| August 26, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
I normally head up to Wisconsin on the weekends to enjoy the summer weather alongside beautiful Geneva lake. That is the nice way of saying I head up north to do work on the family home I bought from my brothers after our mother died. There is no end to the projects to keep the house and gardens in shape. One perk of the house is the proximity to the lake and the ability to go jump in the lake to cool off. Except this weekend, for the first-time I can remember, the beaches were closed around the lake and there was a recommendation from an inter-municipal environmental group not to go swimming because of a blue-green algae bloom. The algal bloom can cause health problems in humans, pets and other animals.
The next two days in the Chicago area are going to be among the summer's hottest, Bloomberg reports. Temperatures will reach 96F today and 98F tomorrow. However, it will cool off after that. It looks like it is going to be a good day for a water balloon fight.
In the capital and derivatives markets you always worry about a new competitor coming from out of left field, to use a baseball term. eBay was always a worry, especially with its powerful owner, Google, behind it. Now the Swedish retailer Ikea is getting into the space with a second-hand furniture re-selling site, a peer-to-peer marketplace called Ikea Pre-Owned, the Financial Times reported.
On Friday, The New York Stock Exchange welcomed Scouting America (the new name for Boy Scouts of America to be officially adopted in February of 2025) to the podium above its trading floor to ring the closing bell to celebrate the kick-off of their Fall Membership Drive. In honor of the occasion, Harrison Gray, an Eagle Scout from Troop 13 in Springfield, IL, rang the bell.
FIA and FIA Operations Division held another successful golf outing last month, raising over $36,000 to support two important organizations: the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the Greenwood Project
Depending on how the U.S. presidential election turns out, we could end up with Elon Musk heading up NASA, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal, which quotes Donald Trump promoting the idea. The WSJ writer likes the idea. There is another story, of dubious origins and reliability, that says Gary Gensler will be Kamala Harris' pick to head the Department of Treasury in her administration. CoinDesk's Ben Schiller weighs in with a story titled "About That 'Gary Gensler for Treasury Secretary' Story; A bombshell (alleged) revelation spread fast yesterday, but was it true?"
Bruce Blythe, a veteran writer and professional storyteller, has joined Farm Futures/Farm Progress as a senior editor of commodity markets, he shared on LinkedIn. Bruce does some occasional writing for us for some external publications we outsource to.
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:
- US Options Market is in Early Innings of Growth from MarketsMedia.
- European retail traders turn to futures as sophistication increases from Eurex.
- Buy the dip in the VIX, strategist concludes after watching Powell from Yahoo Finance. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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 Trading Technologies' Strategic Integration: A New Era in Futures TCAJohnLothianNews.com In a recent interview at the FIA's IDX conference in London, Peter Weiler, executive vice president and managing director of data & analytics at Trading Technologies (TT), shared insights into the evolving landscape of transaction cost analysis (TCA) in the futures market. Weiler, who joined TT following its acquisition of Abel Noser Solutions, discussed the unique challenges and opportunities in the adoption of TCA, as well as its potential impact on competition between major exchanges like CME and FMX. Watch the video »
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Russell 2000 Index quarterly chartbook - August 2024
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The Russell 2000 Chartbook offers you the ability to drill down on the information and research you value most. Have patience as exhibit graphics may take a moment to resolve onscreen. View the report: Russell 2000 Index Quarterly Chartbook - August 2024 | LSEG
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Long Covid Knocked a Million Americans Off Their Career Paths; Years after infection, even answering email remains arduous for many
Jennifer Calfas and Paul Overberg - The Wall Street Journal
Among Covid's superlatives is the blow it dealt to people's career plans en masse. Never before have so many Americans redrawn their relationships with work as a result of one public-health crisis. More than four years after the pandemic began, some are still reckoning with how to balance their livelihoods and life with long Covid, the chronic condition doctors are still trying to understand. People at the height of careers in finance, technology and healthcare are operating without clarity on when, or if, they can resume the paths they once laid out.
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****** I would say this number is way undercounted.~JJL
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The Surveillance and Exchange Commission; The agency imposes $393 million in fines against firms for failing to track the personal phones of its employees.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
Does Gary Gensler believe there's a limit to his power? It doesn't appear so after the Securities and Exchange Commission this month dunned 26 financial firms for failing to track employee "off-channel" communications. The SEC Chairman wants to surveil what Wall Street traders are doing on their personal phones. The SEC's $393 million in fines are the latest round in Mr. Gensler's WhatsApp sweep. More than five dozen firms have been fined some $2 billion for allegedly violating SEC record-keeping rules because some employees used non-company phones and messaging apps to communicate about business.
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****** Sticks and stones may break Gary's bones, but he will debone you in his next office hours.~JJL
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The risks and returns of the *ultimate* market portfolio; Looking Sharpe
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
Sixty years ago this September, the Journal of Finance published a dense paper on an obscure topic by an unknown academic called William Sharpe. It bombed. The first version had actually been rejected by the JoF two years earlier for containing too many assumptions, and the initial reaction to Capital Asset Prices: A Theory of Market Equilibrium Under Conditions of Risk was not so much hostile as non-existent.
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***** I am thinking of creating something called the Madden Index. It looks at the qualitative aspects of traders, rather than quantitative ones. It is named after Thomas Madden, a former Price Group/LIT/Merrill Lynch/E.F. Hutton executive that I worked with at The Price Group and LIT. Tom taught me to look at the qualitative aspects of a trader. One of the reasons I gave up my CTA is analyzing myself using that approach. ~JJL
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 LaSalle Street Move Scouts Forward Fundraiserwww.tinyurl.com/LaSalle4Scouts On September 25, the Pathway to Adventure Council of the Boy Scouts of America is hosting the LaSalle Street Move Scouts Forward event at the Chicago Board of Trade Building. This annual tradition, dating back to 1971, brings together professionals from LaSalle Street to support Scouting in our community. The highlight of the evening will be a pinewood derby race. You'll have the opportunity to build your own car or lease one at the event. It's a fantastic way to tap into your competitive spirit while enjoying cocktails and delicious food with colleagues and friends. Your participation will directly benefit Scouting programs that help develop leadership skills and character in our youth. There are various sponsorship levels available to suit your preferences. The event will be held at Ceres, with plans to move outdoors if weather permits. It's a perfect opportunity to network, have fun, and make a difference. Click Here to Register »
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Friday's Top Three
Our top story Friday was Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda warns global markets are 'unstable', from the Financial Times. Second was A Time-Honored Strategy Puts Your Retirement at Risk of Financial Ruin, from The Wall Street Journal. Third was The New Etiquette of Negotiating With Your Real-Estate Agent, from The Wall Street Journal.
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| Lead Stories | China Won't Ban Bond Trading But Sees Risk in Buying Frenzy; PBOC didn't and won't ban debt trading, people familiar say; Beijing hopes to warn on macro risks on bonds, they add
Bloomberg News
The People's Bank of China did not seek to nor will it seek to ban legitimate investments or trading in its government bonds, but it sees risks in a buying spree of the securities, according to people familiar with the matter. The PBOC gave risk warnings to some small- and medium-sized financial institutions which had significantly boosted holdings of long-dated bonds within a short time, according to people familiar with the central bank's thinking. Any rumor of the PBOC banning sovereign debt trading was a misinterpretation and is something the central bank will not do, they said.
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Traders Stuck in LME Queue Vent Fury at Warehouse's Fee Hike; Traders complain as Istim hikes fee to re-deliver metal to $50; Increase comes as price spreads make it costly to keep metal
Mark Burton, Archie Hunter, and Alfred Cang - Bloomberg
The London Metal Exchange is looking into a sharp administrative fee hike at warehouse operator Istim Metals, after receiving complaints from traders who say the increased cost is putting them under pressure and fueling distortions in the aluminum market. Istim is one of the main operators in the LME's warehousing network, which plays a crucial role in the plumbing of global metals markets by allowing traders to make or take delivery of metal when their futures contracts expire.
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China's 'broker butcher' regulator puts on charm to instill confidence, revive stocks
South China Morning Post
China's chief capital market regulator has called on leading state-run investment institutions and private asset managers to step up their presence and help revive confidence among investors in the underperforming US$8.2 trillion stock market. "I hope institutional investors will continue to maintain their confidence and composure," Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on Sunday in a statement on its website. "They should continuously strengthen the buying power, help investors obtain reasonable returns, enhance investors' confidence and trust, and increasingly become a 'stabiliser' for market operation."
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A French Bank Like No Other in Europe Seeks to Export Its Model
Phil Serafino and Albertina Torsoli - Bloomberg
Bpifrance is a bank like no other in Europe. The French lender has made more than EUR50 billion ($56 billion) in loans to small and mid-sized businesses and has EUR52 billion in stakes in almost 1,000 companies. It has backed everything from a startup wanting to take tourists to the edge of space in balloons and a chain of trendy Parisian nightspots to the automotive giant Stellantis NV. A force to reckon with on French deals for M&A advisers like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., it has lured away bankers from firms like UBS Group AG and Rothschild & Co.
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SocGen's Slawomir Krupa struggles to turn tide as investors snub lacklustre reset; Shares have fallen 19% since CEO outlined new strategy focusing on capital rather than growth
Sarah White and Owen Walker - Financial Times
The night before Société Générale's chief executive Slawomir Krupa was due to lay out his strategy for the French bank last September, he warned his board to brace themselves for a share price drop. The 50-year-old believed too much hype surrounded the plan he had concocted as a dose of reality for France's third-biggest lender, people close to the discussions said.
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Global race for nuclear weapons at record high, warns UN; Non-proliferation regime under greatest pressure since end of cold war, says Rafael Grossi
Malcolm Moore, Andrew England and Ben Hall - Financial Times
The world's nuclear non-proliferation regime is under greater pressure than at any time since the end of the cold war, as "important" countries were openly debating whether to develop atomic weapons, the head of the UN's watchdog has warned. Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Financial Times that tense relations between the US, Russia and China, as well as the conflict in the Middle East were putting unprecedented strains on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty signed in 1968 that aimed to limit the development of the world's atomic arsenal. "I don't think in the 1990s you would hear important countries say, 'well, why don't we have nuclear weapons too?'" he said.
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Mining bosses issue M&A warning as forecasts of dealmaking boom mount; Companies want commodities critical for clean energy such as copper that could drive deals
Harry Dempsey - Financial Times
Mining bosses have warned against plunging into the mergers and acquisitions market and repeating mistakes of the past as forecasts mount that the industry is on the verge of a dealmaking boom. Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm was the most outspoken as he hinted at the experience of his predecessor Tom Albanese, who was ousted from the top job in 2013 after an ill-fated acquisition. Albanese was blamed for Rio's $38bn deal for Canadian aluminium rival Alcan in 2007 that contributed to $30bn in writedowns following the metal's tumble on the markets.
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China's AI Engineers Are Secretly Accessing Banned Nvidia Chips; Brokers are making overseas computing power available and offering a high degree of anonymity
Raffaele Huang - The Wall Street Journal
SINGAPORE-Chinese artificial-intelligence developers have found a way to use the most advanced American chips without bringing them to China. They are working with brokers to access computing power overseas, sometimes masking their identity using techniques from the cryptocurrency world.
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia Pounds Ukraine With Missiles and Drones, Ukrainian Authorities Say; Kyiv and Kharkiv, the two biggest cities in Ukraine, were among those struck in what a top official called a "massive Russian attack" that also hit energy infrastructure.
Andrew E. Kramer and Matthew Mpoke Bigg - The New York Time
Russia launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Ukraine on Monday, killing at least three people, the Ukrainian authorities said, with explosions rocking major cities, including the capital, Kyiv. Energy infrastructure was also targeted in the attacks, officials said. "The attack of the enemy strike drones continues. Stay in shelters," the Ukrainian Air Force said in one of a series of Telegram posts issued as different cities were hit.
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Drone described by Ukraine as 'a completely new class of weapon' hits Russia for the first time
James Kilner - The Telegraph
Ukraine has used a new class of domestically-produced drone to attack Russia for the first time, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Saturday. The Ukrainian president described the Palianytsia drone-missile as a "completely new class of weapon" that will pound targets inside Russia until Vladimir Putin withdraws his troops from Ukraine.
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Russian strikes on Ukraine power grid largest in weeks
Barbard Wojazer - AFP
Russia fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine on Monday, killing at least four people and battering the country's already weakened energy grid, triggering blackouts, officials said. The barrage was the largest in weeks from Moscow and comes as Kyiv mounts a major offensive into Russia's Kursk region, where it has been battling for nearly three weeks and on Sunday claimed to be advancing.
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British safety adviser for Reuters killed in Russian strike on Ukraine hotel
Niamh Kennedy, Lauren Kent, Michelle Velez and Maria Kostenko - CNN
A British safety adviser for the Reuters news agency was killed and two journalists injured when a Russian strike hit a hotel in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday night. Reuters had a six-person crew staying at the Hotel Sapphire as part of its team covering the war in Ukraine. A spokesperson for the news agency identified the killed safety adviser as Ryan Evans, a 38-year-old British citizen who was assigned to its reporting team in Ukraine.
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Putin Meets With Commanders as Zelenskiy Speaks of 'Fair Peace'; Ukrainian president discusses aims with visiting Indian media; Putin receives briefings from military commanders in area
Kateryna Chursina - Bloomberg
Ukraine's operation in Russia's Kursk region is part of a broader military, political and diplomatic effort aimed at making Russia accept a "fair peace," said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. "Everything we do is for the purpose of forcing Russia be ready for fair peace," Zelenskiy told Indian journalists in Kyiv on Sunday, according to his Telegram. Ukraine took under its control two more settlements in Kursk region, he said in a daily video statement.
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Ten days that turned the tables on Russia; How Ukraine pulled off a spectacular counterpunch against Moscow by invading its invader
Christopher Miller, Anastasia Stognei - Financial Times
On August 6, Ukraine blasted through Russia's border to become the first foreign army to seize Russian territory since the second world war. Elite paratroopers, special forces and soldiers with western tanks and vehicles overran stunned border guards as they crossed into the Kursk region of western Russia. Within 10 days, Ukraine had seized about 1,000 sq km of territory, including the key town of Sudzha, shocking the world and humiliating Vladimir Putin. So astonishing was the Ukrainian advance that one historian felt compelled to embark on his own mission: entering Russia to collect memorabilia. Yuri Savchuk, head of Kyiv's main military history museum, moved over the border with a van, hunting for items that will probably become part of Ukrainian national lore. Against the din of gunfire in Sudzha, on August 16, he found the perfect exhibit: a bullet-riddled highway sign pointing left to Ukraine, and right to Russia.
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Ukraine has crossed Moscow's and Washington's red lines; Zelenskyy is prepared to ignore Russia's nuclear threats. But the Biden administration is still wary of escalating the war
Gideon Rachman - Financial Times
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Families flee after new Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza as ceasefire hopes dim
Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Ramadan Abed - Reuters
Israel issued new evacuation orders for Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip late on Sunday, forcing more families to flee, saying its forces intended to act against militant group Hamas and others operating in the area. In recent days, Israel has issued several evacuation orders across Gaza, the most since the beginning of the 10-month war, prompting an outcry from Palestinians, the United Nations and relief officials over the reduction of humanitarian zones and the absence of safe areas. The Deir Al-Balah municipality says Israeli evacuation orders have so far displaced 250,000 people. In a statement posted on X, the Israeli military urged residents in certain zones to move immediately to the west, as the area they are in is "considered a dangerous combat zone".
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Abaxx Files Early Warning Report with Respect to MineHub
Abaxx
Abaxx Technologies Inc., (CBOE: ABXX) (OTCQX: ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, indirect majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd. ("Abaxx Singapore"), the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, "Abaxx Exchange" and "Abaxx Clearing"), and producer of the SmarterMarkets™ Podcast, today announces that it has filed an early warning report in respect of MineHub Technologies Inc. ("MineHub"). On August 23, 2024, pursuant to a share exchange agreement ("SEA") between Abaxx and MineHub dated July 31, 2024, Abaxx completed a first tranche closing (the "First Tranche Closing") and acquired 4,166,677 common shares of MineHub (the "MineHub Shares") and 8,333,333 common share purchase warrants of MineHub (the "Warrants"). Each Warrant entitles Abaxx to acquire one common share of MineHub (a "Warrant Share") at a price of $0.35 per Warrant Share until November 15, 2024.
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Delisting of all Options on Yen Denominated Nikkei Stock Average Futures Contracts
CME Group
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ETFSA Lists First Actively Managed Balanced Fund on the JSE
JSE
Managed in partnership with Prescient Fund Management Services, the ETFSA Balanced Foundation Prescient AMETF, trading under the code ETFSAB, is designed for investors who seek a balanced approach to wealth accumulation. "By blending stable income-generating assets with growth-oriented investments, both locally and abroad, our AMETF aims to achieve sustainable long-term returns, whilst mitigating downside risks," said Mike Brown, Managing Director of ETFSA. "The fund will mirror the existing Wealth Default strategy run by ETFSA within its Retirement Annuity (RA) Fund, a fixed asset allocation strategy with scope for some flexibility, if required."
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Commitment of Traders Reports and Other Market Data Reports
LME
1. This Notice informs Members and Market Participants that a number of LME Market Data reports have been recalculated and republished as a result of certain position data having now been fully corrected by a Member following reporting issues.
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Joint Press Release on Caution to Investors
MCX
It has been brought to the notice of the Exchanges that some unscrupulous persons/ entities operating through Indian and International mobile numbers, through social media platforms like WhatsApp Groups, Telegram Channels, Facebook, Instagram Channels, etc. are falsely claiming to offer trading opportunities through Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) or Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) Sub-accounts or Institutional Accounts with special privileges impersonating reputed financial institutions, showcasing fake certificates purportedly issued by SEBI/ Exchanges. These operations often use mobile numbers registered under false names to orchestrate their schemes.
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Moscow Exchange announces results for the second quarter of 2024
MOEX
Moscow Exchange (MOEX) today announces its financial results based on summary financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for Q2 2024. Unless stated otherwise, all figures below refer to performance in Q2 2024 and all comparisons are with the corresponding period last year.
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NZX showing ongoing strength through economic & market cycles
NZX
NZX Limited today announced operating earnings (EBITDA) of $22.4 million for the six months ended 30 June 2024, up 12% on H1 2023, demonstrating positive momentum in delivering to its growth strategy. Excluding acquisition, integration and restructure costs, Group operating earnings (EBITDA) for the same period were $22.9 million - up 11.5%.
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NYSE Bonds - Addition to the List of Traded Bonds
NYSE
The following bonds will be added at the opening of trading on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. These bonds have been added as "NYSE traded bonds" pursuant to an SEC exemption that allows the NYSE to trade certain non-convertible debt of NYSE listed companies and their wholly owned subsidiaries, without the issuer having listed those securities on the NYSE.
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NYSE Bonds - Traded Bonds - Change In Clearing Status
NYSE
Traded Bonds - Change In Clearing Status - 08/26/2024; The New York Stock Exchange, Inc. has been advised that the following securities have been changed from Ex-Clearing to NSCC Eligible:
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List of Deliverable Canadian Government Bond Issues for the LGB, CGB, CGF and CGZ Futures Contracts
TMX
For your information, please find enclosed the list of deliverable Canadian Government Bond issues with respect to the LGB, CGB, CGF and CGZ futures contracts delivery months. This list is produced in accordance with the Rules of Bourse de Montréal Inc. and Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation (CDCC) relating to delivery standards. This list replaces the one that was distributed on August 8, 2024 (circular no. 092-24).
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Telegram founder Durov arrested in France, sources says
Ingrid Melander and Guy Faulconbridge - Reuters
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire founder and owner of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Saturday and placed in custody, three sources told Reuters. The arrest of the 39-year-old technology billionaire prompted on Sunday a warning from Moscow to Paris that he should be accorded his rights and criticism from X owner Elon Musk who said that free speech in Europe was under attack.
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Telegram Becomes Free Speech Flashpoint After Founder's Arrest; Pavel Durov, the founder of the app, which has more than 900 million users, was taken into custody by the French authorities.
Adam Satariano, Paul Mozur, and Aurelien Breeden - The New York Times
Telegram, founded in 2013 by the Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, has grown into one of the world's largest online communication tools and is central to everyday life in countries like Russia, Ukraine and India for messaging, getting independent news and exchanging views. The company's growth - it now has more than 900 million users - has been driven partly by a commitment to free speech. Telegram's light oversight of what people say or do on the platform has helped people living under authoritarian governments communicate and organize. But it has also made the app a haven for disinformation, far-right extremism and other harmful content.
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Pavel Durov, detained in France, has nothing to hide, Telegram says
Tassilo Hummel and Elizabeth Pineau - Reuters
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of Telegram who was arrested in Paris, has nothing to hide it is absurd to hold an owner responsible for abuse of the messaging and social media platform, Telegram said in a statement. Durov, a 39-year-old billionaire cast as "Russia's Mark Zuckerberg", was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Saturday from Azerbaijan.
/jlne.ws/3T4VLVh
OpenAI Taps Former Meta Executive to Head Strategic Initiatives
Shirin Ghaffary - Bloomberg
OpenAI has hired former Meta Platforms Inc. executive Irina Kofman to head up strategic initiatives, continuing to beef up its staff with veterans of big technology companies. Kofman, who recently started at the artificial intelligence startup, is reporting directly to OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati and will focus on safety and preparedness initially, said a company spokesperson. Kofman spent five years at Meta, where she was most recently a senior director of product management for generative AI, according to her LinkedIn.
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Chinese AI apps eye overseas markets for growth amid tough competition, regulation at home
South China Morning Post
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app developers are increasingly eyeing international users, as the domestic market environment turns too competitive, according to industry insiders. While China's Big Tech firms and its start-ups have rushed to launch hundreds of large language models (LLMs) and related apps, it has been a challenge to convince Chinese corporate users and consumers to pay for these services, prompting some firms to look overseas for growth.
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Telegram CEO Held Over Alleged Child Protection Failures on App; French magistrate will decide whether to charge Pavel Durov; Durov was apprehended at an airport outside Paris on Saturday
Gaspard Sebag - Bloomberg
Pavel Durov, the chief executive officer of Telegram, has been detained in France over claims that the messaging service failed to properly fight crime on the app, including the spread of child sexual abuse material. The 39-year-old Russian-born billionaire was stopped on Saturday at Le Bourget airport north of Paris after stepping out of a private jet, according to France's TF1 TV station. The following day, the investigating magistrate extended his detention from 24 to up to 96 hours, Agence France Presse reported. Before that lapses on Wednesday evening, the magistrate must decide whether to press charges against Durov, release him without charges or name him as a witness in the investigation and let him go free.
/jlne.ws/3AFvMNX
AI Giants Can Learn a Thing or Two From Mark Zuckerberg; Google and Microsoft should take note of how Meta's leader has demonstrated AI's impact on his own business.
Parmy Olson - Bloomberg
Mark Zuckerberg may have a history of copying of others’ ideas, but when it comes to navigating the generative AI hype cycle, he’s the one forging a smarter path.
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The AI Supply Shock Is Coming for Nations Everywhere
Chris Anstey - Bloomberg
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OpenAI supports California AI bill requiring 'watermarking' of synthetic content
Anna Tong - Reuters
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How Digital Wallets Like Apple Pay and Google Pay Work
Teresa Xie and Paige Smith - Bloomberg
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Paytm Shares Drop After Report on Regulatory Scrutiny; Securities regulator looking into Paytm's IPO process: report; Fintech pioneer already targeted by banking watchdog earlier
Sankalp Phartiyal - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3Xm1Uhl
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Iranian hackers targeted WhatsApp accounts of staffers in Biden, Trump administrations, Meta says
Eric Tucker and David Klepper - Associated Press Finance
The same Iranian hacking group believed to have targeted both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns tried to go after the WhatsApp accounts of staffers in the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Meta Platforms said Friday. Meta said it discovered the network of hackers, who posed as tech support agents for companies including Microsoft and Google, after individuals who received the suspicious WhatsApp messages reported them. Meta's investigators linked the activity to the same network blamed for the hacking incident reported by Trump's campaign.
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CrowdStrike's Big Mystery: How Bad, and for How Long? Cybersecurity provider's second-quarter results might shed limited light on fallout from outage
Dan Gallagher - The Wall Street Journal
CrowdStrike's next earnings report will answer a lot of questions. But some big ones may go unanswered. The cybersecurity provider's fiscal second-quarter report coming Wednesday afternoon comes a little over a month after a minor software update from the company caused a crippling global outage that disrupted everything from air travel to banking to hospitals. CrowdStrike's robust response to the incident has generally drawn high marks, even from its biggest rivals. Palo Alto Networks Chief Executive Nikesh Arora praised CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz in a LinkedIn post earlier this month, writing "your diligence, transparency and perseverance is admirable." But how the incident actually affected CrowdStrike's business remains unknown.
/jlne.ws/46ZwpxG
Nigeria in push to crack down on online extortion scams; Meta's removal of more than 63,000 fake accounts shines a light on how to protect vulnerable people online
Aanu Adeoye - Financial Times
Nigeria is keen to help crack down on internet extortion scams after Meta's removal of thousands of fake Nigerian Instagram and Facebook accounts put a spotlight on how to protect vulnerable young people online. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the country's anti-corruption watchdog, told the Financial Times it was willing to work with global law enforcement to arrest Nigerian-based suspects. "There's no safe haven for anyone committing such crimes in Nigeria as far as the EFCC is concerned," commission spokesperson Dele Oyewale said last week.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto investors warned over latest HMRC 'nudge' campaign; A 'voluntary disclosure is better than no disclosure'
Emma Agyemang - Financial Times
Experts are warning crypto investors to check their tax position in the wake of a new "nudge" letter campaign from HM Revenue & Customs. The tax authority wrote this month to crypto holders it suspects have failed to pay the correct tax on their gains and plans a second round of letters in September. HMRC has increased its focus on cryptocurrency holders in recent years and previously cited estimates that tax non-compliance among crypto investors could "range from as high as 55 per cent to 95 percent".
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How a Colorful Investor Profited From a Crypto Giant's Dealmaking; Christian Angermayer introduced Tether to companies in which he held stakes, and took cuts of some of the deals
Ben Foldy and Caitlin Ostroff - The Wall Street Journal
Flush with cash, the company that owns one of the world's most popular cryptocurrencies is going shopping. Tether has bought control of companies involved in artificial intelligence and neural implants, connected by a German investor whose deal introductions have had mixed results. Tether runs the cryptocurrency known as tether, which now has more than $115 billion worth of tokens in circulation. Thanks to higher interest rates, Tether is raking in roughly $4 billion a year from the Treasurys that back its cryptocurrency. The company has enlisted tech investor and entrepreneur Christian Angermayer to help invest its windfall. The colorful financier has also sought riches in unconventional investments including psychedelics, dinosaur fossils and an Olympics alternative where athletes are encouraged to use performance-enhancing drugs.
/jlne.ws/4dYbJbA
Investors Are Slow to Embrace Ether ETFs One Month After Debut; Nine funds have seen net outflows since July 23 launch; Converted Grayscale Ethereum Trust hit with outflows
Teresa Xie - Bloomberg
It's been a month since the much-anticipated Ether ETFs launched in the US - but investors still don't seem too interested. The nine exchange-traded funds that hold the second-largest cryptocurrency directly saw investor outflows Thursday for a sixth consecutive day, the longest streak of withdrawals since their debut on July 23. During the same period, US ETFs holding crypto bellwether Bitcoin saw inflows daily, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. "Bitcoin is generally the crypto 'onramp' for traditional investors," Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto Is Macro Now newsletter. "While Ethereum may eventually catch up as diversification becomes more of a priority, for now Bitcoin is likely to continue to outperform."
/jlne.ws/3AL8hCR
Crypto Bros Aren't Flipping Watches. That Is an Issue for Luxury Brands.; It is becoming less lucrative to speculate on luxury watches, creating a knock-on effect in brands' stores
Carol Ryan - The Wall Street Journal
To read the luxury watch business, it can help to look at what is going on in the secondhand market. Falling prices for used watches suggest that a recovery in firsthand sales will take a long time. Watches were one of the worst categories for Europe's top luxury companies in the latest quarter. Richemont, which owns Cartier as well as Vacheron Constantin, said sales of its specialist watches dropped 13% year over year in the three months through June. LVMH said sales in its watches and jewelry division fell 4% over the period, while Hermes watch sales dropped 4.9%.
Crypto tax evasion is 'pervasive'; But is it big enough for tax authorities to care?
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
One of the many things about Norway that blows people's minds is that tax returns are public. For economists that means there's a treasure trove of data to play with. Tom Meling, Magne Mostad and Vestre have done precisely that for a paper just published by the National Bureau for Economic Research, which cross-references tax filings with data they obtained from crypto exchanges via the authorities.
/jlne.ws/47iokVj
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump Announces New Grift as He Tanks in the Polls
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling - The New Republic
Donald Trump once referred to cryptocurrencies as a scam, but as of this week, he appears to be all in on the digital coin. On Thursday, the Republican nominee and his family announced the creation of "The Trump DeFi Project"-short for decentralized finance-to platform cryptocurrencies. "For too long, the average American has been squeezed by the big banks and financial elites," Trump wrote online in a post echoed by his son, Don Jr. "It's time we take a stand-together."
/jlne.ws/3T3HmIV
Big-Bank CEOs Like to Wield Influence-Except in Presidential Politics; Top bankers weigh in frequently on issues from immigration to tariffs but almost never contribute directly to presidential campaigns
Justin Baer and Jack Gillum - The Wall Street Journal
The nation's top bankers seek to influence U.S. policy on everything from immigration to tariffs and bank-capital rules. They donate freely to their companies' political-action committees and meet regularly with leaders of both political parties. Yet when it comes to siding with one presidential candidate or the other, the chief executives of big banks take a more diplomatic approach. And they almost never contribute directly to presidential campaigns, at least not since the 2008-09 financial crisis transformed their relationship with Washington.
/jlne.ws/473lK5p
About That 'Gary Gensler for Treasury Secretary' Story; A bombshell (alleged) revelation spread fast yesterday, but was it true?
Ben Schiller - CoinDesk
Yesterday, a publication called the Washington Reporter released a bombshell story saying that Kamala Harris was "likely to nominate Gary Gensler as Treasury Secretary if elected." Based on unnamed sources, the lede confidently ran: "While publicly, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler hasn't expressed desire to leave his current role, multiple senior Senate staffers are telling the Washington Reporter that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins in November, she plans to nominate Gensler as her Treasury Secretary."
/jlne.ws/3T465N7
Kamala Harris's election fundraising surges past $500mn since replacing Joe Biden; US vice-president's coffers benefit from Democratic National Convention enthusiasm and 'unprecedented grassroots donations'
Steff Chavez - Financial Times
Kamala Harris has raised more than $500mn since entering the White House race, boosted by donor enthusiasm during this week's Democratic National Convention. The US vice-president has brought in $540mn since she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the party's ticket for November's election, including $82mn during DNC week, according to a memorandum from campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon. The total comprises money flowing to the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees.
/jlne.ws/3XggLuC
Crypto firms flood PACs with donations in hope candidates will relax regulations
Taylor Herzlich - NY Post
Cryptocurrency companies have accounted for nearly half of all corporate donations during the 2024 presidential election - provoking critics to cry foul over the industry's growing influence, according to a report. Crypto corporations dished out more than $119 million in political donations, mostly into a non-partisan super PAC focused on electing pro-crypto candidates, according to a report by nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen released Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/3AHR51h
China slams US for adding firms to export control list, vows action
Reuters
China's Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday it strongly opposed a U.S. decision to add multiple Chinese entities to its export control list over Russia-related issues. The United States on Friday added 105 Russian and Chinese firms to a trade restriction list over their alleged support of the Russian military.
/jlne.ws/3yJu39L
China opposes US sanctions on firms over alleged ties to Russia's war efforts
Associated Press
China on Sunday expressed its opposition to the latest U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies over their alleged ties to Russia's war in Ukraine, saying it will adopt necessary measures to safeguard the rights and interests of the country's businesses. The U.S. on Friday announced sweeping sanctions on hundreds of firms in Russia and across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, accusing them of providing products and services that enable Russia's war effort and aiding its ability to evade sanctions. The U.S. Department of State said it was concerned by "the magnitude of dual-use goods exports" from China to Russia.
/jlne.ws/4e0qDy3
The inside story of the secret backchannel between the US and China; Top officials Jake Sullivan and Wang Yi met quietly to stabilise relations in 'cloak and dagger' summits around the world
Demetri Sevastopulo - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3yIGGC1
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Justice Department Sues RealPage for Algorithmic Pricing Scheme that Harms Millions of American Renters
Department of Justice
The Justice Department, together with the Attorneys General of North Carolina, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today against RealPage Inc. for its unlawful scheme to decrease competition among landlords in apartment pricing and to monopolize the market for commercial revenue management software that landlords use to price apartments. RealPage's alleged conduct deprives renters of the benefits of competition on apartment leasing terms and harms millions of Americans. The lawsuit was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina and alleges that RealPage violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.
/jlne.ws/3T2VK4e
Kraken Must Face SEC Suit Over Crypto Exchange Registration
Rachel Graf - Bloomberg
Cryptocurrency platform Kraken must face a US Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit accusing it of operating an unregistered securities exchange, a judge ruled. "The SEC has plausibly alleged that at least some of the cryptocurrency transactions that Kraken facilitates on its network constitute investment contracts, and therefore securities, and are accordingly subject to securities laws," US District Judge William H. Orrick wrote in an opinion published Friday in San Francisco federal court.
/jlne.ws/3ADbO6t
China Fines Seven Companies Over Tainted Cooking Oil Scandal
Hallie Gu - Bloomberg
China has fined seven companies for their involvement in a tainted cooking oil scandal that caused a nationwide uproar over food safety last month. The firms were penalized a combined 11 million yuan ($1.5 million) for their role in an incident that saw edible oil being transported in trucks that had been used to carry coal oil without being properly cleaned. A unit of state grain stockpiler China Grain Reserves Corp., known as Sinograin, got the biggest fine - 2.86 million yuan - following an investigation set up by the State Council.
/jlne.ws/4dCLoQS
SEBI's ban on India's Anil Ambani and his Reliance Group troubles
Reuters
Anil Ambani, one of India's best-known businessmen and chairman of Reliance Group, was banned from the securities market for five years and fined about $3 million by the country's markets regulator last week on charges of diversion of funds. Anil Ambani said he was reviewing the order and will take appropriate next steps as legally advised. Once ranked sixth-richest person in the world in 2008, Anil Ambani has faced numerous legal and financial hurdles, leading him to announce bankruptcy in a UK court in 2020.
/jlne.ws/4dUz1iL
CFTC Staff Issues No-Action Letter for EU-Based and UK-Based DCOs Regarding Certain Requirements Applicable to DCOs
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) today issued a no-action letter to address the applicability of certain CFTC regulations to registered derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs) based in either the European Union (EU) or the United Kingdom (UK). This letter replaces CFTC Letter 16-26, which applied only to EU-based DCOs and was issued in 2016 as part of the CFTC's response to the EU equivalence determination with regard to the CFTC's regulatory framework for DCOs. [See CFTC Press Release No. 7342-16]
/jlne.ws/3Z6voBY
SEC Issues Awards Totaling $98 Million to Two Whistleblowers
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced awards of more than $98 million to two whistleblowers whose information and assistance led to an SEC enforcement action and an action brought by another agency. The first whistleblower's tip prompted the opening of the investigations, and thereafter provided critical additional information and ongoing assistance. As a result, this whistleblower will receive an award of $82 million. The second whistleblower, whose information was provided later, significantly contributed to one aspect of the actions and will receive an award of $16 million.
/jlne.ws/3APbZeL
Former Brisbane financial adviser Ben Jayaweera found guilty of fraud following a retrial in the Brisbane District Court
ASIC
On Friday 23 August 2024, Ben Jayaweera, a former financial advisor and director of Growth Plus Financial Group Pty Ltd (in Liquidation) was found guilty of 28 counts of fraud pursuant to section 408C(1)(e) Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld). The offending took place between August 2013 and November 2015, resulting in a total detriment of $5,958,870 to 12 of Mr Jayaweera's former clients.
/jlne.ws/3T49ueR
ASIC wins case against Kraken crypto exchange operator for design and distribution failure
ASIC
The Federal Court today ruled Bit Trade Pty Ltd, the operator of the Kraken crypto exchange in Australia, failed to comply with design and distribution obligations when offering a margin trading product to Australian customers. Since 5 October 2021, Bit Trade's "margin extension" product has been available to customers trading on the Kraken exchange without a target market determination, as required by law. As a result, Bit Trade contravened s994B(2) of the Corporations Act each time it made the product available to a customer.
/jlne.ws/3ZiyumT
ASIC continues action on misleading claims to deter greenwashing misconduct
ASIC
ASIC has made 47 regulatory interventions to address greenwashing misconduct during the 15-month period up to 30 June 2024, including the commencement of two Federal Court proceedings and over $123,000 in infringement notice payments. The range of interventions, outlined in Report 791 ASIC's interventions on greenwashing misconduct: 2023-2024 (REP 791), are aimed at stamping out misleading and deceptive conduct in relation to sustainable finance-related products and services.
/jlne.ws/4g37qxU
Individual Convicted for False Trading under the Securities and Futures Act
MAS
Mr Tay Ming Hin (Mr Tay) was convicted on 26 August 2024 and sentenced to four weeks imprisonment for false trading in the shares of Catalist-listed KOP Limited (KOP).
/jlne.ws/3YZkC0D
Consumer Price Developments in July 2024
MAS
This July 2024 report contains an update of the latest consumer price developments in Singapore, prepared by MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
/jlne.ws/4g2ivyS
Hong Kong Regulator Finds 'Unsatisfactory Practices' at Some Crypto Entities Seeking Full License: Report
Amitoj Singh - CoinDesk
Hong Kong's regulator has found "unsatisfactory practices" at some crypto exchanges seeking full licenses in the region after conducting on-site inspections. If this results in the cancellation of some temporary licenses handed out to the 11 applicants for full licenses, it may throw a spanner in the works of Hong Kong's pursuit of trying to become a global hub for crypto. Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has found "unsatisfactory practices" at "some" of the cryptocurrency exchanges seeking a full license from it after conducting on-site inspections, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the situation. "Some of the crypto firms are overly reliant on a handful of executives to oversee the custody of client assets, while others aren't properly guarding against cybercrime risks," the report cited.
/jlne.ws/3T66L4J
Joint announcement of the SFC and the Exchange in relation to modifications to requirements for specialist technology companies and de-SPAC transactions
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (the SFC) and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), jointly announce today (Friday) temporary modifications to the Listing Rules (Modifications) (Note 1) and amendments to the Exchange's guidance materials effective from 1 September 2024, with respect to:
/jlne.ws/4egN5U7
Important Measure June 2024
FSC
1. FSC Reminds the Public of the Risks Associated with Engaging in Virtual Asset Trading and Overseas Virtual Asset Trading Platforms; In order to strengthen the public's awareness of transaction risks, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) reminds the public to stop and think carefully before engaging in virtual asset transactions. Virtual assets are emerging and complex commodities that are prone to sharp and unlimited rises and falls in price. The information about them is often not transparent and their transaction risks are high. Before engaging in any such transactions, members of the public should gain a full understanding of the operating models and carefully assess the possible risks, in order to safeguard their own investment rights and interests and protect their financial security.
/jlne.ws/3T3co3E
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | U.S. Treasuries not the safe bet they once were, research says
Ann Saphir and Howard Schneider - Reuters
No safer than a bund. Or a gilt. Or an OAT. Long touted as hands-down the world's "safe haven" securities, the behavior of U.S. Treasuries during and after the COVID-19 pandemic calls that label into question, suggesting they are little different from the debt issued by the likes of Germany, Britain, France, or even big corporations. That's the key finding of new research presented at the Kansas City Fed's annual research conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It examines a shift in investor behavior in that period that raises questions about the "exorbitant privilege" the U.S. government has long enjoyed to borrow broadly on the global market even as federal budget gaps grow ever wider.
/jlne.ws/3XiYlcV
Why Opening a Roth Account May Be a Good Move, No Matter Your Age; These savings accounts, which are often pitched to young investors, can be a good investment option for older and retired workers.
Martha C. White - The New York Times
At 72, Janice Campbell might not seem like your average investor in a Roth account. Those investment vehicles - funded with after-tax dollars instead of the pretax contributions that go into most individual retirement accounts and 401(k)s - are typically recommended for younger workers. Taxes are paid on the money before it is contributed to the account. For those just starting out their careers and earning entry-level wages, the appeal is paying taxes at a lower rate than they are likely to be at in another 20 or 30 years. This money grows, tax-free, until retirement, at which point withdrawals also are tax-free.
/jlne.ws/473xDbj
Yuan Carry Trade Prospers Even After Yen Version Collapses
Tania Chen and Marcus Wong - Bloomberg
The hugely popular yen carry trade crashed and burned this month as Japan's currency surged. A less well-known version of the strategy is likely to be more immune to those kind of shocks. Trades involving borrowing yuan to buy higher-yielding assets are set to be more resilient as China's central bank keeps its monetary policy dovish, Royal Bank of Canada says. The yuan carry trade differs from the yen one as it mainly involves exporters and multinationals instead of speculators, Macquarie Group Ltd. data shows.
/jlne.ws/3YZtZgF
Junk Bond Maturity Wall Erodes as Money Managers Seek Yield
Tasos Vossos - Bloomberg
The feared maturity wall is proving more of a speed bump, with the world's junk bond market so far this year seeing the biggest decline in looming debt repayments in at least a decade. Since the start of 2024, corporates have settled just over $170 billion of their high-yield bonds due in the coming two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's more than they redeemed over the entire course of 2021, when repayments peaked amid rock-bottom financing costs.
/jlne.ws/3T2Wo1w
Hedge Funds Dump Diesel as Supply Glut Tanks Futures Market; Net-long positions surge at four-year low: CFTC data; Prices collapse as supply glut collides with weak demand
Antonia Mufarech - Bloomberg
Investors have turned deeply bearish on diesel, with bets on falling prices surging to the highest level since lock-downs began in early 2020. Net-long positions on US diesel fell by 4,086 contracts to 24,548, a four-year low, according to CFTC data for the week ended Aug. 20. Meanwhile, bearish bets on gasoil fell by 26,875 net-short positions to 27,207 - the lowest in more than a year, according to ICE Futures Europe.
/jlne.ws/3YZhy4j
The world should take notice - the rest are rising again; An emerging market revival has begun, with dramatic global implications
Ruchir Sharma - Financial Times
The writer is chair of Rockefeller International. His new book is 'What Went Wrong With Capitalism'. In the 2000s, as a broad economic boom in emerging economies was drawing billions of dollars into their financial markets, author Fareed Zakaria captured this historic moment as "the rise of the rest". Now a similarly encouraging story is unfolding in the emerging world, but few observers have noticed and still fewer foreign investors have acted on this momentous shift.
/jlne.ws/3WYVxAk
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Exxon Sees Net Zero Missed With 2050 Oil Demand as High as Today
Kevin Crowley - Bloomberg
Exxon Mobil Corp. forecasts global oil demand in 2050 will be the same - or even slightly higher - than current levels, putting efforts to reach net zero carbon emissions by mid-century well out of reach. Oil demand will remain above 100 million barrels a day through 2050, driven by growth in industrial uses such as plastic production and heavy-duty transportation, Exxon said Monday in its annual Global Outlook. The International Energy Agency's Net Zero Emissions Scenario says demand must drop 75% to 24 million barrels a day by 2050 to limit warming to 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial norms, as called for in the Paris climate agreement.
/jlne.ws/4g2j63A
Where have all the insects gone?; The tiny creatures on which the world depends seem to be in decline. But what does the data really say - and what is to be done?
Manuela Saragosa - Financial Times
That evening on the terrace, in the yellow glow of the outside light, it took a lull in the dinner conversation for anyone to notice that something was missing. Where were the dull thwacks of flying insects bumping against the lightbulb? Even the tuneless orchestra of cicadas or crickets, whichever they were (no one was quite sure), had stilled its instruments. "Where have all the insects gone?" someone said.
Meteorologist Celeste Saulo: 'Climate change is not a movie. This is real life'; The head of the UN's global weather agency on adapting to a warming world - and what forecasting can teach us about co-operation
Attracta Mooney - Financial Times
With wildfires burning in Greece and Turkey, large chunks of the Mediterranean parched as drought spreads across the region, and all just weeks after the world experienced its hottest days on record, Celeste Saulo and I sit down to a sweltering lunch. It is almost 30C and we are eating outside on the shores of Lake Geneva.
/jlne.ws/3MrTP5j
'Dangerous Precedent' Rattles Chile's Renewable Energy Market; Boric seeks price-system change to fund subsidy for the poor; Small generators say debt payments, future investments at risk
Valentina Fuentes - Bloomberg
A legislative change is threatening to unravel one of the world's safest bets in renewable energy, a Chilean incentive program that lured companies backed by BlackRock Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. President Gabriel Boric's administration is seeking to raise funds by altering a pricing mechanism for small electricity generators that has attracted billions of dollars of investment in mainly solar power. Critics say the program, created under a previous presidency, has been such a boon for investors that it's oversaturated the market and increased costs for the overall system.
/jlne.ws/4g3xAR5
Australian homeowners struggling to afford insurance as climate risks grow, report says
Reuters
Home insurance is becoming unaffordable for a growing number of Australian households as increased climate threats drive up their premiums, potentially putting billions of dollars in mortgage loans at risk, a report said on Monday. As of March 2024, 15% of Australian households were experiencing home insurance affordability stress, which is defined as having premiums that cost more than four weeks' of their incomes, the report from the Actuaries Institute found.
/jlne.ws/4dCwuKo
Libyan Rival Government to Stop Oil Output Over Bank Row; Dueling governments fight over leadership of central bank; Biggest export terminal Es Sider starts cutting oil shipments
Salma El Wardany and Hatem Mohareb - Bloomberg
Libya's eastern government said it will shut down all oil production and exports, after a spat with its Tripoli-based rival escalated over control of the central bank. Brent crude jumped as much as 3% to above $81 a barrel, after the eastern authorities said Monday in a statement on Facebook that a "force majeure" applies to all fields, terminals and oil facilities. Waha Oil Co., which supplies Es Sider - the country's largest export terminal - said it will start cutting shipments gradually.
/jlne.ws/3YZwMq9
Norway's Wealth Fund Marks EUR900 Million for CIP Renewables Fund
Stephen Treloar - Bloomberg
Norway's $1.7 trillion sovereign wealth fund committed to invest EUR900 million ($1 billion) in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners' fifth flagship fund, the first time it will take an indirect stake for its unlisted renewable energy infrastructure portfolio. The deal will allow Norges Bank Investment Management - which has so far been buying direct stakes in European solar and wind assets - to invest in renewable energy projects in the development stage, Mie Holstad, chief investment officer for real assets at the fund, said in a statement Monday. It will also give NBIM exposure to other parts of the value chain, and allow it to build knowledge and experience with new markets and technologies, she said.
/jlne.ws/3Mnt7uE
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Former Citigroup executive suing bank was fired for performance, company says
Tatiana Bautzer - Reuters
Citigroup alleges that a former managing director suing the bank was fired for performance reasons, rather than for what she said were attempts by the bank to give regulators false information. On Thursday, the bank responded to a lawsuit filed in May by Kathleen Martin, a former managing director whom Citi hired in 2021 to help with data issues. Martin said in the suit that her supervisor, Chief Operating Officer Anand Selva, asked her to hide "critical information" from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency about the bank's data-governance metrics.
/jlne.ws/3T0LwBm
RBC Says Former Employee Used Workplace Romance to Advance Career; Bank filed statement of defense, countersuit against Ken Mason; RBC says former CFO misused her power to promote Mason
Christine Dobby - Bloomberg
Royal Bank of Canada said an employee it fired over an intimate relationship with its former chief financial officer was focused on leveraging that alleged romance for his own personal advancement within the firm. The bank filed a statement of defense and countersuit on Friday against Ken Mason, a former employee in RBC's treasury department, who was dismissed in April at the same time as then-CFO Nadine Ahn.
/jlne.ws/3AFmCAX
Riksbank Warns Swedish Banks Remain Vulnerable to Property Risks
Charles Daly - Bloomberg
Sweden's major banks pose a vulnerability to the financial system due to their exposure to "highly-indebted property companies," according to minutes from the Riksbank's policy meeting earlier this month. The property risks are mainly operational, for example from elevated and still rising levels of vacancies in the office segment, as well as a high rate of bankruptcies in the near term, Olof Sandstedt, the bank's head of financial stability, said in the statement.
/jlne.ws/475ZZSf
Central banks should raise the bar for intervention; Economic stabilisation may, paradoxically, raise the chances of financial market instability
Raghuram Rajan - Financial Times (opinion)
Few would begrudge the mildly celebratory tone in US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday. Dire predictions that the Fed would have to raise policy interest rates and unemployment sky high in order to bring inflation under control have not been borne out. Of course, the Fed cannot yet declare mission accomplished, and it may be that the last mile is hardest given ongoing services and housing inflation. But the American central bank has come a long way from the 9 per cent CPI inflation in June 2022 to the below 3 per cent read last month. As we try to understand how this happened, there remains a potential risk we cannot ignore.
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Moody's Cuts Debt on Offices Backed by Pimco to Lowest Junk; The service cut its ratings on two separate tranches of CMBS; Office prices keep falling, led by central business districts
John Gittelsohn - Bloomberg
Moody's Ratings downgraded bonds backed by offices owned by an affiliate of Pacific Investment Management Co. to its lowest ratings as the buildings continue to lose tenants and expectations mount for interest-payment shortfalls. The $484.7 million commercial mortgage-backed security is the most senior debt of $1.72 billion of mortgages on the portfolio of seven buildings in New York, San Francisco, New Jersey and Boston originated in 2022.
/jlne.ws/3YRemIa
Boaz Weinstein's Hedge Fund Has New Foes in War Over Closed-End Funds; NYSE asks SEC to delete closed-end-fund annual-meeting mandate; Weinstein's hedge fund calls the exchanges' efforts 'shocking'
Lydia Beyoud, Yiqin Shen, and Silla Brush - Bloomberg
BlackRock Inc. and other asset managers have new allies in their fight with activist hedge funds over control of the $250 billion closed-end fund industry. The New York Stock Exchange and Cboe Global Markets Inc. recently joined the cast of characters in this yearslong drama by asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to let them eliminate their requirements that closed-end funds hold annual shareholder meetings. Proponents say the change could lower fees and bring regulation in line with that of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
/jlne.ws/3T0OINm
Ivy League Money Managers Confront Renewed Demands Over Israel; Brown vote highlights controversies over divestment debate; Colleges tighten rules to prepare for renewed campus protests
Janet Lorin - Bloomberg
Jane Dietze has run Brown University's more than $6 billion endowment since mid-2018, beating all her Ivy League peers in performance. She's done it by selecting money managers to invest in hedge funds, private equity and across asset classes. The fund's value has increased more than 70% since she took the reins as chief investment officer.
/jlne.ws/4fZPQus
Venture group G Squared raises $1bn to invest in discounted start-up shares; Slowdown in public listings and takeovers means staff and investors are selling shares for cheap on secondary market
Ivan Levingston - Financial Times
The venture capital group G Squared has raised $1.1bn for its latest fund to capitalise on growing investor demand for its strategy of buying pre-existing stakes in start-ups. Founded in 2011 and based in Chicago, G Squared has backed technology groups such as artificial intelligence company Anthropic and cyber security specialist Wiz.
/jlne.ws/4cFf3Yj
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Australia gives workers the right to ignore their bosses outside of work hours-but employers call the rule 'rushed' and 'deeply confusing'
AFP via Fortune
"We want to make sure that just as people don't get paid 24 hours a day, they don't have to work for 24 hours a day," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. Australia gave millions of workers the legal right to "disconnect" on Monday, allowing them to ignore unreasonable out-of-hours contact from employers, to the distress of big industry.
/jlne.ws/3MmBxm2
Losing Your Job Used to Be Shameful. Now It's a Whole Identity; There's a whole class of "layoff influencers" now, as more people open up - maybe too much - about getting let go.
Jo Constantz - Bloomberg
When Sylvia Duran woke up on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, the first thing she did was open her work calendar. She had a busy day scheduled. Duran, who lives in San Diego, was a regional head of strategy and operations for YouTube's marketing department, responsible for Latin America and Canada. When she opened the app on her phone, however, the page wouldn't load. "Isn't that a sign?" her husband at the time asked. "A sign of what?" she replied.
/jlne.ws/3MlnJIt
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Missed Warnings, $100 Vaccines and Red Tape - Why Mpox Was an Avoidable Emergency; Scientists talk of lost opportunities and a lack of funding that have contributed to the spread of the deadly virus.
Ashleigh Furlong, Janice Kew, Jason Gale, Antony Sguazzin, and Naomi Kresge - Bloomberg
It didn't have to be like this. Cases of mpox are ripping through central Africa, killing hundreds and infecting thousands. So worried is the rest of the world that countries are intensely monitoring their borders for the fast-spreading virus that has been assigned the World Health Organization's highest level of alert. But just four years after the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, it's a global health emergency that could have been avoided, say scientists and public health officials. Mpox cases have been increasing, relatively unchecked, in Africa for decades. Yet the WHO declared the last mpox global emergency over in May 2023, even as the monkeypox virus that causes the disease continued to circulate. Since the start of 2024, it has killed about 575 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with over 30 times more infected, according to the latest data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, released on Sunday.
/jlne.ws/3Z6vtWi
Mpox surveillance must be improved to tackle Africa surge, expert warns; Infectious disease professor Dimie Ogoina says cases are probably being under-reported
Aanu Adeoye - Financial Times
A Nigerian professor who alerted the world to the re-emergence of mpox in his home country has warned that experts are working "blind" on the viral disease's latest surge in Africa because of a lack of adequate surveillance systems. Dimie Ogoina, chair of the World Health Organization's emergency committee of independent experts on mpox, said case numbers in an outbreak that has officially infected more than 17,000 people were likely to be underestimates because of a shortage of rapid diagnostic tests and inadequate data collection.
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What you need to know about West Nile virus; Incidence of the infection that hospitalized Anthony Fauci, former NIAID director, spikes in August - but is usually symptom-free
Helen Branswell - STAT
News that Anthony Fauci, long-time former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is recovering from a bad bout of West Nile virus fever throws a spotlight on a disease that sickens plenty of Americans every summer, but which gets little attention. Transmitted by mosquitoes, the virus causes symptom-free infections in most people who contract it. But about one in five people infected will develop symptoms, and a portion of them will become quite ill, as did Fauci, who is 83. He was hospitalized for six days, and told STAT in an interview that he is now recovering and "absolutely going in the right direction."
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Liu Jin resigns as Bank of China's president for undisclosed 'personal reason'
South China Morning Post
Liu Jin has resigned as the vice-chairman and president of China's largest global bank, in a surprise move five months after his reappointment to the lender's top executive job. Liu resigned for "personal reasons" from Bank of China, effective August 25, the state-owned bank said in a Sunday filing to the stock exchange, without elaborating. The bank's Beijing spokespeople declined to comment.
/jlne.ws/4dYxKr6
Instant Coffee Affinity Takes Robusta Beans From Stepchild to Favorite; Roasters depend on once-snubbed variety for grab-and-go drinks; Prices on track to hit record high in expected bean shortage
Dayanne Sousa and Ilena Peng - Bloomberg
The world's growing love for instant coffee is keeping roasters reliant on the robusta variety once snubbed by java snobs, even as prices reach the highest in about half a century. Consumers are enjoying instant and grab-and-go drinks more than ever, and global soluble coffee consumption is on track to hit a record high this year. That is sustaining demand for robusta beans, even after droughts affecting growers in top producer Vietnam sent prices soaring to the highest since the 1970s. A robusta runup shot futures up more than 65% this year to hit a high of $4,728 a ton on Friday.
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PBOC Starts Bank Stress Tests to Avoid Stampede Out of Bonds
Bloomberg
China has initiated stress tests with financial institutions on their bond investments, to make sure they can handle any market volatility should a record-breaking rally reverse, according to state-run media. The People's Bank of China has made a gradual start to the tests recently, wary that a bull run might lead to one-sided bets in long-term government bonds, according to a front-page report by Financial News. Its intention may not necessarily be to significantly push yields higher, the central bank-backed newspaper said citing an unidentified source.
/jlne.ws/3yUqnlo
China mutual funds reel from crackdown; The $4.4tn industry has become latest target of Xi Jinping's clampdown on finance
Cheng Leng - Financial Times
China's $4.4tn mutual fund industry has become the latest target of President Xi Jinping's crackdown on finance, with new laws limiting fees and funds now subject to tougher and more frequent inspections. Under rules that took effect last month, mutual fund houses have to reduce fees for both passive and active products. Fund managers are also barred from purchasing third-party services such as external expert consultancy.
/jlne.ws/4cBDaHr
Fish and chips price rise tops UK takeaways
Tommy Lumby - BBC News
Fish and chips is a British family favourite equally enjoyed around the table on a Friday night or out of the paper on an often overcast beach. But the deep fried delicacy has seen the biggest price increase of some of the UK's most popular takeaways, according to new figures. The average price for a portion of fish and chips rose more than 50% to nearly £10 in the five years to July - while the cost of a kebab went up 44% and pizza 30%. Chip shop owners cite a "perfect storm" of costs in recent years, including soaring energy bills, tariffs on seafood imports and extreme weather hammering potato harvests. This all means a family of four won't get much change out of a £50 note once they've forked out for their tea and added some mushy peas and cans of pop.
/jlne.ws/3Xi3YI1
IBM China said to be laying off more than 1,000 employees as it closes research labs
South China Morning Post
US computing giant IBM has reportedly shut down its research and development (R&D) operations in China, joining a slew of global Big Tech firms in trimming their mainland businesses amid geopolitical headwinds. IBM is closing its China Development Lab and China Systems Lab, while laying off more than 1,000 employees in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and the northern port city Dalian, according to reports by local news outlets.
/jlne.ws/3Z0EAb3
Peru's gold exports to India set to hit record high, says official
Reuters
Peru's gold exports to India are set to jump 36% from a year ago to a record $3 billion in 2024, driven by rising demand from the world's second-biggest consumer, a senior government official said on Friday. India's gold imports from Peru in the first half of 2024 rose 81% from a year ago to $1.47 billion, Javier Manuel Paulinich Velarde, the Peruvian ambassador to India, told India Gold Conference on Friday.
/jlne.ws/4dZgT7z
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