| January 23, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Today I am in downtown Chicago for STAC's 99th Annual Mid-Winter Meeting. I am moderating a panel on the "Modernization of Derivatives." OCC's Patrick Hickey, BAML's Mark Morrison (not to be confused with the OCC Chief Security Officer Mark Morrison) and STA's Jim Toes are my panelists. The panel starts after lunch, at 1:30 pm. Say hello if you see me there.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board addressed the issue of the pre-inaugural launch of the $TRUMP and $MELANIA cryptocurrency coins. Donald Trump's launch of $TRUMP and $MELANIA crypto tokens, which soared and then halved in value shortly after their debut, has drawn scrutiny for its ethical and political risks, the editorial board said. With 20% of the tokens available for trading and 80% held by Trump Organization affiliates-currently valued at $31.4 billion but subject to a three-year lockup-concerns have arisen about potential conflicts of interest. Critics warn that foreign officials or businesses could buy tokens to curry favor with the administration, creating perceptions of self-dealing and regulatory bias. Legal vulnerabilities loom as well, with potential lawsuits from investors, accusations of market manipulation, and challenges under the Supreme Court's Howey test for securities.
This venture raises significant risks for Trump's presidency and the crypto industry, as the tokens could undermine regulatory credibility and fuel allegations of impropriety. Trump's $TRUMP website disclaims any investment intent, but that may not shield him from lawsuits if buyers lose money or allege insufficient disclosures. The political and legal fallout could also entangle Paul Atkins, Trump's SEC nominee, casting a shadow over regulatory decisions. Critics question why Trump's legal advisers failed to prevent such a risky endeavor, viewing it as a troubling sign of insufficient checks on his judgment, the editorial board concluded.
The Journal's editorial board also said that Trump's executive order "promising not to enforce the law's penalties against tech companies that host the TikTok app for 75 days" is an illegal amnesty and is putting its shareholders at risk by failing to comply with the law. It also said that this came right after President Trump took the oath of office Monday promising to faithfully execute the duties of his office, which include implementing the laws passed by Congress.
The London Metal Exchange's CEO Matthew Chamberlain is in Davos at the World Economic Forum and appeared on CNBC today. Chamberlain said said the exchange has "aggressively" added a number of metal suppliers and warehouse locations globally, including recently in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Saudi Arabia, CNBC reported.
The latest edition of FIA's MarketVoice highlighted several key developments and insights shaping global markets. In The Case for Positive Polly, FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken examined the political transitions in three regions central to global markets, following a year where nearly half the world's population voted in elections across 70 countries. In the MarketVoice Podcast, Michael Syn, president of SGX Group, discussed SGX's commodities strategy, Singapore's role in providing access to Chinese and Indian markets, and his passion for growing heirloom tomatoes. At FIA Asia, a panel of industry experts analyzed the impact of new regulations on India's derivatives markets, shedding light on the current state of trading in the region. The CFTC Market Risk Advisory Committee endorsed key recommendations on Treasury cash-futures trades, cyber resilience, and legal entity identifiers to address evolving market risks. Meanwhile, a study by Black Talent Charter and Bain & Co. highlighted persistent racial inequality in the UK's financial sector, revealing Black graduates are twice as likely to face rejection for financial jobs despite a strong talent pipeline.
FactSet has launched Pitch Creator, an AI-powered tool designed to automate pitchbook creation for investment banks, significantly reducing manual work for junior bankers. Powered by FactSet Mercury, a GenAI chatbot, the tool streamlines tasks such as model analysis, chart creation, and presentation formatting. Key features include Search Intelligence for semantic searches across FactSet's unstructured content, dynamic chart generation, branded slide creation, and automated tombstone slide generation for M&A deals. Integrated with Microsoft Office, Pitch Creator allows users to access pre-built Excel templates, securely refresh models, and maintain source-linked data for efficient workflows. The tool aims to enhance productivity, enabling junior bankers to focus on strategic initiatives and client-facing tasks.
This month's featured business books in the Financial Times offer diverse insights into leadership, judgment, and societal trends. "Make Work Fair" by Iris Bohnet and Siri Chilazi presents data-driven strategies to enhance fairness in the workplace, from innovative CV formats to gender-neutral parental leave. Adam Chandler's "99% Perspiration" critiques the myth of hard work as a determinant of success, linking it to societal issues like overwork and inequality. Andrew Likierman's "Judgment at Work" explores how to improve decision-making through a structured framework combining experience, awareness, and critical thinking. Adam Galinsky's "Inspire" delves into leadership dynamics, offering practical advice on navigating the spectrum between inspiring and infuriating behaviors. Finally, Sandra Matz's "Mindmasters" examines the use of digital footprints for personality prediction and marketing, balancing concerns over data privacy with the potential for positive applications, such as financial management and health monitoring. These books provide valuable perspectives for navigating modern professional and personal challenges.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: Eurex eyes second quarter for blockchain collateral clearing, ANALYSIS: New technology and AI in focus at Davos, New CFTC chair Pham makes leadership changes, ION integrates reporting for energy trading firms, ANALYSIS: Energy market to remain stable long-term regardless of Trump - Novion and ISDA chief executive calls for US Treasury clearing delay.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Nvidia Zero-Day Options Are the Next Big Bet for ETF Upstart from Bloomberg.
- ICE Announces That a Record 2 Billion Contracts Traded in 2024 from ICE.
- This Earnings Season Is Looking Surprisingly Volatile from The Wall Street Journal. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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IMX's Rick Johnson Explains How IMX Health Tech Helps Risk Management in the Healthcare Sector
JohnLothianNews.com
IMX is trying to create a holistic asset class of indexes and tradable products that focus on the healthcare sector, according to Rick Johnson, the chief regulatory officer at the Intelligent Medicine Exchange (IMX), who spoke with John Lothian News at FIA Expo 2024. He said IMX's proprietary indexes are based on medical data, but the company also wants to focus on having a suite of equity-based indexes and more traditional products.
Watch the video »
Suzanne Sprague - CME Group
Watch Video »
Nadine Chakar - DTCC
Watch Video »
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Are markets finally beginning to price in climate risk?
Christopher Edmonds - ICE
The ICE Climate and Pricing teams are closely monitoring the devastating wildfires burning throughout Los Angeles and thinking about those affected. The human toll of these events is hard to comprehend, especially while the full extent of the damage remains uncertain. The devastation has exposed a significant need to better understand the price impact that climate events - directly or indirectly - have on related securities. Over the past two weeks, many fixed income clients have reached out to ask what our climate data is showing in terms of the broader financial impacts of these fires. As of January 14, ICE had identified over 6,000 municipal securities and 150 municipal entities that are tied to locations with material exposure to the Palisades, Eaton and Kenneth fires. In addition, analysis by ICE Climate and our Municipal Bond Pricing team has found that Los Angeles County bond spreads are beginning to widen significantly as the fires continue to burn.
/jlne.ws/4h5iKcC
***** They better start pricing it, because the government backups are surely not covering or going to cover the risk moving forward.~JJL
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JPMorgan's Dimon argues tariffs are good for US security even if inflationary: 'Get over it'
David Hollerith - Yahoo Finance
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday downplayed concerns about new tariffs from the Trump administration. "People argue is it inflationary and not inflationary. I would put it in perspective: If it's a little inflationary, but it's good for national security, so be it. I mean, get over it," Dimon said while speaking with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
/jlne.ws/4au4V5d
***** Jamie, I am so over it. Thank you for slapping some sense into me.~JJL
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Acting Chairman Pham Announces CFTC Leadership Changes
CFTC
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham today announced CFTC leadership changes: "I'm pleased to announce CFTC leadership changes with the beginning of the new Administration, and I want to recognize and thank former Chairman Behnam and his staff, as well as Steve Adamske, Director, Office of Public Affairs; Clark Hutchison, Director, Division of Clearing and Risk; Ian McGinley, Director, Division of Enforcement; Vince McGonagle, Director, Division of Market Oversight; Amanda Olear, Director, Market Participants Division; Suyash Paliwal, Director, Office of International Affairs; Rob Schwartz, General Counsel; and Ann Wright, Director, Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, who have been the CFTC's executive leadership team over the past several years. I am grateful for their combined many decades of faithful service to the CFTC, and I appreciate our talented CFTC staff who will be assuming these roles on an interim basis," Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham said.
/jlne.ws/4jpTnE5
****** Thank you to the leadership team of former Chairman Rostin Behnam. It was a pleasure working with them. I am particularly grateful for the work of the former Director of the Office of Public Affairs, Steve Adamske, for helping us with all the interviews we were able to set up with the chairman during his term. ~JJL
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Is Wall Street going MAGA? Not when its ideology is ROI; What counts in banking is reputation, not liberation
Craig Coben - Financial Times
Remember that scene in Tropic Thunder where Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr. in controversial blackface) schools Ben Stiller's Tugg Speedman about Oscar-bait performances? An over-the-top satire of the movie industry, US cinemas were picketed on the film's release in 2008 over what protestors said was unacceptable hate speech. "Everybody knows you never go full retard," Lazarus declares, before launching into a critique of Hollywood's cynical exploitation of disability for awards:
/jlne.ws/4jwR3vd
***** Put another way, "Everyone understands that it's best not to overdo something to the point where it undermines your credibility or effectiveness."~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top story Wednesday was ICE Announces That a Record 2 Billion Contracts Traded in 2024, from the Intercontinental Exchange. Second was the Chicago-based application for Discover DRW, one of two events DRW is hosting this April in Chicago and London. Third was Crypto executives fear investor backlash over Trump memecoins, from the Financial Times.
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| Lead Stories | Natural Disasters Cost $417 Billion Worldwide in 2024; Last year, the hottest on record, saw more than 20 catastrophes with multibillion-dollar price tags
Richard Vanderford - The Wall Street Journal
Natural disasters and severe weather cost the global economy $417 billion last year, including $154 billion for which insurers were on the hook, according to a new report. Last year was the warmest year on record dating to 1850 and saw a record 21 natural catastrophes with multibillion-dollar price tags, according to a report from Gallagher Re, a reinsurance broker. Gallagher Chief Science Officer Steve Bowen said the trend toward increased losses can be explained, in part, by the warming climate. "Climate change is a cause [of increased losses]. It is not the cause," Bowen said. "You have folks that are very much wanting to attribute and simplify the reasons for increased losses to just one or two factors. But the reality is much more complicated than that."
/jlne.ws/3CnXBvl
Wall Street's Tech-Powered Bond Trades Hit Record $1 Trillion; Portfolio trading handled 9% of US credit volume in 2024; Rise of bond ETFs, electronic trading have fueled boom
Katie Greifeld - Bloomberg
A tech-powered approach to bond trading that helps firms move hundreds of securities in one go has just posted its best year yet. Portfolio trades, in which large baskets of debt are bought and sold in one swoop, accounted for about 9% of total US corporate bond volume in 2024, according to data from Tradeweb Markets Inc. That's a record level of activity, which propelled the value of all transactions using the method past $1 trillion for the first time.
/jlne.ws/3E92JUI
Crypto executive kidnapped then freed in France; Assailants demanded a large ransom after abduction of Ledger co-founder David Balland, say prosecutors
Leila Abboud and Nikou Asgari - Financial Times
The co-founder of crypto start-up Ledger has been freed after being kidnapped in central France. The Paris prosecutor said police were still investigating the incident that began when assailants took David Balland from his home in the department of Cher in the early hours of Tuesday. "The victim was taken by his kidnappers in a car and driven to another address, where he was held captive," prosecutors said in a statement, adding that work by the national and local police had "led to [his] release" on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/40l3hOE
Nasdaq CEO Pushes for Regulation Shift Under New Administration
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
The new Trump administration offers an opportunity to rework regulation in the US to make it more attractive for companies to tap public markets, Nasdaq Inc. Chief Executive Officer Adena Friedman said. "We are very excited to engage with the new administration to think about regulation differently," Friedman said Wednesday in a Bloomberg Television interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "There is opportunity to work with the administration to rethink some of the levels of regulation and requirements for public companies themselves, and make sure that it is more balanced between being a public company and a private company."
/jlne.ws/40uhjO9
Brussels proposes extending EU banks' access to UK clearing houses; European Commission wants to prolong existing arrangements that benefit City of London
Andy Bounds in Strasbourg - Financial Times
Brussels has proposed extending EU banks' access to UK derivatives clearing houses for another three years in a victory for the City of London. The European Commission on Wednesday announced it had introduced a new "equivalence decision", which would allow banks and other financial institutions in the bloc to use some of the world's most critical market utilities in London until June 2028.
/jlne.ws/40IHmSN
California's Recovery Must Price In the True Cost of Risk; Artificially cheap insurance will only keep encouraging homeowners to build in areas vulnerable to natural disaster.
The Editorial Board - Bloomberg
Even before the terrible wildfires in Los Angeles County have been quelled, the dead mourned and evacuees sheltered, California leaders are taking steps to accelerate rebuilding. It's natural to want to restore what was lost in such a tragedy as quickly as possible. But obscuring the true costs will only exacerbate future climate-fueled natural disasters. It's not just Los Angeles. Around the country, rising global temperatures are thought to be making wildfires, hurricanes, floods and droughts more intense and unpredictable. Insurers, paid to be clear-eyed about risks, have responded by raising premiums in the most vulnerable areas or, in some cases, pulling out altogether. Such price signals should be respected: Properties that become prohibitively expensive to insure should absolutely lose value.
/jlne.ws/3CoutnF
Nvidia Zero-Day Options Are the Next Big Bet for ETF Upstart
Lu Wang and Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
The ETF industry's upstart-in-chief is back with another roll of the new-product dice - this time betting on a game-changing expansion of Wall Street's zero-day options boom. Matt Tuttle, who struck gold with leveraged meme-stock funds but fell flat with his Jim Cramer ETFs, has filed to create a line of new offerings that will trade fast-twitch derivatives on popular companies beloved by the retail-investing masses. Think Nvidia Corp., Tesla Inc., MicroStrategy Inc. and more.
/jlne.ws/4hrGozM
DriveWealth and Moment Partner to Democratize Fixed-Income Investing, Lowering Bond Investment Barriers; Advanced API technology to redefine fixed-income access and reduce bond minimums by nearly $200,000
DriveWealth
DriveWealth, a leading financial technology platform providing Brokerage-as-a-Service, today unveiled its partnership with Moment Technology Inc. ("Moment") to expand its fixed-income asset class offering. This development marks a significant step toward expanding retail investor access to the bond market by eliminating the existing $200,000 minimum investment threshold of many international bonds. Through its API suite, DriveWealth simplifies and accelerates the onboarding process for its partners, enabling them to roll out bond investment capabilities quickly and seamlessly. This fixed-income offering is officially live with BTG Pactual US Capital LLC, an affiliate of Banco BTG Pactual, the largest investment bank in Latin America - making DriveWealth the first platform to deliver a fully integrated, consistent API solution across equities, fixed-income, and international mutual funds.
/jlne.ws/4jtusPS
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Surrendering North Korean soldier refuses to drop sausage at gunpoint
Iona Cleave - The Telegraph
A surrendering North Korean soldier risked his life by refusing to drop his sausage at gunpoint, according to the Ukrainian paratroopers who captured him. A detailed video account, published by Ukrainian special forces, described how the soldier refused to lay down his food, while one of his compatriots tried to kill himself by running into a pillar.
/jlne.ws/4hroNbl
**** He dropped his weapons, but would not drop the kolbasa.~JJL
Will Europe put 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine?; Trump presidency revives Macron's idea of sending western soldiers as deterrent against future Russian aggression
John Paul Rathbone in London - Financial Times
It is an open secret that western special forces are present in Ukraine as "sneakers on the ground". So far, though, there is no mass deployment of western "boots on the ground". That may be about to change. Donald Trump's return to the White House reignited interest in the idea, first floated a year ago by French President Emmanuel Macron. At the time, it was ruled out as impracticable and too risky. But since then, Ukraine's military has struggled. The prospect of Nato membership has dwindled. Trump, seeking to disengage the US from European security, has said he wants a ceasefire "as soon as possible". And Kyiv has hinted at its readiness for a deal, as long as its allies provide strong security guarantees.
/jlne.ws/4atAVWZ
Kremlin ready for 'mutually respectful' Trump talks
AFP
The Kremlin said Thursday it saw nothing new in US President Donald Trump's calls for Russia to end its military offensive in Ukraine, and that Moscow was ready for "mutually respectful" dialogue with him. The US leader had on Wednesday threatened fresh sanctions on Moscow if Russia did not strike a deal to end its nearly three-year campaign against Ukraine. Expectations are high that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump will soon hold a phone call to discuss the conflict, after the Republican pledged on the campaign trail to bring a swift end to the fighting.
/jlne.ws/3PPM7nv
Oreo-Maker Mondelez's Apparent Backtrack on Russia Prompts Transparency Concern; Company removed language committing to 'stand-alone' operation; Says it's 'committed to transparency,' engaging stakeholders
Deena Shanker - Bloomberg
After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Mondelez International Inc. joined a number of international companies in committing to downsize its presence in Russia. The maker of Oreo cookies has since walked those pledges back, leading some shareholders to renew calls for increased transparency. The company removed language last year from an earlier filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that said it was committed to turning the Russia business into a "stand-alone" operation. It has also removed two policies from its website that described plans to shrink its footprint in Russia.
/jlne.ws/4h9vH5w
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| Middle East Conflict | | News about the current conflict in the Middle East that began with the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. | Trump Will Again Designate Houthis as Terrorists, Reversing Biden
John Harney - Bloomberg
US President Donald Trump signed an order on Wednesday that would once again categorize the Houthi militant group in Yemen as a terrorist organization - nearly four years after the Biden administration revoked the designation. Since then, the Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, have engaged in a lengthy campaign of missile and drone attacks on cargo ships and other vessels sailing in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. They've also fired upon Israel several times. The attacks started after the Hamas assault on Israel in October 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
/jlne.ws/40uaHit
Middle East crisis live: hundreds leaving their homes in Jenin, says Palestinian official, as Israel continues West Bank raid
The Guardian
A Palestinian official said hundreds of people began leaving their homes in the occupied West Bank on Thursday as Israeli forces pressed a deadly operation, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). The Israeli military launched the raid in the Jenin area days into a ceasefire in the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said the objective of the operation, dubbed "Iron Wall", is to "eradicate terrorism" in the area. "Hundreds of camp residents have begun leaving after the Israeli army, using loudspeakers on drones and military vehicles, ordered them to evacuate the camp," Jenin governor, Kamal Abu al-Rub, told AFP. The Israeli army said it was "unaware of any evacuation orders for residents in Jenin as of now".
/jlne.ws/4arfplV
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | The World Federation of Exchanges announces the industry's priorities for 2025
The WFE Communications Team - WFE
The World Federation of Exchanges announces the industry's priorities for 2025 London, 23rd January 2025 - The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, today announces the 2025 priorities for the exchange and clearing industry. The WFE Board - 18 leaders of market infrastructures from around the world, met last week to discuss and agree the priorities. The WFE, which represents over 250 market infrastructures, will focus on the areas below: The Role, Purpose & Work of Market Infrastructure in the next decade: As public, lit markets continue to champion the rights of investors, issuers and market participants, while more lightly regulated alternatives continue to be a source of concern and undermine social welfare, the WFE will advocate for regulation for all forms of financial trading that ensures markets remain trustworthy, inclusive, transparent, and serves the needs of the industry's diverse stakeholders.
/jlne.ws/4awvgzp
Exchange evolution: Nasdaq president Tal Cohen on why fintech is now mission critical
Laurie McAughtry - Euromoney
With Nasdaq's technology now used by 97% of the world's global systemically important banks, its president explains why fintech has become fundamental to financial services stability, why the sell side needs help to manage growing market complexity - and how Nasdaq is riding this wave to become far more than just an exchange.
/jlne.ws/4h4g3YT
ICE First Look at Mortgage Performance: Delinquencies Ended 2024 on a Strong Note Despite Remaining Near a Three-Year High
Intercontinental Exchange
The national delinquency rate eased 2 basis points (bps) to 3.72% in December, but rose 4.0% year over year - the seventh consecutive annual increase - ending 2024 near a three-year high; Early-stage delinquencies fell 41K (-3.6%) in the month, while serious delinquencies (loans 90+ days past due but not in active foreclosure) continued their slow climb - up 29K (+5.7%) in the month and a fifth consecutive rise year over year; Foreclosure sales declined by 5K (-5.6%) in December, hitting their lowest level in nearly two years, while foreclosure inventory climbed 7K (+3.8%), but was down -10.7% year-over-year
/jlne.ws/3Q7ZeRf
ASX releases CHESS Settlement incident review
ASX
ASX has today released an incident review to assist customers and stakeholders with a more detailed understanding of the CHESS Batch Settlement incident that occurred on Friday 20 December 2024. This includes an overview of how the incident unfolded, root cause analysis, steps taken to prevent reoccurrence, and a preliminary action plan that ensures the ongoing stability of CHESS and identifying opportunities for improvement in our incident management protocols. The incident resulted in Batch Settlement for Friday 20 December 2024 having to be rescheduled to the following business day, Monday 23 December 2024.
/jlne.ws/3EhuVEF
Euronext launches IPOready 2025: Empowering 160 companies across Europe's fastest-growing sectors
Euronext
Euronext, the leading European market infrastructure, today announces the launch of the 2025 edition of its pre-IPO programme IPOready. This is the tenth consecutive year Euronext has hosted IPOready, which has become Europe's largest pre-IPO programme.
/jlne.ws/3E35Ld8
Eurex Clearing paving the way for digital collateral mobilization
Eurex
Eurex Clearing extends its technical capabilities and announces the planned launch of collateral mobilization supported by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in Q2 2025. This will set an example for enabling digital mobilization of collateral with the benefits of a secure CCP framework. The flexibility, speed and efficiency of collateral transfers will be enhanced by mobilizing collateral with the support of the HQLAX digital ledger. The goal is to ensure that securities collateral becomes easily accessible, independent of its physical location, and can be moved quickly and without incurring substantial costs. This will improve the immediate availability to meet the margin requirements set by CCPs. By achieving this, the process of fulfilling CCP margin requirements becomes even more efficient.
/jlne.ws/40mSsLY
Derivatives in insurance: managing risk and optimizing capital
Eurex
In the run-up to Derivatives Forum Frankfurt 2025, which will be held on 26 and 27 February, we are publishing a series of interviews with key stakeholders in the event. In this article, we sat down with Sushil Krishan, Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, to talk about the opportunities that listed derivatives offer the insurance industry. While insurance companies have a need for reliable and accurate hedging, accessing the instruments they need to do so is often difficult. We discussed how a listed and cleared ecosystem could alleviate the operational burden of OTC markets and broaden access to more precise hedges.
/jlne.ws/4htWfy7
Initiator Indicator For Transfers - Effective February 24, 2025
CME Group
Please be advised that, in response to customer requests, CME Clearing is adding an Initiator Indicator to Transfer messages. The Firm that enters the Transfer will be designated as the Initiator. The Production Date for this change will be for trade date Monday, February 24, 2025.
/jlne.ws/4h3TjYV
ESG Index Derivatives Development Update Q4/2024
Eurex
The Eurex ESG Index Derivatives segment continued its strong development in Q4/2024, already equaling the 2023 notional volume figures in September 2024.
/jlne.ws/40IV5cn
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | How Oracle Plays Cheaply in AI; Software company has less spending power than other megacap techs, but partnerships and its data-center design give it flexibility
Dan Gallagher - The Wall Street Journal
When it comes to big techs, Oracle ORCL 0.66%increase; green up pointing triangle is hardly small-fry. But the 47-year-old software titan still has to play its hand deftly when it comes to the ultra-expensive game of artificial intelligence. Its approach was apparent in the high-profile announcement about the "Stargate Project," which aims to invest $500 billion over the next four years to build new AI infrastructure for OpenAI. Oracle was named as both an equity investor and "key initial technology partner" for the project, and founder and Chairman Larry Ellison joined OpenAI's Sam Altman and SoftBank 9434 0.72%increase; green up pointing triangle Chief Executive Masayoshi Son Tuesday at the White House for the announcement.
/jlne.ws/40LGpck
When A.I. Passes This Test, Look Out; The creators of a new test called "Humanity's Last Exam" argue we may soon lose the ability to create tests hard enough for A.I. models.
Kevin Roose - The New York Times
If you're looking for a new reason to be nervous about artificial intelligence, try this: Some of the smartest humans in the world are struggling to create tests that A.I. systems can't pass. For years, A.I. systems were measured by giving new models a variety of standardized benchmark tests. Many of these tests consisted of challenging, S.A.T.-caliber problems in areas like math, science and logic. Comparing the models' scores over time served as a rough measure of A.I. progress.
/jlne.ws/42s8yXu
How we can use AI to create a better society; Companies are looking into the ways in which AI can reduce humanity's impact on areas such as agriculture, healthcare and environmental conservation
Lucy Colback - Financial Times
Usually the FT Tech for Growth Forum looks at technology in the commercial context. This report, however, examines how next-generation artificial intelligence can be a force for good. We will look at the ways in which AI can reduce humanity's impact on the planet and bring about societal improvements. Our focus this time is on agriculture, healthcare and environmental conservation. The damaging effects of mankind's exploitation of the earth's resources are becoming clear. Our use of energy will have to be less polluting if we are to hold the rise in global temperature within the limits set by the Paris Agreement in 2015.
/jlne.ws/4gg9Dom
If the UK wants to lead in AI, it must fund more PhDs; Universities are the cornerstone of the country's reputation as a global research hub but the business model is in crisis
Jeremy Silver - Financial Times (opinion)
The writer is an honorary professor at UCL and former CEO of Digital Catapult.
There has been much excitement at the UK government's plan to invest in artificial intelligence. The country's reputation as a global research and talent developer is proof of the immense contributions made by our leading universities. However, recent economic and social changes have put the business model of universities in crisis. This threatens their ability to maintain the country's reputation for developing AI pioneers such as Alex Kendall of Wayve and Sir Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind.
/jlne.ws/40I8DF6
HSBC's payments app closure puts around 400 jobs at risk, source says
Sinead Cruise - Reuters
HSBC's decision to shutter international payments app Zing is likely to trigger around 400 job losses, a source familiar with the matter said, as CEO Georges Elhedery steps up cost-cutting efforts at Europe's largest bank. The staff at risk of redundancy will be informed from Thursday, according to the source, who said the approximate 400 figure included a substantial number of non-HSBC external customer support staff.
/jlne.ws/3POFWAa
HSBC shuts payments app Zing a year after launch; Closure marks latest failed fintech effort by traditional bank
Akila Quinio - Financial Times
HSBC is shutting its payments app Zing just a year after it launched the digital challenger, marking the latest closure of a fintech offshoot by a big bank. "Following a strategic review of Zing within the HSBC Group and after careful consideration, we have made the decision to close Zing and integrate its underlying technology platform into HSBC," the bank said.
/jlne.ws/4jvPcXA
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Trump administration fires members of cybersecurity review board in 'horribly shortsighted' decision
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai - TechCrunch
On Tuesday, a day after Donald Trump's inauguration as the new U.S. president, the Department of Homeland Security told members of several advisory committees that they were effectively fired. Among the committees impacted is the Cyber Safety Review Board, or CSRB, according to sources familiar with the board who spoke to TechCrunch, as well as reporting by other news outlets. The CSRB was made up of both private sector and government cybersecurity experts.
/jlne.ws/42s5kTS
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Circle Announces Acquisition of Hashnote and USYC Tokenized Money Market Fund Alongside Strategic Partnership with Global Trading Firm DRW;
Circle
Today, Circle Internet Group, Inc. a global financial technology company and stablecoin market leader, announced its acquisition of Hashnote - the issuer of USYC incubated by Cumberland Labs - which according to 3rd-party analysts RWA.xyz is the largest tokenized treasury and money market fund in the world, with $1.52B deployed into USYC as of January 15, 2025. Circle intends to fully integrate USYC with USDC, offering seamless access between TMMF collateral and USDC, one of the world's most popular stablecoins. This will enable USYC to emerge as a preferred form of yield-bearing collateral on crypto exchanges, and also with custodians and prime brokers.
/jlne.ws/40Iu7S4
Top auction houses courted the crypto crew - is it enough to save them?; Not everyone is celebrating the art world's pursuit of the crypto nouveau riche
Melanie Gerlis - Financial Times
"The crypto bros have gone. When the music stopped, they ran for the hills." So said the art adviser Wendy Goldsmith in the stately surrounds of the Grand Palais during October's Art Basel Paris fair. Now, as Bitcoin reaches new heights and Ether edges towards its 2021 peak, will the art industry's previous courting of the crypto crowd begin to pay off? Early signs would suggest so. Cryptocurrencies began their latest gains in the weeks after the re-election of US President Donald Trump, now strongly in favour of the decentralised digital assets. During this time, Justin Sun, founder of the crypto platform Tron, hit the headlines by buying Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian" (2019) - literally a banana duct-taped to a wall - for $6.2mn at a Sotheby's auction in New York. He paid for it in cryptocurrency.
/jlne.ws/40FOb7H
Co-founder of French Crypto Startup Freed After Kidnapping
Benoit Berthelot - Bloomberg
A co-founder of French crypto wallet startup Ledger SAS who was kidnapped in central France has been released, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement. David Balland was taken from his home in the early hours of Tuesday and freed on Wednesday night after a police operation. The criminals demanded the payment of a substantial ransom in cryptocurrency, the prosecutor's office said. Ledger specializes in making hardware wallets for crypto investors to store their digital assets. It raised EUR100 million ($104 million) in 2023, valuing the company at EUR1.3 billion.
/jlne.ws/42ppjlO
Coinbase Seeks Federal Court Guidance in Landmark Crypto Case
Jared Kirui - Finance Magnates
Coinbase has petitioned the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to determine whether trades on its platform fall under federal securities laws. This important legal battle seeks to provide the much-needed clarity for the multi-trillion-dollar crypto industry, financial institutions, and consumers. According to Bloomberg Law, Coinbase argued that its platform's operations, which use a blind bid-ask system to match anonymous buyers and sellers, do not meet the criteria outlined in the Howey test, the longstanding framework for determining what constitutes an investment contract.
/jlne.ws/42semjw
Ethereum Gets Wall Street Sales Force as Token Lags Bitcoin; Ethereum is facing heat for underperforming competitors; Startup hopes to become Ether's sales team to Wall Street
Muyao Shen - Bloomberg
Ethereum used to be seen as the most likely challenger to Bitcoin's status as the preeminent cryptocurrency, and the one best positioned to make the blockchain a more useful technology. But as Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies have been soaring in recent months - thanks to President Donald Trump's embrace - Ethereum has struggled to keep pace, despite hosting the second most valuable digital token, Ether. While Bitcoin has gone up about 160% over the last year, Ether has only risen 45%.
/jlne.ws/4htbbMG
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Donald Trump's new crypto token is the industry in its purest form: Morning Brief
Hamza Shaban - Yahoo Finance
An unseemly cash grab, a rug pull, a distraction from legitimate work. That's how some of the crypto faithful are describing the president's new meme coin, $Trump (TRUMP-OFFICIAL-USD). But to think that Trump's shenanigans are separate from the crypto industry is to misunderstand why many people cling to the enterprise. Crypto supporters might believe Trump is making them look bad. But that's just blame shifting, a defense mechanism to disown the most unsavory parts of a whole - something we saw during the downfall of FTX. Which, of course, was supposed to be the start of some industry rehabilitation, a crypto purification process that sheds its worst aspects.
/jlne.ws/40MbRrf
Trump's Dream of Energy Dominance Relies on Canada; Why risk our relationship with a giant, friendly oil producer that US refiners depend upon?
Liam Denning - Bloomberg
In theory, President Donald Trump's threat of sweeping tariffs against Canada, a major oil producer, fits with his desire for US "energy dominance." In practice, the drive for dominance has relied heavily on Canadian oil. Trump's animus is mercurial, encompassing everything from securing the US-Canadian border to, most grotesquely, erasing that border. Whatever the cause, this is the largest trading relationship for both countries and energy, especially oil, defines it. The US imports more oil from Canada than all other foreign countries combined. Strip out that import bill and the US trade deficit with Canada would flip to a surplus.
/jlne.ws/4hrJnIu
Trump Downplays Threat of China Using TikTok to Spy on Americans
Justin Sink - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump downplayed the national security risk posed by TikTok in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, days after offering the social video app a reprieve from legislation that would have forced it to shut down. "Is it that important for China to be spying on young people, on young kids, watching crazy videos?" Trump said. The US leader suggested all electronic products manufactured in China could carry a spying risk, adding that TikTok's was not the most serious of them.
/jlne.ws/40tG0Kp
SALT Talks Gain Steam With Trump's Blessing on Tax Break; House Republicans seek to reach compromise in coming weeks; Lawmakers to discuss SALT again with Trump on Wednesday
Nancy Cook and Nacha Cattan - Bloomberg
House Republicans are in talks over raising the cap for state and local tax deductions after winning pledges from President Donald Trump and congressional leaders to include the measure in a must-pass tax bill this year. New York Republicans are having discussions about how to raise the $10,000 SALT cap so that their constituents can deduct more local income and real estate taxes from federal bills. Lawmakers are hoping to come up with a figure for the deduction cap in the coming weeks - potentially as soon as February, GOP Representative Nicole Malliotakis said.
/jlne.ws/40JVGuj
Tariffs on Canada Will Cost Aluminum Buyers Billions, Alcoa Says
Bob Tita - The Wall Street Journal
A U.S. tariff on Canadian imports would undermine America's industrial competitiveness by increasing the cost of aluminum by $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year, Alcoa's chief executive said. Canada is the U.S.'s largest supplier of aluminum made in smelters, sending 2.8 million metric tons a year south of the border in 2023, according to industry data. President Trump indicated this week he's considering imposing a 25% duty on imports from Canada.
/jlne.ws/42s84AE
Total CEO Urges EU to Back Corporate Champions, Shield Markets
Francois De Beaupuy - Bloomberg
TotalEnergies SE Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne urged the European Union to amend regulations to foster corporate "champions" in the key fields of technology, banking and energy, and to protect them when needed amid rising competition from the US and China Transformations in the digital, banking and energy sectors require "more capital" which in turn requires "European champions," the CEO of the French energy giant said on a panel discussion in Davos on Thursday. "You need to revisit completely the way we apply competition rules," as Europe has protected consumers at the expense of its own industries in the past 50 years, he said.
/jlne.ws/40JNgDn
Friedrich Merz warns German companies about 'great risk' of investing in China; Frontrunner to become Germany's next chancellor says businesses must be prepared for 'disruptions'
Anne-Sylvaine Chassany - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/42pEF9V
Russian submarines may be forced out of Mediterranean
Daniel Hardaker - The Telegraph
/jlne.ws/4hlxULj
Iceland Is Crowdsourcing Ways to Cut State Spending; Ideas have come in from 1% of population, minister says; Finance Minister Dadi Mar Kristofersson spoke in interview
Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir - Bloomberg
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Singapore Charges Former Director in Record Laundering Case
Bernadette Toh - Bloomberg
Singapore has charged Wang Junjie, the former director of a local corporate service provider linked to individuals caught up in the city-state's record S$3 billion ($2.2 billion) money-laundering case. Wang, a former director of LW Consultancy Pte. Ltd., was charged with 15 offenses, the Singapore Police Force said in a statement on Thursday. The offenses range from engaging in a conspiracy to falsify accounts to making false representations. Wang's charges are punishable with fines and or imprisonment terms.
/jlne.ws/3E95Uf5
Rostin Behnam's unfinished business; Next CFTC chair must finish the work Behnam started on crypto regulation and conflicts of interest
Luke Clancy and Bernard Goyder - Risk.net
In his final official remarks before stepping down as chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Rostin 'Russ' Behnam quipped that it is only natural for outgoing stewards of the agency to "leave some business unfinished for our successors". His legacy may well depend on how the next CFTC chair handles the array of half-finished tasks being left to them.
/jlne.ws/4h5Efdz
Remarks of Commissioner Kristin Johnson at the Global Blockchain Business Council's 8th Annual Blockchain Central Davos: Collaboration for the Intelligent Age
CFTC
In January, we mark the launch of a number of initiatives and resolutions. A significant transition in leadership in U.S. government is taking place as I am delivering these remarks. Moments of transition offer an exceptional time for reflection on our shared goals and recommitment to the values that drive government, business, and our society.
/jlne.ws/40FX4hE
Which Markets and Investors?: Statement on the Notice of Proposed Plan of Distribution and Opportunity for Comment with respect to Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce - SEC
In accordance with a vote taken before January 20, the Commission today published a Notice of Proposed Plan of Distribution and Opportunity for Comment for a Fair Fund created from the $200 million civil penalty imposed in a settled administrative proceeding against Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC.[1] Under the Proposed Plan, the Commission would "use a single claims process to compensate investors who purchased or acquired ADRs on a U.S. exchange and ordinary shares/common stock on a foreign exchange, and were harmed by a violation of the federal securities laws." Specifically, the Fair Fund proposes to compensate investors for the "Recognized Loss[es]" incurred from trading during the "Relevant Period" in Barclays ADRs on the NYSE and in "Barclays ordinary shares traded on the [London Stock Exchange] ("LSE")."[2] This proposed plan-to use a Fair Fund to compensate investors who purchased securities of a foreign issuer on a foreign exchange-is somewhat novel. I have both legal and policy concerns regarding the novel proposal.
/jlne.ws/40KXhjJ
SEC Charges Technical Consultant with Insider Trading
SEC
On January 21, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed settled charges against Gabriel Rebeiz, an electrical engineering professor at a California public university, for insider trading in advance of a February 14, 2022 announcement that a subsidiary of Murata Manufacturing Ltd. would acquire Resonant Inc., a company in the radio frequency filters industry.
/jlne.ws/4jlb1ch
ASIC's Moneysmart encourages Australians to stick to their financial goals in 2025
ASIC
Getting on top of your finances is one of the most common new year's resolutions set by Australians with more than half (52%) setting a financial goal for 2025, according to new research from ASIC's Moneysmart. The research revealed that while more than half of those surveyed plan to set a financial goal, only about 1 in 8 (12%) manage to stick to it. Gen Z (77%) are the most likely to plan to set financial resolutions or goals for 2025, followed by Millennials (60%), Gen X (51%) and Baby Boomers (35%). When it comes to achieving their goals in 2025, four in five (85%) anticipate challenges, with the most common being financial constraints (56%). Other challenges include lack of motivation (30%), lack of knowledge (24%) and lack of time (24%). Gen Z (89%) and Millennials (86%) are more likely than older Aussies to anticipate challenges (Gen X - 77% and Baby Boomers - 71%).
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FCA and PSR set out next steps for open banking
FCA
Next steps for open banking will include a new independent company to drive forward variable recurring payments. Open banking is a UK success story with over 11.7 million active users and over 22.1 million open banking payments made monthly.
/jlne.ws/4g9wBxm
FCA review finds gaps remain in brokers' money laundering defences
FCA
The FCA has found wholesale brokers need to enhance their systems, controls, risk awareness and training to guard against money laundering. The FCA focused on wholesale brokers in its review because of the important role they play in capital markets in facilitating deals. The regulator also engaged with other market participants to understand wider risks, issues and good practice, recognising that collaboration with and across industry is essential to delivering real improvements. This report will assist any firms involved in the capital markets to improve their controls and prevent financial crime.
/jlne.ws/4hqBBim
FSA Weekly Review No.620; January 23, 2025; What's New on the FSA Website
Week of January 10, 2025 - January 16, 2025
/jlne.ws/3PLIn6j
Consumer Price Developments in December 2024
MAS
This December 2024 report contains an update of the latest consumer price developments in Singapore, prepared by MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
/jlne.ws/4jlbrPT
SFC expands listed structured fund offerings in Hong Kong
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today sets out new regulatory requirements in a circular for product issuers, with a view to broadening the range of listed structured funds that may be offered to the public in Hong Kong, notably adding to their product mix Single Stock Leveraged and Inverse (L&I) Products and Defined Outcome Listed Structured Funds (Notes 1 and 2). Single Stock L&I Products and Defined Outcome Listed Structured Funds are listed structured fund products that have become increasingly popular in overseas markets. Against this backdrop, there has been growing interest among product issuers in launching them in Hong Kong, in the light of their distinct appeal to investors.
/jlne.ws/4awwcnp
SFC commences false trading prosecution against brothers-in-law
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today commenced criminal proceedings at the Eastern Magistrates' Court against Mr Lin Tai Fung and his brother-in-law, Mr Or Chun Nin, for alleged conspiracy to commit false trading in the shares of Pa Shun International Holdings Limited (Pa Shun) from 9 April 2017 to 7 March 2018 (Notes 1 and 2). Lin was also charged for failing to notify The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited of changes in his interest in the shares of Pa Shun on eight occasions between 2 June 2017 and 14 March 2018 (Note 3).
/jlne.ws/40KY7Np
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Treasury clearing timeline 'too aggressive' says BofA rates head; Sifma gears up for extension talks with incoming SEC and Treasury officials
Bernard Goyder - Risk.net
The current timeline for mandatory clearing of US Treasuries and repo agreements is too aggressive and should be delayed, according to Bank of America's global rates head. "We want the liquidity in the Treasury market to stay robust, and pushing out timelines definitely makes sense as the timelines are far too aggressive," said Laura Chepucavage, BofA's global head of financing, futures and rates.
/jlne.ws/3PPKC8R
Isda to finalise drafting updated FX definitions this year; New definitions on disruption events and fallbacks are core focus
Emma Siponmaa - Risk.net
A new framework for handling disruption events is at the core of work being carried out by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association to update its foreign exchange and currency option definitions, which is expected to be finalised this year.
/jlne.ws/42mhWMd
Record cocoa prices prompt buyers to delay orders, says Swiss chocolate maker; Higher costs being passed on to customers either directly or through 'shrinkflation'
Susannah Savage and Madeleine Speed - Financial Times
Record cocoa prices are prompting chocolate buyers to postpone orders and attempt to renegotiate pricing, according to chocolate maker Barry Callebaut. Cocoa prices have almost tripled in the past year as extreme weather and disease have hit harvests in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together produce two-thirds of the world's cocoa. Three consecutive seasons of global cocoa deficits had pushed prices to "astronomical levels", said Oran van Dort, commodity analyst at Rabobank, adding that there was a risk of another deficit in the upcoming season.
/jlne.ws/4hiuats
LNG tankers change course to Europe as gas storage levels drop; Traders divert ships from Asia and Colombia to take advantage of rising regional prices
Shotaro Tani in London - Financial Times
Tankers carrying liquefied natural gas are changing course in the Atlantic and heading to Europe, as cargo owners look to profit from a market hit by the loss of Russian pipeline gas flows through Ukraine. At least seven LNG cargoes departing the US have made sharp turns from their original paths and headed north this month, according to commodities data firm ICIS. Six ships had been heading towards the Cape of Good Hope and Asia while another was bound for Colombia, but all are now moving towards European ports, the data shows.
/jlne.ws/40IHwcR
Behind MicroStrategy's Bitcoin Bet: Investors Who Usually Play It Safe; 'Bitcoin bonds' offer insurers and others a less risky way to buy crypto
Vicky Ge Huang and Gregory Zuckerman - The Wall Street Journal
Michael Saylor and his company MicroStrategy are making a massive bet on bitcoin. Their biggest backers include an unlikely group of insurance companies, mutual funds and other usually conservative bond investors. The software company turned itself into a bitcoin whale and now owns some $48 billion of the cryptocurrency. It funded those purchases partly by selling convertible bonds-debt that can eventually be converted into shares, if the stock price rises to a specified level.
/jlne.ws/4jrhqT0
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | BP is a victim of wishful thinking on fossil fuels; The UK energy company trails Shell and others in value after years of offering investors false hope
John Gapper - Financial Times (opinion)
Donald Trump's inaugural address as US president this week included a eulogy to fossil fuels and the "liquid gold under our feet". Despite BP's large oil and gas operations and reserves in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico (or America), you have to drill deep to find gold in its finances. The UK company now trails the other big investor-owned energy multinationals by market value: it is not only a sixth of the worth of ExxonMobil but less than half that of its old Anglo-Dutch rival Shell. It announced last week that it was cutting 4,700 jobs in a renewed effort to be "a simpler, more focused, higher value company".
/jlne.ws/4h5EtRX
Hydrogen still holds promise as a fuel; It is proving to be particularly well-suited for commercial use and industries such as trucking and public transportation
June Yoon - Financial Times (opinion)
Imagine a world where your commute is fuelled by the universe's most abundant element: hydrogen. Emitting nothing but water vapour as a byproduct, when produced using renewable energy, hydrogen has long held promise as the fuel of the future. Yet for all its potential, hydrogen still seems stuck in the realm of what might be. Not all energy solutions regarded as revolutionary alternatives to fossil fuels have lived up to expectations. Ethanol for example, once seen as a viable replacement for petrol, fell short of its hype. Now, with Donald Trump having signed orders to promote fossil fuels on his first day back as US president, critics see hydrogen-powered cars heading down a similar path.
/jlne.ws/3CxuyW2
Green Investors Find a Silver Lining in Trump's Presidency; Shares in clean energy companies have fallen every year since 2021, but some say the sector has hit bottom.
Saijel Kishan - Bloomberg
The last time Donald Trump was in the White House, ultra-low interest rates helped green stocks quadruple in value, with a particularly strong surge after Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Jubilant investors rightly expected the incoming president, a champion of clean energy, to enact a raft of climate-friendly policies, lifting the industry to new heights. But around the time Biden took the oath of office in January 2021 the euphoria subsided, and shares of companies in the sector fell throughout his presidency.
/jlne.ws/42mm6Ul
Calpers Looks to Take-Private Deals as Trump Batters Renewables; Fund is also weighing wind, solar projects, climate chief says;l Uncertainty under new US president adds to industry's woes
Eliyahu Kamisher - Bloomberg
The California Public Employees' Retirement System, one of the world's largest and most climate-friendly investors, is seeking ways to navigate one of President Donald Trump's top priorities: boosting the US fossil fuel industry and killing green subsidies. One option for Calpers is taking companies private if their shares, already hammered by years of headwinds, decline further under Trump. The country's largest public pension fund, which oversees $527 billion, will also look to finance wind and solar projects, as well as investments in polluting businesses that can be transitioned to more environmentally sustainable profiles.
/jlne.ws/3E7pt7u
Kinder Morgan to Build $1.7B Texas Pipeline to Serve LNG Sector
Hart Energy Staff
Kinder Morgan will build a 1.5-Bcf/d natural gas pipeline, the Trident Intrastate, to move gas from the Houston area to the LNG and industrial corridor near Port Arthur, Texas, the company said Jan. 22. The company expects the $1.7 billion, a 216-mile pipeline, originating in Katy, Texas, to begin service in first-quarter 2027, pending receipt of required permits and approvals.
/jlne.ws/3PK8r1R
LNG tankers change course to Europe as gas storage levels drop; Traders divert ships from Asia and Colombia to take advantage of rising regional prices
Shotaro Tani - Financial Times
Tankers carrying liquefied natural gas are changing course in the Atlantic and heading to Europe, as cargo owners look to profit from a market hit by the loss of Russian pipeline gas flows through Ukraine. At least seven LNG cargoes departing the US have made sharp turns from their original paths and headed north this month, according to commodities data firm ICIS.
/jlne.ws/4g9l2Gn
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Japan's biggest banks hit valuation landmark as BoJ weighs rate rise; Largest lenders now trade at or close to their book values for first time in almost a decade
David Keohane and Leo Lewis - Financial Times
Japan's biggest banks are nearing a key valuation level for the first time in almost a decade as investors bet that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates on Friday and accelerate its normalisation of monetary policy. MUFG, the country's biggest bank by market capitalisation, is trading above its book value - the point at which investors value the bank as being worth at least as much as the assets on its balance sheet - according to Goldman Sachs data.
/jlne.ws/3Ck0ayt
The $100 Billion Court Challenge for Goldman and Friends; US banks taking on the Fed and its stress tests could free up plenty of capital.
Marc Rubinstein - Bloomberg Opinion
Banks are used to fending off litigation. Goldman Sachs Group Inc's most recent annual report includes 14 pages of fine print detailing all the proceedings it faces. But defendant has turned plaintiff. On Christmas Eve, bank trade groups filed suit against the Federal Reserve, arguing that its annual stress-testing process violates the principles of the Administrative Procedure Act. Banks have complained about regulatory overreach before; now, encouraged by an increasingly friendly legal environment, they're bringing the issue to the courts.
/jlne.ws/4avupz8
European banks to reward investors with bumper EUR123bn in payouts; Dividends have exceeded pre-crisis levels while lenders have topped up returns with buybacks
Simon Foy, European Banking Correspondent - Financial Times
European banks are on course to return close to EUR123bn to shareholders for the second consecutive year as lenders lift dividends above their pre-financial crisis peak and buybacks soar. The largest listed European and UK banks are expected to unveil EUR74.4bn in dividends and EUR49bn of buybacks when they report 2024 earnings in the coming weeks, according to estimates compiled by UBS. The scale of the returns would surpass even the blockbuster total handed to investors in 2023, as executives seek to share bumper profits earned as interest rates rose rapidly and to compensate shareholders for a lack of payouts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
/jlne.ws/3Ckt818
Hedge Fund Clients Pulled $7 Billion From Elite Money Manager Since 2021
Katherine Burton - Bloomberg
Clients of Seth Klarman's Baupost Group pulled roughly $7 billion from the hedge fund in the past three years, losing patience with the famed value investor after a decade of lackluster returns. Baupost, once among the best-performing hedge funds, gained only about 4% a year since 2014, according to investors. The $23 billion firm's performance over that decade is about a fifth of its historic returns, lagging behind other multistrategy hedge funds and a blended stock and bond index fund. It lost money in three of those 10 years - though the steepest drop was less than 5% - as a sustained period of low interest rates and a soaring stock market resulted in fewer of the distressed plays where Klarman shines.
/jlne.ws/40IHOQZ
Saba loses battle against Herald board in first blow to UK campaign; Hedge fund's action against closed-ended fund was one of seven it carried out
Emma Dunkley - Financial Times
US activist Saba Capital has failed in its attempt to overthrow the board of Herald Investment Trust, dealing the first blow in its campaign against seven UK-listed closed-ended companies. The majority of shareholders in Herald voted on Wednesday against the US hedge fund's proposal to replace the trust's board and install its own candidates, which could have paved the way for Saba to become investment manager.
/jlne.ws/40wtWrV
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Sun-Times owner seeks voluntary buyouts from the newsroom; The reductions shape up as the most severe since the publication joined with WBEZ in 2022, a pioneering move aimed at sustaining local journalism.
David Roeder - Chicago Sun-Times
The nonprofit owner of the Chicago Sun-Times is calling for staff reductions that will fall heavily on the publication's newsroom employees. The cutbacks could be the deepest Chicago Public Media has ordered since it absorbed the Sun-Times in 2022. The noncash acquisition by the owner of public radio station WBEZ was an innovative attempt to preserve local journalism under a nonprofit umbrella, but the combined operations have been unable to stop financial bleeding. Melissa Bell, CEO of Chicago Public Media, disclosed the planned cuts Wednesday in announcements to donors and employees. She said staff will be offered incentives to voluntarily exit via buyouts. The offer will be made to Sun-Times staff and to non-newsroom workers at WBEZ.
/jlne.ws/3Coflql
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Adults With ADHD Have a Shorter Life Expectancy, Study Finds; Men die 6.8 years sooner, while women die 8.6 years earlier; Study underscores the need for better detection and treatment
Sonja Wind - Bloomberg
Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder die at an earlier age on average, a study found, highlighting the need for better care for patients with the hard-to-treat neurological condition. Men with ADHD live 6.8 years less than the rest of the population, a difference that reaches 8.6 years for women, according to an analysis of electronic health records from more than 300,000 people in the UK. The research was published Thursday in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
/jlne.ws/40Ku5cw
Trump Order Seeks to Stop Virus Research That Critics Have Linked to Covid; An executive order is in the works that would halt U.S. funding for research that makes viruses that are more virulent or contagious
Nidhi Subbaraman and Liz Essley Whyte - The Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration is preparing an executive order that would halt federal funding, at least temporarily, for a risky and controversial kind of research into viruses that makes the pathogens more dangerous or contagious. The goal of the order would be to stop scientists with U.S. funding from conducting "gain-of-function" research on viruses that could endanger human health, people familiar with the plans said. Some viruses, such as the H5N1 bird-flu pathogen, might be exempt from the order, one of the people said.
/jlne.ws/4h4Gm1j
Trump Is Already Making America Weaker and More Vulnerable
Nicholas Kristof - The New York Times
President Trump said in his Inaugural Address that he had "no higher responsibility than to defend our country." So what did Trump do on his first day in office? He made America weaker and more vulnerable. Trump's move to breathe new life into TikTok in the United States is the best example, and I'll come back to that in a moment. But it wasn't the only such move. One of the threats looming over all of us is a viral disease that begins in a distant corner of the globe, as we saw in the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak and in the coronavirus pandemic. A guardrail protecting us from pandemics is the World Health Organization, which works to stop viruses early in foreign countries, before they spread. Yet Trump announced on his first day that the United States will withdraw from the organization, elevating the risk that the next virus goes global and kills large numbers of Americans.
/jlne.ws/4h2X40X
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | What to Know About BRICS and Its Growing Clout
Michael Cohen - Bloomberg
The BRICS group of emerging-market powers - the acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - has gone from a slogan dreamed up at an investment bank two decades ago to a real-world club that controls a multilateral lender. Comprising 10 member states, it pairs several major energy producers with some of the biggest consumers among developing countries.
/jlne.ws/3E3EBmr
SoftBank-Backed Fish Firm Allegedly Faked Most of Its Sales
David Ramli, Olivia Poh and Yoolim Lee - Bloomberg
EFishery Pte, one of Indonesia's most prominent startups, may have inflated its revenue and profit over several years, according to an internal investigation triggered by a whistleblower's claim about the company's accounting. A preliminary, ongoing probe into the agritech startup, backed by investors including SoftBank Group Corp. and Temasek Holdings Pte, estimates that management inflated revenue by almost $600 million in the nine months through September last year, according to a 52-page draft report circulated among investors and reviewed by Bloomberg News. That would mean more than 75% of the reported figures were fake, the report said.
/jlne.ws/4gcNJlM
China Guides Mutual Funds, Insurers to Invest More in Stocks · Bloomberg
Bloomberg
China is guiding local mutual funds and insurers to boost their stock purchases in the government's latest initiative to shore up its ailing equity market as it confronts the threat of higher tariffs. Mutual funds should raise their holdings of onshore equities by at least 10% annually for the next three years, while large state-owned insurers will need to invest 30% of their new policy premiums from 2025, Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said at a press conference on Thursday. China's benchmark CSI 300 Index rose as much as 1.8% in early trading as the announcements were made, before later paring gains to close up just 0.2%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks mainland stocks listed in Hong Kong, was trading down 0.5%.
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China channels pension, insurance funds into nation's A shares to anchor stock market
South China Morning Post
China's financial regulators are channelling pension and insurance funds into the nation's equities to establish medium and long-term holdings and stabilise Asia's largest capital market. Starting this year, 30 per cent of the annual insurance premium earned from new coverage policies will be put into yuan-denominated A shares, said Wu Qing, the chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, during a press conference in Beijing.
/jlne.ws/3Cmu6dq
Switzerland confirms October 2027 move to T+1; October 2027 date is set to be the consensus between the EU, Switzerland and the UK.
Sophia Thomson - The Trade
The Swiss Securities Post-Trade Council (swissSPTC) has recommended a move to T+1 in October 2027 in line with the EU's ambitions, and likely the UK. The recommendation is that the transition to a T+1 Settlement Cycle for the domestic markets in Switzerland and Liechtenstein should occur in October 2027.
/jlne.ws/3WydHcK
India's Stock Market Needs Domestic Investors Now More Than Ever
Ashutosh Joshi - Bloomberg
The Indian equity market's reliance on domestic investors has never been greater as unabated foreign fund selling and rising global volatility dent the appeal of local shares. Global investors have pulled out $6 billion from Indian stocks this month, pushing the NSE Nifty 500 Index toward its worst start in nine years. Domestic institutions and retail investors remained buyers, with net purchases touching $8 billion during the period, further strengthening their position as the key driver of the market.
/jlne.ws/3CmlIKK
Saudi Arabian Online Brokerage Lines Up Riyadh Listing
Laura Gardner Cuesta - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4h6JXvx
Crop Trader Declares Force Majeure Along US Gulf During Rare Southern Snow
Michael Hirtzer - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/40JALHJ
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