| February 25, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
A podcast series, Spoken Reality, has an episode titled "INTERVIEW: FDIC Employee Fired-Now She Can't Work Anywhere" that tells that story of Jennifer.
Jennifer, a dedicated FDIC examiner, was abruptly fired without warning or cause-just an email informing her of her immediate termination. Her role was critical to safeguarding the financial security of millions of Americans by holding banks accountable and ensuring the safety of their deposits. Importantly, her position wasn't funded by taxpayers but was essential to maintaining trust in the financial system.
This wasn't just a job loss. Jennifer's termination, based on false reasons, has effectively blacklisted her from both government and private sector employment. She is now barred from working at any FDIC-insured bank, leaving her career prospects shattered.
For Jennifer, this is more than professional devastation-it's personal. A mother and wife, she relied on the job's medical benefits to support her family, including her son, who has undergone two brain surgeries. With her termination, those vital benefits are gone, and the "terminated" label on her record threatens her ability to find work again.
Jennifer's story raises troubling questions about the FDIC's actions. Why would a non-taxpayer-funded agency suddenly remove employees in such critical roles? What does this mean for the future of financial oversight and the security of bank deposits? Her experience serves as a stark warning: if this can happen to someone like Jennifer, it could happen to anyone.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board has an editorial titled "A Sad Day for the U.S. at the U.N." with the subheadline "The land of the free votes with Russia on a Ukraine war resolution." The editorial says the U.S., which has long pushed the U.N. to acknowledge global bad actors, took a regrettable step Monday by siding with Russia against a General Assembly resolution condemning its invasion of Ukraine. The resolution, backed by Ukraine and European nations, was mild, merely expressing concern over the war's devastation and calling for a ceasefire.
There is a rumor that the words to The Star Spangled Banner are being changed to "The land of the captive and the home of the cowardly" in light of the U.S. vote yesterday at the U.N. to back Russia on the Ukraine war resolution.
I was doing a little ancestry work last night on Ancestry.com when I saw that my dad's mom, my grandmother Catherine Adeline Rogers, was hyperlinked. I clicked on her link and started to look into her ancestry, something I knew little about, except that her side of the family had been in the U.S. longer than my grandfather, who came over after World War I. As I kept clicking on great-grandfather after great-great-grandfather, it went back nine generations. It turns out my ninth great-grandfather, Thomas Rogers, came to North America on the Mayflower along with his son Joseph.
Thomas left several family members behind, including my eighth great-grandfather, James Rogers, who was born in 1615 and made the trip in 1635.
James did quite well for himself after coming over on the ship "Increase." He was one of six men under Captain John Underhill's command who took part in the Pequot War. Afterward, he moved to Stratford, Connecticut, and acquired property. He then relocated to Milford, CT, where he acquired considerable property and became a large-scale baker.
In fact, he supplied biscuits for New England, New York, Virginia, and Barbados. The Governor of Connecticut encouraged him to seek a larger base of operations, and he soon moved to New London, next to the governor. He quickly became the largest landholder and richest man in the colony, and in addition to the baking business, he took charge of the town mill.
James Rogers conducted more domestic and foreign trade than any man in New London County, and he and his sons were held in high regard by the Native Americans.
James Rogers also served in government; he was deputy to the Court of Elections for May 1661, May 1662, and October 1662. He was a representative to the General Court seven times between 1662 and 1673. He also served as corn commissioner for New London in 1662 and was on the committee for fortifications of New London.
One of his sons, John Rogers, became a minister and founded the Rogerene Church in America. He suffered religious persecution as a result.
James Rogers' son, who was my 7th great-grandfather, was also named James, though he was a Captain. Capt. James Rogers, the eldest son of James Rogers and Mary Jordan, was born in New London, CT in 1675 and died in 1735. He married Elizabeth Harris, a member of the Congregational Church, in 1701, but she died in 1713. He remarried six months later to Freelove Hurlbert.
Capt. James Rogers was prominent in the community, passed the bar, trained with the militia, and was an attorney in New London. He was also a deputy to the General Court sixteen times and the speaker once.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: Aussie regulator moves to promote competition for ASX, ANALYSIS: Abaxx says lithium carbonate liquidity may take time, ANALYSIS: SPX options hit single day record as volatility rebounds, Britannia Global Markets hires experienced broker Cooper, CME and DTCC to extend US Treasuries cross-margining deal 'Large' geopolitical shocks have greater impact on markets - BoE.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Options Traders Line Up Hedges Before Pivotal Nvidia Earnings from Bloomberg.
- Robinhood Plans Ambitious Crypto Expansion Under Trump Administration from The Wall Street Journal.
- Geopolitical rupture sparks quiet market rebellion from the Financial Times. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Two Wisconsin Bartenders Walked Into a Futures Exchange and Both Built Illustrious Careers in the Industry 
ONE IS BEING INDUCTED INTO THE FIA HALL OF FAME IN MARCH; THE OTHER SHOULD BE INDUCTED SOON
A former bartender from Fontana, Wisconsin, who once served me 25-cent Old Style beers in a glass or $2 pitchers at Chuck's Lakeshore Inn in Fontana, Wisconsin, has had an illustrious career in the futures industry and will be formally inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame in March: Terry Duffy, CME Group chairman and CEO.
Another former bartender from that same Wisconsin bar, who worked alongside Duffy, has also had an illustrious career in the futures industry. He recently returned from Nairobi, where he attended the Association of Futures Markets' annual meeting. His name is Pat Kenny, and he serves as chairman of the AFM and senior vice president of CQG for client relations. He is also the village president of Fontana, Wisconsin, the home of that same bar where he and Duffy slung beers together and pitched quarters into the tip bowl for sport. You might also know him as 'The Most Interesting Man in the World,' a title I bestowed upon him after we both attended the AFM general meeting in Budapest in 2012.
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 KRX's Chihun Kang Reflects on WFE Program Experience and Market Insights JohnLothianNews.com Chihun Kang, a project manager at Korea Exchange (KRX), recently participated in the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) Market Infrastructure Certificate (MIC) program, an intensive global initiative aimed at enhancing expertise in financial infrastructure. The program covers key topics such as payment systems, banking, clearing, settlement, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. "It consists of a full four-module subject covering financial infrastructure, including recent developments in exchange business and ESG," Kang explained. The final module requires participants to apply their learning in an industry project, producing an academic-style report. Watch the video »
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A Sad Day for the U.S. at the U.N.; The land of the free votes with Russia on a Ukraine war resolution.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
The United Nations is no great moral arbiter of anything, but at least the United States has tried over the years to have that group of nations recognize the truth about bad actors. That wasn't the case Monday, as the U.S. voted with Russia against a General Assembly resolution calling out Russia for its invasion of Ukraine three years ago. What a regrettable moment. The resolution, sponsored by Ukraine and European nations, wasn't even all that strong. It merely noted "with concern that the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation" has had "devastating and long-lasting consequences" and called for "an early cessation of hostilities."
/jlne.ws/41hHMP0
***** A sad day indeed.~JJL
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Trump and Musk take aim at Loop's Kluczynski, Metcalfe buildings
Greg Hinz - Crain's Chicago Business
The Trump administration is planning to shed half of the office space it occupies in Chicago and Illinois, with two huge properties, the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building and Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building, heading the list of structures on the chopping block. That's the word from Chicago U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, a ranking Democratic member of the House Appropriations Committee, whose district is home to thousands of federal workers whose jobs have been or are being eyed for elimination.
/jlne.ws/41sQvPM
***** Let's make downtown more of a ghost town.~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our most read story Monday was John Lothian's Two Wisconsin Bartenders Walked Into a Futures Exchange and Both Built Illustrious Careers in the Industry, about Pat Kenny and Terry Duffy, in John Lothian News. Second was FIA announces 2025 Hall of Fame inductees from November 13, 2024, which John mentioned in the piece about Kenny and Duffy. And third was Hooters prepares to file for bankruptcy amid declining foot traffic: report, from The New York Post.
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| Lead Stories | Egg-Laying Hens at Nine-Year Low as Bird Flu Decimates US Flock
Michael Hirtzer - Bloomberg
America's flock of egg-laying hens dropped to the lowest since 2016 in January as avian influenza resulted in the death of millions of birds, driving egg prices to record levels. Eggs have been setting new highs every week this year with fewer chickens hatching eggs. Supplies are running thin at grocery stores, sparking purchase limits, while restaurants such as Denny's are adding surcharges. The number of layers fell to about 363 million in January, down 3.8% from a year ago, US Department of Agriculture data showed Monday. Egg production of 8.865 billion was down 4.2% and the lowest for the month since 2016 - when there was a previous major outbreak of bird flu.
/jlne.ws/4ie26Yz
China Is Rewiring the Global South With Clean Power; Faced with energy poverty, costly fossil fuels, and cheap solar, developing economies are voting with their feet.
David Fickling - Bloomberg
Energy is destiny. That's an under-appreciated rule that applies across history, economics, and diplomacy. The countries with access to the best resources - whether the wind- and peat-powered 17th century Dutch Republic, coal-fired 19th century Britain, or the oil-fueled 20th century US - have always been good at dominating more energy-impoverished rivals. Those with an excess of domestic supply are also able to accumulate the wealth to become significant middle powers in their own right. Think of the influence, out of proportion to their relatively small populations, of fossil-fuel exporters Australia, or Qatar, or Saudi Arabia.
/jlne.ws/3EQ5wm7
Trump's Pick for SEC Chairman Was Wall Street's Expert for Hire; Paul Atkins's consulting work to require recusal from some of commission's enforcement work
Dave Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
The incoming chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission built a career dealing with regulators-as their adversary. When AT&T needed an ally to thwart a 2021 SEC lawsuit, it hired Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner who in 2009 began building a profitable yet opaque niche as one of Wall Street's go-to advisers in Washington. Atkins, nominated as President Trump's next SEC chairman, served as an expert witness for the telecom giant, telling a court that AT&T hadn't violated a law that forbids companies from selectively disclosing nonpublic information to Wall Street analysts. A judge in pretrial proceedings said there was formidable evidence that the company had. AT&T settled soon after for a $6.25 million fine without admitting or denying wrongdoing.
/jlne.ws/41uBz3D
DOGE Move to Slash Federal Leases Threatens Office-Market Recovery; The District of Columbia's office market has been one of the hardest hit in the country
Peter Grant and Deborah Acosta - The Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration's move to terminate millions of square feet of federal leases and sell government buildings threatens to weaken a fledgling recovery in the U.S. office market, from California to Washington, D.C. Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has targeted nearly 100 leases at government agency offices for termination or consolidation. The Trump administration is also considering selling two-thirds of the federally owned office buildings that are empty or underused.
/jlne.ws/41iv1DU
Acting IRS commissioner to step down amid DOGE blitz on agency; The departure comes as the agency faces the crunch of tax filing season and scrutiny from Elon Musk's initiative.
Jeff Stein, Lisa Rein and Jacob Bogage - The Washington Post
The acting commissioner of the IRS will announce he is stepping down as early as Tuesday, according to four people familiar with the matter who said the departure is driven in part over his distress about the chaos inflicted on the government by billionaire Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service. Doug O'Donnell, a civil servant who spent several decades at the agency, will depart the administration by the end of the week, said the people, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. He is expected to be replaced on a temporary basis by Melanie Krause, who has also served in senior positions at the tax agency, the people said. President Trump has nominated Billy Long, a former Republican congressman from Missouri, to run the agency on a more permanent basis, if he is confirmed by the Senate.
/jlne.ws/4hUn5Qs
Eighty-six percent of private equity firms expect alternative investments to dominate retail portfolios in the next five years, says Apex Group; The latest research highlights growing retail demand for private markets and the role of technology in shaping the future of investment
Apex Group
Apex Group, the leading global asset servicing provider, has launched a new report revealing 97% of asset managers see a strong retail interest in private markets, with private equity and real estate leading the demand.The research paper called "Leading the shift: Transforming private markets in a retail-driven landscape," was carried out by Global Custodian - an international securities services title. It is based on insights from senior leaders in funds with assets under management ranging from under $1bn to over $50bn; and explores how increasing retail investor engagement, technological advancements, and evolving industry strategies are reshaping the future of private markets.
Value-at-risk models face neglect due to FRTB uncertainty; Some banks delaying material upgrades until timeline to replace VAR becomes clearer
Samuel Wilkes - Risk.net
Like tomorrow, new market risk capital rules for banks always seem to be one day away. The repeated delays have left bankers with a headache over what to do with their existing market risk management framework, because they can't predict exactly when it will be replaced. The problem is particularly acute in the European Union, where the new rules have been completed and are scheduled to come into effect from the start of 2026. If the EU stays on track, it would not be necessary to apply for
/jlne.ws/4kdAgxu
A market-making model for an options portfolio; Vladimir Lucic and Alex Tse fill a glaring gap in European-style derivatives modelling
Mauro Cesa - Risk.net
Options market-making models are among the financial industry's most closely guarded trade secrets. So much so that researchers looking for an example in the financial literature often end up recreating the confused John Travolta meme from Pulp Fiction. "I can't recall a portfolio-level market-making model [being] published," says Vladimir Lucic, a visiting professor at Imperial College London and head of quants at Marex Solutions. "There are some looking at single options, but not more realistic ones at portfolio level, where you look at the risk of the whole book and try to manage it."
/jlne.ws/4k7czqJ
Billionaire Ken Griffin Adds $45 Million New York Pad to His Property Empire; The hedge funder is the buyer behind the purchase of Julia Koch's apartment at 740 Park Avenue
Katherine Clarke - The Wall Street Journal
Billionaire hedge funder Ken Griffin has long been known as one of residential real estate's biggest whales, presiding over a personal property empire estimated to be worth billions. Now, he's added yet another trophy to his real-estate holdings: a duplex at New York's most storied cooperative, 740 Park Avenue.
/jlne.ws/438KWHt
OneChronos to Launch Spot FX Venue for Institutional Clients
Anna Lyudvig - Traders Magazine
As the financial landscape continues to evolve, firms are increasingly looking for ways to expand their offerings while maintaining ease of use for clients. In an interview with Traders Magazine, Vlad Khandros, CEO of OneChronos Markets, has shared insights about their upcoming expansion into the spot foreign exchange (FX) market. After successfully deploying cutting-edge technology in US equities, the company is now preparing to leverage its experience in a new asset class, aiming to bring the same level of sophistication and simplicity to FX trading, he said.
/jlne.ws/4hJZeCZ
European Block Trades Soaring Even as IPOs Sputter, BofA Says; Region's block trades are off to strongest start since 2021; Block trade momentum to continue as equities soar: BofA
Julien Ponthus - Bloomberg
European block trades are off to their strongest start for the year since 2021, defying the tempered enthusiasm for initial public offerings. A flurry of deals for chunks of European companies has seen about $8.6 billion in transactions since the beginning of the year, an increase of more than 70% from the same period in 2024, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The momentum is likely to continue on the back of record-breaking stock prices, according to Bank of America Corp.
/jlne.ws/4icchwT
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| Trade War and Tariffs | | A roundup of today's trade war and tariff news and the global economic ripple effects shaping markets, industries, and investment strategies. | Trump Says Planned Tariffs on Canada, Mexico 'Going Forward'; Senior US official says reciprocal tariff plan moving ahead; Trump has threatened sweeping levies on trading partners
Jordan Fabian - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump said tariffs scheduled to hit Canada and Mexico next month were "on time" and "moving along very rapidly" following an initial delay, even as a US official cautioned the schedule could be less certain. Trump was asked if the tariffs, which he delayed until March 4, would go into effect next week as he fielded questions during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. Canada and Mexico have implemented new border measures in an effort to stave off the tariffs, which Trump says he is levying in a bid to halt flows of undocumented migrants and illegal drugs such as fentanyl.
/jlne.ws/3D7MlU7
Aluminum Keeps Flowing With US Buyers Set to Bear Trump Tariffs; Traders, buyers, sellers don't anticipate tons shifting to EU; Shipping into US likely remains profitable despite 25% tariff
Joe Deaux and Mathieu Dion - Bloomberg
Looming aluminum tariffs have put US makers of everything from cans to cars on edge. But as long as they're willing to pay enough of a premium, the metal is likely to continue flowing across the northern border. Aluminum shippers are engaged in a delicate dance - warning about the disruptive effects of tariffs while at the same time trying to ease customer concerns. The head of Rio Tinto Group, the top supplier of aluminum to the US, took the unusual step last week of presenting earnings from the firm's Washington offices. That's after metal buyers from Coca-Cola Co. to Ford Motor Co. said tariffs are at the very least causing uncertainty or at worst could "blow a hole" in their industry.
/jlne.ws/3EOsp9i
EU Expands Tariff List in Trump's Looming Metals Trade Dispute; The EU expects Trump tariffs to hit as much as EUR28 billion; Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs could take effect March 12
Alberto Nardelli and Jorge Valero - Bloomberg
The European Union is broadening the list of US goods it will target with retaliatory tariffs if US President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose duties on steel and aluminum exports, according to people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg reported on Saturday that the US measures could impact as much as EUR28 billion ($29.3 billion) of European exports if derivative products are hit, which would be about four times larger than the last time Trump went after the bloc's metals sector.
/jlne.ws/4kcPBhQ
The White House Is Gaslighting Americans About Donald Trump's Tariffs; The Administration insists that its aggressive trade policies won't hurt U.S. consumers, but data from Trump's first term suggest otherwise.
John Cassidy - The New Yorker
John David Rainey, the chief financial officer of Walmart, America's biggest company both in terms of annual revenue and number of employees, told the Associated Press last week that Donald Trump's tariff policy was already affecting its decision-making and creating a good deal of uncertainty. "We are one month into the year, and there's a lot that we don't know," Rainey said. Walmart executives aren't the only ones in the dark. Since taking office five weeks ago, Trump has made a series of announcements and reversals that have left even seasoned observers of trade policy struggling to keep up.
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| World Conflicts | | News about various conflicts and their military, economic, political and humanitarian impact. | Ukraine Invasion
US Refuses to Blame Russia for Ukraine War in Extraordinary Break With Allies; US, Russia agree first time in UN Security Council war vote; G-7 fails to issue joint statement amid US opposition
Augusta Saraiva, Jordan Fabian, Alberto Nardelli, and Donato Paolo Mancini - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump deepened Washington's split with allies over Ukraine, withdrawing US condemnation of Russia's 2022 invasion at the United Nations and among Group of Seven countries as he aims to end the war on terms agreeable to Moscow. In New York on Monday, the US and Russia both voted against an European-backed resolution in the UN General Assembly that calls out Moscow's "full-scale invasion" exactly three years ago. The two sides later aligned for the first time since the war started in the Security Council to approve a US resolution calling for a "swift end" to the conflict without assigning blame, a stark reversal from policy under President Joe Biden.
/jlne.ws/4hX89RB
Musk Demands Ukraine Vote as Lawmakers Back Zelenskiy's Mandate
Aliaksandr Kudrytski - Bloomberg
Ukraine's parliament passed a resolution on Tuesday saying President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should remain in power as long as Russia's war continues and new elections may only be held once peace has been achieved, prompting a reaction from Elon Musk. Lawmakers in Kyiv approved the resolution with 268 of 280 votes on Tuesday. "Hold an election," wrote Musk, a key ally of US President Donald Trump, on social media platform X, in response to a post about the results of the parliament's vote.
/jlne.ws/3EPX5qX
Russia Floats Cooperation on Rare Earth Metals It Says US Needs
Aliaksandr Kudrytski and Yuliya Fedorinova - Bloomberg
Russia is ready to cooperate with Washington on developing rare-earth elements that the US needs, the Kremlin said amid the start of a broader thaw in relations since Donald Trump came to office. "The Americans need rare-earth metals; we have a lot of them," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said to reporters on Tuesday, according to the Interfax news service. "This opens up rather broad prospects for cooperation." Russia floated the idea of cooperating on mineral development after Kyiv pushed back against US demands for a $500 billion fund as part of a wider deal to give Washington a cut of Ukraine's mineral revenue.
/jlne.ws/4172UaQ
The Russian over-50s fighting and dying in Ukraine; Grandfathers are among contract soldiers being killed on the front line, data shows
Polina Ivanova in Berlin and Chris Cook in London - Financial Times
Yuri Bushkovsky was born not long after the death of Josef Stalin, lived through the cold war and dissolution of the Soviet Union, and would have turned 70 this year. But the grandfather with a thick white moustache, who once registered as a taxi driver in his hometown of Veliky Ustyug, died in November last year - not in retirement but as a soldier in the Russian army, fighting in Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/43a9iAC
World leaders flock to Kyiv to declare support on Ukraine war anniversary; European officials are preparing a new military aid package expected to be worth billions, as continued U.S. support for Ukraine appears in doubt under Trump.
The Washington Post
Leaders from across Europe and Canada assembled in Kyiv on Monday to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion as uncertainty grows over U.S. support for Ukraine. In the absence of U.S. representatives, more than a dozen Western leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and leaders of Baltic and Nordic nations, gathered in a show of support. The shadow of President Donald Trump loomed over the summit, as European officials rushed to pledge billions of dollars in financial and military assistance, seeking to strengthen Kyiv's position at the outset of U.S. negotiations with Russia over halting the conflict. E.U. foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has sought to rally European countries to put together additional military aid for Ukraine for this year. The efforts have taken on extra urgency after what appears to be a shift in U.S. support for Kyiv as Trump's administration held initial talks with Russia, ending Moscow's diplomatic isolation.
/jlne.ws/4hQZ2C0
Russia's Ryazan oil refinery halts operations after drone strike, sources say
Reuters
Russia's Ryazan oil refinery has suspended operations after an attack by Ukrainian drones on Monday, three industry sources told Reuters. The main crude distillation unit at the refinery, CDU-6, caught fire in the attack and the plant has fully suspended oil processing, the sources said.
/jlne.ws/41wLFB6
Middle East Conflict
West Bank Palestinians fear Gaza-style clearance as Israel squeezes Jenin camp
Ali Sawafta - Reuters
Israeli bulldozers have demolished large areas of the now virtually empty Jenin refugee camp and appear to be carving wide roadways through its once-crowded warren of alleyways, echoing tactics already employed in Gaza as troops prepare for a long-term stay. At least 40,000 Palestinians have left their homes in Jenin and the nearby city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank since Israel began its operation just a day after reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza after 15 months of war.
/jlne.ws/4hSLtlB
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | The London Stock Exchange has been left behind by its parent; While its equities platform suffers an exodus, the LSEG itself is a financial success story - with an identity problem
John Gapper - Financial Times (opinion)
The London Stock Exchange was hit by more bad news last week when Glencore, the mining group, said it was considering moving its primary listing to another exchange in search of a higher valuation. Glencore could join an exodus of companies such as Flutter and the building materials group CRH. The exchange can take comfort from one thing: it is not going to lose the listing of a much larger company, the ninth most valuable in the FTSE 100 with a market capitalisation of £62bn at the start of this week. That venture has turned itself in the past decade from a takeover target into the European champion of a global industry: the London Stock Exchange Group.
/jlne.ws/4gZp0BQ
The role of Central Counterparties in a DLT environment
Eurex
The digital transformation of the financial industry is now a reality. Emerging technologies offer opportunities for innovation and efficiency but require a suitable legal and regulatory framework. There is ongoing debate about the roles of financial market infrastructures like Central Counterparties (CCPs) and whether new and existing market entrants can provide complementary alternatives. Eurex Clearing and Linklaters discuss in a whitepaper a smooth transition to a digital ecosystem from a practical perspective by focusing on topics related to clearing and settlement that are essential for this transition including the role of CCPs. We present our view on the implications and benefits of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) with a focus on key aspects such as instant settlement and efficiency of netting in a clearing environment.
/jlne.ws/43cU5iy
Open Interest across ICE's Global Futures and Options Markets Reaches a Record 100 Million Contracts
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced that its global futures and options markets reached record open interest (OI) of over 100 million contracts on February 20, 2025, up 11% year-over-year (y/y). "ICE was founded twenty-five years ago with a mission to better serve global markets by making markets more transparent and accessible," said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, ICE Chair & Chief Executive Officer. "We started this mission in energy and in the years since have built the largest energy exchange and clearinghouse in the world, which are part of a network of markets and infrastructure which offer deep liquidity across a range of asset classes. The open interest at ICE today reflects the critical role derivatives markets play in helping the market manage risk, and we thank our customers for their business and their trust in choosing ICE."
/jlne.ws/4keyH2g
Launch of using CONNEQTOR in "Tokai Tokyo Discretionary Investment Management Service" provided by Tokai Tokyo Securities Co., Ltd.
JPX
Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. ("TSE") is pleased to announce that Tokai Tokyo Securities Co., Ltd. ("Tokai Tokyo Securities") will start using the RFQ (Request For Quote) platform CONNEQTOR, a service provided by TSE to improve the liquidity of the ETF market, for its "Tokai Tokyo Discretionary Investment Management Service" ("Discretionary Investment Management Service"), which Tokai Tokyo Securities started offering in January 2024.
/jlne.ws/3CT3b9q
Nasdaq, Inc. Announces Early Results of Cash Tender Offers for Up to $218 Million Outstanding Debt Securities
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) ("Nasdaq" or the "Company") announced today the early results of its previously announced offers to purchase for cash up to an aggregate principal amount of $218,053,000 (the "Aggregate Notes Cap") (reflecting an $18,053,000 increase from the previously announced cap of $200,000,000) of its outstanding Notes, comprised of (i) up to $41,360,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2028 Notes Cap") of the Company's 5.350% Senior Notes due 2028 (the "2028 Notes"), (ii) up to $57,583,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2034 Notes Cap") of the Company's 5.550% Senior Notes due 2034 (the "2034 Notes") and (iii) up to $119,110,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2052 Notes Cap") of the Company's 3.950% Senior Notes due 2052 (the "2052 Notes").
/jlne.ws/3Qzkzmx
CME Group and DTCC expand cross-margining arrangement; The move aims to help users access capital efficiencies available when trading US Treasury securities and CME Group interest rate futures that have offsetting risk exposures.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
CME Group and the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) are set to expand their existing cross-margining arrangement to offer increased margin savings and capital efficiencies to end users. Expected to expand by December, subject to regulatory approval, this proposed enhancement will enable eligible end user clients at CME Group and the Government Securities Division (GSD) of DTCC's Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) to access capital efficiencies available when trading US Treasury securities and CME Group interest rate futures that have offsetting risk exposures.
/jlne.ws/4bhxB1G
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | BCB Group and BlockFills Partner for Efficient Payments Services; The deal provides BlockFills with fiat accounts, virtual IBANs and instant payments across multiple currencies
BCB Group
BCB Group, leading provider of payment and digital asset services, and BlockFills, a leading digital assets trading and market technology firm for institutions and professional traders, today announced a partnership to deliver multi-currency payments to its clients. The agreements align BlockFills' strength as a trading and liquidity provider with BCB Group's international fiat currency payment rails, further developing BlockFills' client offering and expanding BCB's fast-growing instant payments network.
/jlne.ws/4iaycEA
Trump Team Seeks to Toughen Biden's Chip Controls Over China; US, Dutch, Japanese officials met about chip gear maintenance; Trump team eyeing more Nvidia curbs, Chinese company sanctions
Mackenzie Hawkins, Cagan Koc, and Jenny Leonard - Bloomberg
Donald Trump's administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China's chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under Joe Biden to limit Beijing's technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd. and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, according to people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/4hTIVDA
Fintech Brex Eyes $500 Million in 2025 Revenue as IPO Mulled
Emily Mason - Bloomberg
Brex, one of several financial-technology startups that's considering an initial-public offering, wants to make sure it's ready to present investors with a predictable business before it decides on pursuing an IPO, according to Chief Executive Officer Pedro Franceschi. "It's easy to go public, it's hard to be a public company with low volatility and very high predictability in the business," Franceschi said in an interview, adding that Brex plans to be cash-flow positive by the middle of this year. "Predictability is crucial and we want to get really great at that over the next few years."
/jlne.ws/41isxp4
IonQ in Talks to Buy ID Quantique for About $250 Million; Deal may be announced as soon as this week, talks ongoing; ID Quantique is specialist in quantum-safe network encryption
Gillian Tan - Bloomberg
IonQ Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire ID Quantique, a company that describes itself as a specialist in quantum-safe network encryption, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The parties are discussing a transaction that values ID Quantique at about $250 million, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. A deal involving IonQ's stock as payment could be announced as soon as this week, but discussions are ongoing and a transaction may fall through.
/jlne.ws/4ideyIe
Salesforce Stock Revival Hinges on Success of AI Agents; Agentforce demand will be a key theme of the earnings report Shares have underperformed other software stocks this year
Ryan Vlastelica - Bloomberg
Results from Salesforce Inc. this week pose a key test for the stock and for what many believe is the next big thing in artificial intelligence: AI agents. The software giant is seen at the vanguard of this kind of tool, which is designed to handle multi-step processes on behalf of users without human supervision. It launched its Agentforce product in October and introduced a well-received update in December, meaning this report, due after the market close on Wednesday, will be key to the case for its adoption and potential.
/jlne.ws/3XiA6ee
Everything, everywhere: 15 AI use cases in play, all at once; Research is top AI use case, best execution bottom; no use is universal, and none shunned, says survey
Lukas Becker, Kris Devasabai, Duncan Wood and Menghan Xiao - Risk.net
/jlne.ws/3D41oyg
Quantum Machines raises $170 million as computing breakthroughs build
Steven Scheer - Reuters
/jlne.ws/3F3MyZ0
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | How CFOs can protect data from cybersecurity attacks; Finance leaders should actively safeguard valuable data by implementing key best practices to enhance their effectiveness.
Bob Violino - CFO
When it comes to protecting data from cybersecurity attacks, organizations must remember that not all data is created equal. Businesses must prioritize safeguarding their most valuable information assets, and CFOs are obligated to work with senior cybersecurity leaders to ensure this happens. "In order to identify the proper protection of data assets, CFOs should be working with their data organizations to help identify the value of 'crown jewel' data assets," said Charles Soranno, a managing director at global consulting firm Protiviti. "Based on the value of the data assets as well as sensitivity, proper data security controls should be put into place."
/jlne.ws/4ibB5oG
AI can kill banks: Cybersecurity's disinformation gap; Panicking bank customers is neither difficult nor expensive, as a recent study shows, suggesting that CISOs must also keep disinformation campaigns in mind.
Florian Maier, Senior Editor - CSO
The British research organization Say No To Disinfo has simulated an AI-driven disinformation campaign in cooperation with communications specialists Fenimore Harper. As part of the campaign, 500 bank customers in the UK were confronted with synthetic "rumours" about their financial institution. The motivation behind the simulation was to ascertain whether fake news campaigns based on generative AI could trigger "bank runs" in the future - such as occurred against the Silicon Valley Bank in the US. The results of the study underline AI's ominous potential in this area: Almost 61% of study participants who consumed the fake news were fundamentally willing to withdraw their money from the respective bank.
/jlne.ws/4biJ7K1
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Citadel Securities Plots Jump Into Crypto Trading After Trump's Embrace; Ken Griffin's firm has had limited presence in crypto trading; Wave of crypto activity expected under Trump administration
Katherine Doherty and Sridhar Natarajan - Bloomberg
Ken Griffin's market-making giant Citadel Securities is looking to become a liquidity provider for cryptocurrencies, betting President Donald Trump's embrace of the industry will usher in a boom for the asset class. It's a clear pivot from the firm's previously cautious stance on crypto market-making. Citadel Securities has had a limited presence in crypto trading, having steered clear of exchanges frequented by retail investors due to a lack of regulations around it in the US.
/jlne.ws/3CX2Wds
Michael Saylor meets SEC's new crypto task force to discuss U.S. regulations
Mehab Qureshi - The Street
Microstrategy's founder Michael Saylor met with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) newly unveiled crypto task force to discuss how digital assets should be classified and regulated in the United States.The discussion on Feb. 21 covered defining different it.
/jlne.ws/3EUIeeQ
Crypto's 'Poor Sentiment' Continues to Weigh on Altcoins, Ether; Upcoming coin unlock, memecoin scandal are impacting prices; 'Only crypto is going lower," says Jeff Dorman from Arca
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
Ether and many of the higher profile altcoins such as Solana and Dogecoin remain under pressure while investors turn elsewhere with the sector still reeling after its biggest-ever hack last week. Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market value after Bitcoin, has now lost more than 10% of its value in the past two days, after a sharp decline at the start of the week continued during Asian trading hours Tuesday. Solana has dropped around 15% over the same period, and Dogecoin has declined around 13%.
/jlne.ws/4hU5iZD
Strategy's Latest Convertible Bond Spurs Talk of Crypto Fatigue; Crypto-related firms raised billions of dollars in four months; Michael Saylor's Strategy sweetened terms of latest deal
Bailey Lipschultz and Yiqin Shen - Bloomberg
When Michael Saylor's Strategy raised $2 billion in a convertible debt deal last week, it seemed like another triumph for firms rapidly selling equity-linked notes to fund cryptocurrency purchases. Behind the headline number, Strategy's move to sweeten the deal's terms sent a different signal: the market for crypto-related paper is nearing saturation. Strategy and its copycats have raised billions of dollars over the past four months, accounting for an ever-larger share of the broader US pool. MARA Holdings Inc. has tapped investors for nearly $2 billion while Riot Platforms Inc. and Bitdeer Technologies Group have also been active. That's on top of Strategy's nearly $9 billion haul.
/jlne.ws/41vDDbF
Crypto trading booms in India's smaller cities as job growth and incomes disappoint
Jaspreet Kalra - Reuters
Like thousands of his countrymen in far-flung places, flower-shop owner Ashish Nagose has been learning about trading cryptocurrencies by attending classes every weekday for the past two months in his home city of Nagpur in western India. Nagose bought and sold stock options earlier but is now venturing into cryptocurrencies as regulators have made it harder to trade equity derivatives in India. The 28-year-old believes the red-hot crypto asset class can help shield his family-owned flower shop during downturns.
/jlne.ws/4kq3SIa
Saylor's Strategy Buys More Bitcoin With Proceeds From Bond Offering
Dave Liedtka - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3QAD1Ly
Why are all my cryptos down? Stablecoin nationalism meets attention-economy fatigue
Bryce Elder - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4384Hz7
Crypto Firm Pleads Guilty to Operating Illegally in U.S.; Federal prosecutors said OKX, based in Seychelles, violated anti-money laundering laws for years. The company agreed to pay more than $500 million in fines and penalties.
Matthew Goldstein and Olivia Bensimon - The New York Times
/jlne.ws/4gSuaj3
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | The Trump 50 per cent doctrine; With ruthless purges of the US government, the president is tipping the scales towards autocracy
Edward Luce - Financial Times
If you could condense the Democratic party's plan into one line, it would be: "Just wait until the midterm elections." Faith that the economy under President Donald Trump will curdle is already backed by data. Inflation expectations are rising, consumer confidence is falling and voters are starting to chafe at public job cuts. Throw in the cumulating toll of Trump's trade wars and a midterm defeat seems plausible. But betting on Trump's failure misses what got him there. The worse things go for him in politics as it is meant to be played, the likelier he is to rip up the rule book. Former vice-president Dick Cheney had a rule that if there was a 1 per cent risk of something happening, we must act as if it will. Cheney was referring to terrorists after 9/11 using weapons of mass destruction. The risk that Trump will take America across the line into autocracy looks more like 50:50.
/jlne.ws/3F5MVST
Emmanuel Macron 'turning point' on Ukraine lacks Donald Trump commitments; French president to be followed by British PM in seeking support for US 'backstop' in postwar Ukraine
Leila Abboud, Henry Foy, Ben Hall and Richard Milne - Financial Times
Emmanuel Macron hailed a "turning point" in efforts to sway Donald Trump on Ukraine but failed to secure a commitment from the US president to support any deployment of European troops to deter Russia in any postwar settlement, according to officials. The French president, who visited the White House on Monday, will be followed in Washington on Thursday by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who will make a further push for concrete assurances from the US.
/jlne.ws/41ipmxI
Some of DOGE's Damage Can't Be Undone; The courts will fix some of the mess but that takes time. Musk will likely be long gone.
Noah Feldman - Bloomberg Opinion
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is sowing confusion and chaos, ordering mass firings of government employees and canceling programs despite having no formal legal authority. In a recent decision, Federal District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan noted that Musk's actions likely violate the Constitution because he has not been appointed by the president nor confirmed by the Senate. Yet the judge rejected a lawsuit to stop DOGE brought by 14 state attorneys general because she held they lacked standing since they had not identified the specific harms their states suffered.
/jlne.ws/41surF4
Egg Prices Are a Problem. So Where Are the Solutions?; The bird flu has created a crisis for farmers and consumers, while Musk and Trump have slashed the agency trying to fight the virus.
Patricia Lopez - Bloomberg Opinion
During the presidential campaign, nothing captured Americans' dissatisfaction with inflation as succinctly as the price of eggs. As a candidate, President Donald Trump repeatedly said that "When I win, I will bring prices down on Day 1." Of course, that has not happened. Instead, eggs cost more than ever. Denny's and Waffle House are adding egg surcharges to their menus and many grocery store shelves are empty. Avian flu has hit US egg producers hard. Farmers have been forced to kill off more than 150 million of their egg-laying hens, limiting supply and sending prices soaring.
/jlne.ws/43cRe9g
Ramaswamy Launches Ohio Governor Bid After Passing on DOGE; Biotech entrepreneur seeks to replace term-limited DeWine; Trump endorses Ramaswamy hours after he announces campaign
Mark Niquette and Gregory Korte - Bloomberg
Vivek Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur who was tapped to join the government-efficiency effort led by billionaire Elon Musk, announced on Monday that he is running for Ohio governor. Ramaswamy said Ohio once was an economic powerhouse and can be again with the help of a "new generation of leadership" who can direct the state through what he called a second industrial revolution by leading the country in industries such as semiconductors and aerospace.
/jlne.ws/3XgFxuu
EU and UK in talks about Europe-wide defence funding amid fear of US pullback; Donald Trump's re-engagement with Russia has given new urgency to European discussions
Paola Tamma and Henry Foy and George Parker and Sam Fleming - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4gRokyF
Knot Fears Bonfire of Bank Rules, Opts for Understatement; US watchdogs should be judged 'on their actions,' he says
Laura Noonan - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3EVfYJ1
America's Turning Its Alliances Into a Protection Racket; Europe needs to show a united front to gain Trump's respect.
Marc Champion - Bloomberg Opinion
/jlne.ws/4bhSWbt
Elon Musk's protege 'Big Balls' is grandson of executed KGB agent, report says
Joe Sommerlad - The Independent
/jlne.ws/3Jvap0X
Taiwan catches Chinese-owned ship in act of cutting subsea cable; Confrontation comes after Taipei launched crackdown on Beijing's 'shadow fleet'
Kathrin Hille - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4gUxlqx
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | SEC Official Sought Staff's No-Politics Pledge on Musk Lawsuit; The case went forward, but the unusual request has contributed to a growing sense of unease inside the agency's enforcement division, according to people familiar with the matter.
Anthony Cormier, Nicola M White, Jason Leopold, and Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg
A high-ranking official at the Securities and Exchange Commission asked enforcement staff members in January to declare that a case they wanted to bring against Elon Musk was not motivated by politics, an unusual request that the staffers refused, according to three people familiar with the matter. The case went forward, but that request from Commissioner Mark Uyeda, a Republican who is now serving as the commission's acting chairman, has contributed to a growing sense of unease inside an SEC division that handles high-stakes securities cases, according to the people, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.
/jlne.ws/3D2WOAn
DNB's Knot Backs Delay of Basel Trading Book Rules in Europe; EU due to implement rules in 2026 but US timeline unclear; Knot sees 'strong case' for harmonizing major jurisdictions
Laura Noonan - Bloomberg
Dutch National Bank Governor Klaas Knot said he's open to delaying Europe's adoption of the latest suite of bank capital rules to align with the anticipated US timeframe. "There's a strong case to be made that the implementation of the fundamental review of the trading book should be as synchronized as possible on the global level," Knot said in an interview at his Amsterdam office. "It is the one business where trades can be booked everywhere around the world, and where the level playing field can be very concrete, very relevant, almost on a daily basis."
/jlne.ws/4h2OMoW
Korean Regulator Halts Some Dunamu Services Over Rule Violations
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
South Korea's Financial Services Commission has suspended some businesses of Dunamu, the parent firm of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, for three months over violation of certain rules. Dunamu violated the rule that prohibits transactions with unreported virtual asset operators, along with customer verification obligations and the obligation to report suspicious transactions, the regulator said in a statement on Tuesday. Transfer of virtual assets by new customers will be restricted from March 7 to June 6, according to the statement
/jlne.ws/4ibVPwA
1MDB Drops $248 Million Against 'Wolf of Wall Street' Producer; Suit had said funds were misused to make movies, buy property; Action was one of several 1MDB took to claim missing funds
Anisah Shukry and Kok Leong Chan - Bloomberg
Malaysia's 1MDB has dropped a years-long lawsuit against Riza Aziz, one of the producers of hit movie The Wolf of Wall Street, and a stepson to jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak. The state investment fund, known formally as 1Malaysia Development Bhd., had alleged misappropriation of $248 million when it filed the suit against Riza and his companies Red Granite Pictures Inc. and Red Granite Capital Ltd. in 2021, state-run Bernama news agency reported Monday. Riza's lawyer confirmed to Bloomberg News that the suit has been dropped.
/jlne.ws/3D5RyMh
OKX to Pay $500 Million After Guilty Plea for Crypto Crime; Prosecutors say platform didn't register as money transmitter; Lawyer for company notes no money laundering charges in accord
Bob Van Voris, Jazper Lu, and Muyao Shen - Bloomberg
The OKX cryptocurrency exchange, one of the world's largest, pleaded guilty on Monday to processing more than $1 trillion in transactions by US customers without a license and will pay more than $504 million in penalties. The exchange, which allows users to make spot trades in more than 300 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum, admitted in Manhattan federal court to a single felony count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla assessed the penalty in fines and forfeitures, following an agreement between US prosecutors and the exchange owner, the Seychelles-based Aux Cayes Fintech Co. "Today's settlement contained absolutely no charges of money laundering," said David Meister, outside counsel for OKX. "Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd., one of many OKX affiliates, resolved a Department of Justice investigation by acknowledging that it had not obtained a license to operate as a money transmitter."
/jlne.ws/4hK4giR
Remarks at the Florida Bar's 41st Annual Federal Securities Institute and M&A Conference
Mark T. Uyeda - SEC
Over the past five weeks, the Commission has begun the process of returning to its narrow mission to facilitate capital formation, while protecting investors and maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets. One purpose of the Commission's regulatory mandate is to create capital markets that facilitate the competitiveness and ingenuity of American industry. Properly implemented, we can help President Trump achieve his goal of a new golden age of economic growth and innovation, creating more jobs, wealth, and prosperity for all Americans.
/jlne.ws/43baF1W
SEC Obtains Final Judgments Against Robert Allen Stanford and Seven Other Defendants in Massive Ponzi Scheme
SEC
On January 29, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered final judgments against Defendants Robert Allen Stanford ("Stanford"), James Davis ("Davis"), Gilberto Lopez, Stanford International Bank, Ltd., Stanford Group Company, and Stanford Capital Management, LLC. The Court simultaneously entered final judgments against Relief Defendants Stanford Financial Group Company and The Stanford Financial Group Building, Inc.
/jlne.ws/4bdqaIV
ASIC makes new clearing and settlement rules to promote competition
ASIC
ASIC has used new powers to promote competitive outcomes in clearing and settlement (CS) by requiring the ASX to provide its CS services on a transparent and fair basis, with a requirement to publish a comparison of fees against international providers. This marks the first time ASIC has exercised its new powers under the Competition in Clearing and Settlement (CiCS) services reforms passed in September 2023 and enlivened by the Minister in May 2024.
/jlne.ws/4kci1sd
ASIC bans JB Markets director from providing financial services for 8 years
ASIC
ASIC has banned Mr Peter Aardoom of Brisbane from providing financial services, controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business and performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business for 8 years. Mr Aardoom is the director of JB Markets Pty Ltd (JB Markets) since August 2016, and was a key person named on the Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence of JB Markets.
/jlne.ws/41gxxdN
Court sets date for £64 million WealthTek fraud and money laundering trial
FCA
A trial has been scheduled for September 2027 at Southwark Crown Court in the criminal proceedings brought by the FCA against John Dance, the former WealthTek LLP principal partner.
/jlne.ws/4kiYLth
Updated list of issuers of gift certificates in repayment procedures based on the "Payment Services Act"
FSA
The FSA updated the list of issuers who are repaying, have completed repaying or have announced the termination of use of prepaid payment instruments, as defined in the "Payment Services Act" (e.g. gift vouchers, gift certificates, and prepaid cards).
/jlne.ws/2vF00vl
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | LNG demand to jump 60% by 2040, Shell forecasts; Faster economic growth in Asia and decarbonisation efforts expected to boost demand further
Shotaro Tani in London - Financial Times
Global demand for liquefied natural gas is forecast to surge 60 per cent by 2040 due to faster economic growth in Asia and the race to decarbonise industry, Shell has said. The energy major's widely followed annual outlook on the super-chilled fuel is 10 percentage points higher than what was predicted last year for the same period, reflecting stronger demand from India and China.
/jlne.ws/4bdiV3H
The Bond Market Isn't Fully Buying What Musk's DOGE Is Selling; US Treasury yields offer a scorecard for the White House's cost-cutting vows
Liz Capo McCormick, Enda Curran, and Gregory Korte - Bloomberg
It was a little after midnight on Feb. 3, and Elon Musk was reveling in the first big trophy from his rapid-fire campaign through Washington to slash government spending. He had just engineered, not even two weeks into President Donald Trump's new term, the sudden shuttering of the US Agency for International Development. But then Musk recognized that the ultimate scorekeepers of the success of his small band of cost-cutters were 200 miles away - on Wall Street. There, bond investors had pushed up yields sharply in the run-up to, and aftermath of, Trump's election and were now refusing to bid them back down.
/jlne.ws/4hRv3tx
PayPal Predicts Earnings Growth as Firm Streamlines Businesses; Adjusted EPS seen climbing 20% over the long term, firm says CEO Chriss gives investors a first look 'into the future'
Paige Smith - Bloomberg
PayPal Holdings Inc. predicted growth in earnings and transaction margins in coming years, as its new leadership continues to streamline the sprawling business. Adjusted earnings per share will increase by a percentage in the low teens by 2027 and by 20% over the longer term, PayPal forecast in an investor day presentation Tuesday. Transaction margin dollars - a key metric for the firm - are expected to climb by high-single-digit percentages over the next two years, potentially reaching 10% or more after that. The figure represents how much PayPal earns from each transaction it processes, after expenses.
/jlne.ws/41tXEiY
T+1 will release £1 billion of margin in the UK, says BoE; Bank of England's director for financial market infrastructure highlights the reduction of costs and risks in shortening the settlement cycle.
Jonathan Watkins - The Trade
The UK's move to a T+1 settlement cycle could release £1 billion of margin currently required at central counterparties, according to the Bank of England's (BoE) executive director, financial market infrastructure, Sasha Mills. Sasha Mills Speaking at the launch event for the UK's T+1 transition today, Mills highlights how a shorter settlement cycle will mean that firms and central counterparties face lower counterparty risks, which the BoE anticipate will lead to "significant amounts of margin being released by CCPs to members and their clients".
/jlne.ws/43uXSb9
TECH TUESDAY: Why NBBO Economics Have Become Distorted
Phil Mackintosh, Chief Economist, Nasdaq - Traders Magazine
TECH TUESDAY is a weekly content series covering all aspects of capital markets technology. TECH TUESDAY is produced in collaboration with Nasdaq. We recently studied how trades speed around the marketplace - typically starting from a broker order in Secaucus, traveling at the speed of fiber to take orders on exchanges around the market, then causing a reaction function at the speed of microwave.
/jlne.ws/3EOsc60
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | BP to ditch renewables goals and return focus to fossil fuels
Arunima Kumar and Anousha Sakoui - Reuters
BP's (BP) chief executive will scrap a target to increase renewable generation 20-fold by 2030, returning the focus to fossil fuels, as part of a strategy shift announced on Wednesday to tackle investor concerns over earnings, two sources told Reuters. BP's shares have underperformed rivals in recent years and the oil major has already dropped its target to cut oil and gas output by 2030, Reuters reported in October.
/jlne.ws/4be3ojW
USDA Faces Lawsuit Over Purge of Climate Change Information
Gerson Freitas Jr. - Bloomberg
The US Department of Agriculture is facing a legal challenge over its move to wipe out information on climate change from its websites. The USDA's purge has hurt farmers and advisers who rely on data provided by the agency to access financial support for conservation practices, said the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group in a lawsuit.
/jlne.ws/3CW104V
China aims to eliminate severe air pollution this year
Reuters
China aims to effectively eliminate severe air pollution by the end of 2025, a senior environment official said, as authorities ramp up efforts in pollution control and emissions reduction in the "battle for blue skies." China will improve its air quality forecasting and early warning systems and enhance coordinated management of harmful airborne particles known as PM2.5, as well as ozone pollution, said Li Tianwei, Director of the Department of Atmospheric Environment.
/jlne.ws/4k7a87z
India Mulls $1 Billion Subsidy Plan to China-Proof Solar Sector; Subsidy package to seek cabinet approval in coming months; Scheme should help India reduce reliance on Chinese imports
Ruchi Bhatia - Bloomberg
India is finalizing a $1 billion capital subsidy plan to bolster its solar manufacturing industry, according to people with knowledge of the matter, as part of a wider effort to reduce dependence on China and profit from the global energy transition. The proposal is being made by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and will target domestic makers of wafers and ingots, one of the weakest segments of the country's solar industry, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private.
/jlne.ws/41c5yw1
Brazil Offshore Oil Hit by Regulator's Crackdown on Drilling; A Valaris drillship at Equinor's Bacalhau field is halted; Ventura's NS Carolina drillship among temporarily suspended
Peter Millard and Mariana Durao - Bloomberg
Brazilian regulators are cracking down on some offshore drilling by oil giants like Petrobras and Equinor ASA, complicating exploration and production projects at a key moment in the nation's effort to boost crude output. The drilling delays will complicate the nation's efforts to reverse last year's oil-production decline. Prior to 2024, Brazil had been a booming source of non-OPEC supply growth in global oil markets. Should output continue to flatline in 2025, that may signal to the OPEC+ alliance that it can begin raising exports without risking a price-killing supply glut.
/jlne.ws/3Qwb4ET
US Sanctions Against Iran's Oil Add Hurdles to an Illicit Trade; Washington is 'tightening the screws,' S&P Global's Tang says; Latest round of curbs may spur rise in ship-to-ship transfers
Weilun Soon - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/41dLoSm
Carbon Credits Needed for Hard to Curb Emissions, Woodside Says; Producer's gross scope 1 and 2 emissions increased in 2024; Large scale abatement options remain expensive, it says
David Stringer - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3Xl6Zaf
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Ex-CIBC wealth managers join with trader to start new Chicago firm
Mark Weinraub - Crain's Chicago Business
A group from CIBC's wealth management team and a former trader have started their own Chicago-based investment firm called XXI Wealth. Striking out on their own allows XXI to offer up more investment ideas to their clients, said Matt Cavanaugh, a managing partner and director of investments at the firm. "Being independent before might have been a negative," said Cavanaugh, who had most recently been at MAI Capital Management and has spent the bulk of his career as a trader. "But the industry has changed, democratized, and being in a captive environment is probably not the right move."
/jlne.ws/41qXR6p
European equities broker wallet stops shrinking, but concentration on the rise, report finds; Approximately 20% of trading activity is executed with the top broker, while 60% is executed with the top five brokers, Coalition Greenwich's report suggests.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
A shrinking number of brokers are accounting for over half of trading activity in Europe, a new report by Coalition Greenwich has found. According to Coalition's new research, the European equity commissions wallet grew 4% to $2.3 billion in 2024 in comparison with a 14% decline in 2023. The findings were in line with a similar report released at the tail end of last year focusing on North America.
/jlne.ws/4iahd5l
JPMorgan Wants to Lend Companies Money
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
Bank private credit
My crude stylized story of private credit is: If you are a certain sort of company - most classically, a private equity firm doing a leveraged buyout - and you want to borrow money, you will go to a bank and say "we need $1 billion." The bank will say "okay, we can get you that $1 billion, but we will need to go out and find investors to put up the money, so we'll need a few weeks before we give you the money, and we will need some flexibility on exactly what interest rate you will pay to those investors."
/jlne.ws/3QBduSF
Wells Fargo Revs Up FX Options in Latest Swing at Trading Growth
Yizhu Wang - Bloomberg
Wells Fargo & Co. is adding a new front to a trading business that executives see as a key test for the firm's ability to go toe-to-toe with Wall Street giants. The firm is diving into foreign-exchange options, armed with new offerings and a bulked-up team of traders across three continents. It's the latest volley for its broader currencies business, which is pulling in over $1 billion in annual revenue, according to people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/3XFwyTR
SocGen's Payouts Approach Is 'Break From Past,' JPMorgan Says
Macarena Munoz Montijano - Bloomberg
The outlook of higher investor payouts from Societe Generale SA sets the shares up for strong gains, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said. The promise, given earlier this month, is a "significant break from the past," analysts including Delphine Lee wrote in a note Tuesday. They upgraded the recommendation on the French bank to overweight and boosted its price target by 59%. SocGen Chief Executive Officer Slawomir Krupa in early February increased the profit share he wants to return to investors to 50%. He also said there may be room for additional payouts including a potential share buyback later this year, which would come on top.
/jlne.ws/4gZUsAb
New Tips ETF aims to solve the funds' Achilles heel; In 2022, Bloomberg's total return Tips index lost almost 12%, even though US inflation hit 6.45%
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
Exchange traded funds based on Treasury inflation-protected securities earned a bad name in 2022 after many failed to protect against surging prices, but a manager claims its new launch on Tuesday solves their problem. Investors pumped a record amount of money into Tips funds in 2021. But the unusually sharp nature of the inflation spike - and the speed of the US Federal Reserve's rate-hiking response to it - caused many Tips to fall in price as yields rose markedly, swamping the benefits these Tips accrued from their principal being uplifted to reflect higher inflation.
/jlne.ws/4igqXev
Hedge Funds Face Fresh Watchdog Scrutiny Over Huge Macro Wagers; Basis trade, carry trade could threaten financial stability; FSB creating new taskforce to unmask hidden leverage risks
Laura Noonan - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/41cRUc6
Thoma Bravo targets European software bargains with new EUR1.8bn fund; Private equity investor's partner says the region's market 'isn't as crowded as in the US'
Ivan Levingston and Alexandra Heal - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4bgnxpA
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Exclusive-JPMorgan executive calls for 'more hustle' after return to office mandate
Lananh Nguyen and Nupur Anand - Reuters
A JPMorgan Chase executive told thousands of employees he wanted "more hustle" days after the bank's CEO Jamie Dimon scorned staff pushback against its five-day return-to-office policy. The memo illustrates the tension between JPMorgan's emphasis on in-office culture and employees who cite its strong performance while flexible working policies were in place.
/jlne.ws/4h2LrpU
A practical guide to doing DEI work in a hostile era; It's a confusing and uncertain time, but companies can focus on these three areas to still create diverse and inclusive workplaces.
Janet M. Stovall - Fast Company
The surge in anti-DEI sentiment, fueled by political actions, social pressures, and legal uncertainties creates a complex environment for organizations striving to foster diverse and inclusive workplaces. To navigate this turbulent environment and advance diversity, equity and inclusion, companies should focus on three key actions: 1. Tying DEI to outcomes, 2. Creating systems that focus on debiasing, 3. Building cultures of accountability.
/jlne.ws/41dNrpw
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Lilly launches higher dose vials of weight-loss drug for $150 less than injector pen
Patrick Wingrove - Reuters
Eli Lilly (LLY) said on Tuesday it has begun selling higher doses of its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound in vials in the U.S. at a $150 discount to the cost of the injector pen versions, as it seeks to spur demand for the medicine. Shares of the Indiana-based drugmaker rose 2% to $899.28 in premarket trading. Lilly said patients could purchase 7.5 milligram and 10mg vials of Zepbound for $499 a month on the LillyDirect website. That is nearly 23% less than the $650 Lilly charges for auto-injectors of the drug to patients who are insured but not covered for the medicine.
/jlne.ws/4bdrKKT
6 Things E.R. Doctors Wish You'd Avoid; We asked emergency physicians what lessons they'd learned from their job.
Jancee Dunn - The New York Times
It's pretty hard to shock an emergency physician. "We see the worst of the worst, and the silliest of the silliest," Abdullah Pratt, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Chicago Medicine, told me recently. I was chatting with him about the situations he'd witnessed in the E.R., specifically the ones that made him change his own behavior. To start, he told me, he would never wear Crocs when it's snowy or icy outside. I sheepishly confessed that, just the night before, I'd slipped on a pair and traversed my frozen driveway to take out the trash. "No way," Dr. Pratt said. "Please don't tell me you broke your ankle."
/jlne.ws/4bnRHr5
Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men?; By understanding the reasons, scientists hope to help both sexes age better.
Mohana Ravindranath - The New York Times
Women outlive men, by something of a long shot: In the United States, women have a life expectancy of about 80, compared to around 75 for men. This holds true regardless of where women live, how much money they make and many other factors. It's even true for most other mammals. "It's a very robust phenomenon all over the world, totally conserved in sickness, during famines, during epidemics, even during times of starvation," said Dr. Dena Dubal, a professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco. But the reasons women live longer are complicated and less established - and the fact that they are outliving men doesn't necessarily mean they are living better.
/jlne.ws/4bhz4Fe
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China Raises Scrutiny of Outflows Via Hong Kong Listings, Foreign Deals
Bloomberg
China is increasing scrutiny of outbound investments by domestic companies as well as their use of proceeds from Hong Kong share sales, people familiar with the matter said, after record capital outflows put pressure on the yuan. Authorities have recently informed China-incorporated firms seeking initial public offerings or second share sales in Hong Kong to get a "no objection" indication from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange if they want to deploy the proceeds overseas, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Firms that can't secure such an indication have been told to repatriate their proceeds to mainland China, the people said.
/jlne.ws/3D2VJZl
Chinese tech firms flock to Hong Kong for IPOs amid DeepSeek-triggered AI boom
South China Morning Post
A slew of Chinese companies are eyeing initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong, riding on the stock market impetus provided by artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek. AICT, a Beijing-based AI solutions provider, aims to raise about US$200 million from a Hong Kong IPO, according to sources familiar with the matter. AICT, whose products are used in robots, intelligent traffic systems and autonomous driving, was expected to file a listing application in the second quarter, one of the sources said.
/jlne.ws/3QxtKnC
China's Repo Market Hit Hard as Yuan Defense Sparks Cash Squeeze
Bloomberg
China's strategy of defending its currency by choking local liquidity is sending ripples throughout the financial system, squeezing banks and fueling losses at bond funds. The People's Bank of China has drained cash through open market operations most days this month, supporting the yuan by making it more scarce. But that has had unintended consequences: Banks have hoarded cash rather than lend it to rivals, while debt funds have suffered losses as investors sell bonds to raise money. China's 10-year bond yield hit its highest level since December on Monday.
/jlne.ws/3Xi0l4D
China Learned to Embrace What the US Forgot: The Virtues of Creative Destruction; In Beijing, competition is in. In Washington, not so much.
Tom Orlik - Bloomberg
China faces rising US tariffs from President Donald Trump. Its property market is slow-motion imploding. Its economy is deflating. So will Premier Li Qiang announce the shock and awe stimulus that markets have been pining for at this month's National People's Congress? Don't count on it. After decades following British economist John Maynard Keynes and his doctrine of demand management, China's leadership is taking a lesson from US economist Joseph Schumpeter and his creed of creative destruction.
/jlne.ws/4ix3Bl1
ADX launches new market structure to bolster Abu Dhabi investment landscape; Two new post-trade subsidiaries have also been announced, helping support the securities markets.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) has launched ADX Group, a new market infrastructure, and two new subsidiaries: Abu Dhabi Clear (AD Clear) and Abu Dhabi Central Securities Depository (AD CSD). ADX's new market infrastructure was announced on 24 February, as part of a wider push to attract more investments into the UAE, as well as strengthening Abi Dhabi's position as an investment hub and financial centre.
/jlne.ws/4khnuxM
Take-Private Deals Are Shrinking Brazil's Wounded Stock Exchange
Rachel Gamarski, Barbara Nascimento and Leda Alvim - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4ifbqeU
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Judge Rejects Associated Press Bid on White House Access; AP's access restricted over 'Gulf of America' style policy; Lawsuit alleges constitutional violations by White House
Zoe Tillman - Bloomberg
A federal judge denied the Associated Press' request to immediately allow its reporters to resume covering White House events and travel aboard Air Force One after they were banned over how the news organization references "Gulf of America" in its style guide. US District Judge Trevor McFadden in Washington said he will allow the ban to remain in place as the legal fight moves forward after hearing arguments on Monday.
/jlne.ws/3QAGRUY
Ken Griffin Pays $45 Million for Julia Koch's Park Avenue Co-Op; Citadel founder buys apartment at NYC's storied 740 Park; Griffin set a record with 2019 condo purchase for $238 million
Jennifer Epstein and Amanda L Gordon - Bloomberg
Billionaire Ken Griffin has added another luxury home to his collection, buying an apartment in one of Manhattan's most exclusive co-op buildings. The Citadel founder paid $45 million for a duplex at 740 Park Ave. that had been owned by Julia Koch, the widow of billionaire businessman David Koch, according to people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/41gxFKj
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