| August 12, 2021 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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$52,406/$300,000 (17.5%)
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
There are remembrances for Wayne Luthringshausen from Mike Cahill (former OCC CEO), Pat Arbor (former CBOT chairman), Tony McCormick (BOX Regulation CEO), Bill Brodsky (former CBOE executive chairman & CEO), Doug Engmann (chairman of Sage Brokerage Holdings), and Jim Kharouf (former JLN editor-in-chief).
If you have a remembrance of Wayne, please email it to me at johnlothian@johnlothian.com.
Eurex will launch futures on the Latin American benchmark index MSCI Brazil on September 6, 2021. Eurex says it is responding to growing demand for investment and trading instruments focused on the Latin American region. -- Eurex
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced that physically settled Options on Futures Contracts (OOF) on Hang Seng Index Futures and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index Futures will be launched on August 23, 2021. -- HKEX
Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX is getting so much publicity, you would think he was represented by someone like Drew Mauck of 3Points Communications. There is a story in Yahoo Finance titled "Portrait of a 29-year-old billionaire: Can Sam Bankman-Fried make his risky crypto business work?" It just seems to me that Bankman-Fried is getting a lot of press these days. -- Yahoo Finance
MIAX's SPIKES Futures set a new record of 4,966 contracts traded on Tues Aug 10, 2021. -- MIAX
MIAX kindly featured last Friday's edition of The Spread options video series in an email blast about the SPIKES volume record. We mentioned the growth of SPIKES in the video.
Here is a short explainer video on what MarketsWiki Education is all about.
There were no new donations to the JLN MarketsWiki Education GoFundMe campaign yesterday.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Remembrances of Wayne Luthringshausen
JohnLothianNews.com
Here is a list of remembrances of the life of Wayne Luthringshausen, the retired chairman and CEO of the Options Clearing Corporation:
Read the article »
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The NYSE will require Covid vaccines for access to the trading floor as of Sept. 13
Yun Li and Bob Pisano - CNBC
The New York Stock Exchange announced Wednesday that it will require full Covid-19 vaccination for access to its iconic trading floor as of Sept. 13.
The stock exchange said exemptions are being granted for medical or religious reasons. It is also expanding its onsite random testing to include vaccinated personnel.
/cnb.cx/3ANYXcv
***** Just wave your vaccination card by the security gates?~JJL
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Robinhood Is Not About the Democratization of Markets; Retail trading of meme stocks is just a massive transfer of wealth from the unsophisticated to the sophisticated.
Jared Dillian - Bloomberg
Robinhood Markets Inc. has been at the forefront of the democratization of finance, which is the idea that an average Joe can play in the stock market alongside the professionals. And back in January, they did, nuking a bunch of hedge funds betting against GameStop Corp. in one of the greatest short squeezes of all time. Hollywood is full of average Joe underdog stories, but is it true in real life? Not, at least, in the markets, where retail trading of "meme stocks" is, on balance, just a massive transfer of wealth from the unsophisticated to the sophisticated.
/bloom.bg/3CDHXr1
*****Don't buy the hype. There is a lot of hype with Robinhood. There is also a lot going on behind the scenes that you will never see, not just with payment for order flow. Who owns Robinhood does not matter. Who controls it does. ~JJL
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Tornado CEO: There's a 'crisis in investing education'
Julia La Roche - Yahoo Finance
There's a "crisis in investing education," according to mobile trading app Tornado's CEO and co-founder Bernard George. "Every week, there are headlines about young investors, gambling on penny stocks and options, and even bankrupt companies. And our view is that the only way to really solve that problem is to make smart investing highly engaging, so it becomes that path of least resistance for people," George told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday.
/yhoo.it/3fTDW7R
***** We did not have these problems when only the elite could invest.~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our most-read story Wednesday was the CFTC announcement Federal Court Orders BitMEX to Pay $100 Million for Illegally Operating a Cryptocurrency Trading Platform and Anti-Money Laundering Violations. Second was Hackers return $260 million to cryptocurrency platform after massive theft, from Reuters. Third was Crypto is changing, and BitMEX is changing with it, a message from Alexander Höptner, the CEO of BitMEX, on the company's "resolution" with the CFTC and FinCEN.
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MarketsWiki Stats
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MarketsWiki Statistics
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| Lead Stories | Goldman Sachs, Other Financial Firms Back Program to Diversify Wall Street; Bloomberg, Centerbridge also part of multimillion-dollar CUNY initiative targeting training, internships and hiring
Emily Glazer - WSJ
Bloomberg LP, Centerbridge Partners LP and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS 1.45% are funding a new program to train, mentor and hire students for careers in the financial sector in a push to bring more women and minorities to the industry. The initiative, a partnership between the firms and the City University of New York, is launching this fall at CUNY's Brooklyn College, City College and Lehman College and aims to expand to additional schools over time. The funding will provide internship opportunities, career-development staff and help with postcollege hiring. The program's backers say they hope it will help New York's economic recovery from the pandemic.
/on.wsj.com/3AETLqX
High-Speed Trading Firm Jump to Execute Retail Investors' Stock Trades; Plan for retail wholesaler business comes as meme-stock frenzy fuels surge in trading by individual investors
Alexander Osipovich - WSJ
Jump Trading Group, one of the world's largest high-frequency trading firms, will launch a unit that executes stock orders for individual investors, a business that has grown more lucrative for electronic traders as meme-stock mania has fueled a surge in U.S. retail volumes. Executives at Jump told The Wall Street Journal that the firm is setting up a so-called retail wholesaler business. Wholesalers fill buy and sell orders for the customers of online brokerages such as Robinhood Markets Inc. HOOD -5.10% and TD Ameritrade.
/on.wsj.com/3CKeOdB
Reddit Taps Investor Appetite for Startups, Further Raising Valuation; The social-media company says its latest funding round values the company at around $10 billion, up about 50% from February
Meghan Bobrowsky - WSJ
Six months after closing a funding round that doubled its valuation, Reddit Inc. is locking in a roughly 50% increase, driven by money managers hunting for investments and its role in the Wall Street trading frenzy. Reddit on Thursday said it has raised $410 million from Fidelity Investments Inc. at a valuation of about $10 billion. The company said it expects to secure additional financial commitments from new and existing investors to bring the total raised to as much as $700 million. In February, the company said it had raised about $500 million in late-stage funding at a $6.5 billion valuation.
/on.wsj.com/3AHl04x
Global ETF Assets Hit $9 Trillion; Net flows so far this year have nearly eclipsed the $736.5 billion investors had moved into ETFs globally in all of 2020
Michael Wursthorn - WSJ
Investors poured $705 billion into exchange-traded funds through the first seven months of the year, pushing 2021's world-wide tally to a record $9.1 trillion, according to data from Morningstar Inc. Net flows so far this year have nearly eclipsed the $736.5 billion investors had moved into ETFs globally in all of 2020. Most of the cash has gone into cheap, index-tracking funds, with large-cap and short-term bond ETFs, as well as products offering inflation protection, attracting significant investor interest, according to the data.
/on.wsj.com/3ABt1HX
Executive Stock Sales Are Under Scrutiny. Here's What Regulators Are Interested In; 10b5-1 plans allow executives to create schedules for buying and selling shares in the future, but they can be modified without disclosure
Shane Shifflett - WSJ
Securities regulators are rethinking rules on popular plans that let corporate executives sell stock without violating insider-trading provisions. The plans—known as 10b5-1 plans—allow executives to create schedules for buying and selling shares in the future. In theory, a predetermined sale, even if it comes at a fortuitous time, wouldn't be based on inside information.
/on.wsj.com/3jLvMQo
Why the 'Britcoin' revolution will cost you your privacy
Sam Benstead - Telegraph
Digital currencies were once the realm of drug dealers and anarchists, but they have taken giant leaps to be welcomed into the mainstream. Professional investors have readily backed online tokens such as Bitcoin and consumer-friendly exchanges are commonplace.
/yhoo.it/2VPItRB
The New Crypto Economy Could Use a Cop on the Beat; Bitcoin and its ilk were supposed to eliminate financial intermediaries. Instead, the middlemen are piling in — and creating a new sort of systemic risk.
Editorial Board - Bloomberg
There's an irony in the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They were supposed to usher in a new paradigm of finance, obviating the need to trust centralized institutions. Yet people are increasingly interacting with them through precisely such institutions. Hardly a week goes by without news of some financial intermediary — some well-known such as Fidelity or Goldman Sachs, others less so — delving into the largely unregulated realm, seeking to profit from the speculative fervor.
/bit.ly/2VNN6vs
Gensler asks Sen. Warren for more SEC authority to regulate crypto exchanges
Kollen Post - The Block
In a letter dated August 5 but publicized on August 11, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Gary Gensler says the commission needs additional authorization from Congress to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges. Gensler's letter is a response to Senator Elizabeth Warren, who wrote to the SEC chairman last month asking for his input on what congressional authorization the SEC needs to handle crypto.
/bit.ly/3jO3KU5
Liquidity Is Evaporating Even Before the Fed Taper Hits Markets
Lu Wang - Bloomberg
A measure of U.S. financial liquidity whose declines foreshadowed two of the decade's worst equity routs is flashing alarms even before the Federal Reserve embarks on its planned winding down of asset purchases.
/yhoo.it/3ABrJwM
Hackers Return Funds From Likely Record DeFi Crypto Attack
Olga Kharif and Kartikay Mehrotra - Bloomberg
Thieves are now asking for donations as rewards for the return; Thousands of users were affected by the attack Tuesday
Hackers returned about half of the $610 million or so they pilfered Tuesday in what was likely one of the biggest cryptocurrency thefts on record in the burgeoning DeFi sector. In a unusual twist, the online thieves pledged to return the entire amount stole from a decentralized finance, or DeFi, protocol known as PolyNetwork that lets users swap tokens across multiple blockchains. It isn't clear from the PolyNetwork website who runs the protocol.
/bloom.bg/3lT3aav
The hacker behind a giant cryptocurrency heist is returning stolen funds
Jon Fingas - Engadget
Someone just perpetrated one of the largest cryptocurrency heists known to date... and appears to be having second thoughts. The Block and CNBC report that a hacker stole about $611 million in Ethereum, Shiba Inu and other digital currencies from the decentralized Poly Network finance platform on August 10th by exploiting a vulnerability. Less than a day later, however, the intruder sent a token indicating they were "ready to surrender" and started returning millions in funds.
/yhoo.it/3CEYLO7
Crypto Hackers Stole More Than $600 Million From DeFi Network, Then Gave Some of It Back; Heist is one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts to date, on par with breaches at Coincheck in 2018 and Mt. Gox in 2014
Anna Hirtenstein - WSJ
Hackers stole cryptocurrencies worth more than $600 million from Poly Network, a decentralized finance, or DeFi, platform, in one of the largest crypto heists of recent years. In a surprise turn, whoever stole the money then returned over one-third of the pilfered assets.
/on.wsj.com/3ADmhcA
Fired ICAP Broker Sued the Firm for Millions. Or So He Thought
Breanna Bradham - Bloomberg
Bruce Reid's lawyer never filed his wrongful termination suit; Lawyer was suspended last week for lying about suit's progress
Fired in 2014 from an ICAP Plc job that he says was paying him more than $2 million a year, swaps broker Bruce Reid was eager to hit back with a wrongful termination claim. Years later though, Reid still hadn't had his day in court. At first his lawyer said a hearing date in New York was moved because it had been mistakenly scheduled on a Jewish holiday. Months later, the lack of progress was attributed to a discovery dispute. Then the lawyer claimed that he had begun settlement talks.
/bloom.bg/3mbjsvF
Europe's motley Covid passport protesters find unity in liberty; Growing ranks include those from the far-right, communists and vaccine refuseniks
Anna Gross, Erika Solomon and Daniel Dombey - FT
An anti-vaccine protester was arrested in France this week for brandishing a placard that insinuated several well-known Jewish figures were "traitors" responsible for what marchers called the country's "health dictatorship".
/on.ft.com/3fZEj0K
Portrait of a 29-year-old billionaire: Can Sam Bankman-Fried make his risky crypto business work?
Roger Parloff - Yahoo Finance
"I hope to never be as wrong as I was in that conversation," says Adam Yedidia. He is reflecting on a chat he had with Sam Bankman-Fried, his close friend and former MIT classmate, in fall 2017. Bankman-Fried was then inviting Yedidia to join him in launching a trading firm in Berkeley, Calif., that would specialize in buying and selling cryptocurrencies—digital assets like bitcoin (BTC-USD), ether (ETH-USD), and litecoin (LTC-USD). Yedidia declined, and even tried to talk Bankman-Fried out of the whole idea.
/yhoo.it/3AGjgsf
Most Return-to-Office Plans Unchanged, for Now; Delta variant worries notwithstanding, many people report they are already back at their workplace or will be soon.
Quoctrung Bui - NY Times
Even as many tech companies announce delays to their return-to-office dates in the face of the contagious Delta variant, it appears that most companies' plans have not yet changed, according to several weeks of surveys by Morning Consult.
/nyti.ms/3lS6ToK
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Heath and Wellness Information | The C.D.C. endorses Covid vaccinations during pregnancy.
NY Times
Federal health officials on Wednesday bolstered their recommendation that pregnant people be vaccinated against Covid-19, pointing to new safety data that found no increased risk of miscarriage among those who were immunized during the first 20 weeks of gestation. Earlier research found similarly reassuring data for those vaccinated later in pregnancy.
/nyti.ms/3jFuYMA
Oregon Issues Mask Mandate, Warns of Hospital Surge
Sara Cline - Associated Press
Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday announced a statewide indoor mask requirement in Oregon as coronavirus hospitalizations and cases reach record high numbers in the state and health care systems are overwhelmed.
/bloom.bg/3CETkin
McDonald's to Require Covid Vaccinations for Corporate Workers
Rick Clough - Bloomberg
McDonald's Corp. is requiring all of its corporate employees in the U.S. to be vaccinated before they return to the office, joining the growing ranks of major companies imposing strict requirements to combat the spread of Covid-19. The fast-food chain also postponed the reopening date for its offices by about a month to Oct. 11, according to an internal note obtained by Bloomberg News. Staffers must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 27 to ensure they have built up immunity for the recommended 14 days before returning, the company said. Masks are required in offices regardless of vaccination status.
/bloom.bg/3fXq6lc
EU regulator looking at new possible side-effects of mRNA COVID-19 shots
Reuters
Europe's drugs regulator said on Wednesday it was looking into three new conditions to assess whether they may be possible side-effects related to COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna following a small number of cases.
/reut.rs/3jLauSL
Business Is Using Less Carrot and More Stick on Vaccinations; Forget incentives like paid time off or free concert tickets. Governments and employers increasingly worry that mandates are the only answer for the fast-spreading delta variant.
Drake Bennett - Bloomberg
The belief that vaccination should be a matter of personal choice managed to survive almost a year and a half of the Covid-19 pandemic. For months, employers eager to find a way to get workers and customers back to their businesses saw vaccines as vital, but stopped short of measures that felt coercive. Walmart Inc.'s approach—paying the store workers who make up the bulk of its 1.5 million U.S. employees $75 for a jab—was typical. Beverage-maker Bolthouse Farms offered bonuses of up to $500. Even institutions on the front lines of the pandemic hesitated to compel shots. When the New York-Presbyterian Hospital system announced a vaccine requirement for its employees several weeks ago, it triggered demonstrations outside its main campus in upper Manhattan. The signs waved by the protesting workers summed up the delicate dance government officials and employers were attempting: "Vaccination Yes. Mandate No."
/bloom.bg/3jLuMeZ
Calls For Curfew, More Curbs in Sydney as Delta Outbreak Worsens
Jason Scott - Bloomberg
Premier urged to tighten restrictions as cases hit record; Other state leaders ramp up criticism of New South Wales chief
Australia is facing its worst Covid-19 crisis yet, and experts say a lockdown of its biggest city needs to be ramped up to prevent further deterioration to the nation's vaunted record in stamping out the pathogen.
/bloom.bg/2VPMkhV
Delta-Free Haven New Zealand Sets Out Path to Opening Borders
Matthew Brockett - Bloomberg
Government to speed rollout of Pfizer vaccine to all adults; It's one of the few countries without a local delta outbreak
New Zealand laid out a plan for easing some of the world's toughest Covid-19 border curbs, which have kept out the highly contagious delta variant and seen the island nation effectively virus-free for much of the pandemic.
/bloom.bg/2XgKvuN
Delta variant drives wave of US employers to mandate vaccines; Businesses weigh losing workers in a tight labour market by requiring Covid inoculation
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson - FT
Most of Houston Methodist's 25,000 workers complied when chief executive Marc Boom demanded in March that all of his hospital network's staff be vaccinated against Covid-19. Yet 178 refused, and scores of them sued for unfair discrimination after they were fired by Houston Methodist.
/on.ft.com/3lXO9UI
Covid-19 Vaccine Scammers Target Authorities in Dozens of Countries Including Italy and Colombia; Criminal groups and individuals have proposed contracts for millions of dollars to officials; vaccine makers say they don't use intermediaries and will sell only directly to governments
Jared S. Hopkins, Kim Mackrael and Giovanni Legorano - WSJ
Criminal organizations and individuals claiming access to Covid-19 vaccines have contacted authorities in dozens of countries hoping they will sign illegitimate contracts for millions of dollars, according to documents and people familiar with the attempts.
/on.wsj.com/3fWTN5A
F.D.A. to Authorize Third Vaccine Dose for People With Weak Immune Systems; The decision to expand the emergency use of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines is meant to help transplant recipients and others whose immune systems are similarly compromised.
Sharon LaFraniere and Noah Weiland - NY Times
Federal regulators are expected to authorize a third shot of coronavirus vaccine as soon as Thursday for certain people with weakened immune systems, an effort to better protect them as the highly contagious Delta variant sweeps the nation.
/nyti.ms/3CFsgzr
Here's why herd immunity from Covid is 'mythical' with the delta variant
Holly Ellyatt -- CNBC
Achieving herd immunity with Covid vaccines when the highly infectious delta variant is spreading is "not a possibility," a leading epidemiologist said.
/cnb.cx/2XboZHR
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | NYSE requiring vaccines for access to trading floor
Jordan Williams - The Hill
The New York Stock Exchange said Wednesday that it is requiring personnel to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus to access the trading floor. In a memo obtained by The Hill, NYSE Chief Operating Officer Michael Blaugrund said full vaccination will be required to access the trading floor Monday-Friday, effective Sept. 13.
/bit.ly/3jL9ga3
New York Stock Exchange to Require Floor Traders to Get Vaccinated; Stock exchange is stepping up its measures against the coronavirus amid rising cases of the Delta variant
Alexander Osipovich - WSJ
The New York Stock Exchange will require traders to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to access its historic trading floor, stepping up its measures against the coronavirus amid rising cases of the Delta variant.
/on.wsj.com/3APLwsz
Hong Kong Bourse Sees Drop in Quarterly Profit as IPOs Slow
Kiuyan Wong - Bloomberg
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., the world's largest exchange by market value, reported a drop in profit in the second quarter as a boom in initial public offerings and trading at the start of the year waned.
/yhoo.it/3fTSaG9
Hong Kong Exchange Sees Jump in Listing Inquiries; The bourse's operator posted record revenue and net profit for the first six months of the year
Joanne Chiu and Clarence Leong - WSJ
Hong Kong's stock exchange has seen a jump in listing inquiries, the bourse operator's chief said Wednesday, after regulators in Beijing and Washington pledged to make it harder for companies from China to go public on American stock exchanges.
/on.wsj.com/2XlYwrk
Penny Stock Boom at Risk as India Bourse Curbs Price Volatility
Nupur Acharya and Ashutosh Joshi - Bloomberg
New measures proposed by Asia's oldest bourse to curb "excessive price movements" in so-called penny stocks pose hurdles for the millions of newbie traders who have thronged to that segment of India's $3.1 trillion equity market.
/yhoo.it/3lTxK3D
Eurex to roll out MSCI Brazil futures; Expansion of Latin American derivatives at Eurex will include MSCI Brazil futures, alongside country index futures for Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Deutsche Börse's derivatives arm Eurex has confirmed plans to expand its Latin American footprint with the launch of futures based on the MSCI Brazil index. Due to launch on 6 September, the futures are in addition to the suite of Latin American derivatives offered by Eurex including country index futures for Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia.
/bit.ly/3lW6fGJ
Eurex is further extending its footprint in Latin America; MSCI Brazil Futures to focus on largest market in Latin America. MSCI China Index Futures will replace MSCI China Free Index Futures
Eurex
Eurex, the leading European derivatives exchange, will launch futures on the Latin American benchmark index MSCI Brazil. The derivatives arm of Deutsche Börse Group is responding to growing demand for investment and trading instruments focused on the Latin American region. The launch of the new contracts is scheduled for 6 September.
/bit.ly/3CEL9Tb
MSCI Futures: Introduction of four additional products and termination of trading in 15 futures
Eurex
The Management Board of Eurex Deutschland took the following decisions with effect from 6 September 2021:
Introduction of futures on four MSCI Indices (MSCI Brazil, MSCI China, MSCI EM Asia ESG Screened and MSCI Switzerland) Inclusion of the new products into the existing Liquidity Provider Schemes (as of 1 October 2021)
In addition, it was decided to no longer introduce additional expiries in 15 MSCI futures (mainly GTR versions and Frontier Market products). Expiries without any open interest in those products can be deactivated.
/bit.ly/2VHfbVV
HKEX to Introduce Options on Futures Contracts
Products
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is pleased to announce today (Thursday) the launch of physically settled Options on Futures Contracts (OOF) on Hang Seng Index Futures and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index Futures. These new contracts will further enhance HKEX's derivatives product suite and add to the breadth and depth of Hong Kong's markets. These new OOF will be introduced on 23 August 2021 and will offer investors a suite of new trading and risk management tools. Investors holding OOF will have the opportunity to take a futures position on HKEX's markets prior to the settlement of the underlying futures contract.
/bit.ly/3CGRT2X
EBS Market Integration onto CME Globex
CME Group
Subject to applicable regulatory approvals, EBS Market's Central Limit Order Book and eFix Matching Service will launch on CME Globex. You will receive subsequent notices with additional details and actions required to support the EBS Market integration onto CME Globex.
/bit.ly/3fTzLZJ
CME Globex Notices: August 9, 2021
CME Group
Critical System Updates
Update - IP Address Change for CME CF Rates and Indexes MDP - This Week UPDATE
CME Globex Performance Enhancements- August 22
iLink 3 FIXP Messaging Enhancements - September 26
Bursa Malaysia Derivatives (BMD) Night Trading Session - December 2021
/bit.ly/3AGCJch
CME STP Notices: August 12, 2021
CME Group
CME STP
Enhancement to Trade Number in CME STP - September 19
Update - Exchange-Defined Fixed Price Ratio Inter-Commodity Futures Spread Supported in CME STP - October 3 UPDATE
/bit.ly/3CHLHI0
Decrease of Minimum Price Fluctuation and the Exercise Price Increment of the Monthly and Weekly Options on the Brazilian Real/U.S. Dollar (BRL/USD) Futures Contract and Expansion of the BRL/USD Monthly Option Listing Schedule on CME Globex
CME Group
/bit.ly/3lYdPkm
SIX Digital Exchange Prepares For Next Phase Of Development
MondoVisione
With technical development on the core platform now complete, testing and scaling for full operations underway, the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) awaits regulatory approval and readies itself for growth. As part of this preparation, Tim Grant will stand down and hand over the reins to David Newns, an international capital market expert with a strong background in the regulated financial services industry. Newns's mandate will be to take SDX seamlessly into its next phase of full operations and growth.
/bit.ly/3lWaFxj
BOX Options Market: New 1Gigabit Version Of The High Speed Vendor Feed
BOX Options Market LLC
BOX Options Market LLC ("BOX") will launch a 1Gigabit version of the Level 1 (Top of Book) High Speed Vendor Fee ("HSVF") Multicast to give Participants an additional connectivity option to receive market data from BOX.
/bit.ly/3fYoM1d
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | ISDA-Clarus RFR Adoption Indicator: July 2021
iSDA
The ISDA-Clarus RFR Adoption Indicator increased to an all-time high of 14.1% in July compared to 11.7% the prior month. The indicator tracks how much global trading activity (as measured by DV01) is conducted in cleared over-the-counter and exchange-traded interest rate derivatives (IRD) that reference the identified risk-free rates (RFRs) in six major currencies. On a traded notional basis, the percentage of RFR-linked IRD comprised 12.3% of total IRD in July compared to 11.4% the prior month.
/bit.ly/2VOSHSw
Ares CF Provides $20MM Revolving Line of Credit to Trading Technologies International
ABL Advisor
Ares Commercial Finance provided a $20 million senior secured revolving line of credit to Trading Technologies International, Inc. The company, headquartered in Chicago, IL, provides trade execution software, infrastructure, and data services in futures, options and fixed income with global scale and connectivity to all major markets and exchanges worldwide. Proceeds from the financing will be used to support general working capital needs.
/bit.ly/2VMy1L9
ION Markets adds UBS Bond Port connection to OMS; Traders using the ION LatentZero OMS can now access the UBS Bond Port anonymous credit liquidity pool under new partnership.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Trading technology provider ION Markets has teamed up with UBS to provide buy-side traders using its order management system (OMS) with access to the bank's bond trading platform. Traders using ION's LatentZero OMS can now access UBS Bond Port's anonymous global credit liquidity pool, which includes more than 2,500 clients with firm pricing in over 25,000 instruments trading in 19 currencies.
/bit.ly/2VPusnt
ION LatentZero Is Now Connected To UBS Bond Port Anonymous Trading Platform - Providing LatentZero Buyside Clients With Access To The USD 33bn Liquidity Pool Of Bonds Traded On This Platform
Mondovisione
ION Markets, the largest global provider of trading, analytics, and risk management solutions for capital markets, announced today the extension of the partnership between ION and UBS Bond Port, connecting the former's LatentZero buyside clients to the latter's Bond Port trading platform. Bond Port is now accessible to all Buyside clients through the LatentZero OMS, providing more trading flexibility and anonymous access to the huge liquidity pool it offers.
/bit.ly/3CHQ6uw
SteelEye appoints LiquidMetrix business development exec as commercial director; Senior appointment at SteelEye follows a recent funding round for the firm as it looks to expand into the US.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Compliance technology provider SteelEye has appointed a commercial director from LiquidMetrix after the firm recently confirmed plans to expand into the US. Philip Lemmon joins SteelEye in senior sales position after previously being a part of the business development team at transaction cost analysis (TCA) provider LiquidMetrix.
/bit.ly/3CEKPDX
Bookbuilding platform Appital secures £2.5 million investment; Recent investment for Appital follows its partnership with LSEG's Turquoise to launch bookbuilding technology for the buy-side.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Appital has secured a £2.5 million investment from Fontline Ventures and other capital markets angel investors as it looks to automate bookbuilding and deal distribution processes. The funds will accelerate development of the firm's technology, integration with market institutions and technology vendors, and allow it to expand its team of engineers to support its strategy.
/bit.ly/3CDj2E5
Refinitiv Launches USD IBOR Cash Fallbacks Prototype To Facilitate Industry Transition
From USD LIBOR
Mondovisione
Following the Alternative Reference Rates Committee's (ARRC) March 2021 announcement that it had selected Refinitiv to publish its recommended spread adjustments and spread adjusted rates for cash products, Refinitiv today announced the launch of a prototype rate. The Refinitiv USD IBOR Cash Fallbacks, as the rates will be known, will leverage the firm's extensive experience in administering benchmarks, such as Refinitiv Term SONIA, to create a family of US Dollar (USD) fallback rates for use in cash markets.
/bit.ly/3jLJti9
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Cyber Security Today, August 11, 2021 - How not to be victimized by cryptojacking
Howard Solomon - IT World Canada
Cybercrooks are still trying to secretly infect corporate computers, personal computers and smartphones to mine for cryptocurrency. So-called cryptojacking has been going on for years. It ebbs and flows as the value of cryptocurrencies rise and fall.
/bit.ly/3AAKDnl
A Cybersecurity Stop Sign: CISA Introduces Bad Practices
Richard Tracy - Forbes
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has done an about-face with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's (CISA) recent introduction of Bad Practices. In a classic parenting move, CISA has focused on eliminating worst practices before investing in best practices.
/bit.ly/3yItBDp
Cyber Deal Shows Consumer-Corporate Security Divide
Tim Culpan - Bloomberg
The pending merger of two major names in cybersecurity is sorely needed by both companies. It also highlights the role consumer products need to play in the ongoing battle to protect corporate networks. NortonLifeLock Inc. announced this week it would buy Prague-based Avast Plc in a cash and share deal worth up to $8.6 billion.
/bloom.bg/37BCBhD
The Cybersecurity 202: The bipartisan infrastructure bill could bring a cyber bounty for state and local governments
Joseph Marks and Aaron Schaffer - The Washington Post
The mammoth bipartisan infrastructure deal that passed the Senate this week includes a $1 billion pot of cybersecurity money to help state and local governments battered by ransomware and other digital attacks. If the bill becomes law, it would be especially helpful for local governments, which are often a weak link in cybersecurity.
/wapo.st/2XlWmrI
3 Metrics to Gauge Cybersecurity Program Health
Colin O'Connor - Security Boulevard
Imagine the United Nations General Assembly with no translators—and people speaking dozens of different languages. That's what it can be like when security teams share metrics and data with their organization's board of directors. The communications gap leaves many CISOs struggling to explain the value of security investments—and if security professionals can't communicate that value, they run the risk of falling out of sync with business priorities, managing misaligned expectations or giving leaders a false sense of confidence about security readiness.
/bit.ly/3s9UZYp
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | How Does Ethereum Staking Work?
Andrey Sergeenkov - Coindesk
The launch of the Beacon Chain network in December introduced the first iteration of protocol-level staking for Ethereum investors. Put simply, Ethereum staking is the process of locking up an amount of ETH
- the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain - for a specified period of time in order to contribute to the security of the blockchain and earn network rewards.
/yhoo.it/3jPKeGQ
Valkyrie becomes latest firm to file for bitcoin futures ETF after Gensler comments
Michael McSweeney - The Block
Last week, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler appeared to express particular interest in exchange-traded products tied to bitcoin futures.
/bit.ly/3AFmcW5
How China's Digital Currency Could Challenge the Almighty Dollar
Charlie Campbell - Time
Every morning, Mei Yi waves goodbye to his wife and 3-year-old son and sets off for his finance job in central Beijing, riding into town by public bike share. Like most urban Chinese, the 37-year-old has long abandoned cash and instead pays for his commute—and a lunchtime bite from a convenience store in his office building—with a flash of a QR code on his smartphone screen.
/yhoo.it/3fWr29n
Ether trading volumes surpass bitcoin on Coinbase for the first time as DeFi and staking hype grows
Harry Robertson - Business Insider
Ether was the most-traded cryptocurrency on Coinbase in the second quarter of the year, jumping ahead of bitcoin
as excitement grew around decentralized finance and staking - two use cases that have drawn investors to the world's second-biggest cryptocurrency.
/yhoo.it/2VJ3Moy
Crypto Market's Climb Back Toward $2 Trillion Faces U.S. Hurdle
Eric Lam - Bloomberg
Total value of virtual coins jumped by 55% from a July low; Potential tax reporting rules may be obstacle to more gains
The cryptocurrency sector is back in sight of a $2 trillion market value, a level last seen in May, but further gains face an obstacle from potential new U.S. tax reporting requirements.
/bloom.bg/3m14Mim
Why the Stablecoin Issuers Will Inherit the Earth
Joe Weisenthal - Bloomberg
The crypto world on Tuesday saw what might have been the largest hack and loss of funds of all time. As my colleague Olga Kharif reported, $600 million was stolen from a cross-chain protocol called PolyNetwork. As everyone knows, the thing with crypto is that there's basically nothing you can do about a hack once it happens. A sufficiently decentralized blockchain is a virtually immutable ledger. It's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to roll back or do anything about a hack. Once a coin changes hands, that's it.
/bloom.bg/3jRsoTQ
Bitcoin ETF Filing Flood Collides With Cooling Demand for Funds
Katherine Greifeld - Bloomberg
SEC chief Gensler reignited optimism about crypto ETF approval; Digital asset funds posted 5th week of outflows: CoinShares
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler ignited a fresh wave of optimism among Bitcoin exchange-traded fund advocates this month -- but it's unclear whether investors share that enthusiasm.
/bloom.bg/3gg21X1
Crypto trading firm CrossTower hires former head of hedge funds at State Street; CrossTower has hired former State Street and Goldman Sachs hedge fund administration veteran as its new chief financial officer.
Joe Parsons - The Trade
Crypto investment and trading firm CrossTower has hired hedge fund services veteran Cory Thackeray as its new chief financial officer. In his new role, Thackeray will be responsible for managing CrossTower's finance functions and capital structure, as the firm looks to further drive its offering to hedge funds and other institutional clients.
/bit.ly/3jJdrDo
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Republicans risk becoming face of delta surge as key GOP governors oppose anti-covid measures
Felicia Sonmez and Hannah Knowles - Washington Post
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has banned local governments from implementing mask requirements even as he pleads for emergency medical help in combating a surge in coronavirus cases from the delta variant. In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi L. Noem welcomed hundreds of thousands of revelers to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that last year bore characteristics of a superspreader event for the virus.
/wapo.st/3ACLnrY
Valkyrie becomes latest firm to file for bitcoin futures ETF after Gensler comments
Michael McSweeney - The Block
Last week, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler appeared to express particular interest in exchange-traded products tied to bitcoin futures.
/bit.ly/3AFmcW5
Stand by for City tussle over post-Brexit regulation; Push for insurance reform illuminates tensions between industry, regulators and government
Helen Thomas - FT
In the sunlit uplands of Brexit, there are opportunities, and arguments, to be had. The good news is there are — genuinely! — some areas of financial regulation that everyone broadly agrees can be changed to the benefit of industry and the economy alike.
/on.ft.com/3lYMdLM
Rand Paul's wife bought stock in COVID treatment firm in February 2020
Will Feuer - NY Post
Sen. Rand Paul revealed Wednesday in a disclosure that was more than a year overdue that his wife in February 2020 bought up to $15,000 worth of shares in Gilead, a biotech company that brought to market the first drug designed to treat COVID-19.
/bit.ly/3AHm8oN
The Way the Senate Melted Down Over Crypto Is Very Revealing
Ezra Klein - NY Times
For months, there's been a debate over what should count as infrastructure. Roads and bridges, sure. But what about preschool and health insurance and child care? Democrats say yes, Republicans say no. With the exception of broadband access, however, there's been almost no discussion of the infrastructure underpinning the digital economy. But right at the end, that changed, when a meltdown over crypto regulation almost derailed the bipartisan infrastructure bill's passage in the Senate.
/nyti.ms/3CKhcRB
Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump's "Big, Beautiful Tax Cut"
Justin Elliott and Robert Faturechi - ProPublica
Billionaire business owners deployed lobbyists to make sure Trump's 2017 tax bill was tailored to their benefit. Confidential IRS records show the windfall that followed.
/bit.ly/3fSUvBc
*****Michael Bloomberg took home an extra $68 billion.~JJL
Donald Trump Faces Wealth Investigation Over Purchase of Golf Courses
Ewan Palmer - Newsweek
Acourt has granted permission for campaigners to seek a judicial review of the Scottish Government's refusal to investigate Donald Trump's unexplained wealth amid ongoing calls to scrutinize how the former president was able to purchase two golf resorts in the country.
/bit.ly/3fWivmH
*****Don't mess with the Scots. They know how to fight to the finish.~JJL
Crypto Industry Seeks to Curb Tax Provision in House After Senate Setback; Lobbying effort yielded compromise amendment that failed to get vote, despite broad support
Andrew Ackerman and Kristina Peterson - WSJ
The cryptocurrency industry sought unsuccessfully to limit a provision in the bipartisan infrastructure bill seeking to toughen tax enforcement of crypto transactions. It is now hoping for another shot when the bill moves to the House.
/on.wsj.com/2VQ0vUb
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | FMA accuses CEO of market manipulation for anonymous posts on investor forum
FMA
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tatai Hokohoko - has filed civil High Court proceedings against Matthew Geoffrey Hill, the Chief Executive Officer of NZX-listed New Talisman Gold Mines Limited (NTL), for alleged information-based market manipulation and making false and misleading representations. The case relates to anonymous posts Mr Hill allegedly made about the company on the Sharetrader website's online investor forum.
/bit.ly/2VLlSFU
Robert Blom pleads guilty to federal wire fraud, money laundering charges in feedlot scheme
Marcus Traxler - The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
A Corsica man has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges related to his operation of a custom cattle-feeding business that involved millions of dollars. Robert Blom, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering last month as part of a plea agreement that was accepted by the U.S. District Court on Aug. 2.
/yhoo.it/3m1Gqoy
ASIC issues court action alleging unlicensed advice in relation to unregistered managed investment scheme
ASIC
ASIC has issued Federal Court proceedings alleging Monica Kaur and MKS Property Investments/Developments Pty Ltd (MKS Property) operated an unregistered managed investment scheme (unregistered MIS) and provided unlicensed financial advice to consumers.
/bit.ly/3CJAmXO
ASIC's approach to new laws reforming financial services sector
ASiC
Six reforms arising out of recommendations from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (Royal Commission) and other inquiries will commence in October. The new laws include design and distribution obligations, restrictions on the unsolicited selling of financial products (hawking), a deferred sales model for add-on insurance products, reference checking and information sharing requirements for financial advisers and brokers, and new requirements around how breaches are reported to ASIC and disputes are managed internally in firms.
/bit.ly/3AENdZo
Outbound Files Delays
FINRA
The availability of outbound files in fileX CT environment may be delayed on 8/12 and 8/13 due to a planned maintenance activity. fileX customers who experience issues during this time are advised to reconnect and retrieve outbound files after the maintenance window.
/bit.ly/3lVRIe2
Financial Requirements Section 12 — Changes in required minimum security deposits for certain forex transactions
NFA
NFA Financial Requirements Section 12 requires forex dealer members to collect and maintain a minimum security deposit of 2% of the notional value of transactions in ten listed major currencies and 5% of the notional value of other transactions. In 2016, NFA's Executive Committee, pursuant to its authority under Section 12, increased the minimum security deposit for currency pairs involving the British pound to 5% and the minimum security deposit for currency pairs involving the Japanese yen to 4%.
/bit.ly/3fWDcix
Whistleblowers make 2,754 separate allegations of financial misconduct to FCA; Around £190m in financial penalties had been handed out
Pedro Gonçalves - ProfessionalAdviser.com
A total of 2,754 separate allegations of misconduct, including fraud, money laundering and compliance complaints have been logged with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), with 184 individuals and firms currently under investigation for carrying out unauthorised business.
/bit.ly/3AAigpp
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | European investors pour nearly $1bn into gold ETFs in July; Inflows stand in marked contrast to continued net selling from US funds suggesting a divergence in sentiment
Alex Hamer and Emma Boyde - FT
European investors poured nearly $1bn into exchange traded funds that invest directly in gold in July, more than offsetting outflows from US funds and indicating the emergence of divergent views on inflation, the global economy and future direction of the precious metal.
/on.ft.com/3m2Jpxn
IEA slashes oil demand forecast as Delta variant spreads; Renewed social curbs in Asia 'look set to reduce mobility and oil use', organisation says
Neil Hume - FT
The International Energy Agency has "sharply" lowered its oil demand forecasts for the rest of the year after several major energy-consuming countries imposed fresh curbs to stop the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant.
/on.ft.com/3fWggA3
Investors need to evaluate the impact of a growing nationalism; Moves to protect technology and secure food and raw material supplies hit markets
John Redwood - FT
The FT fund has made reasonable progress this year. The decision to make the MSCI World Index the largest single holding in the portfolio of exchange traded funds (ETFs) has helped: amid volatile changes in sentiment, investors switched from wanting low-priced value stocks to seeing some of the longer-term benefits of the digital giants that are powering the main economic revolution of our age. This has made a sector-based strategy hazardous.
/on.ft.com/2VRk3rt
BlackRock, Other Investors Wield Growing Board, Shareholder Vote Clout; Strength of index-tracking funds sets the stage for future showdowns over issues from director seats to climate-change disclosure
Dawn Lim and Justin Baer - WSJ
BlackRock Inc. BLK 0.50% and other heavyweight investors were more willing to flex their muscles against companies in the past year, setting the stage for future showdowns over issues from board seats to climate-change disclosure.
/on.wsj.com/3jNkr2a
Two Fed Officials Call for End to Bond-Buying Program; 'The time has come to dial back the settings,' says Kansas City reserve bank president
Nick Timiraos - WSJ
Two Federal Reserve officials said Wednesday it is time for the central bank to start reversing the easy money policies put in place to support the economy after the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. in March 2020.
/on.wsj.com/2XdGo2C
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Sicily's 120-Degree Heat Threatens to Topple European Record
Megan Durisin - Bloomberg
Temperatures seen hitting 48.8C in Italian island on Wednesday; It's the latest example of extreme weather around the world
The Italian island of Sicily may have just smashed continental Europe's heat record, the latest example of how climate change is causing extreme weather events around the globe.
/bloom.bg/3lWO03Y
Heatwave Scorches Mediterranean in Latest Sign of Climate Change Impacts; There's a risk the temperatures could worsen dry conditions fueling Greece's fires.
Will Mathis - Bloomberg
A dangerous heatwave is sweeping across the Mediterranean, the latest in a series of recent extreme weather events that underscore the real-world impacts of climate change.
/bloom.bg/3AsStPY
With New Urgency, Climate Scientists Recommend Carbon Removal; In the landmark report from the UN-backed IPCC, the authors say reducing emissions is not enough— we must also withdraw billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Leslie Kaufman - Bloomberg
The latest scientific assessment from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change generated plenty of grim headlines on Monday, but at least one of its most important findings went largely unremarked upon. Cutting emissions is paramount, they say—but in order to keep warming below catastrophic levels, we now must also find a way to take billions of tons of the carbon dioxide we've poured into the atmosphere back out. That process is known as carbon dioxide removal, or negative emissions.
/bloom.bg/3CG3BuK
Frackers, Shippers Eye Natural-Gas Leaks as Climate Change Concerns Mount; Cheniere Energy, EQT among those dispatching drones, planes and specialized cameras to collect data amid international pressure from buyers
Collin Eaton - WSJ
Drones darted in patterns above natural-gas wells in the hills of southwest Pennsylvania, as workers atop water tanks pointed specialized cameras, and a helicopter outfitted with a laser-light detection system swooped in low. All searched for an invisible enemy: methane.
/on.wsj.com/2XcSw3W
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Bank of America Closing the Gap With JPMorgan in Asia Deals Race
Cathy Chan - Bloomberg
APAC investment banking contribution doubles in three years; Hires six managing directors to boost investment banking team
Bank of America Corp. is catching up to its biggest rival, JPMorgan Chase & Co., in investment banking in Asia-Pacific as a three-year rebuild of the business with a focus on winning big deals starts paying off.
/bloom.bg/2Xbuq9I
Nuveen launches suite of semi-transparent active ETFs; Move underlines manager's continued commitment to product innovation
Jackie Noblett - FT
Nuveen has launched three active equity exchange traded funds that shield portfolio holdings from daily disclosure, in a move that underlines the US asset manager's continued focus on innovation.
/on.ft.com/2VGlx7X
Morgan Stanley interns favor flexibility as CEO blasts working from home
Lydia Moynihan - NY Post
Morgan Stanley interns say they would like more work flexibility — even as their hard-charging CEO rails against the growing work-from-home movement.
/bit.ly/3lY9fTc
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Europe's Natural Gas Crunch Deepens
Elena Mazneva - Bloomberg
European inventories are at lowest seasonal level in a decade; Flows on pipeline from Russia via Poland reduced since July 31
Gazprom PJSC is withdrawing natural gas from some of Europe's storage facilities, denting critical efforts to rebuild supplies ahead of winter. The world's biggest producer is taking fuel to compensate for lower supplies via the Yamal-Europe pipeline through Belarus and Poland to meet demand from customers, said a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
/bloom.bg/3jHevHU
New Zealand plans gradual border reopening as skills shortage hits industry; Jacinda Ardern warns easing curbs too soon risks outbreaks despite criticism of zero-Covid strategy
Jamie Smyth - FT
New Zealand will gradually reopen its international border next year but will maintain its zero-tolerance policy towards the spread of coronavirus as criticism of the country's response to the pandemic mounts.
/on.ft.com/3ABzJ0O
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