| December 14, 2018 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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A Look at China's Nascent Commodity Options
Spencer Doar - John Lothian News
It's already a record year for U.S. listed options volumes and there are still two weeks of trading left to go. The OCC isn't the only clearing house with volumes surging - China's nascent options on futures products are doing well, too.
Over the past two years, three options on futures contracts have debuted as China's exchanges continue to push their listed-derivatives frontiers.
Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) was first to the options on futures party with soybean meal options launching in spring 2017. Second into the fray in spring 2017 was the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) with its white sugar options. The most recent options entrant was the the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE), which launched copper options in September.
To read the rest of this story, go here.
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Hits & Takes
JLN Staff
JLN has published a page of remembrances of Robert Cox. The first and longest one is from his Chicago Fed colleague John McPartland. Other remembrances are from Mike Dawley, Leslie Sutphen and Robert Steigerwald. We will add more as they come in. The remembrances page also features pictures of Bob from his travels around the world.~JJL
The Chicago Bar Association's Futures & Derivatives Law Committee on Dec. 19 will hold a discussion on the CFTC v. Wilson case. To hear from William Walsh of Dentons about current trends in manipulation under the Commodity Exchange Act, come to the meeting at 12:15 p.m. at the CBA's headquarters, 321 South Plymouth Court.~JJL
"Aggregate volume of SGX FX Futures grew 43% year-on-year in November, with over 1.7 million contracts exchanging hands." For more updates, see SGX's monthly newsletter here.~SD
Henry Schwartz and Trade Alert LLC are predicting the 5 billionth option contract of 2018 will be traded on December 20th or 21st.~JJL
CME Group: On December 7, Basis Trade at Index Close (BTIC) on E-mini S&P 500 futures hit an all-time high of 97K contracts ($13.1B notional), representing 43% of market-on-close volume of the S&P 500 component stocks.~JJL
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OCC Promotes Davidson to Chief Executive Officer; Warren to Chief Operating Officer; Donohue to remain as Executive Chairman
OCC
OCC, the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, today announced changes to its leadership structure. John Davidson, currently President and Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer. Scot Warren, currently Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Craig Donohue, currently Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will remain at OCC as Executive Chairman. These changes will become effective upon receipt of regulatory approval of by-law and rule changes necessary to effectuate this structure.
/goo.gl/MeMALK
***** A good strategic move by Craig Donohue and the OCC to reward the leadership of Davidson and Warren.~JJL
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Vaultex to deploy Cinnober trading and clearing technology for new exchange
Cinnober
Cinnober, a global provider of exchange and clearing technology solutions, today announces that Vaultex Exchange will use Cinnober's TRADExpress Trading System and TRADExpress RealTime Clearing for its new security token exchange. Based in Singapore, Vaultex is preparing to launch a fully licensed and regulatory compliant security token and tokenized asset exchange in Asia serving institutional investors, hedge funds and other eligible market participants. The new exchange will leverage Cinnober's established trading and clearing systems, which will provide the resilient and reliable technological backbone needed to operate an advanced marketplace.
bit.ly/2GpLeBk
***** Cinnober in the right place at the right time with the right product.~JJL
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Connections started my career  let's give others the same chance; Young people without social capital have a lot to offer
Kevin Davis
It's no secret that diverse workplaces benefit everyone, and leading corporations in New York are making great efforts to diversify. For example, 55% of Bank of America's latest class of interns were people of color, and in a recent survey 87% of companies said diversity and inclusion were a priority.
bit.ly/2GeifAd
***** Kevin Davis is the former CEO of MF Global.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story of the day on Thursday was about Blair Hull's Ketchum Trading, in Crain's Chicago Business's Another big Chicago trading name exits. Second was Bloomberg's U.S. Treasury Market Walls Eroding, With More Price Clarity Seen. Third was CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo's comment on the passing of Robert Cox
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MarketsWiki Stats
137,377,248 pages viewed; 23,348 pages; 215,886 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
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| Lead Stories | TP ICAP names veteran trading executive Richard Berliand as chairman
Philip Stafford - FT
TP ICAP has named Richard Berliand, a longtime trading industry executive, as its new chairman as part of the interdealer broker's efforts to rebuild damaged relations with shareholders following a bitter boardroom row.
/on.ft.com/2Eui41V
***** An excellent choice for the job.~JJL
Brexit Disarray Sends a Shiver Through the Financial Sector; Under a so-called no-deal Brexit, decades of financial integration between the U.K. and EU could come undone overnight
Patricia Kowsmann and Margot Patrick - FT
Nervous bank executives have been busily jetting in and out of meetings with Europe's top financial regulators in the past few months. The reason: to make sure Brexit doesn't turn into financial armageddon.
/on.wsj.com/2EwCt6C
Junk Bond Investors Had Nightmares Over These Trades in 2018
Claire Boston - Bloomberg
Energy bets were among hardest hit as oil prices faltered; American Tire, Sanchez Energy plunged from near par to pennies
High-yield investors are on track to end the year close to where they began, but it's been a terrifying ride. The debt may still eke out positive returns for 2018, but any gains now are coming after losses in October and November. Those declines, along with a rout in stocks and oil prices, were triggered by rising trade tensions and jitters about slowing economic growth. Many investors are on the sidelines now, even if some securities are starting to look cheap by the standards of the last few years.
/bloom.bg/2EuCRTc
ESMA moves forward with tick size amendment to protect EU venues post-Brexit; ESMA has submitted a final amendment to the tick size regime as concerns EU trading venues will be at a disadvantage post-Brexit linger.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
The EU financial regulator has moved forward with plans to amend the tick size regime under MiFID II to combat concerns that Brexit will leave trading venues in the EU at a competitive disadvantage.
bit.ly/2EvHmg1
Bitcoin Wasn't a Bubble Until It Was; Even after it soared a million percent, cryptocurrency boosters denied it was a bubbleÂand they weren't wrong.
Spencer Jakab - WSJ
When Lambo? It was around the peak of bitcoin's value a year ago at just below $20,000 that this obnoxious question entered the Urban Dictionary: How long would it take to amass enough cryptowealth to buy a Lamborghini? Now, those bitcoin owners still holding on for dear life after an 82% decline are putting on a brave face, but there is no more denying that we have witnessed the popping of a classic bubble.
/on.wsj.com/2EwnAB0
Oil Trading 'God' Andy Hall Says Shale Has Experts Groping in Dark
Alex Nussbaum and Alix Steel - Bloomberg
U.S. boom driving global growth but hard to model for market; 'There are a lot of variables we don't have a good handle on'
Andy Hall, the oil trader nicknamed "God" for his lucrative calls on crude, says the U.S. shale boom has made it far harder to predict global supplies.
/bloom.bg/2EuhfGs
Saudi Arabia Pumps Up Stock Market After Bad News, Including Khashoggi Murder; The government of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has spent billions to counter selloffs in recent months
Justin Scheck, Bradley Hope and Summer Said - WSJ
Saudi Arabia's government has been spending billions of dollars to quietly prop up its stock market and counter selloffs that have followed repeated political crises in recent months.
/on.wsj.com/2EulIsz
Vitol, rival oil traders in spotlight of Brazil bribery probe
Brad Brooks, Julia Payne - Reuters
Brazil's epic "Car Wash" corruption investigation has taken down presidents and elite businessmen, and led to the largest corporate leniency deal ever signed.
/reut.rs/2GeqnAQ
Bitcoin bomb threats sweep U.S., Canada, but lack credibility
Mark Hosenball - Reuters
A rash of bomb threats were emailed on Thursday to hundreds of businesses, public offices and schools across the United States and Canada demanding payment in cryptocurrency, but none of the threats appeared credible, law enforcement officials said.
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Bitcoin ransoms just are not what they used to be
Reuters
Give me bitcoin or your life. Seriously? The people behind a rash of bomb threats made across the United States and Canada on Thursday demanded a $20,000 ransom to be paid in bitcoin. Authorities said none of the threats - emailed to hundreds of businesses, public offices and schools - appeared credible.
/reut.rs/2GdX0hS
Basel proposes crack down on banks inflating capital measure
Huw Jones - Reuters
Large banks should make more detailed calculations for their leverage ratio from January 2022 to avoid giving investors misleading impressions about their core health, global regulators proposed on Thursday.
/reut.rs/2GfPXVT
Graduates who flock to Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and big law in search of prestige might be in for a harsh wake-up call only a few years later
Shana Lebowitz - Business Insider
A lawyer friend and I like to joke about the seemingly endless appetite for stories of people who "gave it all up." Typically, these people are lawyers  turned writers, small-business owners, farmers, basically anything but practicing lawyers. Sometimes they're former finance or tech professionals who haven't seen a spreadsheet in years.
/read.bi/2GhcQIE
Deutsche Bank merger with Commerzbank not expected anytime soon - union
Reuters
The German labour union Verdi does not expect a merger anytime soon between the nation's two biggest private banks - Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank - a union official said on Thursday.
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | LSEG has increased its majority shareholding in LCH Group
London Stock Exchange Group
London Stock Exchange Group plc ("LSEG") announces that it has increased its stake in LCH Group to 82.6%, having completed the acquisition of an additional 14.6% from certain minority shareholders for an aggregate amount of EUR424.5m (£382.1m).
bit.ly/2GfvvEH
Entry times for Additional Contract Versions ("flex trades") and for Transaction Size Limits
Eurex
In order to optimise the end-of-day processing, Eurex Deutschland has decided to bring the end of off-book trading hours for Additional Contract Versions ("flex trades") via the Eurex T7 Entry Service forward to 19:30 CET with effect from 17 December 2018. Accordingly, the off-book Post-Trading period for Additional Contract Versions will end at 19:45 CET.
bit.ly/2GiyvjE
Euronext announces Quarterly Review Results of the CAC Family Indices
Euronext
Euronext today announced the results of the quarterly review of the CAC family indices. The changes following the review will be effective from Monday 24 December 2018.
bit.ly/2EtmRAT
Challenges call for innovations; How the funding and financing market will benefit from new technologies
Eurex
The European funding and financing market is facing a whole bundle of challenges. Also Blockchain, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence did not fail to have an effect on the repo and securities lending market. What are the challenges and how can the effects of digitization benefit our customers and us? We spoke to Marcel Naas, Managing Director, Eurex Repo GmbH and Head of Product Design Funding & Financing at Eurex.
bit.ly/2EtndHJ
Eurex appoints chief technology officer; Wolfgang Eholzer has been with Eurex since 2007 after working with Deutsche Börse in various technology roles for the majority of his career.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Eurex Exchange has promoted one its senior IT trading specialists to chief technology officer, effective as of January next year.
bit.ly/2EvHCeZ
Euronext announces quarterly review results of the AEX, AMX, AScX
Euronext
Euronext today announced the results of the quarterly review for the AEX®, AMX® and AScX® indices. The changes due to the review will be effective from Monday 24 December 2018.
bit.ly/2EvuRkU
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and others back risk management startup AccessFintech
Anna Irrera - Reuters
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) have invested $17.5 million in AccessFintech, a startup that sells technology to help financial firms better handle business errors, the companies said on Thursday.
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Robinhood's 3% Interest Checking Is Just a Money-Market Fund; The fintech startup's plan to disrupt bank accounts is a familiar product in disguise.
Brian Chappatta - Bloomberg
Robinhood Financial LLC's grand plan to disrupt the traditional bank account with a checking-and-savings offering isn't quite as innovative as it might seem. It's effectively a classic money-market fund with a few additional bells and whistles.
/bloom.bg/2GqFvea
A Hedge Fund Big Beast Is Killed by the Robots; The controversial Philippe Jabre is hanging up his boots. While his models were still sophisticated, technology has changed everything.
Marcus Ashworth - Bloomberg
It's the end of an era. The fabled but controversial hedge fund trader Philippe Jabre is hanging up his boots. His self-named firm is closing the three funds he personally managed, and that will be that. While he was subject to a hefty fine back in 2003 related to trading on inside information, he will still be remembered for kick-starting the career of plenty of aspiring investment bankers.
/bloom.bg/2GiBEzY
Visa announces fintech partnership to eliminate $33 trillion in checks
Hugh Son - CNBC
Visa is partnering with Ingo Money to launch a product for merchants and banks to quickly get onto the payment network's systems allowing fast digital payments to customers.
It's the latest sign of the rise of push-to-card payments where companies use existing card networks to push money to customers, reversing the traditional flow of dollars. In cases where companies want to send money to customers - say, a small business loan or an insurance payout - the method replaces paper checks or the decades-old Automated Clearing House (ACH) network, sending money over debit card rails directly into users' checking accounts.
/cnb.cx/2GfRtax
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto Hedge Fund Warns of Possible ICO Refunds After SEC Decision
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
Pantera says 25% of ICO fund holdings could be impacted; Being deemed a security could hinder development of projects
Pantera Capital Management said about 25 percent of the blockchain and digital-currency projects that its ICO fund invested in could be found in violation of U.S. securities laws and may have to refund money to their backers.
/bloom.bg/2GddQ0b
Want To Launder Money?; Try The Crypto ATM In Your Corner Store; Even as Bitcoin crashes, these machines are spreadingÂand they're perfect vehicles for cleaning dirty cash.
Tom Schoenberg and Matt Robinson - Bloomberg
In the hours before dawn, a team of former U.S. Army Rangers snakes its way through the streets of Manhattan to Apollo Deli & Fruit, which sits on a corner in Harlem, one block away from its namesake, the Apollo Theater. The store looks like most bodegas in New York City, but beneath an ad for Boar's Head cold cuts is a sign that reads "Keep Calm and Buy Bitcoins Here." And then, next to a tower of Lay's potato chips, sits what looks like an ATM.
/bloom.bg/2EwJpRf
How's That ICO Working Out?; Breaking down the biggest ICOs from the past few years.
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
Hdac Technology AG is a new, mostly unknown company, with no commercial products to speak of and no paying customers. But earlier this year, the Swiss startup joined Adidas, Nike, PepsiCo, and other global giants as an advertiser during broadcasts of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
/bloom.bg/2EwBy6a
What Happened When the Marshall Islands Bet on Crypto; The country, facing rising seas and financial isolation, desperately needed a get-rich-quick scheme. Naturally, it decided to create a legal tender cryptocurrency.
Joe Light - Bloomberg
David Paul looked nervous. He rested his hand over his mouth, fidgeted with his wedding ring, sometimes smiled and sometimes grimaced as the legislature for the Republic of the Marshall Islands debated a motion to oust his boss, President Hilda Heine, from power.
/bloom.bg/2EumTZ1
SEC's Crypto Czar Signals Some Flexibility on Token Offerings
Nikhilesh De - Coindesk
Some blockchain token projects may be allowed to bypass U.S. securities registration requirements by obtaining so-called no-action letters from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an agency official said.
bit.ly/2GdVvQM
SeedCX Exchange Is Barring Employees from Crypto Trading
Leigh Cuen - Coindesk
Having traded cryptocurrency with his own money since 2014, software engineer Alex Wachli made a difficult choice when he joined the institutional crypto startup Seed CX. He had to give up trading.
bit.ly/2GeoPXe
US Lawmaker Suggests 'WallCoin' to Fund Trump's Mexico Border Wall
Nikhilesh De - Coindesk
Ohio Congressman Warren Davidson thinks crowdfunding may provide a solution to the controversial proposal of building a wall on the Mexican border.
bit.ly/2GeppnS
Reports Of Bitcoin's Demise Have Been 'Greatly Exaggerated'
Billy Bambrough - Forbes
Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency market have had a terrible end to a trying year, with the bitcoin price sinking almost 50% since early November and sparking a wave of obituaries for the ailing bitcoin and crypto sector.
bit.ly/2GiYo2I
Unabashed Bitcoin Bull Thomas Lee Says the Market Is Wrong
Eddie van der Walt - Bloomberg
Fundstrat research head says fair value is around $14,800; Lee had predicted Bitcoin would be worth $25,000 by year-end
It's hard to keep a Bitcoin bull down. Back in May, Thomas Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors was predicting a rally to $25,000 by the end of the year. And despite things not playing quite in his favor -- the cryptocurrency is currently trading below $3,400 -- he's sticking to his guns.
/bloom.bg/2GbWIrM
Bain-Backed Crypto Startup Closes as Securities Laws Bite
Alastair Marsh
Basis to refund investors just 8 months after raising funds; Startup anticipates tokens being designated as securities
The worst thing you can call a cryptocurrency project isn't a "scam" or a "Ponzi scheme" -- although many have been called that. It's a "security."
/bloom.bg/2GgSWgK
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Deutsche Bank Faces Fresh Calls for Scrutiny in Congress; Senate Democrats ask for 'thorough, detailed' investigation, citing probes into the German lender's activities in Russia and its role in recently surfaced money-laundering investigations
Jenny Strasburg - WSJ
Scrutiny of Deutsche Bank AG DB -1.77% on Capitol Hill looks to be intensifying as Germany's largest lender deals with multiple investigations into its ability to prevent illicit money flows.
/on.wsj.com/2EwKV5T
Trump Cost From Fed Rate Hikes May Already Top $5 Million a Year
Shahien Nasiripour - Bloomberg
Took out $340 million in variable-rate loans from 2012 to 2015; Trump's net worth dropped about 7 percent over two years
President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's interest-rate increases as a drag on U.S. economic growth. They're also cutting into his own fortune.
/bloom.bg/2EvEfVn
Trump Inauguration Spending Under Criminal Investigation by Federal Prosecutors; Probe looking into whether committee misspent funds and top donors gave money in exchange for access to the administration
Rebecca Davis O'Brien, Rebecca Ballhaus and Aruna Viswanatha - WSJ
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether President Trump's 2017 inaugural committee misspent some of the record $107 million it raised from donations, people familiar with the matter said.
/on.wsj.com/2ErF81e
Maria Butina Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Influence U.S. Politics
Byron Tau - The Wall Street Journal
A Russian woman accused of acting as an agent of Moscow pleaded guilty on Thursday to being part of a conspiracy to influence U.S. politics by becoming involved with the National Rifle Association and conservative activists.
/on.wsj.com/2QxnDTN
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | Podcast: CFTC Talks EP076: Daniel Gorfine, CFTC Chief Innovation Officer
CFTC
#CFTCTalks we bring on Daniel Gorfine, CFTC's Chief Innovation Officer. We do a 2018 look back and a 2019 look...
bit.ly/2NN4UNT
Joint Statement on the IDI Exception to the Swap Dealer Definition
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, CFTC Chairman Christopher Giancarlo
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo issued the following joint statement on the IDI exception to the swap dealer definition in the Dodd-Frank Act:
bit.ly/2GiAPqR
SEC, MSRB, FINRA to Hold Compliance Outreach Program for Municipal Advisors
FINRA
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announced the opening of registration for the Compliance Outreach Program for Municipal Advisors.
bit.ly/2GgQua2
Market Volatility: Check Your Emotions at the Door
Pete Chandler - FINRA
Surges and sagsÂthat has been the nature of the stock market in 2018. Whether it's trade policy concerns, tax breaks, inflation fears, economic optimism or a recession watch, the stock market has reacted. Investors have been on a rollercoaster ride that raises the question: what should you do in times of volatile markets? In many situations, the answer is sit tight, and take the long view.
bit.ly/2GbV9Kq
Statement Before the SEC Investor Advisory Committee
Richard W. Berry, Executive Vice President, Dispute Resolution - FINRA
Chairman Clayton, Commissioners, and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to appear before you today to discuss the important issue of customer recovery in the financial services industry, including the issue of unpaid arbitration awards. For purposes of today's discussion, my remarks are focused on unpaid awards in customer arbitration cases.
bit.ly/2GgQ4Au
ESMA registers DBRS Ratings GmbH as credit rating agency
ESMA
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's direct supervisor of credit rating agencies (CRAs), has registered today DBRS Ratings GmbH (DBRS RG) as a CRA under the CRA Regulation. The registration takes effect from 14 December 2018.
bit.ly/2Gha328
ESMA publishes final report on the tick size regime
ESMA
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today published its Final Report amending the tick size regime (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/588 (RTS 11)). The proposed draft amendments to RTS 11 will allow National Competent Authorities (NCAs) of European Union (EU) trading venues, where third-country shares are traded, to decide on an adjusted average daily number of transactions (ADNT) on a case-by-case basis in order to take into account the liquidity available on third country venues in the calibration of tick sizes.
bit.ly/2GjWa39
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | What Could Go Wrong With Climate Change Investing; The consensus that climate change will do obvious damage to long-run stock returns is wrong on a crucial point
James Mackintosh - WSJ
It has become accepted wisdom among many of the world's largest institutional investors that climate change will do obvious damage to the long-run returns on stocks. Thus, the thinking goes, the longest of long-term investors must focus on companies with lower carbon emissions, as their polluting peers will eventually be regulated or shamed out of existence.
/on.wsj.com/2EvdAIw
U.S. Stock Market Exodus Is Second-Biggest Ever, BofA Says
Ksenia Galouchko - Bloomberg
The equity funds had $27.6 billion of redemptions in one week; Investors turned to Japanese, EM stocks and government bonds
Investors rushed out of U.S. equity funds in the second-biggest weekly exit on record, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as the market sell-off pushed traders to seek safe havens.
/bloom.bg/2GiDzol
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Man Group to exclude controversial stocks from some funds
Tobacco and coal groups face exclusion as hedge fund steps up responsible investment
Jennifer Thompson and Attracta Mooney - The Financial Times
Man Group has become the latest hedge fund group to embrace responsible investing with the $114bn manager planning to ban controversial stocks including tobacco groups and coal producers from a number of its funds.
/goo.gl/zFdLen
Barclays promotes 85 in investment bank to managing director
Lawrence White - Reuters
Barclays has promoted 85 executives in the international division that houses its investment bank to the rank of managing director, the British lender said on Friday.
/reut.rs/2GgKoGS
Hedge fund star Philippe Jabre to return money to investors; Move by one of Europe's best-known traders follows heavy losses this year
Harriet Agnew and Laurence Fletcher - FT
Philippe Jabre, once one of Europe's best-known hedge fund traders, is to return money to outside investors after suffering heavy losses this year.
/on.ft.com/2EvC18O
Wall Street banks turn skittish on leveraged loans; Borrowers forced to be more flexible on terms as power shifts to investors
Eric Platt and Colby Smith - FT
Wall Street banks are offloading leveraged loans at discounted prices and demanding that borrowers accept less advantageous terms, as they move to protect themselves from rapidly weakening demand in a previously hot corner of the credit market.
/on.ft.com/2EynWau
Hedge Fund Turiya Cuts Jobs After Losing Investors' Cash
Bei Hu - Bloomberg
Hong Kong-based firm let go of six people earlier this month; Its fund is down about 20% this year amid wide market swings
Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd., the Hong Kong-based hedge fund firm led by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader Davide Erro, is the latest to be hit by industry woes, cutting jobs after losing investors' money.
/bloom.bg/2EtkgXF
Morgan Stanley's Andy Saperstein: Chasing $2 Trillion
Steve Garmhausen - Barron's
Andy Saperstein's business is a money machine. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, which Saperstein co-heads with Shelley O'Connor, manages $2.5 trillion of assets and contributes 45% of Morgan Stanley's total pre-tax income. But Saperstein, 51, has his eye on another $2 trillionÂthe amount that the business calculates its clients hold in accounts outside of Morgan Stanley.
bit.ly/2Geh0B3
Wells Fargo Cuts Pay Rate in 2019 for Lowest-Producing Advisers
Hannah Levitt - Bloomberg
Wells Fargo & Co.'s financial advisers with at least seven years of experience will see their pay rate drop next year if their 12-month revenue falls below $250,000.
/bloom.bg/2GfPqTT
Blankfein's Final Days at Goldman Clouded by 1MDB Scandal
Max Abelson and Sridhar Natarajan -Bloomberg
'That is a terrifying thing,' one Goldman Sachs veteran says; The bank's ex-partners met in New York for dinner Wednesday
When Lloyd Blankfein told his colleagues at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in July that he was going to retire from the bank's top job, he said the timing just felt right. When things are going wrong, he wrote them in a memo, you can't up and leave.
/bloom.bg/2GfGuhf
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Japan's new year faces a painful reckoning for markets; Two big new listings on indices will bring a reminder of the role passive money now plays
Leo Lewis - FT
On Friday December 28, the final trading day of 2018, the staff of Matsuyoshi will serve up the restaurant's last ever helping of unaju  broiled eel on a bed of rice. As market portents go, it doesn't come more darkly portentous than this.
/on.ft.com/2EvF6p3
The Latest Sign of a U.S.-China Trade Truce: Corn
Bloomberg News
China may buy at least 3m tons, following soybean purchases; Various options on how to handle the tariffs being discussed
Chinese officials are preparing to restart purchases of American corn as soon as January, another sign that the Asian nation is working on a lasting detente with the U.S.
/bloom.bg/2EvHIDl
Rightwing Venezuelan exiles hope Bolsonaro will help rid them of Maduro
Tom Phillips - The Guardian
Venezuelan dissident Roderick Navarro remembers shedding tears of joy when the far-right firebrand Jair Bolsonaro was confirmed as Brazil's next president. "It was the first time in so long that I felt the real possibility of going back to my home," says the rightwing activist exiled to Brazil since fleeing his country last year.
bit.ly/2LfyoEk
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| Brexit | | Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union | Brexit Reversal More Likely After May's Confidence Vote: Goldman
William Canny - Bloomberg
Prime Minister Theresa May enjoyed a Pyrrhic victory last night, surviving an attempt by her own party to oust her. While it remains unclear how this Greek tragedy will play out, Goldman Sachs is of the view that her win reduces the likelihood "of a disorderly Brexit and increases the probability of a reversal of Brexit itself."
/bloom.bg/2Eui95O
EU refuses to help British PM over Brexit, says 'it is not open for renegotiation'
Silvia Amano - CNBC
Britain's embattled Prime Minister Theresa May will go back to London empty-handed on Friday, after racing to Brussels to try to get a few more concessions from the European Union. The prime minister was hoping to get "legal and political" reassurances from the other 27 member countries regarding the Irish backstop  the biggest stumbling block preventing progress in the Brexit process.
/cnb.cx/2EvNc15
Brexit: How could another referendum on leaving the EU work?
Tom Edgington - BBC
The former prime minister Tony Blair has renewed his call for another referendum - if there is no parliamentary majority for any one Brexit outcome. "Parliament's gridlocked, Parliament can't decide and therefore we've got to go back to the British people to decide", the former Labour leader told Radio 4's Today programme.
/bbc.in/2Ekmo2S
How the Brexit drama is changing Britain
Bronwen Maddox - The Washington Post
The lights from Committee Room 14 in the House of Commons were shining brightly onto the Thames on Wednesday night, as more than 300 Conservative members of Parliament packed themselves inside to vote on whether to keep Theresa May as prime minister. After three hours, the news came through: A majority had backed May and she had survived.
/wapo.st/2SKStow
Theresa May survives but the Brexit conundrum remains
Alexander Smith - NBC News
It was a moment of high drama, but one that brings the United Kingdom no closer to solving its Brexit riddle. On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Theresa May survived a bid to oust her triggered by lawmakers within her ruling Conservatives. But with around one-third of May's party colleagues voting to get rid of her, many saw it as yet another blow to her authority.
/nbcnews.to/2Eu9Gzv
How Ireland Outmaneuvered Britain on Brexit
Dara Doyle - Bloomberg
The day after former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled his plan for a Brexit referendum in January 2013, he grabbed his Irish counterpart Enda Kenny in a VIP room in Davos. Cameron told Kenny he had to hold the vote, according to one of the people with them. But there was no reason to worry, everything would be okay.
/bloom.bg/2CdGgDC
***** It appears that on Google, this article is entitled, "How Ireland Outsmarted Britain on Brexit, but on Bloomberg it says "Outmaneuvered."~MR
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Boy Scouts Look for Paths to Stay Viable; Efforts to modernize and sex-abuse suits have brought the 108-year-old institution to brink of bankruptcy
Katy Stech Ferek and Valerie Bauerlein - WSJ
The Boy Scouts of America, which has taught generations of young men outdoor skills, leadership and grit, is having its own resilience tested after its efforts to modernize have led the 108-year-old institution to the brink of bankruptcy.
/on.wsj.com/2EvtKSg
Illinois is cranking out STEM talent and many grads stay in Chicago. But diversity is lacking.
Ally Marotti - MSN
Illinois is cranking out science and technology workers, but diversity and inclusion in the fields are still lacking.
bit.ly/2GhQeb3
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