| August 17, 2018 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
JLN Staff
SGX reported an open interest record in its USD/CNH futures contract on August 16 of 49,631 contracts, with a notional value of $4.96 billion.~JK
The WILD Chicago Event: Sexual Harassment at work in the #MeToo Era, which was originally scheduled to take place August 16, has been rescheduled for October 4, 2018. The event, presented by Women in Listed Derivatives, will be conducted by Jennifer Schoen Gilbert of Stowell & Friedman, Ltd., a law firm dedicated to defending employees' civil rights including against sexual harassment. The workshop will provide an open ended discussion and practical tips and tools for employees. It costs $35 and takes place at the Union League Club in Chicago from 4:30 p.m. (program starts at 5:15 p.m.) to 8:30 p.m., including a networking reception. It is open to all and is designed to elicit discussion on this important topic. You can go HERE to register.~SR
Register for FIA Expo on or before August 31 to get a deal on ticket pricing. ~SD
Platinum hit 10-year lows.~SD
In case you missed the story about Steve Sears' latest endeavor, check out this press release: Occam To Advance Investor Education, Risk-Adjusted Investing~JJL
Where can I get a hat to become a Pastafarian. Right, my kitchen drawer.~JJL
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MWE World of Opportunity - You Actually Do Understand Blockchain
JohnLothianNews.com
"The most common mistake people make is not realizing that blockchain technology... is another app. It's another way of doing something - it's another way of communicating information."
Gary DeWaal, special counsel for Katten Muchin Rosenman, has context to provide. He supported himself through law school as a journalist (you could do that back in the day, apparently), then learned he hated securities law, worked for the CFTC and an array of law firms and now has dived into the realm of crypto.
In this video from MarketsWiki Education's World of Opportunity event in New York, DeWaal weaves a story that pulls all those pieces together.
Watch the video here »
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Emails show RBS bankers joked about crashing US housing market before 2008
Michael Selby-Green - Business Insider
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) bankers joked about destroying the US housing market and senior staff described the loans they were trading as "total f***** garbage," according to transcripts released by the US Department of Justice.
/read.bi/2PjgVfY
****Any number of quotes from this piece will make you queasy. This one is particularly disheartening - "The chief credit officer at RBS wrote to colleagues saying that loans were being pushed by 'every possible ... style of scumbag,' and it was 'like quasi-organised crime.'"~SD
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Research shows decentralised crypto ecosystem is 'highly connected'
Conner Guidry - The Trade Crypto
Study conducted by crypto trading platform Coinigy identifies 'high connectivity' among a number of crypto projects and their investment backings.
bit.ly/2nKvpJg
****** Decentralized is not what it used to be~JJL
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Imposter Posed as SEC to Tank Shares, Penny-Stock Pot Firm Says
Lily Katz - Bloomberg
MassRoots Inc., a company that runs a marijuana-rating app, believes a short-seller may have impersonated someone from the Securities and Exchange Commission on a conference call to sink its stock.
/bloom.bg/2vO3Qmr
**** One has to wonder what this guy was smoking when he came up with this scheme.~JB
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Mnuchin Says Turkey Faces More Sanctions If Pastor Not Released
Justin Sink - Bloomberg
Trump says U.S. helped free Turkish citizen in unnamed country; Erdogan moved to bolster alliances in Europe and Middle East
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. is ready to slap Turkey with more sanctions if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refuses the quick release of an American pastor, escalating a diplomatic rift that has roiled global financial markets.
/jlne.ws/2Bgimsq
***** Can I make a suggestion? Send Jesse Jackson over to secure the release of the pastor.~JJL
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Inc. 5000 2018: America's Top Entrepreneurs
Inc.com
If entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of an economy, consider Inc.'s ranking of 5,000 companies America's circulatory system. Our annual report looks at these fast-growing innovators--and how they made our list.
bit.ly/2MwYo17
**** Well over 200 of these companies are in financial services.~JB
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Thursday's Top Three
It's amazing what a former employee can do. Our top read story of the day on Thursday was about Arnaud Vagner in Bloomberg's The Man Who Triggered a $10 Billion Commodity Collapse Finally Speaks. Second went to the infographic story from Clarus Financial Technology in How are Futures on Bitcoin doing? Third went to the Wall Street Journal piece Firms That Bossed Agriculture for a Century Face New Threat: Farmers
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MarketsWiki Stats
131,357,179 pages viewed; 23,252 pages; 214,611 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
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| Lead Stories | NYSE veteran Peggy Sullivan joins exec team at Vela; Peggy Sullivan has been acting as a consultant for Vela but has now been appointed chief of staff.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Trading and market access technology provider Vela has appointed a former executive and veteran of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as its new chief of staff.
/jlne.ws/2OIOuXs
****Vela release here.
Nvidia's Crypto Business Dries Up, Worrying Investors; Shares of chip maker drop after hours despite robust sales and profits for latest quarter
Micah Maidenberg - WSJ
Nvidia Corp. NVDA -0.63% reported robust sales and profits during its second quarter, but warned that revenue from products geared toward cryptocurrency mining would be sharply weaker than expected.
/jlne.ws/2BmbI40
****Bloomberg here
Trump asks SEC to study ending quarterly earnings reports; President advocates semi-annual reporting for greater flexibility
Mamta Badkar - FT
US president Donald Trump on Friday advocated for ending quarterly earnings updates and said he has asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission to study allowing American companies to report on a semi-annual basis.
/jlne.ws/2BkaJ4m
***** WSJ version of this story.~[JJL]]
Global equity market shrinks as buybacks surge; Repurchases outstrip new issuance by most in more than two decades
Robin Wigglesworth - FT
The global equity market is shrinking at the fastest pace in at least two decades, as a wave of corporate share buybacks swamps the overall volume of companies going public, issuing new stock or selling convertible debt.
/jlne.ws/2OJcxWj
ASX says its blockchain will slice super costs
James Eyers - Australian Financial Review
The ASX said the adoption of blockchain technology could help the superannuation industry save hundreds of millions of dollars in costs by removing multiple databases of share ownership information, while also creating new revenue opportunities.
Announcing underlying net profit up 7.2 per cent to $465.3 million - helped along by a 46 per cent jump in the amount of capital raised by listed companies over the past year - CEO Dominic Stevens unveiled a strategic vision for the ASX to become the trusted infrastructure governing big-data analytics as the financial services industry is reshaped by new technology.
/goo.gl/CRSzYE
****Coindesk here.
A Reality Check for Blockchain in Commodity Trading
Antti Belt and Steven Kok - BCG
To the commodity traders that support it, blockchain technology is a panacea. Blockchain-based platforms promise to improve the way the commodity-trading industry operates by addressing its struggles: with inefficiencies and issues of trust and with the complexity of transactions, which typically involve multiple counterparties. It's no surprise, then, that senior executives are lining up to invest in blockchain.
/on.bcg.com/2MPDk2x
Huobi, One of World's Largest Crypto Exchanges, Invests in OpenFinance Network
BusinessWire
Huobi, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, has entered into a strategic partnership, including a significant investment, with OpenFinance Network (OFN), the premier US-compliant security token trading platform.
/goo.gl/zg4uZv
**JLN story about OpenFinance Network: So You Have A Token, Now What? OpenFinance Network Aims To Offer Trading, Clearing And Settlement All On the Blockchain
There's Front-to-Back and Then There's Front-to-Back
Klaus Holse, SimCorp - TABB Forum
The recent spell of vendor acquisitions, including State Street Global's buyout of OMS provider Charles River Development, has tightened the net on tech vendors in the financial industry, causing a new wave of disruption on the buy side. But what value do these deals offer the buy-side market, and do they truly solve the buy-side challenges that are causing a strain on investment operations today?
/goo.gl/cJKVqa
Tide about to turn for markets as easy-money decade ends
Sujata Rao, Dhara Ranasinghe - Reuters
Swept along by super-easy money, investors have debated for years how world markets will react when this central bank largesse inevitably ends. Now the liquidity tide is about to turn, and they have only a few months to adjust.
/reut.rs/2vR1FP4
ETP leader reckons on risk reduction to crack FX market
Paul Golden - Euromoney Magazine
Flow Traders is confident that the approach that has made it the leading player in the European exchange-traded products (ETP) market can be replicated in FX as it looks to cash in on increased interest in non-bank market makers.
bit.ly/2vRrUoA
Why ABCD Sing the Blues, Part II: Increased Farm Scale Leads to Greater Competition in Capacity and Less Monopsony Power
Streetwise Professor
In "Why Are ABCD Singing the Blues?" I called bull on the claim that ag trading firms were suffering through a rough period because of big crops and low prices. I instead surmised that gains in capacity, in storage and throughput facilities, had outstripped growth in the amount of grain handled, and that this was pressuring margins. In yesterday's WSJ, Jacob Bunge (no relation, apparently, to the grain trading family) had a long and dense article that presents a lot of anecdotal support for that view. The piece also provides other information that allows me to supplement and expand on it.
/goo.gl/Fs2VTN
Corporate power on the agenda at Jackson Hole; Central bankers to discuss whether business concentration is keeping wages low
Sam Fleming - FT
Central bankers will debate the increasing market power of massive corporations, as well as the impact of increased online activity, when they gather for their annual meetings in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, next week.
/jlne.ws/2OFRvrI
EU plan for capital markets union faces delay, warns Brussels; Project aiming to improve cross-border investment at risk due to slow progress by governments
Jim Brunsden - Financial Times
The EU's financial services chief has warned that the bloc's flagship project to boost private sector investment in business is in jeopardy, with governments lagging in approving the necessary laws. Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission vice-president responsible for the euro, said the EU's goal of creating a capital markets union by 2019 might not be reached.
/goo.gl/5qjqW1
Former UBS graduate reports rape claim to London police; Swiss bank did not contact the UK financial regulator at any time during its six-month probe into the woman's allegations
Chris Newlands - Financial News
The former female graduate at UBS who has accused the Swiss bank of seriously mishandling a rape allegation she made against one of its senior managers has reported her claims of sexual assault to the Metropolitan Police.
/goo.gl/oFhd5h
Analysts question GAM's 'heavy handed' suspension of manager; Critics of chief executive Alexander Friedman warn of panic withdrawals from the Zurich asset manager's other funds
David Ricketts - Financial News
GAM Holding's suspension of senior manager Tim Haywood, and the announcement that the Zurich-listed asset manager would liquidate the nine bond funds and the CHF7.3bn he oversaw, has been criticised as an overreaction that could spur clients to pull their investments from the firm.
/goo.gl/ev7x2d
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | MCX inks MoU with IBJA to set up bullion spot exchange
Business Standard News
Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) today said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) to set up bullion spot exchange.
/goo.gl/pXEhht
IEX-LTSE listings partnership in doubt
Nicole Bullock - FT
IEX's partnership with a start-up exchange to offer corporate listings aimed at buy-and-hold investors has been cast into doubt after the withdrawal of a regulatory application related to their plans.
/jlne.ws/2OIHl9B
****Reters here
Exchange Publishes Conclusions from its Consultation on Exempting Aircraft Leasing Activities from its Notifiable Transaction Rules
HKEX
Exchange to amend Listing Rules to exempt qualified aircraft leasing activities, which include aircraft leasing with aircraft operators and acquisitions/disposals of aircraft, from its notifiable transaction rules; The exemption will be available to listed issuers that are principally engaged in aircraft leasing, subject to certain criteria and conditions; The amendments will take effect on 15 October 2018
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), today (Friday) published its conclusions from responses to its Consultation Paper on Proposed Exemption for Aircraft Leasing Activities1 (Consultation Conclusions).
/jlne.ws/2OK37Kp
Launch of TOPIX Small500
JPX
Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. will calculate and publish a new index called "TOPIX Small500" from October 9, 2018 as a part of the Size-based TOPIX Sub-Indices lineup. Details of the index can be found in the files listed below.
/jlne.ws/2OEIQpp
Congo Copper Faces Increased LME Scrutiny With Audits
Mark Burton - Bloomberg
The London Metal Exchange will start requiring that copper producers which source metal from the Democratic Republic of Congo carry out independent audits to prove their material is ethically sourced, according to people familiar with the matter.
/goo.gl/3qBQ9f
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Tradeweb Brings RFQ Trading to the Options Industry
Tradeweb
Tradeweb Markets, a global leader in electronic financial marketplaces, today announced the launch of the Tradeweb U.S. options platform for institutional customer-to-dealer trading.
/goo.gl/1oWB9v
Tradeweb launches RFQ platform for US options; Tradeweb's RFQ US equity options platform allows traders to send multiple price requests for more control and tighter spreads.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Fixed income and derivatives trading specialist Tradeweb has established a new platform for US equity options using request for quote (RFQ) functionality.
/jlne.ws/2OHfOp2
EDI's comprehensive and complete reference & corporate action datasets now featured on Crux.
financial-data-provider.blogspot.com
Exchange Data International (EDI), a provider of global security corporate actions, pricing and reference data, is pleased to announce a partnership with Crux a leading data engineering and information supply chain operator.
bit.ly/2vNERQs
The World Economic Forum warns that AI may destabilize the financial system
Will Knight - MIT Technology Review
Artificial intelligence will reshape the world of finance over the next decade or so by automating investing and other servicesÂbut it could also introduce troubling systematic weaknesses and risks, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).
/goo.gl/S7hZba
German fintech Deposit Solutions raises $100 million
Oscar Williams-Grut - Business Insider
A German fintech startup that lets people access the best interest rates from multiple banks without having to open up new accounts has raised $100 million to fuel its expansion.
/read.bi/2MwXEZT
AZ Regulatory Sandbox Fintech Program Now Accepting Applications
Luis Urbina - The National Law Review
Arizona recently became the first state in the U.S. to create a "regulatory sandbox" program to facilitate the development of innovative financial products and services. Such products would either incorporate new or emerging technology or reimagine uses of existing technology. The program would exempt participants from certain state financial regulations, but not federal requirements.
bit.ly/2PiugVw
Monzo poised to join ranks of Europe's fintech 'unicorns'; UK digital bank lines up fundraising as it eyes $1.5bn valuation
Martin Arnold, Banking Editor - FT
Monzo, the British digital bank popular with millennials, is set to become the latest European fintech "unicorn" with a fresh round of fundraising expected to put a valuation on the company of up to $1.5bn.
/jlne.ws/2MjIg3D
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Strong US Dollar, Not ICOs, Drove Recent Cryptocurrency Market Decline: Analyst
CCN
The cryptocurrency markets experienced a slight pullback on Thursday but have more or less managed to maintain the midweek recovery that followed Monday's massive sell-off.
/goo.gl/9N6Vm8
US Senate set to meet to discuss blockchain and energy efficiencies
Coin Insider
The U.S. Senate has set a date to explore the efficiencies - or lack - of blockchain technologies for next week.
According to a public announcement released by the Senate, a full committee meeting - with 23 of the members invited - will be hosted on Tuesday 21st August 2018 in order to discuss the costs of energy consumed by companies using blockchain and similar technologies.
bit.ly/2MuNJnA
The "Fapiao" Case: How China Is Fighting Corruption With Blockchain
Cointelegraph
China has been on the verge of blockchain adoption as of late. The technology, in fact, has become part of the country's national, president-signed program. The latest advancement in the field relates to the country's old corruption staple  fake invoices used to embezzle corporate and state funds.
bit.ly/2Mzt0Pt
Nvidia says crypto-mining boom is over for now
Therese Polletti - MarketWatch
The extra boost Nvidia Corp. received from selling its graphics chips to cryptocurrency miners appears to be over, at least for now. Nvidia NVDA, -0.63% Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress surprised investors  who had already been anticipating lackluster crypto sales  with an even more downbeat forecast for crypto-mining sales Thursday.
/goo.gl/w4JDEu
Founder of Coevals ICO Hit with Default Judgment over Fake 'Crypto Options'
Aziz Abdel-Qader - Finance Magnates
Operators of scheduled-but-cancelled Monkey Capital ICO have reportedly been hit with a $1.17 million judgment over alleged violations of Florida state and federal securities laws.
/goo.gl/hHgtWP
Blockchain Technology Set To Revolutionize Global Stock Trading
Eric Ervin - Forbes
If early adoption is any sign of what the future holds, blockchain technology can revolutionize stock market trading around the world.
/goo.gl/qsejvx
Meet the Man with a Radical Plan for Blockchain
Andrew Leonard - Wired
IN A CAFÃ on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a one-time videogame developer turned political theorist named Santiago Siri is trying to explain to me how his nonprofit startup, Democracy.Earth, aims to fix the world's broken politics with the help of the blockchain.
/goo.gl/kzRBnQ
VeChain Price Explodes 30% as Cryptocurrency Market Extends Recovery
CCN
The vechain price (VET) exploded by 30 percent on Thursday, headlining a widespread recovery that raised the cryptocurrency market cap by more than $5 billion over the past 24 hours.
/goo.gl/C6kvdi
With Bitcoin Sinking, Crypto Miners Just Dig Deeper
Justina Lee - Bloomberg
Rising hash rate shows many miners are still making a profit; Smaller miners are getting squeezed out at $6,000 price level
With Bitcoin declining this year, you might expect mining activity to follow. That hasn't happened.
/jlne.ws/2OMSTsL
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Crypto Lobbyists Moving to Shape Policy in Washington
Alex Lielacher, Brave New Coin - TABB Forum
A regulatory stalemate creates an opportunity for cryptocurrency startups and advocates to influence lawmakers toward passing crypto-friendly legislation. This is exactly what blockchain lobbyists are trying to achieve in Washington.
/goo.gl/EERcZH
Donald Trump uses dispute with Turkey to rally evangelicals; US president's stance on detained pastor bolsters support from core voters
Demetri Sevastopulo - FT
As President Donald Trump presses Turkey to release an American pastor under house arrest, one group in particular has praised his administration's efforts  the evangelical Christians who claim Andrew Brunson as one of their flock.
/jlne.ws/2OJZYKB
US interior secretary's school friend crippling climate research, scientists say; Trump administration forces some scientific funding to be reviewed by adviser who was high-school football teammate of Ryan Zinke
Mallory Pickett - The Guardian
Climate scientists say a policy enacted by US interior secretary Ryan Zinke, pictured with Donald Trump and Rick Perry, is holding up scientific research funding. Photograph: Steve Helber/AP
Prominent US climate scientists have told the Guardian that the Trump administration is holding up research funding as their projects undergo an unprecedented political review by the high-school football teammate of the US interior secretary.
/jlne.ws/2OFWI2K
Russian oil industry would weather U.S. 'bill from hell'
Oksana Kobzeva, Dmitry Zhdannikov - Reuters
Stiff new U.S. sanctions against Russia would only have a limited impact on its oil industry because it has drastically reduced its reliance on Western funding and foreign partnerships and is lessening its dependence on imported technology.
/goo.gl/ojLisb
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | Trump Seeks SEC Study of 6-Month Reporting Instead of Quarterly
Terrence Dopp and Benjamin Bain - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump said he's asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to study ending quarterly reporting for U.S. businesses in order to ease regulations and spur growth.
/jlne.ws/2BjBqWM
Thai SEC Clears Seven Cryptocurrency Operators to Serve Clients, Reviews Two More
William Suberg - Cointelegraph
Thai regulators announced Thursday, August 16, that they have so far approved seven business entities to conduct cryptocurrency operations as part of the formalization of the country's domestic market.
/goo.gl/AJY1r5
Whistleblower makes shocking IRS, insider trading allegations
John Crudele - NY Post
A whistleblower made this shocking allegation to me last week: the IRS was tipping off members of Congress to corporate takeovers so the elected officials could profit from insider trading.
/nyp.st/2MQ0hmk
SEC fines Citi after traders make $81 million loss; The US regulator says that Citi traders mismarked illiquid positions in proprietary accounts they managed, leading to $81 million loss.
By Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Citigroup has been fined a total of $10 million by the US financial regulator in two enforcement actions, one of which related to a $81 million loss made by three of its traders.
/jlne.ws/2OJZkwj
Citi settles SEC charges over bad controls, supervision
Reuters Staff
Citigroup agreed to pay $10.5 million to settle two separate complaints, one relating to bad loans made by its Mexican subsidiary, Banamex, between 2008 and 2014, U.S. regulators said on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/2OF6XEm
FINRA Planned Termination of Support of CTCI Protocol for Reporting Trades to TRACE AND ORF
FINRA
FINRA currently supports three methods for the reporting of transactions to its TRACE and Over-The -Counter Reporting (ORF) products - FIX, Computer-to-Computer Interface (CTCI) and TRAQS. Subject to SEC approval, beginning in early first quarter 2020, FINRA would no longer support the CTCI protocol (CTCI/TCP; CTCI/MQ) for both TRACE and ORF transaction reporting. Any client, including Service Bureaus, that currently utilizes CTCI and wishes to continue to deliver electronic transactions (i.e. not via TRAQS) would need to migrate to the FIX protocol by Monday, February 3, 2020.
/jlne.ws/2BqG3hE
Proposed Rule Change to Amend FINRA Rule 6710 to Modify Agency Debt Security Dissemination Protocols
FINRA
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. ("FINRA") is filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" or "Commission") a proposed rule change to amend FINRA Rule 6710 to modify the dissemination protocols with respect to Agency Debt Securities.
/jlne.ws/2BlewOW
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)ÂWhat to Know Now and Time-Tested Tips for Investors
FINRA
Your digital assetsÂthose assets you have stored electronically on your computer or on the internetÂtake many forms: the unique logo you designed for your company, the photographs stored on your phone, and your eclectic iTunes music collections. Digital assets also include cryptocurrencies, and other crypto coins and tokens, which may be offered to you in an Initial Coin Offering, or ICO.
/jlne.ws/2BvrTfB
RBC whistleblower protections under FCA scrutiny; Regulator made aware of at least five further complaints after whistleblowing former employee wins unfair dismissal case
Katie Martin and Caroline Binham - FT
Whistleblower protections at Royal Bank of Canada are under scrutiny by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, after a former trader at the bank won his case for unfair dismissal and at least five more potentially similar cases came to light.
/jlne.ws/2BgrsFA
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Buyback Derangement Syndrome What sufferers accuse Apple of is a contradiction in terms - self-liquidating to a value of $1 trillion.
Clifford Asness, AQR - WSJ
Share buybacks are when a company purchases its own common shares on the open market. After a buyback, a company is left with less cash and fewer shares outstanding. Buybacks, along with ordinary dividends, are one of the main ways companies return cash to investorsÂthe ultimate objective of any investment. So why have buybacks become the subject of vitriolic criticism? Prominent publications have run headlines calling buybacks, among other things, a "scam" that is "killing the American economy" and asserting that they "loot the future."
/goo.gl/NBvmbQ
Futures vs. ETFs: How to Gain Japanese Equity Exposure
CME Group
An investor who is gaining exposure to international markets, specifically Japanese markets, faces a few decisions. They must decide which index to track capital against, and for the sake of this paper we will compare TOPIX and MSCI Japan. The MSCI Japan Index, like the TOPIX, is designed to measure the performance of the broader Japanese market. The two indices have tracked similarly since 2010, as shown by the below graph1.
bit.ly/2vNwl3G
Tearful Musk Tells NYT Nobody Reviewed Tesla Funding Tweet
Angus Whitley and Elisabeth Behrmann - Bloomberg
CEO wrote post about buyout plans in his car on way to airport; Strained Musk tells of sleep medication use, personal toll
Elon Musk said no one saw or reviewed his tweet about the plan to take Tesla Inc. private before he posted it, the New York Times reported, citing an interview in which the billionaire frequently teared up and discussed the personal strain of leading the electric-car maker.
/jlne.ws/2BibJ8Z
$1.5 Trillion in Corporate Cash Is Coming to America
Annie Massa - Bloomberg
Asset managers angling for clients with overseas cash troves; Risks abound: Cisco pulled 5 billion euros from Deutsche Bank
The biggest U.S. asset managers are going head-to-head to win a piece of a $1.5 trillion corporate cash comeback.
/jlne.ws/2OJ4Dfv
Trade Fears Throw Future of U.S. Natural Gas Into Question; As trade disputes continue, the promising U.S.-China energy relationship is compromised
By Stephanie Yang and Timothy Puko - WSJ
U.S.-China trade tensions threaten a promising area of growth in U.S. energy: natural-gas exports.
/jlne.ws/2Bgkfp0
Funding Secured: For the U.S. Government, That Means Domestic Bond Buyers; U.S. investors have so far financed all of this year's increase in the federal government's borrowing
By Daniel Kruger - WSJ
The U.S. government has been issuing more debt, but it's not getting more foreign buyers in the door. As a result, U.S. investors have so far financed all of this year's increase in the federal government's borrowing.
/jlne.ws/2OEWxET
Cost of junk debt casts doubt on US expansion; Concerns that further increases in interest rates could spark trouble for the market
Joe Rennison and Eric Platt in New York - FT
Companies with speculative-grade credit ratings are spending a growing portion of their profits on interest payments as debt costs rise, causing concern as investors and economists debate the durability of the US expansion.
/jlne.ws/2OLOwOz
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | SAXO Bank Reports Slow H1-2018 Earnings, Net Profit Fell by a Whopping 53%
The Industry Spread
The Copenhagen-based multi-asset broker, SAXO Bank on Thursday has published its interim financial results for the first half of 2018. The company in its first-half results has defied the industry trend of strong earnings and has reported a slowdown in overall business operations. The slowdown in result may be caused due to the company's massive restructuring operation in which it is focusing its major part of the resources in developing Chinese operation.
/goo.gl/E1gqZ2
5 impacts the OCC ruling could have for bank CTOs
Bobsguide
The US OCC will soon be accepting applications from non-deposit taking fintech organisations to operate as banks on a nationwide basis, and early predictions suggest many firms will seize the opportunity.
/goo.gl/7YAyKS
Gender diversity on Bank Board of Directors and performance
Ann Owen and Judit Temesvary - Bank Underground
The representation of women on boards of US bank holding companies has increased (chart 1), but nevertheless remains well below the share of women in the overall employee base (chart 2). While this also raises questions of equity, our research asks if a lack of gender diversity on bank boards has an economic impact on their performance. We find that it does, and that this effect depends on 1) the existing level of gender diversity on the board, and 2) the level of bank capitalization. If risk-weighted capital ratios are a proxy for the quality of bank management, our findings suggest that at well-managed banks, gender diversity has a positive impact on bank performance- but only once a threshold level of diversity is reached.
/goo.gl/b8LGMV
Goldman agreed to support fund with Lars Windhorst ties; German financier in spotlight after lawsuit against US investment bank
Robert Smith - FT
Goldman Sachs agreed to act as prime broker to a fund linked to Lars Windhorst, the European financier in the spotlight after a whistleblower complaint against the US investment bank.
/jlne.ws/2Bk35XB
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Turkey's lira intervention raises questions for investors; Costs on borrowing the currency doubled between Monday and Wednesday
Jonathan Wheatley and Martin Arnold - Financial Times
After days of sustained declines for Turkey's currency, the country's policymakers stepped into action on Wednesday with measures that sent the lira up about 5 per cent. However, with the currency down about a third this year and Turkey's economic imbalances still unaddressed, investors are examining what exactly Turkish authorities did and whether it will be enough to stem a crisis that has bled into other emerging markets.
/goo.gl/vz9d4u
Turkey is dumping US debt
Michael Selby-Green - Business Insider
Turkey's holdings of US sovereign debt dropped by 12% between May and June.
The country's US Treasury bond holdings fell to $28.8 billion in June from $32.6 billion the month before, Zero Hedge and RT reported. Since the end of last year, Turkey has reportedly liquidated 52% of its US bonds, bills, and notes.
/goo.gl/EohJaU
China's Nio woos potential investors with ambitious vision; Listing documents for its planned NYSE IPO reveal costly plans to forge relationships with clients
Peter Campbell, Motor Industry Correspondent - FT
In the great Chinese electric car race, Nio is gambling on using the stock market to help it pull away from the pack.
/jlne.ws/2BimlVk
Sberbank's solution first to get approval of Bank of Russia's regulatory sandbox
Financefeeds
Sberbank's service that helps remotely control permissions to carry out transactions using corporate client accounts is the first service to pass the pilot in Bank of Russia's regulatory sandbox.
/goo.gl/ykYZjh
Indian Markets Look Headed for Further Extremes
By Andrew Peaple - WSJ
"Incredible India," goes the tourism ad jingle. Incredible is one word for markets in the giant Asian economy right now.
/jlne.ws/2OK7KnG
Russian oil industry would weather U.S. 'bill from hell'
Oksana Kobzeva, Dmitry Zhdannikov - Reuters
Stiff new U.S. sanctions against Russia would only have a limited impact on its oil industry because it has drastically reduced its reliance on Western funding and foreign partnerships and is lessening its dependence on imported technology.
/jlne.ws/2Pm4eB4
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| Brexit | | Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union | UK faces rising chance of disorderly Brexit, Fitch warns
Kate Allen - The Financial Times
Credit rating agency Fitch has scaled back its expectations of the UK reaching an orderly transition deal with the EU on Brexit, warning that "an acrimonious and disruptive no-deal Brexit is a material and growing possibility". Since Britain's vote to leave the EU in June 2016, the leading credit rating agencies have anticipated that an orderly departure, including a transition period, was the most likely outcome. However Fitch said on Thursday that this was no longer the case, in its view.
/goo.gl/cWFJgz
EU plan for capital markets union faces delay, warns Brussels; Project aiming to improve cross-border investment at risk due to slow progress by governments
Jim Brunsden in Brussels - FT
The EU's financial services chief has warned that the bloc's flagship project to boost private sector investment in business is in jeopardy, with governments lagging in approving the necessary laws.
/jlne.ws/2MjSEZo
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