| August 18, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Yesterday the LaSalle Street Trading Tech Awards Committee of the Pathway to Adventure Council of the Boy Scouts of America held its first meeting to plan for a November 16 fundraising and celebration event to be held at the CBOT Building. This year's chairman is Terry Duffy of Advantage Futures, who was the first Merit Badge Counselor to teach a merit badge class in the Trading Tech program when it was started. CME's Terry Duffy had agreed to chair the event a couple of years ago, but it was continually delayed by waves of COVID-19 and he stepped down from the role. Terry was very pleased at Boca when I told him of the other Terry's acceptance of the role and pledged his generous support for the event.
Advantage Futures CEO Joe Guinan has kicked off the fundraising for the event with a pledge of $50,000, and futures accounting legend Harlan Ten Pas has kicked in $2,000 to get us started. There is an award named for Harlan for kids who have earned five merit badges in the Trading Tech program. Unfortunately, because of COVID-19 and work from home, the Trading Tech program has been temporarily sidelined.
This year's event is the LaSalle Street Trading Tech Reunion, bringing us all back together in celebration of our common interest in supporting Scouting and the impact it has on the young and old who participate in the program.
There have been many generous people who have given their time and treasure to Scouting, including myself. In fact, as I was reflecting on all the ways I have supported Scouting, one treasure that I have contributed is my daughter Kat, who continues to work at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in a recruiting role, after spending the summer as an assistant camp director of the Summit and working in the administration building during the National Jamboree. She is full of Scout spirit and is working on a degree in adventure recreation management at West Virginia Institute of Technology in Beckley, WV.
This is an important year to support the LaSalle Street event. The Scouts have completed the long and arduous bankruptcy that stripped them of cash and property resources. PTAC is working hard to regrow Scouting in Chicago and is already larger than Scouting in New York or Los Angeles. If you are interested in joining the LaSalle Trading Tech Committee, please contact me. I will have more details in the coming months about how and where you can support the event and Scouting.
The Financial Times and Schroders have come out with the "FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award" book awards in a story titled "Business Book of the Year 2023 - the longlist" with the subheading "Chosen titles explore themes including AI breakthroughs and the rise and fall of billionaires." Sadly, I have read none of them. But then I am a history buff and currently listening to "The Guns of August" by Barbara W. Tuchman on Audible.
The Financial Times also has a new podcast series titled "Introducing: The Russian Banker." The series explores who is Sergei Leontiev, an exiled Russian banker who was persecuted by the state and forced to flee, the FT reports. Financial Times reporters Courtney Weaver and Stefania Palma try to uncover the truth about Leontiev and "find a story that tells us about Russia today and how people in the west build stories about who's good and who's bad."
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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A new report from CDP, "Nature in Green Finance: Bridging the gap in environmental reporting," looks at the disclosed environmental data from 556 financial institutions worldwide. The report found that financial institutions are failing to integrate nature and climate issues, impeding net-zero ambitions. Learn more and download the report here. ~SAED
Our most read stories yesterday on JLN Options were:
- Goldman Sachs: Here are the 20 options trades to make now using an investing strategy that has outperformed the market for the last 27 years
- The Market's Skeptics Are Giving Up. It's Time to Worry.
- Ex-Bridgewater Executive to Launch Eight Hedge-Fund Style ETFs ~JB
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WFE CEO Nandini Sukumar speaks with JLN about ESG progress at the World Federation of Exchanges, the WFE's new green equity principles, and the difference between sustainability and ESG
JohnLothianNews.com
John Lothian News interviewed Nandini Sukumar, Chief Executive Officer at the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), about the findings of the WFE's 9th Sustainability Survey of Exchanges. First, Sukumar discussed the WFE's process for conducting the survey and its findings, which reflect the many ways that exchanges have increased their activity in the sustainability and ESG areas.
Listen to the podcast »
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Private equity lawyers are taught to eat what they kill; Law firms are fracturing partnerships by raiding each other for talent in London and New York
John Gapper - Financial Times
If a reminder were needed that we are living in a material world, it emerged this week in the once-stuffy profession of corporate law. The US firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison raided its larger rival Kirkland & Ellis for several top private equity partners, the kind of people who get paid up to $20mn a year.
/jlne.ws/3smyPpS
***** I prefer "eat what you grow and nurture." ~JJL
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Investors Fear China's 'Lehman Moment' Is Looming; Troubles at a big trust company are making investors worry about financial contagion from property developers' distress
Rebecca Feng and Weilun Soon - The Wall Street Journal
Signs of financial stress at a large asset manager in China are making investors nervous about contagion from the country's slumping property sector, rekindling a debate over whether a "Lehman moment" could occur in the world's second-largest economy. Zhongrong International Trust, a seller of esoteric financial products that had the equivalent of $108 billion in assets under management at the end of 2022, has become the market's latest worry. Four trust products managed by the firm recently missed interest and principal payments totaling the equivalent of $14 million to three publicly listed Chinese companies, according to stock-exchange filings. Beijing-headquartered Zhongrong has provided financing to many real-estate developers and helped to fund their building projects.
/jlne.ws/3QM9Zdu
****** There is a lack of data that is a parallel.~JJL
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Cash-Strapped Collectors Offload Prized Memorabilia. 'Literally Like Selling Away My Life'; Their collectible baseball cards, sneakers and Barbies are their emergency funds
Anthony De Leon - The Wall Street Journal
Americans built bookcases and shrines to the baseball cards, vinyl records and sneakers they collected through sometimes painstaking efforts. Now, they are selling them off. Collectors say they don't have a choice. Their budgets have been squeezed by inflation and unexpected setbacks. And their debts are mounting just as higher interest rates make the cost of carrying that debt overwhelming.
/jlne.ws/45yDumZ
****** I hate it when I have to sell my prized stuff.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was 'Don't You Remember Me?' The Crypto Hell on the Other Side of a Spam Text, an exclusive excerpt from Zeke Faux's forthcoming book, "Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall," from Bloomberg. Second was A Community-Led Approach to Stopping Flooding Expands in the Chicago Region, from Inside Climate News. Third was Beware of wealth managers quoting data, an opinion piece from the Financial Times.
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| Lead Stories | China unveils capital market reforms to boost investor confidence; Lower fees and longer trading hours part of plan to boost activity as policymakers' concern over economy mounts
Hudson Lockett and Cheng Leng - Financial Times
China's securities regulator has announced a package of market-friendly reforms to try to boost investment and trading after months of underwhelming economic growth that has hit stocks and bonds. The measures, which the China Securities Regulatory Commission said were designed to "boost capital market investor confidence", indicate Beijing's concern over the country's economic and financial health after a weak rebound from strict pandemic curbs last year.
/jlne.ws/44h2KgH
Options Are All the Rage in Stocks With $2 Trillion Deadline Looming; Record 0DTE trades, dealer positioning fuel market gyrations; Time to hedge ahead of Jackson Hole, says SpotGamma's Kochuba
Lu Wang - Bloomberg
The fresh boom in stock options that expire within 24 hours has grabbed all the attention on Wall Street trading desks - spurring a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warning that the activity is fueling the recent market selloff. Now, the grown-up versions of the derivatives are back in the spotlight in the monthly event known as OpEx.
/jlne.ws/3YGLccD
Coinbase, Tarred as an Illicit Exchange by the SEC, Quietly Got Regulated Elsewhere in the U.S.
Jesse Hamilton, Helene Braun - CoinDesk
As Coinbase Inc. (COIN) scraps with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on its right to exist as an exchange, the company has achieved an unprecedented milestone in U.S. oversight by winning approval to handle customers' buying and selling of crypto futures. In an industry desperate for U.S. regulation, Coinbase is now registered as a futures commission merchant, or FCM, with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), akin to an SEC-registered broker-dealer and a club that plays a key role at the core of U.S. derivatives trading. As the first crypto-native company to win that designation, it's potentially blazing a path to U.S. oversight - at least in the world of commodities.
/jlne.ws/3E1tc35
ETF investors set to pay for helping reduce meme stock risk; Mismatches as a result of the US transition to T+1 settlement next year will particularly affect ETFs, observers say
Emma Boyde - Financial Times
Exchange traded fund industry participants are bracing themselves to take on a costly transfer of risk from US retail brokers, such as Robinhood, when the US unilaterally implements T+1 settlement in May next year.The move, which will reduce the standard US trade settlement cycle of two business days to just one for all securities (US Treasuries already settle on T+1), would reduce "credit, market and liquidity risks" for market participants, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
/jlne.ws/45fwPOL
China's Hidden Financial Dangers Erupt With Shadow Bank Crisis
Bloomberg News
Only a week ago, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group Co. attracted little notice within China and was almost unheard of everywhere else. Now, the secretive shadow banking giant has become the latest symbol of financial fragility in an $18 trillion economy where confidence among investors, businesses and consumers is rapidly dwindling.
/jlne.ws/3OGjbNF
A private credit primer; Courtesy of UBS
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
Private credit is hot at the moment. Alphaville, our friends at Unhedged, Due Diligence and the mainFT have all been all over it. But given the volume of emails we get asking for some of the underlying reports we use, there seems to be appetite for even more.
/jlne.ws/3OD9Gil
Toshiba may be the reason Japanese market's party doesn't end yet; Country's biggest ever buyout of the troubled conglomerate could prove a strong catalyst for buying after summer dip
Leo Lewis - Financial Times
Sometime over the next few weeks, someone will bemoan the fact that foreign investors' buying of Japanese stocks is not quite as vigorous as it was earlier in the year. Some may contend that the easy money has already been made. Some may even declare the "Japan is back" festivities over.
/jlne.ws/3DZx2Kf
What does the CDS market have in common with a toddler? They don't want to take no for an answer. Especially in supermarkets
Alexandra Scaggs - Financial Times
People seem very, very interested in whether French supermarket Casino has triggered payouts on its credit-default swaps. It has not, according to the Determinations Committee, the finance-industry group that's in charge of these types of matters. The committee decided that on June 2. Then it decided again on June 8. And August 2. Then it said no four additional times, on August 4.
/jlne.ws/3KNMrAV
China's central bank steps up defence of renminbi; Currency weakens as concerns mount over health of world's second-largest economy
Hudson Lockett - Financial Times
China's central bank has stepped up defence of its currency as concerns mount over the health of the world's second-largest economy. The efforts by the People's Bank of China to arrest a slide in the renminbi follow a series of gloomy economic data releases this week that showed weakening exports and waning consumer confidence. Foreign exchange traders and analysts said downward pressure on the Chinese currency intensified after an unexpected interest rate cut by the central bank on Tuesday. They added that state banks had been buying up renminbi and selling dollars in an apparent effort to slow the pace of depreciation.
/jlne.ws/44h38f9
Grayscale is on the cusp of winning Bitcoin's biggest prize-but Wall Street's big dogs could snatch it away
Jeff John Roberts - Fortune
When Michael Sonnenshein Bitcoin, and crypto would take its place as part of mainstream finance with Sonnenshein as one of the industry's leading figures. It hasn't worked out that way. Two-and-a-half years after Sonnenshein's ascension, Grayscale still doesn't have an ETF, and the company's name is mud with many investors. Meanwhile, its parent company is mired in legal trouble with customers, rivals, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sonnenshein desperately needs to catch a break-and is poised to get one in the coming days if a federal court sides with Grayscale in a closely watched case.
/jlne.ws/44a8uc0
The Human Cost of Cryptomania; In Zeke Faux's new book, a spam text leads to a Cambodia slave labor complex.
Zeke Faux - Bloomberg
The mysterious WhatsApp message arrived one night in August 2022, while I was out at a bar with a friend: "Hi David, I'm Vicky Ho don't you remember me?" This was strange. My name isn't David, and I didn't know anyone named Vicky. But I'd been getting a lot of seemingly misdirected messages on my phone. Usually I ignored them. This time, for some reason, maybe because I'd had a spicy watermelon margarita, I didn't.
/jlne.ws/45fafGf
Loop landlord files for bankruptcy in potential delay for office-to-residential conversion
Danny Ecker - Crain's Chicago Business
The developers trying to partner with Chicago taxpayers to turn a historic Loop office building into apartments are facing a new hurdle after the owner of the distressed building filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A venture led by Chicago investor Musa Tadros that owns the office property at 105 W. Adams St. filed for bankruptcy protection July 31, according to federal court records, just one day before the building was scheduled to be sold in a court-ordered foreclosure auction.
/jlne.ws/3OHy56d
OpenAI could face a plagiarism lawsuit from The New York Times as tense negotiations threaten to boil over, report says
Pete Syme - Insider
The New York Times is considering suing OpenAI over an intellectual property dispute, NPR reported. The company behind ChatGPT - as well as other companies with AI tools like Google, Microsoft, and Adobe - have been in talks for months with media organizations to discuss copyright issues, the Financial Times reported in June.
/jlne.ws/47Dp9Yd
Google vs the DoJ is a test case for reining in Big Tech; For all the sound and fury in Washington, regulators have yet to score any big antitrust wins against Silicon Valley
Richard Waters - Financial Times
When the US Department of Justice's complaint against Google goes to trial next month, it will be the first case to delve into the business practices of a big tech company since the US took on Microsoft a quarter of a century ago. If Judge Amit Mehta comes down on the side of the US, the remedies he orders could have a direct bearing on Google's core business, opening the door for rivals to take a bigger slice of the mobile search market.
/jlne.ws/3DZgima
Why ESG Ratings Are All Over the Map; Requiring all companies to disclose a uniform set of ESG data would make it easier for investors to compare funds and companies
Rochelle Toplensky - The Wall Street Journal
Tesla could be a poster child for the confusion surrounding ESG ratings. Should the carmaker have a high ESG score because it makes electric vehicles, a low one because of some of its labor practices and autopilot risks or a middling one that averages things out?
/jlne.ws/3E3cQXW
Fireside Friday with... Tradeweb's Enrico Bruni; The TRADE sits down with managing director, head of Europe and Asia business at Tradeweb, Enrico Bruni, to discuss the importance of automation, evolving execution habits, and the most significant changes on the horizon from a regulatory standpoint.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
As execution habits continue to change, what are the different strategies and approaches that you are observing? It is interesting how behaviour migrates, and there are multiple answers as to where we are observing a shift in execution habits. However, I think a key area - informed by the kind of volatility we experienced earlier in the year - is the increased adoption of the Request-for-Market or RFM protocol in markets where Request-for-Quote (RFQ) used to be the dominant mechanism.
/jlne.ws/45yhXuN
Singapore Exchange appoints new head of equities and FICC sales; Individual has previously held positions at Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX) and DBS Vickers Securities.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Lily Chia has been named the new head of equities and FICC sales, SGROA at Singapore Exchange (SGX), working across Singapore, ASEAN, Middle East, India, and Australia. In this new position, Chia, who has spent almost two decades at SGX in various roles, will lead sales for equity, equity derivatives and FX derivatives.
https://jlne.ws/3YE5Lqa
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine taking heavy casualties 10 weeks into its counteroffensive
Tom Soufi Burridge - ABC News
There is mounting evidence that Ukraine has been taking heavy casualties in its counteroffensive, which began roughly ten weeks ago. ABC News spoke with two former U.S. soldiers who are contracted in a special forces division of the Ukrainian military and who were both injured during an operation in eastern Ukraine two weeks ago.
/jlne.ws/3QGxft5
U.S. intelligence says Ukraine will fail to meet offensive's key goal
John Hudson and Alex Horton - The Washington Post
The U.S. intelligence community assesses that Ukraine's counteroffensive will fail to reach the key southeastern city of Melitopol, people familiar with the classified forecast told The Washington Post, a finding that, should it prove correct, would mean Kyiv won't fulfill its principal objective of severing Russia's land bridge to Crimea in this year's push.
/jlne.ws/3YFewQC
Ukraine seeks to restore Black Sea shipping despite Russian threats; Cargo vessel Joseph Schulte's journey from Odesa to Istanbul enabled by onshore maritime defences
Isobel Koshiw - Financial Times
The passage of a cargo ship from Ukraine to Turkey this week vindicated Kyiv's gamble that Russia would not act on threats to attack commercial shipping in the Black Sea. But the successful gambit leaves a bigger question for Ukraine: will any other commercial vessels follow the Joseph Schulte and dare to call Russia's bluff?
/jlne.ws/3OynZ7O
Is there any real prospect of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine? For Moscow, accepting Zelenskyy's peace plan would be an unconditional surrender. But Kyiv needs security guarantees
Domitilla Sagramoso - Financial Times
The recent Jeddah conference on Volodymyr Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan was an attempt to build international support for a negotiated end to the devastating Ukraine conflict. The proposal stipulates the complete withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of Kyiv's control over its sovereign territory. The next big step would be a summit of world leaders to endorse Kyiv's resolution formula and increase pressure on Moscow to end the war.
/jlne.ws/3qFv5PV
Why This Coffee Giant Is Staying Put in Russia; Owner of Peet's Coffee is renaming a major brand, rejiggering supply chains and hitting back at those who say it should exit country
Saabira Chaudhuri - The Wall Street Journal
The owner of Peet's Coffee is making a series of changes to its business to keep selling in Russia, offering a rare example of how some companies are charting a new normal as the Ukraine war rages on. JDE Peet's is renaming a major coffee brand in an effort to protect its global reputation, rejiggering supply chains and hitting back at those who say it should exit the country.
/jlne.ws/3KNyFOG
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | IEX switches to a rules-based structure with new Signal model
Alex Pugh - Best Execution
Designed to predict more price changes than V5, which hit the market in 2018, IEX Exchange says V6 enhances performance for pegged orders on the firm's exchange, by looking at both size and number of venues (rather than just venues), and factors in the addition of three new US equities exchanges - MEMX, MIAX and Nasdaq PSX.
/jlne.ws/47O1nsS
Special Change in KRX FactSet Next Generation Energy Index for EID
KRX
Since EID(093230) has been designated as "Administrative Issue" on August 16th, 2023, KRX will remove the constituent from KRX FactSet Next Generation Energy Index.
/jlne.ws/47DMIA9
Update On Evaluating Coarse Nickel Powder As A Deliverable Shape
London Metal Exchange
Summary 1. This Notice provides an update on the LME's evaluation of coarse nickel powder as a potential LME Nickel deliverable shape. Market participants were broadly supportive of the introduction of coarse nickel powder; however, feedback also highlighted challenges around the acceptability of coarse nickel powder packaging solutions. The LME is now committing to undertake more detailed work on packaging solutions before progressing the proposal further.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa
Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor of J&K Shri Manoj Sinha inaugurates CT Scan Centre for the Indian Army 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar
National Stock Exchange of India
NSE Foundation, the implementation arm of CSR activities of the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSEIL), has created a state-of-the-art CT scan wing in the Indian Army's prestigious 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar (J&K). The CT scan wing was inaugurated today by Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha, in the presence of Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai (15 Corps Commander) and Shri Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, NSEIL. The 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar (J&K) is a 598 bedded multispecialty hospital where many trauma patients are admitted for the treatment of gunshot wounds, splinter and shrapnel injuries as well as other critical injuries which require prompt diagnosis. It is imperative for such a medical facility to be equipped with an efficient and reliable CT scan machine to ensure proper treatment.
/jlne.ws/47B9YPq
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Microsoft CEO Says AI Is a Tidal Wave as Big as the Internet; Satya Nadella and OpenAI's Sam Altman discuss their alliance on The Circuit With Emily Chang.
Emily Chang - Bloomberg
In 1995, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates sent a memo calling the internet a "tidal wave" that would be crucial to every part of the company's business. Nearly two decades later, Microsoft's current leader, Satya Nadella, said he believes the impact of artificial intelligence will be just as profound.
/jlne.ws/3YCiOIF
Three Arrows Co-Founder Avoids Big Fine for Snubbing Subpoena Sent Over Twitter; Kyle Davies wasn't a US citizen at time subpoena was issued; Judge said he lacked jurisdiction to issue subpoena on Twitter
Jonathan Randles - Bloomberg
A co-founder of bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital dodged having to pay a potentially hefty fine for not responding to a subpoena sent to him over social media by liquidators attempting to recover money for creditors. Judge Martin Glenn ruled Friday that Kyle Davies wasn't properly served over social media because he wasn't a US citizen at the time the New York bankruptcy court issued the subpoena.
/jlne.ws/3qC36Ra
Why Elon Killed the Bird; Three theories about Twitter's seemingly nonsensical rebrand to X
Charlie Warzel - The Atlantic
In May, Elon Musk presided over an uncharacteristically subtle tweak to Twitter's home page. For years, the prompt in the text box at the top of the page read, "What's happening?," a friendly invitation for users to share their thoughts. Eight months after the billionaire's takeover, Twitter changed the prompt ever so slightly to match the puzzling, chaotic nature of the platform under the new regime: "What's happening?" became "What is happening?!"
/jlne.ws/3OBEpgP
Terminal velocity: MarketAxess bets on algo trading as electronification of fixed income gathers speed
Theo Normanton - WatersTechnology
When it comes to markets, the celebrated economist John Maynard Keynes believed that "the difficulty lies not in the new ideas, but in escaping from old ones." Keynes' struggle to shrug off habitual modes of thought feels particularly prescient today, as the rapid modernization of traditionally analog markets has paradoxically prompted industry leaders to import familiar ideas wholesale from more developed asset classes.
/jlne.ws/44bG4yd
Mastercard Deepens Tie to CBDCs as Nations Mull Issuing Digital Currencies; Some of the first partners in a new Mastercard CBDC forum include Ripple, Fireblocks and Consensys.
Helene Braun - CoinDesk
Payments giant Mastercard has created a forum where crypto industry players can discuss and collaborate on central bank digital currencies, injecting its influential voice into the CBDC conversation as nations around the world consider whether to digitize their money. CBDCs are not cryptocurrencies, but they're in the same family. They don't have to be, but they could be based on a blockchain, the ledger technology that powers Bitcoin and the rest of crypto.
/jlne.ws/45CQ0SJ
BMLL adds Shenzhen Stock Exchange to its equities and ETF data offering; The move is the next step in BMLL's growing APAC coverage and comes in response to client demand, The TRADE understands.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Historical Level 3 data provider BMLL has expanded its equities and ETF data offering to include Shenzhen Stock Exchange data. Data from the exchange is now available to BMLL users across the sell- and buy-side, as well as global exchange groups.
/jlne.ws/47Gc9kT
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | SEC Cybersecurity Rule Leans on Materiality and Reasonableness
Rachel V. Rose, Ted Dziekanowski and Andy Watkin-Child - Bloomberg
The US Securities and Exchange Commission released its final rule, effective Sept. 5, 2023, on cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incident disclosure. Investors, registrants, and other market participants should take special notice of two key terms in the regulations: "materiality" and the "reasonable investor." The SEC has deemed disclosures, cybersecurity risk management, and governance to be material to both the market and to a reasonable investor.
/jlne.ws/45Bx6eX
The SEC Cybersecurity Disclosure Rules Will Require Work-Start Now
Brian Walker - Forbes
On July 26, 2023, the SEC issued its final rules for companies disclosing key information regarding cyber risk. The final rules address concerns over investor access to timely and consistent information related to cybersecurity risk and come at the end of 18 months of debate and discussion. While many wanted different outcomes in key areas, most of the suggestions and criticisms have been addressed.
/jlne.ws/3shlrUa
NIST Releases a Major Upgrade: Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 Set to Strengthen Digital Resilience
Peter Suciu - Clearance Jobs
The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) released an upgrade to its Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), which is aimed at organizations of all sizes. This update comes almost a decade after CSF was first introduced as technical cybersecurity guidance for critical infrastructure interests including energy, banking, and hospitals among other entities.
/jlne.ws/3sjWqI0
International Cybersecurity Championship & Conference (IC3) Celebrates Global Cyber Experts, Athletes, and Collaboration
Katzcy Press Release
The International Cybersecurity Championship & Conference (IC3)-led and hosted by Katzcy PlayCyber-recently brought together 37 of the world's foremost cybersecurity speakers, seven teams from over 40 nations, more than 50 volunteers, and hundreds of cybersecurity enthusiasts from around the globe in San Diego, California. eSports fans were treated to two days of epic cybersecurity competition viewed in person and via Twitch, inspiring the future of cybersecurity workforce initiatives.
/jlne.ws/45vYhaX
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | The Protocol: Blockchains Keep Launching, From Sei to Shibarium
Bradley Keoun - CoinDesk
Past eras of crypto development were marked by a rapid proliferation in protocols for decentralized finance (DeFi) or other purposes, built atop big blockchains like Ethereum. Recently, however, there's been a mini-explosion in new blockchains, including so-called layer-2 networks built atop Ethereum. The trend is encapsulated in this week's launch of the Sei network - optimized for speed, and trading applications - as well as the meme-obsessed Shiba Inu crypto community's new Shibarium blockchain. As documented in The Protocol this week, these launches aren't always so smooth.
/jlne.ws/3DZOgHl
FTX-tied Alameda gets $175 mln claim on Genesis bankruptcy estate
Reuters
FTX-affiliated cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research was granted a $175 million unsecured claim on the estate of bankrupt crypto lender Genesis Global Capital, according to a court filing dated Wednesday. The settlement marks a significant reduction from the nearly $3.9 billion claim that FTX, which is also bankrupt, had asserted earlier this year.
/jlne.ws/3seKeYW
BingX launches World's first 0 slippage BTC Derivatives Trading
News Direct
BingX, a copy trading cryptocurrency exchange, is thrilled to announce enhancements to its derivatives trading systems, aimed at meeting the needs of its ever-growing trader community. This strategic upgrade reaffirms BingX's commitment to delivering good trading experiences and raising its reputation as a cutting-edge platform in the cryptocurrency industry.
/jlne.ws/45c4Pvr
FTX and Genesis avoid 'costly and uncertain litigation' by reaching $175 million settlement
Leo Schwartz - Fortune
On Thursday, FTX and Genesis struck a deal to settle claims related to both companies' ongoing bankruptcies, with Genesis agreeing to pay FTX's trading arm Alameda Research $175 million. Genesis also agreed to waive all claims against the FTX estate.
/jlne.ws/44lbUsh
Crypto Investors Can Now Trade XRP Options on BIT Exchange
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BIT on Thursday launched options tied to payments-focused cryptocurrency XRP. The new product will allow users to trade XRP options without having to hold the cryptocurrency, the exchange said in a press release, adding that profits and losses will be settled in the U.S. dollar. Institutional liquidity provider OrBit Markets is tasked with creating order book liquidity.
/jlne.ws/3P26CxC
FTX-Linked Farmington State Bank Slapped with Fed Enforcement Action
Elizabeth Napolitano - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3EkY0fz
Coinbase Will Suspend USDT, DAI and RAI Trading for Canadian Users; The exchange expanded its services in Canada earlier this week
Krisztian Sandor - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3DXFY2J
Coinbase, Tarred as an Illicit Exchange by the SEC, Quietly Got Regulated Elsewhere in the U.S.
Jesse Hamilton and Helene Braun - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3quD827
Crypto Enthusiasts Stoked by Bitcoin-ETF Hype Shrug Off Ether-Fund Push; Eight issuers are looking to offer Ether-futures ETF products; Ether's price has been range bound for months at around $1,800
Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/44k7X7b
NFT Rout Crushes $1.5 Billion Windfall for Artists as Markets Slash Royalties; Payouts to NFT content creators sank 98% from a peak in 2022; Exchanges for NFTs chopped royalty rates amid a bear market
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3YoPe9c
Ralph Lauren CEO Louvet Targets Young Shoppers in the Metaverse; Five minutes with Patrice Louvet on what people are wearing to the office, how not to use influencers and why the company is investing in the metaverse.
Nicole Bullock and Francine Lacqua - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3QJAWOE
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Bid for US Steel promises national security through consolidation; Cleveland-Cliffs' $10bn proposal would build scale but raise competition worries
Claire Bushey and Ortenca Aliaj and Sujeet Indap - Financial Times
Two giant steel mills sit less than 10 miles apart on the shores of Lake Michigan, the blast furnaces inside reaching temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees to smelt glowing iron ore. A deal proposed this week would put them under common ownership and holds the potential to create an American steel champion in an era of Chinese dominance - or attract scrutiny from US competition regulators.
/jlne.ws/45fgxWd
Ramaswamy Rides Wave of Support, but Rivals Are Eager to Pounce; Surging poll numbers and newly revealed concerns from Ron DeSantis's super PAC underscore that Vivek Ramaswamy is having a well-timed political moment.
Jonathan Weisman - The New York Times
For months now, Vivek Ramaswamy has been crisscrossing the early primary states of the 2024 presidential cycle, attracting good crowds with offbeat proposals and a penchant for the media spotlight while gaining little serious attention from his Republican rivals.
/jlne.ws/3KJwE64
Illinois hits record jobs level, finally passes pre-pandemic peak
Greg Hinz - Crain's Chicago Business
Illinois finally has passed its pre-pandemic jobs level, with a record of more than 6.15 million non-farm positions in July, the state announced today. The record comes almost a year after the nation passed its pre-pandemic total last September. But gleeful officials in Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration trumpeted the news, saying it proves Illinois is on the right path.
/jlne.ws/45zYIkG
64% of Americans say they wouldn't support Trump: poll
Robert Schroeder - MarketWatch
Former President Donald Trump got some unwelcome news in a new poll this week: 53% of Americans say they would definitely not support him if he's the GOP nominee, and another 11% say they probably would not back him in November 2024. The same Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polling shows that the former president still has strong backing in his own party.
/jlne.ws/44gRFwb
Nixon Ends Convertibility of U.S. Dollars to Gold and Announces Wage/Price Controls
Sandra Kollen Ghizoni - Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
With inflation on the rise and a gold run looming, President Richard Nixon's team enacted a plan that ended dollar convertibility to gold and implemented wage and price controls, which soon brought an end to the Bretton Woods System. President Richard Nixon's actions in 1971 to end dollar convertibility to gold and implement wage/price controls were intended to address the international dilemma of a looming gold run and the domestic problem of inflation.
/jlne.ws/45t7S2N
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Fed Brings Enforcement Action Against FTX-Linked Farmington State Bank; Cease-and-desist order sent to bank and its holding company; Lender directed to take series of actions as it winds down
Allyson Versprille - Bloomberg
The US Federal Reserve took enforcement action against Farmington State Bank, a lender with ties to failed crypto firm FTX, and its holding company, FBH Corp. The Federal Reserve Board issued a cease-and-desist order against the firms and directed them to take a number of actions as Farmington closes its business - including preserving records and not acquiring any additional brokered deposits.
/jlne.ws/3YI8Cys
Judge grants SEC leave to appeal Ripple litigation after landmark ruling many saw as huge win for crypto and XRP
Ben Weiss - Fortune
The federal judge presiding over litigation between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the crypto firm Ripple said on Thursday that the SEC can file a motion to appeal a portion of her recent XRP in unregistered securities offerings will still go to trial. The SEC plans to appeal Torres's judgment that institutional sales of XRP-or sales to investors like venture capital firms-are illegal securities offerings while secondary sales of the digital asset aren't.
/jlne.ws/3KLhfT2
SEC Seeks to Question Do Kwon's Terra Co-Founder in South Korea
Bob Van Voris - Bloomberg
The US Securities and Exchange Commission can seek the South Korean government's assistance to question Do Kwon's Terraform Labs co-founder, Daniel Shin, and collect evidence from payments company Chai Corp., a US judge ruled.
/jlne.ws/3KMFkbQ
U.K. to Put Magnifying Glass on Crypto Transfers; The country's financial regulator laid out guidance for applying rules for traditional money transfers to those involving digital assets
Richard Vanderford - The Wall Street Journal
The FCA said crypto operators must comply with the Travel Rule starting Sept. 1. Digital asset companies will have to collect and transmit data on cryptocurrency transfers under new rules from the U.K.'s financial regulator, as the country implements a law intended to stop the movement of digital assets for illicit activity.
/jlne.ws/3qyXtDn
SEC Can Try to Appeal Groundbreaking XRP Ruling, Judge Rules
Nikhilesh De - CoinDesk
A federal judge has let the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) argue it can appeal against her ruling that Ripple didn't violate securities laws in making XRP available to retail traders by putting it on exchanges. Judge Analisa Torres, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, granted the request for leave to file a motion to file an interlocutory appeal Thursday, giving the SEC until Friday to file the motion itself.
/jlne.ws/45CQIiR
SEC Seeks to Question Do Kwon's Terra Co-Founder in South Korea; US judge said SEC could seek Korean government's help in case; South Korean prosecutors have charged Shin and Kwon over Terra
Bob Van Voris - Bloomberg
The US Securities and Exchange Commission can seek the South Korean government's assistance to question Do Kwon's Terraform Labs co-founder, Daniel Shin, and collect evidence from payments company Chai Corp., a US judge ruled. The SEC wants to question Shin and get documents from Chai to help prove its suit accusing Terraform and its former chief executive officer, Kwon, of an illegal scheme that wiped out at least $40 billion worth in crypto value.
/jlne.ws/3KNsxGh
SEC Set to Greenlight Ether-Futures ETFs in Win for Crypto Industry; Agency unlikely to block the products that could list by Oct.; Slew of issuers have submitted filings for Ether-futures ETFs
Vildana Hajric and Allyson Versprille - Bloomberg
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to allow the first exchange-traded funds based on Ether futures, a major win for several firms that long have sought to offer the products. The regulator isn't likely to block the products, which would be based on futures contracts for the second-largest cryptocurrency, according to people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/45ykdC9
UnRulemaking: Statement Regarding DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc.
Hester M. Peirce and Mark T. Uyeda - SEC
The Commission once again uses an enforcement action as a substitute for notice and comment rulemaking. It does so today in a case that finds a registered transfer agent, DST Asset Manager Solutions, Inc. ("DST"), failed to act reasonably in its efforts to locate lost securityholders. Specifically, the Order finds that DST "failed to take reasonable steps to find lost securityholders as prescribed by [Rule 17Ad-17 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934], putting those securityholders' assets at risk of being handed over to state governments - escheated - as unclaimed assets."[1] Tucked into the Commission's Order is an undertaking that effectively imposes a substantive new disclosure requirement on mutual funds.[2] Accordingly, we dissent.[3]
/jlne.ws/3YE48ZA
ASIC announces executive appointments
ASIC
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) today confirms several executive changes within its senior leadership team.
/jlne.ws/3E3d8hu
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Episode 33: Building Local Markets
International Swaps and Derivatives Association
The development of local derivatives markets can help boost economic growth and financial market liquidity in emerging market and developing economies, but how can jurisdictions ensure these markets are efficient and resilient? The EBRD's Axel van Nederveen and Frontclear's Romina Lopez Martinez give their views.
/jlne.ws/3P1tw8r
The Tradier Hub Launches to Better Serve Active Retail Investors
Anna Lyudvig - Traders Magazine
The Tradier Hub is aiming to serve as a roundtable for traders to share strategies, provide live market education, and a free-flowing exchange of ideas, according to Tradier CEO Dan Raju. "We are focused on creating a trading community with people who are committed to passing along their knowledge in real-time to everyone," he said.
/jlne.ws/3siIzld
New D-Limit Functionality, New D-Limit Optionality
Matt Weinberg - Square Edge
Since we launched D-Limit in 2020, the data has been clear: investors are benefiting from improved spread capture and price improvement in spades. As D-Limit usage has continued to increase, we've heard from some Members who want to use D-Limit that they are unable to consume the restatement message. Without consuming the restatement message, it can be difficult for Members to manage their orders, which can sometimes result in artificially low fill rates.
/jlne.ws/3qyanl5
Billionaire Steve Cohen Fights a $10 Million Tax Bill to Derail an IRS Plan
Miles Weiss - Bloomberg
Steve Cohen is contesting an Internal Revenue Service campaign to compel hundreds of money managers - including his Point72 Asset Management - to pay self-employment taxes on a main source of earnings.
/jlne.ws/47CfpO0
Meme stocks ride on, though investors more cautious than GameStop era
Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Laura Matthews - Reuters
More than two years since a breathtaking surge in shares of GameStop captivated Wall Street, the meme stock phenomenon continues to defy predictions of its demise.
/jlne.ws/3OEFwv5
European Banks Aren't Helping Your Savings; For the first time in a generation, Europeans can now earn a return on their savings - if they overcome their inertia.
Chris Bryant - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3P3ctD0
Meet the New Bonds, Same as the Old Bonds; Investors are poised for a fall in yields, but need to accept the truth that they're back to what was normal before the Great Financial Crisis.
John Authers and Isabelle Lee - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/47ENqxi
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Net Zero Is Stalling Out. What Now? Pledges to slash carbon emissions are well and good. But governments need to start delivering concrete benefits.
The Editors - Bloomberg
"Net zero," the professed goal of governments worldwide to eradicate their carbon output, is at risk of failure. A growing backlash against the rising costs should prompt policymakers to rethink their approach.
/jlne.ws/3P0PMPw
Maui Wildfires Show That 'Risk Is Ubiquitous Now'; A wildfire resilience expert talks about what communities everywhere can do to prepare for disasters, even in places some may not expect them to occur.
Laura Bliss - Bloomberg
It's too soon to say what - if anything - could have stopped or softened the devastation in Maui. But experts like Kimiko Barrett say there are profound lessons in the historic fires for communities across the US, where far more dollars are spent putting out flames than preventing them. More than a week after flames were first reported near Lahaina, hundreds of people are still missing, and the loss of life - now up to 111 - is expected to mount. Already, the Lahaina fire is the deadliest in the US in over a century.
/jlne.ws/45D6NVH
Why ESG Ratings Are All Over the Map; Requiring all companies to disclose a uniform set of ESG data would make it easier for investors to compare funds and companies
Rochelle Toplensky - The Wall Street Journal
Tesla could be a poster child for the confusion surrounding ESG ratings. Should the carmaker have a high ESG score because it makes electric vehicles, a low one because of some of its labor practices and autopilot risks or a middling one that averages things out? Different ratings companies give different answers and therein lies the problem: Many investors look to ESG scores as an easy way to compare firms based on their environmental, social and governance practices, but so far they have largely failed to deliver that.
/jlne.ws/47FVON8
Report: Financial firms undermining net zero goals by failing to account for nature-related risks
Jayna Ranaclock - BusinessGreen
CDP analysis of over 550 of the world's largest banks, insurers and asset mangers finds less than a third of institutions are influenced by nature-related issues
Financial institutions risk jeopardising their progress towards net zero by failing to consider nature-related dependencies, risks and opportunities, CDP has warned. A report published yesterday by the climate data disclosure non-profit states that while 95 per cent of the financial sector - including the world's largest banks, insurers and asset managers - have stepped up their efforts to take greater consideration of the risk posed by climate change to their business, still less than a third are taking into account the threats posed by nature-related problems such as forest loss and and water scarcity.
/jlne.ws/3YN0gW7
ESG Investing Laws Diverge in Red and Blue States: Explained
Brenna Goth - Bloomberg
New laws restrict state pensions, contracts; Democrats push investment sustainability. More than a dozen states across the country are implementing new ESG laws that in most cases curb use of the factors in investments, contracts, and other areas. Most of the action is in Republican-led states, where lawmakers have restricted environmental, social, and governance considerations-such as addressing climate change-in a range of state and corporate actions. Meanwhile, Democrat-led states including Illinois and Colorado enacted laws requiring additional disclosures on investment risks and sustainability.
/jlne.ws/3E2qABX
How Satellites Are Helping Farmers Adapt to Global Warming; Already used by winemakers trying to harvest at the right time, new orbital sensor technology may be the key to agriculture weathering the climate crisis.
Paul Tullis - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/45vkPbN
Additional ESG disclosure requirements coming for public debt issuers?
Mrunal M. Shah and Kimberly A. Byrens - Reuters
/jlne.ws/45enM0G
Alarm at exodus of climate voices on Twitter after Musk takeover; Half of regular green tweeters abandoned platform after its sale and cuts to moderation, analysis finds
Damian Carrington - The Guardian
/jlne.ws/459nXu6
Rule That Rocked Global Carbon Market Is Walked Back in Zimbabwe; Demand for state to take 50% of proceeds now cut to 30%; Earlier rule change sparked fears other countries would follow
Godfrey Marawanyika and Antony Sguazzin - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/47A1fwT
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Ariel Investments appoints new global equities chief
Douglas Appell and Jennifer Ablan, Pensions & Investments - Crain's Chicago Business
Rupal J. Bhansali, chief investment officer and portfolio manager of Chicago-based Ariel Investments' international and global equity portfolios, will be leaving the firm at the end of August with plans to start her own firm, according to a memorandum Ariel distributed to clients Wednesday. Henry Mallari-D'Auria, the 30-year AllianceBernstein veteran who joined Ariel in April with five team members to lead Ariel's push into emerging markets value equities, will take on an expanded role as CIO of global and emerging markets equities, according to Ariel's memo.
/jlne.ws/3ODFxzj
JPMorgan Spoofer Sentencings Delayed as Judge Reviews Mitigation; Gregg Smith, Michael Nowak found guilty in Chicago last year; After arguments Thursday, judge said he'll decide next week
Joe Deaux - Bloomberg
A federal judge delayed until next week the sentencing of two former JPMorgan Chase & Co. gold traders convicted last year of spoofing, fraud and attempted market manipulation, so he can review issues raised by defense lawyers hoping to keep their clients out of prison. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of five years behind bars for Michael Nowak, who ran JPMorgan's precious-metals trading desk, and six years for Gregg Smith, the bank's top gold trader.
/jlne.ws/3P4AF84
Brokers Ready Trading in Discounted Bonds of Hawaiian Electric; Jefferies quoted private placement notes at distressed levels; Some holders have held calls on potential fallout, recovery
Rachel Butt and Reshmi Basu - Bloomberg
Some Wall Street bond brokers are soliciting interest in a series of rarely traded notes tied to Hawaiian Electric Industries, as market participants assess potential liabilities for the utility following deadly wildfires in Maui, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Jefferies Financial Group sent out quotes this week on Hawaiian Electric Co.'s private placement notes at deeply distressed levels, between 40 cents to 60 cents on the dollar, said the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.
/jlne.ws/3KMS1nj
Top ETF Says Credit Suisse Wipeout Helped Spur Curiosity in AT1s
Tasos Vossos - Blomberg
A $17 billion wipeout of risky Credit Suisse bonds in March held a silver lining for a top exchange-traded fund as it helped to spur curiosity in an asset class that was off the radar for many investors.
/jlne.ws/44l9SIF
Crispin Odey's Mega Bond Wagers Erased at Flagship Hedge Fund
Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
Freddie Neave has removed the leveraged bond bets put on by his former boss Crispin Odey at the flagship hedge fund he now runs for Odey Asset Management as he cuts risk ahead of moving out of the investment firm.
/jlne.ws/3KHgkmj
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Hedge Fund Woodline Sued for 'Oppressive, Misogynistic' Culture; Fund and co-founder accused of demeaning female admins; Woodline says it provides a supportive workplace for employees
Hema Parmar - Bloomberg
Karl Kroeker, co-founder of hedge fund Woodline Partners, was sued by a former employee claiming he contributed to a demeaning work culture and repeatedly made sexually inappropriate comments, and that she was fired as she grappled with postpartum depression. Danielle di Bari, a 32-year-old executive admin who left the firm in May, alleges in the lawsuit that Kroeker, 51, on multiple occasions proposed suggestive hypothetical questions to her and fellow EAs, and that she was fired after requesting to work remotely for an extra day a week to accommodate her postpartum depression.
/jlne.ws/44e3piS
Goldman Plans Hiring Spree to Fix Lapses After Increased Fed Scrutiny; Wall Street firm is enlisting several hundred new staffers; CEO privately points to tougher regulatory climate for banks
Sridhar Natarajan and Hannah Levitt - Bloomberg
A fresh bout of US regulatory scrutiny is setting off a hiring spree at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as the company's leaders seek to remediate issues raised by banking supervisors. The Wall Street firm is enlisting several hundred new staffers to help address concerns from authorities including the Federal Reserve, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named discussing confidential plans.
/jlne.ws/45fmp1C
Companies 'Lose Both Sides' By Backtracking on LGBTQ Support: Ex-Goldman Managing Director; Maeve DuVally has published a memoir about coming out as transgender on Wall Street.
Richard Abbey - Bloomberg
Companies that speak out in support of their underrepresented employees must stand their ground, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. managing director said, even as some of the US's biggest brands face a backlash for public campaigns around the LGBTQ community.
/jlne.ws/44nwqsE
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine Protects Against New Variants in Early Study
Ike Swetlitz - Bloomberg
Moderna Inc.'s updated Covid-19 shot provides some protection against two variants of the virus that are among those most widely circulating in the US, according to early results from a company study. The vaccine significantly boosted levels of antibodies that target the EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 variants, Moderna said in a statement, citing unpublished clinical trial data.
/jlne.ws/3KLdtZY
'Poor Man's Cocaine' Costing $3 a Pill Threatens to Proliferate; Officials see risk of captagon traffickers testing new markets; US and UK say Syria's Assad regime profits from sales
Sam Dagher and Samy Adghirni - Bloomberg
Europe is bracing for the possible influx of a drug that's hooked the Middle East as political shifts and crackdowns in the Gulf spur producers in Syria and Lebanon to tap new markets. Selling for around $3 to $25 per tablet, the amphetamine-type pill captagon is primarily produced and trafficked by individuals and groups tied to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his ally the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, according to the US State Department and Treasury, the UK's Foreign Office as well as independent researchers.
/jlne.ws/3smA5cx
US CDC tracks new lineage of virus that causes COVID
Deena Beasley - Reuters
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that it was tracking a new, highly mutated lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19. The lineage is named BA.2.86, and has been detected in the United States, Denmark and Israel, the CDC said in a post on messaging platform X.
/jlne.ws/47EhV6A
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China's Abandoned, Obsolete Electric Cars Are Piling Up in Cities; A subsidy-fueled boom helped build China into an electric-car giant but left weed-infested lots across the nation brimming with unwanted battery-powered vehicles.
Bloomberg
On the outskirts of the Chinese city of Hangzhou, a small dilapidated temple overlooks a graveyard of sorts: a series of fields where hundreds upon hundreds of electric cars have been abandoned among weeds and garbage. Similar pools of unwanted battery-powered vehicles have sprouted up in at least half a dozen cities across China, though a few have been cleaned up.
/jlne.ws/3ODG6Jr
China's Nickel Plants in Indonesia Created Needed Jobs, Plus Pollution; An influx of Chinese investment into nickel-processing on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is sowing pollution while generating economic opportunity.
Peter S. Goodman - The New York Times
For most of his 57 years on the island of Sulawesi, Jamal was accustomed to scarcity, modest expectations and a grim shortage of jobs. People mined sand, caught fish and coaxed crops from the soil. Chickens frequently disappeared from front yards, stolen by hungry neighbors.
/jlne.ws/45jCd3x
A $20 Billion Plan to Break Indonesia's Coal Habit Is Failing; Tricky geography and murky politics have grown into a formidable roadblock to the country's energy transition.
David Fickling - Bloomberg (Opinion)
Breaking a substance addiction is hard work. In the case of Indonesia's coal dependency, it may prove impossible any day soon. That's going to be a problem for one of the most ambitious attempts to decarbonize our energy systems, Indonesia's $20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership, or JETP. Under the deal announced by the Group of 20 last November, public and private funders in rich nations promised to provide funding so the archipelago of nearly 300 million people could shutter coal-fired power plants early and replace them with renewable generators.
/jlne.ws/3DZgou2
A $2.6 Trillion Cash Pile From Japan Boosts Private Credit; Japanese life insurers are adding private credit investments; Rising hedging costs have made foreign bonds less attractive
Taiga Uranaka, Ayai Tomisawa, and Lisa Lee - Bloomberg
Japanese insurance giants are shifting more of their $2.6 trillion in investment money to private credit, giving a further boost to the growing asset class. Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. and Nippon Life Insurance Co. are among companies that are seeking more investments in private credit, attracted to their floating interest rates as global borrowing costs jump.
/jlne.ws/3YDFQ1C
Stalled $20 Billion Climate Deal Can Advance, Indonesia Says; Investment plan has been pushed back to "later this year"; Partnership seen as potential model for middle-income nations
Clara Ferreira Marques and Harry Suhartono - Bloomberg
Progress on Indonesia's delayed $20 billion climate finance deal remains possible this year if governance is improved and if a more realistic approach is adopted, the country's deputy foreign minister said. Details of an investment plan for the landmark Just Energy Transition Partnership, signed in Bali with US President Joe Biden last year, had been expected to be set out this week. Instead, the formal launch of the process was postponed Wednesday until later in 2023.
/jlne.ws/47ALhTe
Mozambique to Regulate Carbon-Credit Projects Next Year; Country is in talks with Belgium over debt-for-nature swap; Mozambique is establishing climate unit in finance ministry
Matthew Hill - Bloomberg
Mozambique plans to introduce regulations to govern carbon-credit projects in the country in 2024, following similar announcements by Zimbabwe, Malawi and Kenya. The government will prepare draft rules by the end of this year, for presentation to the council of ministers for approval in the first quarter of 2024, according to a presentation made this week by an inter-ministerial task team.
/jlne.ws/3P0HS8R
Hey, Doomers, You Can Relax About San Francisco; Every city has its problems. That doesn't mean the Bay Area behemoth (really!) isn't still an economic powerhouse.
Jessica Karl - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3OFZ0PV
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Soho House teams up with Michael Milken to bring The Ned to Washington; London-based group partners with 'junk bond king' on club adjacent to the White House
Oliver Barnes and Harriet Agnew - Financial Times
Washington power brokers will from next summer have a new rendezvous as club group Soho House teams up with "junk bond king" Michael Milken to launch a new outpost in a complex next to the grounds of the White House. People close to the project said the London-based company was preparing to launch a new branch of The Ned, which charges members about $5,000 a year and is an upmarket variant of Soho House's eponymous venues, in the heart of the US capital.
/jlne.ws/3DXZkop
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