| January 21, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Commissioner Caroline D. Pham was named acting chairman of the CFTC yesterday following her being selected by President Donald Trump and elected by her fellow commissioners at the CFTC, the commission announced.
As a student of history-or perhaps just an old guy who has seen too much of it-I like to step back from time to time and reexamine events through a historical lens. While my glib comments in JLN yesterday about the pre-inauguration memecoin launch by President Trump and his wife Melania focused on the obscene amount of money seemingly conjured out of thin air and the use of this sacred American event for apparent personal gain, there is actually a much deeper history to the story. The tradition of presidents or those close to them issuing coins, medallions, tokens, and medals dates back to the very inception of our Constitution.
The tradition of creating commemorative medallions, tokens, and badges for U.S. presidential inaugurations dates back to George Washington's inauguration in 1789. Initially, these items were privately minted or produced by public organizations to honor the historic importance of a peaceful transfer of power. Featuring intricate designs and the president's likeness, these keepsakes symbolized national pride and showcased exceptional craftsmanship.
For example, at The White House Gift Shop, you can purchase items like The Donald J. Trump Genius Coin: A White House GS Historic Limited Edition Collectible by Anthony F. Giannini or the White House History Coin: 1st Inauguration of President Trump, Presented in a 2-Piece Gold Seal Box, both available for $100.00 each. In contrast, the Coin, President Barack Obama with Seal on Reverse, 1.5" Diameter Gold Finish is priced at just $14.95.
Over the years, the practice expanded to include items like inaugural badges and official Presidential Inaugural Medals, first standardized for William McKinley's inauguration in 1901. These medals, typically produced under the auspices of the inaugural committees, evolved into a fundraising tool and a way to memorialize the incoming president's legacy. Alongside these, significant commemorative medallions, such as those honoring the centennials of the Declaration of Independence or Abraham Lincoln's birth, highlighted broader historical milestones.
Today, the tradition has taken a digital turn. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump's actions exemplify this evolution by their issuing memecoins ahead of the inauguration. These blockchain-based tokens, $TRUMP and $MELANIA, marked a significant departure from physical medallions, blending tradition with modern technology and catering to a new generation of collectors and supporters. Goodbye old neighborhood coin shop, hello Coinbase. The move symbolizes how commemorative practices adapt to changing times, embracing digital innovation while maintaining the spirit of celebration and historical acknowledgment. That does not mean there isn't some grifting going on, but it has a very good cover story.
There have already been cost efficiencies implemented at DOGE, the Department of Governmental Efficiency, as Vivek Ramaswamy quit the program leaving Elon Musk in charge, The Guardian reported. Ramaswamy is reportedly running for governor of the state of Ohio.
Bloomberg's Zeke Faux, the author of Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall, has a story titled "Commerce Nominee Lutnick Is Backer of Outlaws' Favorite Cryptocurrency" with the subheadline "Cantor Fitzgerald holds assets for Tether, the stablecoin used by drug traffickers, terrorists and scammers to move money around the world." The story talks about how Commerce Secretary nominee Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, has deep ties to Tether, the stablecoin often associated with illicit activities such as drug trafficking and sanctions evasion. Cantor holds most of the U.S. Treasury bonds backing Tether's $130 billion in tokens, helping it maintain its value. Lutnick's support bolstered Tether during a crisis of confidence in 2021, making Cantor a key player in the stablecoin's ecosystem and earning the firm tens of millions in fees. Critics, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, question Lutnick's ability to serve in the public interest given his financial ties to Tether, which has faced regulatory scrutiny for facilitating criminal activities and misrepresenting its reserves.
Bitnomial, Inc. announced it will launch the Bitnomial Clearinghouse, LLC (BNCH), a CFTC-registered Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), on January 30, 2025. BNCH will become the fourth U.S. clearinghouse to handle margined, physically- and cash-settled products, joining CME, ICE, and MGEX. This launch will facilitate new digital asset derivatives and provide an end-to-end ecosystem for trading, clearing, and settlement within a U.S.-regulated framework. Bitnomial claims that the clearinghouse will address inefficiencies in traditional systems by accepting digital asset collateral like BTC, ETH, and stablecoins for margining futures and options, offering lower margin rates and improved risk management. Future developments, pending regulatory approval, include launching a professional trading interface, introducing new crypto derivatives (e.g., XRP and ETH futures), enabling portfolio margining, and establishing U.S.-based perpetual futures markets.
I am not saying what Musk did with his arm at a post inauguration event was or wasn't. What I am saying is that today is the day I am suspending my Twitter account and moving to BlueSky. I am currently on BlueSky. I am not the only one. In an X-odus, Germany's central bank and its defense ministry have suspended their accounts on X in response to billionaire owner Elon Musk's antics, Bloomberg reported.
With the declaration that the Gulf of Mexico shall be known forthwith as the Gulf of America, will all schools be sent a Sharpie to change all their maps and globes? Inquiring minds want to know.
The Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a very good game last night for the College Football Playoff National Championship game, ESPN reported. As someone who grew up in a household with a father who graduated from Ohio State, as well as my Godparents, my uncle and aunt, and being a Purdue Boilermaker myself, I was pleased with the outcome. As the saying goes, at Purdue, my two favorite teams are Purdue and whoever is playing Notre Dame.
Cecile Richards, the former Planned Parenthood President, has died at the age of 67, The New York Times reported. Richards is the daughter of the late Anne Richards, the former Texas governor. She was also a colleague of my brother-in-law Bryan Howard, who served as the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Arizona.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: ANALYSIS: EEX expects trends behind 'exceptional' 2024 to continue, SSY marks 'landmark' for new Singapore Exchange iron ore contract, ANALYSIS: Trump inauguration rings the changes in US regulation, LCH appoints Susi de Verdelon as chief exec, replacing Girolami, CFTC appoints Pham as acting chair on Trump's inauguration day and ICE to launch SONIA futures to coincide with UK rates decisions.
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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CME Group Prepares for U.S. Treasury Clearing Mandate with New Securities Offering, Tokenization, and AI Innovations
JohnLothianNews.com
CME Group is preparing for the implementation of the U.S. Treasury clearing mandate by leveraging its long-standing partnership with the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation and developing its own securities clearing offering, according to Suzanne Sprague, chief operating officer and global head of Clearing & Post-Trade Services.
Watch the video »
Nadine Chakar - DTCC
Watch Video »
Rob Hocking - Cboe
Watch Video »
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Change Your iPhone, Android Location Settings Now-Do Not Ignore NSA Warning
Zak Doffman - Forbes
"Different users accept different levels of risk regarding location tracking, but most users have some level of concern," NSA warns. "Location data can be extremely valuable and must be protected." The intel agency had personnel compromise in mind when it published its advisory, but the U.S. government's latest warning has something very different in mind. You need to check your location settings now - getting this wrong could cost you a significant amount of money. The FTC has found that "companies track consumer behaviors to inform surveillance pricing," with a particular focus on location and browser tracking. "The Federal Trade Commission's initial findings from its surveillance pricing market study revealed that details like a person's precise location or browser history can be frequently used to target individual consumers with different prices for the same goods and services."
/jlne.ws/3E7gnI0
***** Guess what, you are being tracked anyway. Unless you go back to a couple of cans connected by a string, you are going to be tracked.~JJL
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JPMorgan 'War Room' Examining First Days of Trump Presidency; Clients feel 'euphoria' and deals, IPOs will return, Gori says; Bank is analyzing every policy decision from the government
Harry Wilson and William Shaw - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has deployed teams working overtime to analyze the impact of the early outlines of the policy shift under President Donald Trump, according to Mary Erdoes, chief of the asset and wealth management arm of America's largest bank. "At JPMorgan, we have a war room set up to analyze and evaluate each and every one of these [policies]," Erdoes said, speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "So they've been up all night and are working on it. Time will tell."
/jlne.ws/40Ffj6G
****** I wonder if they have a big map and sticks to help them move the tariffs around on the map?~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our most clicked story Monday was a three way tie. We'll start with Frigid subzero weather grips Chicago on 40-year anniversary of record low, from The Chicago Tribune. (And it is not wrong - Weather.com says it is currently minus 5 Fahrenheit here, with a "feels like" temperature of minus 23F. We still might see some Chicagoans walking around in shorts.) Next is Biden Pardons Family, Friends in Last-Minute Clemency, from Bloomberg. And the third in the three-way tie was Israel and Hamas Swap Hostages and Prisoners as Ceasefire Starts, from Bloomberg. Our second most clicked story was Crypto Executives Warn Trump's Memecoins Harm the Industry, from Bloomberg. And third was Trump Inauguration Live: Jan. 6 Rioter Released, from The Wall Street Journal.
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| Lead Stories | ICE Launches Index to Track Performance of New Listings on the New York Stock Exchange; Facilitates Passive Investment in New Listings on NYSE Exchanges; Includes 81 listings during the previous three years
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced the launch of the NYSE IPO Index (NYSEIPO), a new equal-weighted index to track the performance of companies listed on the NYSE Group's exchanges that have been spun off, directly listed, uplisted from OTC or ex-U.S. markets or completed initial public offerings (IPOs) during the last three years. "This new index facilitates investment in the performance of NYSE-listed companies shortly after their arrival to the market. It combines the power of the NYSE and the quality of companies that choose to list here with ICE's robust index business," said Lynn Martin, President of NYSE Group. "The NYSE continues to be the premier venue for companies seeking access to capital markets, with companies choosing the NYSE historically outperforming companies debuting on other exchanges in the weeks, months and years following their listing day."
/jlne.ws/3PFELmu
Wall Street Banks' Client Trading Practices Examined by UK
Laura Noonan and William Shaw - Bloomberg
UK financial regulators are examining how top investment banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Plc handle client trades. The Financial Conduct Authority has asked a handful of large institutions for information about their trade processing in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named as the probe isn't public.
/jlne.ws/40DorZI
Currency Manipulation Warning Sparks Debate on Trump's Plans; A fact sheet called for US agencies to address FX manipulation; Warning is a "ground-breaking newsworthy item," says Westpac
Ruth Carson and Matthew Burgess - Bloomberg
Donald Trump's first day in office has whipsawed global markets, with traders zeroing in on a warning over currency manipulation which may spark greater volatility ahead. A fact sheet from the new US administration that is yet to be made public has called for key federal agencies to address foreign-exchange manipulation by other countries, prompting strategists to ponder who will be targeted. Japan, China, Germany and Singapore are already on the US Treasury Department's "monitoring list" for currency practices.
/jlne.ws/40qR9LR
The FCA isn't working - it should be broken up; Britain deserves a strong, competent financial regulator capable of rooting out and deterring misbehaviour
Philip Augar - Financial Times (opinion)
The writer is the author of several books on the City and Wall Street. Is it time to break up the Financial Conduct Authority? It is one half of the UK's "twin peaks" regulators - the other is the Prudential Regulation Authority, a financial stability watchdog - and is under heavy fire. At the end of last year, the FCA was accused in a parliamentary report of being systemically incompetent, dishonest, non-transparent, unaccountable and slow to act. This year it has admitted freedom of information requests from the public were "inappropriately" delayed, precisely the kind of opaque culture identified by parliamentarians.
/jlne.ws/4hn8YTc
Hong Kong, Macau link bond clearance systems to create larger market for fundraising
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong and Macau have linked up their bond clearance and settlements systems, creating a larger market for fixed-income financial products that can help companies and local authorities raise capital. The Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Macau Central Securities Depository and Clearing launched the link on Tuesday for clearing, settling and holding bonds lodged in each other's systems.
/jlne.ws/4jqmebu
US banks 'in go-mode' under Donald Trump, says JPMorgan executive; Wall Street bets that a lighter-touch regulatory regime under the new administration will spur dealmaking
Simon Foy in London and Ortenca Aliaj in Davos - Financial Times
US banks are "in the beginning of go-mode" and "animal spirits are alive", according to a senior JPMorgan Chase executive, as Wall Street bets that a lighter-touch regulatory regime under President Donald Trump will spur dealmaking in the world's largest economy. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, Mary Erdoes, asset and wealth management chief at the Wall Street lender, said it was "hopeful" that Trump's regulatory approach would boost the US economy, undoing some of the burden placed on the banking industry by Joe Biden's administration.
/jlne.ws/4apvf0e
Banks Could Be Hurt By a Leverage Ban in SRTs, Hedge Fund Says
Esteban Duarte - Bloomberg
Banning the use of leverage in significant risk transfers could have a knock-on impact on the cost of credit for consumers and businesses, according to Seer Capital Management LP, a hedge fund that has invested in the deals since 2010. SRTs provide an efficient way for banks to improve their capital buffers allowing them to lend money at a lower cost, the New York-based alternative asset manager said in a note seen by Bloomberg News. In return, investors in the transactions typically receive yields that frequently top 10% for taking on the junior losses on pools of everything from car loans to corporate debt.
/jlne.ws/40HsXGK
Bawag Plans SRT Tied to EUR2.4 Billion of Loans After M&A Spree
Esteban Duarte and Marton Eder - Bloomberg
Bawag Group AG is assessing investor interest for a significant risk transfer linked to a portfolio of about EUR2.4 billion ($2.5 billion) of loans, the first of three such deals planned for this year, according to people familiar with the matter. Vienna-based lender Bawag is sounding out investors about an SRT linked to a portfolio of Austrian mortgages, said people familiar with the plans, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Bawag is preparing the transaction internally after hiring Arturs Stendzenieks, a securitization banker from Raiffeisen Bank International, people said.
/jlne.ws/4apxoci
Goldman Picks Leaders to Run Wall Street Engines in Major Revamp
Todd Gillespie and Sridhar Natarajan - Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is preparing to promote a slate of star executives to run its biggest Wall Street business lines, spotlighting the firm's next generation of leadership. The bank, which just reported a surge in profit, is planning to tap new global leaders for its equities, fixed-income and banking units, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named discussing personnel decisions. It also plans to name new co-heads of its international unit.
/jlne.ws/4h7Y2cs
**** Here is the Financial Times' version of this story, titled "Goldman Sachs taps new generation to lead key Wall Street units."~JJL
UBS CEO Says Switzerland Risks Overreaction With Capital Plan
Noele Illien and John Micklethwait - Bloomberg
UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti said the bank is pushing back against the Swiss government's proposals to make it hold substantially more capital, arguing that the design of new rules is over the top and will hurt competitiveness. The requirement to maintain 100% backing of its foreign units would be "an extreme overreaction that will not really help foster Switzerland as a leading financial center," Ermotti said in an interview in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/4g4QRjJ
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | A Ukrainian drone commander says battlefield tech can change within a month, and the old style of yearslong military contracts can't keep up
Matthew Loh - Business Insider
A Ukrainian commander overseeing a drone battalion said the speed at which his decentralized manufacturers can alter their battlefield tech gives them an edge over traditional defense production lines. "We say to them: 'Here, after three months, this antenna no longer works, this GPS module no longer works.' We tell them: 'This and this needs to be changed,'" said a battalion commander for the 14th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle regiment to the Ukrainian military channel ARMY TV.
/jlne.ws/4auQQ7I
Putin's Torturers Couldn't Break These Ukrainian Prisoners; Former POWs detail cruel methods, including beatings and electric shocks from a field telephone known as 'a call to Putin'
Oksana Grytsenko - The Wall Street Journal
Twenty-six Ukrainian prisoners of war sat naked on a cold stone floor, their legs crossed, heads bowed and hands clasped behind their backs. The fresh arrivals at a jail in the Russian border city of Kursk were undergoing a routine and brutal procedure known as priyomka, or admission.
/jlne.ws/3PGM6lN
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Is Hamas back? The sight of militants on the streets of Gaza since the ceasefire raises the possibility that they may again run the enclave
Heba Saleh, Neri Zilber and Mai Khaled - Financial Times
Within hours of the Gaza ceasefire starting on Sunday, dozens of masked fighters from Hamas's armed Qassam Brigades emerged in their distinctive black balaclavas and green headbands to deliver three hostages to Red Cross vehicles taking them back to freedom in Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, had vowed to "destroy" the militant group in the wake of its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Instead, after 15 months of fighting an underground guerrilla war, Hamas's officials, fighters and policemen have in the days since the deal emerged from the rubble of the shattered enclave - seemingly ready to rule Gaza once again.
/jlne.ws/42ml1LZ
Hamas Is Effectively Back in Control in Gaza; With no alternative following a cease-fire with Israel, the militant group has a moment to assert power
Omar Abdel-Baqui and Summer Said - The Wall Street Journal
After Israeli troops stood down when a cease-fire came into effect in the Gaza Strip, Hamas began sending thousands of its forces onto the streets to establish control. The deployment-envisioned by the agreement that pauses the fighting while the combatants exchange hostages for prisoners-highlights how the U.S.-designated terrorist group remains the dominant power in the territory. Israel hasn't been able to destroy the group or empower an alternative.
/jlne.ws/40H9w0A
Israel Starts Operation in Jenin as Attention Turns to West Bank
Marissa Newman and Fadwa Hodali - Bloomberg
Israel started a major operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, adding to fears that attention is shifting from Gaza to the larger of the two Palestinian territories. At least seven Palestinians were killed in the raids on Tuesday and another 35 people were injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the operation - which it said was named "Iron Wall" - but provided no further detail.
/jlne.ws/3PMq8hf
Ceasefire to Boost Israeli Tech Funding, Innovation Chief Says
Cagan Koc - Bloomberg
Israeli technology startups are poised to raise more funds this year than in 2024 due to the Gaza ceasefire and lower interest rates, according to the nation's innovation chief. "There are a lot of indicators which give us a good sign," Israel Innovation Authority Chairman Alon Stopel said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that venture capital funds will boost investment in the country.
/jlne.ws/3Q4BvkV
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | LSEG appoints new chief executive of LCH Limited; Individual has been promoted to the role after originally joining LCH Limited in 2017; currently serves as group head of LCH SwapClear and Listed Rates.
Wesley Bray - The Trade News
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has named Susi de Verdelon chief executive of LCH Limited, set to assume the role next month pending regulatory approvals. De Verdelon joined LCH Limited in 2017 and currently serves as group head of LCH SwapClear and Listed Rates, where she holds responsibility for driving performance, growth and resilience of the SwapClear and Listed Rates clearing services. Before joining LCH Limited, she held various sales and strategy roles in the securities division as a managing director at Goldman Sachs.
/jlne.ws/42mBcJn
Susi de Verdelon appointed CEO of LCH Limited
LSEG
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) today announces that Susi de Verdelon has been appointed CEO of LCH Limited. Susi will assume the role in February 2025, subject to regulatory non-objection, and will report to Daniel Maguire, Group Head, LSEG Markets and CEO of LCH Group. The appointment follows the decision of Isabelle Girolami to leave LCH Limited as CEO, having held the position since November 2019. Susi joined LCH Limited in 2017 and is currently Group Head of LCH SwapClear and Listed Rates, where she is responsible for driving performance and growth and ensuring the continued resilience of the SwapClear and Listed Rates clearing services. Prior to LCH Limited, Susi held a number of Sales & Strategy roles in the Securities Division as a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs.
/jlne.ws/3PKzREC
Funding and financing in an age of geopolitical uncertainty
Eurex
Clearstream's Marton Szigeti and Eurex Repo's Frank Gast explain how Deutsche Borse Group's cleared and uncleared repo services are helping cash lenders and borrowers to meet their liquidity needs across a wide range of market conditions. Geopolitics is currently front of mind for Europe's financial authorities as they navigate the sector through a period of complex monetary readjustment. Conflict in the Middle East, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and US-China tensions over Taiwan are just some of the political drivers which have reinforced financial uncertainty during this phase of post-pandemic adaptation.
/jlne.ws/4hoBHH3
ICE Launches Index to Track Performance of New Listings on the New York Stock Exchange
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced the launch of the NYSE IPO Index (NYSEIPO), a new equal-weighted index to track the performance of companies listed on the NYSE Group's exchanges that have been spun off, directly listed, uplisted from OTC or ex-U.S. markets or completed initial public offerings (IPOs) during the last three years.
/jlne.ws/3PFELmu
JPXI Adds Off-Auction Distribution and Off-Auction Share Buyback Datasets to J-Quants Pro Data Service
JPX
Today, January 21, 2025, JPX Market Innovation & Research, Inc. ("JPXI") added two new datasets to J-Quants Pro, an API/SFTP data distribution service offering corporate users insightful data on Japanese financial markets.
/jlne.ws/4jho6Dc
Event Report - Japan-Southeast Asia Market Forum 2024
JPX
An international economic forum titled the "Japan-Southeast Asia Market Forum 2024" was held in Singapore on November 19, 2024, jointly hosted by the Japan Exchange Group (JPX) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). As the third activity based on the MOU between JPX and JETRO, the Forum featured prominent speakers from government agencies, financial institutions and start-ups in the region to provide overseas investors, entrepreneurs and others with an overview of the "now" in Japan. The 400 attendees at the forum expressed their expectations for more excitement about the innovation sector in Southeast Asia, its mid/long-term market trends, and the potential for further cooperation between Japan and Southeast Asia.
/jlne.ws/3WnM2Lt
MCX's Q3 FY25 Consolidated Income from Operations up 57% YoY
to Rs. 301 crores
MCX
The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX), India's largest Exchange in the Commodity Derivatives Market segment, announced its unaudited financial results for the 3rd Quarter ended December 31, 2024.
/jlne.ws/3Q4x8Gx
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | IPC's C-suite shuffle signals bigger changes for trader voice tech Waters; Wrap: After a series of personnel changes at the legacy provider, WatersTechnology examines what these moves might mean for the future of turrets and trader voice.
Anthony Malakian and Emma Hilary Gould - WatersTechnology
At the start of this year, private equity firm Strategic Value Partners acquired the final 40% of IPC, taking full ownership of the network services and trading communication company. SVP has owned 60% of the company since 2021. It would stand to reason that SVP was pleased with IPC's results if it decided to take full control. Private equity firms have a history of investing in technology companies, but what makes the IPC-SVP deal interesting is the flurry of executive moves that followed and
/jlne.ws/3ChJJCG
Meta Will Use Fact Checkers Outside the US 'for Now'
Jillian Deutsch - Bloomberg
Meta Platforms Inc. will continue to use its fact checkers outside of the US "for now" even as the Instagram and Facebook owner does away with the practice at home, the company's head of global business Nicola Mendelsohn said. Meta, which said it will replace third-party fact checkers in the US with a community notes system, will see how the change plays out before deciding about a transition in other regions, Mendelsohn said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Francine Lacqua at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday.
/jlne.ws/3Cud6Si
OpenAI CFO Calls Musk Legal Challenge Competitive 'Lawfare'
Shirin Ghaffary and Gian Volpicelli - Bloomberg
OpenAI Inc. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar characterized Elon Musk's legal challenge to stop the ChatGPT maker from becoming a for-profit company as competitive maneuvering. "We hope that he won't keep resorting to using law and lawfare to compete," Friar said in an interview at Bloomberg House during the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday. Musk, who owns rival xAI and was previously part of the team that launched OpenAI as a nonprofit, has claimed the company is breaching its founding mission.
/jlne.ws/40ofQsy
Do androids dream of financial crises? Finreg by AI
Daniel Davies - Financial Times
You can tell that people are getting serious when their research has a yellow cover like one of those expensive mathematics textbooks: And the team at the European Banking Authority is indeed getting serious - it's just published a distinctly better than workmanlike piece on the possibility of using random forests, neural networks and similar techniques to potentially make a bit of progress towards one of the great dreams of central bank economists. That is to say, the possibility to automate the dreary and unprestigious job of bank supervision, using machines to monitor the data rather than going through supervisory returns yourself.
/jlne.ws/4aoSoQi
French AI Champion Mistral Isn't for Sale, CEO Mensch Says
Benoit Berthelot and Francine Lacqua - Bloomberg
European artificial intelligence champion Mistral AI is "not for sale" and instead is working toward an initial public offering, according to Chief Executive Officer Arthur Mensch. "Of course that's the plan," Mensch said on Bloomberg TV Tuesday when asked about a potential IPO for the French AI startup. Mensch, speaking in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said Mistral is opening a Singapore office to focus on the Asia-Pacific region and is growing in Europe and the US.
/jlne.ws/4jqlTWg
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Biden's Cybersecurity Executive Order and What Comes Next Under Trump
David Aaron - Just Security
By the time this analysis is published, or by the time you read it, President Donald Trump may have withdrawn or modified the Jan. 16 "Executive Order on Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation's Cybersecurity" and other cybersecurity policies issued under the Biden Administration. Enacted in the final days of the Biden administration, Executive Order (EO) 14114 aims to strengthen the federal government's cybersecurity policies by requiring-rather than simply encouraging-government vendors, cloud providers, and contractors to meet certain cybersecurity requirements.
/jlne.ws/3E3j7pH
The State Of AI Cybersecurity In 2025 And Beyond
Rohan Pinto - Forbes
The year 2025 represents a watershed moment in the history of cybersecurity, as the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), advanced persistent threats and increasingly complex digital ecosystems reshape the landscape. AI, which was originally solely used for automation and optimization, now acts as both a shield and a sword in the field of cybersecurity. This article delves into the state of AI in cybersecurity as of 2025, including rising trends and future issues.
/jlne.ws/3PLwjlE
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Trump coin and Melania coin are 'gambling tokens': Anthony Scaramucci
Brian Sozzi - Yahoo Finance
New meme coins from President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump could leave retail investors in a bad place. "It's a gambling token. It's a meme coin," Anthony Scaramucci told Yahoo Finance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "Our society is always going to have gambling. Our society is always going to have smoking and alcohol. But he's the leader of our country, and he does represent something to the rest of these countries, at least the institution of the presidency once did. So I don't like it."
/jlne.ws/4h3WPTc
Trump-backed crypto venture to extend token sales after raising $1bn; Entrepreneur Justin Sun among investors buying into World Liberty Financial
Nikou Asgari - Financial Times
The digital assets venture promoted by Donald Trump has hit a target of raising $1bn through token sales and has offered more to the public, as it capitalises on enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies backed by the incoming US president. World Liberty Financial, a project backed by Trump and his three sons, said on Monday it had sold 21bn tokens, surpassing its aim at launch in October to sell 20bn, or $1bn worth.
/jlne.ws/3WnPpC7
Commerce Nominee Lutnick Is Backer of Outlaws' Favorite Cryptocurrency; Cantor Fitzgerald holds assets for Tether, the stablecoin used by drug traffickers, terrorists and scammers to move money around the world.
Zeke Faux and Todd Gillespie - Bloomberg
To the crypto company Tether, the account was identified only by a 31-character string: TTAHMdqoom4f2VTWniroPWQHcTRZ4ca.It's a cryptocurrency wallet address, one of more than 300 million around the world that have held Tether tokens and make up a global unregulated payments network. Unlike a bank or fintech company, Tether collects no personal information about most of its users. Anyone can open a crypto wallet and move money with Tether quickly, cheaply and anonymously.
/jlne.ws/3WrLjZG
Trump's Volatile New Memecoin Sucks Flows, Saps Wider Crypto Market; The new Trump token at one point hit some $15 billion in value; Many other coins fell as Trump's launch hogged the spotlight
Stacy-Marie Ishmael - Bloomberg
A digital token debuted by President-elect Donald Trump has rattled the cryptocurrency market, attracting billions of dollars of trading volume while stoking concerns about conflicts of interest. Trading under the "Trump" ticker on the Solana blockchain, the token's market value surged to $15 billion over the weekend, data from CoinMarketCap show, after the Republican touted it on his social media accounts on Friday.
/jlne.ws/3E5fvU2
What Are Memecoins and Why Did Trump Launch One?
Muyao Shen, Suvashree Ghosh, and Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
Memecoins are cryptocurrencies that begin with an internet meme or a joke. Speculative and volatile, they are held up by skeptics as proof that crypto will never compete with traditional finance. So when Donald Trump and his family launched two memecoins to mark his return to the White House, some crypto executives suggested it would do their industry more harm than good.
/jlne.ws/3Wtq7SW
MicroStrategy Buys $1.1 Billion of Bitcoin Before Share Vote
Monique Mulima - Bloomberg
MicroStrategy Inc. bought $1.1 billion of Bitcoin, as the company gears up for a shareholder vote on a 30 times increase its authorized Class A shares. This marks the 11th consecutive week of token purchases for the enterprise software company turned leveraged Bitcoin proxy. Co-founder and Chairman Michael Saylor has been ramping up purchases of the original cryptocurrency, with the Tysons Corner, Virgina-based firm now owning over 2% of all the Bitcoin that will ever exist.
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Ether Trails Rivals as Trump's Memecoin Debut Bolsters Solana; The Ether-to-Bitcoin ratio is at its lowest level since 2021; The second-largest digital asset is falling behind rival coins
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump announces purge of over 1,000 Biden appointees
Kanishka Singh - Reuters
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he plans to remove over 1,000 appointees from the administration of former President Joe Biden, announcing four dismissals on social media, including celebrity chef Jose Andres and former top general Mark Milley. "My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again," Trump said in a post on Truth Social just after midnight.
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Make America Cheap Again; Donald Trump takes office with the most expensive stock market in history. He wouldn't welcome a slump, but most investors should.
Spencer Jakab - The Wall Street Journal
Mister, we could not use a man like Herbert Hoover again. Presidents wield incredible power, but one thing beyond their control is the stock market hand they are dealt. When trading begins Tuesday, President Trump will have made history by inheriting one even hotter than Hoover did just months before Black Tuesday. A historic crash or shantytowns being named for The Donald are unlikely. Even so, the best predictor of stock market returns over the medium term is how expensive they are today, so Trump's prospects aren't great. Of all the measures of the market's priciness, among the most reliable is the cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratio developed by Yale University economist Robert Shiller, since it looks back a decade and adjusts for inflation. On that basis, American stocks are 83% more expensive than when Bill Clinton first took the oath of office, 145% more than when Barack Obama first did and a whopping four times Ronald Reagan's starting point. They even are a third pricier than at the start of Trump's own first term.
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Donald Trump threatens tax war over US multinationals; President orders officials to draw up retaliatory measures against 'extraterritorial' taxes
Peter Foster in London, Andy Bounds in Brussels and Emma Agyemang in Copenhagen - Financial Times
Donald Trump has ordered officials to draw up retaliatory measures against countries applying "extraterritorial" levies on US multinationals, in a move that threatens to trigger a global confrontation over tax regimes. The US president made the move in an executive order on Monday night, withdrawing US support for a global tax pact agreed at the OECD last year that allows other countries to levy top-up taxes on US multinationals.
/jlne.ws/4anLw5Z
Citizens of countries with 'deficient' security checks face US ban
Josephine Cumbo in London - Financial Times
Citizens of countries where security checks are deemed "deficient" could be banned from entering the US under one of Trump's executive orders signed on Monday. The order gives US officials 60 days to identify countries for which vetting and screening information is currently "so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries". Officials must establish how many nationals from such countries of concern had entered or been admitted to the US since January 20 2021.
/jlne.ws/4apAPQc
Trump Plans to Impose 25% Tariffs on Mexico, Canada by Feb. 1; President threatens duty for fentanyl, undocumented migration; Trump speaks in first Oval Office comments after inauguration
Josh Wingrove and Eric Martin - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump signaled plans to impose previously threatened tariffs of as much as 25% on Mexico and Canada by Feb. 1, reiterating his contention that America's closest neighbors and largest trading partners are letting undocumented migrants and drugs flood into the US.
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Elon Musk's Antics Are Too Much for Germany's Central Bank; French and German politicians and ministers are leaving X. They may be onto something.
Lionel Laurent - Bloomberg Opinion
"Spend less time on social media" is a New Year's resolution that a lot of us are probably already breaking. In Europe, it's a matter of state. An increasing number of continental politicians and government entities, including Germany's central bank and its defense ministry, have suspended their accounts on X in response to billionaire owner Elon Musk's antics. This "X-odus" matters - it has geopolitical significance as European leaders look for ways to reduce their dependency on newly emboldened and Donald Trump-aligned US tech.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | CFTC Names Caroline D. Pham Acting Chairman
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the members of the Commission have unanimously elected Commissioner Caroline D. Pham as Acting Chairman, effective today January 20, 2025. Acting Chairman Pham was nominated to be a CFTC Commissioner on January 12, 2022 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 28, 2022, for a term beginning on April 14, 2022 and expiring on April 13, 2027. She succeeds Rostin Behnam, who served as Chairman since January 4, 2022 and will remain a Commissioner until his departure on February 7, 2025. Read more about Acting Chairman Pham here.
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Statement on the Departure of Chair Gary Gensler
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce; Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw and Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda - SEC
Today is Chair Gensler's final day at the Securities & Exchange Commission. Chair Gensler joined the Commission in 2021 with a lengthy career in public service. He previously served as the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets, and as a senior advisor for U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes. He brought that extensive experience and knowledge of the financial markets to bear as Chair, where together we have worked to further the Commission's mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. Although as Commissioners we approached policy issues from different perspectives, there was always dignity in our differences. Chair Gensler has been committed to bipartisan engagement and a respectful exchange of ideas, which has helped facilitate our service to the American public. For that we are deeply grateful.
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India's SEBI Mulls Steps to Curb 'Black Market' in IPO Shares
Saikat Das and Chiranjivi Chakraborty - Bloomberg
India's securities market regulator is considering steps to formalize trading in initial public offerings where bidding has closed, but the shares are yet to be listed. The Securities and Exchange Board of India may allow investors who get allotment, to trade the entitlement of those shares prior to the listing, according to Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson.
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FMA issues warning to former FMC auditor
FMA
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tatai Hokohoko - has issued a public warning to Mr Allan Facey, a Sydney-based auditor, regarding his conduct as the Engagement Quality Control Reviewer (EQR) for the audit of Alliant Perpetual. The FMA is satisfied that Mr Facey did not comply with two standard conditions of his New Zealand auditor's licence, which was issued by the FMA under the Auditor Regulation Act 2011 pursuant to the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997. The decision stems from the audit of former FMC reporting entity Alliant Perpetual's financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2022 (the audit). Mr Sam Danieli, a Sydney based auditor, conducted the audit and Mr Facey was the EQR.
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SFC's Chairman and CEO paid Director Xia Baolong visit in Beijing
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission's Chairman, Dr Kelvin Wong and its Chief Executive Officer, Ms Julia Leung today paid Mr Xia Baolong, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) of the State Council, a visit in Beijing.
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MMT sanctions chauffeur and wife for insider dealing in Dan Form shares and orders disgorgement of illicit profit
SFC
The Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) has ordered Ms Choi Ban Yee, the wife of a chauffeur who worked for the family of the chairman of Tian An China Investments Company Limited (Tian An) at the material time, to disgorge $106,968 illicit profit gained from insider dealing in the shares of Asiasec Properties Limited, formerly known as Dan Form Holdings Company Limited (Dan Form), before a takeover involving the companies was announced (Notes 1 to 3). The MMT also imposed against Choi and the chauffeur, Mr Sit Yuk Yin, cold shoulder orders for 16 months, cease and desist orders and an order to pay the costs and expenses incurred by the government and the SFC (Notes 4 to 6).
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | US share of global foreign direct investment surges to record; 'Exceptionalism' of world's biggest economy expected to continue as strong domestic demand drives inward flows
Valentina Romei and Sam Fleming - Financial Times
The US share of global cross-border investment projects has soared to its highest level on record, underscoring the country's stronger economic momentum than Europe or China as Donald Trump starts his second term in the Oval Office. The figures for announced greenfield projects - where companies build or expand new facilities and operations in a foreign country - come as political and business leaders gather in Davos to debate how the Trump presidency might reshape the global economic order through steep tariffs and reshored production.
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BHP boosts copper production as miners race to meet growing demand; Strong performance in metal used for key technologies contrasts with weak growth in traditional iron ore operation
Nic Fildes in Sydney - Financial Times
BHP, the world's largest mining company by market capitalisation, has boosted copper production as it races to meet demand for the metal used in key technology ranging from electric vehicles to power grids. The Australian miner produced 10 per cent more copper in the six months to December 31, compared with the previous year, largely driven by strong performance at its Escondida operations in northern Chile, where production rose 22 per cent to a decade high, the company said on Tuesday. Growth in Chile helped offset a downturn at BHP's South Australia copper mines, where electrical storms and power outages hit operations.
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UK North Sea Oil and Gas Still Attractive Despite High Tax, Serica CEO Says; Cox doesn't see North Sea tax regime worsening in coming years; Serica hopes for sensible replacement for UK windfall tax
Olga Tanas - Bloomberg
Serica Energy, a top-10 UK oil and gas producer, is still willing to invest in the nation's North Sea even after the rising tax burden prompted other companies to shift their focus elsewhere. "We're more interested in the UK at the moment than we were previously," Chris Cox, chief executive officer at Serica Energy, said in an interview on Tuesday. "My personal views is that the tax regime isn't going to get worse than it is today, and I quite like to buy at the bottom of the cycle. So I see opportunities in the UK."
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Indonesia eyes nickel production cuts to support price of 'unloved' metal; World's biggest producer says it wants market stability after 40% fall in price over two years
A. Anantha Lakshmi and Diana Mariska in Jakarta and Camilla Hodgson in London - Financial Times
Indonesia is considering potential cuts to nickel ore supplies to help boost prices amid a global glut, in a move that could put the brakes on rapid production growth in the world's largest producer of a metal critical to steelmaking and EV batteries. Nickel prices have dropped about 40 per cent over the past two years to around $16,000 per tonne because of an abundance of supply from Indonesia as demand growth slows for electric vehicles globally. The price slump has triggered substantial closures of nickel mines outside the south-east Asian nation, and has also squeezed margins of domestic producers.
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UK Sale of 2040 Bond Smashes Record With £119 Billion of Demand; Debt Management Office sells £8.5 billion of 15-year debt; Yields on the securities recently rose to an 18-year high
James Hirai - Bloomberg
The UK received record orders for its first syndicated bond sale since borrowing costs spiked earlier this month, offering some respite to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves. The £8.5 billion ($10.4 billion) offering of debt due in 2040 drew excess of £119 billion of demand on Tuesday, beating the previous record for the securities originally sold in September. Since then, UK bond yields surged as the government revealed plans to borrow near-record amounts in the current fiscal year. That, coupled with concerns about inflationary pressures and slow growth, pushed the rate on 15-year gilts to an 18-year high of more than 5.2% earlier this month.
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France Gets Record Demand for Bond Sale After Long Absence; First sale offered via banks since May's inflation-linked deal; Fiscal challenges, political drama have weighed on bonds
Alice Gledhill - Bloomberg
France's first syndicated bond sale in about eight months met an unprecedented flood of investor demand as the new government attempts to muster enough political support to pass a much-needed budget. Orders for the new EUR10 billion ($10.4 billion) note maturing in 2042 blasted past EUR134 billion, the most on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tuesday's offering will price at eight basis points over comparable bonds, said people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified.
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Russian Oil Flows From Key Baltic Port Plunge Unexpectedly
Bloomberg News
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Donald Trump says he will withdraw US from Paris climate accord; Decision deals blow to worldwide efforts to slow global warming after hottest year on record
US President Donald Trump has said he will withdraw the US from the historic Paris climate agreement, dealing a blow to worldwide efforts to slow global warming following the hottest year on record. The decision was announced on Monday among a flurry of pro-fossil fuel policies after Trump took the oath of office with a promise to "drill, baby, drill" in pursuit of what he called "American energy dominance".
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'Chilling effect' spreads to European asset managers over climate even as risks rise; Investors 'tiptoe' around social responsibility to avoid political pressure, while still assessing economic costs
Attracta Mooney and Kenza Bryan in London - Financial Times
European asset managers are following their US counterparts in "pulling back" on a public show of climate action while still quietly assessing risks and new regulations, fund managers, lawyers and consultants told the Financial Times. When a group of investors met this month to discuss putting pressure on Shell at an upcoming annual meeting over its oil and gas growth strategy, there was a notable absence of the asset managers who had joined in filing climate resolutions in the past, those present said. Across Europe, leading managers were taking a cautious approach to socially responsible investing matters, following Donald Trump's election as president and right-wing campaigns against so-called environmental, social and governance investing over the past year.
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Shares in world's biggest offshore wind developer tumble as US woes deepen; Orsted blames interest rates, supply chains and 'market uncertainties' for latest writedown of US business
Rachel Millard - Financial Times
The world's largest offshore wind developer has announced fresh writedowns on its US business, sending its shares down sharply as the inauguration of Donald Trump as president clouds the outlook for the renewables sector. Orsted announced impairments totalling DKr12.1bn ($1.7bn) on Monday evening, blaming interest rates, supply chain challenges and "market uncertainties" affecting the value of its seabed leases.
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The fight over land holding back India's green energy revolution; Competing demand for space is leading to bitter disputes between companies and the people who rely on farming to make a living
Chris Kay - Financial Times
For decades, farmers had tilled the land outside the town of Nandgaon in western India, growing crops including corn and millet. But in late 2022, Tata Power, one of the country's largest energy producers, announced it would begin setting up hundreds of glinting photovoltaic panels stretching out across that sun-drenched patch of countryside in the state of Maharashtra.
/jlne.ws/3Clfkn5
Trump revokes Biden order that had set 50% electric vehicles target for 2030; President tells crowd that US 'will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity'
Dharna Noor and Martin Pengelly - The Guardian
Donald Trump took aim at federal support for the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) on Monday, amid a flurry of promised executive orders on his first day back in the White House. "The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity," Trump said during a ceremony at Capitol One Arena, where he signed a raft of executive orders before a roaring crowd.
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Trump Orders Agencies to Halt Spending From Biden's Climate Law; Trump mandates review of Inflation Reduction Act payments; Day One executive order also eliminates Biden's Climate Corps
Ari Natter - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies to "immediately pause" the spending of money from the Inflation Reduction Act, former President Joe Biden's signature climate law that provided hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to clean energy and other climate initiatives. The directive, included in an executive order issued Monday, mandates agencies to review grants, loans and other payments associated with the Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump has derided as the "Green New Scam."
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Oil Majors Flirt With Electricity; As power generators such as Vistra soar, oil-and-gas giants are dipping their toes into a business where they have some natural advantages
Jinjoo Lee - The Wall Street Journal
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EU Must Limit Reliance on US Energy, Germany's Habeck Says; German economy minister responds to Trump's first-day moves; Withdrawal from Paris Agreement "a fatal signal to the world"
Petra Sorge - Bloomberg
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Trump's Pledged Refill of Oil Reserve Would Carry a Huge Price Tag
David Uberti - The Wall Street Journal
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Perella Weinberg feud goes to trial a decade after schism; Tens of millions of dollars is at stake in dispute between elite investment bank and fired restructuring star Michael Kramer
Sujeet Indap in New York - Financial Times
A parade of Wall Street luminaries is due to testify in a hotly anticipated case starting on Friday surrounding Perella Weinberg Partners' decision a decade ago to fire a star executive whom the elite investment bank says was plotting to launch a rival firm. PWP founders Joe Perella and Peter Weinberg, along with top rainmaker Robert Steel, will tell a New York court they uncovered a secret plan by Michael Kramer, founding head of the bank's restructuring practice, to launch a new, rival business with three of his closest colleagues.
/jlne.ws/4jAxuCe
Abrdn boss Jason Windsor defends company name as flows turn positive; New chief executive hails 'significant progress' as asset manager mounts turnaround
Emma Dunkley in London - Financial Times
The chief executive of Abrdn has defended the asset manager's rebranding and said he has no plans to change its name, as the group reported a return to customer inflows last quarter after a difficult few years. Jason Windsor, who took on the role of chief executive last September, said that the company would stick with the name Abrdn after it was changed from Standard Life Aberdeen under previous boss Stephen Bird in 2021. "The name is the name, we're continuing with it," Windsor said, despite much ridicule over the removal of most of its vowels.
/jlne.ws/3C6WRL3
Talpins' Hedge Fund Returns $6 Billion to Mostly Manage His Cash
Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
Jeff Talpins' macro trading hedge fund Element Capital Management returned more than $6 billion last year, shrinking its asset base and stepping closer to managing mostly internal money. The firm made its fifth and final capital return at the end of the year, bringing down its assets to $3 billion, according to a letter to investors seen by Bloomberg News. About 90% of the assets now is internal cash.
/jlne.ws/3PHLg86
A $500 Million ETF Will Be Next Big Launch in Tax-Busting Trend; Missouri-based wealth manager Hill Investment plans new fund; Investors will swap existing securities for shares in product
Justina Lee - Bloomberg
A Missouri-based wealth manager is poised to join the small but growing list of firms who have flipped assets into exchange-traded funds to help investors slash their tax bills, prepping one of the largest launches of its kind. Hill Investment Group is planning a February debut for the Longview Advantage ETF (ticker EBI), which will start trading with an estimated $500 million of assets. Those have been raised mostly from a long list of investors, each of whom is handing securities they already own to the fund in exchange for shares in the new pooled vehicle.
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Trump Sued Over Order Making It Easier to Fire Federal Staff; Union claims Trump's action will 'reshape' civil service; Lawsuit is one of many expected after Trump's flurry of orders
Sabrina Willmer - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump was sued over an executive order that would make it easier to fire high-level civil service employees. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents US government employees across 37 agencies and departments, claimed in a lawsuit filed in Washington federal court late Monday that Trump's move went against the intent of lawmakers since Congress established "due process rights" for federal career employees. "The Executive Order will radically reshape the civil service by drastically increasing the number and type of employees who are in a new category of excepted service and be at risk of dismissal without adverse action rights," according to the lawsuit.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Trump orders US exit from the World Health Organization
Patrick Wingrove, Jennifer Rigby and Emma Farge - Reuters
The United States will leave the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump said on Monday, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises. Trump said the WHO had failed to act independently from the "inappropriate political influence of WHO member states" and required "unfairly onerous payments" from the U.S. that were disproportionate to the sums provided by other, larger countries, such as China.
/jlne.ws/4h4BXeE
The Alcohol Industry Is Hooked on Its Heaviest Drinkers; While many drinkers cut back, some people who consume 15 or more drinks a week say they are unfazed by health risks; 'It is delicious poison'
Laura Cooper - The Wall Street Journal
Most ads for liquor or beer include a reminder to "drink responsibly." Still, the alcohol industry depends on people who drink more than public-health officials say is safe. A fifth of adults account for an estimated 90% of alcohol sales volumes in the U.S., according to an analysis published in 2023 by equity research firm Bernstein. "Heavier drinkers are obviously where the money is," said Philip Cook, a professor emeritus at Duke University whose 2007 book, "Paying the Tab," was among the scientific studies analyzed by Bernstein.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China to allow foreign investors to take onshore bonds offshore via repos and derivatives
South China Morning Post
China plans to give global investors holding the country's onshore bonds more options in terms of fundraising, in a so-called "last-mile" reform that further opens the nation's financial markets and supports Hong Kong's role as an offshore yuan hub. Last week, People's Bank of China (PBOC) governor Pan Gongsheng unveiled the latest plan to support the city's development and optimise the cross-border connect schemes. Two of the measures are expected to ease capital-flow controls, help foreign investors generate greater returns and manage liquidity, according to industry players.
/jlne.ws/4h1FudB
HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bocom can now open mainland China accounts for Hongkongers
South China Morning Post
HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, and Bank of Communications (Bocom) on Monday started helping Hongkongers open mainland bank accounts remotely, the latest move in a broader effort to make it easier for city residents to cross the border to travel, live, work and retire. After opening a so-called Type II account at a designated branch in Hong Kong, customers can transfer up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,367) per day or 200,000 yuan per year to the mainland account with the same bank. Opening the account is free, and there is no minimum balance requirement.
/jlne.ws/4gdJHde
Paytm Founder Sharma Expects Bank to Get Back Into Business
Sankalp Phartiyal - Bloomberg
Paytm's founder expects his bank to get a fresh lease on life from Indian regulators, after he distanced that company from his larger fintech empire. The Reserve Bank of India last year imposed new curbs on unlisted Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. after years-long warnings about data flows between it and Paytm, a separate business entity that trades as One97 Communications Ltd. The restrictions severely hurt Paytm as it depended on the bank for much of its digital payments business, forcing founder and Chief Executive Officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma to forge new partnerships. Sharma owns 51% of the bank, and the remainder of the shares are held by 0ne97.
/jlne.ws/4jp7RE3
Trump Plan to 'Drill, Baby, Drill' Aids Kenya, Central Bank Says
David Herbling - Bloomberg
US President Donald Trump's pledge to unlock more of that country's vast stores of energy will likely lower Kenya's consumer price growth, according to the chief of the African nation's central bank. Kenya will analyze the impact of Trump's promise to "'drill, baby, drill,'" Governor Kamau Thugge told reporters while commenting on the domestic price-growth outlook. "If it results in lower fuel prices, then it's also possible that that will contribute to lower inflation in the US and also lower global inflation. And that could actually be a positive for us."
/jlne.ws/4jlXCR9
India Set to Take Back 18,000 Citizens From US to Placate Trump
Sudhi Ranjan Sen and Dan Strumpf - Bloomberg
India's government is prepared to work with Donald Trump's administration to identify and take back all its citizens residing illegally in the US, an early signal from New Delhi that it's willing to comply with the incoming American president and avoid a trade war.
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