| December 26, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
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John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The Wall Street Journal reports "Nasdaq Set to Beat NYSE in IPO Race for Fifth Year in a Row" as "U.K. chip designer Arm, which raised $5.2 billion in the year's biggest IPO, was among the companies to debut on Nasdaq."
The Smarter Markets Podcast with host David Greely has a two-part series, including one that ran on December 23, featuring Abaxx Tech Founder and CEO Joshua Crum, Head of Tech Ian Forrester, Abaxx Exchange President Dan McElDuff and Abaxx Exchange CCO Joe Raia. The second part of the series runs on December 30. The subject of the series is "what's next - on their mission to create the market infrastructure and financial technology needed to build Smarter Markets."
Many people prayed for peace on Christmas, including Pope Francis, who prayed and called for peace in Ukraine and Gaza, AFP reported.
Did you get something for Christmas you did not like? CNN has a story for you titled "What to do when someone gives you a gift you don't really want."
Did you spend too much on Christmas? Well, Entrepreneur.com has a story for you book lovers titled "The Best 15 Books on Frugal Living You Need to Read.
CNN reports a study confirms the secret to better coffee is to add water to the beans before grinding them. I will have to try it the next time I hand-grind my beans.
The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus wrote a column titled "Harvard's Claudine Gay should resign." I can't imagine any circumstances under which Gay should or could remain in her position.
JLN published the last of the news interviews from FIA EXPO over the weekend, this one with Scila's Alex Lamb. I am not sure why we did not publish it earlier, but we finally have. The last interview from EXPO we still have to publish is one I did with former NYMEX and FINRA CIO Sam Gaer for The Path to Electronic Trading video series.
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 Financial Times today offers "The Climate Game: Can you reach NetZero by 2050?" The goal is to "keep global warming to 1.5C by cutting energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050. In 2021, they reached a record 36bn tonnes a year. You must also deal with other greenhouse gases, and protect people and nature, for the planet to remain habitable." The FT says the game was created by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for the FT and is based on published scientific research and bespoke modeling by the IEA. "Good luck. The planet is counting on you," says the FT. Learn more and play the game here.~SAED
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Scila's Alex Lamb Discusses Integrated Risk and Compliance at FIA EXPO 2023
JohnLothianNews.com
Risk and compliance are more closely related than in the past, Alex Lamb told John Lothian News at FIA EXPO 2023 in a video interview in which he shared his perspective on the evolving interplay between risk management and compliance within financial institutions.
Watch the video »
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A Yearlong Way to Boost Stock-Market Returns; Investors generally wait too long to harvest tax losses from their portfolios, leaving billions on the table
Spencer Jakab - The Wall Street Journal
Holiday lights, ugly sweaters and culling your losers. December is the month American investors are bombarded with reminders to dig through their portfolios for the stocks or funds they wish they hadn't bought. Their consolation prize is the ability to reap tax savings and boost long-run returns. But making tax-loss harvesting a seasonal exercise means lots of money is left on the table.
/jlne.ws/3RCbj1l
****** Now they tell me.~JJL
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The festive case for faith-based investing; Underestimating the power of belief has led me to make some terrible financial and economic calls
Stuart Kirk - Financial Times
It's hardly Christopher Hitchens debating Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. But around this time of year, online atheists and chatroom believers love to thrash out an age-old debate: "Why God and not Santa?" That adult Homo sapiens keep faith in the former and not the latter doesn't seem inconsistent to me. A child soon questions how their bike could fit down a chimney, whereas God offers life after death. It just makes more sense.
/jlne.ws/48vB1v5
****** I know a lot of faith-based investors, or investors who put on a trade and pray.~JJL
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What Poker Can Teach You About Winning at Work; Women poker players teach professionals how to play the game to get savvy about their careers
Kayla Webster - Bloomberg
That's one of the first lessons in poker, and an important concept to grasp at work, too. Bluffing, rapid risk assessment and reading the person across the room from you in real time are all required skills in business. They're also a big reason why so many ambitious professionals learn to play Texas Hold 'em and other poker variations. And why powerful executives seek the advice of Annie Duke, a cognitive science Ph.D. and former professional poker player who teaches an executive education course on how to become decisive at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Women, especially, are missing a lot of those skills that men are taught when they grow up playing poker, says Jenny Just, a fintech founder who helped start Poker Power, an organization to teach women to play.
/jlne.ws/3RA1q4g
****** Another Jenny Just story about the power of poker on Christmas day. Today is the anniversary of a story about me in The Wall Street Journal 21 years ago, written by Peter McKay. It only took the slowest news day of the year and the birth of Christ to get me into the Journal, but I was in. And they did a dot drawing of me, too. ~JJL
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The Return of the Pagans; Hug a tree or a dollar bill, and the pagan in you shines through.
David Wolpe - Bloomberg
Take a close look at Donald Trump-the lavishness of his homes, the buildings emblazoned with his name and adorned with gold accoutrements, his insistent ego, even the degree of obeisance he evokes among his followers-and, despite the fervent support he receives from many evangelical Christians, it's hard to avoid concluding that there's something a little pagan about the man. Or consider Elon Musk. With his drive to conquer space to expand the human empire, his flirtation with anti-Semitic tropes, his 10 children with three different women, Musk embodies the wealth worship and ideological imperialism of ego that are more than a little pagan too.
/jlne.ws/41DEVjj
****** Interesting story about what it means now and earlier to be a pagan.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was Musk Blasts Public Markets, Says Indexing Has 'Gone Too Far' from Bloomberg. Second was AI Robot Outmaneuvers Humans in Maze Run Breakthrough, also from Bloomberg. Third was US threatens sanctions on banks that help fund Russia's war machine, from the Financial Times.
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| Lead Stories | This N.Y.U. Student Owns a $6 Million Crypto Mine. His Secret Is Out; A legal dispute in a tiny Texas town unexpectedly reveals how Chinese nationals can move money to the U.S. without drawing the attention of authorities in either country.
Michael Forsythe and Gabriel J.X. Dance - The New York Times
Jerry Yu has the trappings of what the Chinese call second-generation rich. He boasts a Connecticut prep-school education. He lives in a Manhattan condominium bought for $8 million from Jeffrey R. Immelt, the former General Electric chief executive. And he is the majority owner of a Bitcoin mine in Texas, acquired last year for more than $6 million. Mr. Yu, a 23-year-old student at New York University, has also become - quite unintentionally - a case study in how Chinese nationals can move money from China to the United States without drawing the attention of authorities in either country. The Texas facility, a large computing center, was not purchased with dollars. Instead, it was bought with cryptocurrency, which offers anonymity, with the transaction routed through an offshore exchange, preventing anyone from knowing the origin of the financing.
/jlne.ws/3RV8FF0
China Is Stealing AI Secrets to Turbocharge Spying, U.S. Says; U.S. officials are worried about hacking and insider theft of AI secrets, which China has denied
Robert McMillan, Dustin Volz and Aruna Viswanatha - The Wall Street Journal
On a July day in 2018, Xiaolang Zhang headed to the San Jose, Calif., airport to board a flight to Beijing. He had passed the checkpoint at Terminal B when his journey was abruptly cut short by federal agents. After a tipoff by Apple's security team, the former Apple employee was arrested and charged with stealing trade secrets related to the company's autonomous-driving program. It was a skirmish in a continuing shadow war between the U.S. and China for supremacy in artificial intelligence. The two rivals are seeking any advantage to jump ahead in mastering a technology with the potential to reshape economies, geopolitics and war. Artificial intelligence has been on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's list of critical U.S. technologies to protect, just as China placed it on a list of technologies it wanted its scientists to achieve breakthroughs on by 2025. China's AI capabilities are already believed to be formidable, but U.S. intelligence authorities have lately made new warnings beyond the threat of intellectual-property theft.
/jlne.ws/48cVeWI
Tech Hubs Are Losing the Talent War to Everywhere Else; As the tech industry grows up, talent and funding are spreading out. That's bolstering smaller cities all across the country.
Christopher Mims - The Wall Street Journal
Silicon Valley and other tech hubs are losing the tech talent war. Metro areas that consistently attracted huge numbers of tech workers have hit a turning point, according to fresh data from labor-market analytics firm Lightcast, crunched by D.C. think tank Brookings. The share of the nation's tech workers who work in places such as Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Los Angeles and the greater Washington, D.C. area is actually shrinking.
/jlne.ws/48bXZHR
SEC Blasts 'Purportedly Decentralized' DAOs in $1.7M Settlement with BarnBridge; BarnBridge failed to register its structured crypto product with the SEC, regulators alleged.
Danny Nelson - CoinDesk
Crypto investments issuer BarnBridge DAO and its founders agreed to pay $1.7 million to settle allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it offered illegal crypto securities to U.S. investors.mThe Ethereum-based crypto project will shut down its structured crypto investment product, called SMART Yield, which BarnBridge had compared to "highly rated debt instruments." Financial regulators said SMART Yield failed to register as an investment company even as it amassed $509 million from crypto investors, including some from the U.S.
/jlne.ws/3TDqvh2
Grayscale Says Barry Silbert Resigns as Chairman of the Board
Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
Grayscale Investments, operator of the world's largest cryptocurrency trust, said Barry Silbert has resigned as chairman and will be succeeded by Mark Shifke. Grayscale didn't cite a reason for the changes, which are effective Jan. 1, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Mark Murphy has also resign from the board.
/jlne.ws/48aVZzL
Banks shed 60,000 jobs in one of worst years for cuts since financial crisis; Trend set to continue over coming year amid subdued dealmaking and listing activity
Owen Walker - Financial Times
Global banks eliminated more than 60,000 jobs in 2023, marking one of the heaviest years for cuts since the financial crisis and reversing much of their hiring as they emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic. Investment banks suffered a second consecutive year of plummeting fees as dealmaking and public listings dried up, leaving Wall Street trying to protect profit margins by reducing headcount.
/jlne.ws/3NIdi2Z
The great speculative era on markets is hard to kill; A collapse in risk appetite may require a really dramatic geopolitical event or mistake by central banks
Philip Coggan - Financial Times
In most Hollywood horror movies, the monster is incredibly hard to kill. Not until the final moments of the film will it be dispatched and, even then, enough doubt will be created to leave room for a sequel. So it has been with the great speculative era on the financial markets. A pandemic, a Russo-Ukraine war and even substantially higher interest rates have not finished off the risk-taking bonanza.
/jlne.ws/3vdLmxv
Bitcoin miners splash out $600mn in race to squeeze out rivals; Firms invest in technology ahead of date next year when rewards for verifying transactions will halve
Scott Chipolina - Financial Times
Cryptocurrency miners are spending heavily on the newest technology to earn more bitcoins, trying to gain market share and squeeze out rivals ahead of a halving of their rewards in around four months' time. Miners listed on the world's stock exchanges have this month committed to spending around $600mn on buying new chips and servers that are the keystone of the digital ledger underlying bitcoin, according to The Miner Mag, an industry data provider. The December amount is nearly half of the $1.3bn total committed for the year.
/jlne.ws/3va0H1T
Show Me The Money: Inside Ken Griffin's Citadel's Jaw-Dropping $7 Billion Return
Aditi Ganguly - Benzinga
Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin is one of the most successful investors of all time, managing over $62 billion in assets. He is also the founder of Citadel Securities, the largest market-making firm for the New York Stock Exchange and one of the largest designated market makers in the world. Citadel Securities is involved in one out of four stock trades placed in U.S. exchanges and nearly 40% of all retail trades.
/jlne.ws/4aBnpR4
FTX debtors settle some claims over Embed deal with Sam Bankman-Fried, others
Reuters
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and its debtors on Friday said they have entered into a settlement agreement with founder Samuel Bankman-Fried and others to resolve some claims related to its acquisition of stock trading platform Embed. The settlement agreement is between Bankman-Fried, and former FTX executives Nishad Singh and Gary Wang.
/jlne.ws/3vbbxVz
Bank of America's bet on trading is paying off. Why don't investors care? The Wall Street bank has grown the business this year as others have shrunk - but its shares lag behind rivals'
Stephen Gandel - Financial Times
In 2021, Bank of America's equivalent of the North American air defence system started flashing warning lights. "Norad", as Glass, the bank's market analytics platform trained to predict volatility is nicknamed internally, was pointing to a sharp rise in short-term interest rates. BofA switched the positioning of its trading book and told clients to do the same.
/jlne.ws/3NHk3lk
US Treasury moves to restrict hydrogen tax breaks offered by IRA; Democratic Senator Joe Manchin says new guidance will 'kneecap' sector critical to slashing emissions
Aime Williams and Amanda Chu - Financial Times
The US has unveiled stringent new criteria hydrogen producers must meet to claim green subsidies under Joe Biden's climate legislation, in a move that has disappointed developers who warn burdensome rules will stymie the nascent industry. Guidance from the US Treasury issued on Friday would limit the $3-per-kilogramme credit to hydrogen that is made only from new clean energy projects, such as solar and wind, that are connected to the same regional grid as the hydrogen producer.
/jlne.ws/3RWE7CT
Biden's Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules Deal Nuclear Industry a Blow
Ari Natter - Bloomberg
The nation's fleet of nuclear reactors won't be able to tap into a climate law tax credit poised to provide billions of dollars to spur the production of clean hydrogen, dealing a blow to operators struggling in the face of competition from cheap natural gas and renewables. While a carve-out for the nuclear industry could be added in the future, the initial proposed rules made public by the US Treasury Department on Friday only allow hydrogen projects powered by clean energy sources brought online in the last three years to qualify for a tax credit of as much as $3-per-kilogram. That's bad news for nuclear operators such as Constellation Energy Corp., which has a nearly $1 billion plan to produce hydrogen from nuclear power and has lobbied the Biden administration to allow the power source to count in the lucrative tax credit.
/jlne.ws/3TzxCY3
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | US Wields Risky Bank Sanctions in New Bid to Deny Putin Cash; Secondary sanctions target banks that facilitate Russian deals; Previous moves have done little to end nearly two-year war
Daniel Flatley - Bloomberg
The US is turning to a powerful yet risky tool in authorizing secondary sanctions against banks as it escalates efforts to deny Russia the money it needs to wage war in Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3RycZZH
Five killed in Russian attacks on Kherson as Ukraine marks Christmas on 25 December for first time; Birth of Christ was formerly celebrated on 7 January, but has moved in symbolic shift away from Russia
The Guardian
Russian shelling in southern Ukraine's Kherson region has killed five people, including an 87-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife who died after a strike on their apartment building. The barrage on Sunday injured nine other people, including a 15-year-old, sparked fires in homes and at a private medical facility, and set a local gas pipeline alight, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said.
/jlne.ws/3REEIrs
'We're tired of being good girls': Russia's military wives and mothers protest against Putin
Pjotr Sauer - The Guardian
Against a backdrop of snow-capped birch trees, a group of women wearing white headscarves blend into the Russian winter landscape. In a country where public dissent is rare, their blunt message to Vladimir Putin stands out: bring our men back from Ukraine. "We want a total demobilisation. Civilians should not be engaged in the fighting," says one of the women at the start of the nine-minute address this month. "There are many of us, and our numbers will only grow." The woman is Maria Andreeva, 34, and she is one of the unofficial leaders of a newly emerging grassroots movement that has been gaining momentum in Russia in the past few weeks.
/jlne.ws/3RSa13r
Former CIA agent predicts Russian President Vladimir Putin to be overthrown in 'Black Swan' coup
News.com.au via NY Post
A former veteran chief of American's Central Intelligence Agency has declared Vladimir Putin's days are numbered, predicting the Russian president will be overthrown in a 'Black Swan' palace coup. And the ousting of one of modern history's most divisive and ruthless leaders is only a matter of time. Jack Devine served for three decades with the US spy agency and told The Sun newspaper in an exclusive interview that he wouldn't be surprised if Putin "disappeared tomorrow." Speculation about the future of Russia's leadership has been festering for some time, with the country's bruising performance in its war with Ukraine intensifying talk. So too have endless reports about Putin's ill health, with rumours emerging from inside the Kremlin that he has at various points been close to death. Then he faced an armed uprising led by warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, who rallied his Wagner Group mercenaries in a bizarre and short-lived plot.
/jlne.ws/488L7SX
U.S. to Clamp Down on Financial Firms That Help Russia Buy Military Supplies; President Biden signed an executive order granting the Treasury Department broader powers to curb the flow of weapons components.
Alan Rappeport - The New York Times
The Biden administration announced plans to crack down on banks and financial services firms that are helping Russia evade strict sanctions on access to military technology and equipment that are aiding its war against Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3RVCwx3
SocGen to Sell Stakes in Russian Holdings to Potanin's Rosbank
Bloomberg News
/jlne.ws/47lWxSg
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | U.N. aid worker says little space left for displaced Gazans to go
Humeyra Pamuk - Reuters
Many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have followed Israeli army evacuation orders and sought safety in designated areas only to find there is little space left in the densely populated enclave, a U.N. humanitarian team leader said on Monday.
/jlne.ws/48etOQy
Israeli War Cabinet Meets to Consider Egyptian Proposal to End War in Gaza; Three-step plan would likely face resistance from both sides
Summer Said and Carrie Keller-Lynn - The Wall Street Journal
Israel's war cabinet met on Monday night to discuss a three-step plan put forward by Egypt for ending the war in Gaza, Israeli officials said. The Egyptian proposal, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, is the most comprehensive peace plan to be proposed to the two parties in the 11-week-old Gaza war. Some terms of the plan are expected to be strenuously resisted by both sides.
/jlne.ws/47gqsuV
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Yellow Card Seeks Exchange License After Nigeria Lifts Crypto Ban
Nduka Orjinmo - Bloomberg
Pan-African exchange Yellow Card Financial Inc. will "immediately" apply for a license in Nigeria after the country's central bank lifted a ban on cryptocurrencies that was imposed in 2021. "You've waited for something and it has come true and we'll jump on it immediately," Ogochukwu Umeokafor, director of product management at Yellow Card, said in a phone interview from London. "We want a regulated environment because it'll help the business move; it will help people have more confidence in doing business with us."
/jlne.ws/41yHenT
Singapore Expands Climate Reporting to More Industries in 2024
Thailand Business News
SGX mandates more industries to report ESG for 2024. Focus on ESG in Southeast Asia is still early, but awareness and adoption are increasing. Southeast Asia faces challenges from climate change. Sustainability reports should include targets, performance, and practices related to ESG factors. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is expanding its mandate for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, requiring more industries to submit ESG reports for the 2024 financial year. In 2023, climate reporting became mandatory for businesses in the financial, agriculture, energy, food, and forest products industries.
/jlne.ws/3RV7sO1
Moscow Exchange expands the functionality of the Trade Radar terminal
MOEX
From December 27, 2023, users of the Trade Radar application will have the opportunity to submit targeted orders on the foreign exchange market of the Moscow Exchange. The new functionality allows you, based on electronic documents (tickets) generated as a result of negotiations in the desktop application of the Trade Radar terminal (MOEX Dealing), to send a request to search for a counterparty for a targeted transaction and submit an application for it. The Trade Radar terminal ensures confidentiality, reliability and authenticity of negotiations through the use of solutions and infrastructure of the Moscow Exchange, and also fully complies with regulatory requirements for the protection of information when carrying out financial transactions.
/jlne.ws/47dy3KD
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Breaking Twitter - Elon Musk's controversial social media takeover; A dramatised account of the tycoon's acquisition and the rebrand as X attempts to get inside his head - but takes liberties
Hannah Murphy - Financial Times
When Elon Musk finally closed his $44bn deal to buy Twitter in October 2022, despite months of trying to wriggle out of the plump contract as markets slumped, he displayed no remorse. "Fuck Zuck!" he shouted as he signed the papers with a flourish, in a machismo challenge to the Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, now his direct competitor in the dog-eat-dog world of social media.
/jlne.ws/3RXkLOf
Quantum Computing Is Finally Here. But What Is It?
Isabella Ward and Amy Thomson - Bloomberg
Four decades ago, computer engineers were theorizing that the mind-bending mechanics of quantum physics could be harnessed to make a new kind of computer that's exponentially more powerful than conventional machines. A series of breakthroughs has now brought "quantum utility" within reach, with engineers showing off computers capable of calculations of a complexity that would confound the most powerful supercomputers. A race is on to develop bigger machines that can accurately model the behavior of complex real-world phenomena and deliver a leap forward in fields as varied as drug development, financial modeling and artificial intelligence.
/jlne.ws/3tybAKC
Google May Replace Some Human Employees With AI; Members of its advertising staff are no longer necessary after launching new AI tools
Emily Price - PC Mag
Google is reportedly considering replacing some of its human staff with artificial intelligence. According to a report by The Information, the company is looking to either reassign or let go some sales team members whose jobs were recently automated by the company's new AI tools. Earlier this year Google launched "a new era of AI-powered ads" as a way to enhance advertiser's experiences with the company, including creating customer AI-designed assets for ad campaigns designed specifically for the advertiser.
/jlne.ws/3RU3oxG
Researchers Have a Magic Tool to Understand AI: Harry Potter; Academics are using the best-selling series to test how generative artificial intelligence systems learn and unlearn certain pieces of information.
Saritha Rai - Bloomberg
More than two decades after J.K. Rowling introduced the world to a universe of magical creatures, forbidden forests and a teenage wizard, Harry Potter is finding renewed relevance in a very different body of literature: AI research. A growing number of researchers are using the best-selling Harry Potter books to experiment with generative artificial intelligence technology, citing the series' enduring influence in popular culture and the wide range of language data and complex wordplay within its pages. Reviewing a list of studies and academic papers referencing Harry Potter offers a snapshot into cutting-edge AI research - and some of the thorniest questions facing the technology.
/jlne.ws/3TySHlm
OpenAI Is in Talks to Raise New Funding at Valuation of $100 Billion or More; OpenAI would be second-most valuable US startup behind SpaceX; Company also in talks for billions from G42 for chip venture
Gillian Tan, Edward Ludlow, and Shirin Ghaffary - Bloomberg
OpenAI is in early discussions to raise a fresh round of funding at a valuation at or above $100 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said, a deal that would cement the ChatGPT maker as one of the world's most valuable startups.
/jlne.ws/477QEYA
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | As cyberscams surge, Taiwan's Gogolook eyes growth in Asia; Whoscall developer builds region's largest anti-fraud database with AI tech
Cheng Ting-Fang - Nikkei
Taiwan's leading artificial intelligence and anti-fraud software developer, Gogolook, is seeing significant growth in Southeast Asia and Japan as countries get serious about tackling an alarming rise in cybercrime, the company CEO told Nikkei Asia. "Many countries across Asia started to realize that cyberfraud is related to national security, and it is one key issue in terms of protecting cybersecurity," Gogolook co-founder and CEO Jeff Kuo said.
/jlne.ws/3HgZCbH
Eight Cybersecurity Trends To Watch For 2024
Michelle Drolet - Forbes
In 2024, for cybersecurity, we're entering an era where advanced AI tools and intricate social engineering tactics (especially during election years) are changing the game. To avoid potential cyber threats, businesses, governments and individuals must grasp these emerging trends.
/jlne.ws/3RVjEOV
Cybersecurity funding in 2024: Survival of the financially fittest
Snehal Antani - SC Media
Today's columnist, Snehal Antani of Horizon3.ai, writes that only the startups with real products and strong balance sheets will survive in 2024. There are a few certainties in life: taxes, death, and getting hacked. Attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) always evolve, which means companies will need new cybersecurity tools with improved capabilities. While the incumbents will fulfill some of those features, we should expect a vibrant ecosystem of cybersecurity startups challenging the status quo this year.
/jlne.ws/3RCc6PR
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin's 160% Rebound in 2023 Is a Gamble on ETF 'Demand Shock'; Bitcoin weathered Binance, SBF scandals to jump more than 160%; Speculators expect US spot ETF approvals to drive demand
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
The sense of doom that gripped crypto markets at the end of 2022 following a $1.5 trillion wipeout has 12 months later given way to a very different sentiment: avarice. Bitcoin stormed back with a more than 160% advance this year that added some $530 billion to its market capitalization. In its wake, myriad smaller tokens ranging from Sam Bankman-Fried-backed Solana to dog- and frog-themed memecoins took off as investors embraced risk again. An investor who bought $100,000 of Solana at the start of 2023 would now be sitting on a more than $800,000 gain.
/jlne.ws/3NHkjki
Nigeria Lets Banks Open Accounts for Crypto Firms: BusinessDay
Arijit Ghosh - Bloomberg
Nigeria, the nation with the highest rate of cryptocurrency adoption after India, allowed lenders to deal with companies providing digital tokens, reversing a ban the central bank introduced in 2021, the BusinessDay reported. The Central Bank of Nigeria asked lenders to open accounts for crypto firms, according to the report, which cited a circular dated Friday. In February 2021, the central bank had ordered deposit-taking financial institutions to immediately close accounts transacting in or operating cryptocurrency exchanges, saying such deals are "prohibited."
/jlne.ws/48qH44J
It's Happy Holidays for the Crypto Loyalists; Bitcoin is way up for the year, something we didn't see coming. The secret? Fintech doesn't need exchanges.
Brooke Sample - Bloomberg
If You Held On for Dear Life, It's a Merry Cryptomas! - Niall Ferguson
It's Merry Cryptomas, everybody! Bitcoin is up 167% year-to-date. Ethereum is up 91%. If a massive crypto rally was one of your predictions for 2023 a year ago, I take my hat off to you. Compare those returns with other asset classes. The Nasdaq is up 36%. The S&P 500 is up 19%. Gold is up 10.7%. If you were long oil or a broad basket of commodities, you are down 10%-12%.
/jlne.ws/489KpF6
NFTs died a slow, painful death in 2023 as most are now worthless; Non-fungible tokens promised to revolutionise the concept of ownership using the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, but the market seems to have all but collapsed
Chris Stokel-Walker - New Scientist
The world went ape for digital drawings of primates in 2022. In 2023, we got bored. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, were touted as a revolutionary technology that would upend the concept of ownership - and, more broadly, the global economy. These digital identifiers of ownership are stored on the blockchain, the same technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, but for most people the phrase calls to mind strange images sold at high prices.
/jlne.ws/4aL0KBQ
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Coinbase fires back at Sen. Elizabeth Warren: accusations "simply wrong"
Zack Abrams - The Block
Coinbase has published a response to Sen. Elizabeth Warren's letter accusing the company, among others, of resisting regulation by hiring former government and law enforcement officials in a "revolving door" system. In its response, Coinbase slammed Warren's accusations as "a willful misrepresentation of our intentions and efforts," claiming the hires represent the "finest talent at every level" and that Coinbase supports "responsible regulation and legislation" in the cryptocurrency space.
/jlne.ws/47bOtU0
Only Patriotism Can Save the US From Nationalism; One is inclusive and uplifting, the other vindictive and resentful. And sometimes it's hard to tell the difference, because both dress in red, white and blue.
Andreas Kluth - Bloomberg
It's patriotism when love of your own people comes first; it's nationalism when hate for people other than your own comes first. That definition comes from Charles de Gaulle, a former national hero and president of France. It's worth keeping in mind as we enter an election year in the US, the most consequential country of many where these two deceptively similar and yet utterly contrary forces will clash.
/jlne.ws/4azhwne
As Pressure on Harvard President Increases, University Board Feels the Squeeze; Critics of Harvard Corporation call for resignations, fault the board's insularity for recent missteps
Douglas Belkin and Melissa Korn - The Wall Street Journal
Harvard University faculty are calling for members of its governing board to step down as a way to reset the university as it struggles with historic reputational damage and demands for the resignation of embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay. "They're under pressure, that's obvious," said former Harvard Medical School Dean Jeffrey Flier, who was invited last week to meet with a few board members to discuss among other things the continuing divisions.
/jlne.ws/3NIBB0x
Harvard Has a Veritas Problem; President Claudine Gay is in a tough spot. The Harvard Corporation deserves to be in a much tougher spot.
Eliot A. Cohen - The Atlantic
Like many alumni of Harvard, I have been following the misadventures of President Claudine Gay-first her coolly calibrated reflections on arguments for the genocide of Jews, and now accusations about the intellectual integrity of her published work-with appalled fascination. It is the latter topic on which I can claim some expertise.
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Brexiteers Vowed to 'Take Back Control' of U.K. Borders. What Happened? Record numbers of legal immigrants came to Britain from outside the E.U. in recent years. Some on the right call that a "Brexit betrayal."
Mark Landler - The New York Times
Inflammatory warnings from politicians. Knife-edge votes in Parliament. A looming election against a backdrop of national crisis. Britain's ruling Conservative Party has been caught up in a clamorous debate over deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, which has at times sounded like a not-so-distant echo of Brexit.
/jlne.ws/478fBDi
Crypto industry steps up political donations as mood in Washington sours; Bid to 'depoliticise' debate on digital assets as spending rises ahead of US election
Scott Chipolina and Alex Rogers - Financial Times
Crypto companies have sharply increased donations to US politicians as sentiment in Washington hardens against the digital assets market. Companies including Coinbase, the Nasdaq-listed exchange, stablecoin operator Circle and a16z, the crypto investing arm of venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz, are directing more funds towards electing pro-crypto legislators and influencing stalled bills in Congress ahead of the presidential election next year. They have been joined by high-profile venture capital and digital asset investors such as Ron Conway, Fred Wilson and the Winklevoss twins.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | 'A fiction': the fall of a fintech star accused of 'massive fraud'; The SEC complaint alleges Tingo inflated its accounts with 'billions of dollars of fictitious transactions'
Aanu Adeoye, Akila Quinio and Ortenca Aliaj - Financial Times
On a day in May this year, the head offices of Tingo Group in Lagos had none of the markers of a global multimillion-dollar technology company. Occupying two floors in a high-rise building in the city's old commercial district, there was broken furniture, fewer than 20 staff and none of the buzz of an operation with millions of customers.
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Commissioner Goldsmith Romero Announces January 8, 2024 Technology Advisory Committee Meeting
CFTC
Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero, sponsor of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Technology Advisory Committee (TAC), announced the TAC will hold a meeting on January 8, 2024. The meeting will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (EST) at the CFTC's Washington, D.C. headquarters. The public will be able to watch the live meeting via webcast at CFTC.gov.
/jlne.ws/3RvxzKd
Coinbase files petition for review after SEC rejects rulemaking petition; Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal warned that Coinbase would take legal action earlier Friday
Katherine Ross - Blockworks
Coinbase officially filed a legal challenge to the US Securities and Exchange Commission's denial of its rulemaking petition from 2022. Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal posted on X about the filing, saying, "Promise made, promise kept." Grewal called the decision "arbitrary and capricious."
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Dean C. Metry Named Chief Administrative Law Judge at SEC
SEC
The Securities and Exchange today announced that Dean C. Metry has been named the agency's Chief Administrative Law Judge. Judge Metry will lead the SEC's impartial Office of Administrative Law Judges that conducts hearings and issues initial decisions in administrative proceedings before the agency. Judge Metry succeeds James E. Grimes, who served for eight years with the agency, including his last as the SEC's Chief Administrative Law Judge.
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SEC Awards More Than $28 Million to Seven Whistleblowers
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced awards of more than $28 million combined to seven individuals whose information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action. The seven whistleblowers were composed of a single claimant and two sets of joint claimants. Each of the claimants provided information that significantly contributed to an SEC investigation. The single claimant and first set of joint claimants provided significant and detailed information early in the investigation that saved staff considerable time and resources. The second set of joint claimants provided new, but more limited, information later in the investigation.
/jlne.ws/3Hh0RYp
BarnBridge DAO Agrees to Stop Unregistered Offer and Sale of Structured Finance Crypto Product
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that BarnBridge DAO, a purportedly decentralized autonomous organization, and its two founders, Tyler Ward and Troy Murray, will pay more than $1.7 million to settle charges that they failed to register BarnBridge's offer and sale of structured crypto asset securities known as SMART Yield bonds. The Commission also charged the respondents with violations stemming from operating BarnBridge's SMART Yield pools as unregistered investment companies. To settle the SEC's charges, BarnBridge agreed to disgorge nearly $1.5 million of proceeds from the sales, and Ward and Murray each agreed to pay a $125,000 civil penalties.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Surviving the Markets, the Kitchen and War on The Businessweek Show; Chef Kwame Onwuachi, activist Nadia Murad and investor Marc Lasry describe what it means to survive-and grow.
Max Abelson - Bloomberg
So much energy is spent trying to explain how to succeed in business: rising, grinding, hustling, thriving. Much less attention is paid to questions about a closely related subject-survival. What do survivors learn about themselves and the world? How do they move on? Does surviving in business share anything with surviving in life? How much depends on who you are and what you've been through?
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Where Did All the Money Go? The Villain in Your Transaction History; Financial advisers say to fix your overspending, stop blaming inflation
Julia Carpenter - The Wall Street Journal
Anyone trying to figure out why they are scraping by at the end of the year could safely pin part of the blame on inflation. Higher prices have made it easier than ever to miss that other sneaky cause of overspending: lifestyle creep. People tend to increase spending near the end of the year, and especially as their income grows. We gradually accumulate new expenses, adding pricey new products to the bathroom cabinet or clicking subscribe on 18 new streaming services. Occasional indulgences such as bar cocktails or deluxe takeout become routine-all because we think we can afford to treat ourselves.
/jlne.ws/48tJ0J6
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | US Claims Huge Chunk of Seabed Amid Strategic Push for Resources; State Department releases new extended continental shelf map; Claims stretch into Arctic, a potentially resource-rich area
Danielle Bochove - Bloomberg
The US extended its claims on the ocean floor by an area twice the size of California, securing rights to potentially resource-rich seabeds at a time when Washington is ramping up efforts to safeguard supplies of minerals key to future technologies. The so-called Extended Continental Shelf covers about 1 million square kilometers (386,100 square miles), predominantly in the Arctic and Bering Sea, an area of increasing strategic importance where Canada and Russia also have claims. The US has also declared the shelf's boundaries in the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico.
/jlne.ws/489WmdX
'Major' Problem in Texas: How Big Polluters Evade Federal Law and Get Away With It
Dylan Baddour, Martha Pskowski-Inside Climate News; Alejandra Martinez - Texas Tribune
When the Intercontinental Terminals Company sought a permit to expand its tank farm and terminal on the Houston Ship Channel in 2014, a reviewer with Texas' environmental regulator expressed a long list of concerns. ITC, the reviewer for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality wrote, appeared to be evading core provisions of federal environmental law by dividing its "major" facility among nominally separate "minor" permits, which have less stringent pollution standards requirements and require far less review.
/jlne.ws/3tsRL7x
Unwrapping the power of giving; Lessons learnt from a next-gen philanthropist
Kathlyn Tan - Business Times
The holiday season is traditionally a time for joyous gatherings, hearty laughter and mouthwatering feasts. But this year, more so than any other year within my lifetime, there are people around the world who are suffering in conflict areas and dealing with catastrophic weather events. With so many being forced to flee their countries and the natural world in a fragile state, what could it mean to get into the holiday spirit this year? As we revel in the comfort of our homes with family and friends, I invite those who've been given the gift of privilege to contemplate how your resources can be harnessed to make the world a better place. Whether you're curious about starting your giving journey or are an active contributor, here are five lessons I've learnt as a next-gen philanthropist.
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UK advertising watchdog bans Equinor from repeating green claims; Norway's state-backed energy company falls foul by overstating environmental credentials
Kenza Bryan - Financial Times
The UK's advertising regulator has banned Norway's state-backed energy company Equinor from repeating environmental claims, which it made in the months before gaining approval for a North Sea oilfield project it will operate. In the ruling this week, the Advertising Standards Authority took issue with Equinor's suggestion that wind farms, oil and gas, and carbon capture play a balanced role in its energy mix, when most of the company's revenues still come from oil and gas.
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How to Dispose of Christmas Trees, Lights and Other Holiday Staples; Most people produce extra waste around the winter holidays, making it critical to recycle, re-gift or dispose of holiday favorites appropriately.
Sana Pashankar - Bloomberg
The holidays are a special time of joy and giving - and a special time for generating trash. In the US alone, the amount of waste generated between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day is 25% to 43% higher than average. All that trash pollutes the planet by piling up in landfills, and also contributes directly to climate change. Decaying waste generates methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide in the near term, and waste-management facilities emit nitrous oxide, another noxious greenhouse gas.
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Twitter violated contract by failing to pay millions in bonuses, US judge rules
Kanishka Singh - Reuters
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Japan issues business improvement order to four non-life insurers
Reuters
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US LNG Cargoes to Asia Embark on Longer Routes to Avoid Red Sea; LNG vessels increasingly avoid Red Sea amid violence; That's delaying the delivery of cargoes to important buyers
Anna Shiryaevskaya - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3TEv8b0
Energy Transfer Accused of Boxing Out Louisiana Pipeline Rivals; Gas pipeline developer calls Energy Transfer anti-competitive; Soon-to-be governor weighs in on Louisiana gas pipeline battle
Rachel Adams-Heard and Elizabeth Elkin - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3NCPq0D
The weasel words of Cop28 can be easily twisted; It is well past time to find radical alternatives to this failed process, says John Foster, and Peter Allen backs citizens' action
The Guardian (Letter)
/jlne.ws/3tlG0Qk
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | MUFG Brokerage JV Sued Again Over Credit Suisse AT1 Losses
Takashi Nakamichi and Rie Morita - Bloomberg
Another group of Japanese investors sued Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.'s joint brokerage venture with Morgan Stanley, the latest litigation over losses on Credit Suisse's riskiest debt that became worthless. A suit representing 26 plaintiffs was submitted to the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday seeking to recover losses from so-called Additional Tier 1 notes that were sold to them by Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. They are demanding a combined 1.73 billion yen ($12.2 million) in compensation, according to the filing led by Yamazaki Marunouchi Law Office.A representative of the company jointly owned by Japan's largest lender and the major US investment bank declined to comment. Two of the plaintiffs are companies, according to the complaint.
/jlne.ws/41Ae2wO
Goldman's Painful 2023 Lesson on China Forces Rethink of Emerging Markets; China no longer correlated with emerging markets, Trivedi says; Proactive monetary policy left emerging markets more resilient
Selcuk Gokoluk - Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s head of global currency, rates and emerging-markets strategy says he's learned two main lessons from one of the biggest - and most-common - bad calls of 2023: the bet on post-pandemic China's reopening boom. At the beginning of the year, Goldman was among the chorus of Wall Street banks pinning their hopes for a bright 2023 in part on recovery in China, with strategists including Kinger Lau predicting a 15% rally in the Chinese stock market. The expectation was that a bounce in the world's second-largest economy would be the wave that lifted all boats, helping emerging markets globally to a banner year.
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Ten work buzzwords that took over in 2023
Lilian Stone - BBC
Largely originating on social media, this year's top jargon explains what workers want - and who they've become in a post-pandemic world. The unprecedented work landscape of 2020 and 2021 gave rise to the now-ubiquitous "Great Resignation". The following year, "quiet quitting" took over. This year, as the line between social media and work culture dissolved, and workers settled into new hybrid patterns, a host of new jargon took hold to define work in 2023.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | 'Guess What, Buddy? I'm a Match.' How Work Friends Saved One Banker's Life; Bill Carroll told his colleagues at UBS that he was sick. They raced to find him a kidney.
Rachel Louise Ensign - The Wall Street Journal
In May, Bill Carroll's doctor told him that his one functioning kidney, which his wife had donated to him seven years earlier, was failing. His daughter's wedding was coming up and Carroll, 61, became consumed with the idea that he wouldn't live long enough to attend. He imagined his picture on a table with photos of other dead family members. At work, the UBS wealth management executive told the grim news to his colleague Jane Schwartzberg. "I'm going to get you a f-ing kidney," she replied.
/jlne.ws/3GXDKBK
New JN. 1 Covid variant gains ground in US ahead of holiday season; Americans' interest in vaccinations has flagged despite efforts to boost uptake of latest jab
Anna Mutoh - Financial Times
A new variant of Covid-19 is spreading rapidly across the US this holiday season, even as Americans' interest in getting vaccinated has faded. JN. 1, a sub-variant of Omicron that has an additional mutation in the spike protein, now accounts for more than 44 per cent of Covid cases in the US, doubling its spread in just two weeks, according to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Libya's stock market resumes trading after more than 9 years of closure
Reuters
Libya's Stock Market resumed trading on Monday at a hall in the capital Tripoli after more than nine years of closure because of the political and security situation. The prime minister of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah and the market's chairman of board of directors Bashir Mohamed Ashour with other officials rang the bell to announce the resumption of trading.
/jlne.ws/3S6fRP3
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