| May 05, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Today we have a podcast I recorded this week with the founders of Quantitative Brokers, Christian Hauff and Robert Almgren. I really enjoyed this interview and feel like it is one of the best podcast interviews I have done.
One of the questions I asked was about what QB Chairman Tom Ascher brought to the company. Hauff gave a great answer, giving Ascher a lot of credit for helping him and even being a presence for QB in New York during the pandemic when Hauff was stuck in Australia. However, today we have the news that QB is transitioning the chairmanship from Ascher to Matt O'Hara, CEO of the Americas at 360T.
QB has a great story and Hauff and Almgren shared it with me in this podcast. They talked about the history of the firm and its future, which evidently does not include the man who provides me with an occasional shipment of Skyr from Gammelgarden Creamery.
We also have our video from FIA Boca of CQG's Ryan Moroney and The Most Interesting Man in the World, Pat Kenny. Sarah Rudolph did a nice write up of the video as well.
CQG is holding an event on Tuesday at the Ceres Cafe in the CBOT Building to show off the CQG platform. You can RSVP for the event by sending an email to rsvp@cqg.com
Cboe Global Markets reported first quarter results, which included news of record adjusted diluted EPS for the quarter of $1.90, up 10 percent, and record net revenue for the quarter of $471.4 million, up 13 percent.
The Minneapolis Grain Exchange reported its April trading results, which included news SPIKES futures set an open interest record.
FIA Tech has earned the "Great Place to Work" certification for the third year in a row. Ninety-one percent of the firm's employees say it is a great place to work, while the typical company says that 57% of the time.
I resolved the Twitter impersonator issue yesterday after proving to Twitter that I am the real John Lothian. It was rather strange having someone who wanted to be me on Twitter. You could tell it was not me because they were trying to strike up a conversation on messaging, instead of my normal torrent of news story tweets. Thank you to all those who reported the issue to me. It is appreciated.
Next week I am headed to the CQG event on Tuesday, then the ISDA AGM cocktail party that evening. I will be staying downtown in Chicago overnight and then will be at the Swissotel for the ISDA AGM bright and early. I will be back home Wednesday night, but back Thursday for the last day of ISDA and a Boy Scout fundraiser with support from the metals industry on Thursday evening. It will be a busy few days.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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A Discussion with the Founders of Quantitative Brokers
JohnLothianNews.com
John Lothian held a discussion with Christian Hauff and Robert Almgren, founders of Quantitative Brokers, about the history, development and future of the firm. This podcast discussion includes stories about how the firm started, the problems it was trying to solve, the technology it uses and anecdotes about use cases from customers. John asked them about what licenses they needed to conduct the business. They were in a unique class at Eurex. In the U.S. they are registered as an Independent Introducing Broker.
Listen to the podcast »
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CQG's Moroney and Kenny talk to John Lothian News about new Broadridge partnership and new products and technology
JohnLothianNews.com
John Lothian News spoke to CQG's CEO, Ryan Moroney, and its SVP of Client Relations, Pat Kenny, at the FIA Boca Conference 2023 in Florida in March about their new partnership with Broadridge, their year-on-year growth, customer challenges, and new products including CQG One.
Watch the video »
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Thomas Ascher Transitions Executive Chair of the Board of Quantitative Brokers to Matt O'Hara, CEO of the Americas 360T
Quantitative Brokers
Quantitative Brokers (QB), -- After five years of exemplary leadership as Executive Chair of the Board of Quantitative Brokers (QB), Thomas Ascher will pass on the leadership to Matt O'Hara, CEO of 360 Trading Networks, Inc., the Americas division of 360T, Deutsche Boerse's foreign exchange trading venue. The transition will officially take place on June 30, 2023, as O'Hara assumes the role of Executive Chairman of the QB Board, in addition to his primary responsibilities at 360T.
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***** With Tom Ascher, the Skyr is the limit.~JJL
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Coinbase Tries Novel Defense in SEC Fight; Crypto exchange says regulators' lawsuit threat is undermined by clearance of IPO
Dave Michaels - Bloomberg
With the Securities and Exchange Commission preparing an enforcement action that threatens much of its business, crypto exchange Coinbase is trying a novel defense. It says regulators bear some responsibility for letting the company go public in the first place.
/jlne.ws/3LCXyMJ
****** You said we were OK to go public, so we had your blessing. What happened?~JJL
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US aims to tackle risk of uncontrolled race to develop AI
Dan Milmo - The Guardian
The White House has announced measures to address the risks of an unchecked race to develop ever more powerful artificial intelligence, as the US president and vice-president, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, met chief executives at the forefront of the industry's rapid advances. In a statement released ahead of the meeting with the leaders of Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, the US government said firms developing the technology had a "fundamental responsibility to make sure their products are safe before they are deployed or made public".
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******* The real question is, how will AI be used to influence the 2024 presidential election?~JJL
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Nobody Trusts the Banks Now; The Fed's SVB report, Goldman's SVB dealings, PacWest, Western Alliance, First Horizon and stock buyback rules.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
Oh banks
What is going on? I think there are two ways to think about the basic business of banking: Banks borrow short to lend long. They use deposits (which can be withdrawn at any time) to fund loans and buy bonds (which don't get repaid for a long time). Banks really borrow long to lend long. They use deposits to fund loans and buy bonds, and as a technical legal matter those deposits are short-term (and can be withdrawn at any time), but they aren't really. Most people - and most businesses - keep their money at a bank because it is convenient, it's where their paycheck direct deposit and bill auto-pays are set up, and it would be a pain to move to a new bank. Most people do not obsessively check the interest rates on their bank accounts to find the highest one, or obsessively check the financial condition of their bank to see if it's safe.
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****** Matt Levine, did you take all your money out of banks before you wrote this, or do you still trust banks?~JJL
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New York AG Proposes Landmark Crypto Law, Citing 'Dysfunction'
Erik Larson - Bloomberg
New York Attorney General Letitia James proposed a state law to tighten rules over cryptocurrency companies in her latest swing at an industry she claims is suffering from "rampant fraud and dysfunction." Under her proposal, New York would require independent public audits of crypto exchanges and bar people from owning both brokerages and tokens to prevent conflicts of interest. In a statement Friday, James called her proposal "the strongest and most comprehensive set of regulations on cryptocurrency in the nation."
/jlne.ws/3M0bkuq
****** If crypto is going to depend on state regulation, then this type of thing is bound to happen. ~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was A Ship Out to Sea; A Homily About The Trading Floor by Jeffrey Carter on Substack. Second was "The '90s: Rom-coms, the Spice Girls, & MFA:" Remarks Before the Managed Funds Association, a speech by SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Third was a tie between London May Be a Great Place to Cash In on Market Volatility, a markets podcast from Bloomberg, and U.S. SEC Changes Its Mind on Officially Labeling Digital Assets, from CoinDesk.
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MarketsWiki Stats
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| Lead Stories | Coinbase Is Facing an 'Existential Risk' as SEC Reins In Crypto
Yueqi Yang, Olga Kharif and Allyson Versprille - Bloomberg
When Coinbase Global Inc. became the first US crypto exchange to go public, the Nasdaq debut was seen as a sign the freewheeling industry was joining the financial mainstream with the blessing of US regulators. The materials Coinbase circulated to investors, however, flagged a major risk: The Securities and Exchange Commission could decide that some tokens traded on Coinbase's platform are securities just like stocks or bonds - bringing all the regulations that come with it.
/jlne.ws/3VEz4XZ
Brace yourselves, the banking crisis is just getting started
Ben Marlow - The Telegraph
If Jamie Dimon was pondering a career change as a fortune-teller, he'd be wise to stick to the day job. On the other hand, if someone of Dimon's stature could be so wrong about the banking turmoil that continues to sweep across the US, a cynic might ask whether he was still the right person to be running one of the world's largest financial institutions, particularly when that organisation is right at the centre of Government-led efforts to prop up the whole system.
/jlne.ws/3AYmrxy
US Crude Sets the World's Most Important Oil Benchmark for First Time; WTI Midland helped set benchmark Dated Brent on Wednesday; US grade is cheaper than Forties despite better quality
Sherry Su - Bloomberg
US oil is already having a profound impact on the world's most important oil benchmark, effectively setting the price just after its inclusion in the measure. WTI Midland - produced in the shale fields of West Texas - joined the Dated Brent benchmark on Tuesday, in an effort to revamp a gauge that is used to set the price of more than two-thirds of the world's crude. So far, that integration has proved successful.
/jlne.ws/3pfxdwA
Too Big to Fail, But Not Too Big to Bail Out Other Banks; JPMorgan has dominated the financial world since, well, J.P. Morgan.
Max Abelson and Hannah Levitt - Bloomberg
To call JPMorgan Chase & Co. merely the biggest bank in the US doesn't do justice to a scale that's been boggling minds for a century. Before it bought First Republic Bank on May 1, JPMorgan had a balance sheet that totaled $3.7 trillion, and it had more than 10% of US deposits. Before the bank purchased most of Washington Mutual, whose 2008 collapse is still US history's largest, it took over Bear Stearns, Bank One and Chase Manhattan, which had merged with Chemical, which had merged with Manufacturers Hanover.
/jlne.ws/3VCw7qM
US authorities probe Goldman Sachs over Silicon Valley Bank collapse
AFP
US authorities are investigating Goldman Sachs' work for Silicon Valley Bank in connection with the events surrounding the California bank's collapse, Goldman disclosed in a securities filing Thursday. Goldman is "cooperating with and providing information to various governmental bodies" on its activities for SVB in March just before the tech-oriented bank went under, according to the filing.
/jlne.ws/3HDyzaL
Pressure grows for regulatory intervention as US bank rout deepens
Reuters
Pressure is growing on U.S. regulators to take more steps to shore up the country's banking sector as a renewed rout in regional lenders' shares forced PacWest Bancorp to explore options to bolster its balance sheet. Wall Street executives and bank analysts called for regulators to quickly provide more protection for bank deposits and consider other backstops, arguing only an intervention could stop the crisis -- which saw several regional lenders' shares plunge more than 10% on Thursday -- from spiraling. It was unclear, however, if the authorities would immediately step in.
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Trading halted in shares of two more US lenders as fears of banking crisis mount
Dominic Rushe, Julia Kollewe and Lois Beckett - The Guardian
Trading in the shares of two more regional US lenders was temporarily suspended on Thursday amid a widening crisis for the country's mid-sized banks. Regulators stepped in to halt trading in the Los Angeles-based PacWest and Arizona's Western Alliance following dramatic drops in their share prices. It came after another mid-sized bank, First Republic, was sold to JP Morgan earlier this week. Depositors had pulled $100bn from First Republic, fearing their money was no longer safe.
/jlne.ws/41gsvfG
PacWest and the Bank Confidence Genie; Shares of regional bank tank as traders start to price in a 'burned down' book
Aaron Back and Telis Demos - The Wall Street Journal
PacWest Bancorp is the latest lender to face an investor panic. What is becoming clear is that investors aren't willing to give some banks much credit beyond the bare minimum. The immediate trigger for Thursday's selloff in PacWest and other regional bank stocks appeared to be a Bloomberg story Wednesday afternoon saying the California lender is looking at "strategic options," including a sale or breakup.
/jlne.ws/3B40jBH
JPMorgan's Dimon to visit mainland China for first time in 4 years -sources
Julie Zhu, Scott Murdoch and Nupur Anand - Reuters
Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co, travels to mainland China this month for the first time in four years, sources said, the latest in a series of visits by top foreign financial executives since the lifting of tough COVID-19 curbs.
/jlne.ws/3nFXQua
Epstein accuser suing JPMorgan seeks to disqualify bank's law firm
Andrew Goudsward - Reuters
A Jeffrey Epstein accuser suing JPMorgan Chase & Co for allegedly aiding the late financier's sex trafficking of girls and women asked a judge to disqualify the bank's law firm on Thursday, arguing it has a conflict of interest.
/jlne.ws/3LBvv0j
Credit Suisse AT1 Dispute in Asia Draws Attention of Legal Funds
Chanyaporn Chanjaroen and Harry Suhartono - Bloomberg
A potential dispute over the wipeout of Credit Suisse Group AG's riskiest bonds in Asia has drawn the attention of several funds experienced in financing lawsuits for retail investors. Burford Capital Ltd., which says it is the world's biggest provider of commercial legal finance, is tracking the development as law firms rally aggrieved bondholders.
/jlne.ws/428wPyz
South Africa to Revamp Regulations for Financial Institutions to Bring Them In Line With Peers; Changes needed to align legal framework with peer countries; New laws are set to be presented to parliament this year
Adelaide Changole - Bloomberg
South Africa is set to adopt a raft of legislative changes over the next three to five years to modernize the regulatory framework for financial institutions and bring it into line with international norms. The country has been slow to implement new rules and regulations and has fallen out of step with its peers, undermining its attractiveness as an investment destination, according to Astrid Ludin, deputy commissioner at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. The National Treasury is finalizing a Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill to present parliament that seeks to streamline the licensing of financial institutions and enhance disclosure requirements to provide greater visibility into their business practices, she said.
/jlne.ws/3NCJpBS
New York Attorney General Seeks Broader Authority to Police Crypto; Proposed legislation would require crypto exchanges to have independent public audits of financial statements, among other new requirements
Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal
New York Attorney General Letitia James is proposing new legislation that would give her office more authority to regulate the increasingly tumultuous cryptocurrency industry. The bill would give the attorney general's office broader enforcement authority over crypto firms that have operations in the state, while codifying the New York State Department of Financial Services' authority to license participants in the sector and oversee the state's digital asset licensing regime.
/jlne.ws/3NI3EOK
US banking crisis: Close to 190 banks could collapse, according to study
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy - USA Today
With the failure of three regional banks since March, and another one teetering on the brink, will America soon see a cascade of bank failures? Bloomberg reported Wednesday that San Francisco-based PacWest Bancorp is mulling a sale. Last week, First Republic Bank became the third bank to collapse, the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history after Washington Mutual, which collapsed in 2008 amid the financial crisis.
/jlne.ws/3FCUU7o
Failed bank executives, regulators to testify before Senate panel
Pete Schroeder - Reuters
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee said on Tuesday it would hear from former top officials at the failed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, as well as top U.S. banking regulators at separate hearings later this month. Gregory Becker, the former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, and Scott Shay and Eric Howell, former senior executives for Signature Bank, will appear on May 16. The hearing will mark the first time the former executives have spoken publicly since the March collapse of both firms, which helped set off broader turmoil in the banking sector.
/jlne.ws/3nAlecw
US Crypto Traders Avoiding Billions in Tax by 'Loss Harvesting'; NBER paper says $16 billion a year at stake in wash trades; Authors say US tax crackdown has only changed behavior
Philip Aldrick - Bloomberg
Crypto traders are avoiding billions of dollars in tax by taking advantage of wild price swings to "harvest" losses so they can be offset against other profits, according to a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The analysis, based on a dataset of 500 large retail traders and billions of transactions on 34 crypto exchanges, found that the largely unregulated asset class is becoming a mainstay for tax avoidance.
/jlne.ws/3LyEUWd
Crypto Firms Find a Way to Bank Without Banks; Middlemen companies provide access for digital-asset clients
Caitlin Ostroff - The Wall Street Journal
Regulators' warnings and a series of bank failures have caused some banks to step away from crypto clients. A handful of middlemen companies are helping keep the nascent industry banked. Intermediary firms store cash on behalf of their clients in their own bank accounts or coordinate with banking partners to get accounts in clients' names. While indirect banking isn't unique to crypto, its importance has become more pronounced owing to the limited number of banks willing to work with digital-asset firms.
/jlne.ws/3NBDWv8
Exclusive-UBS weighs options for sale of Credit Suisse's Swiss unit - sources
Emma-Victoria Farr and Oliver Hirt - Reuters
UBS is reviewing options for Credit Suisse's Swiss bank, including potentially keeping the unit's investment banking operations while selling the rest, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
/jlne.ws/3nFzfFT
Billionaire investing royalty is scared about more bank failures: 'We are running out of time to fix this problem'
Will Daniel - Fortune
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell attempted to reassure Americans that "the U.S banking system is sound and resilient" at an afternoon press conference Wednesday, arguing conditions in the sector have "broadly improved" since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March. But his message was undercut by a plunge in multiple regional bank stocks in after-hours trading.
/jlne.ws/3VCfFqK
Hong Kong counsels seek better crypto protections; Regulators face challenge of ensuring redress in disputes over digital asset fraud
William Langley - Financial Times
Late last year, Jonathan Crompton, Hong Kong-based partner at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, advised a medical professional based in South Asia who fell victim to crypto fraud after a seemingly innocuous WhatsApp message from a Hong Kong number.
/jlne.ws/44qN0Jj
Fireside Friday with... Northern Trust's Gerard Walsh; Following a littering of mergers and acquisitions announcements in the last few weeks, Northern Trust's global head of capital markets client solutions, Gerard Walsh, sits down with The TRADE to explore why this consolidation is happening now and what it might mean for the markets.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Why do you think we are seeing this flurry of M&A activity now?
/jlne.ws/3pfFcty
Average daily equity trading down 15% year-on-year, says AFME; AFME's latest equity primary markets and trading report found that average daily equity turnover declined by EUR15 billion YoY, while also noting declines in block trading and double volume cap instrument suspensions.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has released its Q1 2023 equity primary markets and trading report, noting a decline in average daily equity trading by 15% year-on-year.
/jlne.ws/44J8PE6
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia 'very unlikely' to use nuclear weapons, US intel chief
Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali - Reuters
Russia is very unlikely to use its nuclear weapons, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday, despite past saber-rattling from the Kremlin and the heavy casualties that eMoscow is enduring in its invasion of Ukraine. "It's very unlikely, is our current assessment," Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
/jlne.ws/3AWBisf
Putin has given up on ambitions to conquer Ukraine after military losses that could take a decade to repair, says US intel
Tom Porter - Business Insider
Russian President Vladimir Putin has drastically scaled back his ambitions in Ukraine after Russian military setbacks, US intelligence officials said. Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that Putin was now focused on the more limited goal of preventing Ukraine from joining NATO, the defense treaty that forms the main bulwark against Russian aggression in Europe.
/jlne.ws/412XOuh
Ukraine In NATO: The Heart Says Yes, the Head No; The transatlantic alliance must help Kyiv in every way it can - short of letting it shelter under its mutual-defense clause.
Andreas Kluth - Bloomberg
There are excellent reasons to admit Ukraine into NATO. But there are better reasons not to. So when the 31 transatlantic allies meet in July at their summit in Lithuania, they should embrace Ukraine in every way but one. They should not promise to make it a full member with protection under the alliance's Article 5. That's the one that says an attack against one ally is an attack against all.
/jlne.ws/44uHTrt
US Spies Can't Yet Judge Russia Claim That Ukraine Drones Targeted Kremlin
Peter Martin - Bloomberg
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said US spy agencies don't have enough information to assess Russia's claim that Ukraine was behind a drone attack it said was aimed at President Vladimir Putin's residence in the Kremlin.
/jlne.ws/3HMekYD
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | HKEX Welcomes Launch of Swap Connect
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) welcomes the joint news release today (Friday) by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Hong Kong Monetary Authority on the launch of Swap Connect, the new mutual access programme between Hong Kong and Mainland China's interbank interest rate swap markets. As confirmed in the news release, Swap Connect will launch on 15 May 2023. Starting initially with a Northbound channel, the programme will give Hong Kong and international investors access to Mainland China's interbank financial derivatives market through a connection between financial infrastructure institutions in the Hong Kong and Mainland China markets.
/jlne.ws/3pcY6S0
Cboe Global Markets Reports Record Results for First Quarter 2023
Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE) today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2023. "Cboe marked an important milestone last week as we celebrated our fiftieth anniversary. The years since our founding in 1973 have been marked by relentless innovation and our record first quarter results reported today demonstrate that Cboe is as well positioned as ever to deliver value for our customers and shareholders for years to come," said Edward T. Tilly, Cboe Global Markets Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
/jlne.ws/3LZbgee
CME Group Inc. Announces Preliminary Results from its 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders CME Group
CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) today announced the preliminary shareholder voting results from its 2023 annual meeting. At the meeting, shareholders: Elected Terrence A. Duffy, Kathryn Benesh, Timothy S. Bitsberger, Charles P. Carey, Bryan T. Durkin, Harold Ford Jr., Martin J. Gepsman, Larry G. Gerdes, Daniel R. Glickman, Daniel G. Kaye, Phyllis M. Lockett, Deborah J. Lucas, Terry L. Savage, Rahael Seifu, William R. Shepard, Howard J. Siegel and Dennis A. Suskind, each for a one-year term expiring in 2024; Ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2023; and Approved, on an advisory basis, holding future votes on the compensation of our named executive officers on an annual basis.
/jlne.ws/3NHLtIN
Unscheduled component changes in MDAX, SDAX and TecDAX
Deutsche Borse
Qontigo's global index provider STOXX Ltd. has announced unscheduled component changes in the MDAX, SDAX and TecDAX indices. These changes are due to a breach of basic criteria (timely publication of the audited Annual Financial Report), as outlined in section 5.1.2 in the Guide to the DAX Equity Indices.
/jlne.ws/3M0kaZ7
EEX includes new region for natural gas index, launches new products and expiries across key markets
EEX
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) announces the launch of EGSI Natural Gas Index for NBP, several new power and natural gas products and the extension of expiries for selected power, gas and freight derivatives markets. All products will be available as of 26 June 2023. With the return of confidence on power derivatives markets and continued high trading volumes on natural gas markets, the new launches bring wider trading options across EEX key markets to meet broadening customer demand.
/jlne.ws/413n6YZ
Miami International Holdings Reports Trading Results for April 2023; MIAX Pearl Equities Sets Monthly Market Share Record
MIAX
Miami International Holdings, Inc. today reported April 2023 trading results for its U.S. exchange subsidiaries - MIAX®, MIAX Pearl® and MIAX Emerald® (together, the MIAX Exchange Group), and Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX™). April 2023 Trading Volume Highlights Total multi-listed monthly options volume for the MIAX Exchange Group reached 112.9 million contracts, a 9.7% increase year-over-year (YoY) and representing a monthly market share of 16.28%, a 15.6% increase YoY.
/jlne.ws/3NGgrRy
MGEX Reports Trading Results for April 2023; SPIKES Futures Sets Open Interest Record
Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEXâ„¢), a Designated Contract Market
MGEX
(DCM) and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), today reported April 2023 trading volume of 240,298 contracts, representing a 2.0% decrease year-over-year (YoY) from the same period in 2022 and a 1.0% decrease from March 2023.
/jlne.ws/3LW3NN4
Nasdaq Announces New Chair of the Canadian Exchange Board
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the appointment of Mary Anne Wiley as the Chair of the Nasdaq CXC Limited ("Nasdaq Canada") Board of Directors, finalizing the slate of board members for 2023. The 2023 Board of Directors is as follows: Mary Anne Wiley - Chair, Independent DirectorSusan Monteith - Independent DirectorGerry Throop - Independent DirectorDan Kessous - CEO, DirectorTal Cohen - DirectorKevin Kennedy - Director
/jlne.ws/3VAnYTQ
TMX Group Consolidated Trading Statistics - April 2023
TMX Group
TMX Group Limited today announced April 2023 trading statistics for its marketplaces - Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange and Montréal Exchange.
/jlne.ws/41aiMaD
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Even $500 Million a Year From Google Isn't Enough to Save Firefox; The search giant pays a small fortune to its ostensible competitor, but Mozilla is still struggling to use that capital to fund a second act.
Noam Cohen - Bloomberg
Google and Firefox have been friends from the start. Mozilla, the nonprofit organization that makes Firefox, introduced the web browser in 2004, the year Google went public. Both projects focused on replacing a computing landscape dominated by Microsoft Corp. with an open internet that would be more resistant to centralized control. Google assigned coders to help develop Firefox, which eventually took a 30% share of the browser market; Firefox promoted the Google search engine on its homepage.
/jlne.ws/3LYjROj
Broadridge and Aiviq partner to bolster buy-side data integration and transparency; Partnership looks to offer asset management firms improved views of client AUM and asset flow data for their global market intelligence.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Broadridge Financial Solutions and cloud-based SaaS provider for asset managers Aiviq have collaborated to improve the quality and transparency of internal sales reporting data and external market intelligence. The strategic partnership between the two firms aims to provide asset management firms with improved views of client assets under management (AUM) and asset flow data for their global market intelligence.
/jlne.ws/3VyZtXc
Devexperts Re-enforces Commitment to Security with Successful SOC 2® Completion
Devexperts
Devexperts, a leading developer and provider of financial software solutions for brokers and financial institutions, today announced having successfully completed an SOC 2 cybersecurity assessment from A-LIGN - which ensures protection against mishandled data that can leave enterprises vulnerable to attacks, such as data theft, extortion, and malware installation. The approval from A-LIGN, an independent compliance evaluator, will be showcased on DeveÑ...perts's website verifying completion of the SOC 2 examination.
/jlne.ws/3nvJxbA
Deloitte Finds a Use for the Blockchain With Digital Credentials
Hannah Miller - Bloomberg
Deloitte Consulting is looking to utilize blockchain technology to establish digital credentials that can be used for everything from regulatory compliance in banking and decentralized finance to age verification for e-commerce. The reusable credentials will be anchored on the KILT blockchain, Deloitte said in a statement, which noted that the aim is to make identity verification more efficient for both businesses and customers.
/jlne.ws/3VyvwXa
North Carolina House Unanimously Votes to Ban Digital Dollar Payments to the State
Sandali Handagama - CoinDesk
North Carolina's House of Representatives on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill prohibiting the state's agencies and institutions from accepting payments in central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Representatives voted 118-0 (with two excused absences) in favor of the bill, in its second reading, that would prevent the state's court system or any agencies tied to the state from accepting a Federal Reserve-issued digital dollar. The bill also bans the state from participating in any pilot tests CBDC
/jlne.ws/3NGVh5Z
Blockchain as a Payment System: Why Aren't We There Yet?
Nikola Grozdanovic - FX Empire
The emergence of cryptocurrencies as a popular financial asset ushered in a new technology to the forefront. Some experts even proclaimed blockchain to be as big as the internet, and in 2017 it really started to get widespread attention. Not only because of the surge in popularity of cryptos, but also due to a growing recognition of the potential benefits of blockchain technology beyond finance. Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, famously included blockchain next to robotics, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence as part of what he dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
/jlne.ws/3ny5oiM
Jack Dorsey's exclusive Bluesky social network angles to compete with Twitter
Lydia Moynihan - NY Post
Elon Musk has outraged social media's elite by letting anyone get Twitter verification for $8 - and Jack Dorsey is looking to capitalize on the situation. Bluesky Social, which Twitter co-founder Dorsey founded in 2021, has since amassed just 50,000 monthly users versus Twitter's nearly 400 million and Instagram's 2.3 billion.
/jlne.ws/412DeKo
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Lawyers lead 'war game' drills to prepare clients for cyber attacks; Business leaders turn to law firms for advice as data loss and other IT breaches become a growing concern
Jane Croft - Financial Times
Lawyer James North regularly stages "war game" simulation exercises with clients to test how they would deal with a cyber attack. In the past year, he has gone from doing these exercises typically once a month to almost weekly.
/jlne.ws/429lNsQ
Japan's 'myth of security' raises cyber attack risk; Senior managers in Japanese companies will often outsource cyber risk to experts and then assume that is enough
Leo Lewis - Financial Times
Every April, as university graduates enter Japan's workforce and log into the IT networks of Japanese businesses for the first time, the government runs a campaign pushing everyone to create a strong password.
/jlne.ws/3NHuSVl
Why Biden's White House Just Got Behind The 'Biggest AI Hacking Event Ever'
Thomas Brewster - Forbes
On Thursday, the White House announced an event organizers are billing as the biggest ever public safety and security test of artificially intelligent models like ChatGPT and Bard. A public evaluation of AI tools from Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic will occur at the DEF CON hacking conference in Las Vegas this August.
/jlne.ws/44tVZJz
Lawmakers again want to advance the EARN IT Act. Cybersecurity experts still oppose it.
Tim Starks - The Washington Post
For years, many cybersecurity and privacy experts have criticized a bill aiming to curb child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online, arguing that it could also undermine end-to-end encryption.
/jlne.ws/3pigI2M
Influential task force takes stock of progress against ransomware
Tim Starks - The Washington Post
Two years ago, a group of experts from government, industry, nonprofits and academia released a report on ransomware that made nearly 50 recommendations for tackling the growing cyber crisis.
/jlne.ws/3pd26Sw
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto exchange Coinbase posts smaller loss on cost cuts, more revenue sources
Mehnaz Yasmin - Reuters
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc posted a smaller-than-feared loss in the first quarter, benefiting from cost cuts and diversification of revenue sources, sending its shares up 7% in extended trading on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3LYt2OH
Liquid Staking Platform Lido Surpasses 6M Ether Deposits as Shanghai Upgrade Spurs Inflows
Krisztian Sandor - CoinDesk
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Lido Finance has surpassed six million ether (ETH) deposited on its liquid staking platform amid steady inflows following the Ethereum blockchain's Shanghai upgrade. Lido has enjoyed a net inflow of 105,644 ETH through last week, worth some $199 million, pushing deposits to 6,008,480 ETH, according to blockchain data by a Dune Analytics dashboard.
/jlne.ws/41dYSLD
Exploring The Legal Implications Of Cryptocurrency And Blockchain Technology
Coin Rivet
Are you interested in learning more about the legal ramifications of blockchain and cryptocurrency? Understanding how these cutting-edge innovations interact with our current legal systems is becoming more important as their use becomes widespread. A wide range of legal factors must be considered, from tax rules to anti-money-laundering measures. This essay will explore the numerous legal challenges associated with cryptocurrencies and blockchain and speculate on how these technologies may affect our future financial and corporate practices. Let's dive into the exciting realm of crypto and blockchain to learn more about its legal consequences.
/jlne.ws/3nBHNO7
South Korea tightens grip on digital asset trading; Game developer Wemade's inaccurate disclosure about digital token's circulation was a wake-up call for regulators
Song Jung-a - Financial Times
Last year's troubles with wemix - a digital coin issued by South Korean game developer Wemade - were a wake-up call for investors and regulators alike in a digital currency market that, though one of the world's biggest, remains largely unregulated.
/jlne.ws/3VA6LKd
The Legacy of Mt. Gox: Why Bitcoin's Greatest Hack Still Matters
Jeff Wilser - CoinDesk
"Hi everyone, I just put up a new Bitcoin exchange," Jed McCaleb wrote on the Bitcoin forum. "Please let me know what you think." This was in 2010. The new exchange was called Mt. Gox. On Mt. Gox's first day of operations, 20 bitcoins (BTC) were traded. They each sold for 5 cents. The origin story is now legendary - it almost feels like a fable. The roots even go back to elves and dwarves.
/jlne.ws/3pduELL
DeFi Revives the 'Mullet' to Save Itself
Muyao Shen - Bloomberg
Just a year or so ago, the decentralized-finance corner of crypto was offering an (at least on the face of it) extremely compelling proposition: Yields as high as 20%, vastly more than what most of traditional finance could muster - not to mention your average zero-interest bank account. That gap has all but vanished, and with it, much of DeFi's raison d'etre.
/jlne.ws/3nFyM6y
Crypto Exchange Coinbase Posts Loss, but Beats Expectations
Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
Coinbase Global reported a fifth consecutive quarter of losses as individual investor enthusiasm for crypto trading on the platform remained stagnant. The biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. posted a loss of $79 million in the first quarter, narrowing its loss of $430 million a year ago. The improvement was largely driven by operational cost cutting, including a 20% reduction in workforce announced in January.
/jlne.ws/3HGZiDn
Palm NFT Studio Rolls Out Generative Art Tool for Creators
Cam Thompson - CoinDesk
Non-fungible token (NFT) creative network Palm NFT Studio is rolling out the Palm Generative Art Maker, a tool to help creators mint generative art collections on the blockchain. The tool provides the infrastructure for artists to carefully craft their code, store it on-chain and produce a body of generative artwork. While the process has previously been challenging for creators without knowledge of coding, the tool simplifies bulk rendering, trait and rarity systems, and the generation of assets.
/jlne.ws/3LXQNGH
Judge Upholds Freeze on SpartacusDAO's $35M in Lawsuit Served Via Discord, NFT
Danny Nelson - CoinDesk
A federal judge is keeping the freeze on $35 million in crypto assets held by SpartacusDAO, a crypto investment project whose leader faces a lawsuit from disgruntled investors in its SPA token. Judge Victor Marrero upheld his previously signed restraining order against Wei Wu, allegedly the man behind Spartacus, in a hearing in the U.S. Southern District Court of New York on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3pfcBVb
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Exclusive-Israel seized Binance crypto accounts to 'thwart' Islamic State, document shows
Tom Wilson and Angus Berwick - Reuters
Israel has seized around 190 crypto accounts at crypto exchange Binance since 2021, including two it said were linked to Islamic State and dozens of others it said were owned by Palestinian firms connected to the Islamist Hamas group, documents released by the country's counter-terror authorities show.
/jlne.ws/44unCCr
White House Pushes Tech C.E.O.s to Limit Risks of A.I.
David McCabe - The New York Times
The White House on Thursday pushed Silicon Valley chief executives to limit the risks of artificial intelligence, in the administration's most visible effort to confront rising questions and calls to regulate the rapidly advancing technology. For roughly two hours in the White House's Roosevelt Room, Vice President Kamala Harris and other officials told the leaders of Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, the maker of the popular ChatGPT chatbot, and Anthropic, an A.I. start-up, to seriously consider concerns about the technology. President Biden also briefly stopped by the meeting.
/jlne.ws/3pf0yqY
Central Bank Digital Currencies Are Unexpectedly Becoming a Presidential Election Issue
Emily Parker - CoinDesk
Most Americans spend little time thinking about central bank digital currencies, if they even know what they are. For those who don't, CBDCs are digital forms of national currencies, issued by a country's central bank. The United States Federal Reserve has no plans to issue a digital dollar. Yet, potential presidential candidates in next year's U.S. election are already sounding an alarm.
/jlne.ws/3VBU3L
Italy's government calls crisis meeting over surging pasta prices
Reuters
Italy's Industry Minister Adolfo Urso called on Thursday for a crisis meeting over prices for pasta, the country's favourite staple, after they jumped by more than double the national inflation rate. Urso's ministry said the cost of spaghetti and other pasta products rose year-on-year by 17.5% in March despite a drop in wheat prices. In that month, Italian EU-harmonised consumer prices (HICP) rose overall by 8.1%.
/jlne.ws/3Lzrnha
What Companies Should Know About the EU Climate-Change Tax Plan
Jodi Ader - Bloomberg Tax
The European Union has developed the first import tax aimed at preventing climate change. The carbon border adjustment mechanism, or CBAM, supplements the bloc's emissions trading system. It attempts to level the playing field for carbon pricing and, in doing so, will affect trade between the EU and the rest of the world. Supply chains will change, and companies will need accounting systems that measure carbon emissions accurately.
/jlne.ws/3HJ1I4F
Norway's oil fund rejects Rome's candidate for Enel chair; World's largest sovereign fund will vote against appointment of Paolo Scaroni at shareholders' meeting next week
Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli and Richard Milne - Financial Times
Norway's oil fund said it would reject Rome's pick to chair Enel, in a public snub to Giorgia Meloni's government ahead of the state-backed utility's shareholders' meeting. The world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, which owns a 2.2 per cent stake in Enel, said it would vote against Paolo Scaroni at the general meeting on May 10. It will instead support Marco Mazzucchelli, the candidate put forward by London-based hedge fund Covalis.
/jlne.ws/3VECREH
Fake or not, the Kremlin attack is extremely humiliating for Putin
Dominic Nicholls - The Telegraph
The image of an explosion on the roof of the Kremlin, with a huge banner advertising Russia's May 9 Victory Day parade visible on the ground beneath, will be one of the most embarrassing pictures from all the years of Vladimir Putin's regime. Regardless of who was responsible and what their motivation was, it is a very significant image that will forever after be burned into Moscow's history.
/jlne.ws/3p8RjZw
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Episode 31: The Global Regulatory Agenda
International Swaps and Derivatives Association
A recent series of liquidity crunches has prompted a global regulatory effort to identify and remediate potential vulnerabilities in financial markets. How is that work progressing? ISDA talks to IOSCO's Martin Moloney.
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SVB Financial Must Wait in Line for Its $2 Billion, FDIC Says
Amelia Pollard and Steven Church - Bloomberg
Before SVB Financial Group bondholders can collect the billions they are owed, the bankrupt company may have to file a claim with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to recover $2 billion worth of deposits trapped by the receivership of Silicon Valley Bank.
/jlne.ws/3AWY6bj
Shake-up of UK's strategy to tackle fraud epidemic; New beefed up service will replace Action Fraud this year
Rafe Uddin - Financial Times
Ministers have this week set out ambitious plans to deal with the blight of scams affecting UK consumers. The national fraud strategy, published on Wednesday, outlines measures that the government says will help clamp down on common scams, including cold calls and number spoofing, the practice where fraudsters impersonate the caller ID of trusted institutions to defraud individuals.
/jlne.ws/3B2unxy
South Korean Prosecutor Calls for Crypto Entrepreneur Do Kwon to Face Charges in Home Country; Investigators in Seoul are in the best position to bring justice to investors who lost money in TerraUSD, Luna crash, official says
Jiyoung Sohn - The Wall Street Journal
The South Korean prosecutor leading the investigation into crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon said he believes extraditing him to his native country would be the best way to bring justice to victims of the TerraUSD cryptocurrency crash, which wiped out some $40 billion from digital currency markets.
/jlne.ws/3NCqHKF
Ant's Financial License Is in Limbo as China Shakes Up Regulatory System; Powerful new regulator will have to approve the fintech giant's application to become a financial-holding company
Jing Yang and Raffaele Huang - The Wall Street Journal
Ant has been waiting for more than a year for Beijing to sign off on its business restructuring.
Chinese fintech giant Ant Group's transformation into a fully regulated company has been held up by a reshuffle of China's financial-regulatory system, according to people familiar with the matter. Ant, a mobile-payments provider that used to be one of the world's most valuable private companies, embarked on a major restructuring in late 2020 after its blockbuster initial public offerings in Hong Kong and Shanghai were scuttled by Chinese authorities.
/jlne.ws/3paQcIX
Commissioner Pham to Speak at the HLS-PIFS 21st Annual Europe-U.S. Symposium
CFTC
Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will participate in a presentation and discussion titled "Ongoing capital market reforms in Europe, U.K. and the U.S." at the Harvard Law School (HLS)-Program for International Financial Systems (PIFS) Annual Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Europe and the United States
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Statement on Current Market Events
Chair Gary Gensler - SEC
As I've said, in times of increased volatility and uncertainty, the SEC is particularly focused on identifying and prosecuting any form of misconduct that might threaten investors, capital formation, or the markets more broadly.
/jlne.ws/42d9JH9
U.S. Court Orders SEC to Respond to Coinbase Allegations Within 10 Days; Coinbase last week argued the SEC is providing insufficient regulatory guidance for U.S. companies operating in the crypto sector
Jamie Crawley - CoinDesk
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been ordered by a U.S. court to respond to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase's (COIN) complaint over how it applies securities laws to digital assets. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals said in a Wednesday filing that the SEC must file its response within 10 days. Coinbase may then file a response seven days thereafter.
/jlne.ws/3NB04ps
SEC Charges Advisory Firm and Part-Owner for Breach of Fiduciary Duty in Connection with Use of Leveraged ETFs
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against Fargo, North Dakota-based investment adviser Classic Asset Management LLC (CAM) and indirect part-owner and investment adviser representative Douglas G. Schmitz for breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the use of leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs) in discretionary client accounts.
/jlne.ws/3nFJLNn
SEC Announces New Members of Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced 14 new members of the Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee. The new members were appointed to four-year terms to fill vacancies arising primarily from the expiration of prior members' terms.
/jlne.ws/3peC2Xe
SEC Charges Florida Resident with Operating $5.9 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeting African-American Community
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against Cedric Dewayne Griffin alleging that he raised approximately $5.9 million from at least 103 investors through a fraudulent securities offering targeting members of the African-American community in Jacksonville, Florida and elsewhere.
/jlne.ws/3VAynPu
FCA continues action against unregistered crypto ATMs across the UK
FCA
The FCA has used its powers to inspect sites in Exeter, Nottingham and Sheffield suspected of hosting illegally operated crypto ATMs, as part of a continued crackdown on this illicit sector.
/jlne.ws/3NHz2MX
Frank founder Charlie Javice in talks with feds over alleged $175M JPMorgan fraud: court records
Shannon Thaler - NY Post
Frank founder Charlie Javice is in talks with federal prosecutors after the entrepreneur was accused of using fake customer data to trick JPMorgan Chase into buying her firm for a $175 million, according to court records. Javice, 31, faces criminal charges - for conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and securities fraud - stemming from the September 2021 deal for her college financial-planning site.
/jlne.ws/3VCQLaD
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | The Real Oil Market Shows $20-a-Barrel Price Collapse Is Excessive; Physical market is 'pretty tight,' Shell CEO Wael Sawan says; China is getting a flood of crude while local travel rebounds
Alex Longley, Grant Smith and Sharon Cho - Bloomberg
Crude markets have suffered a disastrous few weeks, dragged down by alarm over the wider economy. But real oil demand still looks strong enough to foster a rebound in prices. International benchmark Brent almost dropped to $70 a barrel on Thursday after losing 17% since mid-April on fears of a US recession and signs of a disappointing recovery in China. Crude in New York plunged at the open to take the decline over the past three weeks to $20, before recovering.
/jlne.ws/3p8UfW2
Macquarie Commodity Trader's $39 Million Pay Tops Dimon; Nick O'Kane's salary tops Wall Street CEOs like Dimon, Fraser; His unit contributed more than half Australian bank's profits
Nabila Ahmed - Bloomberg
Nick O'Kane, whose powerhouse commodities trading business underpinned Macquarie Group Ltd.'s record annual profit, is taking home more than the firm's CEO. O'Kane, who took over as the head of the commodities and global markets unit in 2019, is getting a 59% boost to A$57.6 million ($38.6 million) for the year through March 2023, according to Macquarie's annual report released Friday.
/jlne.ws/3nBjmjR
TD-First Horizon Collapse Points to Merger-Arbitrage Traders' Biggest Fear; Traders previously bet on price cut near end-of-May walk date; First Horizon sinks 33% on merger failure, regional bank woes
Yiqin Shen - Bloomberg
Merger arbitrage traders were expecting hiccups in Toronto-Dominion Bank's proposed takeover of First Horizon Corp., but they were unprepared for what happened Thursday when the $13.4 billion transaction melted down. The deal spread had been widening in recent months, as some traders were anticipating a price cut. But a total collapse weeks ahead of the May 27 deadline was not in the cards.
/jlne.ws/3LDQ3VK
Shell Reports $9.6 Billion Profit, Despite Falling Oil Prices; The oil and gas giant said its earnings, which exceeded analysts' expectations, were bolstered by strong energy trading.
Stanley Reed - The New York Times
Shell, Europe's largest energy company, said Thursday that its profit jumped 6 percent in the first quarter to $9.6 billion, a sign that the company remains hugely profitable, even with oil prices under pressure. The company's earnings, adjusted for items like divestitures, were below the record of $11.5 billion set in the second quarter of 2022, but they still exceeded analysts' forecasts.
/jlne.ws/3nq2fBH
Short Sellers Lose $64 Million on One Regional Bank Stock Bucking Turmoil
Carmen Reinicke - Bloomberg
One regional bank has dodged the money-minting short trade against the sector this year. Traders betting against shares of New York Community Bancorp have been saddled with roughly $64 million in paper losses this year, according to data from S3 Partners LLC. It's by far the largest mark-to-market loss for US regional bank short sellers and the only unprofitable short position that's greater than $5 million. In contrast, traders who have shorted regional banks are up nearly $7 billion in paper profits so far this year.
/jlne.ws/3HIxTRx
I'm no wide-boy trader but I'm minded to flip my bank ETF; The share price returns of European lenders say it all, really
Stuart Kirk - Financial Times
And poof, it's gone! First Republic Bank's magical disappearing trick wowed us all on Monday. Other US regional lenders seem to be practising the same. My European bank ETF better not vanish in a puff of smoke. I won't clap.
/jlne.ws/44AxGKi
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Westinghouse Unveils Plans for Its First Small Nuclear Reactor; Company expects to deliver 300-megawatt plants for $1 billion; 'We are confident this will sail through' licensing process
Will Wade - Bloomberg
Westinghouse Electric Co., the US nuclear-technology giant, is developing a compact version of its flagship power plant, a move aimed at making its designs more competitive in markets that don't need large, conventional reactors. The company unveiled plans on Thursday for a small modular reactor it calls the AP300, which is based on technology from its 1.1-gigawatt AP1000 reactor.
/jlne.ws/3NP7lBU
Cargill Faces Legal Complaint Over Amazon Safeguards for Brazilian Soy; Nonprofit ClientEarth claims the grain trader fails to do adequate due diligence on the soy it sources from threatened rainforest and savanna.
Olivia Rudgard - Bloomberg
The commodities giant Cargill Inc. is facing a legal challenge over its failure to ensure its soy supply chain is not driving deforestation in Brazil. Cargill, the largest private company in the US with revenues last year of $165 billion, has failed to ensure the soy it sources in Brazil's tropical rainforests and savanna does not contribute to deforestation, the environmental law nonprofit ClientEarth alleged in a complaint filed Thursday under the guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
/jlne.ws/3AUrkYm
What Companies Should Know About the EU Climate-Change Tax Plan
Jodi Ader - Bloomberg Tax
The European Union has developed the first import tax aimed at preventing climate change. The carbon border adjustment mechanism, or CBAM, supplements the bloc's emissions trading system. It attempts to level the playing field for carbon pricing and, in doing so, will affect trade between the EU and the rest of the world. Supply chains will change, and companies will need accounting systems that measure carbon emissions accurately.
/jlne.ws/3HJ1I4F
Chinese Resort Island at Center of Alleged Green Fuel Fraud
Alfred Cang - Bloomberg
A tropical island off southern China, best known for its sandy beaches and luxury hotels, has become the unlikely focus of Europe's concerns over a booming waste-oil industry. On the edge of the South China Sea, Hainan has become a green-fuel hot spot over the past year, accounting for nearly a third of the country's biodiesel exports. The catch is that China's answer to Hawaii has no capacity to convert used cooking oil, the most obviously compliant feedstock, into biodiesel.
/jlne.ws/3LxvwlT
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Goldman Sachs cooperating with government probes on SVB collapse
Reuters
Goldman Sachs Group Inc said in a filing on Thursday it is cooperating with government probes into collapsed Silicon Valley Bank. The Wall Street bank is "cooperating with and providing information to various governmental bodies in connection with their investigations and inquiries" into SVB, including the two companies' dealings in March.
/jlne.ws/427JSQY
To Know Why Silicon Valley Bank Failed, Congress Should Ask Former CEO Greg Becker
Mayra Rodriguez Valladares - Forbes
Silicon Valley Bank had serious problems with compliance and internal controls since 2016, according to a new Federal Reserve report, and not only did the bank's immediate regulators know, the but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporate and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau did too. The report by the vice chair for supervision of the Fed's board of governors, Michael Barr, was to investigate the Fed's own oversight of Silicon Valley Bank.
/jlne.ws/3VBQe8x
How Silicon Valley's Troubles Are Reshaping Venture Capital; After unprecedented dominance of US startup funding in the 2010s, the region has lost some ground. But it's still No. 1 by a long distance.
Justin Fox - Bloomberg
These aren't the best of times in Greater Silicon Valley - the San Francisco and San Jose metropolitan areas and some surrounding counties. Large employers in what locals call the Bay Area have been laying off workers left and right. The region's second- and third-largest banks, First Republic Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, have failed. San Francisco's downtown, booming before Covid-19, is now one of the nation's most troubled. Home prices are falling.
/jlne.ws/427LWsc
Ashton Kutcher Says His VC Firm Raised Debut AI Fund in Five Weeks
Edward Ludlow and Caroline Hyde - Bloomberg
Ashton Kutcher, the Hollywood actor and venture capital investor, raised the money for his firm's new AI fund quickly. "We pulled the fund together in about five weeks," Kutcher said Thursday in a Bloomberg Television interview. "We have a base of LPs that have been with us for years on end."
/jlne.ws/3LyEAXv
FDIC Plans to Hit Big Banks With Fees to Refill Deposit Insurance Fund; Plan to replenish the DIF after SVB failure may come next week; Lenders with less than $10 billion to avoid special payments
Katanga Johnson - Bloomberg
The US is poised to exempt smaller lenders from kicking in extra money to replenish the government's bedrock deposit insurance fund, and instead saddle the biggest banks with much of the bill. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is planning to release as soon as next week a highly anticipated proposal for refilling its Deposit Insurance Fund, which was partly depleted by the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, according to people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/44ApdGH
ANZ Bank Sees Margin Pressure as Competition Intensifies; ANZ's net interest margin misses; bank trumpets growth; CEO: Cohort of stress in mortgage market 'remarkably small'
Harry Brumpton and Nabila Ahmed - Bloomberg
ANZ Group Holdings Ltd.'s first-half profit met analyst expectations as margin pressure offset a move to claw back a larger chunk of the mortgage market. Cash profit came in at A$3.82 billion ($2.56 billion) in the six months to March 31, it said in a statement Friday. That was in line with forecasts of A$3.81 billion from a Bloomberg survey of analysts.
/jlne.ws/419EsUj
Bank-Stock Short Sellers Are Doing 'A Meaningful Service.' Dick Bove Says; Short sellers are doing job regulators should have done: Bove; SEC says its not currently considering a short-selling ban
Carmen Reinicke and Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg
Hedge funds and traders betting against bank stocks are filling a critical role, according to Odeon Capital Group's Dick Bove. "The funds and others who are shorting bank stocks are doing the American public a meaningful service," analyst Bove said in a note. "They are winnowing the banking industry and forcing these companies to stabilize their financial statements."
/jlne.ws/3nAHinx
FTSE Russell launches Developed Extended Opportunities Real Estate index in collaboration with National Pension Service of Korea
FTSE Russell
FTSE Russell, a leading global index, data and analytics provider, has partnered with the European Real Estate Association ("EPRA") and The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("Nareit") in response to client interest in granular classification and portfolio level screening.
/jlne.ws/3Ltwq2C
Unscheduled component changes in MDAX, SDAX and TecDAX
Qontigo
Qontigo's global index provider STOXX Ltd. has announced unscheduled component changes in the MDAX, SDAX and TecDAX indices. These changes are due to a breach of basic criteria (timely publication of the audited Annual Financial Report), as outlined in section 5.1.2 in the Guide to the DAX Equity Indices.
/jlne.ws/3LUmvEJ
Woodford investors miss out in regulatory tangle; FCA needs reform to boost consumer protection
Mark Bishop - Financial Times
The Financial Conduct Authority last month made a comforting-sounding announcement. It declared that investors in Neil Woodford's Equity Income Fund, gated in 2019 after precipitous collapse in value and a rush of withdrawals, could receive 77p in the pound of their outstanding losses under a redress scheme negotiated by the regulator.
/jlne.ws/3I5e8UL
HSBC Investors Reject Special Resolutions on Dividends, Strategy
Harry Wilson - Bloomberg
HSBC Holdings Plc shareholders voted to reject proposals to shake up the bank that were put forward by a group of Hong Kong-based investors. Indicative results from Friday's annual meeting show that about a fifth of voting investors backed the call for HSBC to report regularly on the possibility of carving out its Asian unit, while 19.2% supported lifting its dividend to its pre-pandemic level.
/jlne.ws/42ougZ2
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | ChatGPT Will Disrupt Many Jobs. These Are the Most at Risk.
Evie Liu - Barron's
Since the release of ChatGPT last year, companies and workers have been scrambling to understand how generative AI could impact the job market. It looks like that knowledge can't come fast enough.
/jlne.ws/3HFHiJy
AI Could Help Determine Who Gets Laid Off
Mark Bergen - Bloomberg
The Covid-19 pandemic gave us firings by Zoom. Could the current technology craze give us mass terminations devised by AI? ChatGPT can already write a generic layoffs memo, and Microsoft Corp. is planning to roll out its 365 Copilot to Excel, which could serve as an aid in financial planning. Now a French startup called Pigment SAS is testing a generative AI tool expressly for chief financial officers.
/jlne.ws/44p9bPU
Swiss Bank Lombard Odier Bets on Private Markets in Hiring Drive; The Geneva-based firm intends to roughly double its team of about three-dozen people to boost offerings in private debt, venture capital and private equity.
Benjamin Stupples - Bloomberg
Lombard Odier is planning a major recruitment drive to build up its private-markets offerings for the world's rich, joining a wave of investment firms boosting their focus on the sector. The Swiss bank intends to roughly double its team of about three-dozen people in coming years as it expands offerings in private debt, venture capital and private equity, managing partner Jean-Pascal Porcherot said.
/jlne.ws/44rHUMZ
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Covid Remained a Leading Cause of Death Among Americans in 2022
Roni Caryn Rabin - The New York Times
Covid was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States last year, dropping from its place as the third leading cause in 2020 and 2021, when virus fatalities were superseded only by heart disease and cancer, the National Center for Health Statistics reported on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3HKjhkJ
Bilingualism May Stave Off Dementia, Study Suggests; People who spoke two languages daily in their youth tended to score higher on memory tests later in life, the researchers found.
Jaya Padmanabhan - The New York Times
Speaking two languages provides the enviable ability to make friends in unusual places. A new study suggests that bilingualism may also come with another benefit: improved memory in later life. Studying hundreds of older patients, researchers in Germany found that those who reported using two languages daily from a young age scored higher on tests of learning, memory, language and self-control than patients who spoke only one language.
/jlne.ws/3nBSkc7
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China seeks to ease fears of legal disputes to bolster global trade; Supply chain disruptions highlight an increasingly complex east-west interdependency
June Yoon - Financial Times
Over the past couple of years, a shortage of everything from iPhones to paracetamol due to pandemic lockdowns in China has highlighted the reliance of global supply chains on the country.
/jlne.ws/3nyHSCc
As India Overtakes China in Population, Will Its Stock Market, Too? The key, say some economists, is to look at the ratio of those who are middle age to those who are older
Mark Hulbert - The Wall Street Journal
Is India's stock market a better long-term bet than China's? Some economists think so, now that India is on track to become the world's most populous nation. Demography, they believe, is destiny. While China's population has long been the largest in the world, the two countries are now neck and neck, at roughly 1.4 billion people each, according to the United Nations. India will be No. 1 sometime this year, if it isn't there already. And by the year 2100, India's population is projected to be 1.5 billion, while China's is projected to be 800 million.
/jlne.ws/42vxSsn
Russia Says It Has Billions of Indian Rupees That It Can't Use; Lavrov says Russia needs rupees changed into another currency; India and Russia seek to resolve the issue amid sanctions risk
Bloomberg News
Russia has accumulated billions of rupees in Indian banks which it can't use, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday, pointing to a ballooning trade surplus with the South Asian nation. "This is a problem," Lavrov told reporters in India's western state of Goa on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting. "We need to use this money. But for this, these rupees must be transferred in another currency, and this is being discussed now."
/jlne.ws/417aosb
Turkey Looks to Prevent Parallel Exchange Rate With Lira at Risk
Beril Akman - Bloomberg
Turkey will take steps to eradicate a dual exchange rate that's emerged in recent months, the finance minister said, suggesting the central bank's regulations might have contributed to the spread between the official and parallel markets.
/jlne.ws/413kFWl
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