| December 21, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Congratulations to Dan Busby and Mike Hansen of the OCC on their promotions. Busby is succeeding Scot Warren as the COO and Hansen is to become the chief clearing and settlement services officer of the OCC. The OCC announced the moves yesterday and it is our lead story today.
Last Friday, the OCC passed the 10 billion contract mark cleared for 2022, the first time in history it passed that mark. Both Busby and Hansen have their work cut out for them to keep up with the historic volume.
The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, says it is time to mask up again as a precaution in the face of a winter surge of Covid-19 cases, flu and RSV cases, The New York Times reported.
In China, to protect themselves from the mounting wave of Covid infections, citizens are turning to natural remedies, which has lit the lemon market on fire, Bloomberg reported. Prices of lemons have doubled over the last few days as people were rushing to buy foods with vitamin C to boost their immunity. There is no evidence that vitamin C will help with Covid, but hey, why not?
If you are not feeling well, and there is a tripledemic running around, The Wall Street Journal has a column to help you. The column is titled, "How to Tell if Your Symptoms Are Flu, Covid, RSV or Strep; It's difficult to tell the difference but there are clues to look for, doctors say."
Here is a year-end statistic to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday it had seized more than 379 million doses of fentanyl this year, enough to kill every American in 2022 and then some, ABC News reported. The DEA said the seizures included 50.6 million pills laced with the ultra-deadly synthetic opioid and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder.
Sam Bankman-Fried is finally coming home, back to his home country that is, on Wednesday. He will be escorted by the FBI's finest. He is expected to seek bail after appearing in court in the U.S., Bloomberg reported.
I use a CPAP machine and mine was one of those from Royal Philips NV that was recalled: the DreamStation. The replacement machine I was sent broke during my trip to Florida in November and only on Monday was it replaced. Since then, I have had to sleep with the constant risk of my breathing stopping and then me gasping for air, which raises all kinds of other health risks and mean headaches in the middle of the night. The good news today is that Philips says the risk from their DreamStation machines from the degraded foam that caused the recall in the first place is not supposed to cause significant health risk. So at least I have that going for me.
Thank you to Jeff Bergstrom, who treated family members to a night at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Merry, Merry Chicago show last night. It was fantastic. The conductor, Alastair Willis, was absolutely spot on in his performance. It was a very nice "experience Christmas gift" from Jeff to the family.
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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Congratulations to Adena Friedman, who on Jan. 1, 2023 becomes the chair of Nasdaq's board of directors in addition to being the CEO of Nasdaq. With this move Nasdaq joins the now somewhat controversial practice of giving both the CEO and board chair roles to the same person. Friedman succeeds Michael R. Splinter, who was elected lead independent director. She has been the president and CEO of Nasdaq and a member of the board since January 2017.~SR
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MWE SHORT: Hugh Vyvyan - Transitions: Lessons on a career change
JohnLothianNews.com
Hugh Vyvyan, former player of the Saracens Rugby Team, discusses the importance of working as a team and what individuals need to do to better both themselves while contributing to their group, whether it be a sports team or financial firm. Vyvyan uses his own personal experiences with the Saracens team to illustrate how successful organizations focus more on its people rather than being driven by achieving results.
Watch the video »
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Kathleen Moriarty, ETF Industry's 'SPDR Woman,' Dies at 69; Lawyer played a key role in launch of the first ETF in 1993; She represented Winklevoss twins in their Bitcoin ETF attempt
Katherine Greifeld - Bloomberg
Kathleen Moriarty, a lawyer who played an instrumental role in the creation of the first exchange-traded fund, has died. She was 69. Her death was announced by Chapman and Cutler LLP in New York, where she was senior counsel in the corporate and securities department. No cause or other details were provided. Moriarty spent almost 30 years breaking ground in the fastest-growing segment of the money-management industry, guiding products to market such as the first hedge-fund replicator, the first physical commodity ETF and the first leveraged offering.
/jlne.ws/3YS68x9
***** So many Spider-Men and only one SPDR Woman.~JJL
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'Bomb cyclone' storm could bring deadly winter weather to US
Gloria Oladipo - The Guardian
Severe winter weather is set to affect millions across the US this week, as freezing temperatures and strong storms threaten to wreak havoc on holiday travel plans. A burst of arctic air settling over several states this week is forecast to drop temperatures to dangerous - and potentially deadly - levels just as more than 110 million Americans are expected to set out for their celebrations. Across the country, close to 50 million people are under winter storm watches, advisories, and warnings, and more than 50 million Americans are also under windchill alerts.
/jlne.ws/3BRaPgI
****** If you have to travel on Thursday night or Friday in the Midwest or eastward, DON'T. There is always another holiday, but only if you don't do something stupid like try to travel during a bomb cyclone blizzard with up to minus 30 degree temperatures with the wind chill.~JJL
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Americans Are Buying Less Useless Stuff for Christmas; Our unfortunate tradition of buying boatloads of pointless discretionary items for loved ones loses more steam every year.
Jessica Karl - Bloomberg
I can't believe I'm about to admit this, but last December I willingly paid $26.36 for this t-shirt featuring various iterations of Pete Davidson's face. It was a gift for my sister. I mainly bought it as a joke, but she hasn't worn it at all. So the joke is on me, I guess. When Christmas rolls around, most Americans observe the unfortunate tradition of buying boatloads of pointless discretionary items for their loved ones. Year in and year out, we fill our carts with the most absurd gifts, from customized potato faces to calendars featuring "the world's greatest mullets."
/jlne.ws/3PHnRD4
****** There is some good news at Christmas!~JJL
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Now is the time to boost financial literacy; The FT's charity is filling vital gaps in public understanding of money
The editorial board - Financial Times
FT FLIC, the Financial Times's charity to promote financial literacy, is now more than a year old. As cost of living pressures weigh down on populations around the world, its mission could not be more resonant. Early in 2020 we decided to be more ambitious in our charitable outreach than partnering as before with different NGOs and raising awareness of their work. The cause we chose addresses an issue that the financial world has both created and neglected.
/jlne.ws/3FL0MLg
******* Now is ALWAYS the time to boost financial literacy.~JJL
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Sam Bankman-Fried Said to Be in Talks With Prosecutors Over Bail Deal; Lawyers for the FTX founder are in talks about a deal that could allow him to be released on bail when he is extradited to the United States on fraud charges.
David Yaffe-Bellany, William K. Rashbaum, Matthew Goldstein, Benjamin Weiser - The New York Times
Sam Bankman-Fried's legal team is discussing a deal with federal prosecutors that could allow the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul to be released on bail when he is extradited to the United States, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
/jlne.ws/3GaXnqC
****** As expected, SBF is seeking to get out of jail. He will probably succeed and get an ankle bracelet.~JJL
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Tuesday's Top Three
Our most read story, far ahead of the pack, was What does the crypto collapse mean for Chicago's exchanges? from Crain's Chicago Business. The article interviews the CME's Terry Duffy and the Cboe's Ed Tilly. Second was HKEX Opens New York Office, Supporting Growing International Client Base, from HKEX. Third was Euronext's post on LinkedIn reporting that Euronext reached the milestone of EUR1 trillion in sustainable bonds listed on Euronext markets, making it the world's leading ESG bond venue.
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
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| Lead Stories | OCC Announces Two Executive Leadership Promotions; Dan Busby to succeed retiring COO Scot Warren; Mike Hansen to become Chief Clearing and Settlement Services Officer
The Options Clearing Corporation
OCC, the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, today announced the promotion of two individuals on its executive leadership team. Dan Busby, currently Chief Administrative Officer, will take on the role of Chief Operating Officer effective January 1, 2023. He will succeed Scot Warren who previously announced his retirement. Warren will remain at OCC in an advisory capacity until April 2023. Mike Hansen, currently Managing Director of Clearing and Settlement Operations as well as Head of OCC's Dallas Office, will take on the role of Chief Clearing and Settlement Services Officer effective January 1, 2023. He will also join OCC's Management Committee.
/jlne.ws/3WwMIf5
Congress killed a landmark wildlife bill to preserve a massive crypto tax loophole
Zachary M. Seward - Quartz
Better luck next time, bud. A major US wildlife-conservation bill with bipartisan support failed at the last minute of negotiations in Congress, because lawmakers could not agree on closing a massive tax loophole that benefits cryptocurrency traders. The legislation, known as the Recovering America's Wildlife Act (RAWA), would have committed $1.3 billion a year over the next decade to programs that reconstruct and protect animal habitats. It was the biggest piece of legislation dedicated to wildlife conservation since the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
/jlne.ws/3WxHIXI
Digital Dollar Is a Long Way From Reality, US Treasury Official Says; Need for CBDC currently doesn't exist, undersecretary says; Fed won't issue CBDC without clear Congress, executive support
Christopher Condon and Craig Torres - Bloomberg
The Treasury Department's top official for financial markets and stability expressed little urgency over the federal government's need to prepare for the potential launch of a digital US dollar. Regulators need to examine whether a central bank digital currency - or CBDC - would actually improve the speed or cost of real time interbank payments, which the Federal Reserve is aiming to introduce in 2023, said Nellie Liang, undersecretary for domestic finance at the Treasury.
/jlne.ws/3FJy0e4
Lessons from the gilts crisis; The meltdown was an early warning about radical changes in financial markets and suggests pension systems might not be fit for purpose
John Plender - Financial Times
The retreat by the developed world's big central banks from ultra-loose monetary policy is imposing a severe stress test on the global financial system. That much is clear from the lack of liquidity in markets - liquidity being the ability to buy and sell without causing big moves in prices. Signs of financial instability have recurred since the seizure in the British gilt-edged market in late September which stemmed from pension funds' so-called liability-driven investment strategies.
/jlne.ws/3Wj7Wxi
Whistleblower in Healthcare Bribery Case Won the Largest SEC Award This Year; Lawyers representing the whistleblower said the award was connected to a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act settlement reached by the SEC and DOJ with a publicly traded European healthcare company
Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has awarded more than $37 million to an individual for reporting information about a bribery scheme at a large European healthcare company. The sum is the highest award paid out to a single whistleblower so far this calendar year and one of the top 10 largest awards ever paid out by the SEC's whistleblower program to an individual, according to the SEC.
/jlne.ws/3jnkxRm
High Commodity Prices Feed a Boom in the U.S. Farm Belt; Net farm income is on track for a near 50-year high, thanks to increased prices for goods ranging from wheat to milk
Jesse Newman and Jacob Bunge - The Wall Street Journal
High prices for crops and livestock are fueling a boom in the U.S. Farm Belt, making farmers, ranchers and agricultural companies rare winners as the broader American economy softens. U.S. net farm income is expected to surge to $160.5 billion this year, boosted by increased prices for farm goods ranging from wheat to milk, according to a key U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast in December. If realized, farm income would reach the highest level since 1973 in inflation-adjusted dollars, marking a sharp recovery from an agricultural recession that battered farmers and their suppliers during the past decade.
/jlne.ws/3PZ69LH
Going Whole Hog for a Noche Buena Tradition
Christina Morales - The New York Times
The Monday morning after Thanksgiving, Rogelio Sierra, who goes by Roy, sat at a wooden desk at the front of his hog slaughterhouse, La Casa Sierra, answering dozens of calls from customers ordering whole pigs for Christmas Eve. "Tell me, papo. Four of them?" Mr. Sierra, 91, said into a speakerphone. He was talking to one of his regulars in Spanish, as workers pushed a rack of whole hogs waiting to be weighed and sent off to Miami by truck. The customer laughed, and responded, "Turkey season is over."
/jlne.ws/3jkyz6u
How to supervise a crypto exchange; Regulators will have to make hard decisions on granting licences if firms are not ready for new EU and UK rules
Matthew Elderfield - Financial Times
Regulate crypto or let it burn? While debate rages in the US (and across the pixels of the Financial Times), it is already over in the EU - and soon will be in the UK. The Financial Services and Markets Bill is winding its way through parliament. It now includes a broad definition of crypto assets that will be subject to regulation. A UK Treasury consultation will fill in the details shortly. And in the EU, the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (Mica) was agreed this summer and will come in force by 2024.
/jlne.ws/3YERPf2
The West must re-engineer globalization to counter China's bid for hegemony
Peter Morici - MarketWatch
The war in Ukraine is teaching America and Western allies some tough lessons about globalization, multilateralism and the influence of its authoritarian rivals. The pandemic shutdowns did shift demand toward chip-hungry products like computers but often neglected were factory fires in Japan and Germany that knocked out critical links in semiconductor supply chains.
/jlne.ws/3hGrNrf
Core Scientific Declares Bankruptcy as Crypto Winter Lingers; High electricity costs, low Bitcoin prices weighed on firm; Bitcoin miner's bankruptcy is latest in digital asset space
Carly Wanna - Bloomberg
Core Scientific Inc., one of the largest miners of Bitcoin, became the latest crypto company to file for bankruptcy as the industry reckons with a plunge in digital-asset prices. The Austin, Texas-based company filed its bankruptcy petition in the Southern District of Texas, court papers show. It listed assets and liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion each, respectively. The company's shares, already down 98% this year to trade at a fraction of a dollar, were down a further 27% in pre-market activity.
/jlne.ws/3WCVYOC
***** Here is the Financial Times version of this story.~JJL
Crypto Giant Binance Offers Little Transparency After FTX Collapse; Its outsize role and complex setup had already drawn scrutiny from regulators
Patricia Kowsmann and Caitlin Ostroff - The Wall Street Journal
The collapse of the crypto exchange FTX has triggered calls for transparency in the industry. To many investors, the industry's biggest player, Binance, remains a black box. Crypto exchange Binance processes more transactions than most of its rivals combined, accounting for roughly half of crypto spot trading and two-thirds of derivatives trading, according to the research firm CryptoCompare.
/jlne.ws/3VevToi
Musk Confirms He'll Resign as Twitter CEO After Successor Found
Victoria Batchelor - Bloomberg
Elon Musk will resign as head of Twitter Inc. as soon as a successor is found, he said in a tweet. He said he will just run the software and servers teams after he finds a successor.
/jlne.ws/3joXndG
Sam Bankman-Fried to Fly to US Wednesday, Escorted by FBI Agents; He'll sign a set of extradition papers at a Bahamas court; FTX co-founder facing a range of criminal charges in the US
Katanga Johnson and Ava Benny-Morrison - Bloomberg
Federal authorities are set to whisk Sam Bankman-Fried to the US on Wednesday to face a range of criminal charges related to the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange. Bankman-Fried signed his surrender documents on Tuesday, according to Bahamas Acting Commissioner of Corrections Doan Cleare. He'll sign a separate set of papers finalizing his waiver of rights to fight extradition at the Magistrate's Court in Nassau on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/3v4Pb4P
Heirs to $19 Billion Face Succession Doubts From Family Offices; The next generation of wealthy families is confronting a variety of challenges ahead of inheriting large fortunes, according to a report.
Amanda Albright - Bloomberg
The next generation of the ultra-rich say they're ready for succession. The executives responsible for managing families' fortunes aren't so sure. About 85% of young heirs in the US report feeling either very prepared or somewhat prepared for succession, according to a study released Tuesday by Campden Wealth and BNY Mellon Wealth Management, which surveyed 102 respondents set to inherit an estimated $19 billion from their families. It's a top slice of generational wealth transfers in the US, which Cerulli estimates will total almost $73 trillion through 2045.
/jlne.ws/3j8HqYH
HSBC Wins Supreme Court Case Over Convicted Billionaire's Ponzi; Allen Stanford is now serving a federal prison sentence of 110 years
Jonathan Browning - Bloomberg
HSBC Holdings Plc won a battle at the UK's top court in a case over allegations it turned a "blind eye" to suspicious payments made by convicted billionaire swindler Allen Stanford. In a split decision, the country's top judges dismissed an appeal by Stanford International Bank, which effectively ends the long-running dispute. HSBC fought a claim from the administrators of SIB, who'd previously alleged that the lender should have known of the fraud, when it made some £116 million ($140 million) of payments.
/jlne.ws/3HPEdaU
FTX clients to vie for priority payouts in US bankruptcy case; Lawyers will argue defunct exchange's users should be treated as asset owners rather than creditors
Joshua Oliver - Financial Times
A group of FTX customers will try to secure quicker repayment for people who have money trapped with the defunct exchange by convincing a US court that clients' cryptoassets remain their own property. Lawyers representing a group of FTX clients who had a total of $1.6bn stuck on the exchange when it collapsed last month say they plan to argue that those funds are held by FTX as "custody" assets, meaning they should be paid back swiftly rather than rolled into the sprawling bankruptcy proceedings for Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire.
/jlne.ws/3YIGwCw
School of Quant: At $29,000, a Public NYC College Outclasses Princeton; New York's Baruch College offers a no-frills financial engineering course that's feeding some of the world's most elite global trading firms.
Heather Perlberg - Bloomberg
Princeton has its Gothic spires, MIT its Great Dome. But for a no-frills lesson in 21st-century finance, head to a lackluster high-rise on Manhattan's East 25th Street - AKA, Bernard Baruch Way. Nine flights up, along scuffed linoleum hallways, a handful of math-loving graduate students consider equations that would make most people's heads hurt. On the syllabus recently: three-dimensional volatility surface structures for options pricing models.
/jlne.ws/3HP2MVq
Two Biotech CEOs Indicted on Securities Fraud Charges; Former chief executive of CytoDyn and the CEO of a company that managed its clinical trials allegedly made fraudulent claims about experimental drug
Jared S. Hopkins - The Wall Street Journal
Two biotechnology industry executives were indicted on criminal charges that they defrauded investors when making claims about an experimental drug, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. A federal grand jury in Maryland handed up the indictments for Nader Pourhassan, the former chief executive of CytoDyn Inc., and Kazem Kazempour, whose company managed CytoDyn's clinical drug trials, the Justice Department said.
/jlne.ws/3hL0dJp
State Street's departing fund chief warns about consolidation trend; Cyrus Taraporevala says 'you've got to be distinctive' after stepping down from $3.3tn asset manager
Madison Darbyshire - Financial Times
The outgoing head of the fourth-largest US asset manager has warned that a wave of consolidation in his sector risks blunting firms's edge in an increasingly competitive market. Asset managers have raced to broaden their offerings through mergers and acquisitions, but an attempt "to be all things to all people" is misguided, said Cyrus Taraporevala, who this month stepped down as chief executive of State Street Global Advisors, which has $3.3tn in assets.
/jlne.ws/3jnjaSI
The tale of the tape
The Trade
A European consolidated tape can be good for everyone, especially for retail investors, who are after all the bedrock of the industry, writes Caroline Serdarevic, head of Millennium Europe, a broker-dealer for global corporate bonds, municipal bonds and mortgage-backed securities.
/jlne.ws/3WuBuYk
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Putin warns war in Ukraine becoming 'extremely complicated'; Russia's leader's comments mark second admission this month that military operations could be protracted
Max Seddon, Anastasia Stognei and Felicia Schwartz - Financial Times
Vladimir Putin has called the situation in Ukraine "extremely complicated" in an apparent attempt to prepare Russia's population for a long-lasting war as his sputtering invasion nears the 10-month mark. In an address to security officers on Tuesday, the Russian president admitted they faced difficulties in four regions of Ukraine partly occupied by Russian forces, saying working there was "hard."
/jlne.ws/3V8Ef0A
The year the strongmen stumbled; Putin's decision to invade Ukraine demonstrated why authoritarian rule so often ends in disaster
Gideon Rachman - Financial Times
This time last year, I was putting the finishing touches to a book. In an effort to finish Age of the Strongman on a note of qualified optimism, I wrote: "Strongman rule is an inherently flawed and unstable form of government. It will ultimately collapseâEUR‰.âEUR‰.âEUR‰.âEUR‰But there may be a lot of turmoil and suffering before [it] is finally consigned to history." Two months later, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. His decision was a textbook demonstration of the flaws of strongman rule. After decades in power, leaders often become prone to megalomania or paranoia and preoccupied by their own place in history. They have usually eliminated all sources of effective opposition. If they decide on a disastrous course of action, there is nobody and nothing to stop them.
/jlne.ws/3BTEUfr
US to send Ukraine Patriot missile systems and precision-guided bomb technology
Luis Martinez - ABC News
The U.S. is expected to announce on Wednesday that it will provide Ukraine with Patriot missile defense systems and precision bomb kits that will turn dumb bombs into smart bombs guided by GPS coordinates toward their targets, according to U.S. officials. The inclusion of both weapons systems in the new U.S. military aid package is significant because it will give Ukraine an advanced system to protect its cities from Russian air strikes and will give its air force a new offensive capability.
/jlne.ws/3Va9TdX
Xi Tells Russia's Medvedev That China Wants Talks on Ukraine
Bloomberg News
Chinese President Xi Jinping told former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that his nation would like to see talks on Ukraine, comments that come as Beijing tries to improve ties with Europe.
/jlne.ws/3Wy4qi9
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says more regulatory oversight of centralized platforms is needed because they have the 'most risk for consumer harm'
Morgan Chittum - Business Insider
Coinbase chief executive officer Brian Armstrong hopes policymakers will prioritize oversight for centralized players in the industry following the downfall of FTX. The exec cited cryptocurrency exchanges, custodians, and stablecoin issuers as needing further regulatory clarity in a series of tweets on Monday, adding that these operators carry "most risk for consumer harm."
/jlne.ws/3FMYJq4
Russia's War Turns Neighboring Currencies Into World's Best; Armenia's dram has surged more than 21% this year vs dollar; Russians fleeing mobilization unleashed billions in inflows
Bloomberg News
The Russian exodus triggered by Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has put the currencies of former Soviet republics at the top of global rankings this year. Georgia and Armenia in the Caucasus mountains, as well as Tajikistan in Central Asia, are among the best performers against the US dollar after tens of thousands of Russian citizens settled there since February, bringing the equivalent of billions of dollars in savings with them.
/jlne.ws/3BSl6ZP
The west's axis of prudence risks a Kremlin victory by default in Ukraine; Putin's relentless missile strikes on infrastructure indicate that mere containment of Russia will not achieve a secure peace
Constanze Stelzenmuller - Financial Times
As 2022 ends and western leaders ponder coming challenges, few questions are as globally consequential as what to do about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin's relentless campaign to bomb the country into dark, cold misery amid warnings of Kremlin preparations for a reorganised ground offensive adds both military and moral urgency to the issue.
/jlne.ws/3GbiXLF
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Asian bourses join billion-dollar race to tap carbon offset boom
Sheryl Tian Tong Lee, Heesu Lee, Ishika Mookerjee and Ali Asghar - Bloomberg
The drive to launch new carbon exchanges in Asia has reached new heights with Malaysia entering the fray, raising questions about how many will survive in a market that could be worth hundreds of billions in a few decades. Bursa Malaysia Bhd opened an exchange this month, joining more than a dozen that are under way or planned across the region. Thailand and Japan debuted their platforms in September, followed by Hong Kong a month later. Singapore has two fledgling bourses.
/jlne.ws/3BSgSRX
Russian Mining Giant Nornickel Mulls Cutting Output 10% Next Year; Nornickel tells clients output will be lower next year; Contracting season was hit by LME consulting on Russian ban
Bloomberg
MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC is considering cutting nickel output by about 10% next year as some European buyers shun Russian supplies and amid a potential surplus of the metal. The miner controls roughly a 10th of the global nickel market and had targeted producing 205,000 to 215,000 tons of the metal this year. It has already informed some clients of a plan to lower output, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified as the information isn't official.
/jlne.ws/3jijtOL
BME Growth companies increase turnover by 62% and staff by 30% in the first half of the year
BME-X
BME Growth's companies have outperformed with significant growth in the main financial indicators in the first half of the year, despite the complex environment due to Russia's war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and rising inflation. The figures confirm the recovery of the companies that make up the SME stock market so far this year.
/jlne.ws/3WhJ9cT
EEX and ECC react on agreement on EU wide Market Correction Mechanism
EEX
Dear Trading Participants, Yesterday's meeting of the Energy Ministers brought forward a political agreement on the so- called Market Correction Mechanism, which will enact a framework for a gas derivatives price cap. The mechanism is expected to apply as of 15 February 2023. For more information please consider the Councils press release of 19 December 2022. EEX has consistently voiced its concerns about the mechanism and continues to be concerned about the implications of such a price cap on the markets. This information is subject to final wording of the regulation which we will analyze as soon as it is published.
/jlne.ws/3jffaUp
Euronext Corporate Services' IntegrityLog supports greater protection for whistleblowers in Belgium
Euronext
Euronext Corporate Services' IntegrityLog supports the Belgian implementation of the European Union (EU) Whistleblower Directive. The online tool can automate whistleblowing for companies in a safe and anonymous way to guarantee protection for whistleblowers. On 15 December 2022, the Belgian law implementing the EU Whistleblower Directive was published in the Official Gazette (Belgisch Staatsblad/Moniteur belge) and will enter into force on 15 February 2023[1], changing the way whistleblowers are protected. The new law includes the obligation for companies of the private sector with at least 50 employees, to implement a whistleblowing system, including internal and external reporting channels.
/jlne.ws/3Vi3Ow2
HKEX Welcomes Further Expansion of Stock Connect
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) welcomes the joint announcement today (Monday) by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission on the further expansion of eligible stocks under Stock Connect. Working together with regulators, HKEX has reached an agreement with Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited to expand the scope of eligible stocks under Stock Connect.
/jlne.ws/3PFKjg1
HKEX In 2022: Year In Review
HKEX
2022 has been an extremely busy and productive year for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX). A significant number of new projects and initiatives went live or were announced, contributing to Hong Kong's ongoing competitiveness and attractiveness as an international financial centre. Against a challenging macro economic and geopolitical backdrop, Hong Kong's financial markets continued to demonstrate their resiliency and robustness, with the second half of the year showing signs of encouraging momentum in the IPO market and a particular strong performance in the derivatives market.
/jlne.ws/3HUyjFs
Exchange Publishes Consultation Paper on Expanding Paperless Listing Regime
HKEX
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), today (Friday) published a consultation paper seeking public feedback on proposals to expand the paperless listing regime and make other rule amendments. "The Exchange is always exploring ways to streamline its practices and operations," said Bonnie Y Chan, HKEX Head of Listing. "Our proposed expansion of the paperless listing regime supports HKEX's commitment to sustainability, further improving our operational efficiency whilst reducing our impact on the environment, all without compromising investor protection."
/jlne.ws/3hGi7Nk
ICE adds One Exchange Data to Canadian Crude Indices and Related Index Futures Contracts
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced that physical crude transaction data from One Exchange Corp, a leading voice and electronic broker for the North American energy markets, will be added to ICE's 1a group of Canadian crude indices which are currently based on ICE affiliate CalRock Brokers transaction data. Canada is the fourth largest oil producer in the world, behind the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia. Canada is by far the biggest supplier of crude oil to the U.S., with more Canadian barrels making it to the U.S. Gulf Coast every year for both domestic use and re-export.
/jlne.ws/3Wfn3rH
MIAX Options Exchange Regulatory Circular
MIAX
MIAX Options will be extending the monthly Market Maker Incentive Program (the "Incentive Program") for SPIKES Options until Friday, March 31, 2023. Details of the Incentive Program can be found in the Regulatory Circular previously issued by the Exchange, at MIAX Options Regulatory Circular 2021-56.
/jlne.ws/3jmKyk0
Christmas And New Years Holiday Schedule
MIAX
MIAX Options Exchange, MIAX Pearl Options Exchange, MIAX Emerald Options Exchange and MIAX Pearl Equities Exchange will be closed on Monday, December 26, 2022 in observance of Christmas Day and Monday, January 2, 2023 in observance of New Year's Day.
/jlne.ws/3CfqtTp
Nasdaq CEO Adena T. Friedman to Assume Additional Role as Chair of the Nasdaq Board of Directors
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) announced today its Board of Directors has unanimously elected Adena T. Friedman to the role of Chair of the Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2023, in addition to her current position as Chief Executive Officer of the company. Friedman succeeds Michael R. Splinter, who has been elected Lead Independent Director.
/jlne.ws/3HQaNt2
The New York Stock Exchange Reports an Unprecedented Year of Activity in 2022
Intercontinental Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), today announced the culmination of an unprecedented year of activity at 11 Wall Street including an industry-leading number of transfers, the largest IPO of the year, and new initiatives driving innovation and thought leadership in the U.S. capital markets. The NYSE led the industry in listing transfers in 2022, recording 34 transfers to the NYSE as of Dec. 20, 2022, the highest number since 2002.
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Barchart and Greenstone Systems Announce Agribusiness Data Partnership
Colleen Sheeren - Barchart
Barchart, a commodity data and technology leader trusted by over 600 agribusinesses representing 2,000+ grain facilities, and Greenstone Systems, a leading provider of agribusiness management and accounting tools, announce a new partnership to increase client choice and access to data in Greenstone's producer engagement platform MyGrower.
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Pico Launches Corvil Cloud Analytics
A-Team Insight
Pico, the technology services, software, data and analytics provider, has expanded its flagship monitoring platform into the cloud with the launch of Corvil Cloud Analytics. Pico's Corvil Analytics is already one of the most widely used platforms for extracting and correlating performance intelligence from networked environments, typically deployed by banks, exchanges, electronic market makers, quantitative hedge funds, data service providers and brokers in colocated or on-premise environments.
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Musk Will Resign as Twitter CEO and Focus on Engineering Teams
Vlad Savov and Katie Roof - Bloomberg
Elon Musk confirmed he will step down as chief executive officer of Twitter Inc. after finding a successor, though he plans to retain control over the company's engineering teams. Since taking over in October, Musk has overseen the firings or departures of roughly 5,000 of Twitter's 7,500 employees. He's said he plans to emphasize Twitter's engineering as owner, and it's hard to tell what's left of other operations, such as legal and finance after the departures.
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Elon Musk blames cost cuts at Twitter on '$3bn negative cash flow'; Social network's owner offers snapshot of dire finances to explain huge lay-offs since $44bn takeover
Hannah Murphy - Financial Times
Elon Musk has defended his financial stewardship of Twitter, arguing that the social media platform would have faced a "negative cash flow situation of $3 billion a year" were it not for his controversial cost-cutting efforts.
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Google Hires Former BlockFi Crypto Executive for Web3; Rishi Ramchandani has taken role as Asia-Pacific Web3 lead; Google Cloud customers include Coinbase, Sky Mavis, Nansen
Joanna Ossinger - Bloomberg
A former executive at troubled crypto lender BlockFi has taken a role at Alphabet Inc.'s Google to work on Web3. Rishi Ramchandani, who was BlockFi's vice president for Asia from June 2020 through this month, is stepping in as APAC Web3 Lead at Google, according to his LinkedIn profile as well as a post on the social-media site from Mitesh Agarwal, a managing director at Google focusing on its cloud service customers, partner engineering and a Web3-related effort.
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Cybersecurity Firms Cut Staff as Fears About Economy, Funding Mount
Belle Lin and James Rundle - WSJ
Cybersecurity companies have laid off hundreds of workers in recent months, as concerns mount that an economic downturn will delay funding rounds, and squeeze the amounts investors are willing to commit. Since midyear, cyber services and technology providers across the industry have been shedding staff, sometimes in multiple rounds of cuts to their workforces. The layoffs have spanned departments, including sales, marketing, research and development, and technical roles.
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Employee Privacy And Cybersecurity: Spot The Difference
Rob Shavell - Forbes
What's going to keep cybercriminals from penetrating your organization's network in the next 12 months or even the next five years? Is it buying more technological solutions? Or maybe it's achieving compliance with a framework like NIST? If this sounds close to your thinking right now, it might be time to zoom out.
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BlackBerry warns of economic impact on cybersecurity business
Reuters
BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO), said on Tuesday the sales cycles for its cybersecurity software have become longer and it expects the current macroeconomic environment to pose more challenges in the near term. The Canadian technology company said revenue from the cybersecurity business would remain flat in the first half of 2023, but grow in the latter half of the year.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Binance.US Is Not Buying Voyager's Crypto Assets For $1.02 Billion. Here's What's Really Happening.
Steven Ehrlich and Nina Bambysheva - Forbes
Multiple reports this morning are suggesting that Binance.US, the American franchise of the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, would purchase the assets of the embattled crypto lender Voyager Digital for $1.02 billion. That is not quite what is going on. The Binance.US bid, which was selected by Voyager, is only going to see about $20 million transferred to the bankruptcy estate. The remainder comes from what a Voyager press release calls the current market prices for its assets, noting that the final value will be set in the future.
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FTX Claims Are Luring Some Big Players in the Distressed Market
Justina Lee and Rachel Butt - Bloomberg
The remains of Sam Bankman-Fried's former empire FTX Group are drawing interest from some of the largest names in distressed investing, in a daredevil bet that heavily discounted creditor claims on the bankrupt cryptocurrency conglomerate will ultimately pay off. Baupost Group and Oaktree Capital Management are among those that have inquired about the claims of FTX customers with assets stuck on the exchange, said a person familiar with the matter who declined to be identified as the discussions were private.
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"CryptoDad" Chris Giancarlo on regulating crypto, bureaucratic turf wars, and protecting retail investors
Sean Keyes - The Currency.
The US Government doesn't know what to do about crypto. It has been dithering for ten years. On the one hand, millions of ordinary Americans lost their shirts this year in scammy crypto projects like Celsius, as well as respectable ones like Ethereum and Bitcoin. On the other hand, crypto is a booming industry. Just one large US crypto company, Coinbase, employs 3,750 people. American crypto companies are worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Some say crypto is the future of finance.
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FTX Fallout Isn't Over, Says Coinshares' Demirors
Bloomberg
Coinshares Chief Strategy Officer Meltem Demirors says the fallout from the FTX bankruptcy is not over. She's on "Bloomberg Crypto."
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Finding a Bright Spot in Crypto Bankruptcies
Bloomberg
Bloomberg's Sonali Basak looks at Crypto's chaotic year and how some are trying to find a bright spot by buying assets out of the bankruptcies of a number of firms. She's on "Bloomberg Crypto."
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Hedge Funds Are Questioning Crypto's Future (Podcast); In the aftermath of FTX's collapse, lingering concerns around crypto investing are only amplified.
Sharon Beriro - Bloomberg
In the aftermath of the FTX collapse - one of the most significant crypto exchanges in the industry - investors and hedge funds are increasingly questioning the future of crypto. FTX was once among the top centralized exchanges, a haven for professional and amateur investors. But now, billions of investors' dollars have disappeared and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been arrested and denied bond, facing conspiracy and fraud charges.
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The Crypto Bear Market Is Wrecking a Popular Bitcoin Narrative; Crypto winter hasn't driven people back in the arms of Bitcoin.
Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway - Bloomberg
Whenever something bad happens in the world of crypto, Bitcoiners love to point out that they're apart from all that. And indeed, historically one pattern that has emerged seems to be that during bull markets, other non-Bitcoin coins acted as high beta plays, meaning people dashed for smaller, more speculative tokens when the going got good. When the tide goes out, however, Bitcoin's 'blue chip' status has tended to reassert itself.
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Sam Bankman-Fried signs documents paving the way for US extradition; FTX founder is due in court on Wednesday in the Bahamas as he faces criminal case in New York
Joshua Oliver - Financial Times
Sam Bankman-Fried has signed documents to pave the way for his extradition to the US, where he faces fraud charges over the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX, ahead of another scheduled court appearance on Wednesday in the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried's signed the papers in Nassau on Tuesday, said a person familiar with the matter. He is due to appear in Bahamas magistrates' court on Wednesday morning. His lawyers told Reuters he would agree to extradition, paving the way for a swift departure from the Caribbean nation.
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FTX's Bankman-Fried signs extradition papers as Wednesday hearing looms
Maria Alejandra Cardona and Jared Higgs - Reuters
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has signed legal papers paving the way for his extradition from The Bahamas to the United States, where he faces fraud charges over the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse, a Bahamas official said on Tuesday. Doan Cleare, The Bahamas' acting commissioner of Corrections, told Reuters the documents were signed around noon on Tuesday. A hearing in Bankman-Fried's case will take place on Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT), a court official told Reuters.
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Sam Bankman-Fried Said to Be in Talks With Prosecutors Over Bail Deal
David Yaffe-Bellany, William K. Rashbaum, Matthew Goldstein and Benjamin Weiser - The New York Times
Sam Bankman-Fried's legal team is discussing a deal with federal prosecutors that could allow the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul to be released on bail when he is extradited to the United States, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The terms of the deal remain fluid, the people said, and any agreement would require approval from the federal judge overseeing Mr. Bankman-Fried's case. But under the terms that have been discussed, the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX could be granted bail with highly restrictive conditions, including home detention, two of the people said. One person said that electronic monitoring was also under discussion. It wasn't clear what other measures might be required.
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Why This Is No Madoff Moment for FTX Creditors
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Ravi Mattu, Bernhard Warner, Sarah Kessler, Stephen Gandel, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni - The New York Times
The legion of creditors who lost billions in last month's collapse of the crypto exchange FTX just got a tiny piece of good news: A number of parties that received payments and political contributions from the company; its jailed founder, Sam Bankman-Fried; and his associates have expressed a willingness to return the money, FTX said in a statement Monday night.
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Next Financial Crisis Will Be From Crypto if It's Not Banned: Indian Central Bank Governor
Amitoj Singh - CoinDesk
India's central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das has predicted that the next financial crisis will come from "private cryptocurrencies" if they are allowed to be regulated and not banned outright. Das was speaking at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit on Wednesday.
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Binance Tries to Replace FTX's Efforts in Fronting Crypto Regulation
Kyle Barr - Gizmodo
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has repeatedly spread the message that his exchange and company are both financially stable, but critics point out the company is too opaque to get a good picture of its finances. Binance and its execs have routinely said they won't follow in the footsteps of Sam Bankman-Fried's fraudulent crypto empire, but they sure are taking plays straight out of the failed crypto founder's playbook.
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Crypto Trading Firm Auros, Hit by FTX Collapse, Discloses Provisional Liquidation
Krisztian Sandor - CoinDesk
Auros Global, the troubled crypto trading firm and market maker, disclosed Tuesday that it was granted a "Provisional Liquidation" request last month from a court in the British Virgin Islands, as part of efforts to restructure outstanding debt to lenders. In a statement posted to Twitter, Auros said that the decision followed "the events that transpired around FTX," the crypto exchange formerly helmed by Sam Bankman-Fried that imploded in November.
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Another Bitcoin Miner Teeters on the Edge of Bankruptcy
David Pan - Bloomberg
Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc., once one of the largest public Bitcoin miners in the US, warned that it may seek bankruptcy protection while entering into debt restructuring talks with lender New York Digital Investment Group.
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Black Americans saw crypto as a path to building wealth. Now they're bearing the brunt of its decline.
Jacob Zinkula - Business Insider
It's been a difficult last few months for the entire cryptocurrency industry, but Black Americans are among the groups that have been particularly impacted. As of September 2021, 18% of Black Americans overall had invested in, traded, or used a cryptocurrency, compared to 13% of white Americans, according to a Pew Research poll of over 10,000 US adults.
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Trump NFTs Tanking as Hype Dies, Floor Price Down 70%; The floor price for the former U.S. president's Polygon-based NFTs has dropped 74% since peaking on Saturday.
Andrew Hayward - Decrypt
Donald Trump's first official NFT collection was the talk of the crypto world late last week, captivating Twitter and late night TV in the process. But after prices and trading volume surged over the weekend, both metrics have fallen sharply as the hype around the disgraced former U.S. president's project is apparently fading. Trump's digital trading cards, which are minted on Ethereum scaling network Polygon, peaked on Saturday, December 17 with over $3.5 million worth of trading volume, per data from CryptoSlam. Sales price rose even higher on Sunday, with the NFTsselling for an average of just over $680 apiece, although total volume fell to nearly $1.95 million for the day.
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Russia and China are sharing strategies to undermine Nato, says top US diplomat; Washington's ambassador to security alliance encourages members to toughen stance towards Beijing
Henry Foy - Financial Times
Russia and China are "sharing a toolkit" of strategies to undermine Nato members, a top US diplomat has warned, urging western capitals to step up efforts to defend themselves against both Moscow and Beijing. Washington is pushing members of the transatlantic alliance to toughen their stance towards China, citing Beijing's military developments, threats to critical western infrastructure such as transport and power networks, its "no limits" partnership with Moscow and support for its war against Ukraine.
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Major Crypto Legislation Looks Less Likely. That's Bad for Bitcoin.
Joe Light - Barron's
To see how difficult it will be for Congress to pass a major bill to regulate cryptocurrencies next year, look no further than how hard it's been for lawmakers to pick off the low-hanging fruit that most of them agree on. On Tuesday, lawmakers released the text of the so-called Omnibus spending bill. Such bills are considered must-pass legislation to continue funding the government and are often used as vehicles to address myriad policy issues without the usual drawn-out debates on separate bills that take up precious time on the Congressional calendar.
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Iowa Democrats 'looking into' $250,000 donation from former FTX cryptocurrency executive
Brianne Pfannenstiel - Des Moines Register
A former executive of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX appears to have made a one-time $250,000 donation to the Iowa Democratic Party - a contribution that is likely to come under scrutiny as investigations into the company and its leaders intensifies.
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Elizabeth Warren's New Financial Surveillance Bill Is a Disaster for Privacy and Civil Liberties
Marta Belcher - CoinDesk (opinion)
On Wednesday, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced the "Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act," which would impose sweeping surveillance and registration requirements on almost all participants in blockchain networks - including software developers, miners and wallet creators. The bill would also effectively ban privacy-enhancing technologies in blockchain networks. The bill is a disaster for digital privacy and civil liberties.
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Congress Poised to Torpedo Biden's Climate Finance Commitment; The US president promised $11.4 billion in annual international climate finance, but Congress is set to deliver less than a tenth of that.
Jennifer A Dlouhy - Bloomberg
The Democratically controlled US Congress is poised to undercut President Joe Biden's promise of $11.4 billion in annual international climate finance to help countries deal with the ravages of global warming. In a massive government spending bill unveiled early on Tuesday, lawmakers laid out plans to pony up less than a tenth of the amount he pledged: $1.057 billion. That's likely to further undermine US credibility in international climate negotiations, coming just weeks after the US and roughly 200 other countries agreed to create a new "loss and damage" fund to aid countries bearing the brunt of climate change impacts.
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Congress Might Not Reach Consensus on Crypto: Massad
Bloomberg
Congress might not be able to reach a consensus on how to regulate Crypto says former CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad. He speaks on "Bloomberg Crypto."
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Big Changes to 401(k) Retirement Plans Move Ahead in Congress
Anne Tergesen and Richard Rubin - The Wall Street Journal
Congress is on the verge of passing a bill that aims to help Americans save more for retirement and leave their retirement savings untouched and untaxed for longer. The bill nearing approval raises the age people are required to start withdrawing money from tax-deferred retirement accounts to 75 from 72. It increases retirement savings contribution limits for older workers and provides an increased incentive to people with low and moderate incomes to save in retirement accounts. It also paves the way for more employers to offer emergency savings accounts inside 401(k) plans.
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How TikTok Became a Diplomatic Crisis
Alex W. Palmer - The New York Times
On March 10, two weeks after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the White House convened a Zoom call with 30 prominent TikTok creators. Jen Psaki, then the White House press secretary, and members of the National Security Council staff briefed the creators, who together had tens of millions of followers, on the latest news from the conflict and the White House's goals and priorities. The meeting followed a similar effort the previous summer, in which the White House recruited dozens of TikTokers to help encourage young people to get vaccinated against Covid.
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DEA seized enough fentanyl to kill every American in 2022
Quinn Owen - ABC News
The Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday said it has seized more than 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl this year, as the country continues to struggle with an epidemic of drug overdose deaths. The seizures include 50.6 million pills laced with the ultra-deadly synthetic opioid and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, the DEA said.
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Global Drug Conspiracy Used Binance To Launder Millions In Crypto, DEA Investigation Finds
Thomas Brewster - Forbes
A methamphetamine and cocaine gang operating across the U.S., Mexico, Europe and Australia used the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange Binance to launder tens of millions in drug proceeds, according to an ongoing investigation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Between $15 and $40 million in illicit proceeds may have been funneled through Binance, the DEA alleged.
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'Worse than feared': Brexit to blame for £33bn loss to UK economy, study shows; Exclusive: Economy 5.5 per cent smaller than if Leave referendum hadn't happened, says think tank
Adam Forrest - Independent
Brexit has cost the UK a staggering £33bn in lost trade and investment, according to a new study that found that the economic damage is even worse than previously feared. Research by the Centre for European Reform (CER), shared with The Independent, shows that Britain's economy is 5.5 per cent smaller than it would have been if the country had remained inside the EU. The UK's goods trade is 7 per cent lower and investment is 11 per cent lower than it would have been had the Remain campaign won the 2016 Brexit referendum, according to the think tank's analysis.
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In Finance, as in Our Universe, Big Bangs Only Happen Once
Jon Sindreu - The Wall Street Journal
Britain aspires to a second "Big Bang" in financial services such as the one famously unleashed by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. But the point of a Big Bang is that it only happens once. Earlier this month, British Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt unveiled the so-called Edinburgh Reforms, an ambitious loosening of financial regulations aimed at restoring some of the international competitiveness lost by the U.K. in recent years. This includes easing the "ring-fencing" separating retail and investment banking, scrapping the cap on bankers' bonuses, overhauling the regime that makes senior managers responsible for infractions and repealing aspects of European Union rules.
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EEX and ECC react on agreement on EU wide Market Correction Mechanism
European Energy Exchange AG
Yesterday's meeting of the Energy Ministers brought forward a political agreement on the so- called Market Correction Mechanism, which will enact a framework for a gas derivatives price cap. The mechanism is expected to apply as of 15 February 2023. For more information please consider the Councils press release of 19 December 2022.
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Russia's Oil Exports Collapsed Since G-7 Sanctions Began; Country's volumes plunged by more than half in week to Dec. 16
Julian Lee - Bloomberg
Russia's seaborne crude shipments collapsed in the first full week of Group of Seven sanctions targeting Moscow's petroleum revenues, a potential source of alarm for governments around the world seeking to avoid disruption to the nation's giant export program. Some of the plunge was exaggerated by work at a port in the Baltic that's now finished, but there also appeared to be a shortage of ship owners willing to carry key cargoes from an export facility in Asia.
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Bank of Japan Blinked in Standoff With Markets; The BOJ has begun exit from an increasingly unrealistic policy it dubbed yield-curve control without, at least so far, crashing the markets
James Mackintosh - The Wall Street Journal
Investors are often told not to fight the Fed. Japan has just shown the opposite: Markets fought the central bank, and markets won. On Tuesday the Bank of Japan lifted its cap on 10-year government bond yields from 0.25% to 0.5%, with global effects. Yields that had been suppressed by the BOJ jumped, lifting yields on Treasurys and bonds in other developed markets. The yen soared more than 3%, briefly having its biggest gain since 2009 before pulling back a bit, while Japanese stocks dropped.
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India to Stop Firms Buying Back Shares From Open Market
Menaka Doshi - Bloomberg
India will block a popular route for local companies to buy back shares after a panel said the method is unfair to to non-participating shareholders. Buyback from the open market will be phased out in a gradual manner by April 2025, Securities and Exchange Board of India said in a statement Tuesday. Until then, a separate window will be created on the stock exchanges to conduct such repurchases.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Leader of largest Ponzi fraud case in region left 1,000 ruined investors in wake
Gary Craig - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Christopher Parris was known to endear himself to the investors whom he enticed into business. A religious man, he found others of faith and came into their homes, broke bread with them, spoke of families and trials and tribulations. They trusted him, some of them turning over their entire life savings - their assurance of retirements well spent - to him and his investment company.
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No One Stopped the Crypto Meltdown. Are Government Enforcers to Blame?
Howard Fischer - Barron's
It seems inevitable any time a large scandal breaks, especially a multibillion-dollar corporate collapse with thousands of aggrieved victims. The first reaction is to blame the regulator for failing to prevent the misconduct that led to the implosion. How did they not see this coming? Were they asleep at the wheel? The collapse of cryptocurrency platform FTX has prompted just a round of criticism, much of it focused on the Securities and Exchange Commission and its chairman, Gary Gensler. Is this criticism of the SEC justified? And if not, where should the finger be pointed?
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Statement of Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson Regarding The Importance of Futures Commission Merchants' Compliance and The Need to Heighten the Consequences of Failing to Comply
CFTC
Today, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) issued a complaint and settlement order involving CHS Hedging, LLC (CHS), a registered futures commission merchant (FCM). The order details many egregious violations, including CHS's failure to comply with basic recordkeeping and supervisory obligations.
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Concurring Statement of Commissioner Goldsmith Romero on the Importance of Protecting Commodity Markets Against Excessive Speculation in CFTC v. Commodity Broker CHS Hedging
CFTC
One of the Commission's core functions is to ensure that derivatives markets have integrity and that there is no market manipulation and excess speculation that can artificially increase prices. This function is particularly important since the pandemic, when families have faced hard choices at the grocery store given increased costs of food. In order to prevent excessive speculation, the Commission requires limits on trader positions-limits set by exchanges, and enforced against market participants. Brokers (referred to as futures commission merchants (FCMs)) serve as critical gatekeepers in preventing excessive speculation.
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CFTC Orders Minnesota Futures Commission Merchant to Pay $6.5 Million for Anti-Money Laundering, Risk Management, Recordkeeping, and Supervision Violations
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced today it has issued an order simultaneously filing and settling charges against registered futures commission merchant (FCM) CHS Hedging LLC, of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, for anti-money laundering (AML), risk management, recordkeeping, and supervision violations. These violations are primarily a result of CHS Hedging failing to implement an adequate AML program, particularly as applied to a futures and options trading account controlled by one of its customers. In addition, CHS Hedging failed to implement risk-based limits concerning trading by that customer.
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SEC Charges Former CEO of Biotech Company CytoDyn with Fraud, Insider Trading; Research Firm CEO Who Interacted with FDA on Company's Behalf Also Charged
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Nader Pourhassan, the former CEO of CytoDyn Inc., with fraud and insider trading in connection with providing misleading information to shareholders about the progress of a clinical research treatment for COVID-19 and HIV.
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Court finds A&M Group liable for misleading or deceptive conduct and undue harassment or coercion, imposes $650,000 penalty
ASIC
The Federal Court has ordered A&M Group Pty Ltd, which trades as Debt Negotiators, pay a penalty of $650,000 after finding that it engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and in undue harassment or coercion against debtors who had missed payments under their debt agreements.
A&M Group is a debt agreement administrator who collects payments from debtors to distribute to creditors.
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ESMA Supports Position Limits For TTF Gas Futures
European Securities and Markets Authority
ESMA agrees with the position limits notified by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) for the ICE Endex Dutch TTF Gas futures and options contracts. ESMA found that those limits are consistent with the objectives established in MiFID II and with the methodology developed for setting the limits.
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NZICA publishes disciplinary outcomes relating to Wynyard audit by PwC
Financial Markets Authority
Te Mana TÄtai Hokohoko notes the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) has released its disciplinary decisions arising from the 2015 PwC audit of the formerly NZX-listed Wynyard Group.
The FMA complained to NZICA after developing significant concerns about PwC's audit of Wynyard¹, following a routine audit quality review completed in August 2017. The FMA referred PwC's two audit partners responsible for the Wynyard audit (the Engagement Lead Partner and the Engagement Quality Review Partner) to NZICA's Professional Conduct Committee.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | OCC October 2022 Total Volume Up 10.2% Year-Over-Year, Fifth Highest Month on Record
The Options Clearing Corporation
OCC, the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, announced today that year-to-date average daily volume through October 2022 was 41.1 million contracts, up 5.6 percent compared to year-to-date average daily volume through October 2021. Total volume was 910.0 million contracts, up 10.2 percent compared to October 2021 and the fifth highest month in OCC's history.
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Debt Investors Losing Millions on Libor Switch Start to Fight Back; Borrowers offer loan amendments not accounting for lower SOFR; Investors begin to reject proposals amid mounting frustration
Paula Seligson - Bloomberg
The request from Allied Universal to its lenders last month seemed innocuous and logical enough. With the deadline rapidly approaching to phase out Libor as the benchmark for trillions of dollars of floating-rate debt, the provider of security guards and janitors wanted to start using a replacement to set the rate on more than $4 billion of loans. Under the terms of its credit agreement, the company didn't even need its debtholders to formally sign off on the plan - it just needed more than half of them to refrain from objecting.
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Farewell FOMO! Brace for Hard Landings Next Year; Bankruptcies are coming in 2023. Plus, a selection of the writer's favorite columns from 2022.
Chris Bryant - Bloomberg
Investors have bid farewell to FOMO and are bracing for even more impact after a year in which profitless tech firms, special purpose acquisition companies and anything crypto-related went into a tailspin. The winnowing process will continue with debt restructurings and corporate bankruptcies rising from current low levels: Besides ongoing fallout from the failure of crypto exchange FTX, capital intensive and interest-rate sensitive sectors such as autos and real estate look vulnerable. Used car retailer Carvana Inc. has already seen two rounds of layoffs and its distressed bonds imply a high probability of default.
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The Bank of Japan Shocked Markets, but Not These Investors; For decades, betting against Japan's central bank was the 'widowmaker' trade
Anna Hirtenstein and Julie Steinberg - The Wall Street Journal
Betting against the Bank of Japan has finally begun to pay off. Some think the central bank is just getting started on a more sweeping change in policy direction. Trades that bet that the Bank of Japan will tighten monetary policy have been a losing proposition for so long that they are colloquially known in markets as the widowmaker. But the most recent crop of skeptics has scored a victory.
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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Agreement To Acquire Buck
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG) today announced an agreement to acquire the partnership interests of BCHR Holdings, L.P., dba Buck. The transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2023, subject to customary regulatory approvals. Buck is a leading provider of retirement, HR and employee benefits consulting and administration services. The organization has a long history, dating back more than 100 years, with a diverse client base by both size and industry.
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How Gen Z Should Prepare Their Finances for 2023; Building an emergency savings fund is essential as economic turmoil looms in the new year.
Mackenzie Hawkins and Paulina Cachero - Bloomberg
For Gen Z, it's daunting to think about saving, investing and planning for retirement. As young workers start their careers, the stock and bond markets have been in turmoil, with the S&P 500 headed for its worst annual performance since 2008. A recession is looming. Wages haven't kept pace with inflation. Credit card debt and interest rates are rising. Housing costs have surged. And a massive retirement savings shortfall has gotten worse.
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Bond Traders Push EU Rebels Into Deals They Long Rejected; Surging yields raise costs of EU defiance for Hungary, Poland; Nations are moving closer to unfreezing billions in EU funds
Maciej Onoszko and Marton Kasnyik - Bloomberg
In a span of 18 hours last week, years of rigid intransigence from the European Union's two most rebellious nations started to break. First Hungary and then Poland agreed to fix their democracies' shortcomings in exchange for gaining access to billions of euros of the bloc's funds.
/jlne.ws/3YxQ2Z8
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Postal Service will electrify trucks by 2026 in climate win for Biden; Agency says it can spend billions to buy 66,000 new electric vehicles and related infrastructure now that its finances are in better shape
Jacob Bogage - The Washington Post
The U.S. Postal Service will buy 66,000 vehicles to build one of the largest electric fleets in the nation, Biden administration officials announced Tuesday, turning to one of the most recognizable vehicles on American roads - boxy white mail trucks - to fight climate change. Postal officials' plans call for buying 60,000 "Next Generation Delivery Vehicles" from defense contractor Oshkosh, of which 45,000 will be electric, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told The Washington Post. The agency will also purchase 46,000 models from mainstream automakers, of which 21,000 will be electric.
/jlne.ws/3WEpBPX
A Gary, Indiana Plant Would Make Jet Fuel From Trash and Plastic. Residents Are Pushing Back; Fulcrum BioEnergy says its "sustainable aviation fuel" will divert waste from Chicago-area landfills and reduce airline carbon emissions. But critics say there's nothing sustainable about it-and even question its viability.
James Bruggers - Inside Climate news
For Lori Latham and four other self-described "badass women," the future of their hometown rests on a battle over 75 acres that lie between a giant steel mill and a failed casino once owned by Donald Trump. The site sits behind parked railroad cars painted in graffiti, where abandoned concrete silos rise from the sandy southern shore of Lake Michigan, a remnant of a former cement plant that helped build the country's interstate highway system. Here, a California company called Fulcrum BioEnergy wants to construct a gasification plant and refinery to turn the Chicago area's trash-as much as 30 percent of it waste plastic-into jet fuel.
/jlne.ws/3hLwSyv
One Farmer Set Off a Solar Energy Boom in Rural Minnesota; 10 Years Later, Here's How It Worked Out; Local concerns about solar's impact on property values, the environment and health so far have been unfounded, but residents are still divided on whether the panels are ideal neighbors, or eyesores.
Dan Gearino - Inside Climate News
It sounded absurd, the idea of spending a large sum of money to install solar panels in a Minnesota farm field that is covered in snow for much of the year. But Ed Eichten's family had gotten used to his wild ideas that turned out to work, like raising bison to sell or turning a small cheese-making business into a retail operation. His solar purchase 10 years ago was similarly the start of something big. Neighbors and clean energy companies began to see opportunities that led to Chisago County, Minnesota, becoming a hub for solar power development, with dozens of projects including the largest one in the state, North Star Solar.
/jlne.ws/3WCB8in
COP15 reflections: how is business stepping up to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
Diane Holdorf - World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Yesterday, we read the news, from the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), announcing that governments agreed on the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The framework sets out a plan to implement action to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 and ensure that, by 2050, the shared vision of 'living in harmony with nature' is fulfilled.
/jlne.ws/3WDed6T
More Relief than Regret as Montreal Fails to Make it Mandatory; Imperfect but foundational GBF sends signal for urgent action on biodiversity by investors and policymakers.
Chris Hall - ESG Investor
Palpable relief swept around the world shortly after 3.30am Montreal time on Monday morning, as China's COP15 Presidency brought down the gavel on a new global agreement to address biodiversity loss and restore natural ecosystems, bringing four years of negotiation to a close. It is hoped that the end will mark a new beginning for humanity's relationship with nature. While almost everyone found something to praise in the final text of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), most also identified ways in which it fell short.
/jlne.ws/3hGKISD
COP15: Is this 'the Paris Agreement for nature'?
James Murray - Businessgreen Opinion
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework promises to end the decline in nature, but can it really catalyse the transformation in business models that is required?
On the same day as diplomats in Montreal celebrated the adoption of an historic new global treaty to end the decline in nature, a study published in the UK revealed how populations of earthworms are estimated to have fallen by a third in the past 25 years. It followed a separate study last week that revealed how bug 'splats' on cars have fallen 64 per cent in 17 years. The juxtaposition between the geopolitics of the global stage and the health of a handful of soil, of the warm words on 'nature recovery' and the reality of wildlife populations in freefall, serves to underscore both the immense importance of the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the huge challenge it faces.
/jlne.ws/3BRJpHy
Why the new Global Biodiversity Framework matters to members of the Principles for Responsible Banking
UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative
On Dec 19th, a historic agreement was reached at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP 15): the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) which aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Taking a similar approach to the Paris Climate Agreement, this framework sets a clear mandate for private financial flows to align with the 2050 Vision of "Living in harmony with Nature", providing the finance sector with a landmark agreement for biodiversity-related financial-decision making. This agreement has been decisively backed by the financial sector: 150+ financial institutions with US$24+ trillion in global assets called for an ambitious framework to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
/jlne.ws/3PGJ7Je
Clean Energy Quest Pits Google Against Utilities
Peter Eavis - The New York Times
It was the sort of dry panel discussion that occurs at hundreds of industry conferences every year - until a Google representative decided it was time to unleash. "This is personal for me," Jamey Goldin, an energy regulation lawyer at Google, told those attending a May conference in Atlanta on renewable energy in the Southeast. He said he had grown up on a ridge overlooking Plant Bowen, a coal-fired power plant northwest of Atlanta owned by Georgia Power, the dominant electricity utility in the state, and then directed his comments at a lobbyist for the utility's parent company, also on the panel: "Y'all got a lot of coal running up there, a lot of smoke going up in the air."
/jlne.ws/3v4PVH0
Africa Could Make EUR 1 Trillion of Green Hydrogen a Year, EIB Says; Production would likely be focused in three geographical hubs; South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Namibia to Benefit
Antony Sguazzin - Bloomberg
Africa has the potential to produce EUR 1 trillion ($1.06 trillion) worth of green hydrogen a year by 2035, allowing it to export the fuel and boost local industry, according to a study backed by the European Investment Bank.
/jlne.ws/3BO6AlN
Bridgewater Sets a Path for Net-Zero Investors; The hedge fund manager says the investable universe for climate solutions from emissions-intensive businesses is roughly $2.5 trillion.
Tim Quinson - Bloomberg
Bridgewater Associates LP, the world's biggest hedge fund manager, is taking a swing at the issue of climate-conscious investing. In a new report entitled "Pursuing Net-Zero Goals in Public Equities," Bridgewater outlines ways of aligning stock portfolios with financial and sustainability goals. Last year, the firm introduced what it calls investment solutions aimed at doing just that.
/jlne.ws/3PNTFq6
The Boom Times for ESG Debt Look Over; Exponential growth of past decade set to end this year; Greater scrutiny, lack of greenium to limit sales outside Asia
Priscila Azevedo Rocha, Ayai Tomisawa, David Caleb Mutua, and Greg Ritchie - Bloomberg
The gold rush for greener debt may be over. Global sales of ethical debt are set to suffer their first drop this year, as volatility and higher rates deter borrowers. Next year may see a slight recovery, yet arrangers and analysts aren't predicting a return to the exponential growth of the past decade that turned a fringe concept into a $5.6 trillion asset class.
/jlne.ws/3HT1s3K
IIMA and PwC India Join Hands to Establish PwC ESG Research and Innovation Forum at IIMA
Telegraph India
PwC ESG Forum at IIMA is envisaged to be an avenue for knowledge sharing and exchange among the ESG stakeholders; driven by a marquee event or series of events that the Forum will host at IIMA. This Forum will play an important role in initiating the right conversations within the ESG space in India and in contributing towards thought leadership in ESG research, industry use cases and timely policy interventions. The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), a premier global management Institute, in collaboration with PwC India, announced the establishment of the 'PwC ESG Research and Innovation Forum' today. This ESG Forum has been set up for an initial period of five years, facilitated by the efforts of the IIMA Endowment Fund (IIMAEF).
/jlne.ws/3YSBxQ3
What is the role of nuclear in the energy mix and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions? How much nuclear energy is currently produced worldwide - and in the UK?
London School of Economics
At the time of writing (November 2022), there are 437 operable nuclear reactors for electricity generation across 32 countries around the world, according to the World Nuclear Association, with 60 further nuclear reactors being constructed in 18 countries. Together, nuclear plants provided around 10% of the world's electricity production in 2021. France relies most heavily on nuclear: 69% of its electricity was supplied from nuclear power in 2021. Nuclear power also provided at least a quarter of the electricity supply of a further 12 countries in that year.
/jlne.ws/3BS0zVp
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Jamie Dimon Is More Crucial Than Ever to the Bank He's Run for 17 Years; JPMorgan's CEO, chairman, deal closer and industry statesman keeps brushing off the big question: Who will succeed him?
Hannah Levitt - Bloomberg
The cocktails flowed as guests arrived that evening at what was once the lavish library of J. Pierpont Morgan, the greatest banker of his time. It was there, beyond the elegant façade worthy of the Medici, that Jamie Dimon - Morgan's figurative heir and, arguably, the greatest banker of his time - began dropping a few f-bombs.
/jlne.ws/3BR6vhx
IMF Says BOJ Yield Move Is Sensible, Urges Clearer Communication
Ramsey Al-Rikabi - Bloomberg
The International Monetary Fund said the Bank of Japan's surprise decision to double the cap on benchmark bond yields is a sensible step, while calling on policymakers to clearly communicate adjustments. The BOJ shocked global markets Tuesday, saying it will allow 10-year yields to rise to around 0.5% from a previous 0.25% cap. The measure may herald the beginning of a pivot by the last devotee to ultra-easy monetary policy.
/jlne.ws/3BTkd3r
Goldman Says BOJ Could Remove Negative Interest Rate Next
Yoshiaki Nohara - Bloomberg
The Bank of Japan's next move could be removing the negative interest rate after its surprise widening of the Japanese government bond yield band, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. "The BOJ's greater emphasis on the need to enhance the JGB market functioning suggests to us an increased likelihood that it will abandon the negative interest rate policy," Goldman Sachs Japan economist Naohiko Baba wrote in a note.
/jlne.ws/3jadziA
Wells Fargo's Problems Are Far From Over Even After Record $3.7 Billion Settlement; CFPB says consent order doesn't mean the agency's work is done; Bank to book $3.5 billion in litigation, remediation costs
Jennifer Surane and Hannah Levitt - Bloomberg
Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to pay $3.7 billion to settle allegations that for years it mistreated millions of customers, causing some to lose their cars or homes. That record-setting amount still doesn't mean the bank's problems are over. The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau vowed that his agency might put further limitations on the bank. And the company itself warned it will have to set aside billions more in the fourth quarter to cover not only Tuesday's settlement but other litigation as well.
/jlne.ws/3G5LbHr
Private Equity's Tough Year Shows No Signs of Letting Up; Firms chased liquidity as valuations fell and deals dried up; 2023 is expected to bring more of the same for buyout shops
Allison McNeely - Bloomberg
Private equity titans including KKR & Co. and Thoma Bravo pursued unorthodox paths to dealmaking this year in response to a challenging environment likely to persist in 2023. Firms sold stakes in their portfolio companies, took on private debt, offered preferred equity and plunked down billions in cash to make deals happen as leverage became scarce.
/jlne.ws/3G9qsTb
Deutsche Bank Weighs 4% Base Pay Hike, Dealmaker Bonus Cuts; Non-union staff could get biggest base pay increase in years; Debt, equity-origination bonuses may fall, fixed-income rise
Steven Arons, Sonia Sirletti, and Nicholas Comfort - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG is considering giving some of its top earners in Germany and other key markets an elevated salary increase to help offset surging inflation, while cutting bonuses for investment bankers who've seen weaker performance. For staff not covered by standard wage agreements, base pay is likely to rise by as much as 4% on average, people familiar with the matter said. Individual raises could be higher or lower than that figure, said the people, who asked not to be named as the details are private.
/jlne.ws/3YHV7hu
Morgan Stanley Bankers Exit After Rift Over Block-Trading Probe; Rift opens over cooperation in probe, people familiar say; Pawan Passi, Charles Leisure left the bank this month
Sridhar Natarajan and Ava Benny-Morrison - Bloomberg
A pair of Morgan Stanley executives who were on its block-trading desk have departed the firm after being placed on leave and left in limbo amid a US probe into their group's work. The bankers' exit has opened a rift with the New York-based firm over their continued cooperation with the investigation, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The two executives had initially submitted their resignation but their notice period was cut short and departure accelerated over their unwillingness to work closely with the bank through the probe, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
/jlne.ws/3HThOts
Citadel, Other Big Hedge-Fund Winners in 2022 to Return Some Profits to Clients; Gains mark sharp divergence with growth-oriented funds that have stumbled badly
Juliet Chung - The Wall Street Journal
Citadel expects to return about $7 billion in profits to its clients on the back of what is expected to be its most profitable year ever, said people familiar with the firm, highlighting the banner year some hedge funds have had even as others nurse deep wounds.
/jlne.ws/3WemzSE
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | It's Time for New Yorkers to Mask Up Again, Mayor Adams Says
Emma G. Fitzsimmons - The New York Times
Mayor Eric Adams put his face mask on again on Tuesday and encouraged New Yorkers to do the same. Mr. Adams held a news conference at City Hall to urge residents to take precautions in the face of a winter surge of Covid-19 cases and other illnesses. "With the holiday season in full swing and cases of Covid-19, flu and R.S.V. rising, we are asking New Yorkers to protect themselves and their loved ones once again," Mr. Adams said.
/jlne.ws/3BRni3V
China's Hasty Reopening Is a Risky Bet That Beijing Can Control the Narrative; Expect officials to underplay deaths while they publicize the strength of the country's rebound.
Bloomberg
China is finally reopening. After three years of mass testing and harsh lockdowns that crippled the nation's economy and antagonized its citizens, President Xi Jinping's government has dismantled its absolutist approach to dealing with Covid-19 at an unexpectedly rapid pace. Gone is the policy known as Covid Zero, which portrayed the novel coronavirus as a dangerous pathogen that had to be eliminated, even if that demanded coercive and intrusive methods.
/jlne.ws/3Wyv7Dr
Ring In the New Year With a Rapid Covid Test; It may seem annoying (and expensive) to take an antigen test before your holiday gathering, but it's the best way to keep older relatives safe.
Faye Flam - Bloomberg
For many people, this holiday season feels like a return to 2019, with crowded stores, holiday parties and travel plans. But one Covid concession we should retain at the end of 2022 - and well into 2023 - is the use of rapid antigen tests, especially before attending large gatherings or meeting with people at high risk. Unlike more intrusive measures such as isolation and masking, tests are almost painless. And President Joe Biden's administration is now again offering four free tests to each household.
/jlne.ws/3YCuGtD
From Zero Covid to No Plan: Behind China's Pandemic U-Turn
Chris Buckley, Alexandra Stevenson and Keith Bradsher - The New York Times
The southwestern city of Chongqing was the latest frontline of Xi Jinping's "zero Covid" war, until it came to epitomize China's potentially devastating about-face that has cracked the Communist Party's edifice of absolute control. The city last month was enduring one of the biggest outbreaks cropping up across China, when the national leader, Mr. Xi, ordered officials to continue mass testing, lockdowns and quarantines. Chen Min'er, the Chongqing party secretary, devoutly complied, closing off neighborhoods and ordering the instant construction of a quarantine hospital designed to hold up to 21,000 beds.
/jlne.ws/3HORZdX
From Zero Covid to No Plan: Behind China's Pandemic U-Turn
Chris Buckley, Alexandra Stevenson and Keith Bradsher - The New York Times
The southwestern city of Chongqing was the latest frontline of Xi Jinping's "zero Covid" war, until it came to epitomize China's potentially devastating about-face that has cracked the Communist Party's edifice of absolute control. The city last month was enduring one of the biggest outbreaks cropping up across China, when the national leader, Mr. Xi, ordered officials to continue mass testing, lockdowns and quarantines. Chen Min'er, the Chongqing party secretary, devoutly complied, closing off neighborhoods and ordering the instant construction of a quarantine hospital designed to hold up to 21,000 beds.
/jlne.ws/3HORZdX
Demand for Lemons Surges as Chinese Seek Immunity Against Covid
Hallie Gu - Bloomberg
Business is suddenly booming for China's lemon farmers as citizens turn to natural remedies to fight a mounting wave of Covid infections. "The market is very much on fire," said one farmer called Wen, who only gave his surname when reached by phone. Wen grows lemons on about 130 acres (53 hectares) in Anyue, a county in the southwestern province of Sichuan that produces around 70% of the fruit in China. He said his sales have skyrocketed to 20 to 30 tons a day over the past week, from just 5 or 6 tons previously.
/jlne.ws/3WhD1RV
China's Covid Wave Spurs New Variant Worry as Sequencing Falls; A new variant of concern would be first since omicron in 2021; China's Covid Zero approach may create novel challenges
Michelle Fay Cortez - Bloomberg
The tsunami of Covid-19 that's taking hold across China is spurring concern that a dangerous new variant could emerge for the first time in more than a year, just as genetic sequencing to catch such a threat is dwindling.
/jlne.ws/3WB91QU
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Nippon Steel Offers $1 Billion to Take Trading Arm Private
Stephen Stapczynski and Jeff Sutherland - Bloomberg
Nippon Steel Corp. offered to pay as much as 136.6 billion yen ($1 billion) to take Nippon Steel Trading private. Nippon Steel, which currently owns 34.5% of Nippon Steel Trading, will eventually own 80% of the company with Mitsui & Co. holding 20% if the deal succeeds and the company is delisted, according to a statement on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/3WBFfv8
Raw Lithium Exports Banned in Zimbabwe as Demand and Prices Soar; Mining companies will need written permission to export; Measure aimed at encouraging local processing of metal
Godfrey Marawanyika and Ray Ndlovu - Bloomberg
Zimbabwe has banned the export of unprocessed raw lithium with immediate effect as part of efforts to have the key raw material in electric-vehicle batteries processed locally. "No lithium bearing ores, or unbeneficiated lithium whatsoever, shall be exported from Zimbabwe to another country" without written permission, an order issued by Mines Minister Winston Chitando states. Mining companies that are building processing plants will be excluded from the directive, Deputy Mines Minister Polite Kambamura said by phone on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3VktXdD
Finland to Get Vital Floating LNG Terminal to Secure Gas Supply; The floating unit is set to arrive within about a week; Exemplar will help ensure supplies amid European energy crunch
Anna Shiryaevskaya and Kati Pohjanpalo - Bloomberg
Finland is set to receive a vital floating liquefied natural gas terminal within about a week, helping ensure supplies for the country amid Europe's energy crunch. The floating storage and regasification unit, named Exemplar, will help supply gas to the Nordic country after imports from Russia ended in May. The supplies are vital for industries including forestry and steelmaking, though natural gas accounts for just about 5% of Finland's energy mix. Gas is mainly used by factories, rather than for heating like in many other European nations.
/jlne.ws/3G6jlef
Some Turkish Banks Are Now Literally Giving Out Free Money; Commercial loan rates fall below interest on 1-month deposits; The anomaly is the outcome of Turkey's aggressive rate cuts
Asli Kandemir and Beril Akman - Bloomberg
The cost of commercial loans in Turkey fell below the interest rates on lira deposits for the first time since 2019, as the world's most aggressive easing cycle and new regulations make loans for businesses cheaper.
/jlne.ws/3WszgZS
Germany's Pig Herd Shrinks by a Fifth in Just Two Years; Germany's pig herd has declined by 10% from last year; Farmers are battling higher feed, fertilizer and energy costs
Megan Durisin - Bloomberg
The pig herd in Germany - one of Europe's pork heavyweights - has shrunk by a fifth in just two years, highlighting the hurdles facing the region's livestock farmers. Some 21.3 million pigs were stocked on German farms as of Nov. 3, government data showed Wednesday. That's down 10% from a year earlier and 18% below 2020's level. The drop was driven by surging feed, fertilizer and energy bills, according to the report.
/jlne.ws/3hIPL57
Powerful winter storm to bring freezing temperatures, snow to much of the U.S.
Faris Tanyos - CBS News
A powerful Arctic cold front was slated to bring blizzard conditions to several parts of the U.S. this week, lowering temperatures to dangerous levels, dumping heavy snowfall, causing potential power outages and creating a holiday travel nightmare for millions of Americans in the process. The storm will extend from the Pacific Northwest to the Rockies, the Great Plains, the Great Lakes, and the central Appalachians, the National Weather Service said. It had already hit the Pacific Northwest Tuesday, canceling nearly all flights in and out of Vancouver International Airport, and dumping snow in the Cascades, leading to treacherous driving conditions. There were also dozens of delays and cancellations at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to FlightAware.
/jlne.ws/3HWtgUX
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Delta Air Lines to Roll Out Free Wi-Fi; Carrier expected to offer service on part of its fleet as soon as early 2023
Alison Sider and Andrew Tangel - The Wall Street Journal
Delta Air Lines Inc. is expected to begin rolling out free wireless internet for its passengers as soon as early 2023, people familiar with the matter said. The Atlanta-based carrier is initially expected to offer free Wi-Fi on a significant portion of its airplanes before turning on the service on more of its fleet through next year, some of these people said. The move is likely to intensify competition over in-flight offerings as airlines rebound from the pandemic.
/jlne.ws/3v7MPly
Albert Reichmann, Builder of NY, London Finance Hubs, Dies at 93; Ran developer Olympia & York with brothers Paul and Ralph; World Financial Center, Canary Wharf among company's projects
Laurence Arnold - Bloomberg
Albert Reichmann, the longtime president of his family's Olympia & York Developments Ltd., builder of the World Financial Center in New York and the first phase of Canary Wharf in London, has died. He was 93. He died on Dec. 17, according to the National Post and a notice on the website of Steeles Memorial Chapel, a Toronto-area funeral home.
/jlne.ws/3BUrXSF
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