| October 08, 2021 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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$53,806/$300,000 (17.9%)
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SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee Addresses PFOF, Retail Trading and Crypto at STA Conference
Sarah Rudolph - John Lothian News
In an interview Wednesday at the 88th Annual STA Conference, SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee said she appreciated Gary Gensler, who testified Tuesday at the House Financial Services Committee oversight hearing, for "rolling up his sleeves" to address the complex issues facing the financial industry, such as payment for order flow (PFOF) and exchange for rebates. Gensler "brings a deep understanding" of the markets and those issues, Lee said, and any changes the SEC makes will go through a careful, deliberate process.
There are "disruptive" changes going on in the industry, from PFOF to regulating cryptocurrencies. A big topic of discussion today is the boom in retail trading. The interviewer, Mina Nguyen of Jane Street Capital, noted that Lee has focused on making sure investors have enough information about PFOF and best execution, and asked Lee if she thought "we should ban payment for order flow or just provide investors with more information."
To read the rest of this story, go here.
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Alexandria Perry Joins JLN as Intern
John Lothian - JLN
It is my pleasure to announce that Alexandria Perry has joined John Lothian News as an intern and on-camera talent for the options-centric video series The Spread. Alex comes to JLN from the Medill School of Journalism, where she just graduated with a masters degree in journalism.
Initially, she will exclusively contribute to The Spread and options-related news for JLN.
Alex is a talented broadcast journalist equipped with the skills to help us further develop this video series and help attract new viewers to JLN.
Suzanne Cosgrove, JLN's deputy managing editor and producer of The Spread, will hand over on-camera appearances to Perry beginning next week, while continuing to oversee the series.
Suzanne has been handling the on-camera element of The Spread despite not wanting to appear on air. But she saw the need and her dedication to getting the job done well won out.
Alex will be featured in this week's Term of the Week, which is "intern!"
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
IDX is over and STA is nearly done, so get ready for EXPO in Chicago on November 2 to 4. This will be an in-person EXPO and a chance to reconnect with industry colleagues, after we have all been sheltered in place for so long. Registration is open and today is the end of special rates to register. So act fast and register today!
Eurex reported its September volume and open interest numbers and saw some good growth, except in European equity index derivatives, which were down 3 percent. European equity derivatives overall were up 43 percent, from 20.9 million contracts traded in September 2020 to 29.9 million this year. European interest rate derivatives grew by 20 percent from 53.6 million to 64.6 million contracts traded.
On the clearing side at Eurex, overall notional outstanding was up 16 percent to 20.698 billion EIR from 17,771 billion EUR from the same month a year ago. Overall average daily cleared volume was up 35 percent from 115 billion EUR to 155 billion EUR for the same period. The Overnight Index Swaps saw the largest gain, with notional outstanding average daily cleared volumes up 65 percent and 106 percent, respectively. -- Eurex
DC Fintech Week's agenda has been released and features a diverse, high powered lineup of speakers, including SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo. Other speakers include Benoît Coeuré, head of innovation hub, Bank for International Settlements, Mu Changchun, director, Digital Currency Research Institute, People's Bank of China, Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva, managing director, International Monetary Fund, Chris Inglis, national cyber director, The White House, Dan Schulman, CEO, PayPal and many others. Learn more and register at www.dcfintechweek.org
FIA CEO and President Walt Lukken shared on LinkedIn that Kevin O'Donovan, who worked in the Bush White House covering energy and CFTC issues when Walt was at the CFTC, has passed away. -- LinkedIn
Jack Boyle has been promoted to managing director of Hightower Advisors. He was previously executive director of operations. Boyle previously worked for Charles Schwab, E*Trade, Newedge USA LLC and Penson Worldwide.
The state of Illinois has passed the 25,000 death level from COVID-19, though there were 2,700 more deaths deemed as probable COVID-19 cases, the Chicago Tribune reported. September saw more than 1,000 deaths, the most since last winter. -- Chicago Tribune
I finally had the electric stimulator embedded in my back yesterday during a 2-hour procedure. This device includes many precious metals in the ledes and battery, so I am hoping not to be abducted and sold for parts. The titanium in my knees, shoulder, hip and back would also bring a bounty, I figure. So far so good, save the post-operative pain.
We had no new donations to the JLN MarketsWiki Education GoFundMe campaign yesterday.
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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Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP's Financial Markets Litigation and Enforcement Advisory team Thursday published a study titled, "CFTC Expanding Anti-Manipulation Powers to Punish Misrepresentations to Futures Exchanges and FCMs," which concludes that two recent actions by the CFTC may have cast "too wide of a net," capturing conduct that "bears little resemblance to market manipulation or commodities fraud." These actions rely on an expansive understanding of Section 6(c)(1) of the Commodities Exchange Act and CFTC Regulation 180.1, the study says. In one instance, the CFTC filed a civil complaint against Easterday Farms for making false statements in hedging exemption applications to the CME, and in a second case, the CFTC entered into a settlement with Aaron Seidenfeld for making false representations to FCMs about the ownership of certain accounts he controlled. "In neither case did the defendant induce an unsuspecting investor or customer into futures trading. Nor did the defendants harm the integrity of the underlying futures markets by introducing false information about supply or demand," Katten said. Instead, the only entities misled by the misrepresentations were apparently the CME and FCMs, who are sophisticated entities. Read the full analysis here. ~SC
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Don't Blame Mrs. O'Leary's Cow for the Great Chicago Fire
Don Babwin - AP
Chicago seems to like to pin the blame for its misfortune on farm animals. For decades the Cubs' failure to get to the World Series was the fault of a goat that was once kicked out of Wrigley Field. And for well over a century, a cow belonging to Mrs. O'Leary caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. But just as baseball fans know the Cubs' pre-2016 shortcomings had nothing to do with a curse put on the team by a goat's angry owner, historians say there is no evidence that the massive blaze that destroyed a huge swath of Chicago and displaced about a third of its residents began when Catherine O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern.
/bloom.bg/3akFqVI
***** This story has been milked for all it is worth over the years and it is time to try an udder one.~JJL
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Surpassing 25,000 dead in state from COVID-19: How pandemic evolved from killing Chicagoans to southern Illinoisans
Joe Mahir, Angie Leventis Lourgos - Chicago Tribune
They include a retired nurse from Chicago's South Side, a former teacher from Mount Vernon and a lawyer in Carbondale. They joined others from all races and ethnicities, from deeply Republican to deeply Democrat parts of the state, more old than young, but all adding up, day after day, to propel Illinois to reach one more grim milestone for the pandemic this month: 25,000 official COVID-19 deaths, and counting.
/bit.ly/2YtrvKR
***** Losing 25,000 or almost 28,000 people from COVID-19 is almost the equivalent of everyone dying in Highland Park, Illinois, the town in which I was born. ~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was The ten trillion dollar man: how Larry Fink became king of Wall St, from The Financial Times. Second was Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco Announces National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team from the U.S. Department of Justice. (National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) was also our MarketsWiki Page of the Day yesterday.) Third was The next financial crisis is fast approaching, from MarketWatch, which was also No. 3 in yesterday's Top Three.
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MarketsWiki Stats
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MarketsWiki Statistics
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| Lead Stories | Clearing will determine if Brexit self-harm goes both ways; A negotiation that largely ignored financial services has given way to an unhappy stalemate
Helen Thomas - FT
The UK knows well that the political ideology of Brexit can trump both economics and plain old common sense. What is less familiar is to see this phenomenon so clearly across the waters of the Channel. As Britain battles supply chain problems in everything from petrol to poultry, Europe is facing its own sovereignty versus sanity trade-off — in the rather less consumer-facing world of derivatives clearing, where a Brexit negotiation that largely ignored the City and financial services has given way to an unhappy stalemate.
/on.ft.com/309VUhB
Brussels rejects exchanges' call for 15-minute delay on record of trades; Near real-time information is needed to attract more retail investors to capital markets, says European Commission
Philip Stafford - FT
Brussels has rejected a proposal from European exchanges to install a 15-minute delay to a record of equities and debt trades, stressing it wants to see a near real-time system to attract more retail investors to capital markets.
/on.ft.com/2YBJZbN
UK financial firms ditch record number of clients in 2019/20; Data from Financial Conduct Authority also show higher level of suspicious activity reported to law enforcement agencies
Laura Noonan - FT
UK banks, asset managers and insurers ditched a record number of clients in 2019/2020 and reported an increased level of suspicious activity to law enforcement, highlighting the caution inspired by new regulations and high fines. The Financial Conduct Authority said in its latest financial crime monitor that businesses "exited" 761,437 clients in the year from July 2019 to June 2020, more than double the total dropped in 2017/2018, when the regulator first reported the data.
/on.ft.com/3FtGzso
Wall Street Could Get Four Bitcoin Futures ETFs by End of Month
Vildana Hajric and Katherine Greifeld - Bloomberg
Anticipation is building that SEC approval may come this month; ProShares, Valkyrie in promising positions, BI analysts say
After years of waiting for a U.S. Bitcoin ETF, the crypto community may finally get as many as four products in a matter of weeks. This month, the Securities and Exchange Commission once again has to approve, reject or delay a set of applications for exchange-traded funds based on the largest digital currency. This time round, they all follow a format that SEC Chair Gary Gensler has indicated could be received favorably by the regulator.
/bloom.bg/3BqYKfJ
IMF chief facing data-rigging allegations defends actions
Martin Crutsinger - AP
The head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that a report alleging she had a role in data-rigging at the World Bank when she was a top official there was not an accurate representation of events.
/yhoo.it/2YF3O1U
Europe Faces Cruel Winter as Power Crisis Threatens to Swamp Aid
Todd Gillespie and Ewa Krukowska - Bloomberg
Governments earmarked 10 billion euros to help households; Energy bill increases may overwhelm assistance packages
The surge in Europe's gas and electricity costs threatens a cold, expensive winter for the continent, as government efforts to protect citizens look no match for the scale of the crisis.
/bloom.bg/3FwfR26
Only Russian Gas Can Save Europe in Cold Winter, WoodMac Says
Anna Shiryaevskaya - Bloomberg
Extra supply will be needed amid a cold winter: Wood Mackenzie; A mild winter would leave some gas in storage and ease prices
Europe may face gas shortages this winter if the cold weather depletes storage levels to zero, leaving the region entirely dependent on additional flows from Russia, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd.
/bloom.bg/3iKsAVf
EU to Explore Joint Gas Purchases to Blunt Energy Crisis Impact
Alberto Nardelli and Ewa Krukowska - Bloomberg
European Commission's options to include tax cuts, state aid; Gas and power prices have soared to records on limited supply
The European Union's executive will explore the possibility of national governments jointly purchasing and storing natural gas to boost the region's energy resilience and avoid future price shocks.
/bloom.bg/3BvAYQ4
China orders coal miners to boost output to counter energy crunch; Move to keep factories running risks undermining President Xi Jinping's climate promises
Edward White and Hudson Lockett - FT
China has ordered coal miners to boost production as President Xi Jinping races to combat an energy crisis now threatening to slow the world's second-biggest economy and force his administration to backtrack on climate change promises.
/on.ft.com/3BovCFT
Natural-Gas Shortage Sets Off Scramble Ahead of Winter; Tankers are being diverted and manufacturers are slowing production as countries and businesses battle to secure supply
Joe Wallace, Collin Eaton and Benoit Faucon - WSJ
Myrina, a tanker chartered by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, set sail to Asia from the west coast of France last month carrying liquefied natural gas. When it was about to enter the Strait of Gibraltar, the captain received a call, according to people familiar with the matter.
/on.wsj.com/3FqthwJ
How Singapore's $50 Billion Financial District Will Change After Covid-19; Making the area more liveable was already a priority. Hybrid working has made it even more urgent.
Faris Mokhtar - Bloomberg
Singapore's glittering financial district is facing its biggest challenge yet: How to reinvent itself for a post-pandemic, hybrid-working world. In little more than half a century, what was once a dilapidated backwater has transformed into a gleaming skyline of office towers with cameos in Hollywood action movies and blockbuster romcoms alike. It also plays host to a financial hub managing assets worth S$4.7 trillion ($3.5 trillion) as of last year.
/bloom.bg/309uOqU
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Denmark Will Offer Moderna Vaccine to Children After All
Morten Buttler - Bloomberg
Denmark will offer the vaccine from Moderna Inc. to children under the age of 18 after all, the Danish Health Authority said, reversing a previous statement.
/bloom.bg/3iKpNvf
Merck's Covid Pill Faces Risk that Virus Could Outsmart It
Thomas Mulier and Riley Griffin - Bloomberg
Mutations threaten solo treatments, Wellcome's Farrar says; Covid drug combinations needed as soon as they're available
Merck & Co.'s experimental pill for Covid-19 should be accompanied by other treatments as soon as they're available to cut the risk of drug resistance that would limit its effectiveness, Wellcome foundation director Jeremy Farrar said.
/bloom.bg/3FlMwaG
Britons Underestimate Combined Covid and Flu Threat, Survey Shows
Joel Leon - Bloomberg
The U.K is mounting a drive to give 35 million people the flu shot as fears rise that respiratory illnesses will surge after months of lockdown lowered immunity levels.
/bloom.bg/3FDlSue
Handing Out Cash For Vaccine Jabs Pays Off, Swedish Study Finds
Niclas Rolander - Bloomberg
A Swedish study found that a modest $24 incentive increased vaccination rates, lending support to measures that aim to get more people to take Covid jabs by handing out cash.
/bloom.bg/2YwVL6R
England travel red list slashed from 54 to 7 countries; Arrivals from Brazil, Thailand and South Africa will no longer need hotel quarantine
Jim Pickard, Alice Hancock and Philip Georgiadis - FT
The British government has slashed its Covid-19 travel "red list" of countries from 54 to just seven from which travellers must still go into hotel quarantine on arrival in England.
/on.ft.com/2YxEH0z
Call for U.S. Vaccination Push as Colder Months Loom
NY Times
Experts say that steady inoculation rates are crucial to avoid a winter coronavirus surge. San Francisco is easing some mask restrictions for vaccinated people.
/nyti.ms/302jGff
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | MEMX becomes first equities exchange to feed pricing data into DeFi Pyth Network; As part of the agreement, MEMX will form a new cloud-based digital asset entity to consume its exchange data and then periodically share a subset of that with Pyth.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Infant US exchange group MEMX has become the first trading venue to agree to feed its pricing data into the growing decentralised finance (DeFi) data distribution platform, Pyth Network.
/bit.ly/2ZXargn
September 2021 monthly figures at Eurex
Eurex
Aside from European equity index derivatives that stayed virtually flat with negative growth of 3 percent, all other derivatives trading segments at Eurex showed good growth in September. European equity derivatives led the way with growth of 43 percent - from 20.9 million traded contracts in September 2020 to 29.9 million this year - while European interest rate derivates grew by 20 percent from 53.6 million to 64.6 million traded contracts.
/bit.ly/3Ds5s61
TMX Group Equity Financing Statistics - September 2021
TMX
TMX Group today announced its financing activity on Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange for September 2021. TSX welcomed 14 new issuers in September 2021, compared with 10 in the previous month and 21 in September 2020. The new listings were seven exchange traded funds, three technology companies, two oil & gas companies, one consumer company and one special purpose acquisition company. Total financings raised in September 2021 increased 13% compared to the previous month, but were down 50% compared to September 2020. The total number of financings in September 2021 was 35, compared with 33 the previous month and 50 in September 2020.
/bit.ly/3uScG03
TMX Group Limited announces release date for Q3 2021 financial results and analyst conference call
TMX
TMX Group Limited will announce its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021 in the evening of Monday, November 8, 2021. An analyst conference call to review the results will be held on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. ET.
/bit.ly/3FwsNFh
Handling of Tick Sizes from October 29 onward
JPX
As previously announced, TSE have applied a separate set of narrower tick sizes to TOPIX100 constituents from January 14, 2014 onward (as prescribed in Rule 14, Paragraph 3, Item 1-b of the Business Regulations; hereinafter referred to as "narrow tick sizes"). The handling of the application from October 29 onward shall be as follows.
/bit.ly/3lnZnRH
JPX Monthly Headlines - September 2021
JPX
JPX group companies undertake various initiatives and disseminate information with the aim of providing the most attractive markets to all users. Every month, we showcase the highlights of these efforts in short and concise summaries just for you.
/bit.ly/3lnZtZz
Handling of Trading Due to an Earthquake (Continue as Normal)
JPX
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit Tokyo and Saitama prefectures on October 7. Despite this, trading on derivatives markets of Osaka Exchange (OSE) and Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) is currently continuing without any problems. Trading on all markets of Tokyo Stock Exchange, OSE and TOCOM is scheduled to continue as normal from October 8 and beyond.
/bit.ly/3mEwVKX
-- Spot Month Position Limits in the November 2021 Core Products -- CME
-- Notice of Summary Action, MEMBER FIRM: RBC CAPITAL MARKETS LLC, CBT RULE VIOLATION: CBT Rule 807. Open Long Positions During Delivery Month -- CME
-- Notice of Summary Action -- MEMBER FIRM: SUCDEN FINANCIAL LIMITED, CME RULE VIOLATION: 561. REPORTS OF LARGE POSITIONS (In pertinent part) -- CME
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | 'The end of physical currency, cash, is certainly drawing near:' Economist
Ihsaan Fanusie - Yahoo
Physical currency may soon be a thing of the past, Eswar Prasad, Cornell University economics professor and author of "The Future of Money" told Yahoo Finance Live.
/yhoo.it/2YBSdkd
How to Bank on Blockchain According to Alexander Mamasidikov
Navid Ladani - Benzinga
In the last few years, banking has taken on a new face. More specifically, banking has become more democratized and accessible thanks to blockchain technology. If you follow financial news, then you would have heard of DeFi and CrossFi, systems that leverage blockchain technology to offer banking services (transfer, savings, payments, etc) to people.
/yhoo.it/3mxvv4R
How China's Continued Fintech Crackdown Affect Alibaba And Others?
Anusuya Lahiri - Benzinga
China will continue to cooperate with anti-monopoly authorities to curb monopolies and actively deal with algorithm discrimination and other new forms of anti-competition behavior among internet platform companies and strengthen the protection of consumer privacy and data security, Bloomberg reports
as per central bank Governor Yi Gang at the Bank for International Settlements' conference on Regulating Big Tech.
/yhoo.it/3FrGMfC
Columbia Threadneedle joins growing list of buy-siders to support Glimpse Network; The data sharing network intends to launch later this year and aims to give buy-side firms greater control over their transaction data.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Columbia Threadneedle Investments EMEA and Asia Pacific has become the latest buy-side firm to join the expanding Glimpse Networks data sharing platform. The asset manager joins a growing list of buy-side firms to voice their support for the network aimed at democratising buy-side access to transaction data ahead of its planned launch later this year.
/bit.ly/3oJ3x8N
MarketFactory and Tradefeedr partner to improve clients' trading experience; Through the integration of their services, clients trading FX will be provided with improved collaboration, analytics and clarity.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
MarketFactory, part of ION Markets, has partnered with FX data and analytics provider Tradefeedr as it looks to offer clients an improved trading experience. As part of the partnership, Tradefeedr's data and analytics platform is now fully integrated within MarketFactory, giving clients the ability to review their trading markouts, impacts and spreads directly with liquidity providers, using shared data sets and a common platform.
/bit.ly/3FrnNBZ
Itiviti Integrates NYFIX Matching Post-Trade Solution With Broadridge
Itiviti Press Release via Traders Magazine
Itiviti, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.'s (NYSE: BR) provider of flexible, cross-asset trading solutions covering the full trade lifecycle, announced the integration of its NYFIX Matching solution with the portfolio, order and investment management system from Broadridge.
"The post-trade space has historically been defined by manual processes, but given shrinking technology budgets, many firms have been unable to address these challenges," said Ray Tierney, President of Itiviti, a Broadridge business.
/bit.ly/3BqQa0L
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Three Ways The U.S. Government Can Mark National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Gordon Bitko - Forbes
The United States marks National Cybersecurity Awareness month for the 18th time this year. Each October, government officials and stakeholders do an admirable job of educating the broader public about the risks presented by life online, and about best practices that we all should undertake to make ourselves, our families, and our communities safer. However—after 18 years of these efforts—the data are unequivocal that attacks, their costs, and victims continue to increase. Why? The short answer is because the U.S. continues to tackle this massive challenge with a piecemeal approach.
/bit.ly/3Fx75RQ
Microsoft Details Biggest Threats to U.S. Cybersecurity; China, Russia Attacks Outlined
Mary Ellen Cagnassola - Newsweek
Most state-sponsored hacking, about 58 percent, pinpointed by Microsoft over the past year was carried out by Russia, which targeted government agencies and think tanks in the United States as well as Ukraine, Britain and European NATO members, according to a report from the technology company.
China accounted for fewer than 1 in 10 of the state-backed hacking attempts outlined in the report, but its success rate was 44 percent when it did attempt to break into networks, Microsoft said in its second annual Digital Defense Report.
/bit.ly/3FvQfTl
The DOJ wants you to admit your cybersecurity problem
Kevin T. Dugan - Fortune
The law — as in, the sum of all the tiny text printed in the leather-bound books — involves an overwhelming number of rules and court precedents. Sometimes they're contradictory. Often, they differ by state. And many of them are very old — so bygone that they're amusing in a modern context.
So the recent news that the Justice Department plans to use Civil War-era powers, derived from the so-called "Lincoln Law," to enforce cybersecurity disclosure is a fun exercise in worlds colliding. I'm no lawyer, but I feel pretty confident that Honest Abe didn't intend this law to force companies to disclose they've been hacked.
/bit.ly/3mEsY95
Singapore tweaks cybersecurity strategy with OT emphasis
Eileen Yu - ZDNet
Singapore has tweaked its cybersecurity strategy to beef up its focus on operational technology (OT), offering a new competency framework to provide guidance on skillsets and technical competencies required for OT industry sectors. The revised national cybersecurity roadmap also looks to bolster the overall cybersecurity posture and foster international cyber cooperation.
The 2021 cybersecurity strategy also would build on efforts to safeguard Singapore's critical information infrastructure (CII) and other digital infrastructure, said Cyber Security Agency (CSA). The government organization said it would work with CII operators to beef up the cybersecurity of OT systems where cyber attacks could pose physical and economic risks.
/zd.net/3oKHVcs
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | CoinFlip Appoints Colleen Kavanagh as Chief Compliance Officer
Kavanagh will Lead the Company's Compliance Program Through a Pivotal Stage of National and International Expansion
CoinFlip
CoinFlip, a leading financial services platform focused on the digital economy, today announced that Colleen Kavanagh has joined as its new Chief Compliance Officer, effective immediately. Kavanagh will lead CoinFlip's Compliance Program and will supervise CoinFlip's BSA/AML Program, maintaining key relationships with both federal and state regulators. She will guide CoinFlip in building out its already robust AML and regulatory compliance programs as the company continues to grow and expand internationally.
/prn.to/3BrfBiO
Robinhood competitor Public adds cryptocurrency trading to its platform as digital assets rally
Natasha Dailey - Business Insider
Users of trading app Public.com will soon be able to trade cryptocurrencies, a feature its competitors Robinhood and WeBull already provide. Public will gradually offer trading in 10 digital assets - bitcoin, ether, cardano, dogecoin, litecoin, bitcoin cash, stellar, ethereum classic, dash, and zcash - over the next several weeks, the company said in a statement. Members can invest as little as a dollar.
/yhoo.it/3mRt25B
Gold-Based Cryptocurrencies Bringing a Sense of Stability to Nervous Novice Investors
Mark Gilman - Benzinga
Today's new cryptocurrency investor is not the risk-taker of a few years ago. They've seen the mistakes of the past 12 years in a volatile investment market, and they're becoming much more cautious. They've seen people close to them dump money erratically into crypto because a friend or family member thought it was a good idea. For many, it wasn't. Though more than 10% of Americans own some form of digital asset, many made early mistakes diving in.
/yhoo.it/309xBQX
Where to Find Crypto-Themed Investments in Surprising Places
Joanna Ossinger - Bloomberg
While the likes of PayPal Holdings Inc. and Coinbase Global Inc. make the cut in a basket of stocks compiled by Bank of America Corp.'s new digital-asset research team, there are some less obvious inclusions as well. The 20 or so names consist of equities rated Buy or Neutral by BofA and exposed to the digital-asset theme. They include Black Hills Corp., a "utility with the most advanced digital asset regulatory strategy that could potentially be earnings accretive," as well as Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and Bunge Ltd., which are using blockchain technology for transactions related to global agricultural trade, according to a research note.
/yhoo.it/3iIlT6g
Shiba Inu Now 12th-Biggest Crypto After 367% Rise in Just a Week
Joanna Ossinger - Bloomberg
SHIB token continues to surge, rising over 70% in the past day; Musk posted a picture of Floki on Twitter several days ago
Shiba Inu, a cryptocurrency started just last year, continues to soar after Elon Musk tweeted about his puppy. The SHIB token has risen more than 70% in the past 24 hours as of 10:55 a.m. Hong Kong time, breezing past the likes of Litecoin and Avalanche's AVAX to become the 12th-biggest cryptocurrency by market value, according to CoinGecko pricing.
/bloom.bg/3oKo4tW
Mnuchin Says Crypto Stablecoins 'Shouldn't Be Like Casino Chips'
Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
Former Treasury head favors regulation, banking guidelines; President's Working Group on Financial Markets to issue report
With U.S. financial officials poised to issue a report on stablecoins, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the cryptocurrencies designed to be pegged to other assets such as the dollar should be regulated and their underlying funds put into banks.
/bloom.bg/3lnf2AX
How London became a crypto-art capital; Its money, talent and tech have enabled blockchain think-tanks and galleries selling NFTs to flourish
Alex Estorick - FT
One of the more creative disruptions accelerated by the pandemic has been the explosion of interest in crypto art, or art turned into tokens on the blockchain, both as an asset class and as a global cultural trend. The former can be put down to the boom in cryptocurrencies, the latter to a year's worth of solitary confinement making the digital frame almost our default experience of images. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are the digital collectibles which have resulted from this shift; they can be linked to art, tickets and other real-world assets.
/on.ft.com/3DmNrpv
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | House Republican tells Gary Gensler to back off crypto, saying the 'vast majority' of coins are not in the SEC's purview
Ethan Wu - Business Insider
Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer called out Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler on Wednesday, saying the agency needs to lay off the crypto space in an interview with the Financial Times. Emmer, a senior Republican who is also co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, told the FT that he sharply disagreed with Gensler's approach to regulating crypto.
/yhoo.it/309vGvJ
Pay Close Attention to Russia's Small Neighbor on Energy; Finland is offering lessons in "eco-pragmatism" to Europe — and the world.
Lionel Laurent - Bloomberg
Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. European politicians are scrambling to pin the blame for a painful surge in wholesale energy prices on reliable punching-bags — the shift to cleaner power sources, the price of carbon, greedy utilities — while conveniently missing the bigger picture of dependency on Russian gas and internal battles over what should count as 'clean'.
/bloom.bg/3mtd5SM
Don't Fall For Putin or Orban as They Try to Exploit Europe's Energy Crisis; The leaders of Russia and Hungary have ideas about solving the power crunch. Let's hope the European Union ignores them.
Andreas Kluth - Bloomberg
Europe is in a full-blown energy crisis, but two people seem to be enjoying it: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. They'd love to seize this opportunity of chaos and anxiety to foist their own designs on the European Union on the sly. The EU must see through these ploys and resist.
/bloom.bg/3Fr6ZLp
Wyoming Sen. Lummis discloses Bitcoin purchase of up to $100K
Will Feuer - NY Post
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming and long-time Bitcoin bull, disclosed Thursday evening a purchase of up to $100,000 worth of the cryptocurrency.
/bit.ly/3mEIBxn
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | SEC Approves Indirect Volt Bitcoin Investment ETF
Rahul Nambiampurath - BeInCrypto
Volt's bitcoin ETF that invests in companies holding and deriving profits from BTC has been approved by the SEC. The ETF does not directly invest in the cryptocurrency, but indirectly provides exposure to the market.
/yhoo.it/3FwIUmy
The SEC just approved the closest thing to a US bitcoin ETF you can buy, for now
Isabelle Lee - Business Insider
A new exchange-traded fund may be as close as investors can get to having a US bitcoin ETF - at least for now. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Volt Equity's ETF, which aims to track companies that hold a majority of their net assets in bitcoin or derive a majority of their profit or revenue from bitcoin-related activities like mining, lending, or manufacturing mining equipment, Tad Pak, CEO of the fund, told Insider.
/yhoo.it/3iGtnq8
US Wants to Regulate Stablecoins First
Daniel Kuhn - Coindesk
It's recently come to light that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Circle, a principal backer of the popular USDC stablecoin. CoinDesk's Danny Nelson broke the story by combing through filings Circle made in preparation of possibly going public. The scope of the watchdog's investigation, which began last summer, is unknown. Ironically, though, news of the "investigative subpoena" comes at a time when USDC has never been less risky.
/yhoo.it/3FndsXL
China willing to cooperate on digital financial rule making, central bank's Yi Gang says
Chad Bray - South China Morning Post
China is willing to participate in international rule making around the digitalisation of financial services to prevent anticompetitive behaviour and increase data protection for consumers, according to its top central banker.
/yhoo.it/3DjEOfx
China Fines Meituan $530 Million in End to Antitrust Probe
Coco Liu - Bloomberg
Beijing fines the firm over abuses like "pick one from two"; Analysts say penalty is a "good outcome" for Meituan
China levied a $533 million fine on Meituan for violating anti-monopoly regulations, ending a months-long probe that had weighed on the country's food-delivery leader.
/bloom.bg/2Yysbhi
Deloitte under investigation over audit of Essar Oil UK; Review by ICAEW of governance disclosures is latest blow to Big Four accountancy group
Michael O'Dwyer - FT
Deloitte is under investigation over its auditing of Essar Oil UK, the owner of the Stanlow oil refinery that produces 16 per cent of the fuel used on British roads.
/on.ft.com/3ll2s59
UK regulator warns companies over alternative accounting measures; More favourable metrics such as 'underlying' or 'core' profits often given too much prominence, says FRC
Michael O'Dwyer - FT
The UK accounting regulator has warned companies about their use of non-standard metrics after a review found almost half had given too much prominence to measures such as "underlying" profits, whose meaning may be unclear to investors.
/on.ft.com/3oIH2AZ
FINRA Encourages Firms to Consider How to Incorporate the Government-wide Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Priorities Into Their AML Programs
FINRA
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued the first government-wide priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism policy,1 which was mandated by the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act).2 FinCEN also issued a statement to provide covered non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), including broker-dealers, with guidance on how to approach the AML/CFT Priorities.
/bit.ly/3llTUe5
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies ("SPACs")
FINRA
FINRA is examining firms' offering of, and services provided to, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies ("SPACs") and their affiliates (e.g., sponsors, principal stockholders, board members, and related parties). Unless otherwise noted, the relevant period for each request is July 1, 2018, through September 30, 2021 (the "Relevant Period"). In addition, if your response varies over the Relevant Period, please explain the differences in your response.
/bit.ly/3j31fxZ
New Research: Racial And Ethnic Disparities Persist Among American Households Who Own Taxable Investments; Small, But Encouraging Gains Apparent Among Some Groups
FINRA
African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos continue to be underrepresented among investor households in America, despite modest gains by African Americans in recent years, according to new research released by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation).
/bit.ly/3iIZtSt
Regulating for better outcomes - next steps in consumer credit
UK FCA
Speech by Nisha Arora, Director of Consumer and Retail Policy, given at Westminster Business Forum
/bit.ly/3lnA827
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Twentysomethings With Fat Checkbooks Join the SPAC Rush; Growing numbers of young people are raising funds for deals in a challenge to Wall Street elites.
Ben Scent, Crystal Kim - Bloomberg
The trajectory of so-called blank-check companies—effectively vast pools of cash in search of investment opportunities—is shaping up to be a classic Wall Street feeding frenzy. In the past two years, they've morphed from a niche product aimed at financial pros into a mass-market phenomenon hyped on Twitter and CNBC. Almost 600 of these special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are trading in New York, and high-profile financiers such as hedge fund titan Bill Ackman, Japanese tech billionaire Masayoshi Son, and Citigroup Inc. veteran Michael Klein have jumped in. This year, some 450 SPACs have completed U.S. initial public offerings, with a total value of $130 billion—more than one-and-a-half times the massive haul of 2020—and hundreds more are waiting to list.
/bloom.bg/3iJjQyO
Will Evergrande and Others Tell Us More About Private Bonds? Who are these shell companies issuing $300 million of debt in the Chinese developer crisis? Pull down your masks.
Shuli Ren - Bloomberg
First, there was China Evergrande Group's liquidity crisis. Then, Fantasia Holdings Group Co. — a small real estate developer that no one cared about till this week — refused to repay $206 million bonds even though it had the money. Sit tight. There are more twists to this drama. How about this: Private bonds that are not on the companies' balance sheets?
/bloom.bg/3DloSJv
Richest Americans Flee Treasuries With Holdings at 17-Year Low
Alexandre Tanzi and Liz McCormick - WSJ
America's super-rich hold fewer U.S. government and municipal securities than they've done for almost two decades, according to recent data from the Federal Reserve. The top 1% of households by income held $887 billion of those assets as of June, the smallest amount in 17 years and down from a peak of $1.5 trillion a decade ago.
/bloom.bg/3oKMZgD
??Family Offices Raise Bets on Startups in $418 Billion Market
Benjamin Stupples - Bloomberg
The world's ultra-wealthy are increasingly investing in startups, both directly from their family offices and through venture capital funds, according to research from SVB Capital and Campden Wealth.
/bloom.bg/3DojghS
Dumping Stocks to Punish Bad Corporate Behavior Has Tiny Impact
Tasneem Hanfi Brogger and Sam Potter - Bloomberg
Research shows cost of capital barely budges with ESG rating; Investors should use voting power to encourage company change
Investors that ditch companies with poor ESG standards in the hope of forcing them to do better should look away now: According to new research, you're wasting your time. Even as billions of dollars diverts toward firms scoring higher on environmental, social and governance measures, the funding costs for bad actors has hardly budged, a study has found.
/bloom.bg/3FlPufk
BOE Says Risk-Taking Still Elevated in Some Financial Markets
Marion Dakers - Bloomberg
The Bank of England warned that traders are still taking risks at "elevated" levels, over a year after the market ructions in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
/bloom.bg/3uR371n
Everyone wants to catch billionaire lottery fever; Prize draws with jackpots worth hundreds of millions are democratic financial fantasies
John Gapper - FT
National lotteries have been around for so long that someone scooping a lot of money against high odds is no longer a novelty. But when a Powerball ticket-holder in California won nearly $700m on Monday night, it showed the lengths to which lottery organisers will now go to excite jackpot fever.
/on.ft.com/3iHerbo
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Japan Becomes First G-7 Nation to Factor ESG Into Investments
Yuko Takeo and Grace Huang - Bloomberg
Japan will introduce environmental, social and governance considerations for foreign reserves held by the finance ministry, reflecting a need to seriously tackle climate change in order to achieve the country's 2050 carbon neutral goal.
/yhoo.it/3DhERs0
Norway's Top Oil Producer Has Multibillion-Dollar Hydrogen Plan
Lars Erik Taraldsen - Bloomberg
Equinor believes it can make the fuel more cleanly than peers; Company touts high carbon capture rate, low methane emissions
Equinor ASA, the flagship producer of oil and gas giant Norway, is investing billions of dollars in blue hydrogen on a bet that it can make the fuel more cleanly than anyone else.
/bloom.bg/2WTStKJ
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Jamie Dimon's reason for not taking a pay cut from his $31 million salary is pretty rich
Jeremy Binckes - MarketWatch
My board decides what I make ... They would be offended at me. They look at my comp as part of an umbrella — JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon
That's JPMorgan CEO JPM, +0.63% Jamie Dimon offering up a reason why he should — in no way, shape, or form — accept a pay cut that would take him below his $31 million salary. Dimon's answer came during an interview with Jim VandeHei on "Axios on HBO," which aired Sunday night. VandeHei and Dimon had begun the interview by discussing the company's commitment to racial equity — starting with opening bank branches in Black neighborhoods to give residents access to mortgage specialists and wealth managers.
/on.mktw.net/3DepctI
Cathie Wood's New York Exit Spotlights Overlooked Florida Region
Jonathan Levin and Claire Ballentine - Bloomberg
Cathie Wood's move to St. Petersburg is giving an added boost to a Florida region that has quietly been booming, even as Miami and West Palm Beach generate more attention as destinations for New York finance firms.
/yhoo.it/3mvU3ey
Ex-Morgan Stanley Banker Cleaned Houses Before Startup Took Off
Heesu Lee - Bloomberg
Lee's H2O raised funds at $180 million valuation in September; Hospitality management firm plans to expand in Southeast Asia
John Lee cleaned houses in South Korea for six months after leaving his job at Morgan Stanley in 2014. As a hospitality management graduate from Cornell University, the now 33-year-old entrepreneur had a bigger goal in mind: He wanted to get a foothold in a business that he thought was ripe for change. So he started out providing housekeeping services to Airbnb homes in Seoul.
/bloom.bg/3Det1PA
Ex-UBS and Credit Suisse Bankers Move to Wealth Manager Azura
Benjamin Stupples - Bloomberg
Mathieu Saint-Arnaud is joining the firm in Geneva from UBS; Azura was started by former Julius Baer banker Ali Jamal
A trio of former UBS Group AG bankers and a one-time senior relationship manager at Credit Suisse Group AG have joined wealth manager Azura as it expands globally to try and capture business from the booming ranks of the ultra-rich.
/bloom.bg/3Fr61i5
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | U.S. Loosens China Grip on $46 Billion Lithium-Battery Industry
Yvonne Yue Li - Bloomberg
The U.S. is narrowing the gap on China's dominance of the $46 billion lithium-ion battery industry thanks to investments from Tesla Inc. and the Biden administration's policy push to drive growth of electric vehicles.
/yhoo.it/3FwJdOe
Will Europe Develop an Appetite for IPO Pops? Changes to U.K. listing rules could make events like Oxford Nanopore's 44% jump more commonplace. But one-day bonanzas are not what investing should be about.
Chris Hughes - Bloomberg
Some U.S. exports to Europe are more welcome than others. The next ocean-hopping trend could be large day-one gains for newly listed stocks — so-called IPO pops. If European initial public offerings made investors more money more often, they'd certainly become more popular. The risk is they end up being an undeserved free lunch for a favored few.
/bloom.bg/3FswHz5
U.K. Food and Fuel Shortages Are Hitting Many Consumers
Reed Landberg - Bloomberg
The pressure on British households from a global supply chain crisis was laid bare in a new survey showing many people finding it difficult to obtain essential goods.
/bloom.bg/3oGzCOL
Tencent Shares Have 'Priced in' Gaming Crackdown, Jefferies Says
Low De Wei - Bloomberg
Further clampdowns on online gaming have been baked into Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s shares and the company stands to benefit from potential unlocking of gaming patents, according to Jefferies.
/bloom.bg/2YqPda2
U.K. Pays Most Since Brexit Vote to Borrow Compared to Germany
James Hirai - Bloombeerg
Gilts' spread over bunds rises to more than 125 basis points; Saxo Bank's Spinozzi sees U.K. yields rising more on inflation
U.K. government bond yields have climbed to levels last seen before the Brexit referendum in 2016 relative to German peers, as traders brace for inflation in Britain over the next decade to far outpace the rate in Europe's largest economy.
/bloom.bg/3agEjXb
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | NYC's Waldorf Gets Plush Renovation, Becomes Icon of China's Overreach; The storied hotel was bought by Anbang before its Chairman was jailed. Now it's undergoing a vast renovation overseen by a state-backed enterprise.
Blake Schmidt - Bloomberg
The visitor from China had billions to spend, and he expected more from the Waldorf Astoria. Wu Xiaohui wanted a fleet of Rolls-Royces to whisk him from a metro New York airport to the storied Park Avenue hotel, where princes and presidents have luxuriated, eggs Benedict was invented and Cole Porter wrote "Anything Goes." Waldorf staff scrambled.
/bloom.bg/3iIkOeE
Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov Win Peace Prize
Lars Erik Taraldsen and Stephen Treloar - Bloomberg
Ressa heads investigative outlet Rappler in the Philippines; Muratov is co-founder of Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta
Maria Ressa from the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to safeguard freedom of expression. They are "receiving the Peace Prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia," the Oslo-based Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement Friday. "At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions."
/bloom.bg/3DoZ2nY
Geneva Car Show Return Pushed Back to 2023 as Covid Lingers
Siddharth Vikram Philip - Bloomberg
Organizers of the Geneva International Motor Show are calling off the event for a third straight year, citing the ongoing pandemic and supply chain issues. Several carmakers canceled plans to attend the show that had been scheduled for February, saying they were preoccupied with solving the semiconductor shortage, the organizers said in an emailed statement. They also cited travel restrictions affecting exhibitors, visitors and journalists.
/bloom.bg/3lmBhXC
Top strategies for dealing with 'disgruntled employees' — and why they don't work; Workers are increasingly defying companies to complain publicly
Tom Braithwaite - FT
Not only are employees demanding higher pay, better conditions and the right to work from home, there is an increasing tendency for them to go public with workplace complaints. Here are the top strategies for dealing with staff who speak out — and why they don't work.
/on.ft.com/3ahojUG
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