| June 16, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Edinburgh is a beautiful city, with its historical buildings preserved through a conscientious effort to retain their character and heritage. At one time, in the 1960s or 1970s, there was an effort to build a highway through the center of the city, which was defeated. In Chicago, we have highways running through the center of the city, and it is the Eisenhower Expressway, which goes west towards my home in Elmhurst, that holds special meaning for this story.
My grandfather, John James Lothian, for whom I am named, left Scotland due to the lack of economic opportunities there at the time. He emigrated to the United States and joined his brother, who had already established himself there.
The Cashman family lived on the west side of Chicago, in the path of where the Eisenhower Expressway is today. Thomas J. Cashman's father grew up in that house, and the city of Chicago wanted to buy it and did. At the time, Tom's grandparents had both passed away, so his dad and his siblings sat around the kitchen table at the home with the check and decided what to do with it. Should they divide it equally among all of them? Or, should they give the check to their brother George, who worked at the Chicago Board of Trade, and let him buy a membership? That is what they did, and one by one, George helped his brothers join the CBOT and leave their jobs as policemen and other jobs behind.
One brother, Gene Cashman, would go on to be considered by many the most successful trader at the CBOT before the advent of the financial futures era.
All this leads me to believe that had Chicago been more preservation-oriented, like Scotland, my future could have turned out differently. Tom Cashman became a neighbor in Wisconsin and my connection to the futures industry. Had Scotland been less preservation-oriented, there may have been a greater opportunity for my grandfather in the post-World War I era. Who knows? I am grateful for the beautiful preservation of Edinburgh, the Eisenhower Expressway to travel to downtown Chicago, and for a career in the futures industry that included a mentor like Thomas J. Cashman
Three more donations to the Mission (Im)possible: Kilt Challenge came in on Friday after JLN went out. Morgan Stanley Managing Director and North American Head of Global Strategy and Product Jason Swankoski contributed, as did former Kilt Challenge wearer and Eurex CEO Robbert Booij. Finally, the mysterious Anonymous also gave, not to be confused with the hacker group Anonymous, but then, who knows? The total from 46 online donations now stands at 95,775 GBP.
Julia Streets, the founder and CEO of Streets Consulting, has been awarded an MBE in HM The King's 2025 Birthday Honours List for her outstanding services to diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship, particularly within the financial services and technology sectors. Streets is recognized for her impactful career as a FinTech entrepreneur, her leadership in advising startups and global organizations, and her passionate advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). She founded the influential "DiverCity Podcast," which has amplified a wide range of voices and driven practical change across the industry. Julia is also a sought-after speaker and industry thought leader, known for her energy and commitment to creating a more inclusive financial ecosystem. I join in congratulating Julia on this well-deserved honor.
I have a correction regarding Christopher Hehmeyer, Sr. He did not serve as chairman of the FIA Board, but he did serve as secretary, treasurer during the 2008-09 financial crisis, which he said was not easy. He did serve as chairman of the NFA Board and he was inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame.
Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, the hosts of The New York Times's "Hard Fork" podcast, discuss the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence in all aspects of life in their introduction to the magazine's new A.I. issue. In a story titled "Everyone Is Using A.I. for Everything. Is That Bad?" with the subheadline "Either way, let's not be in denial about it" they acknowledge that while A.I. is now being used for nearly everything, it's important not to be in denial about its pervasive influence. Whether its impact is ultimately good or bad remains an open question.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories:
Brazil's B3 expands cryptocurrency futures with Solana, Ethereum - FOW Data, ANALYSIS: European single stock options would benefit from interoperability - Cboe, Euronext cuts deal with Clearstream to support repo clearing expansion and ICE, CME hit energy trading records as Gulf crisis roils markets
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:
- High-Speed Traders Slow Down from Bloomberg.
- Options Traders Bet on Pause in Dollar's 'Sell America' Rout from Bloomberg.
- The Market's Fear Gauge Spiked, but Wall Street Is Already Calming Down from Barron's. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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 A Family Business-Without the Family Name: How GuavaTech's Debt-Free Culture Powers Its Options Tech Empire JohnLothianNews.com PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.-(JLN)-June 12, 2025-In a world where fintech startups chase unicorn status and rack up debt, Chris Barczyk, CEO of GuavaTech, is proud to be the odd one out. "A lot of people knock, but the reality is since we are profitable and debt-free, it does set us apart," Barczyk told John Lothian News at the Options Industry Conference. "We're not beholden to high interest rates and things they have to deal with when you are debt-laden." Watch the Chris Barczyk Video »
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It's normal for stocks to collapse 85 percent
Toby Nangle - Financial Times
We've looked before at how a few great individual stocks explain almost all cumulative wealth gains from equity market investing. Investors with the luck smarts to identify, buy, and hold these stocks did very well. But how bumpy was the ride? Michael Mauboussin and Dan Callahan took a look at the data for 6,588 US stocks since 1985 in a report last month for Morgan Stanley. We've belatedly got around to reading it properly, and the results are interesting.
/jlne.ws/3HBS5HQ
***** I'll take, "Things my broker never told me for $500," Alex. ~JB
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TikTok crypto trader freed after kidnappers realized he's broke; The crypto trader was reportedly forced into a stolen vehicle by four assailants as part of a 50,000 euro kidnapping plot.
Stephen Katte - CoinTelegraph
A crypto trader who creates content on TikTok was reportedly kidnapped in France on Friday and then released a day later when the abductors discovered he didn't have enough funds to cover their extortion demands. The 26-year-old crypto TikToker was snatched on Friday night while returning home to Juvisy-sur-Orge in Northern France, according to a report on Sunday by French radio station Europe 1, with the kidnappers demanding he hand over 50,000 euros ($57,000) in crypto.
***** Criminals learn that crypto wealthy is not the same thing as actually wealthy. ~JB
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Friday's Top Three
Our top slicked story Friday was FOW's ASX sells Digital Asset stake for £27m, drawing line under failed upgrade. Second was Coinbase to launch CFTC-compliant perpetual futures trading in US, from Reuters (via Yahoo Finance). Third was another FOW story, Global derivatives firms still bullish despite uncertainty - SGX.
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| Lead Stories | Obscure Chinese Stock Scams Dupe American Investors by the Thousands; The Justice Department is making a push to disrupt the schemes, which use social media to find buyers for risky stocks
Dave Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
Braden Lindstrom had only dabbled in investing when he was encouraged by someone impersonating a financial adviser to buy shares in a small Chinese company listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. A few clicks later, he was on his way to being scammed out of $80,000. Lindstrom, a college professor in Utah, invested in Jayud Global Logistics, a small Chinese shipping company whose price rose for months, then crashed 96%, just after Americans like him were told to buy it. Wall Street veterans say the pattern has been repeated dozens of times in recent years, and feeds on tiny Chinese stocks that are vulnerable to manipulation and easily bought by U.S. investors.
/jlne.ws/4l0YtXs
World Federation of Exchanges Releases Global Guidance on Managing Transitions to T+1 Settlement
World Federation of Exchanges
The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the global industry association for exchanges and central counterparties (CCPs), has published industry-wide guidance on the complex mix of operational, regulatory, and strategic considerations for shortening securities settlement cycles. The paper draws on lessons learned from recent transitions in markets including India, the United States, Canada, and Latin America, and offers a roadmap for jurisdictions seeking to move safely and efficiently from T+2 to T+1 settlement.
/jlne.ws/3TnVlcf
Baby Boomers' Luck Is Running Out; After a lifetime of good fortune, the generation has become vulnerable at exactly the wrong moment.
Charley Locke - The Atlantic
At the core of every joke about Baby Boomers lies a seed of jealousy. Unlike younger generations, they have largely been able to walk a straightforward path toward prosperity, security, and power. They were born in an era of unprecedented economic growth and stability. College was affordable, and they graduated in a thriving job market. They were the first generation to reap the full benefits of a golden age of medical innovations: birth control, robotic surgery, the mapping of the human genome, effective cancer treatments, Ozempic. But recent policy changes are poised to make life significantly harder for Baby Boomers. "If you're in your 60s or 70s, what the Trump administration has done means more insecurity for your assets in your 401(k), more insecurity about sources of long-term care, and, for the first time, insecurity about your Social Security benefits," Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist at the New School, told me.
/jlne.ws/3FGHoDf
Exclusive-Crypto giants set for EU green light amid growing regulatory rift, sources say
Elizabeth Howcroft and John O'Donnell - Reuters
Two of the world's largest cryptocurrency companies are poised to secure licences granting them access to operate across the European Union, as a rift grows among regulators over the speed and rigour of some countries' approvals, according to sources familiar with the matter. Under the EU's new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which came into force earlier this year, member states can issue licences that allow crypto companies to operate throughout the 27-nation bloc, but some have raised concerns in closed-door meetings about the speed with which licences are being granted, two people familiar with those discussions said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. At stake is the oversight of the multi-trillion-dollar crypto industry, which regulators have long warned could facilitate fraud, market instability and illicit financial flows if it is not properly supervised.
/jlne.ws/4kKDcSb
FinTech and Diversity Champion Julia Streets Awarded MBE; Receives MBE for Services to Diversity and Inclusion in Entrepreneurship, particularly in the Financial Services and Technology Sectors
Streets Consulting
We are proud to announce that Julia Streets, the Founder and CEO of Streets Consulting, the FinTech growth consultancy and a widely recognised champion of UK FinTech entrepreneurship and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), has been awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in HM The King's 2025 Birthday Honours List for Services to Diversity and Inclusion in Entrepreneurship, particularly in the Financial Services and Technology Sectors.
The award acknowledges Julia's impactful career to date as a successful entrepreneur and her dedication to driving growth, shaping debate and influencing change across the financial services and technology sectors. She has founded and built a successful business advising a wide range of domestic and international startups, scaleups, global organisations, and industry bodies, helping them grow, transform and bring their innovative technologies to market. A passionate supporter of the national FinTech initiatives right across the UK, Julia is a vocal champion of the UK FinTech industry on national and international stages.
/jlne.ws/3HHrx84
Trump Ripping Up the Free Trade Playbook Comes With $1 Trillion Cost; The ominous trajectory of the US president's tariff overhaul looms over the G-7 gathering.
Shawn Donnan, Eleonora Mavroeidi, Bloomberg Economics, Maeva Cousin, Bloomberg Economics, and Enda Curran - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump is making his return to the Group of Seven this weekend having taken the global economy on a roller-coaster ride toward a singular destination: A world in which he is the ultimate arbiter of trade, security and power relationships, and America harvests the economic benefits. As he does so, US tariffs are meeting growing opposition at home and abroad. From G-7 host Canada to China and the European Union, major US trading partners are mounting a firmer resistance than they did during his first term. US courts are threatening to invalidate many of the duties altogether.
/jlne.ws/4jWIDfA
SEC Appoints Jamie Selway; Moelis Names Navid Mahmoodzadegan
Anna Lyudvig - Traders Magazine
The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Jamie Selway as Director of the Division of Trading and Markets, effective June 17, 2025. Selway was most recently a partner at Sophron Advisors, where he advised clients on capital markets issues. He was also a board member at Protego Holdings, board chair at AllofUs Financial and Skew, and served as an advisor to multiple financial technology companies. He previously was a managing director and head of electronic brokerage at Investment Technology Group, a global institutional broker. He co-founded institutional brokerage White Cap Trading, where he was a managing director and chairman.
/jlne.ws/4kCLBXH
Fuel and fury: energy becomes a Middle East battlefield; Israel's assault on Iran thrusts oil and gas assets into frontline of conflict
Malcolm Moore and Andrew England in London, John Paul Rathbone in Istanbul and James Shotter in Jerusalem - Financial Times
Smoke billowed above fuel tanks in Tehran and gas plants on Iran's south coast on Sunday as energy became the latest front line in its conflict with Israel. Iran's creaking energy sector, starved of foreign investment for years by sanctions, was a clear vulnerability before the war broke out. While the country has some of the richest reserves of oil and gas in the world, it has suffered periodic power cuts, fuel shortages and interruptions to its gas exports. Israel's decision to start attacking Iran's energy infrastructure, with strikes on at least two gas processing plants and two fuel depots, was a high-stakes gamble that poured more risk into global energy markets, with the price of oil becoming increasingly volatile.
/jlne.ws/3G17lxj
The controversial return of Brazil's billionaire beef barons; The world's largest meatpacker, JBS, listed in New York on Friday, marking a dramatic turnaround for the Batista brothers
Michael Pooler - Financial Times
Almost eight years ago, Wesley and Joesley Batista were in jail, engulfed in a corruption scandal that nearly toppled a president and stained the name of their global meat empire. All that was a distant memory for the brothers from Brazil when JBS began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, capping one of the most dramatic comebacks in business of recent history. The long-coveted US share listing for JBS, a titan of the food industry, was a marquee moment for the men who transformed their family slaughterhouse into the planet's largest meatpacker.
/jlne.ws/4kNw5s4
Top Lawyers Leaving Willkie Farr After Law Firm's Deal With Trump; Seven partners head for the exits, as Willkie becomes latest firm facing backlash for making peace with White House
Erin Mulvaney and C. Ryan Barber - The Wall Street Journal
A large contingent of Willkie Farr's San Francisco office is leaving after the law firm made a deal with the White House to avoid a punitive executive order. At least seven partners-six in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles-are decamping to rival firm Cooley. Willkie, which has about 400 partners overall, is the latest of several firms to face blowback after making peace with the Trump administration. Cooley has positioned itself as willing to fight the administration by representing one peer law firm that chose to sue the White House after being targeted with a punitive executive order.
/jlne.ws/4mUKhRs
Red vs. Blue Is Dividing Stock Portfolios Like Never Before; A political gap in optimism about markets is translating into trading decisions
Gunjan Banerji - The Wall Street Journal
An adage on Wall Street holds that it is unwise to play politics with your portfolio. Americans are increasingly doing just that. A Gallup poll this spring showed that Democrats who expected stocks to tumble over the next six months exceeded Republicans by 59 percentage points. Republicans expecting stocks to climb over that period topped Democrats by 47 percentage points. That "optimism gap" is translating into trading decisions. David Sadkin, partner at Bel Air Investment Advisors, who oversees around $12 billion in assets for wealthy individuals, said that has become clear in calls he has received from clients since President Trump's tariffs this spring roiled markets.
/jlne.ws/3HKeD9h
So Much for 'Digital Gold': Why Bitcoin Isn't an All-Weather Insurance Policy
Spencer Jakab - The Wall Street Journal
An odd thing happened to financial markets when Israel bombed Iranian nuclear sites last week.n For the most part, the moves were what you would have expected: Stocks fell worldwide and U.S. benchmark crude jumped 7.3% Friday, wrapping up its biggest weekly gain since the Oct. 7 massacre in 2023. Meanwhile, the price of gold, a traditional haven in times of conflict, rose 1.5% to a record. But gold's supposed digital equivalent failed to play the same role. Bitcoin fell by 1.6% Friday, even more than the S&P 500, concluding a 4% drop over three days.
/jlne.ws/407Epue
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| Trade War and Tariffs | | A roundup of today's trade war and tariff news and the global economic ripple effects shaping markets, industries, and investment strategies. | The Trump administration is offering 3 different scenarios for how 'Liberation Day 2.0' may play out
Ben Werschkul - Yahoo Finance
A key deadline in President Trump's trade war is getting closer, with a 90-day pause on his "Liberation Day" tariffs set to expire on July 9. But what will actually happen when the clock strikes midnight on what some are calling "Liberation Day 2.0" is anyone's guess. A series of comments from Trump and his officials this week - even within a 12-hour span on Wednesday - were notable for the variety of scenarios they have on the table.
/jlne.ws/4l6KD5S
Trump Arrives at G-7 With Contentious Tariff Baggage in Tow
Shawn Donnan - Bloomberg
When Donald Trump gets down to business with his fellow Group of Seven leaders in the Canadian Rockies on Monday, top of the agenda will be the latest conflict between Iran and Israel and the threat it poses to both Middle East stability and the global economy. And yet hanging over it all will be the trade wars the US president has launched against his fellow G-7 leaders and others who might be wondering: Is America still an engine of growth or a drag on economic activity?
/jlne.ws/4lbtyb2
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| World Conflicts | | News about various conflicts and their military, economic, political and humanitarian impact. | Ukraine Invasion
Zelenskyy warns oil price surge could help Russia's war effort
Samya Kullab - Associated Press
A sharp rise in global oil prices following Israeli strikes on Iran will benefit Russia and bolster its military capabilities in the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday in comments that were under embargo until Saturday afternoon. Speaking to journalists in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the surge in oil prices threatens Ukraine's position on the battlefield, especially because Western allies have not enforced effective price caps on Russian oil exports.
/jlne.ws/3HITU5G
Putin tells Trump Russia is ready for next round of Ukraine talks
AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump Saturday that Moscow was ready to hold a fresh round of peace talks with Kyiv after June 22, once the sides complete exchanging prisoners and soldiers' bodies. Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile did not mention whether Ukraine would agree to the next round of talks, only saying that "the exchanges will be completed and the parties will discuss the next step."
/jlne.ws/4kMfyEM
Russia is shifting tactics again, assaulting Ukrainian cities with swarms of killer drones
Ivana Kottasova and Svitlana Vlasova - CNN
On a recent evening in Kyiv, 4-year-old Olexander Reshetnik made a simple suggestion to his parents: "Let's go to the parking garage now so we can sleep properly, and you don't have to wake us up twice to take us there and back." The family lives on the 18th floor of a high-rise building and getting into the underground garage that doubles as a bomb shelter during Russian attacks is an uncomfortable experience. With aerial attacks becoming more common, it made sense to Oleksander to simply stay there.
/jlne.ws/45W1Ni9
Middle East Conflict
Iran tried to fire 1,000 missiles at Israel but could only muster 200
Adrian Blomfield - The Telegraph
As Israeli missiles rained down across the country, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, reportedly summoned his national security council for an emergency meeting. There was only one item on the agenda: how strongly would - or could - the Islamic regime respond? Iran's military planning was already in disarray. Israel had killed its four most senior generals in the meticulously executed opening salvoes of its campaign. Many of the country's first-line air defences and missile bases lay in smouldering ruins. The 23 men gathered around a table at what they hoped was a well-protected safe house were divided about how to proceed, according to senior Iranian officials quoted by The New York Times.
/jlne.ws/45r3ap2
Iran Conflict Ensnares Energy as Israel Hits Giant Gas Field
Arsalan Shahla, Grant Smith, and Anthony Di Paola - Bloomberg
The unfolding Middle East crisis extended to Iran's energy infrastructure as Israel launched an attack on a giant gas field in the Persian Gulf, threatening further turmoil for markets. Israel's strike on Saturday triggered a powerful explosion and fire at a natural gas processing facility linked to Iran's giant South Pars field. The hit on the onshore Phase 14 processing plant forced the shut down of a production platform at the field, according to a report from the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
/jlne.ws/3G1fTEr
Why Israel Attacked Iran, and What to Watch for Next
Patrick Sykes, Ethan Bronner, and Anthony Capaccio - Bloomberg
The conflict between Israel and Iran has shaped the Middle East for decades. It was largely on a low boil as the two sides attacked each other - mostly quietly and in Iran's case often by proxy - while avoiding a full-blown war. The hostilities stepped up a gear following the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, which is backed by Iran, in October 2023. Israel and Iran fired missiles and drones on each other twice last year.
/jlne.ws/4l0TXbe
Oil Shippers Pause Offers to Middle East as Conflict Intensifies
Serene Cheong and Yongchang Chin - Bloomberg
Some oil tanker owners and managers have paused offering their vessels for Middle Eastern routes since Friday as they assess the risks from Israel's conflict with Iran, fueling concerns over export flows from the region. Producers and traders trying to book ships to load crude oil and fuel from the Persian Gulf have been met with few offers, said shipbrokers and charterers, who asked not to be identified as they're not authorized to speak publicly. Meanwhile, some owners with tankers that had been provisionally chartered as of Friday, pending confirmation of the booking, have chosen not to extend the agreements into the weekend, one of them said.
/jlne.ws/4lbQwij
Egypt Seeks Fuel Supplies as Mideast Crisis Cuts Israel Gas Flow
Salma El Wardany
Egypt is rushing to find alternative fuel supplies to avoid power blackouts after the crisis that's engulfed the Middle East halted gas flows from Israel. The government is preparing to issue a tender this month to import up to 1 million tons of fuel oil, with delivery planned for August, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. That would add to a recent tender for fuel oil and help meet requirements for power generation just as the conflict between Israel and Iran puts gas supply at risk, they said.
/jlne.ws/4n3cKVn
Netanyahu says 'we'll do what we need to do' with Iran's leader
James Shotter in Jerusalem, Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran, and Claire Jones in Washington - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4l0WOBc
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Euronext and Clearstream partner on collateral management enhancements; The improved service offering is expected to go live in November 2025.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Euronext and Clearstream have unveiled a new partnership aimed at advancing the continued development of Euronext Clearing's collateral management services across repo, as well as other asset classes. The move is a step closer to Euronext's goal of creating a unified, pan-European clearing model for its repo clearing franchise. Anthony Attia, global head of derivatives and post-trade at Euronext, said: "This collaboration with Clearstream marks an important step in the execution of our 'Innovate for Growth 2027' strategy, reinforcing Euronext Clearing's ability to deliver cutting-edge collateral and clearing solutions.
/jlne.ws/4jVim14
ICE to dual-list on NYSE Texas
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data and parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), today announced that it will dual-list on NYSE Texas, effective June 17, 2025. "Founded 25 years ago and listed on the NYSE for nearly two decades, ICE has consistently worked to stay at the forefront of innovation in capital markets," said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, ICE Chair & Chief Executive Officer. "Supporting the momentum in Texas as Governor Abbott and his team create an environment where companies can thrive, we are delighted to join the community of companies listed on NYSE Texas."
/jlne.ws/4lsRtmz
Passing the port? Drill needs more CCP hands in key test; As few plan to test porting, brokers say finer asset segregation, reg waivers and capital relief would help
Luke Clancy - Risk.net
In Warner Brothers cartoons, Wile E Coyote is forever buying would-be lethal weapons - a giant anvil, a case of dynamite - from the fictional Acme Corp. But the ensuing efforts to ambush his arch enemy the Road Runner inevitably backfire, and he's the one that gets clobbered by his own device. Such self-sustained injury is something central counterparties (CCPs) are trying to guard against with a
/jlne.ws/3Ton5NR
Abaxx Confirms Active Trading in Gold Singapore Futures Following Launch
Abaxx
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (CBOE:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd., the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, "Abaxx Exchange" and "Abaxx Clearing"), and producer of the SmarterMarketsâ„¢ Podcast, today announced active trading in its physically-deliverable Gold Singapore Futures following the product's official launch on June 12, 2025. As the only physically-deliverable, U.S. dollar-denominated gold futures contract based in Asia's primary trading center of Singapore, this product provides a regionally relevant tool for price discovery, hedging, and delivery, and offers global access to a contract designed for today's trade flows.
/jlne.ws/3Zy5zKR
ASX statement on ASIC commencing inquiry
ASX
ASX today acknowledges the decision of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to commence a compliance assessment and inquiry into the obligations of ASX's market licensees and clearing and settlement licensees under ss794C and 823C of the Corporations Act. To support the assessment, ASIC will appoint an expert panel to examine the frameworks and practices within the ASX Group in relation to governance, capability and risk management.
/jlne.ws/44g3qWG
The IBEX Gender Equality Grows to 58 Components after the Entry of Nine Companies and the Exit of Eight
BME-X
Changes in the composition of the IBEX Gender Equality. The Technical Advisory Committee has approved the inclusion of nine new companies and the removal of eight from the index, which brings together the most advanced Spanish listed companies in terms of gender equality, so it will have 58 components. The annual review is carried out on the basis of information published by the CNMV on the presence of women on the Board of Directors and in the senior management of companies. The changes will be effective from 23 June. The new members of the index are Amper, Prosegur Cash, Endesa, Fluidra, Indra, Inmocemento, Puig, Renta Corporacion and Solaria. Cellnex, DIA, Faes Farma, Mapfre, Nicolas Correa, Santander, Soltec and Unicaja will leave the index.
/jlne.ws/4jTNZbw
25 Years of EEX: From a local power trading platform to a global commodity exchange
EEX
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) marks its 25th anniversary this year, with a total volume of 75,000+ terawatt hours of power traded since launch. Today the company is known as a global exchange for energy and commodities and has been recognised as the world's largest power trading platform for almost a decade. The very first trade was executed on 15 June 2000 at Leipzig Power Exchange, the predecessor of today's EEX, at the time of a major transformation of the European energy landscape. In the late 1990s, the German electricity market was liberalised, ending local monopolies and opening up the market to new entrants which created the need for transparent and efficiently organised trading platforms, such as EEX.
/jlne.ws/4lsZGqT
Euronext and Clearstream launch partnership to further strengthen Euronext Clearing's collateral management capabilities
Deutsche Borse
Euronext and Clearstream start a new partnership to advance the continued development of Euronext Clearing's collateral management services across repo and other asset classes. The additional collaboration with Clearstream strengthens Euronext Clearing's infrastructure to deliver scalable and efficient clearing solutions tailored to the evolving requirements of European and international market participants. As part of this initiative, Clearstream will serve as a triparty agent (TPA) for Euronext Clearing, facilitating advanced collateral management capabilities. Clients will benefit from automated, flexible and operationally streamlined solutions that enhance margin and balance sheet optimisation. Clearstream will act as an independent third party, handling the collateral selection, valuation and substitution to ensure compliance with eligibility criteria while minimising operational complexities. In addition, Clearstream will manage settlement and custody services, provide robust regulatory reporting, and support liquidity and risk management objectives. The go-live of this enhanced service offering is scheduled for November 2025.
/jlne.ws/4kHXWtx
Nasdaq Announces Semi-Annual Changes To The OMX Copenhagen 25 Index
Mondovisione
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) announced today the results of the semi-annual review of the OMX Copenhagen 25 Index, (Nasdaq Copenhagen: OMXC25), which will become effective at market open on Monday, June 23, 2025. As a result of the semi-annual review, there will be no component changes to the Index portfolio.
/jlne.ws/3FXjxPI
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Artificial Intelligence
AI alone cannot solve the productivity puzzle; Economic miracles stem from discovery, not repeating tasks at greater speed
Carl Benedikt Frey - Financial Times
Each time fears of AI-driven job losses flare up, optimists reassure us that artificial intelligence is a productivity tool that will help both workers and the economy. Microsoft chief Satya Nadella thinks autonomous AI agents will allow users to name their goal while the software plans, executes and learns across every system. A dream tool - if efficiency alone was enough to solve the productivity problem.
/jlne.ws/4lbO7UP
Meta Investors Cheer as Zuckerberg Doubles Down on AI Commitment
Ryan Vlastelica - Bloomberg
Meta Platforms Inc. keeps writing bigger checks in pursuit of its artificial intelligence strategy, and traders keep cheering it on, encouraged that the expensive bets will keep paying off. The stock is back near record territory after soaring more than 40% from its April low. Last week, Meta finalized a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, whose leader is joining a team being assembled by Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to pursue artificial general intelligence. That came just after Meta raised its capital spending forecast for 2025 to as much as $72 billion.
/jlne.ws/43IW9P2
A.I. Is Poised to Rewrite History. Literally; The technology's ability to read and summarize text is already making it a useful tool for scholarship. How will it change the stories we tell about the past?
Bill Wasik - The New York Times
During my 25 years as a magazine editor, my favorite part of the job has always been helping writers figure out what the story is: where to start it, where to end it, what's important and new about it. So it was with no small amount of humility that, earlier this year, I sat in a Google corporate cafeteria along the West Side of Manhattan and watched as one of my longtime writers - Steven Johnson, the technology journalist and historian - received that kind of guidance from an A.I. instead of me.
/jlne.ws/4e4jnTb
Cloud Computing
Amazon Plans $13 Billion Investment in Australia Data Centers
Ainslie Chandler - Bloomberg
Amazon.com Inc. plans to invest A$20 billion ($13 billion) in Australia between this year and 2029 to develop its data-center infrastructure. The commitment would support the growth in demand in Australia for cloud computing and AI, for which it would speed up adoption and capability, Amazon said in a statement. The investment, in the Sydney and Melbourne data centers, is the biggest ever in Australia by a global technology company, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
/jlne.ws/3HJYmBm
Technology Firms
RiskExec Welcomes Erik Pieczkowski as Chief Executive Officer, Unveils Key Enhancements for NYDFS Compliance
RiskExec, Inc.
RiskExec, Inc. ("RiskExec"), a leading compliance reporting and analytics software platform serving banks, mortgage lenders, credit unions, and non-traditional lenders, today announced Erik Pieczkowski as its new Chief Executive Officer. In tandem with this appointment, RiskExec also launched critical additions to its software, enabling institutions to swiftly meet the New York State Department of Financial Services' (NYDFS) requirement to collect and report data for New York State Community Reinvestment Act purposes.
/jlne.ws/4kFG56t
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Retail stores are getting hit hard by cyberattacks
Dana Nickel - Politico
A recent spike of cyberattacks against major retailers in the U.S. and abroad is stoking fears that these breaches could seriously disrupt services and lead to less access to necessities like food or clothing. Last week, United Natural Foods Inc., one of the country's top food distributors and one of Whole Foods' largest partners, experienced a major cyberattack. In a filing with the SEC, the company stated that the attack affected its "ability to fulfill and distribute customer orders," leaving some store shelves temporarily barren.
/jlne.ws/43YNwyE
Safeguarding Generational Wealth: How Family Offices Can Confront Growing Cybersecurity Risks
Editorial Staff - Family Wealth Report
As the Headline Sponsor of the 2025 Cybersecurity Forum, Omega Systems is not just leading the conversation, it's leading the charge. With deep experience securing high net worth environments, Omega is on the front lines helping family offices navigate the realities of risk, resilience and readiness. In this exclusive Q&A, Family Wealth Report sat down with Warren Finkel (pictured) managing director at Omega Systems, to explore the evolving threat landscape and how family offices can strengthen their defenses for the road ahead.
/jlne.ws/4kJMMoo
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Russia Recruited a Teenage Spy; His Arrest Led to a Crypto Money Trail
Mari Saito, Anna Koper, Anton Zverev, Filipp Lebedev and Polina Nikolskaya - Reuters
The Canadian teenager was getting anxious. It was May 2024, and he was in Copenhagen, running out of money after leaving Moscow a week earlier. He'd booked the cheapest room he could find in the Danish capital, but the hostel was still more expensive than he'd expected. The teen, Laken Pavan, opened Telegram to type out a message to his handler in Russia's Federal Security Service, which runs the country's spy operations and is known by its acronym FSB. "Are you able to send BTC today?" Pavan wrote to the man, using the shorthand for bitcoin. Pavan knew the man only as "Slon," or elephant in Russian. The man had been assigned to the 17-year-old by FSB officers who had recruited the teen just weeks prior in Russian-occupied Donetsk, according to court documents reviewed by Reuters.
/jlne.ws/4e430WN
Positive U.S. Regulatory Environment More Conducive for Crypto Corporate Activity: JPMorgan
Will Canny - CoinDesk
Expectations of a more benign regulatory environment in the U.S. is leading to an increase in the number of crypto companies looking to go public and an uplift in venture capital (VC) funding, investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report Wednesday. The GENIUS Act's progress in the Senate has become a "key factor in anticipating a clearer and more supportive regulatory environment," analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote.
/jlne.ws/4l2dnfT
Brazil Sets Flat 17.5% Tax on Crypto Profits, Ending Exemption for Smaller Investors
Francisco Rodrigues - CoinDesk
Brazil has scrapped a long-standing tax exemption on cryptocurrency gains, with a new provisional measure (MP 1303), imposing a 17.5% tax on all crypto profits for individuals. Previously, individuals selling up to R$35,000 (around $6,300) worth of crypto per month were exempt from taxation. Before the change, gains above that were taxed progressively, reaching as high as 22.5% for volumes over $5.4 million.
/jlne.ws/4jPFgac
Trump's Empire Pulled In $57M From Family-Linked Crypto Firm Last Year, Filing Shows
Francisco Rodrigues - CoinDesk
Donald Trump's crypto wallet and branding empire earned tens of millions of dollars last year, with World Liberty Financial netting the U.S. President $57.4 million, according to a newly released federal financial disclosure. The document, published by the Office of Government Ethics, shows Trump's personal crypto holdings are estimated to be between $1 million and $5 million. He also declared gold bars as investments between $250,000 and $500,000, various money market funds, equity and Treasury bond holdings, and real estate.
/jlne.ws/4kzToFE
US tycoon pours $100mn into Trump crypto project after SEC reprieve; Chicago trader Don Wilson backs Trump family's bitcoin venture after administration drops lawsuit
Joe Miller in Washington, Antoine Gara in New York and Harriet Agnew in London - Financial Times
An American financier invested $100mn in the Trump family's flagship bitcoin project just nine weeks after a probe into his crypto business was dropped by the Trump administration. DRW Investments, a Chicago-based company founded and controlled by trader Don Wilson, bought almost 4mn shares in Trump Media & Technology Group last month, according to public filings, as part of a funding round for the purchase of more than $2bn in cryptocurrency.
/jlne.ws/3TpIZQV
Why I haven't jumped on the gold-crypto trade; Equities have much of the same qualities and don't write off bonds quite yet
Stuart Kirk - Financial Times (opinion)
Now where were we? In my last Skin in the Game column I said three issues were making me especially nervous at the moment. "Which way the dollar is heading and ditto for inflation and rates globally." I only covered the first of these, but I recommend reading my lovely colleague Katie Martin this week to understand why all portfolio managers are struggling with the dollar. (I've forgiven her for live blogging the Miami underwater joke that got me fired.)
/jlne.ws/44ilAHi
Bitcoin
Crypto Altcoins Lead Slide as Geopolitics Spurs Haven Demand
Suvashree Ghosh and Kirk Ogunrinde - Bloomberg
Smaller, less liquid tokens such as Solana and Cardano led a decline in cryptocurrencies as financial markets shifted toward safety after Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear targets. Bitcoin, which accounts for more than 60% of the digital asset world's market value, was little changed at around $105,600 after earlier dropping as much as 3%. Solana and Cardano were off by roughly 4%, after slumping as much as 8% and 6.7%, respectively. Total liquidation of crypto bets over the last 12 hours was $106.5 million on Friday in New York, with $44 million and $63 million in long and short positions closed respectively, according to data compiled by Coinglass.
/jlne.ws/4jR1jNw
This is nuts. When's the crash?; A very British bitcoin treasury company
Bryce Elder - Financial Times
One of the current market mysteries is why people are paying approximately $2 for $1 of bitcoin. After MicroStrategy discovered it could buy bitcoin in a recursive loop using money raised by selling shares and weird convertible debt at a premium to its net asset value, lots of companies have been doing the same thing. One of those companies is UK-listed, sort of. The Smarter Web Company trades on Aquis Exchange, the specialist junior venue, as well as a US over-the-counter exchange. It floated on Aquis on April 25, raising £1.1mn at 2.5p per share, for a market capitalisation of £3.7mn.
/jlne.ws/4493HcT
Ethereum
Ethereum Treasury Firm SharpLink Plunges 69% on Routine Filing
Monique Mulima - Bloomberg
Shares of SharpLink Gaming Inc. plunged 69% on Friday following the registration of shares for a group of investors, a move the company's chairman defended as standard procedure. The firm, which is becoming an Ether treasury company, announced a $425 million private investment in public equity last month that would see investors led by Consensys Software Inc. buying 69.1 million shares of SharpLink or their equivalent, according to a statement at the time.
/jlne.ws/3Trf5M4
Stablecoins
Crypto Nearing 'Tipping Point' Toward Systemic Risk, FSB's Knot Says
Mark Schroers - Bloomberg
Risk emanating from cryptoassets could soon become a serious threat to the financial system, according to outgoing Financial Stability Board Chair Klaas Knot. "At the FSB, we have long maintained that crypto does not yet pose a systemic risk, but recent developments suggest we may be approaching a tipping point," he said in Madrid on Thursday. He highlighted that stablecoin issuers "now hold substantial amounts of US Treasuries - this is a segment we must monitor closely." Stablecoins are the focus of major legislation in US Congress - the first salvo in a crypto-industry-backed effort to write new rules for digital assets. Several European Central Bank policymakers have voiced concern about related risks.
/jlne.ws/4n41RCu
Other Crypto
Emerging cryptocurrency shakes up industry as potential alternative to bitcoin: 'True innovation'
Joseph Clark - Yahoo Finance
Cardano is catching on as a cleaner, cheaper alternative to Bitcoin. Bitcoin made crypto famous - but at a serious cost. All those digital coins take a shocking amount of electricity to create, and much of that power still comes from dirty energy like gas and coal. So what's the result?
/jlne.ws/4jOxzAX
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | U.S. Administration
31 Nobel Laureates Warn: The Signs of Fascism are Here
Elisa Manfredini and Andrea Acquistapace - TIME
On June 14, President Donald Trump will hold a military parade to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. The Parade is also marking Flag Day, and his 79th birthday. The symbolism is undeniable. Critics have noted that the parade's unmistakably authoritarian flavor evokes Soviet theatrics more than democratic celebration, and accuse Trump of acting more like a monarch than a president. Trump's parade will also occur on the 100th anniversary of the 1925 Letter of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, published in Italy after Benito Mussolini seized power. The letter posed great personal risk for the signatories, which included scientists, philosophers, writers, and artists.
/jlne.ws/4l13gIk
Trump fails to overturn $5m damages award to E Jean Carroll for defamation
Oliver Milman - The Guardian
Donald Trump has lost his latest legal attempt to challenge the $5m in damages awarded against him for defaming E Jean Carroll, the New York writer who a jury found was sexually abused by the president in the 1990s, before he embarked on his political career. A US appeals court in New York City on Friday denied Trump's request to reconsider its decision in December to uphold the jury's award of $5m to Carroll. The court was divided in its opinion, with two Trump-appointed judges, Steven Menashi and Michael Park, dissenting.
/jlne.ws/3HHADS2
Trump reports more than $600 million in income from crypto, golf, licensing fees
Tom Bergin, Lawrence Delevingne and Tom Lasseter - Reuters
Donald Trump reported more than $600 million in income from crypto, golf clubs, licensing and other ventures in a public financial disclosure report released on Friday that provided a glimpse of the vast business holdings of America's billionaire president. The annual financial disclosure form, which appeared to cover the 2024 calendar year, shows the president's push into crypto added substantially to his wealth but he also reported large fees from developments and revenues from his other businesses. Overall, the president reported assets worth at least $1.6 billion, a Reuters calculation shows.
/jlne.ws/45V2jNh
GOP tax bill could hurt the poorest households more than it helps them; Cuts to Medicaid and anti-poverty programs wipe out gains low-income households could see from policies like no taxes on tips and overtime, nonpartisan estimates show.
Theodoric Meyer and Jacob Bogage - The Washington Post
President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have pitched their sweeping tax-and-spending bill as a way to help the working-class voters who played a crucial role in electing Trump. But funding cuts to Medicaid and other programs included in the legislation would hurt low-income households financially more than the tax cuts would boost their finances, according to nonpartisan analyses of the bill. The biggest benefits would accrue to the highest-earning households, the analyses found.
/jlne.ws/400Czvi
Other U.S. Politics
Senator's 'We All Are Going to Die' Gaffe Becomes Rallying Cry for Democrats; Blowback on Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst's remark highlights GOP vulnerability on Medicaid cuts
John McCormick and Lindsay Wise - The Wall Street Journal
Sen. Joni Ernst's remark on possible Medicaid cuts has sparked Democratic attacks. Ernst's comment has jeopardized her political future, drawing primary challengers and speculation about re-election. Democrats are using Ernst's words to highlight Republicans' alleged indifference regarding the poor. A one-sentence gaffe from Iowa's junior senator has become a line of attack against Republicans nationally, with Democratic fundraising solicitations, political ads, social media and T-shirts now highlighting her words heading into the midterm elections.
/jlne.ws/45v1tXH
United Kingdom
UK government advises against all travel to Israel
Sky News
The government is warning people not to travel to Israel under any circumstances, as the country's missile exchange with Iran shows no sign of abating. On Friday, the Foreign Office warned against "all but essential travel" to most of Israel. The areas around Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights were already classed as red zones, with warnings to avoid travel to these areas. But the government has now updated the warning for the remainder of the country to red.
/jlne.ws/3FW6Ep4
Britain's MI6 spy agency promotes 'Q' to be first female head; Appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes as agents grapple with competing threats
Helen Warrell in London and David Sheppard in Ottawa - Financial Times
Blaise Metreweli has been appointed the new chief of MI6, the UK Secret Intelligence Service, becoming the first woman to lead the agency that recruits spies overseas since its foundation more than a century ago. Metreweli is currently SIS head of technology - a role known as "Q" after James Bond's mastermind gadgeteer - and has previously held operational posts across the Middle East and Europe. She will take up the post in October when Sir Richard Moore steps down after a five-year term.
/jlne.ws/4jVlxpw
European Union
Macron rejects Trump's idea for Putin to mediate Israel-Iran crisis
Dominique Vidalon and Stine Jacobsen - Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to Greenland to offer his support to the Arctic island, said on Sunday that Russia lacked the credibility to mediate the crisis between Israel and Iran as U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested. In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Trump said he was open to Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine and who has resisted Trump's attempts to broker a ceasefire with Kyiv, mediating between Israel and Iran. Macron said he rejected such an idea.
/jlne.ws/3G5EojI
Former French president Sarkozy stripped of Legion of Honour medal
Reuters
Former president Nicolas Sarkozy has been stripped of his Legion of Honour, France's highest distinction, after being convicted of corruption and influence peddling last year, according to a decree published in Sunday's Official Bulletin. The centre-right politician has been embroiled in legal battles since leaving office in 2012. Last year, France's highest court upheld his conviction for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year, a first for a former French head of state.
/jlne.ws/4jVh1rb
China
No More Student Visas? No Problem.
Michael Schuman - The Atlantic
Just how mad is Beijing about President Donald Trump's decision to revoke student visas for Chinese nationals? Not as mad as it says, and not as mad as one might expect. Publicly, China's leadership will likely complain that Trump's action is yet another attempt to thwart the country's rise. But in reality, Beijing would probably just as soon keep its smartest kids at home.
/jlne.ws/4jPYmwI
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Shaquille O'Neal to Pay $1.8M in Settlement Over FTX Promotion Lawsuit
Francisco Rodrigues - CoinDesk
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal has agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by investors in the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, according to several media reports this week. The investors allege that O'Neal misled them by appearing in ads for the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange. The payout is about $1 million more than the $750,000 O'Neal was reportedly paid for his role in an FTX commercial. The former basketball star was among several celebrities, including Tom Brady and Larry David, who were sued for promoting the exchange before its collapse in late 2022. O'Neal has maintained that he was simply a paid actor in the ad, saying after the exchange's collapse he was "just a paid spokesperson for a commercial." If the settlement is approved, O'Neal will be released from all future claims tied to the lawsuit. He will not be allowed to seek reimbursement from the FTX bankruptcy estate and will not have to admit any wrongdoing, according to the CNBC report.
/jlne.ws/3HYtTiI
Trading venues seen as easiest targets for Esma supervision; Platforms do not pose systemic risks for member states and are already subject to consistent rules
Samuel Wilkes - Risk.net
Industry sources think trading platforms are the regulated entities most likely to be brought under centralised supervision by the European Union, as part of long-running efforts to energise the bloc's capital markets. "I think venues are probably the easiest, because we don't have the prudential aspects that the post-trade firms do and we don't have the retail element in the same way as funds do,"
/jlne.ws/40825Ph
SEC Names Jamie Selway as Director of Trading and Markets
Newsfile Corp.
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the appointment of Jamie Selway, an accomplished financial markets leader, as Director of the Division of Trading and Markets, effective June 17, 2025. "I'd like to welcome Jamie to the SEC," said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins. "He brings decades of industry experience in market structure and across multiple asset classes to this critical role. I look forward to working with him to protect our markets and ensure the agency's regulations balance costs and benefits."
/jlne.ws/4n3uFez
SEC Names Erik Hotmire as Chief External Affairs Officer and Director of the Office of Public Affairs
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Erik Hotmire will return to the SEC as Chief External Affairs Officer and Director of the Office of Public Affairs, effective June 16, 2025.
/jlne.ws/45ls7C8
Brian Daly Named Director of Division of Investment Management
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that investment management industry leader Brian T. Daly will become the new Director of the Division of Investment Management, effective July 8. Mr. Daly brings decades of experience serving in prominent roles at global law firms and investment management firms while advising fund managers and sponsors on regulatory compliance.
/jlne.ws/45pDEAv
SEC Names Kurt Hohl as Chief Accountant
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Kurt Hohl, with nearly 40 years of accounting and auditing experience, has been named Chief Accountant, effective July 7, 2025. Acting Chief Accountant Ryan Wolfe will return to his role as Chief Accountant in the Division of Enforcement.
/jlne.ws/44qDeYz
SEC Charges Former Executive Chairman of Public Company with Defrauding Investors through False and Misleading Statements
SEC
On June 13, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Roderick Vanderbilt with participating in a scheme to defraud investors in Vinco Ventures, Inc., a publicly traded, purported digital media and content technologies company.
/jlne.ws/3HK8t99
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Canadian Resident for Involvement in Scheme to Fraudulently Promote Securities
SEC
On June 12, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a final judgment against Sergio Damian Lopez, a Canadian resident, for charges related to his involvement in a fraudulent scheme to promote securities offered pursuant to Regulation A, which, if certain conditions are met, provides an exemption to the Securities Act's registration provisions.
/jlne.ws/3TnQurA
ASIC takes steps to appoint receivers to Australian Fiduciaries Ltd as investigation continues
ASIC
ASIC has applied to the Federal Court, seeking asset preservation orders and the appointment of receivers to Australian Fiduciaries Ltd and numerous related entities. ASIC understands that around 600 Australian retail investors have invested approximately $160 million into managed investment schemes offered by Australian Fiduciaries since February 2020, predominantly through their self-managed super funds (SMSFs). Australian Fiduciaries ceased distributing units in the schemes in September 2023.
/jlne.ws/3HX8pCR
ASIC launches Inquiry into ASX
ASIC
ASIC today announced an Inquiry into Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) group, focusing on governance, capability and risk management frameworks and practices across the group. ASX plays a critical role in Australia's financial markets. ASIC and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have ongoing concerns over ASX's ability to maintain stable, secure and resilient critical market infrastructure.
/jlne.ws/4437KXU
MAS and SFA invite nominations for 2025 Singapore FinTech Festival FinTech Excellence Awards
MAS
Singapore, 16 June 2025 ... The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) today announced the global call for nominations for the 2025 Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) FinTech Excellence Awards (the Awards). Marking its 10-year anniversary, the Awards, supported by PwC Singapore, continues to recognise innovative FinTech solutions by corporates[1] and individuals who are leaders in spearheading the use of new technologies to transform industry practices and the delivery of financial services, create new growth opportunities, and champion greater financial inclusion.
/jlne.ws/3STrEQc
SFC suspends Hadiee Chui Lai Chun for seven months
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended Ms Hadiee Chui Lai Chun, a licensed representative of Rifa Securities Limited (Rifa), for seven months from 13 June 2025 to 12 January 2026 (Note 1). The disciplinary action follows an SFC investigation which found that, between September 2018 and September 2021, Chui failed to disclose to Rifa a personal securities trading account maintained at another brokerage firm. She also conducted 20 personal trades through the undisclosed account without prior approval from any responsible officer of Rifa. Furthermore, she failed to report these trades and provide the relevant trade confirmations and statements of account to Rifa.
/jlne.ws/4e47Q6p
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Oil Options Lure Bulls in Heavy Trade as Mideast Risk Grows
Yongchang Chin and Alex Longley - Bloomberg
A fresh wave of bullishness is washing through the oil-options market as traders protect against the risk to supplies in a region that pumps a third of the world's oil from mounting attacks between Israel and Iran. Following a weekend when the two sides exchanged fresh blows, including hits to energy infrastructure, several thousand lots of August calls with strike prices of more than $80 a barrel - which profit when prices rise - changed hands in the first few hours of Monday's session. At the same time, about 5,000 lots of September Brent $100 calls also traded.
/jlne.ws/4kFsOLh
Fear of Uncertainty Held S&P 500 Back From Record. Now It's Real
Alexandra Semenova - Bloomberg
For weeks, the S&P 500 Index has inched along near an all-time high despite encouraging economic signals, as Wall Street's concerns about a rich stock market in the face of mounting global uncertainty kept buying in check. On Thursday night, those fears became real, with Israel and Iran exchanging missiles, threatening to start a wider war in the Middle East, which is already near boiling after years of fighting in Gaza. The price of oil spiked as much as 14% on Friday, while the yield on 10-year Treasuries halted a four-day slide and started rising again. The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, climbed above 20.
/jlne.ws/443WJpt
Bunge's $34 billion Viterra merger clears final China hurdle
Karl Plume - Reuters
Global agribusiness Bunge Global SA said Friday it has received regulatory approval from China for its merger with Glencore-backed grain handler Viterra, the final hurdle for its $34 billion mega-deal announced two years ago. The Missouri-based company expects to close the largest-ever global agriculture merger by dollar value "on or around July 2," Bunge said in an emailed statement.
/jlne.ws/3SU5QUG
Japan's Bond Chaos Heralds More Volatility in Global Markets
Ruth Carson and Masaki Kondo - Bloomberg
Japan's once-slumbering bond market has roared back to life with a burst of volatility that is echoing around the world. Major debt markets have moved in tandem with Japanese government bonds during the recent rout, with a spike in super-long yields in the Asian nation amplifying ructions fueled by global fears of widening fiscal deficits.
/jlne.ws/3FHkOKJ
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | US EPA to stop enforcing violations against fossil fuel companies, CNN reports
Reuters
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told staff to stop enforcing violations against fossil fuel companies, CNN reported on Monday, citing multiple sources.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. "While the last administration targeted the oil and gas industry and crippled the American worker to serve their climate zealotry, the Trump EPA's enforcement work is firmly rooted in the rule of law," an EPA spokesperson said, calling CNN's story "fake news narrative".
/jlne.ws/444pCls
US borrowers opt for 'greenhushing' of bond sales under Trump; Companies dispense with ESG projects or quietly fund them in contrast with Europe where activity remains above 2021 levels
Will Schmitt - Financial Times
US green bond sales have fallen since Donald Trump won a second term as president, as companies seek to avoid unwanted attention by backing away from or playing down their environmental activities. A total of $24.4bn in green bonds was issued in the US this year to the end of May, according to data from the Climate Bonds Initiative, down from $43.3bn in the same period last year and the lowest total in data going back to 2021.
/jlne.ws/3FYm0cA
At U.N. Conference, Countries Inch Toward Ocean Protection Goal; More than 20 new marine protected areas in coastal waters were announced at the third U.N. ocean conference this week. Experts say thousands more are needed.
Delger Erdenesanaa - The New York Times
Remote coral atolls in the Caribbean. Habitat for threatened sharks and rays around a Tanzanian island in the Indian Ocean. And 900,000 square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean around French Polynesia. These are some of the millions of acres of water now set aside as part of an international goal to protect 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. More than 20 new marine protected areas were announced at the third United Nations Ocean Conference, which ended on Friday in France.
/jlne.ws/3G3YQl3
Water-Treatment Startup Sees Carbon Benefit in Harmful Algal Blooms; BlueGreen hopes to send slicks of toxic algae to the bottom of oceans and lakes, and generate carbon credits out of the stored biomass in the process
Perry Cleveland-Peck - The Wall Street Journal
An Israeli startup is rethinking how to tackle two of the planet's most stubborn environmental threats-toxic algae that can lead to dead zones in oceans and rising carbon levels. BlueGreen Water Technologies is developing a novel approach to neutralizing harmful algal blooms, those vivid slicks of toxic plant life that can choke vast areas of sea and fresh water alike. In the process, it is also offering a potentially scalable new tool in the global effort to fight climate change.
/jlne.ws/409bVQS
Trump Plans Biofuel Quota Boost, Seeks to Crimp Imports
Jennifer A Dlouhy and Kim Chipman - Bloomberg
The Trump administration is proposing oil refiners blend more biofuels into gasoline and diesel next year, while seeking to discourage the use of imported supplies. The plan unveiled by the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday would require refiners to mix a record 24.02 billion gallons of biofuels into conventional diesel and gasoline - nearly 8% higher than the 2025 target.
/jlne.ws/44i8ARZ
BIS: Basel Committee Publishes Framework For Voluntary Disclosure Of Climate-Related Financial Risks
Mondovisione
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has published today its voluntary framework for the disclosure of climate-related financial risks, which includes both qualitative and quantitative information. The Committee has agreed this framework will be voluntary in nature, with jurisdictions to consider whether to implement it domestically.
/jlne.ws/4kFHLNn
Why Are We Paying So Much for Electricity?; Between 2013 and 2021, at least five major natural-gas pipeline projects were canceled in the region because of state officials' denial of permits and excessive delays.
Letter from Amy Andryszak, president and CEO of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, in The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/4n3XZ4w
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Centerview Is Sole Bank on Meta's $14 Billion AI Bet
Ryan Gould - Bloomberg
One of the largest-ever investments in a private US company has minted just one investment banking winner: Centerview Partners. Centerview was the sole bank adviser behind Meta Platforms Inc.'s investment in data-labeling startup Scale AI, which was announced Thursday. The deal values Scale at more than $29 billion, including the money raised, Scale said in a blog post. The size of the investment was $14.3 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked to not be identified because financial terms weren't disclosed.
/jlne.ws/43Ne4nP
ABN AMRO re-joins CLSSettlement; Currently there are 73 other banks as settlement members in CLSSettlement.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
ABN AMRO has confirmed it has re-joined CLSSettlement as a settlement member, effective as of 5 May. The bank was part of the initial first group of settlement members that went live when the service launched in 2002, moving to an indirect, third party participation in 2009. Jacco Keijzer, head of global markets, ABN AMRO, explained: "Mitigating FX settlement risk has always been a priority for ABN AMRO. As a long-standing participant in CLSSettlement, we recognise the value it brings to our operations while supporting our adherence to global best practices.
/jlne.ws/44iIVIX
JPMorgan's European chief to run business from New York; Filippo Gori had moved to London from Hong Kong last year but is relocating
Simon Foy and Ortenca Aliaj in London - Financial Times
JPMorgan's European chief is planning to relocate from London to New York, while keeping his role running the bank's Europe, Middle East and Africa business. Filippo Gori, who is also JPMorgan's co-head of global banking, moved to the UK from Hong Kong last year after being promoted to the dual role. But the Italian banker is now in the process of leaving for New York, people familiar with the situation told the Financial Times.
/jlne.ws/43XgWgE
US Ex-Im Bank May Fund Greenland Rare Earths Mine, Reuters Says
Sam Kim - Bloomberg
The US Export-Import Bank is considering providing up to $120 million for a rare earths project by Critical Metals Corp. in Greenland, Reuters reported Sunday, citing a letter of interest. If approved, the loan would mark the first overseas investment in a mining project under the Trump administration and help ease US reliance on China for critical minerals, Reuters says
Representatives for the bank were not immediately available for comment, Reuters says.
/jlne.ws/4mZyphj
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Gen Z is hurtling toward a career cliff; As entry-level jobs disappear and pathways to success shrink, the most rejected generation is in a tough spot.
Allie Kelly - Business Insider
Jacqueline Kline was a proud overachiever in college. She enrolled in a packed class schedule, attended campus networking events, landed an impressive slate of internships, and graduated cum laude from Florida State University. Then, after her 2023 graduation celebrations wound down, Kline found herself back in her childhood bedroom. Over the next year, she applied to hundreds of communications and media jobs between babysitting shifts. The responses were deflating: Some companies sent quick rejections, others turned her away after a couple of interviews, but most simply ghosted her.
/jlne.ws/4kKEIDO
BT chief eyes deeper job cuts as AI becomes more powerful; Allison Kirkby says telecoms group could be 'even smaller' by 2030
Kieran Smith in London - Financial Times
Allison Kirkby said advances in artificial intelligence could deepen significant job cuts under way at BT, as the chief executive of the UK telecoms group opened the door to a possible future spin-off of Openreach. Kirkby told the Financial Times that BT's plans to cull more than 40,000 jobs and strip out £3bn of costs by the end of the decade "did not reflect the full potential of AI". If AI presented new opportunities for BT to run the business with fewer resources, Kirkby said it would need to adapt to remain competitive.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Deloitte is now offering employees a unique wellness benefit: subsidized Legos
Beth Greenfield - Fortune
Workplace wellness-the trend of companies trying to offset job stress with benefits like time off for volunteering, discounted gym memberships, and free therapy-is a buzzy concept that some employers are taking to heart more than others. Deloitte is apparently leaning in hard, according to Business Insider, which found that it has updated its list of subsidized items-already including fitness classes and gaming consoles-to include, among other perks, Legos.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | ECB has learned its lesson about ills of easy money, de Guindos says
Francesco Canepa and Balazs Koranyi - Reuters
The European Central Bank has learned its lesson about aggressive money printing and will pay more attention to the side effects of easy money in the future, the ECB's Vice-President Luis de Guindos told Reuters. Having vanquished high inflation, the ECB is reviewing its long-term strategy as well as its policy toolkit, including the massive bond purchases and negative interest rates it deployed over the last decade when price growth was too sluggish.
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