| April 26, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Happy birthday to the Cboe today as they started trading on April 26, 1973. The history of this momentous day has been memorialized in a 20-page paper by Cboe Co-founder Joseph Sullivan, the Cboe's first president. The paper is part of the Securities and Exchange Commission History Society website.
DTTC has appointed Frank La Salla of BNY Mellon as its new president and CEO, replacing Michael Bodson, who will retire after a decade leading the clearing organization.
Ron Pankau's obituary is now available online HERE. As a reminder, his services are Saturday in Galva, Ill. I will be attending.
As a member of the board of the CME Group, particularly involved in the political action committee for many years, Pankau was helpful to Leo Melamed when Leo was speaking to visiting elected officials. Leo wrote as much in his book, "Man of the Futures," so I asked him for a reflection on Ron. Here is Leo's comment:
"Ron Pankau was a dear friend. He was a devoted CME Member and served on its Board of Directors for many years, always prepared and ready with his opinion and advice. His service served to help make the Merc what it is today. We will sorely miss his presence." ~Leo Melamed
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has announced that Charles L. Evans, president and chief executive officer, will retire in early 2023. The Chicago Fed has formed a search committee and is conducting a rigorous nationwide search for his successor. They welcome input from the community. I wonder what other local financial organizations have also formed search committees for new senior executives. There could be more than one.
The latest edition, number 60, of the IEX's "Boxes and Lines" market structure podcast with Ronan Ryan and John Ramsay is titled "From Bogle to Bitcoin (ETFs) with Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg Intelligence" and features Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence and co-host of Bloomberg's "Trillions" podcast. Balchunas' new book "The Bogle Effect" is out today and the discussion was about the history and prospects for Bitcoin ETFs, as well as Russia ETFs.
The New York Times has a story titled "How Americans Can Sponsor Ukrainian Refugees." Something to consider. There are many ways to collaborate with others to do this, too. You don't have to do it alone.
With Elon Musk on the cusp of buying Twitter, I am a little concerned. I am concerned because he is reaching for this asset and will need to do a lot to make it work economically to earn the return to pay off his margin loans on his Tesla stock or other financing he does. The best way to generate more traffic on Twitter is to churn the pot a bit, either with your own tweets or by maybe letting someone else back on who is banned.
Of course, the smartest thing a former president who is banned from Twitter could do is offer to invest in Twitter and help Musk pay for his purchase. That would take some big money that is maybe not available currently, but who knows what others in the Billionaire class may try to do to help that situation. Needless to say, I can see more chaos, disinformation and confusion coming our way in some scenarios. Or Mr. Musk could turn out to be the better angel we all need to run Twitter, regardless of the impact on his personal fortunes. It is only money after all, and Mr. Musk seems able to turn big ideas into the green stuff.
Fred Grede is giving it another try. He updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect that he has been the CEO of the Tenex Exchange since November 2021. Why do I mention this? Just Bcause I can't find much on the web on the Tenex Exchange.
I am feeling well enough, despite my radiation and hormone treatment, that I am considering coming to IDX in London in June. How about you? Who is going this year? It is time to get back on a plane and see my friends in the UK and Europe and beyond.
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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I saw a Twitter post by @djrothkopf which noted that with the sale of Twitter to Elon Musk, the richest guy in the U.S. owns the Washington Post, the second richest owns Twitter, the third richest owns Facebook, #5 & 6 started Google, #4 & 9 started Microsoft and #10 owns Bloomberg. ~JB
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Euronext CEO Stéphane Boujnah discusses markets during war time and platform consolidation in Europe
JohnLothianNews.com
2021 was a watershed year for Euronext with its acquisition of Borsa Italiana. "It was a transaction that changed the scale of Euronext," said Stéphane Boujnah, CEO and chairman of Euronext's managing board. Boujnah spoke with John Lothian News at the FIA Boca 2022 conference about the impact of the Ukraine War on European markets and what's in the future for the platform that bills itself as the "One unique marketplace connecting seven European economies."
Watch the video »
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IDX early bird rates end on 30 April!
FIA's International Derivatives Expo is returning to The Brewery in London this coming 6-8 June. Standing still is not an option in today's evolving cleared derivatives environment. Without adapting to new products, processes, technologies and regulations, your business won't meet the needs of tomorrow's industry. We're bringing together industry leaders, vendors and policymakers to discuss what's "now" in derivatives, and what lies ahead. Sign up by 30 April for the best rates!
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FTX/ Defi: If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck . . . ; Sam Bankman-Fried explains "yield-farming" to Bloomberg.
Jamie Powell - The Financial Times
Honk honk! Here comes the crypto clown car. Sam Bankman-Fried, chief executive and founder of Bahama-based crypto-exchange FTX, appeared on Bloomberg's excellent Odd Lots podcast Monday, and was joined by the Borg's Matt Levine alongside regular hosts Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway. Bankman-Fried is widely regarded as one the smartest and most establishment-friendly fellows in all of cypto-dom, having recently been wooed by Goldman Sachs in what might potentially be a Pac-Man takeover defence. Levine took the opportunity to ask SBF about the mechanics of "yield farming", which involves staking coins or tokens in exchange for some form of interest.
/jlne.ws/3vespIB
***** You have to read this story, but hold on to the top of your head so it does not blow off. It is mind blowing.~JJL
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ECB's Panetta Blasts Crypto as 'Ponzi Scheme' Fueled by Greed
Jack Schickler - Coindesk
European Central Bank Executive Board member Fabio Panetta on Monday called for new global standards to regulate crypto assets, and also suggested they could be taxed more heavily given their high energy consumption. According to the published text of a speech to be given later in the day, Panetta said crypto-assets were harmful to society and without social or economic value.
/jlne.ws/36NkVD0
****** Methinks Mr. Panetta has read the story above.~JJL
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Elon Musk Lands Deal to Take Twitter Private for $44 Billion
Kurt Wagner - Bloomberg
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter Inc. for $44 billion, using one of the biggest leveraged buyout deals in history to take private a 16-year-old social networking platform that has become a hub of public discourse and a flashpoint in the debate over online free speech.
/jlne.ws/3KeoHmC
****** It is possible to take a successful social network and ruin it with the wrong owner. Just look at MySpace.com, if you can find it.~JJL
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It's impossible to split Oreo cream filling evenly between both wafers, study finds
CBC Radio
There's no way to twist open an Oreo and get an equal amount of frosting on both cookie wafers, says Crystal Owens. And she should know. Owens and her team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tested just about every variety of the classic cookie in a laboratory in search of that perfectly precise twist — all to no avail.
/jlne.ws/3Lh5Pof
***** I am willing to give this a try, but it might take 500 to 1000 tries.~JJL
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Fidelity to Allow Retirement Savers to Put Bitcoin in 401(k) Accounts; Investment giant's move could send cryptocurrency investing further into mainstream if employers decide to offer option
Anne Tergesen - WSJ
Fidelity Investments plans to allow investors to put a bitcoin account in their 401(k)s, the first major retirement-plan provider to do so. Employees won't be able to start adding cryptocurrencies to their nest eggs right away, but later this year, the 23,000 companies that use Fidelity to administer their retirement plans will have the option to put bitcoin on the menu. The endorsement of the nation's largest retirement-plan provider suggests crypto investing is moving further into the mainstream, but it remains to be seen whether employers will embrace it for their workers.
/jlne.ws/3kePzrY
****** What a great idea to put a $40,000 bitcoin, I mean a $100,000 bitcoin, oops sorry, I mean a $250,000 bitcoin, into a Fidelity 401K account.~JJL
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Market players push back on SEC proposals; New regulatory proposals (including the trade reporting regime, Exchange Act Rule 10c-1, the proposal for Form SR and the private fund advisors rule) are causing friction between industry players and the SEC.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
The latest proposals from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under chairman Gary Gensler's campaign to improve transparency and increase investor protection in the markets are seeing pushback from industry players concerned over their impact.
/jlne.ws/37PmBfw
***** This headline "Market players push back on SEC proposals" is the equivalent of "Florida Man Convicted of Commodity Fraud." They can just be rerun over and over again.~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our most-clicked item on Monday was the picture of the late Ron Pankau, a longtime CME member and former CME Group board member, and his wife Teri at a black tie event. Second was our MarketsWiki page for Ron Pankau. Third was the heartbreaking tweet from former CFTC Chief Economist Andrei Kirilenko about his mother's death in Ukraine.
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MarketsWiki Stats
26,824 pages; 238,328 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
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| Lead Stories | ICE's Clearinghouse Had $1 Billion Margin Breach Last Year
Alex Longley - Bloomberg
The breach in the clearing arm of the Intercontinental Exchange Inc. totaled $1.03 billion, according to disclosures the company made earlier this month. It came in a period when natural gas prices in Europe spiked to a then record, and in which oil markets were also highly volatile. The figure represents the largest exposure in any single member account over the period. It was also the second-largest on record for ICE Clear Europe.
/jlne.ws/3keaNWZ
Intercontinental Exchange Inc. stock outperforms competitors despite losses on the day
MarketWatch Automation
Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. ICE, sank 0.34% to $116.85 Monday, on what proved to be an all-around favorable trading session for the stock market, with the S&P 500 Index rising 0.57% to 4,296.12 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.70% to 34,049.46. This was the stock's third consecutive day of losses. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. closed $22.94 short of its 52-week high ($139.79), which the company achieved on November 2nd.
/jlne.ws/3LtCyGM
***** This was a computer generated story, but I thought it was interesting relative to the story above coming out. I have never heard the word "breach" before used in terms of a clearinghouse. It is a bad use of the term, particularly in the era of cybersecurity "breaches."
DTCC Board Of Directors Appoints Frank La Salla President & Chief Executive Officer; Frank La Salla succeeds Michael C. Bodson, who will retire after a decade leading the company
DTCC
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Francis (Frank) La Salla, currently Chief Executive Officer of BNY Mellon's Issuer Services business and a member of the BNY Mellon Executive Committee, as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, effective August 12. La Salla's appointment as CEO reflects the Board's long-term succession planning and rigorous search process with the scheduled retirement of Michael C. Bodson, who has served as DTCC's CEO since July 2012.
/jlne.ws/3EJq3of
TNS Announces Market Data Coverage for all US Equity Options Groups
TNS
TNSTransaction Network Services (TNS) can now enable firms to directly access market data from all US Equity Option Exchanges, providing reduced complexity and significant cost savings. This offering is achieved because of TNS' mutualized exchange connections and status as a registered data vendor with all 16 Equity Option Exchanges in the US. TNS has one of the fastest, commercially available fiber networks in the New York metro area. With complete access and control over routes, TNS' dedicated operations teams ensure network optimization via a combination of high capacity, ultra-low-latency and maximum uptime, delivered via fully diverse circuits. Dark fiber connectivity in the strategically important New York Triangle gives traders ultra-high-speed access to real-time, full depth of book, raw market data feeds.
/jlne.ws/36LUzB8
London Beats Dubai as Top City for Foreign Investment in Finance; U.K. capital attracted 114 projects in 2021, most of any city; Value of this foreign investment was about $764 million
Aisha S Gani - Bloomberg
London attracted more foreign investment in finance firms than any other city last year, underlining the Square Mile's attraction to investors even after the U.K.'s departure from the European Union. The U.K. capital attracted 600 million pounds ($764 million) of investment into 114 financial and professional services projects in 2021, according to a report published by the City of London Corporation on Tuesday. That puts it ahead of the likes of Dubai, Singapore, New York and Paris.
/jlne.ws/37FSmIa
SEC Chief Floats Slashing Bond-Trade Reporting Time to 1 Minute; Gensler sees benefit in cutting current 15-minute window; Transaction data sent to Trace should also be broader, he says
Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler wants to slash the amount of time that traders have to report many bond transactions as part of a bid to increase visibility into fixed-income markets. Gensler on Tuesday said that more transparency was needed across global bond markets, and that disclosures had generally failed to keep up with technological changes. In remarks to be delivered at City Week in London, the SEC chief said data should be sent faster to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's Trace reporting system and cover more types of securities.
/jlne.ws/38rgZrK
SEC launches probe into ETF revenue-sharing deals; US regulator to investigate potential conflicts of interest arising from payments to intermediaries
Greg Saitz - FT
The US Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division has launched a sweep of ETF revenue-sharing practices, probing fund groups about the payments they make to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries. Specifically, the SEC wants documents related to what it described as "any compensation paid by an adviser or an ETF to a financial intermediary based on assets held by the financial intermediary", according to details of a letter shared with BoardIQ, a sister publication of the Financial Times.
/jlne.ws/3viK2qO
China Is Running Out of Ways to Stem Self-Made Market Meltdown; Rest of the world cuts stimulus with China stuck in lockdowns; Foreign funds flee and domestic investors suffer losses
Sofia Horta e Costa and Ishika Mookerjee - Bloomberg
China looks increasingly left to its own devices in a bid to rescue its economy and markets from the Covid crisis as the rest of the world withdraws stimulus to battle surging inflation. Unlike in 2020, when Beijing was able to limit disruptions to its manufacturing hubs and rely on unprecedented global liquidity to shore up investor confidence, this time it has to go it alone. A strict Covid Zero policy has left it stuck in a repeat of lockdowns while other countries have turned to reopening their economies.
/jlne.ws/3ya7rN1
Elon Musk Lands Deal to Take Twitter Private for $44 Billion; Billionaire's purchase would be one of the largest LBOs ever; Musk touts social network as place for vital online debates
Kurt Wagner - Bloomberg
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter Inc. for $44 billion, using one of the biggest leveraged buyout deals in history to take private a 16-year-old social networking platform that has become a hub of public discourse and a flashpoint in the debate over online free speech.
/jlne.ws/3KeoHmC
International bank boss fired over accusations of 'emotional terrorism' against junior staff sues for $4m
Alia Shoaib - Business Insider
A BNP Paribas manager who was fired after being accused of "emotional terrorism" by other employees is suing the French bank for $4 million for unfairly dismissing him, reports say. Omar Alami was sacked in 2019 after he was accused of calling a trader "useless" and "incompetent" in front of colleagues over a potential $872,000 mistake, Bloomberg reported. The error that caused Alami's alleged outburst turned out to be a false alarm, BNP lawyer Aurelie Fournier told a tribunal, in Paris.
/jlne.ws/3EO1B4R
The SEC's Current Far-Ranging & Aggressive Rulemaking Agenda Will Raise Regulatory Uncertainty and Risks Unintended, Negative Consequences
Kevin Zambrowicz, Joe Corcoran and Sean Campbell - Sifma
Just as the world is coming out of a 100-year pandemic, still uncertain what the "new normal" will be, we are now facing considerable economic headwinds. Inflation has climbed to a 40-year high. Interest rates are rising. Geopolitical events threaten to upend how the global economy has functioned for decades. Supply chain disruptions persist. Bottom line: while the worst of COVID appears behind us, there are a lot of unknowns in the world today.
/jlne.ws/3LnKhGI
Trumid Emerges From Pack
Markets Media
A laser focus on helping corporate bond traders work more efficiently has elevated Trumid from one of many startup fixed income trading platforms seven years ago, to a leading player right below the industry's top tier. "Trumid was founded on the need for tech-enabled solutions, and to help traders improve their workflows as the bond market goes increasingly electronic," said Bryan Harkins, Chief Revenue Officer at New York-based Trumid. Trumid matched its first trades in 2015, when corporate bond electronic trading platforms were springing up like mushrooms after a rain, each claiming their own unique solution to the liquidity puzzle.
/jlne.ws/3Lf476P
Britain Now Has a Glut of Gas and Nowhere to Store It; Discount to European benchmark at widest since at least 2011; LNG imports in northwest Europe on track for quarterly record
Anna Shiryaevskaya - Bloomberg
Britain is awash with natural gas imports, but with the heating season at an end and a lack of storage facilities, it has few outlets for the fuel. Northwest Europe is set to receive a record level of liquefied natural gas imports this quarter, with the bulk arriving at the U.K.'s three terminals. Britain generally exports excess gas to the continent during the summer, yet pipelines connecting to the European Union can only handle so much.
/jlne.ws/3ODBceB
ECB executive calls for clampdown on 'lawless frenzy' of crypto trading; Fabio Panetta labels $1.8tn sector a 'Ponzi scheme'
Martin Arnold - FT
A senior European Central Bank official has launched a tirade against cryptocurrencies, likening them to a "Ponzi scheme" and calling for a regulatory clampdown to avoid a "lawless frenzy of risk-taking". Fabio Panetta, the executive board member who oversees the ECB's work on a digital euro, appealed for "co-ordinated efforts at the global level to bring crypto assets into the regulatory purview" by increasing taxation, tightening rules against money laundering and improving disclosure in the fast-moving market.
/jlne.ws/3EOTwNl
UBS sees strong first quarter driven by investment bank's Archegos recovery and global wealth management; The bank also reduced its exposure to Russia to $0.4 billion as of the end of March as opposed to $0.6 billion at the end of last year.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
UBS has beaten expectations for the first quarter of this year on the back of strong performance across its global wealth management business and investment bank, driven by recovery from the Archegos fallout in 2021 Net profit attributable to shareholders reached $2.136 billion, up 17% from the same period last year.
/jlne.ws/3LyA76d
Speaker line-up announced for London Roadshow; Panellists from all sectors of the market come together to discuss the most relevant issues surrounding the Mifid II review and parallel UK regulatory progress.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
In just a week's time, an all-star line-up will meet at the London Stock Exchange for the inaugural event in The TRADE's Mifid II Review Roadshow series, kicking off a string of events hosted across Europe's leading stock exchanges. The debut London event, already almost fully subscribed, will drill down into the parallels (and differences) between the UK and EU approach, and explore the latest progress with regards to the Wholesale Market Review as well as key issues around the upcoming regulatory updates and what they might mean for the market.
/jlne.ws/3vCyaPe
FTX Hires Eventus to Catch Crypto Cheats Amid Digital-Asset Boom
Katherine Doherty and Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, is expanding its partnership with surveillance firm Eventus Systems Inc., seeking to prevent market manipulation in the growing ecosystem of digital assets.
Eventus will provide surveillance and anti-market-manipulation tools for all FTX markets across the globe, executives said in an interview. This comes on the heels of increased pressure from regulators and amid institutional investor appetite for the asset class.
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia Warns of Nuclear War Risk as Ukraine Talks Go On; Dialog with U.S. on Ukraine would be 'useful,' Lavrov says; Russia to continue its Ukraine war aims, Lavrov tells state TV
Bloomberg News
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned there's a "serious" risk of nuclear war over Ukraine, even as he signaled the Kremlin is willing to talk to the U.S. to try to resolve the confrontation. "The danger is serious, real. It can't be underestimated," Lavrov said in a state TV interview broadcast late Monday. Invoking the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union came close to nuclear war, Moscow and Washington had understood the rules of conduct between the superpowers, he said, "now there are few rules left."
/jlne.ws/3vf37Ke
'At war with the whole world': why Putin might be eyeing a long conflict in Ukraine; Stalling peace talks and new offensive suggest Kremlin could escalate its 'special operation' into a 'war' against the west
Max Seddon - FT
Despite Russia's failure to break down Ukraine's defences, heavy casualties and a series of military defeats, the Kremlin has kept up a refrain: the goals of Vladimir Putin's invasion will be reached in full Russia's territorial targets have appeared to shift depending on the short-term gains Putin feels his troops can achieve on the battlefield. He scaled back an initial plan to seize central areas including the capital, Kyiv, in favour of a new assault focused on the eastern Donbas region.
/jlne.ws/3vqdZFv
Aircraft lessors face uphill battle to return assets recovered from Russia to skies; Owners seek to avoid 'tearing apart' grounded planes to verify with authorities they are safe to fly
Sylvia Pfeifer - FT
Aircraft leasing companies have launched a multinational effort to persuade safety authorities to allow grounded planes that were returned from Russia without full maintenance records back into commercial service. Declan Kelly, chair of Aircraft Leasing Ireland, said the trade body had begun an "asset preservation study" with regulators in Europe, the US and Bermuda to "come up with a mechanism of how to repatriate those aircraft into our global system".
/jlne.ws/3MxxfGI
EU weighs cap on price paid for Russian oil as way to hit Kremlin revenues; Germany and other countries reluctant to follow US with immediate embargo on crude imports from Moscow
James Politi, Sam Fleming, Guy Chazan and Harry Dempsey - FT
EU member states are looking at whether to impose a ceiling on what they would pay for Russian oil as a way to hit Kremlin revenues, as they shy away from agreeing an immediate blockade on Moscow's crude exports. An oil price cap is one of a number of proposals being discussed as EU ambassadors prepare for talks in coming days about more sanctions on Moscow — the sixth such package since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine two months ago.
/jlne.ws/3MxvaKY
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | CME Group to Launch an Aluminum Option Contract on May 23
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced that it will launch an option contract on its physically-delivered Aluminum futures on May 23, pending regulatory review.
/bit.ly/3ya5yQr
OTC IRS Production Advisory - DKK CIBOR 2W, 2M & 9M
Tenor Discontinuation
CME Group
Please be advised that CME will end clearing support for discontinued 2W, 2M, and 9M DKK CIBOR tenors in Production on May 2, 2022. This change has been live in New Release since March 30, 2022. CME currently supports these tenors for use in stub interpolations and FRAs only. All other DKK CIBOR tenors will continue to be supported for clearing. CME CORE will support these changes as well.
/bit.ly/36NwSbP
OTC Production Advisory - Trade Register and Clearing Confirmation Message Enhancements CME Group
Please be advised that CME is introducing the following Trade Register and Clearing Confirm enhancements for IRS and FX. These changes are scheduled for Production May 2, 2022 and have been live in New Release since March 30, 2022. To assist clearing members in daily EMIR reporting and cashflow reconciliation, CME is adding the below columns to the end of the OTC Trade Register as well as an IRS timestamp.
/bit.ly/3LgWJrB
OTC IRS Production Advisory - USD-LIBOR FRA Clearing Support
CME Group
Please be advised that CME will amend clearing support for USD-LIBOR Forward Rate Agreements (USD FRAs) in the Production environment on May 2, 2022. The change has been live in the New Release environment since April 13, 2022. The amendment will limit the maximum maturity currently supported for this product from 3 years (from Cleared Date) to June 30, 2023. This change is being made well in advance of the "Index Cessation Effective Date" for all major USD LIBOR tenors immediately following June 30, 2023.
/bit.ly/3EKUwSR
Resetting of Price Limits for Grain, Oilseed and Lumber Futures
CME Group
Effective Sunday, May 1, 2022 for trade date Monday, May 2, 2022, The Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. ("CBOT") and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. ("CME") (collectively, "the Exchanges") will reset price limits for grain, oilseed, and lumber futures. This is the first of the two price limit resets in 2022 that is stipulated by the variable price limits mechanism pursuant to each product's respective Rulebook Chapter, as linked below.
/bit.ly/3KoB0gg
Q1/2022: Deutsche Börse Group records a strong start to the year
Deutsche Börse Group
Deutsche Börse Group has just published its Q1/2022 quarterly statement.
/bit.ly/3OA4bjF
MiFID II / MiFIR order flagging requirements: Amendments to reports TR160, TR161, introduction of reports TR167, TR168
Eurex
Eurex Circular 043/22 MiFID II / MiFIR order flagging requirements: Amendments to reports TR160, TR161, introduction of reports TR167, TR168
1. Introduction
/bit.ly/3xVtJC0
Changes to the List of Volatility Control Mechanism (VCM) Securities
HKEX
Reference is made to the Exchange Circular (Ref. No: ETP/002/22) dated 30 March 2022, Exchange Participants are advised that with effect from 3 May 2022, 11 Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) will be added to the list of VCM Securities. Detailed changes to the list of VCM Securities are shown in the Attachment for your information. The revised list of all VCM Securities is also available on the Exchange's website.
/bit.ly/3KlYMcy
Exchange Participants Providing Service for Retail Green Bond
HKEX
Further to the Government Green Bond Programme announced by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ("Government") in the 2018-19 Budget, the Government plans to issue retail green bonds for subscription by the general public.
/bit.ly/3OC4qus
Special Arrangement for Acceptance of HKD or USD as Collateral for the Early
Release of China Connect Securities that are Securities-on-hold for the Shanghai
and Shenzhen holidays
HKEX
To assure that safeguards are in place against currency exchange rate risk during the period of
holidays from 30 April to 4 May 2022 of Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, HKSCC will temporarily adjust the haircut rates for acceptance of HKD or USD as collateral for the early release of China Connect Securities that are Securities-on-hold as follows:
/bit.ly/3vKbZGT
2022 Annual Attestation and Inspection Programme
HKEX
As part of our continuing efforts to promote the compliance culture of our marketplace, we will
commence the 2022 Annual Attestation and Inspection Programme (the "Programme") shortly. The Programme, which focuses on participants' compliance with the relevant rules and regulations, comprises two core components: (1) self-attestation of compliance by participants and (2) on-site inspection of selected participants. Details of the Programme can be found on the HKEX Rule Enforcement webpage.
/bit.ly/3Kgxuo6
ICE Clear Credit Announces the Expansion of Its Index Option Clearing Services to Include J.P. Morgan
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, today announced that J.P. Morgan is now offering clearing services for client-executed Credit Default Swap (CDS) Index Options via ICE Clear Credit.
/bit.ly/3viKHIN
Launch of "Council of Experts Concerning the Follow-up of Market Restructuring"
JPX
Today, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE) announced the launch of the "Council of Experts Concerning the Follow-up of Market Restructuring" that will continuously follow up on progress of measures and investors' evaluation. The council shall advice TSE on additional measures regarding listed companies' efforts to increase corporate value, handling of the grandfathered rules, and supply of capital to venture businesses, etc.
/bit.ly/3rQMmmy
Execution of the Compression Trades for Nikkei 225 Options
JPX
Osaka Exchange (OSE) announced that the compression trades for Nikkei 225 Options (powered by TriOptima AB) * was executed during the Night Session on April 25th (Trading date April 26th) .
/bit.ly/38oZtV3
Overview of Earnings for FY2021
JPX
/bit.ly/3vqfHXr
Japan Exchange Group, Inc. and Consolidated Subsidiaries Consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 (Based on IFRS), unaudited
JPX
/bit.ly/3Ow64h8
Candidates for Directors, etc.
JPX
We today announce that Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX) and its subsidiaries have nominated candidates for directors, etc. to be put forth for approval at their respective annual general shareholders meetings and ordinary general meeting of members to be held on June 16, 2022. The new candidates are as follows.
/bit.ly/3Kb6wOA
The exchange rates of the euro and yuan began to be used to set the official rates of the Bank of Russia
MOEX
From April 25, 2022, the official exchange rates of the euro and Chinese yuan against the Russian ruble are set by the Bank of Russia on the basis of transactions concluded on the currency market of the Moscow Exchange from 10:00 to 15:30 Moscow time, by analogy with the official exchange rate of the US dollar against the ruble.
/bit.ly/3rStQdE
Circular of Shanghai International Energy Exchange on Trading Adjustments for Labor Day 2022
Shanghai Futures Exchange
Shanghai International Energy Exchange has released its Circular on Trading Adjustments for Labor Day 2022 as follows: In accordance with Trading Schedule during National Holidays for Year 2022 and Risk Management Rules of the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, Shanghai International Energy Exchange (hereinafter referred to as "INE") hereby notifies the trading adjustments for Labor Day 2022 as follows.
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | FTX.COM selects Eventus for global trade surveillance and risk monitoring on all of its markets
FTX.com
Builds on relationship established in December with FTX US for crypto spot, futures and options markets
Eventus, a leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, and FTX.COM ("FTX"), a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, announced today that FTX has contracted with Eventus to deploy the firm's Validus platform for trade surveillance and risk monitoring on all FTX markets throughout the globe.
/jlne.ws/3kbk02c
Agora Data Adds Brett Beebe as SVP - Head of Corporate Business Development
Shelly Vandeven - Agora
Agora Data, inventor of the first-ever crowdsourced securitization, reducing interest rate line of credit and technology platform supplying book value of loans for the subprime auto industry, today announced auto finance veteran Brett Beebe as Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Business Development. Beebe will leverage his vast industry experience to expand Agora's reach through joint ventures and other strategic partnerships.
/jlne.ws/3rQKSZr
Twitter Employees Search for Answers as Musk Takewover BEcomes Reality; Workers say they have been left largely in the dark about what sale to the billionaire will mean for them and their shares in the company.
Kate Conger - NY Times
In January 2020, thousands of Twitter employees gathered in Houston for a corporate summit called #OneTeam. During the event, Jack Dorsey, Twitter's chief executive at the time, revealed he had invited a surprise guest. Then, with a wave and a smile, Elon Musk appeared on a giant screens above the stage. The crowd cheered, clapped, and pumped fists. "We love you," one employee shouted. Inside Twitter today, surprise announcements about Mr. Musk land differently. Employees said they had largely stopped celebrating the richest man in the world since he declared his intent this month to buy Twitter, scrap its content moderation policies and transform the publicly traded company into a private one. On Monday, Twitter announced it had accepted MR. Musk's offer to the company for about $44 billion.
/jlne.ws/3vhiFgN
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Cybersecurity firm adds office space; A cybersecurity software company based in Tel Aviv is increasing its presence in Chicago.
John Pletz - Crain's Chicago Business
Cybersecurity software company Coro is increasing its presence in Chicago. The company, based in Tel Aviv, opened a Chicago office last year but recently tripled its space, leasing 7,500 square feet at 550 W. Van Buren St. Coro has 67 employees in Chicago, mostly in sales. It expects to add an additional 100 this year, with plans to reach 200 workers in 2023. The company, which serves small and midsize businesses, recently raised $60 million.
/jlne.ws/3KbwXDH
JPMorgan Sued After Millions Stolen From Ray-Ban Maker's Account; Essilor claims bank ignored suspicious transactions red flags; Cybercriminals allegedly drained $272 million from account
Robert Burnson - Bloomberg
J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A. was sued by a unit of the French maker of Ray-Ban glasses, which claims the bank ignored red flags as international cybercriminals drained $272 million from its New York bank account. Essilor Manufacturing (Thailand) Co. said J.P. Morgan was aware, beginning in September 2019, of a "highly suspicious pattern of fraudulent transactions" but didn't notify the company.
/jlne.ws/3LcpKVj
Microsoft $15 billion security unit gives investors reason for hope
Jordan Novet - CNBC
In January 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed the size of the software company's security business for the first time. The number was big.
Nadella told analysts on an earnings call that the operation had reached $10 billion in annual revenue and was "up more than 40%" year over year. In other words, it was outpacing every other major Microsoft product.
/jlne.ws/38p4XiB
FBI Warns of BlackCat Ransomware That Breached Over 60 Organisations Worldwide
Ravie Lakshmanan - The Hacker News
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is sounding the alarm on the BlackCat ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), which it said victimized at least 60 entities worldwide between as of March 2022 since its emergence last November.
Also called ALPHV and Noberus, the ransomware is notable for being the first-ever malware written in the Rust programming language, which is known to be memory safe and offer improved performance.
/jlne.ws/3xUOvlc
Implement NIST IoT cybersecurity guidelines early
Scott Laliberte and Matthew Freilich - Security Magazine
Users can easily know if a product complies with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) or Underwriters Laboratory (UL) certification because products are clearly labeled. There is little guidance, however, on adherence of effective cybersecurity requirements for Internet of Things (IoT) tools. Soon, IoT device and software companies will be able to provide clear information directly on their packaging that certifies their solutions' cybersecurity status and safety.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Wall Street Firms Make Crypto Push To Catch Up With 'Cool Kids'
Yueqi Yang - Financial Advisor
On Wall Street, Jefferies Financial Group is expanding banking services for crypto clients, BlackRock Inc. is backing a stablecoin firm while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is ramping up crypto trading. There's even a former bank executive who switched his LinkedIn profile -- to an avatar. The moves by financial heavyweights -- and one banker's profile reinvention -- underscore how far Wall Street firms have come in accepting cryptocurrencies. For years, executives at banks and money managers were some of the industry's most vociferous dissenters, until soaring prices and a flood of investor money drove home the point that staying on the sidelines meant missing out.
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Crypto-Trading Addiction Is the 'Reefer Madness' of 2022; "Protecting" young people from learning what it takes to be a successful investor makes them vulnerable to raw emotions that lead to poor risk decisions.
Aaron Brown - Bloomberg
As if all that's going on in the world wasn't enough to worry about, Bloomberg News reports that young people are seeking mental health treatment to break all-consuming cycles of cryptocurrency trading. Those profiled complained that frantic trading in the hopes of scoring quick riches in a rapidly growing, $2 trillion asset class led them to neglect ordinary life and destroyed their peace of mind.
/jlne.ws/3OP5LOT
Cryptocurrency Regulator Proposed by Central African Republic; Lawmakers adopt proposal to facilitate use of cryptocurrencies; About 11% of CAR's population has access to Internet
Katarina Hoije and Samuel Gebre - Bloomberg
The Central African Republic has begun creating a legal framework to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies, Finance Minister Herve Ndoba said. Lawmakers last week adopted proposals including the creation of a regulatory body that will have oversight of digital currencies, Ndoba said in a phone interview from Washington, D.C. The legislation that's being put in place aims to facilitate the use of cryptocurrencies in the economy, he said.
/jlne.ws/3KiVTt8
Fidelity's New 401(k) Offering Will Invest in Bitcoin; The employer that oversees the retirement savings plan would have to decide to include the digital assets account.
Tara Siegel Bernard - NY Times
Fidelity, the nation's largest provider of 401(k) plans, said on Tuesday that it would enable its participants to put a slice of their retirement money into Bitcoin — if their employers are willing to allow it. The announcement could put millions of people closer to direct investment in Bitcoin this summer without having to set up an account on a cryptocurrency exchange. But regulators have already said they're skeptical of the idea: Last month, the Department of Labor, which oversees workplace retirement plans, said it would cast a critical eye on plans that added digital assets to their investment menus.
/jlne.ws/3OFKQxy
Minecraft Developers Challenge Game Industry's NFT Love Affair; Dispute over crypto in games highlights stark internal divide; Staff reject studios' web3 push over ethical, climate risks
Emily Nicolle - Bloomberg
A fierce divide has emerged between some of the world's largest video-game publishers and their staff over the adoption of NFTs and blockchain technology. Now, a team of insiders wants to hold the industry's crypto advocates accountable for introducing any damaging consequences.
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Elon Musk's attempt to buy Twitter represents a chilling new threat: billionaire trolls taking over social media
Linette Lopez - Business Insider
Believe what you want about Elon Musk's flash-bang takeover attempt of Twitter, but for the love of God don't fall for the story that he's some crusader on behalf of free speech. As part of his attempt to buy Twitter outright for $43 billion, Musk wrote a letter to Twitter chairman Bret Taylor explaining his supposed reasons for the one-time, take-it-or-leave-it offer.
/jlne.ws/3xPm6wD
Senate Tees Up Votes on Biden's Fed Nominees; Lawmakers move closer to a confirmation vote on Fed governor Lael Brainard to serve as vice chairwoman
Nick Timiraos - WSJ
The Senate moved ahead Monday evening with consideration of President Biden's nominees to the Federal Reserve, beginning with a procedural vote clearing the path to confirm governor Lael Brainard later this week as the central bank's vice chairwoman. The 54-40 tally indicated Ms. Brainard will be confirmed with bipartisan support. Eight Republicans joined 46 senators who caucus with the Democrats in moving her nomination forward. Four Fed nominees are up for confirmation, and it is unknown if the two who would be new to the board would be seated ahead of next week's rate-setting meeting.
/jlne.ws/3Li1pgV
Elon Musk's Twitter deal stokes Democratic fears and Republican jubilation; Entrepreneur's planned loosening of social platform's moderation rules triggers partisan battle
Kiran Stacey and Courtney Weaver - FT
Donald Trump claimed on Monday he would not rejoin Twitter even if his account was reinstated after the company is sold to Elon Musk. But that did not stop widespread alarm among Democrats at the possibility that the former US president may yet change his mind amid a broader upheaval of the platform.
/jlne.ws/3KfxLY7
Elon Musk Is a Problem Masquerading as a Solution
Anand Giridharadas - NY Times
It is a perfect marriage for an age of plutocracy: Twitter with its serious problems and Elon Musk, the embodiment of those problems. What happens when the incarnation of a problem buys the right to decide what the problem is and how to fix it? Twitter has a disinformation problem — fake news about Covid vaccines, climate and more running buck wild across the platform. Mr. Musk has shown himself to be a highly capable peddler of dubious claims, whether putting out misleading financial information or calling the British diver who helped rescue trapped schoolboys in Thailand a "pedo guy."
/jlne.ws/3vgCX9Z
Twitter Under Elon Musk Will Be a Scary Place
Greg Bensinger - NY Times
Twitter has never been a place for rational, nuanced speech. Expect it to get much, much worse. The decision by Twitter's board of directors on Monday afternoon to accept a takeover bid from Elon Musk means the company thinks the social media company would be best served by the ownership of a man who uses the platform to slime his critics, body-shame people, defy securities laws and relentlessly hawk cryptocurrencies.
/jlne.ws/3vimJgs
EU warns Elon Musk over Twitter moderation plans; EU commissioner Thierry Breton tells Tesla chief: 'Elon, there are rules'
Javier Espinoza - FT
Brussels has warned Elon Musk that Twitter must comply with the EU's new digital rules under his ownership, or risk hefty fines or even a ban, setting the stage for a global regulatory battle over the future of the social media platform. Thierry Breton, the EU's commissioner for the internal market, told the Financial Times that Elon Musk must follow rules on moderating illegal and harmful content online after Twitter accepted the billionaire's $44bn takeover offer.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | UK regulator invokes emergency powers to address steelworker pension scandal; FCA issues order to stop advisers from offloading assets to avoid paying compensation
Eva Szalay and Josephine Cumbo - FT
The UK's financial regulator has invoked emergency powers to stop financial advisers involved in the steelworkers' pension scandal from offloading their assets to avoid paying compensation. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Monday it was enacting the emergency rules this week, and without consultation, because it feared some companies would otherwise dispose of their assets, leaving a redress bill to be picked up by the industry lifeboat fund.
/jlne.ws/3vHeWI9
SEC Announces Older Investor Roundtable Event to Be Held April 28
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a virtual event on April 28 along with the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and the AARP to examine the latest challenges and issues affecting the senior investor community.
The Older Investor Roundtable will include panel discussions geared toward older investors, consumer advocates, and financial professionals nationwide as topics will include common frauds perpetrated against older investors, risks associated with digital assets and blockchain technology, and older client servicing and related issues.
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SEC Issues $6 Million Award to Five Whistleblowers
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a total award of $6 million to two groups of whistleblowers who provided information and assistance in a single covered action.
The first group of whistleblowers provided the SEC with key documents that led the staff to request additional documents from the respondent, while the second group provided the staff with valuable firsthand accounts of the misconduct at issue. Both groups, which totaled five individuals, provided ongoing assistance during the staff's investigation.
/jlne.ws/3LeeIPk
SEC Updates List of Firms Using Inaccurate Information to Solicit Investors
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it updated its list of unregistered entities that use misleading information to solicit primarily non-U.S. investors, adding 58 soliciting entities, 11 impersonators of genuine firms, and one bogus regulator.
The SEC's list of soliciting entities that have been the subject of investor complaints, known as the Public Alert: Unregistered Soliciting Entities (PAUSE) list, enables investors to better inform themselves and avoid being a victim of fraud. The latest additions are firms that SEC staff found were providing inaccurate information about their affiliation, location, or registration. Under U.S. securities laws, firms that solicit investors generally are required to register with the SEC and meet minimum financial standards and disclosure, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements.
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Critical issues in financial regulation: The FCA's perspective
FCA
It is great to be here again at this important event. It doesn't seem long ago that I was last telling this audience about our plans to transform the FCA.
To be more rigorous on firms seeking approval to operate in our markets, to tailor our rules to better suit our global markets and play a leadership role in supporting the market-led transition to a more sustainable economy.
We are being tougher on firms causing harm. We launched the first ever criminal prosecution under anti-money laundering regulations and are acting against individuals carrying out regulated activities without authorisation.
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SFC proposes changes to the position limit regime
Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today launched a consultation on proposed changes to the position limit regime for listed futures and options contracts (Note 1).
A key proposal is to set out how the statutory prescribed limits and reporting requirements should be applied to unit trusts and sub-funds under an umbrella fund (Note 2). Other proposed changes (Note 3) involve reportable positions in contracts traded on holiday trading days (Note 4) and the inclusion of a broader range of contracts which may be authorised by the SFC for excess positions (Note 5).
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | The Case For Gold and Gold-Related Stocks; Gold is the world's most durable form of money that transcends borders. Governments worldwide classify gold as a foreign exchange reserve.
Tradier Inc.
Central banks hold fiat currencies as reserves. The legal tender's value derives from the full faith and credit of the governments that issue the money. The oldest form dating back thousands of years is gold when it comes to foreign exchange. The bible has over 400 references to this precious metal. Gold is the world's most durable form of money that transcends borders. Governments worldwide classify gold as a foreign exchange reserve, validating its role in the global financial market.
/jlne.ws/3EJ1ZBT
Negative Yields Are Now Extinct in the World of Corporate Bonds
Alice Gledhill, Tasos Vossos and Josyana Joshua - Bloomberg
Negative yields have vanished from the world's corporate bond market as investors brace for monetary tightening. Every single note in a Bloomberg index tracking the global investment-grade corporate bond market yielded 0% or more at Friday's close, calculated using the midpoint between bid and ask prices. It's a dramatic turnaround from August, when more than $1.5 trillion of debt, most of it in Europe, came with a sub-zero yield.
/jlne.ws/395N4FZ
Elon Musk and Twitter Are Not a Match Made in Heaven; Nothing in the Tesla CEO's track record suggests he will be a careful steward of an important media property.
Mark Gongloff - Bloomberg
The thought of Elon Musk buying Twitter was at first like the idea of a dog driving a truck. Sure, it was physically possible, but come on. Well, buckle up, everybody: Elon Musk is in fact buying Twitter. Funding secured and everything.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | CEOs Went Quiet About Equality During Covid; Companies were becoming more open about diversity and pay gaps before the pandemic. Now they're holding back on how they managed in 2020.
Chris Hughes - Bloomberg
Until the pandemic hit, companies were becoming more willing to open up about the diversity of their workforce. But even those that embraced transparency went shy on the topic when Covid hit. That suggests they have something to hide when it comes to how they managed staff during the health crisis.
/jlne.ws/38ugDkw
Zoox Will Coast Off Self-Driving Competitors as Much as Owner Amazon; A rising autonomous vehicle tide will lift many boats.
Andrew Grant - Bloomberg
I'm often asked which company is "winning" the self-driving vehicle race, a question that doesn't have a straightforward answer. Safety advocates rightly take issue with self-driving technology being framed as a competitive race — the goal should be fewer road deaths and not an economic victory.
/jlne.ws/3xOdHtw
ESG-Minded Investors Pile Into Coal Stock, Sparking 1,000% Rally; Abrdn and Schroders are among Thungela Resources's largest shareholders, even after committing to reducing financed emissions.
Natasha White and Antony Sguazzin - Bloomberg
Anglo American Plc's spinoff, Thungela Resources Ltd., has emerged as the world's best-performing major coal stock. It's also one of the most profitable bets by a group of fund managers who've promised to reduce their financed greenhouse gas emissions. Since its June listing, the South African company is up roughly 1,000% amid a rebound in demand for the dirtiest fossil fuel. Thungela Chief Executive Officer July Ndlovu has said he's planning to develop new coal resources, noting the company is now free of an owner that had questioned further investment in mining.
/jlne.ws/3ENqcH3
Soros Fund's Climate Plan Shows Messiness of Financed Emissions; The $28 billion fund wants to reach net-zero emissions by 2040, but getting there will be complicated.
Akshat Rathi and Saijel Kishan - Bloomberg
Investors managing $130 trillion have committed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. But lots of questions remain: How should financiers count their share of responsibility for the warming impact of the companies they support? Is it better to urge businesses to take stronger climate action, or to stop funding them entirely?
/jlne.ws/39jB5VB
The Long, Long Road to Cleaning Up Coal's Carbon Footprint; Abandoned mines leak methane for decades. This French company captures the gas to provide energy.
Paul Tullis - Bloomberg
Just outside the northern French town of Avion, there's a 20-foot-wide concrete disk with a small plaque reading "Shaft 7B 1920-1986." The site marks the entrance to a coal mine that once employed 3,000 people, whose modest red-brick homes still stand nearby. These days, few signs of their work remain other than the 50-foot-high piles of tailings from the mine—and a pair of 12-inch-wide pipes protruding from the disk that connect to a tangle of tubes and valves.
/jlne.ws/3EMm0HA
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | BlackRock subscribes to the sustainable development goals dataset of the SDI Asset Owner Platform
Press Releases - Qontigo
The Sustainable Development Investments Asset Owner Platform (SDI AOP) and Qontigo, its exclusive distribution partner, have announced that leading asset manager BlackRock has subscribed to the SDI AOP dataset. The information package analyzes corporate alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). BlackRock will use the data to advise clients on ESG portfolio construction, research, reporting, product creation and evolution.
/jlne.ws/39iuiLP
Qontigo launches STOXX USA ETF Industry Index and licenses it to Kiwoom
Press Releases - Qontigo
Qontigo has licensed the STOXX USA ETF Industry Index to Kiwoom Asset Management in Korea to be used as an underlying for an exchange-traded fund (ETF). This new index is the first to track the US ETF market through a thematic approach.
The index identifies US companies that are expected to benefit from the growth of the ETF market globally, including companies involved as ETF issuers, trading venues, and index providers.
/jlne.ws/3vMwnXM
Food Supply Fears Send Record Cash Flowing to Long-Forgotten ETF
Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee- Bloomberg
The First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF (ticker FTXG) on Friday saw an inflow of $230 million, the most since its inception in 2016, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Investors have now added money into the fund for three straight days, following years of inactivity. The inflow comes as prices for everything from wheat to cooking oils soar amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The two countries are important agricultural exporters, with Ukraine ranking as the world's largest producer of sunflower oil and a top-six exporter of wheat, corn, chicken and honey.
/jlne.ws/3OAtRN1
Barclays Traders Made Over $600 Million in Emerging-Market Havoc
Stefania Spezzati, Laura Benitez and Abhinav Ramnarayan - Bloomberg
The increase came as the bank's traders seized on turbulent currency markets and big moves in credit-default swaps, according to people familiar with the performance, who asked not to be identified because the firm has yet to report first-quarter results. The bank is due to post its latest earnings on April 28. The surge indicates Barclays traders may have navigated a quarter that saw banks' trading desks benefiting from higher activity but also facing potential blowups amid fast-moving markets.
/jlne.ws/3OwgtcV
Nomura to Diversify Europe Business After 4 Quarters of Losses
Takashi Nakamichi - Bloomberg
Nomura Holdings Inc. plans to diversify its operations in Europe where it's lost money for four straight quarters. Japan's biggest brokerage intends to boost its sustainability-related business in the bloc and start infrastructure financing, Chief Financial Officer Takumi Kitamura said after the firm eked out a small profit of 31 billion yen ($242 million) for the quarter ended March 31, helped by a one-time gain from the share sale of think tank Nomura Research Institute Ltd.
/jlne.ws/3xZgeBj
Banks Cheer Higher Margins After Years of Rock-Bottom Rates; UBS, Santander, HSBC boosted by tightening monetary policies; Net interest income at HSBC was up 7.4% from a year ago
Harry Wilson, Myriam Balezou, and Charles Penty - Bloomberg
After years of low or even negative benchmark rates, Europe's lenders are finally getting a much-anticipated boost as central banks across the world tighten monetary policy to combat surging inflation. UBS Group AG on Tuesday said higher interest rates should boost revenue at its wealth management business. HSBC Holdings Plc is already benefiting from increases in its home market. And Banco Santander SA, whose loan book topped 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) for the first time, is poised to boost margins as borrowing costs rise in markets including the U.K., the U.S. and Poland and potentially also the euro area this year.
/jlne.ws/3Mv6HFR
Euro Banks Are About to Confront a New Kind of Rate Risk; Higher interest rates will boost income for lenders but will curb loan demand and cause delinquent payments to rise.
Paul J. Davies - Bloomberg
It's been more than a decade since the euro area's last interest-rate increase, but this year will very likely finally see one again. Banks, lost in a desert of ever weaker interest income, are desperate for the small rewards that a couple of hikes will bring. But there are stark risks that higher borrowing costs and a slowing economy may quickly bring back problem loans to some countries.
/jlne.ws/3MyDMRc
TD Seeks to Tap Growing Florida Tech-Talent Base With 200 Hires; Toronto-Dominion Bank is looking to hire 200 technology workers at its office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to take advantage of a growing talent pool in the region.
Kevin Orland - Bloomberg
Toronto-Dominion Bank is looking to hire 200 technology workers at its office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to take advantage of a growing talent pool in the region. The hires, which will take place over the next two years, are part of a tech-hiring blitz that the Toronto-based bank announced in January. The bank said at the time that it plans to hire more than 2,000 tech workers this year, more than six times the number it added in 2021.
/jlne.ws/3y1lWCm
HSBC warns further buybacks 'unlikely' as war and slowing Asian growth hit profits; Hong Kong's Covid surge dents first-quarter earnings for Europe's largest lender
Tabby Kinder and Stephen Morris - FT
HSBC's profits fell by more than a quarter in the first three months of the year, as Europe's largest lender increased reserves for bad loans in response to war in Ukraine and slowing growth in its core Asia markets. The London-based bank reported profit before tax of $4.2bn for the first quarter, a decline of $1.6bn from the same period in 2021, in part because of a $600mn charge for expected credit losses due to the Russian invasion and a slowdown in the Chinese property sector.
/jlne.ws/3KhBwMI
HSBC's Quarterly Profit Drops 28%; Bank hit by provisions for souring loans in Russia and China, but says it is benefiting from rising interest rates
Quentin Webb, Julie Steinberg - WSJ
HSBC HSBC -3.17% Holdings PLC said its profit for the first quarter fell 28% year-over-year, as it made provisions for souring loans in Russia and China, but the banking giant said rising global interest rates would help it hit longer-term targets. The London-based lender's profit attributable to ordinary shareholders totaled $2.8 billion in January through March. While earnings had been boosted a year earlier by the release of $435 million of provisions as the global economy recovered from the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the first three months of this year HSBC's earnings were dented by $642 million of new expected credit losses.
/jlne.ws/3vcSIyJ
UBS Profit Gets Boost From Trading Uptick; Switzerland's biggest bank by assets said net profit in the first quarter rose 17% to $2.14 billion
Margot Patrick - WSJ
UBS UBS 0.35% Group AG said it is in good shape to navigate geopolitical uncertainties and is benefiting from more client trading in its investment bank. Switzerland's biggest bank by assets said the uptick in trading stocks and other assets lifted net profit in the first quarter, even as its main wealth management business slowed down. Net profit in the quarter was $2.14 billion, up 17% from $1.82 billion in the first quarter of 2021 when UBS took losses exiting stock positions of family office Archegos Capital Management.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | The prospect of lockdowns in Beijing fuels more concerns about supply chain disruptions.; China's capital city is not as central to global production networks as Shanghai, but the costs for global companies will still mount if lockdowns spread.
Ana Swanson - NY Times
The prospect of further lockdowns in China prompted a fresh wave of economic anxiety on Monday as investors and companies whose supply chains run through China contemplated the impact of 70 new virus cases that the Beijing government said it had detected over the weekend.The city government ordered one of its districts to test all 3.5 million of its residents for coronavirus in the coming days, a move that may be a prelude to a larger lockdown in China's capital city. Shanghai, a major port and business center, has been locked down for roughly a month, part of China's "zero Covid" strategy. Other Chinese cities both large and small have announced their own restrictions on the movement of residents in a bid to keep the virus from spreading.
/jlne.ws/37HrHKM
Why Nasal Sprays Are Poised to Be the Next Weapon for Fighting Covid; Meissa Vaccines says its approach can dramatically reduce transmission.
Tim Loh - Bloomberg
Half a Greek alphabet and two years into the pandemic, the world is coming to terms with the notion that Covid-19 is here to stay. As new variants emerge, millions are still falling ill, increasing the risk of even harder-hitting strains. While coronavirus shots are among the greatest medical achievements of all time, reaching the market in less than a year and saving millions of lives, anyone who's received three doses and still gotten infected will understand that the virus is a resilient opponent.
/jlne.ws/3Kbg3Fi
China's Covid booster campaign slows as staff redirected to mass testing; Almost 20mn Beijing residents will have to undergo 3 rounds of tests by Saturday
Eleanor Olcott and Andy Lin - FT
China's booster vaccination drive is slowing as medical staff are redirected to carry out mass testing with coronavirus cases rising across the country. Relatively low vaccination rates will leave tens of millions of Chinese people vulnerable to severe illness if the government's tough "zero-Covid" policy fails to contain the Omicron variant.
/jlne.ws/39jUS7h
Covid Pills to Become More Widely Available; Biden administration plans to expand access to free treatments that can help Covid patients avoid hospitalization
Stephanie Armour and Jared S. Hopkins - WSJ
The Biden administration on Tuesday is expected to outline plans to make it easier for infected people to get Covid-19 treatments, which some health leaders and patient advocates say are too difficult to obtain despite a federal program to help make them more widely available.
/jlne.ws/36Oj9RX
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Yen's tumble stirs debate in Tokyo over merits of weak currency; Fall of 11% in two months to a 20-year low prompts speculation that the central bank might be forced to intervene
Leo Lewis and Tommy Stubbington - FT
A steep sell-off in Japan's yen risks dividing policymakers in Tokyo on whether to embrace a weaker currency or push back against it, raising the stakes ahead of this week's Bank of Japan meeting. The yen has tumbled more than 11 per cent in less than two months to hit a 20-year low of nearly ¥130 against the dollar, as traders bet on an expanding gulf in monetary policy between the Bank of Japan and other major central banks that are rapidly removing stimulus measures. BoJ officials have shown no sign of deviating from their ultra-loose monetary policy ahead of a meeting on Thursday even as a worldwide surge in energy prices begins to generate some elusive inflation in Japan.
/jlne.ws/37LjK7t
Europe faces critical shortage of metals needed for clean energy; Supply challenges come as EU seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian imports
Neil Hume - FT
Europe faces a critical shortage of clean-energy metals and needs to decide urgently how it will bridge the looming supply gap or risk new dependencies on unsustainable producers. That is the conclusion of a new study commissioned by Eurometaux, an industry group that represents some of the region's biggest metal producers, including Glencore and Rio Tinto
/jlne.ws/3OEPQCo
Inflation Got You Down? At Least You Don't Live in Argentina.; Citizens cope with world's second-highest rate by hoarding toilet paper, spending paychecks immediately; 'Here, 40% is normal'
Silvina Frydlewsky and Juan Forero- WSJ
BUENOS AIRES—Shopkeeper Jonathan Faez has a word of advice to people around the world obsessing about inflation: Chill out. "I have friends in the United States and Spain and they're telling me they're going crazy with their annual inflation of 5% or 7%," says Mr. Faez, owner of a lingerie store. "Here, we reach 4% almost every month!" Welcome to Argentina, where high, nearly uncontrollable inflation—now at an estimated 55.1% over the past year—is as natural as the country's juicy sirloins and sensual tango shows.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Times Square Plots Its Comeback, and It Looks Like Las Vegas; Hotels and a casino are proposed as entertainment re-emerges as a source of strength in the area
Konrad Putzier, Peter Grant - WSJ
New York City's Times Square is looking to rebound from its worst economic crisis by becoming more like Las Vegas. Investors and developers are doubling down on tourism and entertainment venues while Times Square's office towers remain largely empty during the day. A new hotel with an outdoor pool overlooking the theater district has been opening in stages since last year, while another hotel with a concert stage is set to open in 2023. A developer has proposed building Manhattan's first casino in the entertainment district.
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