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John Lothian Newsletter
May 19, 2023 "Irreverent, but never irrelevant"
 
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff

Sailing legend Buddy Melges, the "Wizard of Zenda," has died, Melges Performance Sailboats announced on Facebook. Buddy was an Olympic gold and bronze medalist and America's Cup winner, among his many sailing victories. I sailed against his sons Harry and Hans on Geneva Lake on Cub boats as a kid. Hans later gave up a career in the family sailboat business for a while to join the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and trade on the trading floor. Buddy impacted many lives with his sailing wisdom, the boats he built, the sails he cut and the friendly way he spread his passion for sailing. In a video "The Wizard of Zenda," several sailor/traders from the Chicago Board of Trade are featured, including Brian Porter and John Porter. John Porter taught me to sail when I was a boy. I still own a Melges sailboat, a class C scow.

I am also sad to report the passing of Zoe Victoria Zurkowski, the daughter of KRM22's Dave Zurkowski. The Zurkowskis live in Elmhurst and Zoe graduated from York Community High School in the class just behind my son Robby. Condolences to the Zurkowski family on the loss of Zoe.

Real estate mogul and one-time Chicago Tribune owner Sam Zell has died at the age of 81, the Chicago Tribune reported. Zell was a disaster as the owner of the Tribune.

The Chicago Tribune yesterday posted the obituary for Fred Uhlmann, who died early this week. Fred's memorial gathering is today, May 19, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. at the Lake Shore Country Club, 1255 Sheridan Rd, Glencoe. I made a donation to the Moraine Township Charitable Fund, which supports the Moraine Township's Food Pantry, in honor of Fred's life.

Thank you to all who have donated to the GoFundMe campaign to support Jason Billups, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and several broken bones, including his pelvis, in a fall from the roof of his rental home in Kelowna, BC. Jason is in a coma and his family needs your financial and emotional support. Please see yesterday's newsletter or the GoFundMe site for more details.

There are a couple of really bad stories for the oil industry today. One story tells how the oil industry in California will not make enough money to clean up the "nearly quarter-million wells scattered from downtown Los Angeles to western Kern County and across the state," ProPublica reported.

The second bad story for the oil industry is a story from Grist with the title "Study: A third of the West's burned forests can be traced to fossil fuel companies." The story says, "While a century of fire suppression and other land management choices contribute to the severity, climate change is a key factor fueling these fires, roughly doubling the acreage burned over the last 40 years."

The CME reported in a tweet that "Convexity in the 10-Yr Treasury Volatility Index is rising as debt ceiling negotiations intensify, which suggests the market is pricing in a premium for potentially large moves in either direction." You can learn more about the CME's Volatility Index (CVOL) on this CME web page.

Evan Gershkovich remains in a Russian prison, unjustly detained for more than 50 days. We call for his immediate release.

Should you buy wine futures? Bloomberg has a story titled "The 2022 Bordeaux Wine Vintage Is Brilliant - and a Big Surprise." So maybe the answer is yes, you should have bought the 2022 futures.

The FIA is hiring a business development coordinator. The details for the job are HERE.

For you Washington, DC types, there is an equestrian property in Great Falls, Va that is listed for $17.995 million that includes an approximately 24,500-square-foot home. Amenities include an indoor pool located in a glass solarium, an elevator, a wine cellar, a screening room, a billiards room and a home gym with a sauna, The Wall Street Journal reported. Looks nice if you had to live near DC.

Now that Mother's Day is out of the way, we can focus on Father's Day. The Wall Street Journal has a story titled "20 Best Gifts for Golfers" that should give you some ideas.

I finally received my 2022 tax refund from the IRS this week. They are catching up.

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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Martin Franchi Talks to JLN About NinjaTrader's acquisitions and redesign and the "tremendous" growth in the retail space
JohnLothianNews.com

Martin Franchi, the CEO of NinjaTrader, spoke with JLN at FIA Boca in March 2023 about the integration of Tradovate and other acquisitions, the redesign of NinjaTrader, and the growth in technology and in the retail space.

Watch the video »

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'Spoofing Shop' Scammer Who Helped Criminals Pose as Bankers Jailed for 13 Years; Tejay Fletcher pleaded guilty to masterminding spoofing shop; Criminals used iSpoof tools to pretend to be from major banks
Katharine Gemmell - Bloomberg
The mastermind behind a global "spoofing shop" that scammed victims out of as much as £100 million ($124 million) has been sentenced to over 13 years in a UK prison. Tejay Fletcher, 35, pleaded guilty over his role as the lead administrator of the website ISpoof.cc, an online shop where criminals bought a subscription to buy scamming tools. He was charged with fraud and criminal property offenses between 2020 and 2022.
/jlne.ws/3pSPfFw

****** The judge has a business called "IJail" that you are going to get acquainted with, Mr. Fletcher. ~JJL

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Wall Street Built a $370 Billion Business Cloning Quant Trades; Biggest banks are producing thousands of QIS for large clients; Strategies surged in popularity as quants triumphed in 2022
Justina Lee - Bloomberg
Deep in the bowels of Wall Street there's a surprisingly successful counterfeiting operation underway: The world's largest banks have created a booming business churning out imitation quant trades. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley are among those hawking the products, which are known by the deceptively dreary name "quantitative investment strategies," or QIS.
/jlne.ws/3WhjlP4

****** Imitation is the highest form of flattery and one of the easiest ways to profit from someone else's genius.~JJL

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Carl Icahn admits mistake with bearish bet that cost $9bn; 'If I kept the parameters I always believed in ... I would have been fine,' concedes activist
Antoine Gara and Ortenca Aliaj - Financial Times
Carl Icahn has admitted he was wrong to make a huge bet that the market would crash after the ill-fated trade cost his group nearly $9bn over roughly six years. According to a Financial Times analysis, the prominent activist investor lost about $1.8bn in 2017 on hedging positions that would have paid out if asset prices had tumbled before losing a further $7bn between 2018 and the first quarter of this year.
/jlne.ws/45eNrGO

***** What is the definition of an overnight trade? It is a losing day trade, of course. It is important to stay true to your trading rules, as Mr. Icahn can attest. ~JJL

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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was the GoFundMe page for Jason Billups, who is in intensive care with a severe brain injury after a terrible accident. Second was Zero-Day Options Are Reordering the Way the Stock Market Behaves, from Bloomberg. Third was Russia says hypersonic missile scientists face 'very serious' treason accusations, from Reuters.

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John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals.
 
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John Lothian News Editorial Staff:
 
John Lothian
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Sarah Rudolph
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Jeff Bergstrom
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Patrick Lothian
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Lead Stories
Global Carbon Market in Turmoil After Zimbabwe Grabs Offset Money; A government claiming half the revenue from privately-backed efforts to protect forests and cut emissions might throw carbon credit projects around the world into doubt
Alastair Marsh and Natasha White - Bloomberg
The global market for carbon offsets is worth about $2 billion today and projected to grow to as much as $1 trillion in 15 years even as it faces fundamental questions about credibility and effectiveness. Add government appropriation to the list of risks for this climate solution. A shock announcement this week that Zimbabwe will take half of all revenues generated from offsets projects developed on its territory is a harbinger of an uncertain future in the carbon trade. The African nation is the world's 12th largest creator of offsets, with 4.2 million credits from 30 registered projects last year, according to Bloomberg.
/jlne.ws/42ShW3P

Crypto Trading Is Heading for the Fringes After Flirting With Mainstream; Liquidity dropping off with retrenchment by Jane Street, Jump; Market makers' pullback is 'bad for the industry,' trader says
Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
First the crypto lenders imploded, then the industry's second-largest exchange collapsed. Next to go were the crypto-friendly banks. In the latest blow, major trading firms - the players responsible for the market's plumbing - are now retrenching. As Jane Street Group, Jump Trading and other major firms pull back from crypto trading in the US amid heightened regulatory scrutiny, the market is quickly becoming less liquid, less mainstream and less attractive to institutional investors. That's leaving the new landscape of digital-asset trading looking a lot like the crypto industry of the not-too-distant past: funkier, scrappier, riskier.
/jlne.ws/3MrjICe

SPACs liquidating faster this year than in 2022
Lydia Moynihan - NY Post
We're less than halfway through the year, but nearly $30 billion from so-called "blank check" companies has already been returned to investors. That's about 50% ahead of the pace set in 2022, when a whopping $45 billion from special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, got liquidated and sent back home, according to data compiled by SPACInsider, an industry research firm. "Between debt ceiling and bank failures it's been a rough start of the year," Kristi Marvin, SPACinsider's founder & CEO, told On The Money. "Everything has been ground to a standstill. It's really challenging to get a deal done now no matter which way you slice it."
/jlne.ws/42SiFSw

'Blunt and quite American' - new Societe Generale chief marks break with tradition
Owen Walker and Sarah White - Financial Times
When Societe Generale discovered in January 2008 that derivatives trader Jerome Kerviel had secretly run up EUR4.9bn of losses, panicked managers assembled a task force to assess the wreckage and steer the French bank through the near-fatal crisis. Among them was Slawomir Krupa, then a 33-year-old little known among SocGen's top ranks, who was asked to help diagnose the risk control failures and shake up the bank's internal culture.
/jlne.ws/42TNcQ0

Kenya to Regulate Carbon Trade as Nations Seek More Benefits; Bill opened up for public comment before going to parliament; Zimbabwe this week decreed 50% of proceeds must go to state
Antony Sguazzin and David Herbling - Bloomberg
Kenya is taking steps to regulate the trade in carbon credits from projects in the country, in a bid to boost benefits for the state and give the communities that host activities that generate the emissions offsets a quarter of the profit. The East African nation will start a public-participation process on May 24 to collect views that will be included in a draft legislation for parliament to consider, according to documents issued by the environment ministry. Under the proposals, communities would get 25% of the profit from the programs.
/jlne.ws/3OpXNOq

UBS found no advantage in quantum computing - ex data chief; Swiss bank tested various use cases in the trading business before giving up on the technology
Luke Clancy - Risk.net
UBS abandoned a multi-year effort to utilise quantum computing for trading after concluding that it offered no significant advantage over existing technologies, according to the person who led the project. "We ran Monte Carlo simulations against market data, we ran volatility curves, and what we were trying to do was simply use the technology to get an exponential 'back out' - something that would give us a competitive advantage," said Lee Fulmer, who was chief data officer and head of the
/jlne.ws/3odTdb5

The EPA Threatens to Turn Out the Lights; Its proposed power-plant emission rule would destabilize the energy grid and end reliable electricity.
William S. Scherman - The Wall Street Journal
Imagine flipping a light switch and not knowing if the lights will come on. Normally unthinkable. But the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed power-plant rules would destabilize the energy grid, resulting in less-reliable electric service. The EPA's aggressive standards require all coal-fired power plants to use a new and still-tricky technology called carbon capture and storage, or CCS, to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 90% by 2035, or begin co-firing with natural gas. In addition, natural-gas-fired plants must capture 90% of emissions by 2035 using CCS or switch almost entirely to hydrogen by 2038. The only other option for both: shut down.
/jlne.ws/3MGqSDT

JPMorgan Bets on Algo Expansion in World's Largest Bond Market; Bank boosts Treasuries offering in execution, analytics tool; Move comes as liquidity worries linger across US rates market
Greg Ritchie - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase and Co. is expanding its algorithmic-trading offering to US Treasury investors, betting that computer-powered strategies can make further headway in the world's most important bond market. Execution algos assess prices in various venues to decide how and when to trade, often by splitting up a large transaction into smaller chunks. At banks like JPMorgan, they also look to make use of the dealer's internal flow before going out to the broader market.
/jlne.ws/42Rjwmv

Hedge Fund Maverick Capital Reveals Early Ties to ChatGPT's Sam Altman; Firm invested in Altman's first company, Loopt, in 2010
Hema Parmar - Bloomberg
Lee Ainslie's hedge fund firm backed ChatGPT's creator long before the chatbot became synonymous with the artificial-intelligence boom. Maverick Capital invested in Sam Altman's first company, Loopt, in 2010, and four years later partnered with Y Combinator while he was president of the startup accelerator.
/jlne.ws/3IlLYVC

Morgan Stanley Chief Stepping Down in the Next Year
AnnaMaria Andriotis - The Wall Street Journal
James Gorman said he is stepping down as chief executive at Morgan Stanley in the next year, marking an end to a 13-year run in which he overhauled the Wall Street bank to make it less sensitive to the ups and downs of the financial markets. Gorman said at Morgan Stanley's annual shareholder meeting Friday morning that he expects a new CEO to be chosen within the next 12 months.
/jlne.ws/3OlBLw9

A Crypto Hedge Fund Imploded. The Comeback Isn't Going So Well; The founders of Open Exchange are struggling to turn a page on their past failures
Elaine Yu, Weilun Soon and Alexander Osipovich - The Wall Street Journal
Three Arrows Capital, a crypto hedge fund, collapsed last year. It is often said that investors have short memories. They may not be short enough for the founders of a new crypto exchange. Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, who ran the collapsed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, are among the founders of Open Exchange, which wants to let its customers trade bankruptcy claims on failed crypto companies, including Celsius, FTX and even Three Arrows itself. But the fledgling venture, which went live in April, has been hit with numerous problems since it launched.
/jlne.ws/3BYYJBX

AI is the new ESG; Automation bifurcation agitation
Bryce Elder - Financial Times
Morgan Stanley has some reflections on the year's strange, narrow, tech-powered equities rally. It's like corporate responsibility but instead of stakeholder principles there are GPU rigs, apparently: "The ongoing AI debate resembles the early stages of the ESG asset upswing, when investors divided their portfolio into ESG-positive and ESG-negative narratives..."
/jlne.ws/3IpyojW

Green Investments Stuck Between Rising Risk and Government Backing; Higher rates cut funding for climate startups but stimulus might cause a rebound
Scott Patterson - The Wall Street Journal
Startup electric-vehicle makers such as Fisker are facing an increasingly competitive market.
There is a financial tug of war in the clean-energy sector, with a fear of rising rates and slowing economy competing with lucrative government funding designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The winner could determine whether the country meets the Biden administration's ambitious climate goals.
/jlne.ws/42P2uWf

City Council reacts to progressive groups' $12 billion financial proposal
Justin Laurence - Crain's Chicago Business
A proposal to raise billions of dollars by taxing businesses and higher-income Chicago residents, released just three days into Mayor Brandon Johnson's new term, spotlights what's expected to be a tension point for the new mayor, as progressive allies who helped him win office seek to push him to the left, beyond the ground his administration has staked out.
/jlne.ws/45ho3QI

El Ninos Cause Trillions in Lost Economic Growth, Study Shows
Eric Roston - Bloomberg
Damage from El Nino-related extreme weather, in crop losses, flooding, wildfires and civil unrest, can cost tens of billions of dollars in direct impacts over a period of months or a year. New research suggests that the real cost is much higher - in the trillions - because conventional accounting fails to recognize "persistent" shortfalls in gross domestic product that unspool over several years and are harder to identify.
/jlne.ws/3Wid7OJ

ECB Increases Scrutiny of Bank Liquidity
Nicholas Comfort and Jan-Henrik Foerster - Bloomberg
The European Central Bank is stepping up scrutiny of lenders' liquidity reserves and may communicate stricter requirements to individual firms later this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The ECB's annual review of the risks faced by banks will likely pay more attention to the management of liquid funds, including the potential for a higher bar on key metrics such as the liquidity coverage ratio, the people said, asking to remain anonymous as the matter is private. That comes on top of increased interaction between banks and the ECB on the topic, said the people.
/jlne.ws/42RbhHg

SVB's Collapse Resurrects the Idea of Banking Without Bank Runs; A "narrow" bank would keep its money at the Federal Reserve and leave the risk-taking to other financial companies-but the Fed isn't a fan.
Alex Harris - Bloomberg
The collapse of three regional US banks this spring is a reminder that, at their heart, banks are risk-taking businesses. For most depositors, banks are risk-free thanks to federal insurance of as much as $250,000. That's why "like money in the bank" is shorthand for a sure thing. In reality, of course, the money that people keep in the bank isn't sitting in cash. Deposits are a liability of the bank-a short-term debt it owes to its customers. On the other side of its balance sheet are a bank's longer-term loans and investments. If its bets go the wrong way at the same time that many depositors want their money back, it's in trouble. That's what happened to Silicon Valley Bank and its fellow failures.
/jlne.ws/3MnsAsa

China's Yuan Jumps After Central Bank Vows to Curb Speculation; Offshore yuan rebounds from December low after PBOC statement; Central bank calls for more stability after recent selloff
Bloomberg News
China's yuan jumped on Friday after the country's central bank moved to shore up the currency following a recent selloff, vowing to curb speculation and calling for more stability in the foreign exchange market. The People's Bank of China and the foreign exchange regulator will "strengthen market expectation guidance and take actions to correct pro-cyclical and one-way market behaviors when necessary," according to a statement Friday.
/jlne.ws/3BHZdfA



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Ukraine Invasion
News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact
Black Sea grain corridor has not yet resumed operations - Ukrainian official
Pavel Polityuk - Reuters
The Black Sea grain corridor designed to ensure the safe supply of Ukrainian food to world markets has not yet resumed operation despite statements by Turkey and Russia on extending the agreement, a senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday. The deal has been extended for two more months, in what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed on Wednesday as "good news for the world," a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.
/jlne.ws/3BLHH9X

G7 to impose fresh sanctions on Russian ships, aircraft and diamonds; Hiroshima summit to be dominated by war in Ukraine and efforts to broaden curbs on Moscow
Jim Pickard, Henry Foy and Demetri Sevastopulo - Financial Times
G7 countries are preparing new sanctions against Russia, covering ships, aircraft, individuals and diamonds, officials say, as they seek to increase economic pressure on the Kremlin's war machine. The plan to curtail imports of diamonds from Russia - which comes as G7 leaders meet in Hiroshima, Japan - targets one of Moscow's few remaining export industries still relatively unscathed by western sanctions.
/jlne.ws/3WkqkGJ

Under Japan's presidency, the G7 will defend the rule of law; 'Russia's aggression against Ukraine is not only a matter of European security'
Fumio Kishida - Financial Times
When I visited Ukraine in March and met President Zelenskyy, I expressed to him my commitment to maintaining the unwavering unity of the G7 for strict sanctions against Russia and our robust support for his country. At my invitation, he will participate in discussions at the G7 summit in Hiroshima this weekend. Japan has pledged $7.6bn in assistance for Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3MG8wmk

Japan pushes for 'realistic' approach to hitting net zero; Tokyo says Asia's circumstances require a different speed of energy transition - but critics dismiss its argument as self-serving
Kana Inagaki - Financial Times
Four weeks before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, Japan proposed an initiative that it hoped would bring Asian countries together to tackle climate goals without sacrificing economic growth. Then, when the war upended energy markets and forced Germany and other European Union nations to reactivate their mothballed coal plants, officials in Tokyo quietly became more bullish about a regional effort to address global warming.
/jlne.ws/3oiX4ne

$3 billion accounting error means the Pentagon can send more weapons to Ukraine
Tara Copp, Lolita C. Baldor - Associated Press
The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion - an accounting error that could be a boon for the war effort because it will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons now without asking Congress for more money.
/jlne.ws/3pLuxXS

Kyiv is demanding F-16s and 2 Ukrainian pilots just proved they can master the jet 4 times faster than the Pentagon thought possible: report
Erin Snodgrass - Business Insider
/jlne.ws/45d5VHQ

G-7 Restricts More Goods But Avoids Near-Total Russia Export Ban; Officials had discussed potential broader move on exports; Would be too complicated given each country's legal structure
Jenny Leonard, Jordan Fabian and Brian Platt - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3WmQTev








Exchanges, OTC & Clearing
Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities
ICE Reports Strong Demand in U.S. Renewable Fuels Futures with Record Trading in Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs)
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced strong demand for U.S. Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) as increasing numbers of participants with RIN compliance obligations hedge price risk associated with mandated targets for incorporating renewable fuels into transportation fuel. RINs are credits generated to track and enforce compliance with the U.S. federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, which requires U.S. transportation fuel to include renewable fuels. Obligated parties under the RFS program include refiners and importers of transportation fuel in the U.S.
/jlne.ws/431QOPE

The World Federation of Exchanges Publishes New Research on the Measurement of Procyclicality of CCP Margin Models
DerivSource
The World Federation of Exchanges ("The WFE"), the global industry group for CCPs and exchanges, today published new research on measuring the procyclicality of CCP initial margin models. The Working Paper by WFE Research studies the standard measures of initial margin model procyclicality, which are random variables subject to uncertainty.
/jlne.ws/3MFfUhI

Abaxx Technologies Announces Share Consolidation
Abaxx
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (NEO: ABXX) (OTCQX: ABXXF) (the "Company" or "Abaxx") announces that it intends to complete a consolidation (the "Consolidation") of its common shares ("Common Shares") on the basis of three (3) pre-Consolidation Common Shares for one (1) post-Consolidation Common Share. As of the date hereof, there are 73,548,185 Common Shares issued and outstanding. On a post-Consolidation basis, the Company shall have approximately 24,516,061 Common Shares issued and outstanding.
/jlne.ws/3INEQl9

ASX enhances eligibility criteria for CHESS Replacement Partnership Program following industry feedback
ASX
Following a number of stakeholder discussions since pausing CHESS replacement in late 2022, ASX began developing the CHESS replacement Partnership Program ("Partnership Program") to recognise future industry cooperation on the project. The initiative was announced in February 2023.
/jlne.ws/351gPmZ

HKEX Names Head of Digital Assets
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is today (Friday) pleased to announce that Andrew Loong has joined the Group as Managing Director and Head of Digital Assets. In his role, Mr Loong will oversee the development of the digital assets ecosystem in HKEX's markets, including digital product offerings and building robust digital infrastructure. Mr Loong will report to HKEX Group Head of Emerging Business & FIC, Glenda So. He succeeds Andrew Walton who leaves HKEX in July.
/jlne.ws/45i7YKy

HKEX to Launch HKD-RMB Dual Counter Model on 19 JUNE 2023
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is today (Friday) pleased to announce that it will launch the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)-Renminbi (RMB) Dual Counter Model (Model) and the Dual Counter Market Making Programme in its securities market on 19 June 2023, subject to market readiness. This new model and programme will further support the trading and settlement of RMB-denominated securities in Hong Kong.
/jlne.ws/3OpxS9x

CoreShares by 10X Lists South Africa's First Actively Managed Exchange Traded Fund
JSE
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is pleased to announce the listing of the first Actively Managed Exchange Traded Fund (AMETF) by 10X Investments, the CoreShares Income Actively Managed Exchange Traded Fund. This follows the amendment of JSE Listings Requirements in October 2022 after consulting with market participants. An AMETF is a Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) that is listed and traded on the market. The new regulations mean that underlying assets or securities of the AMETF must comply with the requirements as determined by the FSCA and must also be deemed "sufficiently liquid for robust pricing". Investment managers will, therefore, be able to list ETFs with active investment strategies and will no longer be restricted to purely tracking a benchmark.
/jlne.ws/3MiHgJ8

Regular Constituents Changes in KOSPI 200 Sector, KOSDAQ 150 Sector, etc.
KRX
There will be regular constituents changes in 32 indices including KOSPI 200 Sector, KOSDAQ 150 Sector and KRX 300 Sector indices. Effective date: June 9th, 2023: KOSPI 200 Sector: 11 indices; KOSDAQ 150 Sector: 7 indices; KRX 300 Sector: 8 indices; 6 KOSPI 200-linked indices: KOSPI 200 Consumer Goods, KOSPI 100, KOSPI 50, KOSPI 200 MidSmallCap, KOSPI 200 Ex-TOP, KOSPI 200 TOP 10
/jlne.ws/3MJ35TT

LME Clear Members are advised that new SPAN1 margin parameters have been set
LME
LME Clear Members are advised that new SPAN1 margin parameters have been set, as marked in the SPAN Margin Parameter spreadsheet located here: https://www.lme.com/en/Clearing/Risk-management/Margin-parameter-files. The changes will be made effective at close of business 24th May 2023 and will be reflected in SPS margin calls on the morning of 25th May 2023.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa




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Fintech
A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors
Eventus named Best Trade Surveillance Solution at 2023 RegTech Insight Europe Awards
Eventus
Eventus, a leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance, market risk, transaction monitoring and algorithmic monitoring solutions, has won the RegTech Insight Europe Award for Best Trade Surveillance Solution for the second consecutive year. The award, bestowed yesterday in London, marks the fifth RegTech Insight award the firm has earned since 2019.
/jlne.ws/3OoST3S

Supreme Court shields Twitter from liability for terror-related content and leaves Section 230 untouched
Brian Fung - CNN
The Supreme Court handed Silicon Valley a massive victory on Thursday as it protected online platforms from two lawsuits that legal experts had warned could have upended the internet. The twin decisions preserve social media companies' ability to avoid lawsuits stemming from terrorist-related content - and are a defeat for tech industry critics who say platforms are unaccountable.
/jlne.ws/4384qJd

Code is not speech: 'Wild theories' won't protect DeFi developer Alexey Pertsev
Joanna Wright - DL News
That phrase has become a rallying call among crypto evangelists and privacy advocates, suggesting that software is protected under free speech laws. Some crypto advocates have latched on strongly to this. The problem is that the "code is speech" argument has no legal merit in crypto cases, a US legal scholar argues in a paper that will soon be published in the Yale Journal of Law and Technology.
/jlne.ws/43a9pZL



Vermiculus



Cybersecurity
Top stories for cybersecurity
Harness the power of AI to tackle financial crime; Within the world of finance, the role of the technology in stopping crime is perhaps its most compelling use case
Adena Friedman - Financial Times
Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are rightly seen as a step-change in our technology economy. For the world of finance, much of the reaction has been focused on the risks from this rapid shift. Concerns have rightly been raised about the capacity of regulators to oversee AI operations, market concentration risks from the small number of service providers, and digital herding where computers all act alike, reinforcing market swings.
/jlne.ws/41RvueJ

Most Companies Can't Handle Cybersecurity Alone
Raja Patel - Harvard Business Review
We have reached a tipping point where cybersecurity has become too difficult and moves too fast for most organizations to manage it effectively on their own. Despite considerable ongoing investments in people and technology, the complexity of deploying, integrating, and managing cyber defenses is leaving many organizations exposed to the financial and operational consequences of a cyber incident.
/jlne.ws/3MCvFWN

What NIST is hearing from industry about critical infrastructure cybersecurity
Tom Temin - Federal News Network
Some things in life are certain. Death, taxes and, wait for it: updates to NIST cybersecurity documents. Now the National Institute of Standards and Technology is evaluating comments for a revision to guidance on critical infrastructure cybersecurity. For an overview of the more than 100 comments NIST has received, Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with attorney and Wiley Rein partner, Megan Brown.
/jlne.ws/3OpvvTX

'Attackers only have to get it right once': how cyber security burst into the boardroom; Senior executives are starting to realise that potential data breaches and other digital threats are strategic issues
Andrew Hill - Financial Times
Three days after being appointed to run US software group SolarWinds, Sudhakar Ramakrishna received a call any chief executive would dread. The company's general counsel had rung to warn him malware had been detected in updates sent out to thousands of clients in the private and public sectors.
/jlne.ws/3Wl5wPv





Cryptocurrencies
Top stories for cryptocurrencies
Crypto Firm Seeks Funds at $1 Billion-Plus Value as HK Opens Up; Hashkey is in early talks to raise up to $200 million; Hong Kong is touting the city's growing role as a crypto hub
Sarah Zheng, Manuel Baigorri and Zheping Huang - Bloomberg
Crypto investment firm Hashkey Group plans to raise funds at a valuation above $1 billion, taking advantage of Hong Kong's digital asset push to try and entice potential investors. Hashkey, which operates one of the city's only two licensed digital coin bourses, is in early-stage talks to raise $100 million to $200 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal is progressing but terms such as size and valuation could change because they aren't finalized, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private negotiations.
/jlne.ws/42VVFCf

Hong Kong Recruits Firms From HSBC to Visa to Test Digital Currency
Low De Wei - Bloomberg
Hong Kong began testing a digital version of its currency as it joins other regulators exploring its use. HSBC Holdings Plc, the local unit of Bank of China Ltd., e-payment provider Alipay and Visa Inc. are among 16 firms that signed up to a pilot program for the e-HKD, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a statement Thursday. The trial will explore e-HKD's potential use in six areas including offline payments.
/jlne.ws/42W0rzF

Tether Bought Some Bitcoin; Also predatory blitzscaling, FDIC financial engineering, Credit Suisse CDS, fraud intent and fraud for fun.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
This description is very, very close to the standard story of banking: You put one paper dollar in the bank, you get back a receipt saying you've got $1 in the bank, and you can use that receipt for $1 in the bank to transact with because it is a dollar. Your money in your bank account is not a claim on money, not an IOU for money; your money in your bank account is money. A stablecoin is money, in the specific context of some blockchain.
/jlne.ws/3BFWVNL

Bankman-Fried faces long odds of tossing charges despite Supreme Court decision
Luc Cohen - Reuters
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is hoping a recent Supreme Court decision limiting the scope of fraud prosecutions will bolster his defense as he fights charges stemming from the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange. But legal experts said Bankman-Fried's odds of getting the charges dismissed remain slim.
/jlne.ws/3IrPbTw

Coin Cafe Ordered By New York AG to Pay Back $4.3M in Fraudulent Fees
Jesse Hamilton - CoinDesk
Brooklyn-based crypto trading platform Coin Cafe is paying back $4.3 million to defrauded investors, according to a Thursday statement from the New York Attorney General's office, which accused the company of misleading customers about "exorbitant and undisclosed" fees. The company, granted a New York BitLicense in January 2023, had advertised free wallet storage on its website, but it charged fees that sometimes entirely emptied investors' accounts, the investigation concluded.
/jlne.ws/432G6Zm

Coinbase Cloud joins Chainlink as node operator in bid to improve crypto infrastructure
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez and Ben Weiss - Fortune
/jlne.ws/3WkoEwV

Attendance at World's Largest Bitcoin Conference Down by Half as 'Crypto Winter' Drags On
Frederick Munawa - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3IpxkMY




FTSE



Politics
An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets
Vivek Ramaswamy Is the Latest in a Line of Politically Problematic Tech Bros
Charles M. Blow - The New York Times
Here's a question that vexes me: Why does it seem that so many men who have been successful in the tech sphere and then waded into politics prove so problematic on issues of diversity and equity?
/jlne.ws/42RdxOI

G7's renewal marks a new era defined by superpower rivalry
Gideon Rachman - Financial Times
"The steering committee of the free world" is how Jake Sullivan, President Biden's national security adviser, describes the G7. And that description underlines the importance of the G7 summit that will take place in Hiroshima. The Ukraine war is still raging and may be reaching a crucial stage. Meanwhile, tensions continue to rise between China and the US. America is keen to co-ordinate with its democratic allies - such as Japan, the conference host - on both issues.
/jlne.ws/45g1v2T

G7 prioritises 'de-risking' China links over 'decoupling'
Kana Inagaki - Financial Times
In the months leading up to the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the US, EU and Japan cautiously united behind a policy towards China that rules out a full decoupling of trade between them - as the world's most advanced nations - and Asia's largest economy. But how the G7 will strike the right balance between national security and economic interests remains a challenge that is likely to weigh heavily during the summit meeting.
/jlne.ws/41ONhTS

Warren Blasts Regulators Over First Republic Sale to JPMorgan
Tanaz Meghjani - Bloomberg
Senator Elizabeth Warren blasted federal regulators for their handling of the recent demise of First Republic Bank, including the decision to sell the failed lender to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Massachusetts Democrat is demanding more details on bids the government received for First Republic after it was seized, regulators' rationale for choosing JPMorgan, and the impact of the deal on the government's bedrock deposit insurance fund.
/jlne.ws/41NqrvH

3 changes to Social Security benefits we could see in the future
Jim Blankenship - MarketWatch
Social Security has been a vital safety net for retirees, disabled individuals, and surviving family members for decades. However, the program is facing financial challenges that may necessitate changes in the coming years. Let's explore three potential ways Social Security benefits could change in the future. One possible change could involve adjusting the full retirement age (FRA), which is the age at which individuals can receive full Social Security benefits.
/jlne.ws/3WkXLcc

Japan pushes for 'realistic' approach to hitting net zero; Tokyo says Asia's circumstances require a different speed of energy transition - but critics dismiss its argument as self-serving
Kana Inagaki - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3oiX4ne



Regulation & Enforcement
Stories about regulation and the law.
Trafigura Says Accused Fraudster's Wife Not a Bystander; London court grants asset freeze for Gupta's wife in Dubai; Ginni Gupta hasn't committed any wrongdoing, her lawyer says
Jonathan Browning - Bloomberg
Commodities trader Trafigura Group, which is investigating a $577 million nickel fraud, had an asset freeze extended to the alleged fraudster's wife, saying in a London court that she is not a "wholly innocent bystander." Ginni Gupta, who lives in Dubai, faces the restrictions, after Trafigura's lawyer argued that there is a risk her assets could be dispersed and put out of reach. Gupta, the wife of Prateek Gupta, is not herself a defendant in the company's legal pursuit. The court granted the asset freeze.
/jlne.ws/41QewNM

Brussels agrees to sign regulatory co-operation deal with the UK
Andy Bounds and Sam Fleming - Financial Times
Brussels will sign up to a deal with the UK to boost co-operation on the regulation of financial services, in a further sign of improved relations following this year's settlement of the long-running dispute over Northern Ireland trading arrangements. The European Commission said on Wednesday it had adopted a draft memorandum of understanding that would create the framework for voluntary regulatory co-operation, including the establishment of a joint EU-UK Financial Regulatory Forum.
/jlne.ws/45cnjfV

Commissioner Johnson to Deliver a Keynote Address on Financial Markets Regulation at the London School of Economics
CFTC
Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson will deliver a keynote address on the regulation of financial market infrastructure in the fintech era at the London School of Economics.
/jlne.ws/3Wi1U0E

Kalshi Scuttles Bid for CFTC Nod to Offer Bets on US Elections
Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg Law
Kalshi Inc. has withdrawn its bid to get the US government's blessing to list derivatives that would let Americans bet on the outcome of congressional elections, according a notice on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission website. The New York-based exchange plans to resubmit an application to let people bet on which party would control Congress within a matter of weeks, said a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven't been made public.
/jlne.ws/3onSlAG

SEC Believes Filecoin Is a Security, Grayscale Warns Investors
Mathew Di Salvo - Decrypt
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission believes Filecoin's FIL token qualifies a security, according to a Wednesday announcement from Grayscale Investments. The major crypto investment firm launched its Grayscale Filecoin Trust in March 2021, which gives investors indirect exposure to FIL. (Disclosure: Protocol Labs, the company behind Filecoin, is one of Decrypt's 22 investors.)
/jlne.ws/41LmBU1

SEC Obtains Default Judgments Against Unregistered Brokers for Conducting a Fraudulent and Unregistered Offering of Crypto Asset Securities
SEC
On May 10, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered final judgments against Chicago Crypto Capital LLC ("CCC"), its owner, Brian Amoah, and former salesman Elbert "Al" Elliott, whom the SEC previously charged with violations of the federal securities laws.
/jlne.ws/45daSjY

New York Fed and Monetary Authority of Singapore Publish Results of Joint Wholesale Cross-Border Payments Research Study
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's New York Innovation Center (NYIC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today published a research report detailing the results of the joint Project Cedar Phase II x Ubin+ (Cedar x Ubin+) experiment. The Cedar x Ubin+ experiment examined whether distributed ledger technology (DLT) could be used to improve the efficiency of cross-border wholesale payments and settlements involving multiple currencies.
/jlne.ws/3WlxoCY

SFC consults on revisions to takeovers and share buy-back rules
Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today launched a consultation on proposed amendments (Note 1) to the Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Share Buy-backs (Codes).
The proposed amendments include codification of existing practices of the Takeovers Executive (Note 2), clarifications on the Codes and other matters.
/jlne.ws/3MkdGmP

Can AI be regulated? The technology has become potential menace because of both its awesome power and its uncontrollability
Richard Waters - Financial Times
For regulators trying to get their heads around the new generation of artificial intelligence systems such as ChatGPT, there are two very different problems to confront. One is when the technology does not work as intended. The other is when it does.
/jlne.ws/3MGqOnn








Investing & Trading
Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities)
Deutsche Bank Puts Epstein Spotlight on JPMorgan; German lender settled with Epstein's victims for $75 million.
Paul J. Davies - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG's $75 million settlement of a lawsuit from victims of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein ends a grim chapter for the German bank, but intensifies the spotlight on JPMorgan Chase & Co. The US lender will very likely also pay up, but only once some extra wrinkles in its cases have been ironed out. The reasons to settle are obvious.
/jlne.ws/3MkYhCt

Epic Stock Lull Spurs Volatility Sales Before $1.7 Trillion Test; S&P 500 set for narrowest quarterly trading range in decades; Friday's option expiry may open door for market to break out
Lu Wang - Bloomberg
The historic lull in the equity market has revived a controversial strategy of selling volatility. Though one calming factor is likely to fade as Friday's options expiration risks creating fresh turmoil for traders. Big benchmark swings have been missing of late as defensively positioned investors digest conflicting economic news and the US debt ceiling drama from the sidelines.
/jlne.ws/41PHlKe

Why investors are going gaga for gold; The precious metal is proving a safe bet amid growing fears of a US sovereign default
Gillian Tett - Financial Times
How can an investor protect themselves against a US government default? Once, that was a crazy question to ask. But today the bizarre has become almost normal in American politics. And while US president Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have both indicated they want to cut a deal to raise America's $31tn debt ceiling - and thus avoid a putative default - significant sticking points remain.
/jlne.ws/431sTQm

BlackRock's Wei Li Says the 'Goldilocks' Era is Over for Markets; The 38-year-old chief investment strategist looks ahead at how geopolitics and artificial intelligence will change asset management, and reflects on her own career in finance.
Ksenia Galouchko - Bloomberg
As the global chief investment strategist for the BlackRock ­Investment Institute, Wei Li leads a proprietary research team that provides the world's largest asset manager with insights on markets, economics, geopolitics and long-term asset allocation. She attributes her rapid career trajectory-she's just 38-to her international upbringing, competitive spirit, strong math background (she's a two-time gold medalist in the International Mathematical Olympiad) and ability to figure out how to play to her strengths as an introvert. Li spoke with Bloomberg Markets on April 20 in London about the recent banking turmoil and the unusual challenge ahead for central banks. She also offered insights into how her team is thinking about asset allocation and described her love-hate relationship with golf. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
/jlne.ws/3MfTvq5

High-School Dropout Vaults Into Mega-Wealth With M&A Bargains; Michael Flacks has quietly been snapping up discounted assets; He says he's willing to buy companies others might not touch
Benjamin Stupples and Katie Linsell - Bloomberg
Ken Moelis recently sold his residence at New York's Plaza Hotel to a fellow dealmaker with a far lower profile than the legendary investment banker. The home - complete with marble bathrooms, 12-foot ceilings and sweeping views of Central Park - went for almost 30% less than its original $15 million listing price.
/jlne.ws/3MGFxif




Qontigo




Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance
Stories about environmental, social and governance investing
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia: Joint Statement to the OSCE, May 2023
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Kristín Aðalbjörg Árnadóttir - GOV.UK
Mr. Chair, I am delivering this statement on behalf of Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and my own country, Iceland. May 17th marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia. The theme for this year's international day is "Together Always: United in Diversity." It is a day to affirm our commitment to the human rights and dignity of all people and a recognition that diversity in our societies should be recognized as a strength and not a weakness.
/jlne.ws/43dFHDp

Protein from air? ADM is betting on it.
Crain's Chicago Business
A quest to extract protein from air and microbes is getting a boost from one of the world's largest agricultural commodity traders. Chicago-based crop giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. has entered a strategic partnership with Air Protein, a startup that wants to make protein for meat alternatives. The two companies will work together on research and development, as well as building and operating a commercial-scale plant, ADM said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3BF28Wb

Virtual Fences for Cattle Find a Home on the Range; Just like the product for dogs, collars give a shock when cows try to stray; 'the best thing since barbed wire,' but maybe not so great for cowboys
Jim Carlton - The WAll Street Journal
Cole Mushrush does two things when he wakes up each morning at the family ranch here in the Flint Hills-make a pot of coffee, then fire up his laptop to see if any cows have wandered astray. Not many do, because electronic collars have been hung around their necks that give them a jolt if they try to cross one of the invisible fence boundaries created on a computer.
/jlne.ws/3BEXEPn

How to invest in wind farms, motorways and mobile phone masts; With governments banging the drum for infrastructure, retail investors should look hard at the opportunities
Moira O'Neill - Financial Times
It's official. A chunk of your pension should be in infrastructure. That is according to the government and the financial regulator, which have spent six years finding a way for pension funds to diversify into assets such as roads, bridges and airports, alongside other types of illiquid assets that cannot be bought and sold quickly, notably private equity.
/jlne.ws/3MHpwsz








Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds
The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures
Zimbabwe Banks May Offer Loans Backed by New Digital Money; Digital money is part of strategy to support local currency; Central bank sells almost 72 kilograms of gold at auction
Ray Ndlovu - Bloomberg
Banks in Zimbabwe may offer loans using the newly released gold-backed digital tokens as collateral. The digital money that the central bank envisages as eventually being used in day-to-day transactions will compel lenders "to enable a third currency in their systems" in order to facilitate payments, the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe said in an emailed response to questions on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3IpKWrI

Citigroup Stock Is Trading Below Its Intrinsic Value
Trefis Team - Forbes
Citigroup's stock (NYSE: C) has lost 1% YTD, as compared to the 7% rise in the S&P500 over the same period. Further, the stock is currently trading at $45 per share, which is 21% below its fair value of $57 - Trefis' estimate for Citigroup's valuation. The bank posted better-than-expected results in the first quarter of 2023, with revenues increasing by 12% y-o-y to $21.45 billion.
/jlne.ws/42NKPOP

Charlie Javice, the startup founder accused of defrauding JPMorgan, is indicted
Jonathan Stempel and Luc Cohen - Reuters
The young entrepreneur Charlie Javice has been indicted on charges of defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the largest U.S. bank, into buying her now-shuttered college financial aid startup Frank. A four-count grand jury indictment made public on Thursday in Manhattan federal court charges Javice with securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy. It also seeks the forfeiture of millions of dollars from her accounts.
/jlne.ws/41WnWHn

Deutsche Bank Puts Epstein Spotlight on JPMorgan; German lender settled with Epstein's victims for $75 million.
Paul J. Davies - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG's $75 million settlement of a lawsuit from victims of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein ends a grim chapter for the German bank, but intensifies the spotlight on JPMorgan Chase & Co. The US lender will very likely also pay up, but only once some extra wrinkles in its cases have been ironed out. The reasons to settle are obvious.
/jlne.ws/3MkYhCt

Warren Blasts Regulators Over First Republic Sale to JPMorgan
Tanaz Meghjani - Bloomberg
Senator Elizabeth Warren blasted federal regulators for their handling of the recent demise of First Republic Bank, including the decision to sell the failed lender to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Massachusetts Democrat is demanding more details on bids the government received for First Republic after it was seized, regulators' rationale for choosing JPMorgan, and the impact of the deal on the government's bedrock deposit insurance fund.
/jlne.ws/41NqrvH

Credit Suisse neared its cash limits days before rescue, filing shows
Kirstin Ridley and Stefania Spezzati - Reuters
/jlne.ws/3BF1gkp

J.P. Morgan seeks documents from Manhattan DA in Epstein case
Reuters
/jlne.ws/3Ori5qM

Man Group's Trailblazing CEO Aims to Keep Hedge Fund's Momentum; Robyn Grew set to become first female CEO of 240-year-old firm; Under incumbent chief, group assets surged 80% in seven years
Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/43apte9




ADM Investor Services


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Work & Management
Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends.
BT Chief Says AI Linked to 10,000 of Total Planned Job Cuts; CEO Jansen said AI will help BT in customer service, networks; BT said its headcount could fall by as much as 42% by 2030
Thomas Seal - Bloomberg
BT Group Plc, which announced plans to cut 55,000 workers by the end of the decade, said about 10,000 of those cuts will be related to digitization, automation and AI. The technology will allow the company to operate "more efficiently," BT Chief Executive Officer Philip Jansen said in a call on Thursday, noting that the company has filed more AI patents than any other in the UK.
/jlne.ws/3q0CM2g

Ken Jacobs expected to stand down as CEO of Lazard; Head of investment banking arm Peter Orszag set to be named as replacement
Sujeet Indap and James Fontanella-Khan - Financial Times
Ken Jacobs, the longstanding chief executive of Lazard, is expected to leave his post at the independent investment bank and hand the reins to his deputy Peter Orszag, said people briefed on the matter. His decision to step down as CEO comes weeks after Lazard announced it would cut more than 300 employees, about a tenth of its workforce, following a deep deal slump that Jacobs has told analysts would persist into 2024.
/jlne.ws/42Q4DRw

AI will test faith in democracy, Tokyo warns; Taro Kono, Japan's digital minister, says elections could be targeted by 'malicious elements'
Leo Lewis - Financial Times
Democratic governments in the US, UK and Japan will soon face a series of pivotal showdowns pitting the trust of the general public against the potentially "very disruptive" powers of generative artificial intelligence, Japan's digital minister has warned. In an interview with the Financial Times ahead of the G7 leaders' meeting in Hiroshima, Taro Kono cautions that forthcoming general elections in Britain and Japan, as well as the US presidential race next year, could become ripe targets for "malicious elements" empowered with AI.
/jlne.ws/439B2SH








Wellness Exchange
An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information
Gun violence is top public health concern for quarter of Americans - poll
Gloria Oladipo - The Guardian
A quarter of Americans now believe guns are the number one public health threat, according to new polling. According to the Axios/Ipsos American Health Index, 26% of Americans believe access to guns is the top threat to public health. Around 25% believe opioids and fentanyl are the top concern. Concern over access to firearms is growing. In February, only 17% of Americans cited gun access as a top concern, Ipsos reported.
/jlne.ws/42PZWam








Regions
Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions
Flood Disaster Could Cost Italy EUR1.5 Billion in Damage to Crops
Antonio Vanuzzo - Bloomberg
Floods in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region could have caused damages to crops for about EUR1.5 billion ($1.6 billion), according to a preliminary estimate by farming association Confagricoltura. That's just the first assessment of the impact of the heavy rains that have hit the northern Emilia-Romagna region, which has a high density of small and medium enterprises, over the last few days. Overall, the devastating impact of floods on Italy's housing stock could reach EUR3 billion per year, according to a recent study by the Bank of Italy.
/jlne.ws/3MiJjNt

Sweden's Stock Losses Leave IPO Market Trailing in the Dust; Volvo Car, Storskogen among companies trading below IPO price; Stockholm IPOs have come to a grinding halt this year
Alexandra Muller and Jonas Ekblom - Bloomberg
Almost 80% of companies listing in Stockholm since 2020 are trading below their initial public offering price, pummeled by a combination of economic headwinds and market volatility. That's undermining prospects for a revival in new listings any time soon.
/jlne.ws/3pZN2YD








Miscellaneous
Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections
A Crowd-Funded Startup Is Making a Coffee Cup That Can Be Eaten; Australia's Good-Edi is betting on an edible container to combat all the polyethylene-lined disposables that end up in landfills.
Aaron Clark and Keira Wright - Bloomberg
A trash can overflowing with disposable drink cups is an all-too-familiar sight outside any high-traffic café or fast-food joint. It was during a lunch-time walk in Melbourne that colleagues Aniyo Rahebi and Catherine Hutchins passed by several such eyesores and decided to combat the piles of waste. A few months later they arrived at an idea: a to-go cup that can be eaten.
/jlne.ws/3BHWvGG







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