| February 15, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Today we have a video from our Open Outcry Traders History Project featuring Tom Greene, who has never been a trader. Greene just celebrated 50 years on Wall Street by ringing the NYSE closing bell on January 31, 2022. We interviewed him to talk to him about his long career that has spanned being a runner on the trading floor of the New York Cotton Exchange to running the trading floor there and becoming the NYCE president. From there, mergers with the Coffee, Sugar, Cocoa exchange to create the New York Board of Trade, then to Intercontinental Exchange acquiring NYBOT. Greene would help that transition, then eventually find his current role running the trading floor at the NYSE.
He is a much loved and respected executive across the commodity and equity markets in New York and we are honored to interview him for our video series.
And, BTW, NYSE President Lynn Martin says the NYSE trading floors are not going away anytime soon, according to a story in Yahoo Finance. So Greene still has work to do.
HKEX today set a new volume record for the MSCI China A 50 Connect (USD) Index Futures with daily turnover surpassing 50,000 contracts, which translates to a notional value of US $3.3b!
The 2022 DTCC Forum on March 8 at 8:30 a.m. virtual event is open for registration. The featured speaker is Jennifer Peve, Managing Director, Head of Strategy and Business Development, DTCC, who will speak on "Driving Innovation with Purpose."
IMC announced it has been ranked 9th overall in the Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE), the highest ranked trading firm.
Qontigo is looking for an associate, social media and communications to work in Eschborn, Hesse, Germany.
The Bohm has landed. Chuck Bohm, a former fellow alumni of First American Discount Corporation, has joined Marex as a specialist. Chuck was most recently at ED&F Man.
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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Tom Greene Celebrates 50 Years on Wall Street at NYSE
JohnLothianNews.com
Tom Greene wanted to be a civil servant, perhaps a fireman, when he was growing up. However, despite his best efforts, those jobs went to returning Vietnam veterans. So he chose a vocation working with electricity, but that did not get him too far. Eventually, a cousin on Wall Street suggested he come on down there. And so began a career that has spawned 50 years, from his days as a runner on the New York Cotton Exchange to his role of Senior Vice President at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today.
Watch the video »
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Credit Suisse entities agree to settle lawsuit in U.S. for $81 million - court filing
Reuters
Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) entities, among six defendants in a lawsuit originally filed by Iowa Public Employees Retirement System and other retirement associations, has agreed to pay $81 million, the first to agree to settle, the law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC said in a release. "This first settlement agreement includes both an $81 million cash payment and an obligation on the part of Credit Suisse to provide cooperation to plaintiffs in litigating and ultimately trying their case against the remaining defendants," lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a court filing late on Friday.
/jlne.ws/34HXBVZ
***** This issue was central to the value proposition of OneChicago and single stock futures. And it shows how the game was played.~JJL
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Super Bowl Ad Blitz Tells Americans: Stop Worrying and Just Buy Crypto
Firms including Coinbase and FTX made a brazen call to consumers during the big game on Sunday. The commercials, naturally, left out all the financial risks.
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou - Bloomberg
Firms that offer crypto products had a message for the American public during the Super Bowl: Ignore the haters and start buying. It was a bold call to action, given that Bitcoin — the biggest digital asset — has tumbled about 40% from a record high in November. The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index that tracks the value of a variety of cryptocurrencies has dropped nearly 17% this year.
/jlne.ws/3JjVmqK
***** I wonder if I had run advertisements like that as a futures broker whether I would still have a license given the lack of disclosures or balance.~JJL
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Citi's Jane Fraser, the First Female CEO of a Major U.S. Bank, Gets $22.5 Million for 2021
Jennifer Surane - Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. awarded Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser $22.5 million for her work in 2021 after she assumed the top job in February and helped guide the bank through regulatory hurdles. Fraser, 54, was granted stock awards totaling about $14.82 million, a cash bonus of $6.35 million and a $1.33 million salary, the New York-based bank said Monday in a filing.
/jlne.ws/34I7DGP
***** What happened to the magic $35 million number?~JJL
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LaSalle Street needs a moonshot-style plan; The central core of the Loop is losing its mojo as office tenants decamp for the gleaming office towers of Wacker Drive and beyond. So what's to become of the financial district? The mayor should coordinate a plan.
Crain's Editorial Board
You've heard the boiling-frog analogy enough times that you get the gist: We humans tend to accept things that creep up on us slowly—and then one day we wake up and find ourselves in a bubbling cauldron. New reporting by Crain's Danny Ecker represents a boiling-frog moment, where a long-standing simmer suddenly feels very much like a rolling boil. He reports that the owner of BMO Harris Bank's U.S. headquarters is handing over the keys to its lender, New York-based Union Bank. Union Bank, for its part, is now hoping to sell the nearly $191 million debt on the adjacent buildings at 115 S. LaSalle St. and 111 W. Monroe St. as its two premier tenants, the Chicago offices of BMO Harris as well as law firm Chapman & Cutler, decamp to the recently completed BMO Tower next to Union Station.
/jlne.ws/3oMjLxm
***** LaSalle Street needs more than a moon shot, it needs a new metaverse completely. Some Tang is not going to cut it.~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
The most clicked link in Monday's newsletter was the link for the FTX Super Bowl Video featuring Larry David titled "Don't Miss Out." The fear of missing out is a big driver in crypto and now the rest of the world has been exposed to the sentiment. The second most clicked link was also a Super Bowl video, this one from Coinbase of a QR code floating on a TV screen that crashed their website. "We are back up and OK" was their message. The third was the continued popularity of wine consumption by readers of JLN with the story from VinePair titled "We Asked 11 Sommeliers: Which Wine Do You Wish People Ordered More?"
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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 | Regulators Probe Block Trading at Morgan Stanley, Goldman, Other Wall Street Firms; SEC, Justice Department investigate large share sales, communications between banks, hedge funds
Susan Pulliam, Juliet Chung - WSJ
Federal investigators are probing the business of block trading on Wall Street, examining whether bankers might have improperly tipped hedge-fund clients in advance of large share sales, according to people familiar with the situation. The Securities and Exchange Commission sent subpoenas to firms including Morgan Stanley MS -1.91% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS -0.78% as well as several hedge funds, asking for trading records and information about the investors' communications with bankers, some of the people said. The Justice Department also is investigating the matter, some of the people said.
/jlne.ws/3gNoyKA
West Megadrought Worsens to Driest in At Least 1,200 Years
Seth Borenstein - AP
The American West's megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest in at least 1,200 years and is a worst-case climate change scenario playing out live, a new study finds. A dramatic drying in 2021 — about as dry as 2002 and one of the driest years ever recorded for the region — pushed the 22-year drought past the previous record-holder for megadroughts in the late 1500s and shows no signs of easing in the near future, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
/jlne.ws/3BpEgFg
Half of Wall Street Staff May Be Back At Their Desks
Thomas Buckley and Jeremy Scott Diamond - Bloomberg
After several false starts returning to the office, New York's bankers may finally be getting back to their desks, according to Bloomberg's Pret Index. Pret A Manger Ltd's coffee and sandwich sales close to the Downtown and Midtown headquarters of financial firms including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have risen in recent weeks to just under half of pre-pandemic levels—a sign that the areas are repopulating as banks begin recalling employees to the office.
/jlne.ws/3EGjlOi
New NYSE president: Iconic trading floor is not going away
Brian Sozzi - Yahoo Finance
The new president of the New York Stock Exchange, Lynn Martin, wants to dispel the long-time rumor that computers will put an end to the humans still working on the iconic institution's trading floor. "The trading floor is not going away," Martin told Yahoo Finance in an interview from that very floor, which was packed with its typical trader and market-maker buzz (though it's far quieter than back in its pre-computerized trading heydays).
/jlne.ws/3gONSzO
Meme-Stock Frenzy Gets a Fresh Look That Questions SEC Narrative
Matt Robinson - Bloomberg
Meme-stock mania might have been a case of traders banding together to take down hedge funds after all. That's the contention of new research that challenges the Securities and Exchange Commission's view that a so-called short squeeze played little part in pushing GameStop Corp. into the stratosphere in January 2021. The regulator failed to examine relevant securities-lending data and didn't study a long enough stretch of transactions, a half a dozen academics from Columbia University, the University of Notre Dame and elsewhere asserted in a paper sent in recent weeks to SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
/jlne.ws/3LANLGj
Cryptocurrencies akin to Ponzi schemes, says RBI deputy
Swati Bhat and Nupur Anand - Reuters
Cryptocurrencies are akin to Ponzi schemes or worse and banning them is the most sensible option for India to avoid the threat they pose to financial and macroeconomic stability, a deputy governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday. Monday's comments from T. Rabi Sankar followed a similarly withering assessment of digital currencies by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das only days after the Indian government established a taxation framework for cryptocurrencies.
/jlne.ws/3LAaZMq
CME Group to Launch New York Reference Rates for Bitcoin and Ether on February 28
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced it plans to launch two new reference rates for bitcoin and ether on February 28 - the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate New York (BRRNY) and CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate New York (ETHUSD_NY) - which will provide a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of the two digital assets, published at 4 p.m. New York time.
/jlne.ws/3gM0k39
Bonus Season Is Proof Wall Street Doesn't Value Loyalty; There's a reason why so many bankers and traders say they feel unfulfilled professionally despite gaudy pay packages.
Jared Dillian - Bloomberg
You would think that this is a great time of year for Wall Street bankers and traders, who just saw their bank accounts swell with vast sums of money in the form of bonus payments that get paid out every January. Bloomberg News reports that bonuses haven't risen at U.S. investment banks by this much since the late 2000s. In reality, it's not a very happy time. Despite the gaudy headlines trumpeting one-time payments rising 30%, 40% or even 50%, bonus season is one of perpetual disappointment, when most employees have visions of getting paid what they are worth and then receiving significantly less than that. Bonuses have little, if anything, to do with actual performance. It's not unusual for traders who make lots of money for a firm to get paid less than they deserve, and traders who lose money to get paid more.
/jlne.ws/3oOmAxE
On a mission: Keith Todd, CEO of Trading Technologies; Keith Todd, new chief executive of Trading Technologies, discusses the company's future after its acquisition 7RIDGE
At the end of last year, Trading Technologies International was acquired by 7RIDGE, a private equity fund, after more than a year of being up for sale. The derivatives trading platform operator is widely used by banks, proprietary traders, hedge funds, and brokers to connect to the world's major futures exchanges. The purchase not only resolved its future as a critical platform supplier but also provides the company with capital to invest in growth.
/jlne.ws/3oPOg5D
Crypto Millions on Super Bowl Ads Didn't Drive App Downloads
Akayla Gardner - Bloomberg
Cryptocurrency-trading platforms drew national attention with star-studded Super Bowl ads, a first-time appearance for many in the industry. However, it didn't yet translate to a flood of new users on their apps. Coinbase Global Inc., FTX Trading Ltd. and Crypto.com all released advertisements during the National Football League's championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Yet the exchanges and investing platform eToro all saw a decline in U.S. app store downloads over the week prior to Sunday, according to research firm Apptopia.
/jlne.ws/3LzQSxY
PBOC's Mu Says Digital Yuan Has Small Impact on Financial System
Bloomberg News
China's digital yuan has had a very small impact on the financial sector so far, according to the central bank's head of its digital currency unit. The balance in e-CNY wallets is about 470 million yuan ($73.9 million), compared with M0 money supply, which refers to cash in circulation, of 8.6 trillion yuan, Mu Changchun, head of the Digital Currency Institute at the People's Bank of China, said in an online forum hosted by the Atlantic Council.
/jlne.ws/3GQVsnW
China Is Showing Off the Digital Yuan at the Olympics. Can the U.S. Compete? While some worry about America falling behind, banks want the Federal Reserve to stay away from digital dollars.
Joe Light - Bloomberg
China is competing for more than just medals at the Winter Olympics in Beijing this month. It's also quietly trying to define the future of money. Although attendees can pay vendors for food and souvenirs with a Visa or cash, they also have the option of holding up a phone, scanning a barcode, and paying with the "e-CNY," or electronic yuan, one of the only so-called central bank digital currencies offered by a major economy.
/jlne.ws/3LLwSsy
Why Central Banks Got Serious About Digital Money
Carolynn Look - Bloomberg
Money is edging toward its biggest reinvention in centuries. Modern technology and even the coronavirus pandemic are pushing consumers to go cashless, and with alternative concepts like Bitcoin taking hold, central banks are acting quickly to ensure they don't fall behind. Their promise is a payment system that is safer, more resilient and cheaper than private alternatives. The central banks of the Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union and Nigeria have already become pioneers in central bank digital currency, or CBDC, while China, the euro area and others are experimenting in the field. The U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of England, meanwhile, are proceeding far more cautiously.
/jlne.ws/34WbLmq
SOFR Options Market Catches Fire With $100 Million Wager
Edward Bolingbroke - Bloomberg
The derivatives market that aims to supplant U.S.-dollar-Libor-settled eurodollar futures and options has taken another stride forward in the past week with the emergence of a sizable volatility trade. The position appeared in June 2023 options linked to 3-month futures referencing the Secured Overnight Financing Rate. Over the course of Friday and Monday, almost $100 million has been spent on a long volatility structure called a straddle, involving the purchase of calls and puts with the same strike. The position grew to 40,000 contracts Monday, after open-interest data revealed Friday's activity as setting new risk.
/jlne.ws/3I2fgGg
Symphony partners with Digital Asset to tackle inefficiencies in the syndicated loans market
Symphony
Symphony - the leading markets' infrastructure and technology platform - is partnering with Digital Asset - a software and services provider that helps enterprises build economic value through interconnected networks - to generate efficiency and remove manual processes in the broadly syndicated loans (BSL) market.
/jlne.ws/34BooDG
Pandemic, Crypto Fuel Increase in Romance Scams; The number of romance-related frauds reported to the FTC rose nearly 70% in 2021, and the total amount lost jumped to $547 million, data show
Mengqi Sun - WSJ
Romance scams, such as the one detailed in the recent Netflix Inc. documentary "The Tinder Swindler," already were gaining in frequency before the coronavirus pandemic began, but their prevalence is now reaching new heights. Romance scams—in which fraudsters pretend to be a love interest to bilk unassuming partners—aren't new, but the rapid growth of the con fueled by the proliferation of online dating apps and social media, as well as tactics being used to target new audiences, including the wider use of cryptocurrency, are gaining renewed attention from law enforcement and compliance departments. The number of romance-scam complaints continued to increase through 2021, after setting records in 2020, according to consumer reports to the Federal Trade Commission. The number of romance frauds reported to the FTC reached 56,000 in 2021, a nearly 70% increase over 2020. Victims reported losing about $547 million in such scams, a 78% jump from the prior year, FTC data show.
/jlne.ws/3uQyJX1
People Are Going Out Again, but Not to the Office; Only a third of U.S. employees have returned to the office, as workers prefer remote and companies fear ordering them back
Peter Grant - WSJ
Americans are dining again in restaurants, attending sporting events, and flying throughout the country. But most are still steering clear of their office building, a sign that more than health concerns are keeping workers away. Millions of office employees who fled business districts in December after the Omicron variant surged continue to work at home, despite the plummeting rate of Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations. Remote work remains the more popular option even as a number of states have announced plans to roll back mask requirements at indoor venues, businesses, and schools as the spread of the Omicron variant fades.
/jlne.ws/3oPE64S
Ilya Lichtenstein Ordered Detained Until Crypto Trial; Heather Morgan Released; Judge rules flight risk is high for husband after Manhattan couple were charged with conspiring to launder billions in stolen cryptocurrency
Aruna Viswanatha - WSJ
A federal judge ordered the pretrial detention of one member of the young Manhattan couple arrested last week on charges of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in stolen bitcoin, saying the steep penalties the two potentially face and the husband's alleged familiarity with fake personas meant he could try to flee if released. At a Monday hearing in federal court here, Chief Judge Beryl Howell reversed in part a decision by another judge in New York last week to grant bond for the couple, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, with restrictions including their parents' homes being posted as security.
/jlne.ws/3GJIYP2
When you count users instead of dollars, the NFT world is tiny; Why the infancy of non-fungible tokens may last a long time
Tim Bradshaw - FT
"If you see this, you're very early," teased the Twitter account for Kapetta, a new "anime-inspired" NFT project. The line has become a familiar trope in the frothy market for non-fungible tokens, where blockchain-powered proof of ownership has created a hyper-speculative digital art market. Sure enough, within hours thousands of new followers hoping to get in on the ground floor sent Kapetta viral, based on nothing more than a sleek silhouette and a promise.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | How the pandemic scrambled the plant-based food industry; Despite the highs and lows of the pandemic, the future of the plant-based sector still looks bright.
Kenny Torrella - Vox
For a couple years, the future looked like it could be meat-free. In 2019, the plant-based protein startup Beyond Meat celebrated the most successful IPO in over a decade and a few months later Burger King put an Impossible Whopper on every menu.
/jlne.ws/3BoCqV1
An Undiscovered Coronavirus? The Mystery of the 'Russian Flu'; Scientists are grasping for any example that could help anticipate the future of Covid, even a mysterious respiratory pandemic that spread in the late 19th century.
Gina Kolata - NY Times
In May 1889, people living in Bukhara, a city that was then part of the Russian Empire, began sickening and dying. The respiratory virus that killed them became known as the Russian flu. It swept the world, overwhelming hospitals and killing the old with special ferocity.
/jlne.ws/3JLnWSf
Cook Islands confirms first coronavirus case - two years into pandemic
Paulina Firozi and Jennifer Hassan - Washington Post
The Cook Islands, one of the few places left in the world that had not reported any coronavirus infections, detected its first case on Sunday.
/jlne.ws/3sGJ0lU
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | NYSE US Exchanges To Close In Observance Of Washington's Birthday
NYSE
In observance of Washington's Birthday, the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE Chicago, NYSE National, NYSE American Options, NYSE Arca Options, and NYSE Bonds markets will be closed on Monday, February 21, 2022.
/jlne.ws/36fMXq6
ICE Mortgage Technology Announces 2022 Innovation Award Winners; Award Winners to be Honored at ICE Experience Conference in March
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.
ICE Mortgage TechnologyTM, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, today announced the winners of its 2022 ICE Mortgage Technology Innovation Awards.
/jlne.ws/3HRjLU2
SGX broadens Daily Leverage Certificates suite with new issuer
SGX
UBS will list 10 new DLCs to meet growing demand for Asia-access structured products; Pioneered in 2017, SGX-listed DLCs have generated over S$10 billion of trades since launch
Singapore Exchange (SGX) is pleased to welcome UBS as its new Daily Leverage Certificates (DLCs) issuer, offering investors more options to hedge and capture investment opportunities in Asia.
/jlne.ws/3gKpcIL
-- Performance Bond Requirements: Agriculture, Metals, Energy & Interest Rate Margins - Effective February 15, 2022 - CME
-- Notice of Summary Actions; MEMBER: STONEX FINANCIAL INC., RULE VIOLATION: 536.C BUNCHED ORDERS AND ORDERS ELIGIBLE FOR POST EXECUTION ALLOCATION - CME
-- Review of Collateral Haircuts - CME
-- Availability of the Three-Month Eurodollar Futures and Three-Month SOFR Futures Inter-Commodity Spread (SED) on CME ClearPort - CME
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | RapidRatings Lands $200 Million Investment Led by Spectrum Equity and 22C Capital; The company's software is used to gauge the financial health of suppliers, creditors and customers to help manage supply-chain risk
Laura Kreutzer - WSJ
RapidRatings International Inc., a risk analytics software provider focused on supply chains, customers and other counterparties, has raised $200 million as supply-chain and other business disruptions heighten those risks.
/jlne.ws/3HSUusG
Tech vendors rethink risk in era of surging options volume; As options volumes soar, technology vendors are thinking about new risks posed when legacy infrastructure meets increasingly complex markets.
Rebecca Natale - Waters Technology
The rise of retail platforms like Robinhood and the social media frenzy around so-called meme stocks have helped to drive Main Street options trading for the past year. Surging volume and volatility in these markets have introduced new kinds of risks, and vendors who offer trading solutions—such as for market risk, order management, and clearing—believe that offering more modern, advanced technologies can help mitigate them.
/jlne.ws/3oNvZpr
SDX and FQX to partner on blockchain-based short-term debt instruments; New partnership aims to break liquidity silos while also enhancing trust and transparency.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) and SIX Fintech Ventures portfolio company, FQX, will partner to allow the use of FQX's blockchain-based short-term debt instruments, eNotes, on SDX. Short-term financing markets today have an estimated $65 trillion in annual transaction volumes worldwide. However, legacy systems and a lack of global standardisation mean these markets are widely fragmented and inefficient, causing liquidity silos.
/jlne.ws/34V7teT
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Hackers Snagged $36 Million in Crypto in Breach of IRA Financial
William Turton - Bloomberg
Bitcoin and Ethereum snatched from IRA users on Feb. 8; Company has launched investigation, contacted law enforcement
A hack at IRA Financial Trust, which offers self-directed retirement accounts, resulted in the theft of $36 million in cryptocurrency, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
/jlne.ws/369g4Lz
Singapore Urges Banks to Step Up Security After Scams, Glitches
Faris Mokhtar - Bloomberg
Banks must enhance fraud surveillance, finance minister says; OCBC customers recently lost $10.2 million in phishing scam
Singapore authorities are urging banks to impose stronger security measures to prevent more phishing scams after one of the city-state's biggest lenders was hit by a serious case of fraud. Banks need to expand their fraud surveillance capabilities, Lawrence Wong, the finance minister and deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said in parliament on Tuesday. They must also increase their ability to immediately block suspicious activity and reach out to customers to verify transactions before they're processed, he said.
/jlne.ws/3LCIo9m
NIST releases software, IoT, and consumer cybersecurity labeling guidance
Cynthia Brumfield - CSO Online
On February 4, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued several documents and updates that spell out software security guidance and recommended consumer labeling practices for software and IoT devices. NIST also laid out its approach to consumer cybersecurity labeling projects.
These initiatives were mandated under President Biden's wide-ranging executive order (EO) issued last May. They aim to tighten the federal government's security requirements for the software products it purchases, hoping that the benefits will also flow to the private sector. The labeling initiatives aim to provide consumers greater insight into the security of the software and devices they purchase and spur greater transparency by consumer software and IoT device makers.
/jlne.ws/3sAsrrG
Cybersecurity: These countries are the new hacking threats to fear as offensive campaigns escalate
Danny Palmer - ZDNet
The number of hostile nation-state hacking operations is rising as new countries invest in cyber-intrusion campaigns and existing state-backed attack groups take advantage of the rise in organisations adopting cloud applications.
Crowdstrike's 2022 Global Threat Report details how the cyber-threat landscape has evolved during the past year. One of those developments is the rise of new countries engaging in offensive cyber operations, including Turkey and Colombia.
/jlne.ws/3sKOvQm
Pentagon outlines plan to make continuous ATOs the new 'gold standard' for cybersecurity
Jared Serbu - Federal News Network
For the last several years, Defense agencies and military services have dabbled with reforms to their IT security approvals process that acknowledge the realities of modern software development and cyber threats. The general idea is that the old way of doing things, a point-in-time grant of an Authority to Operate (ATO) takes too long, and might have lost its relevance before the system actually gets up and running anyway.
The "continuous ATOs" (cATOs) that have taken their place in some quarters of DoD IT development community now have the full attention of the office of the DoD chief information officer. In a new memo, the Pentagon said it wants to make them the "gold standard" for cybersecurity across department, while also bringing more commonality to how Defense organizations use them.
/jlne.ws/3sOEUIy
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Super Bowl Ads Suggest the Future Is Now—From Crypto to the Metaverse; Electric cars were also prominently featured during the big NFL game, including pitches from Arnold Schwarzenegger and a robotic dog
Suzanne Vranica, Megan Graham - WSJ
More than 60 advertisers were clamoring for attention during Super Bowl LVI, but only one message came through loud and clear: The future of business is here. Super Bowl advertising has long been used to peddle mainstay consumer products from beer to chips to soda pop. But this year those mundane everyday products were outnumbered by a slew of companies that spent big to hype emerging industries, including cryptocurrencies, electric vehicles, online sports betting and the metaverse.
/jlne.ws/3uRJ19c
HMRC's NFT seizure 'a warning' to investors and tax cheats; Move linked to an investigation into VAT fraud
Emma Agyemang - FT
HM Revenue & Customs' seizure of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a suspected fraud case will serve as a deterrent to criminals hoping to hide their activities in crypto, tax experts warn. The move signals the authorities' growing capacity to dig into digital currency markets in pursuit of suspected tax cheats and other lawbreakers, they say.
/jlne.ws/3LzuHb9
Man Charged in $4.5 Billion Crypto Scam Denied Bail by Judge
Chris Dolmetsch - Bloomberg
D.C. judge overturns ruling that allowed man out on bail; Couple accused of trying to launder $3.6 billion of Bitcoin
A judge in Washington D.C. denied bail to a man charged with trying to launder billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin stolen in a 2016 hack of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange, while allowing his wife to remain free before trial. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington Monday overturned a New York judge's ruling granting bail to the man, Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, while upholding a decision that allowed his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, to remain free pending trial.
/jlne.ws/3GKnlhr
Big Bitcoin Miners Aren't Immune to the Need for Cash
Crystal Kim - Bloomberg
Marathon Digital and Hut 8 file to offer shares for cash;'We don't control the price of Bitcoin' says Marathon
A pair of big Bitcoin miners are poised to sell their stock in the face of a drop in token prices that has led other miners to trade in some their Bitcoin holdings. Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. and Hut 8 Mining Corp. have both filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the option to sell company stock for cash. The two are likely in bid to stay flexible in the wake of Bitcoin's dramatic fall that could force a shakeout of miners with less efficient operations.
/jlne.ws/3GPRA6E
BlockFi's Plans to Register with SEC Augurs New Era for Crypto
Matt Robinson and Allyson Versprille - Bloomberg
Firm agreed to pay $100 million to SEC and state regulators; Officials had been probing firm over crypto lending product
Crypto proponents have argued for years that regulators shouldn't apply decades-old rules to the burgeoning asset class. But in a move with sweeping implications for the industry, at least one prominent company is now planning to register its offerings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
/jlne.ws/34WsTsf
SoFi CEO Holds Crypto, Touts Deal for Super Bowl Champs' Stadium
Max Reyes - Bloomberg
SoFi Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Anthony Noto said his family holds cryptocurrencies and that it would be a mistake for companies to ignore blockchain technologies, even as he emphasized the risks inherent in the digital assets.
/jlne.ws/3rNrr4l
SoFi CEO says he owns bitcoin and ether — and warns that companies who don't take advantage of crypto will be 'left behind'
Isabelle Lee - Business Insider
SoFi Technologies CEO Anthony Noto talked about the inherent risks of holding cryptocurrencies — before revealing his family holds some digital assets. "We're invested in cryptocurrency," Noto told CNBC. "We own bitcoin, we own ethereum, we own some of the more obscure and different cryptocurrencies, but it's a very small part of what we own."
/jlne.ws/3BkIeyK
Why Jump Crypto Bailed Out Wormhole
This DeFi bailout, by a traditional high-frequency trading firm that's turned to crypto, also was a Solana story.
Liam J. Kelly - Decrypt.co
Wormhole, a protocol that allows users to transfer crypto assets across blockchain networks, was exploited for $320 million last week. The breach was specifically related to how the cross-chain bridge was connected to Solana (though it can connect between a ton of other blockchains).
/jlne.ws/3gKndUU
Engiven, Inc. Launches Cryptocurrency Donation Custody Solution; Nonprofits can now accept crypto donations and hold them in cold storage
Engiven, Inc.
Engiven, Inc., a pioneer in the cryptocurrency donation arena, announces the launch of its donation custody solution, making it safe and easy for charities to accept crypto donations and hold them in cold storage. Engiven's new custody solution is the first of its kind, giving nonprofits and their donors the ability to donate crypto that can be immediately exchanged for USD or placed into cold storage.
/jlne.ws/3LAWQ1K
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | U.S. Accuses Zero Hedge of Spreading Russian Propaganda
Normaan Merchant - AP
U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday accused a conservative financial news website with a significant American readership of amplifying Kremlin propaganda and alleged five media outlets targeting Ukrainians have taken direction from Russian spies.
/jlne.ws/3gOUaze
Pelosi, other stock-trading pols could avoid capital gains taxes under Warren proposal
Lydia Moynihan and Theo Wayt - NY Post
Elizabeth Warren's bipartisan bill banning stock trading on Capitol Hill has a little-noticed provision that could save lawmakers millions of dollars worth of capital gains taxes — and Nancy Pelosi is signaling she likes it.
/jlne.ws/365f4bg
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | BlockFi Agrees to Pay $100 Million in Penalties and Pursue Registration of its Crypto Lending Product
Company also agrees to attempt to bring its business into compliance with the Investment Company Act of 1940 within 60 days
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged BlockFi Lending LLC (BlockFi) with failing to register the offers and sales of its retail crypto lending product. In this first-of-its-kind action, the SEC also charged BlockFi with violating the registration provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940. To settle the SEC's charges, BlockFi agreed to pay a $50 million penalty, cease its unregistered offers and sales of the lending product, BlockFi Interest Accounts (BIAs), and attempt to bring its business within the provisions of the Investment Company Act within 60 days. BlockFi's parent company also announced that it intends to register under the Securities Act of 1933 the offer and sale of a new lending product. In parallel actions announced today, BlockFi agreed to pay an additional $50 million in fines to 32 states to settle similar charges.
/jlne.ws/34Xe6gW
Crypto platform BlockFi to pay $100mn penalty over interest-bearing accounts; Settlement with SEC marks first enforcement action by US regulators on cryptocurrency lending
Kiran Stacey and Miles Kruppa - FT
US regulators have taken their first enforcement action on cryptocurrency lending, agreeing $100mn in settlements with BlockFi over charges that it offered interest-bearing accounts without registering them as securities. The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Monday it had agreed a $50mn settlement with the company, which will pay the same amount again to a group of 32 states.
/jlne.ws/3sEmIBb
Statement on Settlement with BlockFi Lending LLC
Commissioner Hester Peirce - SEC
A lot of securities lawyers will nod, "Yes, I saw this coming," in response to today's settlement with BlockFi Lending LLC ("BlockFi"). A company taking in crypto from a wide range of investors and promising returns could implicate the securities laws in several ways. Today's settlement tags that arrangement as both an investment contract under Howey[1] and a note under Reves.[2] On top of that, the settlement deems BlockFi an unregistered investment company. Lurking behind the legal analysis, however, is an important question: Is the approach we are taking with crypto lending the best way to protect crypto lending customers? I do not think it is, so I respectfully dissent.
/jlne.ws/34DkmdY
US banking regulators warn of risks in leveraged loan market; Corporate debt piles swelled during the pandemic with credit extended even to riskiest borrowers
Joe Rennison and Colby Smith - FT
Risks associated with the leveraged loan market are still "high" despite marginal improvements in corporate creditworthiness in 2021, top US banking regulators have warned.
/jlne.ws/3Bnm1Aj
Dirty Money Antagonist FATF Gives the World a Weapon
Ben Bartenstein - Bloomberg
The world is awash in dirty money -- and criminals who are constantly finding new ways to hide their loot in real estate, art, securities, cryptocurrencies and old fashioned bank accounts. Policing the latest tricks in digital transfers and offshore shell companies falls to financial regulators in each country, but there's also an obscure international group that's exerting more influence: For more than three decades, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force has been confronting the challenge of illicit finance. Though the body is sometimes criticized for focusing too much on formal regulation, the mere risk of ending up on the FATF's watchlist has been enough to spur some governments into action.
/jlne.ws/33lJwNv
SEC Warns Investors About Risks From High-Yield Crypto Accounts
Allyson Versprille - Bloomberg
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is warning investors about risks associated with accounts that pay clients high interest rates for depositing crypto assets.
/jlne.ws/3LCdaPV
SEC's Peirce Says BlockFi Deal 'Not Constructive' for Crypto Lenders
Daren Fonda - Barron's
Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce pushed back against the agency's $100 million settlement with BlockFi Lending on Monday, telling Barron's the agreement was "not constructive" as a means of regulating the industry.
/jlne.ws/3oJM0wD
ISDA-Clarus RFR Adoption Indicator: January 2022
ISDA
The ISDA-Clarus RFR Adoption Indicator increased to an all-time high of 31.9% in January compared to 31.7% the prior month. The indicator tracks how much global trading activity (as measured by DV01) is conducted in cleared over-the-counter and exchange-traded interest rate derivatives (IRD) that reference the identified risk-free rates (RFRs) in six major currencies. On a traded notional basis, the percentage of RFR-linked IRD comprised 22.6% of total IRD in January compared to 20.8% the prior month.
Key highlights for January 2022 include:
/jlne.ws/3HSTyVs
FINRA Adopts Amendments to FINRA Rule 2165
FINRA
FINRA has adopted amendments to Rule 2165 (Financial Exploitation of Specified Adults) to permit member firms to: (1) place a hold on a securities transaction (in addition to the already-permitted hold on a disbursement of funds or securities) where there is a reasonable belief of financial exploitation; and (2) extend a temporary hold on a disbursement or transaction for an additional 30 business days, beyond the current maximum of 25 business days (for a total of 55 business days), if the member firm has reported the matter to a state regulator or agency, or a court of competent jurisdiction. The amendments to Rule 2165 become effective March 17, 2022.
/jlne.ws/3JtWOa5
Holiday Reminder Regarding FINRA Market Transparency Reporting Systems
FINRA
In observance of Presidents' Day, FINRA's Market Transparency Reporting Systems will be closed on Monday, February 21, 2022. Affected applications include:
Alternative Display Facility (ADF)
Over-the-Counter Reporting Facility (ORF)
Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE)
FINRA/Exchange Trade Reporting Facilities (TRFs)
/jlne.ws/3oPM4ep
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Goldman Sees a Big Change Coming to the Bond Market'; And it could be bad news for stocks.
Tracy Alloway - Bloomberg
It's no secret that bonds spent much of the past year acting seemingly immune to inflation concerns. Persistently low yields have perplexed market watchers, with some likening them to the infamous "Greenspan conundrum" that plagued the Federal Reserve when it was raising interest rates in the mid-2000s.
/jlne.ws/3HSAYwD
Commodity Boom Sends Glencore Profits Soaring: The London Rush
Charles Capel - Bloomberg
Here's the key business news from London-listed companies this morning: Glencore Plc: High commodities prices sent the industry giant's earnings to record levels last year, allowing them to return a further four billion dollars to shareholders. The company has also set aside 1.5 billion dollars for the costs of resolving a number of investigations involving U.S. and Brazilian authorities
/jlne.ws/3sLWg8V
Trader Known as 'Big Shot' Battles Mystery Nickel Stockpiler
Alfred Cang - Bloomberg
In Chinese commodity circles, he's known as "big shot" -- the man who controls the world's largest nickel producer and isn't afraid to place big derivatives bets on where prices are headed next. Now Xiang Guangda has emerged at the center of a market drama that's fueling some of the largest price swings in years for a key ingredient in the fight against climate change.
/jlne.ws/3GXSsXe
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Ethanol Less Green Than Gas, Study Funded by Biofuel Critics Says
Allison Nicole Smith - Bloomberg
Corn ethanol's carbon emissions could be 24% higher than gas; PA will propose new biofuel blending targets for this year
A U.S. program requiring the use of corn-based ethanol in the nation's gasoline supply hasn't curbed greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison published Monday. The federal Renewable Fuel Standard has spurred American farmers to escalate land use for corn plantings, leading to more pollution from increased fertilizer use and degraded water quality, according to the report. All of that contributes to carbon emissions from the biofuel that are likely at least 24% higher than gasoline, the study said.
/jlne.ws/3gO4yYi
BMO Commits $78 Million to Lending to Black-Owned Businesses
Kevin Orland - Bloomberg
Black business owners and entrepreneurs can receive loans of as much as C$250,000 through the program, called "Business Within Reach: BMO for Black Entrepreneurs," the Toronto-based lender said in a statement Monday. The bank also is partnering with the Black Opportunity Fund to provide education in areas including planning, financial management and marketing.
/jlne.ws/3uLCEnS
Glencore Sets Aside $1.5 Billion to Cover Regulatory Probes; Commodities firm says it expects to resolve U.S., U.K. and Brazilian investigations into allegations of bribery this year
Alistair MacDonald - WSJ
Commodities giant Glencore GLNCY 2.51% PLC made a provision of $1.5 billion to cover a series of regulatory investigations in the U.S., the U.K. and Brazil into allegations of bribery, saying it expected the probes that have long bedeviled the company to be resolved this year.
/jlne.ws/3rOktMf
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Citi Selects S&P Global and Oliver Wyman's Climate Credit Analytics for Enhanced Global Climate Stress-Testing and ESG Reporting Initiatives
Citi
Citi, S&P Global Market Intelligence and Oliver Wyman today announced that Citi has selected the S&P Global/Oliver Wyman's Climate Credit Analytics ('CCA') Transition Risk model to support a variety of requirements for the bank in 2022.
/jlne.ws/3Ly8Elo
Dirty Money Antagonist FATF Gives the World a Weapon
Ben Bartenstein - Bloomberg
The world is awash in dirty money -- and criminals who are constantly finding new ways to hide their loot in real estate, art, securities, cryptocurrencies and old fashioned bank accounts. Policing the latest tricks in digital transfers and offshore shell companies falls to financial regulators in each country, but there's also an obscure international group that's exerting more influence: For more than three decades, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force has been confronting the challenge of illicit finance. Though the body is sometimes criticized for focusing too much on formal regulation, the mere risk of ending up on the FATF's watchlist has been enough to spur some governments into action.
/jlne.ws/33lJwNv
Top Hedge Fund Managers Made $15.8 Billion in 2021 Riding Volatile Markets
Tom Maloney, Hema Parmar, and Katherine Burton - Bloomberg
Little-known Karthik Sarma appeared near the top of Bloomberg's ranking of hedge fund earners, only slightly outdone by Ken Griffin and Chris Hohn.
Karthik Sarma outearned Steve Cohen last year. The little-known hedge fund manager made an estimated $2 billion in 2021, mostly thanks to an 11-year-old wager on Avis Budget Group Inc., a bet that paid off handsomely as the stock soared 456%.
/jlne.ws/3JxAdcN
No sign of light at end of tunnel for Credit Suisse investors
John O'Donnell and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi - Reuters
Weary Credit Suisse investors fear a long wait for the bank to get back on piste after a string of scandals which have wiped billions off its market value and piled pressure on management.
/jlne.ws/3LAMY8j
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Pakistan Says Risks From Cryptocurrencies Outweigh Its Benefits
Kamran Haider - Bloomberg
Pakistan's central bank said that risks posed by cryptocurrencies outweigh its benefits, doubling down on its earlier message to stay away from investments in digital currencies.
/jlne.ws/3oQqd6q
Spain Reservoirs Dropping to 44% of Capacity Spur Drought Worry
Thomas Gualtier - Bloomberg
Spain's reservoir levels reserves fell to 44% of their capacity last week, continuing a month-long slide that's been stirring concern among farmers over the lack of rainwater. Reservoirs currently store almost 24,900 cubic hectometers, the Ministry for Ecological Transition said in an emailed statement. That's 29% less than a year earlier and also compared with the 10-year average level.
/jlne.ws/3Jxtxer
Foreign investors steer clear of Nigerian equities; Currency controls have had a chilling effect on the country's stock market
Tommy Stubbington - FT
Nigeria's main share index shot to a 13-year high last month, hitting a level not seen since the 2008-09 global financial crisis wiped out 60 per cent of the market's value. Yet investors are in no mood to celebrate, with some arguing that the stock market has become increasingly moribund of late, struggling to attract new companies or keep pace with inflation.
/jlne.ws/3I4axUw
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Office romances flourished during the pandemic
Anne Quito - Quartz
Is it possible to find a soulmate on Zoom? Could Slack be a channel for love letters at work? According to a new survey of US-based workers by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a quarter of respondents revealed that they began a romantic relationship with a colleague during the pandemic or continued an existing romance in the past year. And despite not being able to go to the office and see people in person in this new WFH world, half of respondents reported that they've developed a crush on someone they work with—a 7% increase from last year.
/jlne.ws/3uRKrR4
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