they're willing to enforce it. To date, Russian President Vladimir Putin has demonstrated no serious interest in peacemaking. Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine and believes it holds the upper hand on the battlefield. Putin set out to subjugate the whole country; walking away with parts of four war-ravaged regions after taking more than 600,000 casualties would hardly be a triumph. He has repeatedly denied Ukraine's sovereignty and set preconditions for talks - including forcing Ukraine to effectively disarm and abandon its NATO ambitions - designed to make it easier to restart the fighting.
/jlne.ws/42L5aad
Trump is forcing Europe to a reckoning on Ukraine; The worst nightmare of leaders on the continent is a deal between Putin and the US president done over their heads
Sylvie Kauffmann - Financial Times
At the end of a lecture on history and freedom delivered last week in a magnificent 19th-century hall at the Sorbonne university in Paris, the American historian Timothy Snyder had this message for Europeans: if a ceasefire agreement is reached in Ukraine, "you should throw in everything you have to Ukraine - EU membership, troops, massive investment. Otherwise you will live in the shadow of war permanently. This is the hour of Europe, because the US will do nothing."
/jlne.ws/3CH4bgF
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| Middle East Conflict | | News about the current conflict in the Middle East that began with the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. | Gaza: The Trump family's Middle East business interests; US President Donald Trump's comments about developing Gaza for real estate purposes are not new. For years, his family has viewed the Middle East as key to its business ambitions.
Arthur Sullivan - DW
US President Donald Trump's comments on February 4 about Gaza revived an idea previously touted by both him and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. His latest plan positions Gaza in terms of real estate potential, rather than the humanitarian or political situation for its inhabitants. After claiming that the US would "take over the Gaza Strip" and "own it," Donald Trump said: "We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal. And I don't want to be cute. I don't want to be a wise guy. But the 'Riviera of the Middle East,' this could be something that could be so, this could be so magnificent."
/jlne.ws/4jRqAZo
Trump to Meet Jordan's King as Gaza Truce Hangs in the Balance; Hamas and President Trump have threatened to upend the cease-fire. Analysts say those words could prove hollow, but the deal still may not last beyond early March.
Patrick Kingsley and Ronen Bergman - The New York Times
The future of the cease-fire in Gaza, along with the territory's long-term fate, hung in the balance on Tuesday as President Trump prepared to meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan amid a public spat between the American leader and Hamas. Mr. Trump envisions taking over Gaza and expelling Palestinians to nearby countries, including Jordan. He has threatened to end American financial support for Jordan if the king refuses to accept that vision.
/jlne.ws/3Ezfwjl
Hamas Postpones Release of More Hostages 'Until Further Notice'; Stalling the next release of hostages from the Gaza Strip, scheduled for the coming weekend, raises new challenges for the already tenuous six-week truce and chances for a lasting end to the war.
Lara Jakes, and Johnatan Reiss - The New York Times
Hamas has indefinitely postponed the release of Israeli hostages who were set to be freed from the Gaza Strip this weekend, a spokesman said on Monday, accusing Israel's government of violating an already fragile cease-fire agreement. The move threatens to derail both the six-week truce agreed to last month and the prospects for agreement on a lasting end to the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was consulting with his top advisers on Monday night, and planned to move up a scheduled meeting with his security cabinet to Tuesday morning, a top official said.
/jlne.ws/3COuWQj
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Euronext collaborates with Euroclear to bolster collateral management offering; New development aligns with Euronext's plan to expand its Italian repo clearing franchise to a wider range of European government bonds.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Euronext and Euroclear have collaborated to support the development of Euronext Clearing's collateral management services for repo and other asset classes. The development comes as part of Euronext's plan to expand its Italian repo clearing franchise to a wider range of European government bonds. As part of the move, Euronext Clearing will use Euroclear as its first triparty agent to allow for improved collateral management capabilities.
/jlne.ws/3QcS4Ln
BMLL adds ASX 24 and JSE to derivatives coverage; Specifically, level three order book data for ASX 24's XSFE and JSE's XSAF and ZFXM are now available in the BMLL Data Lab.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) are the latest derivatives venues to be included in BMLL's coverage. Over the last two years, BMLL has added more than 40 equities and futures datasets globally, covering 98% of the MSCI All Country World Index as of October 2024, and has also added more than 50 new trading venues globally over the last 18 months, as well as OPRA options data.
/jlne.ws/4aXlK8H
CME Group Announces First Trades of Physically-Delivered Ethanol Futures & Options
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced its new physically-delivered Ethanol futures and options are now available for trading. A total of five futures contracts traded on February 7, 2025.
/jlne.ws/40KFK9S
CME Group's Expanded Suite of Short-Term Agricultural Options Now Available for Trading
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced that its expanded suite of Weekly agricultural options on grains and oilseed futures, which now include an expiry for every day of the trading week, are available for trading.
/jlne.ws/3CKGmo9
Product Modification Summary: Delisting of the Coal (API 2) cif ARA (Argus/McCloskey) Future-Style Margined Option on Calendar Futures Strip Contract - Effective February 10, 2025
CME Group
Delisting of the Coal (API 2) cif ARA (Argus/McCloskey) Future-Style Margined Option on Calendar Futures Strip Contract.
/jlne.ws/41cIGhi
Eurex Clearing Improves Collateral Mobility with DLT
Shanny Basar - MarketsMedia
Eurex Clearing is planning to use distributed ledger technology to improve collateral mobilization in the second quarter of this year as the financial data and markets infrastructure (FDMI) industry is facing an inflection point, according to consultancy McKinsey. In January 2025 Eurex Clearing said in a statement it had received non-objection from German regulator BaFin for DLT-supported collateral mobilization for its clients in all the markets that the CCP services - repo clearing; the cash market; and over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives.
/jlne.ws/41ayZ2G
Euronext announces collaboration with Euroclear to enhance Euronext Clearing's collateral management offering
Euronext
Euronext has announced a new collaboration with Euroclear to support the development of Euronext Clearing's collateral management services for repo and other asset classes. The initiative is a major step to enable Euronext's ambition to expand its leading Italian repo clearing franchise to a large range of European government bonds bringing an efficient value offering to European and international clients. Euronext Clearing will use Euroclear as its first triparty agent to enable enhanced collateral management capabilities. Leveraging on Euroclear's solutions, Euronext Clearing will offer clients automated, streamlined and flexible collateral solutions, improving operational efficiency and margin and balance sheet optimisation. Euroclear will act as an independent third party, managing the selection, valuation and substitution of collateral to ensure it meets eligibility criteria while optimising operational efficiency. It will also handle settlement and custody, provide regular reporting and ensure regulatory compliance, allowing clients to benefit from improved liquidity management and a reduced administrative burden.
/jlne.ws/3QaMBEX
JSE & Risk Insights collaborate to provide market participants with data led ESG & Sustainability analytics and ESG ratings
JSE
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and Risk Insights (RI), are collaborating to provide and use AI-powered data and rating tools developed by Risk Insights to advance Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure for JSE listed companies and asset managers.
/jlne.ws/4hwSeJA
Nasdaq, Inc. Announces Cash Tender Offers for Up to $200 Million Outstanding Debt Securities
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) ("Nasdaq" or the "Company") today announced its offers to purchase for cash up to an aggregate principal amount of $200,000,000 (the "Aggregate Notes Cap") of its outstanding Notes, comprised of (i) up to $40,000,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2028 Notes Cap") of the Company's 5.350% Senior Notes due 2028 (the "2028 Notes"), (ii) up to $50,000,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2034 Notes Cap") of the Company's 5.550% Senior Notes due 2034 (the "2034 Notes") and (iii) up to $110,000,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2052 Notes Cap") of the Company's 3.950% Senior Notes due 2052 (the "2052 Notes"). The 2028 Notes, the 2034 Notes and the 2052 Notes are referred to collectively herein as the "Notes," such offers to purchase are referred to collectively herein as the "Tender Offers" and each a "Tender Offer," and the 2028 Notes Cap, the 2034 Notes Cap and the 2052 Notes Cap are referred to collectively herein as the "Series Notes Caps" and each a "Series Notes Cap."
/jlne.ws/4gxrOpJ
TAIFEX Newsletter - February 2025
TAIFEX
/jlne.ws/3EwvD18
Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange and Montreal Exchange Closed for Family Day
Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange and Montreal Exchange will be closed on Monday, February 17, 2025 for Family Day. The Exchanges will re-open and resume regular trading on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.
/jlne.ws/3CLYTjS
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Financial services firm FactSet buys LiquidityBook in $246.5 million deal
Reuters
FactSet said on Monday it has acquired trade management platform LiquidityBook in an all-cash deal valued at $246.5 million as the financial data services firm seeks to provide more consolidated solutions to its clients. The deal will integrate FactSet's existing workflow with LiquidityBook's cloud-based trading solutions, improving efficiency and strengthening FactSet's position in the financial platform market, the company said.
/jlne.ws/415FuDY
Altman Says 'No Thank You' to Musk-Led Group's OpenAI Bid
Shirin Ghaffary, Kate Clark and Rachel Metz - Bloomberg
A group of investors led by Elon Musk has offered to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI for $97.4 billion, escalating a clash between the Tesla chief executive and the artificial intelligence company he co-founded. With the unsolicited bid, Musk said he hopes to return OpenAI to being "the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was," according to a statement. In response, OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman posted on Musk's X social-media platform: "No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want." (Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, but its value later diminished, according to outside estimates.)
/jlne.ws/3WUN5CQ
Musk to replace sacked government workers with machines
Harriet Barber - The Telegraph
Elon Musk is planning to replace tens of thousands of sacked government workers with artificial intelligence tools, according to US officials. The world's richest man has moved quickly to radically reduce spending and shrink the federal workforce, with more than 40,000 employees already accepting offers to resign for eight months of pay.
/jlne.ws/4gBcVTa
MogulStrategies.com Launches Investment Platform with Suite of Specialized Funds Catering to Modern Investors' Needs for Diversity, Growth, and Security; New era dawns for accredited investors with a blend of traditional markets and the digital frontier
MogulStrategies.com
MogulStrategies.com today announced the launch of its new investment platform, which offers a suite of specialized funds designed to cater to the modern investor's need for diversity, growth, and security. With an eye on traditional markets and the digital frontier, MogulStrategies.com is set to redefine how accredited investors approach their portfolios.
(NO LINK)
BCG expands London office in bet on in-person working; US consulting firm is latest company to boost office space in sign of hope for UK capital's commercial property market
Ellesheva Kissin and Stephen Foley - Financial Times
Boston Consulting Group has expanded its main London office in a bet on in-person working, the latest company to boost its office space and a sign of hope for the UK capital's ailing commercial property market. The US consulting firm told the Financial Times it had added a floor to its Fitzrovia site, where it previously occupied four-and-a-half floors, citing growing demand for office space driven by its emphasis on in-person work and plans for UK growth.
/jlne.ws/3CMWENl
Why Do AI Chatbots Have Such a Hard Time Admitting 'I Don't Know'? Hallucinations are the hottest problem in artificial intelligence, spurring companies and researchers to find new solutions
Ben Fritz - The Wall Street Journal
"Who is the journalist Ben Fritz married to?" It's a simple question with a difficult-to-find answer, as there's virtually no information on the internet about my marriage. When I recently asked several of the world's most advanced artificial-intelligence chatbots, I got some bizarre responses: a writer I've never met; a woman in Iowa I've never heard of; a tennis influencer. Despite their ability to solve some of the world's most complex math problems and convincingly simulate human relationships, AI chatbots regularly get basic facts wrong. They invent legal cases, jumble the facts from famous movies and books, and, yes, make up spouses.
/jlne.ws/410jf18
Arm's CEO on the future of AI and why he does not fear DeepSeek; Rene Haas has reshaped chip designer's business to focus on royalties rather than fees
Matthew Garrahan - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4hQ4qow
IBM CEO Says DeepSeek Moment Will Help Fuel AI Adoption
Brody Ford - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4aWuiwK
Saudi Arabia's Neom Signs $5 Billion Deal for AI Data Center; Neom secures investment from Saudi Arabia-based DataVolt; Deal will back first phase of sustainable AI data center
Christine Burke - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3WV8AUe
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Ransomware attacks spiked in 2024-but they're nothing compared to what's coming this year, tech expert warns.; 'I'm very afraid of the things we're going to see in 2025'
IT Brew and Eoin Higgins - Fortune
It's 2025, and you know what that means-time to go over what happened in the world of ransomware in 2024.
/jlne.ws/4k4Hjsm
Alabama man hacked Securities and Exchange Commission's X account, tanked Bitcoin's value
Carol Robinson - AL Alabama
An Alabama man pleaded guilty Monday to the 2024 hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's X account which temporarily caused the Bitcoin value to sharply drop. Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old Athens man, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity and access device fraud. Council is set to be sentenced in May and faces up to five years in federal prison. The unauthorized takeover of the SEC's X account happened on Jan. 9, 2024.
/jlne.ws/4hRtbRk
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Binance, SEC request pause in legal battle as Trump's crypto policy takes shape
Reuters
Binance and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have jointly asked a federal judge to stay the regulator's lawsuit against the crypto exchange, according to a court filing, citing the potential impact of a newly launched task force. The move to stay for 60 days, which requires the judge's approval, marks the first clear effort to retreat from the SEC's previous crypto enforcement under Democratic leadership.
/jlne.ws/42PRxX6
Crypto broker breaks ankles while fleeing kidnappers in Spain
Stephen Katte - Cointelegraph
A UK crypto broker reportedly jumped 30 feet from a balcony to escape kidnappers who were threatening to torture and kill him for his crypto. According to a Feb. 9 report from UK media outlet Metro, three British men have been arrested over the kidnapping. The broker reportedly accepted an invitation for drinks at the kidnapper's apartment in the nearby town of Estepona and, upon arriving, was told to hand over 30,000 euros ($30,917) from his customers' accounts or be tortured or killed.
/jlne.ws/4hC29xG
Wall Street Banks Plot Their Crypto Future in Bet on IPO Boom
Teresa Xie, Matthew Monks, Ryan Gould and Bailey Lipschultz - Bloomberg
After staying on the sidelines, some of Wall Street's biggest banks are plotting how to win more crypto business, betting President Donald Trump's embrace of the industry unleashes a wave of IPOs, share sales and convertible bonds. Morgan Stanley, which hadn't been a major presence in the space, is now courting potential clients for initial public offerings, according to people familiar with the matter. At Bank of America Corp., senior executives in the investment bank are discussing a potential push into facilitating deals for digital asset firms. Royal Bank of Canada is looking to do more business after working on its first crypto deal late last year, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
/jlne.ws/4iaOo95
North Carolina Joins Growing Number of States Pursuing Crypto Investments
Jesse Hamilton - CoinDesk
The latest state effort to set up the investment of public money into cryptocurrency, a bill introduced on Monday in North Carolina, is backed by the state's Speaker of the House Destin Hall. The high-profile North Carolina push contemplates putting as much as 10% of its general and highway funds into digital assets, limiting it to crypto with such a high market capitalization that only bitcoin (BTC) currently qualifies. It joins 18 other states with bills that weigh various ways of putting public money into crypto, many of them focusing on investing portions of their state's retirement funds.
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$100 Billion Satoshi Nakamoto Bitcoin Wallet Price Warning Issued After Mystery Deepens
Billy Bambrough, Senior Contributor - Forbes
Bitcoin has exploded back into the limelight following the election of Donald Trump-the self-declared crypto president whose return to the White House could trigger a bitcoin price boom. Unlock over $3,000 in NFT, web3 and crypto perks - Apply now! As a result, interest in the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto-the creator of bitcoin whose real world identity has remained unknown even as the bitcoin price tops $100,000-has surged, with a HBO documentary last year claiming to have finally unmasked him.
/jlne.ws/4aWoDH0
OpenSea denies NFT airdrop rumors, calls website a test page; OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said the community found a "test website" and that the information it contained was not actual terms and conditions.
Ezra Reguerra - CoinTelegraph
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Donald Trump to halt enforcement of law banning bribery of foreign officials; President says move will 'mean a lot more business for America'
Steff Chavez in Washington and Stefania Palma in London - Financial Times
Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to halt the enforcement of a US anti-corruption law that bars Americans from bribing foreign government officials to win business. "It's going to mean a lot more business for America," the president said in the Oval Office after signing an executive order on Monday directing Pam Bondi, the US attorney-general, to pause enforcement of the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. "It sounds good on paper, but in [practice] it's a disaster," Trump said of the FCPA. "It means that if an American goes over to a foreign country and starts doing business over there legally, legitimately or otherwise, it's almost a guaranteed investigation, indictment and nobody wants to do business with the Americans because of it."
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European Commission Chief Vows Response to Trump's Steel Tariffs; 'Tariffs are taxes-bad for business, worse for consumers,' von der Leyen said
Edith Hancock - The Wall Street Journal
The head of the European Commission said U.S. President Trump's decision to slap tariffs on European Union exports of steel and aluminum would result in countermeasures. Trump said on Monday he would impose 25% tariffs on foreign metals imported to the U.S. "Unjustified tariffs on the European Union will not go unanswered-they will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures," Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement Tuesday. The EU will safeguard its interests and protect its industry in response, she said.
/jlne.ws/4aRhmIt
The Truth About Trump's Steel Tariffs; His first-term levies hurt consumers and U.S. manufacturers.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
President Trump gave the economy another jolt of uncertainty on Sunday when he teased 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. His advisers say these tariffs are economically "strategic" rather than a bargaining chip for some other goal. Is the strategy to harm U.S. manufacturers and workers? That's what his first-term tariffs did, and it's worth revisiting the damage of that blunder as he threatens to repeat it. In March 2018, Mr. Trump announced 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminum under the pretext of protecting national security. Then, as now, most U.S. metal imports came from allies including Canada, Mexico, Europe, South Korea and Japan
'We'll all have to go vegan': Wisconsin dairy farmers fret over immigration crackdown; Business groups warn agriculture sector will collapse without foreign labour
Guy Chazan in Buffalo County, Wisconsin - Financial Times
John Rosenow, a Wisconsin dairy farmer, says that if Donald Trump deports all undocumented aliens, Americans will have to get used to a whole new diet. "If there's no immigrant labour, there's no milk, no cheese, no butter, no ice cream," the dairy farmer said. "We'll all have to go vegan." Rosenow's farm in Waumandee, western Wisconsin, is almost entirely reliant on foreign workers. The US president's pledge to initiate the biggest deportation plan in American history could, he said, destroy that workforce - and threaten the future of his farm. "I had a lot fewer worries before Trump got elected," said the 75-year-old, who has openly campaigned against the policy. "We're in a whole new world now."
/jlne.ws/40SdClh
Vance Warns Europe Against Over-Regulation of Emerging AI
Stephanie Lai and Gian Volpicelli - Bloomberg
Vice President JD Vance said that the Trump administration will work to make the US the "gold standard worldwide" for artificial intelligence as he issued strong warnings against regulating political speech. Speaking Tuesday to an audience in Paris that included several European Union leaders, he took particular aim at the bloc's tough regulatory approach to social-media platforms and AI, accusing it of trying to clamp down on Silicon Valley.
/jlne.ws/4huzbzG
Trump Fires Top Ethics Official Overseeing Conflicts of Interest; Dismissal marks yet another removal of an oversight officer; Office of Government Ethics clashed with Trump in first term
Bill Allison - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump has fired the head of the federal Office of Government Ethics, which oversees disclosure and potential conflicts of interest involving top government officials, according to a post on the agency's blog. David Huitema, an appointee of President Joe Biden, was confirmed as director of the agency by the US Senate in November to a five-year term without a single Republican vote. The agency's chief of staff, Shelley Finlayson, will resume her role as acting director of the agency, the blog post said.
/jlne.ws/4aUYPee
Chair of UK's financial ombudsman to step down; Baroness Zahida Manzoor's announcement comes a week after the sudden departure of chief executive
Martin Arnold in London - Financial Times
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German city scarred by Nazi past grapples with rise of far right
Laura Pitel in Pforzheim - Financial Times
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Swiss Charge Man With Insider Trading on Bank Pal's M&A Tips; Bank where deal details originated wasn't named by officials; Man made 10.6 million Swiss francs in four bets, lost another
Hugo Miller - Bloomberg
A Swiss man was charged with insider trading after allegedly making millions of francs from merger tips shared by an investment banker friend. The man, who worked as a consultant, cashed in on his connection with the banker developed over 15 years to exploit "confidential and price sensitive information about ongoing or planned takeovers," the Office of the Attorney General said in a statement on Tuesday. The authority said the man netted 10.6 million Swiss francs ($11.3 million) in profits from four out of five sets of trades between 2018 and 2020. The Swiss authority said that he also lost about 1.6 million francs in the other instance, after betting on a deal that failed to materialize.
/jlne.ws/41a2H7R
HSBC Acquitted on Charges of Violating Korea Short Selling Rules; Court finds no evidence of rule violation, Yonhap says; Bank argued Korean prosecutors' approach was 'arbitrary'
Sangmi Cha and Shinhye Kang - Bloomberg
HSBC Holdings Plc was acquitted by a South Korean court of charges that the bank engaged in illegal short-selling, a blow to the government's efforts to rein in abuses in the stock trading practice. In its ruling Tuesday, the Seoul Southern District Court said there was no evidence that HSBC employees knew of the rule violation before carrying out the trades in question, according to Yonhap.
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Federal Court Orders New York Resident to Pay Over $1.5 Million in Digital Assets Trading Scheme
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered an order against Rashawn Russell, a New York resident, in a CFTC action charging Russell with fraudulent solicitation and misappropriation of investor assets obtained for the purported purpose of trading digital assets on behalf of customers.
/jlne.ws/4aTKm2m
Federal Court Orders Florida Man to Pay Over $7.6 Million for Digital Asset Fraud
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a consent order against Randall Crater of Heathrow, Florida. The order requires Crater to pay over $7.6 million in restitution to defrauded victims in connection with his digital asset fraud scheme, with dollar-for-dollar credit for restitution payments to victims in satisfaction of the restitution ordered in a parallel criminal action. The order also imposes a permanent injunction against Crater and bans him from trading in any CFTC-regulated markets, entering into any transactions involving commodity interests or digital asset commodities, and registering with the CFTC.
/jlne.ws/40WZQOv
'Dating or Defrauding?' a Joint Effort to Alert Online Daters, Social Media Users of Relationship Investment Scams
CFTC
In coordination with multiple federal, state, and nonprofit organizations, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Office of Customer Education and Outreach has launched a national awareness effort to alert the public to relationship investment scams targeting Americans through wrong-numbered texts, dating apps, and social media. Over the coming weeks, the interagency Dating or Defrauding? social media awareness campaign will warn Americans to be skeptical of any request from online friends for cryptocurrency, gift cards, wire transfers, or other forms of payment.
/jlne.ws/4gygNo7
Exemption From the Requirement to Report Certain Personally Identifiable Information to the Consolidated Audit Trail
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today provided an exemption from the requirement to report certain personally identifiable information (PII) - names, addresses, and years of birth - to the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) for natural persons. Bad actors have become increasingly sophisticated and, in the event of a breach, may be able to use the names, addresses, and years of birth to impersonate a customer or broker-dealer and gain access to a customer's account. Providing an exemption from the requirement to report this PII to the CAT will help mitigate potential security risks.
/jlne.ws/42Qj3E1
Acting Chairman Statement on Climate-Related Disclosure Rules
Mark T. Uyeda, Acting Chairman
SEC
Today, I am taking action on The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors rule that was adopted by the Commission on March 6, 2024 (the "Rule").[1] The Rule is currently being challenged in litigation consolidated in the Eighth Circuit[2] and the Commission previously stayed effectiveness of the Rule pending completion of that litigation.[3] The Rule is deeply flawed and could inflict significant harm on the capital markets and our economy. Both Commissioner Peirce and I voted against the Rule's adoption.[4] Commissioner Peirce said that then-existing disclosure rules were sufficient and that the "[R]ule's anticipated benefits do not outweigh the costs."[5] She argued that "only a mandate from Congress should put us in the business of facilitating the disclosure of information not clearly related to financial returns."[6] I stated that the Commission was "without statutory authority or expertise" to address climate change issues and that "this [R]ule is climate regulation promulgated under the Commission's seal."
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Declawing the CAT: Statement on Consolidated Audit Trail Exemptive Relief
Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw
SEC
Data are the foundation of advancement. They sit at the heart of innovation, technology, learning, community building, and so many other values crucial to our progress. Data can also be a critical tool in preventing fraud and wrongdoing. But our data can also be deeply personal or subject to exploitation. That is why, when the government collects data, such collection must be done with due care and assurances that those who access our data are doing so with adequate guardrails and proper purpose. There must be processes and procedures followed to ensure responsible and appropriate use.[1] The fact that data are a powerful tool is not a reason to stop their collection altogether; rather, it is a reason to make use of data for significant and laudable goals-like protecting American business, investors, and the economy. We must weigh the law enforcement and regulatory benefits of the data collection against the potential costs.
/jlne.ws/4aSD0Mk
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Issuer For The Unregistered Offer And Sale of Securities In An Alleged "Gift-Donation" Scheme
SEC
On January 28, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a final judgment against Crystal World Holdings, Inc., The New Sports Economy Institute, and their former principal, Christopher Rabalais, of Forest Hill, Louisiana, who were previously charged with the unregistered offer and sale of securities and operating a fraudulent "gift-donation" scheme.
/jlne.ws/42LWnVx
SEC Charges Four Illinois Residents with Insider Trading in Stock of Cannabis Company
SEC
On January 16, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Anthony Marsico, Arthur P. Pizzello. Jr., Robert Quattrocchi, and Timothy Carey for allegedly insider trading in the stock of Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc., a cannabis company now doing business as Vireo Growth, Inc., in advance of a February 1, 2022 public announcement that another cannabis company, Verano Holdings Corporation, was acquiring Goodness Growth in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $413 million. On the day of the public announcement, Goodness Growth's stock share price rose by nearly 42%.
/jlne.ws/4hD13l5
Financial Services and Credit Panel issues registration prohibition order against financial adviser
ASIC
The Financial Services and Credit Panel (FSCP) has made a two-year registration prohibition order against financial adviser Glenn Paul Meilak from 10 February 2025. The FSCP found that Mr Meilak gave advice to his clients recommending that they set up self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs). Mr Meilak exhibited conduct that was systemic, displayed a lack of care and a level of incompetence in providing the advice to his clients.
/jlne.ws/4jRjYdw
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Trump should not take bond investors for granted; It needs only a small reduction in the dollar slice of global reserves to hit prices and raise borrowing costs
Katie Martin - Financial Times
Markets are giving Donald Trump a pass, a thumbs-up, even. His on-off tariff threats against strategic friends and neighbours this week did unsettle stocks and fluff up the dollar, but investors largely held their nerve. Perhaps they are waiting to see if his action matches his words. Much of the alarm had dissipated even before Trump agreed to delays with Mexico and Canada. This is not the only scene of radical uncertainty that investors are choosing to ignore. At the same time (it has been a long week), a clique of Elon Musk acolytes has been rootling around the arms of government, looking to slash costs, even gaining access to the Treasury department's core plumbing system.
/jlne.ws/41kXfPX
BP Shares Jump After Activist Investor Elliott Builds Stake
Mitchell Ferman, Dinesh Nair, and Aaron Kirchfeld - Bloomberg
BP Plc shares surged the most since 2020 after one of the world's most aggressive activist investors built a stake in the company, seeking to end years of under-performance by pushing for significant change. Elliott Investment Management, led by Paul Singer, has amassed a significant holding in the British energy giant, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. This is typically the first step in a playbook it has deployed successfully at many other big public companies. Over the years, the fund's efforts have led to strategy shifts, CEO departures and even corporate breakups.
/jlne.ws/4aRUM2v
Basis Trade Gains Popularity in China as Low Bond Yields Bite
Bloomberg
Bond traders in China, desperate to boost their returns, are turning to a strategy that exploits small differences between spot and futures prices. Yields in the country have tumbled to their lowest level in decades, due to a mix of central bank easing and heavy demand. The blistering bond market rally has created discrepancies between some futures contracts and the spot prices of their underlying securities, giving traders the chance to bet they will converge - a strategy known as the basis trade.
/jlne.ws/4184f2o
Corporates pressed on FX hedges as dollar surge bites; CFOs increasingly facing tough questions about impact of exchange rates on foreign revenues
Cole Lipsky - Risk.net
Foreign exchange losses have begun to mount for some of the largest global corporates, with the likes of Amazon, Apple and Nike reporting revenues negatively affected by continued US dollar strength in the fourth quarter. Since September, the dollar has risen by as much as 7% against many G10 and emerging market currencies, reducing the demand for exports and the value of foreign returns.
/jlne.ws/4hOZ5xG
UK's £13 Billion Bond Sale Smashes Records for Size, Demand; Demand surpassed £140 billion, beating an earlier high point; Appetite reflects path of BOE cuts and waning fiscal concerns
James Hirai and Greg Ritchie - Bloomberg
The UK sold a record £13 billion ($16 billion) of 10-year bonds after attracting the highest-ever demand for such securities from investors keen to lock in yields near multi-decade highs. The government received more than £140 billion of orders for the new debt, which was sold via banks in a syndication, according to people familiar with the sale, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private.
/jlne.ws/40WtYJX
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Risk the era of 1.5C of global warming is here sooner than expected, studies find; Without stringent emissions cuts the world is 'most probably' already within the period defined in the Paris accord
Attracta Mooney in London - Financial Times
The world may be in breach of the 1.5C level of long-term global warming set down under the Paris Agreement sooner than previous studies have shown, according to two new scientific papers. The first paper, by researchers in Germany and Austria, found that without stringent cuts in emissions the world was "most probably" now within the two decades where a breach of the Paris agreement would occur. "Cutting emissions has never been more important, and it can substantially lower the probability of reaching the 1.5C limit soon after 2024," said lead author Emanuele Bevacqua, from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research.
/jlne.ws/41b6wd6
How Trump's Canadian Oil Tariff Would Hit America's Heartland; The 10 percent tariff the president said he might impose in March could cause U.S. refineries to cut production and lead to higher prices.
Rebecca F. Elliott - The New York Times
The largest refinery in the Midwest will have an unpalatable choice if President Trump imposes tariffs on Canadian oil: Pay more for the crude that it transforms into gasoline and diesel, or slash production. Both options threaten to increase prices at the pump, albeit modestly if Mr. Trump sticks with the 10 percent rate he announced this month.
/jlne.ws/3XkgYwL
Only One Big Economy Is Aiming for Paris Agreement's 1.5C Goal; The UK is currently an outlier with an increasingly ambitious climate plan after more than 170 countries missed a UN deadline.
Olivia Rudgard, Akshat Rathi, and Zahra Hirji - Bloomberg
Seven of the 10 world's largest economies missed a deadline on Monday to submit updated emissions-cutting plans to the United Nations - and only one, the UK, outlined a strategy for the next decade that keeps pace with expectations staked out under the Paris Agreement. All countries taking part in the UN process had been due to send their national climate plans for the next decade by Feb. 10, but relatively few got theirs in on time. Dozens more nations will likely come forward with updated plans within the next nine months before the UN's annual climate summit, known as COP30, kicks off in Brazil.
/jlne.ws/4aUkJyd
Trump rolls back standards for water-using appliances, light bulbs
Reuters
President Donald Trump on Tuesday moved to revert to older standards for light bulbs as well as toilets, showers and other water-using appliances, a day after signing an order promoting plastic straws and rescinding a plan to reduce single-use plastics. Trump said he would call on the Environmental Protection Agency to go back to water standards from his first White House term that would also affect sinks, washing machines and dishwashers.
/jlne.ws/3WV3TJU
The Black Market for Oil Will Continue to Thrive; Unless Western governments are ready to accept higher prices, Russia, Venezuela and Iran will continue to evade sanctions.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
Oil smuggling isn't easy, but it's so enormously profitable that obstacles only slow it down. Sure, the authorities can make dealing illicit barrels a bit less financially rewarding; ultimately, however, the oil will flow. And it's flowing. Russia, Iran and Venezuela, the three major oil producing countries under Western sanctions, are still pumping about 16 million barrels a day of crude and other oil liquids. Assume the trio is selling oil at a 20% discount to market prices and do the math: that's a cool $1 billion worth of oil a day.
/jlne.ws/3Q9JlcW
European Trader to Supply Gas to Pro-Russian Moldova Area
European Trader - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/410ea94
Why Europe's Gas Storage Has Become More of a Worry
Elena Mazneva - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4hRE0mq
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | UniCredit to Decide on Commerzbank Bid in a Year, Orcel Says
Sonia Sirletti - Bloomberg
UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel wants to decide at the end of this year whether he makes a takeover offer for Commerzbank AG, linking the decision to the next German government's willingness to let the deal happen. "I am pleased that the German elections are a bit earlier because we need to wait for the new government to be in place to start a conversation with them," Orcel said in an interview Tuesday. "I expect that a decision on a possible takeover will be taken in the last quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year."
/jlne.ws/4aWW38l
Citigroup Targets Social Finance Deals In Asia As Demand Grows
Sheryl Tian Tong Lee - Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. said it expects social finance funding in Asia to rise by more than 10% this year as investor demand increases. The bank's pipeline includes trade loans, securitizations, partnerships with development agencies, and initial public offerings, according to a statement Tuesday. Social finance aims to tap global capital markets to help fund programs dealing with some of society's most intractable problems, from affordable housing and education to food security and healthcare. In some cases, foundations and development banks provide grants or willingly take below market-rate returns to attract more funding from private investors.
/jlne.ws/4gA7XpY
RJ O'Brien invests in Phlo Systems
R.J. O'Brien & Associates via Finextra
R.J. O'Brien & Associates (RJO), the oldest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the United States, and Phlo Systems, a leading provider of digital solutions for commodity trading, trade finance and international trade compliance, today announced that the firms have entered into a strategic technology partnership, which includes an equity investment by an affiliate of RJO in London-based Phlo Systems.
/jlne.ws/4jT0Ag8
Goldman Sachs CEO open to acquisitions in asset, wealth management
Reuters
Goldman Sachs would consider acquisitions in asset and wealth management, but the bar for doing a deal is very high, CEO David Solomon said on Tuesday. "If we could find things that could accelerate our asset and wealth management journey, we would consider them," he told the UBS financial services conference in Miami. "But the bar to do significant things is very, very high."
/jlne.ws/4ibocev
Morgan Stanley cedes title of chief Goldman Sachs rival; Both JPMorgan and Evercore generated more financial advisory fees last year than Ted Pick's bank
Joshua Franklin and Sujeet Indap in New York - Financial Times
JPMorgan Chase and investment banking boutique Evercore have displaced Morgan Stanley as the chief rivals to Goldman Sachs in the core Wall Street business of dealmaking advice. JPMorgan generated financial advisory fees last year - including mergers and acquisitions - of $3.29bn, while Evercore recorded $2.45bn and Morgan Stanley $2.38bn. M&A fees are volatile between quarters and even years, because they can run to the tens of millions and are in general only paid when a deal closes. But the fees for 2024 confirm a shift in Wall Street's pecking order in the past decade, with the arrival of JPMorgan, traditionally a top lender to companies, as well as upstarts such as Evercore as major boardroom players.
/jlne.ws/42Oh6rA
Goldman Sachs' Exclusive Investing Club Is a Powerful Draw; Employees' privileged access to its own funds show a widening compensation gap on Wall Street.
Marc Rubinstein - Bloomberg
Bloomberg's bonus calculator offers a revealing look at the divergent value of Wall Street employee payouts. A stock award of $100,000 from JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2022 would now be worth $115,000 fully vested; the same from Bank of America Corp. is worth only $83,000. Pity the poor traders from Deutsche Bank AG (and, before it collapsed, Credit Suisse) whose stock grants would regularly depreciate before they were able to cash them in.
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EU banks show basic instinct for credit valuation adjustments; Simpler approach to CVA appeals even to some already using more complex models for counterparty risk
Samuel Wilkes and Ben St. Clair - Risk.net
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Is Trump's Threat to End Private Equity's Tax Loophole a Political Shakedown?
Bill Alpert - Barron's
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Boaz Weinstein Starts New Campaign Against Four UK Trusts
Leonard Kehnscherper - Bloomberg
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Tuttle Capital files for 'alien tech' ETF; New fund to invest in reverse-engineered alien technology based on government disclosures about UFOs
Daniel Gil - Financial Times
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Meta Starts Eliminating Jobs in Shift to Find AI Talent
Kurt Wagner and Riley Griffin - Bloomberg
Meta Platforms Inc. began notifying staff of job cuts on Monday, kick-starting a process that will terminate thousands of people as the company cracks down on "low-performers" and scours for new talent to dominate the AI race. Meta workers who were let go were notified via email, and the company is offering US-based employees severance packages that include 16 weeks of salary, in addition two weeks for each year of service, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the details weren't public. Employees whose review merited a bonus will still get one, and staff will still receive stock awards as part of the upcoming vesting cycle later this month, the people said.
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At work, a quiet AI revolution is under way; Lawyers, bankers and many other professionals are now using chatbots to communicate, some without company oversight
Sam Joiner - Financial Times
On a recent flight to France, I got talking to the woman next to me and ChatGPT came up. She worked as a bank clerk, and said she now used the chatbot to write the majority of her correspondence with colleagues and customers. She explained that writing had never been her strong point, and the app was able to generate text that captured what she wanted to say better than she could. I joked that she would be using it to write messages to friends and family before she knew it, and she rather sheepishly replied that she already had, asking for help with a recent birthday text.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Large Share of US Workers Don't Disclose a Chronic Health Condition
Alexandre Tanzi - Bloomberg
Chronic health conditions are taking a toll on the US workforce, one that's partly hidden because many employees are reluctant to tell employers about their situation, according to a new study. Some 58% of employees in the US have a chronic health condition - such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes or asthma - according to a nationwide study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation. It found that a majority of these workers haven't formally disclosed their conditions to their employer.
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Your Happy Hour Habits Could Raise Your Cancer Risk; Awareness of the risk is low, especially among first-time cancer patients
Sumathi Reddy - The Wall Street Journal
We all know cigarettes cause cancer. The memo on booze hasn't reached everyone. Doctors say many people are surprised to learn alcohol raises the risk of certain cancers, such as liver, colorectal and breast cancer. And cancer patients say they aren't always aware of the increased risk until after they have been diagnosed. As awareness increases-the former U.S. surgeon general recently called for adding warning labels on alcoholic beverages-more people are rethinking their drinking habits. On social-media sites like Reddit, cancer patients talk about replacing alcohol with cannabis, although this, too, has health issues. Others opt for mocktails or nothing at all.
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A Promising Development for the Millions of People with Liver Disease; Recent research suggests that a new approach could help even patients with advanced forms of fatty liver disease.
Nina Agrawal - The New York Times
Nearly four in 10 American adults are estimated to have a liver condition that can lead to serious complications and even death. Commonly known as fatty liver disease, the illness often goes undiagnosed until a patient has progressed to permanent scarring and damage to the liver, called cirrhosis. Until recently, doctors could only hope to intervene by suggesting diet and lifestyle changes, or by helping patients manage related conditions like diabetes or high cholesterol. But those efforts often haven't been enough. Now a promising new study shows that weight-loss surgery could reduce the chances of severe complications, even in some patients with cirrhosis.
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Novartis to Buy Anthos Therapeutics From Blackstone for Up to $3.1 Billion; The pharma major will pay $925 million upfront, plus up to $2.15 billion if milestones are achieved
Andrea Figueras - The Wall Street Journal
Novartis agreed to acquire Blackstone Life Sciences' Anthos Therapeutics for up to $3.08 billion to boost its cardiovascular-drug pipeline. The deal means the Swiss pharmaceutical company retakes control over a treatment candidate for blood clots it licensed to Anthos when the Boston-based firm was launched in 2019.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China's Nickel Overcapacity Spurs Another Surge in Metal Exports
Bloomberg
Chinese refined nickel exports could almost treble this year, as domestic overcapacity produces yet another glut of metal that will have to be absorbed by overseas markets. The country flipped to a net exporter of refined nickel, a metal used in electric vehicle batteries and for stainless steel, for the first time in 2024, with annual sales of 25,000 tons. Mysteel Global reckons that could rise to nearly 70,000 tons this year, adding nickel to the list of commodities that China overproduces and ships abroad to clear its surplus.
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CATL Files for Hong Kong Listing That Could Raise $5 Billion
Foster Wong - Bloomberg
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. has filed its application for a jumbo listing in Hong Kong that could be the city's biggest stock offering in four years. The long-awaited filing by CATL, as the world's top electric-vehicle battery maker is known, comes amid a rally in Hong Kong's stock market. The company could raise more than $5 billion, Bloomberg News reported earlier. That would be the largest since Kuaishou Technology's $6.2 billion listing in early 2021.
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Vietnam Dong Falls to Record Low on Trump Tariff Concerns; State bank sets reference rate at record low for sixth day; Vietnam is prime tariff target after US trade surplus widens
Karl Lester M Yap - Bloomberg
Vietnam's currency fell to a record low against the dollar as Donald Trump's tariff rhetoric drives broad strength in the greenback, pummeling emerging markets. The dong dropped 0.6% to 25,535 per dollar on Tuesday, declining beyond its previous all-time low set in late December. The State Bank of Vietnam set its daily reference rate for the currency at a record-low of 24,522 dong per dollar Tuesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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India Clears Path for Equity Sales by Bad Loan Managers; Industry association sought clarification in December from RBI; Move to aid "much needed capital" for those companies: Mishra
Saikat Das - Bloomberg
India's central bank will allow the country's bad debt managers to list equity shares in the local public market. The Reserve Bank of India gave a nod to an industry association permitting the listings, according to Hari Hara Mishra, chief executive officer at the Association of ARCs in India. The move "will enhance disclosures, bring in more transparency, in addition to bringing in much needed capital," said Mishra in response to Bloomberg's emailed queries on Tuesday.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | AI chatbots unable to accurately summarise news, BBC finds
Imran Rahman-Jones - BBC
Four major artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are inaccurately summarising news stories, according to research carried out by the BBC. The BBC gave OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, Google's Gemini and Perplexity AI content from the BBC website then asked them questions about the news. It said the resulting answers contained "significant inaccuracies" and distortions.
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Seeking God, or Peter Thiel, in Silicon Valley; When tech luminaries talk about their Christian faith, people listen.
Emma Goldberg - The New York Times
Everything clicked when Peter Thiel gave the speech about God. The occasion was a 40th birthday party for Trae Stephens, who is Mr. Thiel's venture capital partner as well as one of the founders of Anduril Industries, a maker of high-tech defense systems and weaponry. It was a multiday affair, held in 2023 at Mr. Stephens's home in New Mexico. It began with an evening roasting the birthday boy, followed by another toasting him and then a brunch with caviar bumps, mimosas and breakfast pizza. At the brunch (the theme was the Holy Ghost), Mr. Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire and right-wing kingmaker, delivered a talk about miracles, forgiveness and Jesus Christ. The guests were enthralled.
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