| June 06, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Yesterday was a very bad day and a very good day in the crypto world as Binance was charged with 13 charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and suffered $2 billion in coin withdrawals following the announcement. The Binance news did not help the price of crypto, as prices slumped following the announcement. The good news was Cboe Digital winning approval to offer margin trades on bitcoin and ether futures.
The SEC charges against Binance include "operating unregistered exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing agencies; misrepresenting trading controls and oversight on the Binance.US platform; and the unregistered offer and sale of securities."
And then this morning things in the crypto world did not get any better when the SEC charged Coinbase "for operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency." The commission said, "Coinbase also charged for the unregistered offer and sale of securities in connection with its staking-as-a-service program."
The SEC Historical Society reported on LinkedIn that "This week in 1934, FDR signed the Securities Exchange Act. Momentum behind a bill had grown since the 1933 Securities Act regulated stock issues, but with the Pecora Hearings in the past and the exchanges having powerful advocates, Roosevelt had to use every tool at his disposal to pass the bill that created the SEC."
The commercial real estate problems are not just in Chicago and not just in office buildings. A report from SFist says Virginia-based REIT Park Hotels & Resorts, the owner of San Francisco's largest hotel, the Hilton Union Square, is walking away from the building and its payments, essentially surrendering the 2900 hotel room hospitality facility to the lenders of its $725 million loan. Bloomberg also has a story on the subject as San Francisco struggles to recover from the changes to work travel and work from home after the pandemic.
Chuck Mackie announced on LinkedIn (somewhat tardy) that as of April, he is contributing thought leadership content and strategic insight as a consultant at Eviden.
Sean Tully, senior managing director of financial and OTC products, announced on LinkedIn that he is retiring from CME Group and beginning a new chapter of life.
Alex Teng is the proud new owner of a "The World Needs Journalists - JLN" sweatshirt. I placed a new order for the JLN company swag to give to Alex and some other new employees. We have previously offered them for sale. If you are interested in one, let me know.
You are all doing great supporting ABN AMRO Clearing Bank N.V. CEO Robbert Booij's Kilt Challenge fundraising for Futures For Kids. Robbert has raised 16,655 pounds, or 133% of his 12,500 pound goal. It would be great to get to 20,000 pounds for the Kilt Challenge this year. Robbert deserves the extra effort from us for the extra effort he is making by cycling with clients and colleagues from Amsterdam to London ahead of IDX.
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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The most read stories yesterday from JLN Options were: A Wall Street trader made a $7.5 million windfall on a suspiciously-timed investment ahead of a surprise debt limit deal concession and Stock Market News, June 5, 2023: S&P 500 Ends Lower After Touching Bull Market Territory and Understanding Basis Trading on Cboe Digital.~JB
"Materiality: from impacts to risks and opportunities" is a free webinar on June 15, from 6:00 am - 7:00 am (CST) presented by Tech Talks in partnership with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Targeted toward board, audit, risk and sustainability committee members, CEOs, CFOs and executive management, legal counsel, compliance officers, and sustainability officers, the webinar will present an overview on materiality assessments. Learn more here.~SAED
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Super-Rich Escaping to Miami Are Insulated From Realities of Crime; Crime rates in Miami are at a four-decade low, but rich neighborhoods are leaving the rest behind.
Michael Smith and Eric Fan - Bloomberg
When it comes to crime in Miami, it pays to be rich. Take Coconut Grove, the wealthy enclave along the shores of Biscayne Bay that LeBron James, Madonna and Sylvester Stallone have called home. Police handled reports of just a little over two dozen crimes in the square mile around billionaire Ken Griffin's $107 million waterfront estate there in the last half of 2022 - mostly offenses like car and home break-ins.
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****** A story about the drop in crime in the bubble that Ken Griffin lives in down in Miami versus the poorer neighborhoods of the city.~JJL
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A Wall Street Titan Scores One of the Best Real Estate Trades Ever
Jack Sidders - Bloomberg
At 7:15 a.m., David Ebbrell scrambled up a ladder and onto the roof of a warehouse in Germany's industrial hinterlands. It was pitch-dark, the wind was whipping, and he didn't care for heights. "It was petrifying," he says. Ebbrell's company, M7 Real Estate Ltd., has sent scouts to hundreds of remote places across Europe and the UK.
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***** Everyone needs somewhere to put their stuff.~JJL
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The Markets Believe in American Exceptionalism; Currency, bond and stock investors are all sending the same message - ignore the messiness of democracy in motion; the US is the place to be.
Robert Burgess - Bloomberg
It may seem strange to be talking about American exceptionalism. Just over a week ago it looked like the US government was so divided that lawmakers would fail to raise the nation's borrowing capacity, sparking a default that would cause a worldwide economic and financial market catastrophe. But they did, albeit with little time to spare.
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***** I have always believed in the exceptionalism of American markets.~JJL
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Can Apple Take the Metaverse Mainstream? The iPhone maker is making a bold bet that it can redefine the niche category of virtual reality with its $3,500 goggles.
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Ravi Mattu, Bernhard Warner, Sarah Kessler, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni - The New York Times
It's here (or it will be "early next year"): Apple unveiled its long-awaited entry into virtual reality, or what the tech giant calls "spatial computing," in the form of the Apple Vision Pro, a $3,500 device that looks like exquisitely designed futuristic ski goggles.
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****** $3500 for an alternate reality? Many people can get that for the price of a six-pack of beer, where a man becomes more handsome and women prettier.~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our top story Monday was How to Tell if Your Passwords Were Hacked-And What to Do If They Were, from The Wall Street Journal. Second was A Major Showdown Is Brewing Over What Counts as a Carbon Credit, from Bloomberg. Third was a tie between The Wall Street Journal's EV Makers Confront the 'Nickel Pickle', about the difficulties of getting nickel out of the ground and refining it without destroying the environment, and Reuters' JPMorgan flags some signs of emerging de-dollarisation.
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MarketsWiki Stats
27,345 pages; 245,111 edits
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| Lead Stories | SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Entities and Founder Changpeng Zhao; Charges include operating unregistered exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing agencies; misrepresenting trading controls and oversight on the Binance.US platform; and the unregistered offer and sale of securities.
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Binance Holdings Ltd. ("Binance"), which operates the largest crypto asset trading platform in the world, Binance.com; U.S.-based affiliate, BAM Trading Services Inc. ("BAM Trading"), which, together with Binance, operates the crypto asset trading platform, Binance.US; and their founder, Changpeng Zhao, with a variety of securities law violations.
/jlne.ws/3CwZv9z
Cboe Wins Approval for Margin Trades on Crypto Futures Exchange
Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg
Traders on Cboe Global Markets Inc.'s digital-asset exchange will soon be able to enter into margined Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts after the firm received a critical regulatory sign-off on Monday. Cboe Digital won approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to offer physically and financially settled margined contracts beginning in the second half of this year, according to a statement.
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SEC sues Coinbase for allegedly violating US securities law; US markets regulator steps up crackdown on digital assets market
Scott Chipolina and Nikou Asgari - Financial Times
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has sued crypto exchange Coinbase for allegedly violating securities law as it steps up its crackdown on the digital assets market. The US regulator said on Tuesday that San Francisco-based Coinbase "has never registered" with the regulator as a broker, national securities exchange or clearing agency.
/jlne.ws/3oRnSeQ
***** Here are The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times versions of this story.~JJL
FCA fines ED&F Man Capital Markets £17mn over its role in 'cum-ex' tax scandal; Penalty for 'serious failings' in trading oversight was largest imposed by British authorities on London-based firms
Nikou Asgari - Financial Times
The UK markets regulator has fined broker ED&F Man Capital Markets £17.2mn for its role in the "cum-ex" trading affair, marking the largest penalty imposed by British authorities for one of Europe's largest tax scandals. The Financial Conduct Authority on Monday fined the London broker for "serious failings" in its oversight of trading schemes that allowed clients to illegitimately reclaim tax on dividends in Denmark.
/jlne.ws/3CwP85D
SEC's Regulatory Net Now Covers $115 Billion of Crypto After Lawsuit Against Binance
Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
The list of digital tokens deemed as unregistered securities by the Securities and Exchange Commission now spans over $115 billion of crypto after the US agency's lawsuit against Binance Holdings Ltd. The regulator in the complaint on Monday cited a dozen coins as assets that fall under its purview. Such a designation comes with strict investor protection rules and could make the tokens harder to trade if exchanges shy away from listing them for fear of falling foul of the SEC.
/jlne.ws/43sAgky
Binance Customers Pull Out $2 Billion in Two Hours
Elaine Yu - The Wall Street Journal
Binance's customers withdrew more than $2 billion of assets in just two hours, in a brief spike of outflows after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued the cryptocurrency exchange. The withdrawals occurred between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET on Monday, according to data provider CryptoQuant. It said the assets taken out represented less than 5% of Binance's reserves, and that withdrawals moderated later in the day.
/jlne.ws/42kRE9v
What Is Happening With Binance? The SEC sued the largest crypto exchange and its controlling shareholder
Dave Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued global crypto exchange Binance, its founder Changpeng Zhao and its American affiliate Binance.US. The civil suit alleges they showed "blatant disregard for the federal securities laws" and enriched themselves at investors' expense. The complaint also says Binance commingled customer funds and put users' assets at risk. The SEC's suit grabbed headlines because Binance is the largest global crypto exchange. The world of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin has been under scrutiny since Binance's onetime rival, FTX, collapsed last November. Prosecutors say FTX defrauded its users.
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US sues Binance and founder Zhao over 'web of deception'
Hannah Lang, Jonathan Stempel and Tom Wilson - Reuters
U.S. regulators sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao on Monday for allegedly operating a "web of deception," piling further pressure on the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange and sending bitcoin to its lowest in almost three months. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint, filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C., listed 13 charges against Binance, Zhao and the operator of its purportedly independent U.S. exchange.
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SEC Says Binance Misused Customer Funds, Ran Illegal Crypto Exchange in U.S.; Regulator's lawsuit asks federal judge to freeze company's assets
Dave Michaels, Caitlin Ostroff and Patricia Kowsmann - The Wall Street Journal
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, alleging the overseas company operated an illegal trading platform in the U.S. and misused customers' funds. The SEC lawsuit also named Changpeng Zhao, Binance's founder and controlling shareholder, as a defendant.
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Crypto exchange Binance sued by SEC in latest blow from US regulators; Platform alleged to have sent billions of dollars to trading firm owned by chief executive
Scott Chipolina and Stefania Palma - Financial Times
The US securities market watchdog has sued Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, accusing it of violations including mixing billions of dollars of customer cash with a separate trading firm owned by its chief executive. The 13 civil charges filed on Monday by the Securities and Exchange Commission are the latest regulatory blow to Binance and its chief, Changpeng Zhao, after another US financial agency sued it in March.
/jlne.ws/3qmAieR
One strike and they're out: traders threaten liquidity stoppage; PTFs vow to withdraw from Treasuries market in protest at SEC registration plans
Bernard Goyder - Risk.net
It's said that the right to strike is among the foundations of a free society, though it is a right more commonly exercised by ordinary workers than by masters of the financial universe. Yet the strikes that hedge funds and proprietary trading firms (PTFs) are threatening to impose on the US Treasuries market would involve a withdrawal not of labour, but liquidity.
/jlne.ws/3qoEXwV
Ex-NFL Investor Gets Six Years in Prison for Crypto Scam
Bob Van Voris and Chris Dolmetsch - Bloomberg
A former minority owner of the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings was ordered to serve more than six years behind bars, forfeit $740 million and pay $53 million in restitution after admitting he helped cryptocurrency exchanges avoid money-laundering rules. Reginald Fowler, 64, an Arizona businessman who was part of a group of investors that bought the Vikings in 2005, was sentenced to 75 months in prison Monday by US District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. in New York.
/jlne.ws/3oLgj9t
Binance Withdrawal On Track to be Largest Since March Crypto Banking Crisis
Krisztian Sandor - CoinDesk
Cryptocurrency traders are withdrawing funds from crypto exchange Binance at highest level since banking crisis in March, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the company and its CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao for violating federal securities law on Monday. Blockchain data shows that the exchange endured some $503 million in net outflows on Monday, according to a Dune Analytics chart by crypto investment product provider 21Shares.
/jlne.ws/3MQy3rS
SEC Sues Binance. What It Means for Bitcoin and Coinbase.
Jack Denton - Barron's
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, with a range of securities violations on Monday. This has struck a blow at the heart of crypto and the effect is rippling across markets. Bitcoin was down more than 5% in afternoon trading to about $25,700. Shares of Coinbase Global (ticker: COIN), the big publicly traded crypto exchange, were off 12% to about $57.
/jlne.ws/3qsihvM
Coinbase and Binance want to dominate crypto. But both could lose to Charles Schwab and Wall Street, says new report
Jeff John Roberts - Fortune
Who is going to emerge as the big dog of crypto? Ever since the collapse of FTX last fall, the favorites have been market leader Binance and long-time incumbent Coinbase. Now, though, there's a chance both companies will fall short and the crypto crown will instead go to one of the new players backed by the likes of Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Citadel, and others in traditional finance.
/jlne.ws/3WTUXn1
Coinbase Risks 30% Revenue Hit If SEC Takes Similar Action to Binance, Analysts Warn
Jack Denton - Barron's
Coinbase Global risks a revenue hit of more than 30% if it suffers a similar fate to crypto exchange Binance, which was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, analysts warn
/jlne.ws/3J2OMaj
Park Hotels Stops Debt Payments on Two San Francisco Properties
Patrick Clark - Bloomberg
Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. has stopped making payments on a loan tied to the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and the Parc 55 San Francisco, two of the city's largest hotels, dealing another blow to a downtown struggling with remote work and mounting public safety concerns.
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Kyiv dismisses Russian reports of Ukrainian counteroffensive
Reuters
Russian reports that Ukraine has begun a counteroffensive are meant to distract attention from losses Russian forces are taking around the eastern city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday. Moscow said it had thwarted a major Ukrainian assault involving six mechanised and two tank battalions in the south of Ukraine's Donetsk region.
/jlne.ws/3WTkDQy
Ukrainian forces step up attacks on multiple Russian positions; Kyiv dismisses Russian claims of failed thrust in Donetsk region by armoured battalions
Roman Olearchyk and Max Seddon - Financial Times
Ukraine's armed forces stepped up attacks against multiple Russian positions in the east of the country as Kyiv's long-awaited counter-offensive entered a new phase after weeks of preparatory operations. Ukrainian officials refused to discuss whether the uptick in offensive activity in Donetsk province over the weekend and into Monday amounted to the start of full-blown counter-offensive.
/jlne.ws/3oLgnpJ
Ukraine's European Neighbors Extend Grain Purchase Ban; European Commission prolongs restrictions until September; Restrictions add to obstacles for Ukraine grain exports
Maciej Martewicz, Aine Quinn and Alberto Nardelli - Bloomberg
Ukraine's European neighbors are extending a ban on purchasing some of the country's grain until mid-September, a move that risks fueling tensions between Kyiv and its allies. In late April, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria agreed to replace unilateral import bans on crop shipments from Ukraine with European Union restrictions.
/jlne.ws/43Ax4mu
Collapse of major dam in southern Ukraine triggers emergency as Moscow and Kyiv blame each other
Associated Press
The wall of a major dam in a part of southern Ukraine that Moscow controls collapsed Tuesday, triggering floods, endangering Europe's largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war rushed to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the emergency.
/jlne.ws/43GQshC
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who spent months on the ground in Bakhmut, said the Kremlin's claims about inflicting heavy losses on Ukraine are 'wild and absurd science fiction'
Matthew Loh - Business Insider
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Russian mercenary company that fought in Bakhmut, says he's not buying Moscow's claims that it inflicted heavy losses on Ukrainian troops in Donetsk. Russia's defense ministry on Tuesday said it had quashed a major offensive by Ukraine, wiping out 1,500 enemy soldiers, 109 armored vehicles, and 28 tanks - including eight Leopard tanks provided by Germany and three AMX-10 reconnaisance vehicles from France.
/jlne.ws/43nE1aU
Ukraine war latest: Zelensky condemns Russian 'terrorists' after dam attack
Maighna Nanu - The Telegraph
/jlne.ws/45QYxlG
Russia's Dam-Busting Is Another War Crime; Are dams fair game in warfare? Nuclear power plants? It's not as if Vladimir Putin would care.
Andreas Kluth - Bloomberg
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Cboe Digital Receives Approval to Launch Margin Futures on Bitcoin and Ether
Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Clear Digital announced it has received the necessary approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to expand its product offering to include margined futures contracts. The initial product launch will include physically and financially settled Bitcoin and Ether contracts in the second half of 2023. Cboe Digital is the first U.S. regulated crypto native exchange and clearinghouse combination platform to offer leveraged derivatives products. Cboe Digital's vision to bring trust and transparency to crypto spot and derivatives markets is an intermediary-inclusive model.
/jlne.ws/3oRpIMM
Cboe Global Markets Reports Trading Volume for May 2023
Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today reported May monthly trading volume statistics across its global business lines. The data sheet "Cboe Global Markets Monthly Volume & RPC/Net Revenue Capture Report" contains an overview of certain May trading statistics and market share by business segment, volume in select index products, and RPC/net capture, which is reported on a one-month lag, across business lines.
/jlne.ws/43HDArr
Miami International Holdings Reports Trading Results for May 2023; MIAX Exchange Group Reports Strong Growth with Multiple Volume and Market Share Records in Options and Equities
Miami International Holdings
Miami International Holdings, Inc. today reported May 2023 trading results for its U.S. exchange subsidiaries - MIAX®, MIAX Pearl® and MIAX Emerald® (together, the MIAX Exchange Group), and Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX™).
/jlne.ws/3MQ7tPz
Nasdaq May 2023 Volumes
Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today reported monthly volumes for May 2023 on its investor relations website. A data sheet showing this information can be found at: http://ir.nasdaq.com/financials/volume-statistics.
/jlne.ws/3IXme1U
TMX Group Consolidated Trading Statistics - May 2023
TMX Group
TMX Group Limited today announced May 2023 trading statistics for its marketplaces - Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange and Montréal Exchange.
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ICE Announces Record Traded Volumes in TTF Natural Gas
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced that a record number of TTF natural gas futures and options traded during May 2023 as the market manages natural gas price risk exposure. A record 5.7 million TTF futures and options traded during May, equivalent to a record 4,158 Terawatt hours. Liquidity in ICE's benchmark TTF market has grown strongly in 2023 with open interest up 37% year-over-year (y/y) at 2.6 million contracts, the highest level since January 2022. In addition, ICE is seeing record market participation in its TTF futures and options markets, with hedging out to December 2031.
/jlne.ws/3IUPHtm
CCP12 Responses to the SEC Proposed Rule 10
CCP12
Re: SEC Proposes New Rule on Cybersecurity Risk Management Rule for Broker-Dealers, Clearing Agencies, Major Security-Based Swap Participants, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, National Securities Associations, National Securities Exchanges, Security-Based Swap Data Repositories, Security-Based Swap Dealers, and Transfer Agents. The Global Association of Central Counterparties ("CCP12") appreciates the opportunity to comment on the SEC's Proposed Rule 10 ("Rule 10 Proposal" or "Proposal"). CCP12 represents 42 members from around the world, who operate over 60 individual central counterparties (CCPs), representing over 95% of the centrally cleared risk management in Initial Margin terms.
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ASX Group Monthly Activity Report - May 2023
ASX group
Attached is a copy of the ASX Group Monthly Activity Report for May 2023.
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Investor Day Market Release
ASX
Attached is a market release relating to the ASX investor day briefing being held today. The briefing will commence at 10am (Sydney time) and will be webcast live. Register to view the briefing here. The webcast will be archived on ASX's website for viewing after the live event.
/jlne.ws/351gPmZ
Review of the DAX index family
Deutsche Boerse
Change to MDAX, SDAX and TecDAX; No change in the DAX; STOXX Ltd., the global index provider of Qontigo, has announced the new composition of the DAX index family effective June 19, 2023. DAX, MDAX, SDAX and TecDAX represent the largest companies in the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange; they are reviewed every three months. Selection is based on free float market capitalization. In accordance with the " Guide to the DAX Equity Indices " set of rules, the DAX index family is reviewed according to the Fast Exit and Fast Entry rules during the June review.
/jlne.ws/45NCVqo
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | ChatGPT Needs to Go to College. Will OpenAI Pay?; There's money to be made on data used to train AI. That could make the next ChatGPT more expensive - and more dominant.
Parmy Olson - Bloomberg
For all the intelligence that we like to ascribe to ChatGPT, the chatbot was essentially homeschooled. Its creator OpenAI trained it on the vast, imperfect glory of the public internet - one reason why ChatGPT makes so many embarrassing mistakes. A lawyer who recently used the chatbot to write his court brief realized he'd blundered when it cited six nonexistent cases.
/jlne.ws/43n5NUJ
AI Is Going to Change Investing. Here's How It Could Play Out.
Andy Serwer - Barron's
A few days after Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, as a young, somewhat tech-knowledgeable reporter at Fortune, I was summoned by the magazine's board of editors to explain why the market had fallen 22%. I was to spell out to members of this hoary group (some of whom were smoking pipes) what program trading was and how it contributed to the market crash.
/jlne.ws/3MVmtvK
Broadridge's LTX launches OpenAI GPT-4 powered application to service bond market; Named BondGPT, the new application will help to simplify workflows and increase efficiency for users' bond selection and portfolio construction processes.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Broadridge Financial Solutions subsidiary LTX has launched BondGPT, an application powered by OpenAI GPT-4 which answers bond-related questions and helps users identify corporate bonds on the LTX platform.
/jlne.ws/3Cc7usn
Bloomberg Terminal adds BSE real-time pricing data to offering; This follows the launch of securities lending and market-making businesses by the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) earlier this year.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Bloomberg has incorporated real-time pricing data from the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) into its Bloomberg Terminal - accessible to users via the exchange code "JC" - it announced today. The real-time pricing data of the securities and indices listed on BSE was officially made available on the Bloomberg Terminal from last Thursday, 1 June.
/jlne.ws/3Cj5C0I
Crypto and blockchain technology can be crucial tools that help keep AI from running wild, Coinbase says
Max Adams - Business Insider
The pace of development of artificial intelligence has been breathtaking, but with those strides in generative AI arise a myriad of problems experts say might only get worse as the technology becomes more sophisticated. But there might be a guardrail that can be easily erected to prevent AI from running wild and turning our nightmares of robot overlords into reality. That necessary protective layer might be the blockchain.
/jlne.ws/3NfqjRO
JPMorgan Turns to Blockchain for Dollar Trades in India Hub
Saikat Das and Subhadip Sircar - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3qyswP5
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | British Airways, Boots and BBC among companies hit by cyber security attack; Tens of thousands of workers affected by breach of sensitive data in hack expected to spread to the US
Mehul Srivastava, Robert Wright Daniel Thomas and Laura Onita - Financial Times
Tens of thousands of employees at some of Britain's biggest companies have had their personal data compromised by a Russian-speaking criminal gang in a widespread hack expected to spread to the US and ensnare more victims. British Airways, Boots and the BBC were among the groups to warn employees on Monday they had been affected by the breach that hit software used by Zellis, the UK payroll provider which serves nearly half of FTSE 100 companies.
/jlne.ws/3MUd8UH
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Binance, US platform, CEO face SEC lawsuit over alleged securities violations
Forkast
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has initiated legal action against cryptocurrency exchange Binance, its U.S. platform, and Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao, levying charges related to securities violations. The suit was filed on June 5, in the District Court for the District of Columbia.
/jlne.ws/3NcGcav
El Salvador's Volcano Energy Secures $1B in Commitments for 241 MW Bitcoin Mine
Eliza Gkritsi - CoinDesk
Volcano Energy announced $1 billion in commitments to build a 241 megawatt (MW) bitcoin mine in the Metapán region of El Salvador, according to a Monday press release on Twitter. One of the investors is Tether, the issuer of stablecoin USDT, according to a separate press release shared with CoinDesk. The mining site will be powered with 169 MW of solar and 72 MW of wind energy to bring computing power of over 1.3 exahash/second (EH/s), the press releases said.
/jlne.ws/3P0juEP
Hong Kong markets watchdog SFC 'very supportive' of new tech, 'happy to discuss' tokenisation with fund industry
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's markets watchdog is "very supportive" of the industry using new technology, including tokenisation, an executive of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said on Monday. "We support tokenisation," Elizabeth Wong, director of licensing and head of the commission's fintech unit, told a conference of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association. "If you want to tokenise a public fund, we would be happy to discuss with the industry."
/jlne.ws/3qtSW4I
SEC Sues Coinbase Over Staking Services, Failing to Register
Liam J. Kelly - Decrypt
A day after cracking down on Binance, the SEC is now taking aim at Coinbase. The Commission alleges in a new lawsuit that the crypto exchange failed to register as an exchange, clearing house, and broker despite providing investors these services. The SEC also alleges that Coinbase offered and sold unregistered securities via its staking service.
/jlne.ws/3oN4iQG
Crypto giant Binance controlled 'independent' US affiliate's bank accounts
Angus Berwick and Tom Wilson - Reuters
A senior Binance executive was the main operator for five bank accounts belonging to the giant cryptocurrency exchange's purportedly independent U.S. affiliate, including an account that held American customers' funds, bank records show. U.S. lender Silvergate Bank authorized the executive, Guangying Chen, a close associate of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, to operate the accounts in 2019 and 2020, according to records from those years.
/jlne.ws/43o7mC5
Binance Lawsuit Could Be 'Huge Mistake' or Bring Needed Clarity to U.S. Crypto Industry
Helene Braun - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3CdCkAN
Binance seeking to 'demonstrate that we are a new organization' as regulatory headwinds swirl
Leo Schwartz - Fortune
/jlne.ws/3NeuKw0
Kraken says systems operational after issue with crypto gateways
Reuters
/jlne.ws/3MSDx5p
The Corporate Metaverse Was on Life Support. Apple May or May Not Change That; Apple's much anticipated virtual-reality headset announcement Monday generated excitement but comes months after signs that metaverse tech is flailing
Isabelle Bousquette - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/42FHJLX
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon to meet with group of US House Democrats- Bloomberg News
Reuters
JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon will meet privately with a group of moderate House Democrats on Tuesday, with banking and the U.S. economy on the agenda, Bloomberg News reported on Monday citing people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/3MRD8jQ
Cornel West Takes On Biden and Trump as Third-Party Candidate in 2024; West running as candidate for left-wing People's Party; Former Sanders surrogate criticized Obama as too centrist
Akayla Gardner - Bloomberg
Cornel West unexpectedly announced Monday he is running for president as the candidate for a left-wing, populist third-party. "In these bleak times, I have decided to run for truth and justice which takes the form of running for president of the United States as a candidate for the People's Party," West said in a video posted on Twitter.
/jlne.ws/3MQIr2L
Macron Tries a Mea Culpa on NATO and Ukraine; But Paris's latest push for European leadership and cooperation will face resistance.
Lionel Laurent - Bloomberg
Emmanuel Macron's love of sweeping, De Gaulle-style rhetoric has gotten the French leader into hot water with his allies - whether it was declaring NATO "brain dead," arguing the need to not "humiliate" Russia after the Ukraine invasion, or casting Europeans as American "vassals."
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Statement of Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson Regarding Settlement with Cody Easterday for Massive Fraud, False Statements to an Exchange, and Position Limits Violations
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Today, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington issued an order granting a permanent injunction to resolve pending litigation against Cody Easterday (Consent Order). Easterday had previously been charged by the Commission for engaging in fraud in connection with the sale of more than 200,000 head of "ghost" cattle-which did not, in fact, exist-to Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. (Tyson), a beef processor and part of a corporate family that together constitute one of the largest food suppliers in the world, as well as with making false statements to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and violating exchange-set position limits.
/jlne.ws/3MTWogj
Statement of Commissioner Goldsmith Romero on the Importance of Protecting Commodity Markets Against Excessive Speculation in the Ghost Cattle Fraud Case CFTC v. Cody Easterday
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
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.
/jlne.ws/3oLn5fn
Federal Court Orders Washington Rancher to Pay $1 Million Penalty for Phantom Cattle Scheme, Position Limit Violations
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced Chief Judge Stanley A. Bastian of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington issued an order granting a permanent injunction against Cody Easterday and requiring him to pay a $1 million civil monetary penalty in connection with a phantom cattle fraud scheme.
/jlne.ws/3Cam6bL
CFTC Approves Cboe Clear Digital, LLC to Clear Margined Digital Asset Futures
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today approved an amended order of registration for Cboe Clear Digital, LLC (Cboe Clear) to clear additional products, subject to the terms and conditions specified in the order, as a derivatives clearing organization (DCO) under the Commodity Exchange Act.
/jlne.ws/3qvo2sH
Statement of CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero Regarding Cboe Clear Digital, LLC's Expanded Clearing of Digital Asset Futures
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
I support Cboe Clear Digital, LLC's ("Cboe") amended order of registration ("Order"), which authorizes Cboe to expand its clearing of futures contracts on crypto assets, while staying within the traditional U.S. futures intermediated market structure. The Order is accompanied by prudent risk-mitigation measures implemented by Cboe to complement policies and practices meeting DCO regulatory requirements.
/jlne.ws/45MgCS1
SEC Claims Solana, Polygon, Cardano Are Securities in Binance Lawsuit
Andre Beganski - Decrypt
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unveiled a high-profile lawsuit against Binance on Monday, but a slew of altcoins like Solana and Polygon are also in the agency's sights. Binance and the exchange's CEO Changpeng Zhao were hit with 13 charges, accused of conduct like commingling customers' funds and trying to evade U.S. securities laws with "sham controls" for determining who can do business with the firm.
/jlne.ws/3qzR1ve
SEC Quietly Removes Director William Hinman's Bio From Website
Andre Beganski - Decrypt
An adage for the digital age says nothing can ever be deleted from the internet. Yet, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has done its best to scrub the biography page of William Hinman. Hinman was the director of the SEC's corporation finance division from 2017 through 2020. While Hinman's bio page on the SEC's website once delved into the former director's professional past, the details it contains are now scant.
/jlne.ws/45GcCCq
BNB, CAKE Plummet Following SEC Crackdown on Binance
Sage D. Young - CoinDesk
The prices of BNB AND CAKE - two significant tokens in the Binance ecosystem - have plummeted in the four hours after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit against the centralized exchange, data from blockchain analytics firm Cryptowatch shows. BNB, which has a total market dominance of 3.86% according to CoinGecko, has dropped more than 8% from $300 to $276 in the past four hours, while CAKE has slid roughly 9% from $1.70 to $1.54, at press time.
/jlne.ws/42ulyYK
Why the SEC is suing Binance
Nate DiCamillo - Quartz
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by volume, alleging that the company sold unregistered securities in the US. The company also faces a lawsuit from the US Commodities and Futures Commission (CFTC) alleging that the exchange sold unregistered commodities derivatives to US retail investors.
/jlne.ws/42ulPee
SEC Charges Coinbase for Operating as an Unregistered Securities Exchange, Broker, and Clearing Agency
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Coinbase, Inc. with operating its crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. The SEC also charged Coinbase for failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.
/jlne.ws/45MBAAc
SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Entities and Founder Changpeng Zhao
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Binance Holdings Ltd. ("Binance"), which operates the largest crypto asset trading platform in the world, Binance.com; U.S.-based affiliate, BAM Trading Services Inc. ("BAM Trading"), which, together with Binance, operates the crypto asset trading platform, Binance.US; and their founder, Changpeng Zhao, with a variety of securities law violations.
/jlne.ws/3CwZv9z
FCA fines ED&F Man Capital Markets £17mn over its role in 'cum-ex' tax scandal
Nikou Asgari - Financial Times
The UK markets regulator has fined broker ED&F Man Capital Markets £17.2mn for its role in the "cum-ex" trading affair, marking the largest penalty imposed by British authorities for one of Europe's largest tax scandals. The Financial Conduct Authority on Monday fined the London broker for "serious failings" in its oversight of trading schemes that allowed clients to illegitimately reclaim tax on dividends in Denmark.
/jlne.ws/3CwP85D
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | One strike and they're out: traders threaten liquidity stoppage; PTFs vow to withdraw from Treasuries market in protest at SEC registration plans
Bernard Goyder - Risk.net
It's said that the right to strike is among the foundations of a free society, though it is a right more commonly exercised by ordinary workers than by masters of the financial universe. Yet the strikes that hedge funds and proprietary trading firms (PTFs) are threatening to impose on the US Treasuries market would involve a withdrawal not of labour, but liquidity.
/jlne.ws/3qoEXwV
Transcript: Jim Grant Warns of a Bond Selloff Lasting for Years; The muscle memory of the Zirp era is taking a long time to fade.
Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway - Bloomberg
If you think interest rates seem high right now, you might be operating with too short of a perspective. For a longer-term perspective, you'd want to talk to someone like Jim Grant. On this episode of the Odd Lots podcast, the founder and editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer and a long-time financial commentator talks to us about why we're at the beginning of a longer-term trend of higher rates that could last decades.
/jlne.ws/3oRnmNR
HSBC Plans Hong Kong Summit to Fill Gap Left by Credit Suisse; Lender plans inaugural global investment summit in April 2024; HSBC under pressure from politics, activist shareholders in HK
Denise Wee - Bloomberg
HSBC Holdings Plc plans to hold a new flagship investor conference in Hong Kong next year to replace the marquee event now being dropped by Credit Suisse Group AG. The London-headquartered bank is planning to hold an event at the upscale Conrad Hotel from April 8 to 10 in the Central business district, historically the venue for Credit Suisse's annual Asian Investment Conference.
/jlne.ws/45RVsll
'Fear of missing out' drives retail investors to ride AI wave; Net purchases of US stocks hit highest daily level in three months, VandaTrack data shows
George Steer - Financial Times
Retail investors have increased their exposure to technology stocks after missing out on the market rally driven this year by artificial intelligence, with many having preferred cash or low-risk money market funds. Net purchases of US stocks by retail investors hit almost $1.5bn on May 30 and 31, the highest daily figures in three months, data from VandaTrack shows.
/jlne.ws/3OXLwAR
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Biden admin. moves to nix US states' challenge to ESG investing rule
Daniel Wiessner - Reuters
The Biden administration has asked a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit by Republican-led states seeking to strike down a rule allowing socially-conscious investing by employee retirement plans. The U.S. Department of Justice in a filing in Amarillo, Texas federal court on Friday said the rule was needed to replace improper limitations that the Trump administration had placed on considering environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors in making investment decisions.
/jlne.ws/3J2SrVB
Climate risks are making California uninsurable. When will we wake up?
Kate Aronoff - The Guardian
State Farm, the country's largest property insurer, announced this week that it will almost entirely stop issuing new policies in California, the country's largest property insurance market. The reasons for forgoing all that new business are entirely economic. The company cited "historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure, and a challenging reinsurance market". Those things are owed largely to the wildfires engulfing bigger parts of the state in bigger chunks of the year.
/jlne.ws/3CftfYo
US Treasuries Blacklisted by German State as ESG Law Takes Hold
Greg Ritchie - Bloomberg
For an illustration of how wildly different the debate around ESG is in Europe and the US, look no further than the German state of Baden-Württemberg. One of the richest regions in Europe's biggest economy, and the home of Mercedes-Benz Group AG as well as Robert Bosch GmbH, adopted a law this year that puts investing sustainably on par with more traditional criteria such as profitability and liquidity. It's a decision that may affect as much as a fifth of the state's EUR17 billion ($18 billion) of holdings, as it pivots away from ESG laggards.
/jlne.ws/45Pdpkz
Federal Hydrogen Program Is Cutting Out Local Groups, Threatening Climate Goals, Advocates Say; Environmental groups sent a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warning that a lack of transparency in an $8 billion clean hydrogen program leaves communities "entirely in the dark."
Nicholas Kusnetz - Inside Climate News
As a key piece of President Joe Biden's climate agenda takes shape, environmental groups are warning that his administration is undermining its own goals by shielding a federal grant program from public scrutiny. The Energy Department's $8 billion clean hydrogen program is poised to begin funding projects later this year, but officials have refused to disclose information about who has applied or how applicants plan to use the public money.
/jlne.ws/3oOmNEw
Moving Saharan Sunshine to Europe via Undersea Cables; At least a half-dozen projects under consideration would transmit electricity from solar and wind installations in North Africa.
Todd Gillespie and Eamon Akil Farhat - Bloomberg
For decades, North Africa has been a key supplier of fossil fuels to Europe, with oil and gas fields pumping millions of barrels a month that power cars and heat homes from Athens to Aberdeen. Now, as European energy companies seek to cut carbon emissions, they're looking to the region for a new source of power: solar and wind farms that would ship electricity northward via undersea cables.
/jlne.ws/3WYsfRW
Global Plastics Treaty a "Sign of Ambition"
Jack Grogan-Fenn - ESG Investor
/jlne.ws/3qoKTGh
Airlines urge co-operation to help curb emissions
Reuters
/jlne.ws/45NkLVE
Toyota Faces First Climate Lobbying Shareholder Resolution
Aaran Fronda - ESG Investor
/jlne.ws/43JpDcB
World Economic Forum and ISSB partner to compile learnings on early sustainability reporting efforts
IFRS Foundation
/jlne.ws/3IXhklw
India Prefers Negotiating With EU on Carbon Tax to WTO Complaint; Officials see bilateral talks as a faster way to a solution; EU's carbon border mechanism to kick off from October
Adrija Chatterjee, Vrishti Beniwal and Swansy Afonso - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3CfwIpS
Investors Ignoring "Critical" Plastic Sector Risks
Jack Grogan-Fenn - ESG Investor
/jlne.ws/3MKyzYs
ASIC Chair's AFR ESG Summit Speech: Speech By ASIC Chair Joe Longo At The AFR Environmental, Social, And Governance (ESG) Summit, 5 June 2023.
Mondovisione
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | BRICS Raging Against the Dollar Is an Exercise in Futility; Talk of a common currency displacing the greenback is wishful at best.
Marcus Ashworth - Bloomberg
The exorbitant privilege the US enjoys from the dollar being unambiguously the world's reserve currency is under attack again. The emerging market BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are trying to attract hangers-on by whipping up talk of a rival to dethrone King Dollar. It's going to fail for all the usual reasons. As the King himself, Elvis Presley, sang: A little less conversation, a little more action, please.
/jlne.ws/3CfZCpA
UBS expects agreement on Credit Suisse loss guarantee by June 7 - SEC filing
Reuters
UBS expects to finalize its agreement with the Swiss government to cover up to 9 billion Swiss francs ($9.92 billion) in losses from its emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by June 7, the Swiss bank said in a regulatory filing published on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3WRfMPH
Julius Baer Seeks $250 Million From World's Rich for Buyout Bets
Myriam Balezou and Ben Stupples - Bloomberg
Julius Baer Group Ltd. is ramping up a private equity bet for its rich clients, joining a growing number of firms boosting their focus on alternative investments to help navigate the shifting macroeconomic landscape. The Swiss bank plans to raise $250 million from clients for the largest fund yet under its flagship private equity program, according to marketing documents seen Bloomberg. That would take the total collected since the program began four years ago to about $731 million.
/jlne.ws/43IJ855
Review of the DAX index family | Press Releases
Press Releases - Qontigo
Qontigo's global index provider STOXX Ltd. has announced the new composition of the DAX index family, which will become effective on 19 June 2023.
/jlne.ws/3IWRwpL
Sequoia Splits Into Three Entities, Makes China Standalone Firm; Sequoia to become three separate entities based on geography; Split will happen no later than end of March next year
Lulu Yilun Chen - Bloomberg
Sequoia Capital, the venture capital powerhouse, is breaking up into three entities across the globe, splitting the Chinese and US operations as tensions grow between the world's two largest economies.
/jlne.ws/3OXxQWn
Calamos files to launch convertible bond ETF; The actively managed vehicle will come to market nearly 40 years after the manager's first mutual fund offering
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
Calamos Investments, one of the pioneers in convertible bond funds, has filed to bring its expertise to exchange traded fund investors nearly 40 years after first mutual fund offering.
/jlne.ws/3Ne1HbQ
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Elon Musk says China will initiate AI regulations
Kanishka Singh and Nandita Bose - Reuters
The Chinese government will seek to initiate artificial intelligence regulations in its country, billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday after meeting with officials during his recent trip to China. Musk did not elaborate further and made his remarks in a Twitter Space with Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday.
/jlne.ws/3WTLPif
A New CEO Says Employees Can't Work Remotely After All, and They Revolt; After insurer Farmers Group told staff last year they would be remote, some sold cars or moved cities
Peter Grant - The Wall Street Journal
After insurance-industry company Farmers Group told employees last year that most of them would be remote workers, many made significant lifestyle changes in response to the policy. Some sold their cars, others expanded home offices or moved their families to new cities. Then last month, Raul Vargas, who recently took over as chief executive, said he was reversing the approach. He would require the majority of Farmers employees to be in the office three days a week.
/jlne.ws/45S6qHx
A new high for Chicago's return-to-office numbers
Sophie Rodgers - Crain's Chicago Business
June 01, 2023 - The average number of Chicago workers who are back in the office hasn't been this high since the pandemic began. And local figures are trending ahead of the national average. That's according to data from real estate technology firm Kastle Systems, which analyzes building security card swipes and compares current figures to early 2020.
/jlne.ws/3pcnlDP
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Another Great Reason to Stop Eating Sugar; European sugar inflation is higher than other foods - and it's sticky. Manufacturers are cashing in.
Chris Bryant - Bloomberg
Europeans with a sweet tooth are having a bad summer. The market price of sugar has soared 80% in the past year, pushing up the cost of soft drinks, candy and ice cream. Though health officials probably think no price is high enough, sugar makes other food inflation look tame - and far less sticky.
/jlne.ws/3MQogSQ
NYC Is Bathed in Smoke from Canadian Wildfires: Weather Watch; Canada's fires and smoky air across parts of the US are on Bloomberg Green's radar today.
Brian K Sullivan - Bloomberg
New York City is bathed in a blanket of unhealthy air as smoke from Canadian wildfires seeps across much of the eastern US and Great Lakes areas. The city's five boroughs have some of the worst air in the US right now. The US government online platform AirNow, which rates air quality getting progressively worse from zero to 500, shows levels reaching into the 150s now.
/jlne.ws/3P0xkaf
The European Commission and WHO launch landmark digital health initiative to strengthen global health security
WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) and European Commission have announced today the launch of a landmark digital health partnership. In June 2023, WHO will take up the European Union (EU) system of digital COVID-19 certification to establish a global system that will help facilitate global mobility and protect citizens across the world from on-going and future health threats, including pandemics. This is the first building block of the WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN) that will develop a wide range of digital products to deliver better health for all.
/jlne.ws/3quCf9l
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China Biodiesel Exporters Pledge Fraud Crackdown After Criticism; Chinese association promises closer monitoring, zero tolerance; Follows European complaints that firms may be mixing fuels
Alfred Cang and Agnieszka de Sousa - Bloomberg
Chinese biodiesel producers pledged to improve compliance and export standards, days after European rivals called for action to stem "potentially fraudulent" shipments. A group representing the country's biggest producers and affiliated with the technology ministry promised closer monitoring of the quality and sourcing of biofuels.
/jlne.ws/42quxKo
Brothers Fighting Fraud Charges From India Are Flourishing in Nigeria
William Clowes - Bloomberg
At a ceremony in November, the Nigerian government celebrated the discovery of as many as 1 billion barrels of oil in the country's arid northeast, almost 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) away from the crude-rich Niger Delta. The state's partners in the multi-billion dollar project in the impoverished, landlocked corner of the country is a company founded by two brothers from India. The siblings have built the largest independent oil company in Africa's biggest crude producing nation even as India pursues them as criminals - accusing them of perpetrating "one of the largest economic scams in the country."
/jlne.ws/3Cfduk4
Dry Weather to Slash Australia's Next Wheat Crop by a Third; Australia had its second-driest May on record nationwide
Napat Kongsawad and Jasmine Ng - Bloomberg
Australia's wheat production is forecast to slump 34% in the coming season as the development of El Niño is likely to suppress rainfall across large swaths of the country, the government crop forecaster said. Dry conditions and low soil moisture in some growing regions mean that much of the 2023-24 crop has been sown dry and will require adequate and timely rain to allow plants to germinate, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences said. https://jlne.ws/3WVwZYj
London Dry Spell Tops Three Weeks, Longest Since Last Year's Heat Wave
Eamon Akil Farhat - Bloomberg
London hasn't seen rain in 22 days, close to breaking the previous longest stretch from last July when record-breaking temperatures scorched the capital. The UK's capital last saw rainfall in May 14, and there doesn't seem to be a chance of precipitation through at least June 9, according to the Met Office. This would mean the dry spell in London would extend beyond the previous 24-day record, when the lack of rain eventually led authorities to ban households from watering their gardens.
/jlne.ws/45MhiH3
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