| March 31, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Eurex announced significant organizational changes aimed at driving future growth effective April 1, 2025. The company will integrate activities across various asset classes, including equity/index, fixed income, currency, and repo. Matthias Graulich will lead the newly formed global products & markets team, while Jens Quiram will head the global sales & marketing department. These changes are designed to enhance the client experience and support Eurex's growth initiatives. Additionally, Robbert Booij will take on the role of head of financial derivatives, overseeing both trading and clearing.
Eurex Frankfurt AG will also undergo leadership changes, with Melanie Dannheimer joining the executive board as chief control officer, and Randolf Roth stepping down after 26 years, though he will remain as a strategic adviser. The restructuring follows the departure of Erik Muller, CEO of Eurex Clearing AG, and is aimed at simplifying the organization. Thomas Book, executive board member of Deutsche Borse AG, expressed confidence that the streamlined structure, along with Booij's expanded role, will support Eurex's continued growth. The company is also set to announce a new CEO for Eurex Clearing AG, crucial to the organization's future success in central clearing and risk management.
This weekend there was some interesting reading as many lawyers offered support for the major law firms under Executive Order attacks by President Trump. One of my favorites was a reference to the response by WilmerHale.
With a hat tip to Reason.com and Eugene Volokh, I quote the introduction to the Complaint in Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP v. Executive Office of the President, filed by former Solicitor General Paul Clement and his colleagues Erin Murphy and Joseph J. Demott at Clement & Murphy, PLLC:
"[T]he right to counsel is the foundation for our adversary system," Martinez v. Ryan (2012), and the "courage" of attorneys who take on unpopular clients has long "made lawyerdom proud," Sacher v. United States (1952). John Adams famously embodied these principles by defending eight British soldiers in the "Boston Massacre" trial, an effort he described as "one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country." And British monarchs' practice of punishing attorneys "whose greatest crime was to dare to defend unpopular causes"-which threatened to reduce lawyers to "parrots of the views of whatever group wields governmental power at the moment"-helped inspire the Bill of Rights. Cohen v. Hurley (1961) (Black, J., dissenting). It is thus a core principle of our legal system that "one should not be penalized for merely defending or prosecuting a lawsuit." F. D. Rich Co. v. United States ex rel. Indus. Lumber Co. (1974).
In an unprecedented assault on that bedrock principle, the President has issued multiple executive orders in recent weeks targeting law firms and their employees as an undisguised form of retaliation for representing clients and causes he disfavors or employing lawyers he dislikes. These "personal vendetta[s]" are so facially improper that the first court to address the merits of one of these orders concluded that it likely violates multiple foundational safeguards enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
One of the key advantages the U.S. markets have had over other countries has been the strength of the rule of the law in the U.S. and independence of the U.S. legal system from those in political power. These attacks on these law firms are undermining the law firms and the rule of law, but also confidence in our markets as a result.
CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will participate in a Fireside Chat at the WFEClear 2025 Conference on Monday, April 1, 2025, at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul.
The Wall Street Journal is hot on metals. First, it writes "Tariffs and Trade Tensions Are Helping Create a New Generation of Gold Bugs" and then "Why Copper Is This Year's Hottest Commodity. I am just glad to see that lead is not the hottest market of the year.
Starting Wednesday, European nationals will be required to obtain a mandatory Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter the UK, a move aimed at strengthening border security, AFP reported. The ETA, which costs £10 and will rise to £16 after April 9, can be applied for online via a smartphone app or the government website. Similar to the U.S. ESTA system, the ETA is valid for two years and allows visits of up to six months. It applies to all travelers, including minors and babies, and requires a passport photo and a selfie for application. The new rule will affect nationals from around 30 European countries, excluding Ireland, with a processing time of minutes but up to three working days recommended. The scheme has been gradually expanded since 2023 and will eventually cover additional countries. Airside transit passengers are exempt from the ETA.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: TraditionData taps industry veteran for FX expansion, March sell-off prompts volatility shift - Cboe, Booij takes on expanded role in 'streamlined' Eurex management structure, ANALYSIS: Macro risks trump US Treasury clearing delays - Chatham Financial, ANALYSIS: Firms look to next phase of event contracts after regulatory shift and CME lists Bloomberg commodity and agricultural subindices futures - FOW Data.
Gwen Akiko Robinson, a pioneering journalist and key figure in Asia reporting, passed away at 65 after battling cancer, Ken Koyanagi wrote in an obituary in Nikkei. As Nikkei Asia's Bangkok-based editor-at-large, she played an instrumental role in the development of Nikkei Asia, initially joining the team in 2013. Known for her vast network and energetic mentoring, she helped establish a diverse team of journalists across Asia and promoted the publication globally. Gwen's career spanned major roles at the Financial Times and other outlets, where she built strong relationships with leaders in Myanmar, Thailand, and beyond. She was deeply respected for her work in fostering democratic reforms and her dedication to journalism. A beloved figure in Bangkok's international press community, she will be remembered for her humor, strength, and unrelenting passion for her craft.
Jeremy Grant, formerly of the Financial Times, who had several tours of duty in Asia, shared this about Robinson with me, "She was tenaciously curious, had incredible stamina, was more networked than anyone at the FT and was latterly very passionate about Myanmar, on which she reported in here final years at the FT from her base in Bangkok." He also noted that her father was Peter Robinson, a celebrated Australian journalist. The FT's Edward Luce has also written an obituary about Robinson, which you can find HERE.
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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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Traders see opportunity in the options market as Trump's 'Liberation Day' approaches from MarketWatch.
- Macro Traders From New York to Hong Kong Prep for Tariff Day from Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance.
- As Trump's tariff 'Liberation Day' nears, investors are loading up on options and these stocks from MarketWatch. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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 DXfeeds CEO Outlines Vision to Become "One-Stop Shop" for Market Data Services JohnLothianNews.com BOCA RATON, Fla. (JLN) - March 28, 2025- DXfeeds is positioning itself as a comprehensive market data provider by building a versatile technology stack that can serve clients of all sizes, according to CEO Oleg Solodukhin in an interview with John Lothian News at FIA Boca50 in March. Watch the Oleg Solodukhin Video »
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Trump tariffs live updates: Trump says reciprocal duties will cover all countries
Yahoo Finance
President Trump's tariffs are reshaping US trade policy and overhauling decades of free-trade agreements with friend and foe alike. In the latest escalation of his trade war, Trump is readying broad "reciprocal" duties on all US trade partners this week in what he has referred to as "Liberation Day." Trump also plans to impose 25% tariffs on all foreign-made vehicles this week.
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****** The anti-doghouse theory at work.~JJL
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Once an Economy Switches from Rules to Deals, It's Hard to Go Back; Americans of all political affiliations will miss the checks and balances that Donald Trump is trying to dispense with.
Filipe Campante and Ray Fisman - Bloomberg
In 1976, Mao Zedong succumbed to Parkinson's disease and passed the torch to Deng Xiaoping. After the Mao-led disasters of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, Deng took China in a very different direction. His reforms in the 1980s are credited with helping the country achieve decades of enormously rapid growth. A shift of that magnitude - whatever its direction - is much more common in regimes ruled by a single leader, which political scientists call personalistic political systems. Because China had few constraints on the top leader, the shift from Mao to Deng mattered a lot. The country's fate hinged on the whims of the guy in charge.
/jlne.ws/43tOX9N
***** So much for the rule of law, principles based regulation, the full faith and guarantee of the U.S. government and all the other principles I enjoyed during my life/career.~JJL
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Skadden's pact with Trump was a 'dealbreaker,' associate tells BI after resigning
Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert and Katie Balevic - Business Insider
After President Donald Trump announced a deal with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom on Friday, Brenna Frey decided she had had enough. Frey, an associate at the firm's Washington, DC office who said she has worked in Big Law for over a decade, told Business Insider on Sunday it was a "dealbreaker" for her that Skadden chose to preemptively reach an agreement with the administration to avoid punitive executive actions similar to those taken against other law firms like Paul Weiss, Perkins Coie, and WilmerHale, among others.
/jlne.ws/41R1cMo
****** Even Monty Hall is rolling over in his grave on this one.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top clicked story on Friday was the Financial Times' Judges block Trump's executive orders against two US law firms. Second was Bloomberg's Trump Signs Executive Order Against Law Firm WilmerHale on Mueller Ties. And third was The Wall Street Journal's The AP's Freedom of Speech-and Yours.
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| Lead Stories | Traders Fear Global FX Market May Be Less Liquid Than It Appears; Currency heavyweights warn the fragmented, tech-driven modern market could be storing up trouble.
Alice Atkins - Bloomberg
In the world's busiest financial market, the one which sets the terms of trade between every economy on Earth, major players can sense a flaw with the potential to create a system-wide crisis. The only trouble is they can neither see nor prove it - and likely won't be able to until it's too late. The global arena for foreign exchange appears on the surface to be a giant pool of cash in constant churn, generating $7.5 trillion of transactions per day - more than all other major asset classes combined. But lately key names from the industry including the likes of Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and XTX Markets Ltd. have begun to fret about just how deep the pool really is.
/jlne.ws/3QW2gIE
Legacy of Market Manipulation Drives Push for Hedging Rules
Greg Ritchie - Bloomberg
An effort by global regulators to set new rules this year on a controversial trading practice is drawing dividing lines across the financial industry. The issue in their crosshairs is so-called pre-hedging, where a dealer uses information from an investor about a planned trade to place their own order beforehand. While that can protect against the risk of the transaction, investors worry it can move prices to their detriment - with some calling it front-running. The International Organization of Securities Commissions last month finalized a consultation with market participants and is expected to determine best practices across asset classes in a publication later in 2025. Responses seen by Bloomberg News reveal a split in the financial industry, pitting banks - who favor it - against asset managers and market makers who see it as a potential abuse of position.
/jlne.ws/4l539fD
Larry Fink Vows to Unlock Private Investments for the Masses
Silla Brush - Bloomberg
BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink pledged to open up private markets to millions of everyday investors, not just the wealthy few, contending individuals should share more of the gains from economic growth. "Today, many countries have twin, inverted economies: one where wealth builds on wealth; another where hardship builds on hardship," Fink said Monday in his annual letter to investors. "The divide has reshaped our politics, our policies, even our sense of what's possible. Protectionism has returned with force."
/jlne.ws/3XGCbAZ
Larry Fink Says Regular Americans Need Private Assets Too; Annual letter from BlackRock CEO says capital markets are key to solving a looming retirement crisis
Jack Pitcher - The Wall Street Journal
Larry Fink wants more Americans investing in private markets alongside stocks and bonds. The billionaire BlackRock chief executive says he wants individuals to have better access to the menu of private and less-liquid investments that have long been core holdings of pensions, endowments and other institutions. Making it easier to own a slice of private loans, real estate or infrastructure such as ports or data centers is one of several ways investing could be further democratized, helping address a growing retirement-savings crisis, Fink says.
/jlne.ws/4jh2wy1
NYSE Texas Opens for Business; NYSE Texas is the First Securities Exchange to be incorporated in Texas; Trump Media & Technology Group Joins NYSE Texas
Intercontinental Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced that NYSE Texas is officially open for business, becoming the first securities exchange to operate in Texas, with Trump Media & Technology Group as the first new company to join the NYSE community through a listing on NYSE Texas. "We are thrilled to open NYSE Texas to corporate issuers and to welcome Trump Media & Technology Group to our NYSE community through a NYSE Texas listing," said Lynn Martin, President, NYSE Group. "This new offering, which we announced just last month, will allow companies to capitalize on the pro-business dynamics in Texas. We applaud Trump Media, Governor Abbott and the state of Texas on their commitment to supporting the innovation of U.S. capital markets."
/jlne.ws/4235HUl
Cboe Clear Europe begins clearing of European Securities Financing Transactions; Move comes as Cboe seeks to make the trading of Securities Financing Transactions (SFTs) more capital efficient, especially as regards risk-weighted assets.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Cboe Global Markets has confirmed that Cboe Clear Europe now clears European SFTs in cash equities and ETFs. The first-of-its-kind service transforms the bilateral process for SFTs for these asset classes into a centrally cleared model. Specifically, the service utilises BNY and JP Morgan as tri-party collateral agents, with Pirum serving as the transmitter of new trade instructions and post-trade lifecycle events for clients.
/jlne.ws/3QTn5Ez
Tokyo exchange to mandate English disclosure to lure overseas investors; Taiwan, South Korea also aim to become more foreign-investor friendly
Tamayo Muto - Nikkei
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) will require companies listed on its top-tier Prime section of the market to disclose key financial information both in Japanese and English, starting Tuesday, in a move aimed at creating a level playing-field between domestic and overseas investors. Some 1,600 or so Prime-listed companies are now required to disclose financial results in both Japanese and English at the same time. The rule also applies to information that may have a material effect on investment decisions, such as revisions to earnings forecasts, mergers and acquisitions and changes to representative directors.
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Regulators Flag Compliance Flaws at Main Australian Exchange
Adam Haigh - Bloomberg
Australia's markets regulator and the central bank identified serious issues at exchange operator ASX Ltd. related to trade settlement that they said need immediate action to resolve. The regulators highlighted concern about the speed and nature of ASX's remediation actions following an incident in December, according to a joint statement Monday from the Reserve Bank and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
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The use and abuse of investment bank bonuses; HSBC's sacking of bankers without a payout is part of a wider reset of incentives
The editorial board - Financial Times
Only tiny violins will play for the cohort of HSBC investment bankers who were sacked without bonuses on the day they expected to be told the size of their annual payout. The timing looks cold-blooded. HSBC had a reputation as one of the more benevolent employers in a sector not known for its touchy-feely human resources policies. But new chief executive George Elhedery is on a cost-cutting mission. He is merging some units and dismantling the bank's merger and acquisitions advisory and equity capital markets operations outside Asia and the Middle East.
/jlne.ws/4hY2Mki
Europe must act to stop tech start-ups leaving to list in US, Swedish PM warns; Ulf Kristersson calls for EU capital markets union to put halt to exodus of homegrown companies
Richard Milne - Financial Times
Europe urgently needs to make its capital markets more attractive or risk having all its technology companies list on US stock markets, Sweden's prime minister has warned. Ulf Kristersson was speaking after his country lost out on listings by a series of homegrown tech companies. Spotify, the music streaming service, listed in New York in 2018, while Klarna, the fintech pioneer, has chosen New York over Stockholm for its forthcoming IPO. Einride, a driverless truck start-up, is also looking at the US rather than Europe.
/jlne.ws/3Y2lYXd
Trump revokes permits for oil companies in Venezuela to pressure Maduro; Action against Eni and Global Oil Terminals follows cancellation of Chevron's licence in Latin American country
Jamie Smyth and Joe Daniels - Financial Times
The Trump administration is revoking a number of permits and licences that enable western oil companies to do business in Venezuela, as it ratchets up economic and diplomatic pressure on President Nicolás Maduro. Italian oil major Eni said on Sunday it had been notified by US authorities that it was no longer allowed to be repaid for gas that it produces in Venezuela through oil supplies given to it by PDVSA, the state oil company.
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The Trump Family Advances Its All-Out Crypto Blitz, This Time With Bitcoin Mining; A business led by two of the president's sons will invest in American Bitcoin, a new mining company controlled by Hut 8
Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
The president's two oldest sons are investing in a bitcoin-mining company, adding to the Trump family's expanding portfolio of cryptocurrency businesses. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.'s American Data Centers will merge with and take a 20% stake in American Bitcoin, a mining operation majority-owned by Hut 8 HUT -5.89%decrease; red down pointing triangle, the publicly traded crypto-infrastructure company. Together, they aim to create the world's largest miner of the digital currency, with designs on building its own "bitcoin reserve."
/jlne.ws/43Ef5yV
Trump Family to Launch US Bitcoin Mining Venture With Hut 8
Emily Nicolle - Bloomberg
The Trump family is set to launch a Bitcoin mining-focused venture with Hut 8 Corp., the latest expansion of the president's ties to the cryptocurrency sector. Hut 8 is launching American Bitcoin Corp. as a majority-owned subsidiary, focused exclusively on Bitcoin mining and "strategic Bitcoin reserve development," the Miami-based company said in a statement Monday. During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to ensure that all remaining Bitcoin is "made in the USA" and to establish a Bitcoin reserve. Trump used to be a skeptic about digital assets but pivoted to embracing the sector on the campaign trail, in part as the industry ramped up its involvement in the election through sizable political donations.
/jlne.ws/3QWRLoo
EU Seeks to Avoid Tighter Repo Rules to Help Banks, Bond Markets
Nicholas Comfort - Bloomberg
The European Union's executive arm proposed scrapping new liquidity requirements for banks to help them keep up with international competitors and bolster bond markets. The European Commission said it wants to keep current rules for some short-term securities financing transactions, rather than tighten them as planned at the end of June. The proposal focuses on transactions where assets are temporarily exchanged for cash, such as repurchase agreements or repos.
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The Impossible Trinity at the Heart of US Tariffs; Trump's objectives of revenue generation, reshoring and an international reset are incompatible with each other.
Robert Burgess - Bloomberg
If you've spent hopeless hours searching for coherence in the White House's trade strategy set to be unveiled April 2 - a date President Donald Trump is calling "Liberation Day" - don't fret because there is none to be found. To date, Trump has put forward three primary objectives of the levies. The first is raising tax revenue to help close the federal budget deficit and pay for an extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that is due to expire at the end of the year. The second is to bring back to the US manufacturing that have migrated overseas, igniting a new "Golden Age" of America. The third is to achieve foreign policy goals.
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| Trade War and Tariffs | | A roundup of today's trade war and tariff news and the global economic ripple effects shaping markets, industries, and investment strategies. | Trump has promised tariff 'liberation day'. Americans aren't so sure; Even the president's supporters are sceptical of new levies to be imposed on trading partners on April 2
James Politi and Alex Rogers - Financial Times
President Donald Trump has called it "liberation day" - when global commerce will finally start to rebalance and the US will no longer be mistreated by its trading partners. But much of America is looking at April 2 - when Trump will set high new tariff rates on imports from a wide range of allies and adversaries - with trepidation. Trump's sweeping levies will take American protectionism to a level not seen since the second world war. They have been preceded by a sell-off in US equity markets, a drop in consumer confidence, and alarm bells from pollsters over the president's handling of the economy.
/jlne.ws/4hRm0YH
White House Weighs Helping Farmers as Trump Escalates Trade War; The Trump administration has discussed providing financial aid for farmers who may be subject to retaliation by America's trading partners.
Tony Romm - The New York Times
Ahead of President Trump's plan to impose sweeping tariffs across the globe this week, his administration is weighing a new round of emergency aid to farmers, who are likely to be caught in the middle if America's trading partners retaliate. The early discussions offer a tacit acknowledgment that Mr. Trump's expansive tariffs could unleash financial devastation throughout the U.S. agricultural industry, a crucial voting base that the president similarly tried to safeguard during his 2018 trade war with China.
/jlne.ws/4iO60rM
The realpolitik of Trump's tariffs; The president's trade policy is about power and security, not economics
Rana Foroohar - Financial Times
T-day - or Tariff Day - is coming this week. Or not. We simply won't know until it's here, given that President Donald Trump changes his mind about policy daily. But assuming reciprocal tariffs do go into effect, it's worth thinking about them as Trump himself probably does. Economists might fret about their inflationary effects, but Trump isn't motivated by classical economic theory. To the extent that he thinks about tariffs in purely economic terms at all, he would look at the evidence of the increased tariffs against China during his first term, between 2018 and 2019, and note that, even though these represented a material adjustment in rates, they had minimal inflationary effect.
/jlne.ws/4hYdrLH
'Worse than a tariff': Canadians boycott American booze; Provinces stop stocking wine, beer and spirits in retaliation for Trump's trade war and threats to annex country
Gregory Meyer in New York and Ilya Gridneff - Financial Times
Canada has long been the largest export market for the Pinot Noir grown on the hillside vineyards of Sokol Blosser Winery in Oregon. Now that market has disappeared. Alarmed by US President Donald Trump's tariff threats and his calls to annex Canada, provincial authorities stopped purchasing alcohol from their southern neighbour. The national government has imposed 25 per cent tariffs on an array of US imports including wine, spirits and beer.
/jlne.ws/43sJmR4
Commentary: The Trump economic plan that could be much riskier than tariffs
Rick Newman - Yahoo Finance
What if tariffs are only the beginning? What if President Trump has a far bolder plan to reshape the US economy, regardless of the consequences? Investors hope it isn't so. But they're still paying attention to a concept known as the "Mar-a-Lago Accord," which would dramatically rewire global capital flows by permanently devaluing the US dollar, refinancing trillions of dollars of US debt, and putting the United States in a much more adversarial role with its trading partners. Most doubt it will amount to anything, but Trump is so unpredictable that investors are learning to prepare for the unthinkable.
/jlne.ws/4lcaKcu
Billionaire Carmaker's Tariff Blame Is Misplaced; Efforts to cajole, flatter and force have gone nowhere. The EU needs a new Trump trade strategy.
Lionel Laurent - Bloomberg Opinion
What's French for "elbows up"? In just a few days, the US - the European Union's top export destination - is set to start slapping 25% tariffs on all auto imports, wiping out billions in profit for firms like Volkswagen AG and Volvo AB. That comes on top of already-imposed 25% steel and aluminum tariffs, which could cost Europe another 12,000 jobs in a worst-case scenario. The threat of more to come is also in the air, from reciprocal levies to a 25% blanket tariff on the EU.
/jlne.ws/4j089AE
Stocks Sink as Trump's Tariff Threats Weigh on Confidence; Markets around the world tumbled as investors braced for market turmoil. The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022.
Joe Rennison and Danielle Kaye - The New York Times
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| World Conflicts | | News about various conflicts and their military, economic, political and humanitarian impact. | Ukraine Invasion
Trump accuses Ukraine's Zelensky of 'trying to back out' of proposed minerals deal
Lauren Kent and Alayna Treene - CNN
US President Donald Trump accused the Ukrainian president of "trying to back out" of the minerals deal expected to be agreed between the two countries as early as this week, adding that Volodymyr Zelensky would face "big problems" if he didn't sign an agreement. But Ukraine has highlighted that the conditions of the deal changed significantly in recent days. "I see he's trying to back out of the rare earth deal. And if he does that, he's got some problems. Big, big problems," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force Once on Sunday. "We made a deal on rare earth and now he's saying, 'well, you know, I want to renegotiate the deal.'"
/jlne.ws/43zvYL4
Ukraine launches attacks in new Russian region as it faces setbacks on home soil
Tim Lister and Maria Kostenko - CNN
Ukrainian forces have responded to Russian efforts to expel them from one part of Russian territory by launching a large number of attacks on another border area, using drones, artillery and troops. More than 20 villages in Russia's Belgorod region - which are located in a 150-kilometer (90-mile) stretch of land along the Ukrainian border - have come under attack, according to the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. The Ukrainian military has not officially acknowledged the operation.
/jlne.ws/41QWHBu
Middle East Conflict
Israel orders Rafah evacuation as it continues bombardment of Gaza
Al Jazeera
Israel has announced new forced evacuation orders for Rafah in southern Gaza, as the military said it plans to expand its renewed assault on the enclave. The military's Arabic language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, announced on X on Monday morning that the army was returning to "fight with great force" in Rafah, one of Gaza's largest cities, and surrounding areas.
/jlne.ws/42yCW0P
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Cboe Clear Europe Clears First Securities Financing Transactions
Cboe
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today announces that Cboe Clear Europe has commenced clearing of European Securities Financing Transactions (SFTs). Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking acted as a Principal Lender against JP Morgan as a Borrower, as part of the first trades cleared through the new service. Cboe Clear Europe has leveraged its position as the largest pan-European clearing house for cash equities to bring this first-of-its-kind service to market, which represents a key step in the company's strategy to become a leading multi-asset class clearing house in the region. This service transforms the bilateral process for SFTs in European equities and ETFs into a centrally cleared model, helping to increase the capital efficiencies associated with activities such as securities lending and supporting the growth of this key market. In addition to the firms that have already used the service, a number of others - including banks, asset managers, broker-dealers, and Agent Lenders - have completed final testing in preparation for clearing.
/jlne.ws/3YcreHw
Change in Interest Rate on MXN Cash Balances - Effective March 28, 2025
CME Group
Effective March 28, 2025, CME Clearing will no longer benchmark the interest rate paid on MXN cash balances on deposit to 60% of the 4-week (28day) TIIE rate as published by Banco de Mexico. The interest earned by CME through the deposit of MXN cash balances will continue to be passed through to member firms. The rate paid will be subject to some fluctuation due to how the Cetes rate is calculated, which determines interest payments. Following the 50 basis points rate cut announced by Banco de Mexico, effective today, CME expects the current rate paid to be in the range of 530 - 550 basis points (annualized). For avoidance of doubt, CME Clearing will no longer benchmark the interest rate paid on MXN cash balances to a percentage of the 4-week (28day) TIIE rate.
/jlne.ws/3XxN0p6
CME Direct Software Enhancement Coming March 30
CME Group
/jlne.ws/3E3nd1p
DTCC Welcomes Two Senior Leaders in Financial Services to Its Board of Directors; New Members Bring Extensive Global Expertise and Strategic Insight to DTCC Board
DTCC
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced that two new Board Members have joined its Board of Directors. The Board plays a critical role in overseeing the strategic direction of DTCC, working closely with the firm's leadership and advising on topics including risk management, regulatory matters, the development of new products and services, emerging fintech and more. The new Directors are Cenk Kamis of Citi and Laide Majiyagbe of BNY.
/jlne.ws/3FJN272
Eurex implements organizational changes to drive future growth
Eurex
Eurex, one of the globally leading derivatives exchanges and clearing houses, today announced organizational changes to support its next phase of growth. By integrating activities across asset classes, Eurex targets to further improve client experience and holistically support future growth opportunities. The changes will take effect on 1 April 2025. Global products and sales teams combined across asset classes: Equity/Index, Fixed Income, Currency and Repo sales as well as business development will be combined into two new departments, which will be central to drive Eurex's growth initiatives going forward. Matthias Graulich will lead the Global Products & Markets team, consolidating all product and market development activities across trading and clearing. Jens Quiram will lead the Global Sales & Marketing department, aligning sales and marketing efforts across all asset classes.
/jlne.ws/4i08Ett
NYSE Texas Opens for Business
ICE
The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced that NYSE Texas is officially open for business, becoming the first securities exchange to operate in Texas, with Trump Media & Technology Group as the first new company to join the NYSE community through a listing on NYSE Texas. "We are thrilled to open NYSE Texas to corporate issuers and to welcome Trump Media & Technology Group to our NYSE community through a NYSE Texas listing," said Lynn Martin, President, NYSE Group. "This new offering, which we announced just last month, will allow companies to capitalize on the pro-business dynamics in Texas. We applaud Trump Media, Governor Abbott and the state of Texas on their commitment to supporting the innovation of U.S. capital markets."
/jlne.ws/4235HUl
Awards will be Presented for Best Market Makers 2025
JPX
The Tokyo Stock Exchange, in an effort to improve liquidity in the ETF market, introduced a market making scheme in the ETF market and has been operating it while making improvements. Since 2021, the Best Market Makers Award has been given to market makers who have contributed to the improvement of market liquidity through continuous quoting, and the role of market makers in the market has been widely communicated. We are pleased to announce that this year's award winners have been selected.
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Nasdaq Champions Smart Regulatory Reform to Strengthen the World's Leading Capital Markets and Drive American Economic Growth
Nasdaq
Nasdaq today released a comprehensive set of policy recommendations in a paper titled "Advancing the U.S. Public Markets: Unlocking Capital Formation for a Stronger American Economy." The paper draws insights from a recent survey and ongoing engagement with thousands of Nasdaq-listed companies and advances critical policy proposals to strengthen the public markets and retain the U.S. capital markets' status as the global standard for economic innovation and wealth creation.
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Vermiculus Helps Deploy New Systems in Record Time
Shane Basar - MarketsMedia
In March this year the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) deployed a new central securities depository system in record time. The settlement and depository system platform was provided by Vermiculus Financial Technology, which was only founded in 2020.The Swedish financial technology provider was launched by a group of former leaders from Cinnober Financial Technology, which had been sold to Nasdaq, as they believed there was a gap in the market for independent providers of best in class technology.
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EQT teams up with Fortnox chair in bid valuing Swedish software group at $5.5bn; All-cash offer for accounting software specialist sends shares up 35%
Dan McCrum and Costas Mourselas - Financial Times
Private equity group EQT has made an all-cash offer for Swedish software group Fortnox together with the company's largest shareholder and chair Olof Hallrup, sending shares up 35 per cent. The bid, which values the company at $5.5bn, caps a tumultuous year for Fortnox, an accounting software specialist that operates only in Sweden. Former chief executive Tommy Eklund resigned in August 2024 following scrutiny of the company's accounts and disclosure practices.
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Brands spend nominal sums on X ads to keep Elon Musk happy; Marketers want to avoid being seen as boycotting billionaire's social media platform
Hannah Murphy and Cristina Criddle and Daniel Thomas - Financial Times
Big brands are allocating small amounts of their advertising budget to Elon Musk's X, seeking to avoid being seen as boycotting the social media platform and triggering a public fallout with its billionaire owner. Multiple marketing executives told the Financial Times that companies have felt pressure to spend a nominal sum on X following Musk's high-profile role in US President Donald Trump's administration.
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The AI Data-Center Boom Is Coming to America's Heartland; Meta and other tech companies are scouring rural America for land, transmission lines and natural gas
Jennifer Hiller - The Wall Street Journal
Manufacturers have passed over this patch of farmland for nearly two decades, a string of setbacks that left this one of the poorest corners of Louisiana. A quarter of the 20,000 residents in Richland Parish live in poverty. Farm jobs dwindled when agriculture became more efficient, forcing people to move away for work. Hopes for an auto manufacturing plant later went bust. Now, the community is hoping for a new savior: AI. Meta Platforms scooped up 2,700 acres of farmland last year for what would be its largest-ever data center, built over flat rice fields 45 minutes west of the Mississippi River.
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AMD Closes $4.9 Billion ZT Systems Deal, Targeting Its Piece of the 'AI Factory'; Chip giant CEO Lisa Su says AI is still in its 'very early stages' as the company revs up competition with Nvidia
Belle Lin - The Wall Street Journal
Advanced Micro Devices has completed its $4.9 billion purchase of ZT Systems, a designer of data-center equipment for cloud computing and artificial intelligence, the company said on Monday. The deal, first announced last August, marks the latest effort by the chip maker better known as AMD to pump up its data-center systems offerings against its rival Nvidia.
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How DeepSeek erased Silicon Valley's AI lead and wiped $1 trillion from U.S. markets
Nicholas Gordon - Fortune
The U.S. innovates, China iterates. That aphorism-or its less flattering version, "China imitates"-dominates many conversations about the relative strengths of the world's largest and second-largest economies. The U.S., the narrative goes, sits on the technological frontier, creating groundbreaking products and services that chart the course of the world economy. China takes those ideas and builds on them, spitting out cheaper-and perhaps inferior-versions.
/jlne.ws/3QT9ygh
How Trump tariffs would push Big Tech's AI data center costs higher
Laura Bratton - Yahoo Finance
Big Tech is set to spend hundreds of billions of dollars this year, much of it to construct huge data centers that will power the industry's artificial intelligence efforts. But President Trump's tariffs could push those costs higher, analysts told Yahoo Finance, raising both the price of construction materials and data center equipment produced in targeted countries. Overall, CBRE estimates Trump's tariffs will raise construction costs for commercial projects by 3% to 5%. Steel, aluminum, and copper - products targeted by Trump - are the building blocks of data centers, used for the facilities' structures, electrical infrastructures, and cooling systems.
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Banks and tech groups commit to live data-sharing in UK fraud clampdown; Industry-led initiative promises to beat existing scam-monitoring systems
Georgina Quach - Financial Times
Britain's biggest banks, technology and telecoms companies have pledged to step up efforts to share live fraud data, as calls grow for the government to take stronger leadership in coordinating the fight against online scammers. The coalition said it was moving from a testing phase to real-time exchange of fraud indicator data - such as suspicious URLs or unusual transaction activity - to detect scammers faster than existing systems.
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UK tech scheme includes AI tool to mark homework as ministers weigh selling data; Public records my be monetised as part of National Data Library within a decade, says science secretary Peter Kyle
Anna Gross - Financial Times
An artificial intelligence tool to mark school children's homework is being developed using a trove of UK government data, ahead of plans to sell public records including health information within a decade. A new government scheme has pooled public documents such as curriculum guidance, lesson plans and anonymised pupil assessments, which are now being used to train AI models, including one that can mark children's work and provide detailed feedback.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Binance debuts centralized exchange to decentralized exchange trades; Bridging assets from centralized to decentralized exchanges has typically been a cumbersome and difficult process for users.
Vince Quill - CoinTelegraph
Crypto exchange Binance has debuted centralized exchange (CEX) to decentralized exchange trades (DEX), allowing customers to use funds from their Binance wallets to execute DEX trades - eliminating the need for asset bridging or manual transfers. According to the exchange, customers can use Circle's USDC and other supported stablecoins to acquire tokens on the Ethereum, Solana, Base, and BNB Smart Chain networks.
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FTX to Start Paying Main Creditors' Bankruptcy Claims in May
Steven Church - Bloomberg
Former cryptocurrency firm FTX will start paying its main creditors at the end of May using a cash hoard of $11.4 billion the company has collected since its shut down. Although minor creditors, who hold what FTX classified as "convenience claims," have already started getting payments, the company will make its first payment to the main group of debt holders on May 30, bankruptcy attorney Andrew Dietderich told the judge who recently took over management of the Chapter 11 case. The firm's main creditors include investors owed millions of dollars as well as institutions that had crypto on the FTX platform.
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Japan's FSA Explores New Regulations To Classify Crypto as Financial Products
Atqa Arif - CoinMarketCap
Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) is set to propose a significant reclassification of cryptocurrency assets by 2026, according to a report by Nikkei. The move aims to designate cryptocurrencies as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, a shift from their current classification as a means of settlement under the Payment Services Act.
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FDIC Clarifies Process for Banks to Engage in Crypto-Related Activities
FDIC
Today, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a Financial Institution Letter (FIL-7-2025) that provides new guidance for FDIC-supervised institutions engaging or seeking to engage in crypto-related activities. The new guidance, which rescinds FIL-16-2022, clarifies that FDIC-supervised institutions may engage in permissible crypto-related activities without receiving prior FDIC approval. The guidance affirms that FDIC-supervised institutions may engage in permissible activities, including activities involving new and emerging technologies such as crypto-assets and digital assets, provided that they adequately manage the associated risks.
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Crypto's Trumpian Embrace Is Leaving Bitcoin's Big Rival Behind
Olga Kharif and Muyao Shen - Bloomberg
Vitalik Buterin was long viewed as the wunderkind of the cryptocurrency world. The gawky, playful founder of Ethereum - known for his rainbow-colored, animal-themed shirts - created the biggest competitor to Bitcoin and offered a techno-utopian vision that was supposed to change the financial system and our everyday digital lives. But after capturing the imaginations of both corporate America and Wall Street, Buterin's project is now struggling to deliver on its early promise as it enters its second decade, having fallen out of step in an industry transformed by the embrace of Donald Trump. Developers have been fleeing, early followers are angry and the token on the network - Ether - has lagged both Bitcoin and its smaller competitors.
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Bitcoin Options Show Traders Are Hedging Against Drop Back Below $80,000
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
Crypto traders are flocking to the options market to hedge against further price declines, as President Donald Trump's planned tariff announcements next week keep financial market on edge. The open interest, or the total number of outstanding contracts, for put options with a strike price of $80,000 is the highest among contracts expiring on April 4, or two days after Trump's promised announcement, according to data from the Deribit options exchange. The rush into puts, which give holders the right to sell within a set period at a specific price, suggests growing demand for downside protection.
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Bitcoin Adoption in Europe Hampered by Fragmented Regulations and Conservative Investment Policies, Analysts Say
Ayesha Aziz - CoinMarketCap
Institutional adoption of Bitcoin in Europe has been slow, with regulatory complexities and conservative investment policies acting as major hurdles. While the U.S. has made strides, including President Trump's executive order establishing a federal Bitcoin reserve, European companies have largely stayed quiet on the matter. Elisenda Fabrega, general counsel at Brickken, a European RWA tokenization platform, noted that Europe's hesitation to adopt Bitcoin stems from unclear regulations, institutional signaling, and market maturity. According to Fabrega, European companies have yet to take a clear stance on Bitcoin as a reserve asset, contributing to the slow pace of adoption.
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Strategy Ends Quarter With Biggest Bitcoin Purchase of Year
Dave Liedtka and Tom Contiliano - Bloomberg
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The SEC Leaves Meme Coin Investors to Fend for Themselves
Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policy - Better Markets
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump says he is 'not joking' about seeking a third term in office; President has repeatedly mused about a move that would breach the US Constitution
Alex Rogers - Financial Times
Donald Trump said he was "not joking" about serving a third term, adding that there were "methods" by which he could bypass the constitutional prohibition on US presidents being elected three times. In a phone interview with NBC News on Sunday, Trump said "it is far too early to think about it", but confirmed that he was entertaining the possibility. "A lot of people want me to do it," said Trump, 78.
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The deep eccentricity of Donald Trump; The US president's rather bizarre character is crucial to understanding why he is so successful
Jemima Kelly - Financial Times
The strength of feeling that Donald Trump engenders, along with the hyperpolarisation of the current era of US politics, make objective analysis of his character and psychology hard to come by. "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is a slur often thrown at hyperbolic or hysterical critics, but it works just as well for his fans: love and loathing seem to derange in equal measure when it comes to the American president.
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The US Is Losing the Contest to Divide the World; Splitting the globe into spheres of influence with China and Russia is more likely to lead to war than peace.
Hal Brands - Bloomberg
It was a "naughty document," Winston Churchill admitted. In October 1944, the British prime minister proposed that he and Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin avert postwar conflict by splitting the Balkan Peninsula into separate spheres. Russia would reign supreme in Romania and Bulgaria; Britain in Greece; Hungary and Yugoslavia would be divided 50-50. The proposal was scandalous enough that Churchill suggested burning the document that he and Stalin had just agreed on. It "might be thought rather cynical" to settle the fates of millions "in such an offhand manner," he worried. "No, you keep it," Stalin replied.
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Trump Orders Firing of Prosecutor Investigating One of His Donors
Yasmeen Hamadeh - The Daily Beast
A Los Angeles-based federal prosecutor was reportedly fired Friday on instruction of the White House, with sources saying that it was likely due to his part in a case involving one of Trump's top donors. Citing several sources familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Los Angeles Times reports that prosecutor Adam Schleifer was fired Friday morning at around 11 a.m. via an email that read "on behalf of President Donald J. Trump." Carley Palmer, a former Los Angeles federal prosecutor, told the outlet that Schleifer received his termination from a "one line email and it came from a White House staff account."
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What To Do With Your Money If Trump Changes the FDIC
Paige Cerulli - GoBankingRates
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which protects insured bank deposits, may be facing changes. According to CNN, in late 2024, then-President-elect Donald Trump's allies were talking about potentially dismantling the FDIC and putting the U.S. Treasury in charge of deposit insurance. NPR reported that Project 2025 called for merging the FDIC and other banking regulators, and in the wake of Trump's widespread federal employee firings, about 170 probationary FDIC workers were fired in late February. The FDIC rescinded more than 200 job offers to new examiners, and about 500 had accepted the Trump administration's deferred resignation letter.
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Elon Musk's Mission to Take Over NASA-and Mars; The billionaire is in position to speed up plans for a voyage to the planet, with a potentially huge impact on SpaceX
Emily Glazer and Micah Maidenberg - The Wall Street Journal
After spending months and more than $250 million campaigning to elect President Trump, Elon Musk made a call late last year to help roll out his plan for humanity's path beyond Earth. He reached his friend Jared Isaacman with a request: Would Isaacman become the head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration? He told Isaacman, the payments entrepreneur who has flown to orbit with SpaceX and invested in the company, that they could make NASA great again and work toward their shared ambition of getting humans to Mars, according to people briefed on the conversation.
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U.S. Institute of Peace lays off most staff members
Gordon Lubold and Alexandra Marquez - NBC News
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Conservatives Pitch Canada 'Energy Corridor' to End US Reliance
Randy Thanthong-Knight - Bloomberg
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Sotheby's CEO: New York art market has been a big beneficiary of Brexit; American financier Charles Stewart is steering the auction house through choppy economic waters
Matthew Garrahan - Financial Times
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Marine Le Pen banned from standing for office for five years; Far-right leader also sentenced to jail in ruling that jeopardises her ambitions to run for French presidency in 2027
Leila Abboud, Adrienne Klasa and Ian Johnston - Financial Times
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Musk's DOGE Staffers Arrive at SEC to Hunt for Spending Cuts
Nicola M White and Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has landed at the US Securities and Exchange Commission one day after President Donald Trump's choice to lead the agency, Paul Atkins, appeared before the Senate Banking Committee for his nomination hearing. A group of Musk advisers arrived Friday at the agency, according to communications from the agency sent to staff and reviewed by Bloomberg News. The message didn't identify the DOGE emissaries by name, and SEC staff were instructed to treat them as internal employees, according to the message.
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Charlie Javice convicted of defrauding JPMorgan in sale of fintech start-up; Bank paid $175mn for Frank, a student loan company, but later claimed company overstated number of customers it had
Zehra Munir and Joshua Franklin - Financial Times
A fintech start-up founder was convicted of defrauding JPMorgan Chase by overstating the value of a student loan business it bought from her, completing a stunning fall from grace for the millennial entrepreneur and an embarrassing chapter for the bank. Charlie Javice was arrested two years ago on fraud charges over the $175mn sale of her company Frank in 2021, which helped students applying for financial aid.
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CFTC Pulls Advisory on Review of Risks Tied to Digital-Asset Clearing
Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is withdrawing an advisory on the review of risks tied to clearing and trading digital assets. The decision is effective immediately and is intended to make sure that there's no suggestion that "regulatory treatment of digital asset derivatives will vary from its treatment of other products," the agency said in a statement Friday.
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CFTC Staff Withdraws Advisory on Review of Risks Related to Clearing Digital Assets
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of Clearing and Risk today announced it is withdrawing CFTC Staff Advisory No. 23-07, Review of Risks Associated with Expansion of DCO Clearing of Digital Assets, effective immediately.
As stated in today's withdrawal letter, DCR determined to withdraw the advisory to ensure that it does not suggest that its regulatory treatment of digital asset derivatives will vary from its treatment of other products.
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Commissioner Goldsmith Romero to Participate in a Fireside Chat at WFEClear 2025
CFTC
Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will participate in a Fireside Chat at the World Federation of Exchanges' WFEClear 2025 Conference.
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SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Latvian Citizen Charged with Crypto Asset Fraud
SEC
On February 7, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a final judgment on consent against Latvian national Ivars Auzins. In December 2021, Auzins was charged with defrauding hundreds of retail investors in connection with two separate fraudulent offerings. According to the SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Auzins defrauded U.S. and foreign investors through the Denaro initial coin offering of digital assets from January-March 2018, and through Innovamine, an online entity that purportedly offered a cloud mining and digital asset trading platform from April-July 2019. Auzins allegedly used fictitious names, fictitious legal entities, and fraudulent profiles to perpetrate his schemes, and misappropriated nearly all of the investor funds that were raised.
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What small businesses need to know about sustainability reporting requirements
ASIC
ASIC is reminding small businesses to learn more about how they can be best prepared under Australia's new mandatory sustainability reporting requirements, even if it may not apply to them directly.
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RBA and ASIC act on deep concerns with ASX
ASIC
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) (the regulators) have taken further steps to address their increasing concern over the management of operational risk at ASX, following the CHESS batch settlement failure incident that occurred on 20 December 2024.
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ASIC issues sustainability reporting regulatory guide
ASIC
ASIC has today published a regulatory guide on sustainability reporting following an extensive public consultation with stakeholders. Regulatory Guide 280 Sustainability reporting (RG 280) provides guidance for entities that are required to prepare a sustainability report containing climate-related financial information under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act 2001. This may include companies, registered schemes, registrable superannuation entities, and retail corporate collective investment vehicles.
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CoFI regime now in effect
FMA
The Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime comes into full effect today, with the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana TÄtai Hokohoko - expecting banks, insurers and non-bank deposit takers to put New Zealand consumers at the forefront of their decisions and actions. FMA Director of Deposit Taking, Insurance and Advice, Michael Hewes says, "CoFI is fundamentally about treating customers and potential customers fairly - this is the fair conduct principle. We expect financial institutions to be analysing how their products are performing, communicating effectively with consumers and acting quickly if something is not working as it should be."
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FCA launches new portal making reporting easier
FCA
From 31 March 2025, firms can access My FCA as a single point of sign in for regulatory reporting tasks including submitting regulatory data and paying fees. My FCA will make it easier to fulfil regulatory responsibilities while improving user experience. Previously, firms needed to sign in to 3 different systems.
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Trends in High-Speed Trading
FSA
The Financial Instruments and Exchange Act was amended in May 2017 (enforced April 2018) to require financial instruments business operators who engage in high-speed trading to register.
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Publication of the finalized Discussion Paper on "Issues and Practices for Dialogue on Validation of Effectiveness of AML/CFT Frameworks"
FSA
The FSA finalized the Discussion Paper on "Issues and Practices for Dialogue on Validation of Effectiveness of AML/CFT Frameworks". The Discussion Paper mainly outlines the concept of "validation of effectiveness" required of FIs in the "Guidelines for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism" and how to proceed with dialogue between FIs and FSA, and reflects amendments based on comments received through public consultation.
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Updates on grant scheme for open-ended fund companies and real estate investment trusts
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is pleased to note the overwhelming industry support and take-up of grants under the scheme to support the setting up of open-ended fund companies (OFCs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Hong Kong. Since the launch of the grant scheme in May 2021, the SFC recorded a strong growth in the number of OFCs. As of end-February 2025, the number of registered OFCs in Hong Kong recorded a year-on-year increase of 81% to 502. A total of 430 OFCs and one REIT have benefited from the grant scheme.
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Appointments to SFC committees
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is pleased to announce new appointments and reappointments to the following committees with effect from 1 April 2025:
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Commodity Traders Still Rake In Billions as Profit Bonanza Wanes
Jack Farchy, Archie Hunter, and Priscila Azevedo Rocha - Bloomberg
The world's largest commodity traders are still making historically elevated profits, even as less-volatile markets mean their earnings have retreated from the bonanza that followed Russia's full invasion of Ukraine. At the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne this week, executives at the largest trading houses and their bankers indicated both on stage and privately that although earnings for 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 would be lower than the boom years of 2022-2023, they remained higher than almost any other time in history.
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Hedge funds are selling off global tech stocks at fastest pace in 6 months, Goldman Sachs says
Beatrice Nolan - Fortune
Hedge funds are rapidly pulling back from global tech stocks, with the heaviest selling concentrated in the semiconductor sector, according to a note from Goldman Sachs. While tech stocks generally are volatile, several factors have put even more pressure on technology companies this year. Hedge funds are reducing their exposure to global information technology stocks at an accelerated pace, with the latest selloff marking the fastest decline in six months, according to a note from Goldman Sachs' Prime Services desk.
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Steep fall in price of eggs prompts questions for US producers; Consumer groups and economists accuse agricultural companies of keeping prices artificially high
Taylor Nicole Rogers - Financial Times
US egg prices are rapidly declining after a bird flu epidemic pushed them to record highs last month, prompting questions about whether producers had kept them artificially high. Wholesale egg prices have fallen 54 per cent in the past four weeks to $3.91 per dozen on Friday, according to commodity price information service Expana.
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Traders pile into Scandinavian currencies in 'euro on steroids' bet; Swedish krona and Norwegian krone are best-performing of G10 group of developed market currencies
Mari Novik - Financial Times
Sweden and Norway's currencies have become a favourite way for traders to bet on a European economic revival, outstripping other major peers since the start of the year as lawmakers across the region promise a spending spree. The Swedish krona has climbed more than 10 per cent against the US dollar this year, putting it on track for its biggest quarterly rise since 2010, while the Norwegian krone has risen more than 8 per cent, its largest jump in more than two years.
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How to Prepare Your Portfolio for the Next Market Mess; Gold, Treasurys, cash. When choosing a safe asset, it's just as important to know who else owns it as to think about its fundamental properties.
James Mackintosh - The Wall Street Journal
What happens if it all goes wrong? Investments designed to preserve your wealth in a stock-market downturn can help preserve your sanity too, allowing you to avoid dumping your favorite stocks as prices tumble. But finding this market insurance has become harder, with Treasurys and perhaps even the dollar no longer offering the protection they used to. No wonder gold is up so much.
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This Investing Trend Is Your Friend-Until It Isn't; Momentum, an oddly successful investment strategy, might be nearing the danger zone
Spencer Jakab - The Wall Street Journal
It isn't hard to understand why some investment strategies perform well in the long run. But one of the best, momentum investing, is a head-scratcher-it's too easy. An investing factor like value works because it is logical to buy low and sell high; quality performs because well-managed companies tend to survive crises and are more profitable; high dividend-paying stocks thrive because you at least get cash, and they tend to have reasonable valuations.
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Bank of England set to raise deposit guarantee from £85,000 to £110,000; Increase in protection designed to give confidence to UK depositors and account for inflation
Martin Arnold - Financial Times
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Gold Rises Above $3,100 for First Time as US Levies Boost Havens
Jason Scott - Bloomberg
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Trafigura Starts Arbitration Against Zambian State-Owned Company
Matthew Hill - Bloomberg
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | SEC Votes to End Defense of Climate Disclosure Rules
Press Release via Traders Magazine
Washington D.C., March 27, 2025 -The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to end its defense of the rules requiring disclosure of climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions. SEC Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda said, "The goal of today's Commission action and notification to the court is to cease the Commission's involvement in the defense of the costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate change disclosure rules." The rules, adopted by the Commission on March 6, 2024, create a detailed and extensive special disclosure regime about climate risks for issuing and reporting companies.
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Maersk warns shipping carbon trading plan would encourage LNG use; Scheme to be discussed at UN meeting does not sufficiently discourage usage of the fossil fuel, says container group
Oliver Telling - Financial Times
AP Moller-Maersk has warned that plans for a shipping emissions trading scheme intended to fix the price gap between fossil fuels and green energy would only encourage the sector's use of LNG. The measures will be discussed at crunch talks held by the UN's International Maritime Organization next month. Plans to place an economic cost on shipping pollution have split the industry into opposing camps, with some supporting a complex credit trading scheme over a flat levy on each tonne of emissions.
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North Sea Oil Swaps Hit Record Volume as Prices Spiked
Alex Longley and Sherry Su - Bloomberg
A record volume of swaps that traders use to hedge benchmark physical oil prices changed hands on Friday as prices jumped, prompting market participants to suggest that one or more traders had been forced to close out big loss-making positions. More than 108,000 so-called Dated to Frontline swaps traded on the ICE Futures Europe exchange on Friday, data from the bourse show. That's the highest since at least 2015, far exceeding 68,000 contracts that were transacted in June last year.
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Mitie CEO on Why He's Ignoring the Woke Wars and Focusing on ESG; Phil Bentley says 'enlightened self-interest' is why he's backing sustainability.
Ruth David and Sabah Meddings - Bloomberg
Phil Bentley is in an unusual position. As chief executive officer of Mitie Group Plc, he's on both sides of the UK government's contortions to revive the economy and cut spending. On the one side - as a major private-sector employer - his business will soon shell out more money on national insurance taxes and is on the hook for increased employee protections under a proposed workers' rights bill. On the other side, the business-services firm gets half its revenues from the government, with Mitie adding 700 jobs to operate Britain's first electric prison.
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Energy price cap: Why are gas and electricity bills going up and can I fix?
BBC
Gas and electricity bills are increasing again for millions of households on 1 April, when the latest energy price cap takes effect. The annual bill for a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity is going up to £1,849 per year, an increase of £111. The energy price cap sets the maximum amount customers can be charged for each unit of energy, but actual bills depend on how much gas and electricity you use.
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Norway Oil Fund to Buy Stake in RWE Wind Projects for $1.52 Billion; RWE will remain in charge of construction and operations throughout the life of the wind farms
Sarah Sloat - The Wall Street Journal
Norway's sovereign wealth fund is buying a 49% stake in two wind energy projects from RWE for about 1.4 billion euros ($1.52 billion), the German utility said Monday. Norges Bank Investment Management-the world's largest sovereign-wealth fund, commonly known as the oil fund-signed an agreement to buy the stake in the Nordseecluster and Thor offshore wind projects, which are currently under construction, RWE said. RWE will remain in charge of construction and operations throughout the lifecycle of the wind farms.
/jlne.ws/3FNl2zA
Weak oil price adds to strain on Saudi mega-projects; Kingdom prepares to unwind production cuts but puts at risk its ambitious spending plan
Ahmed Al Omran and Tom Wilson - Financial Times
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China's CNOOC discovers 100 million-ton oilfield in South China Sea, Xinhua says
Reuters
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Norway Begins Oil Production at Johan Castberg Field in Arctic
Kari Lundgren - Bloomberg
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Is UBS's 'deal of the century' starting to sour? The bank's integration of Credit Suisse is going well. It's everything else that's the problem
Simon Foy and Mercedes Ruehl - Financial Times
UBS's senior leaders and Swiss finance minister Karin Keller-Sutter are barely on speaking terms. Two years after the bank stepped in to buy Credit Suisse in a state-engineered rescue, the government is preparing to impose strict new capital rules on the enlarged lender, and the politician spearheading the crucial reforms is in no mood to be conciliatory. "There have been several contacts on the highest level between the finance ministry and UBS," the ministry told the Financial Times. "However, these talks are not negotiations and it would be a mistake to conceive them as such."
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U.S. Bank says it believes its vice chair was on plane that crashed in Minnesota; There were no survivors on the plane, and it wasn't clear how many people were aboard, the Brooklyn Park fire chief said.
Rebecca Cohen and Jay Blackman - NBC News
Terry Dolan, the vice chair of U.S. Bank, is believed to have been on the small plane that crashed in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, on Saturday, a bank spokesperson said in a statement Sunday.A spokesperson for U.S. Bank said the plane was registered to Dolan, who was also the company's chief administration officer. There were no survivors on the aircraft, Brooklyn Park Fire Chief Shawn Conway said at a news conference Saturday. He said it was not clear how many people were aboard.
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Deutsche Bank: Kirsty Roth, Klaus Moosmayer proposed to join supervisory board
Reuters
Deutsche Bank said on Monday that Kirsty Roth and Klaus Moosmayer have been proposed to join the German bank's supervisory board in a vote at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting on May 22. Roth is chief operations and technology officer at Thomson Reuters, the owner of Reuters News, while Klaus Moosmayer is chief ethics, risk & compliance officer at Novartis, Deutsche said in a statement.
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Evanston hedge fund poised to win big in one of Wall Street's most anticipated IPOs
John Pletz - Crain's Chicago Business
Evanston-based hedge fund Magnetar Capital is poised to win big in a hot initial public offering that could happen later this week. Magnetar is the largest investor in CoreWeave, a New Jersey-based provider of computing capability to artificial intelligence companies such as Microsoft and ChatGPT maker Open AI.
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | As Trump Squeezes the Immigrant Work Force, Employers Seek Relief; Businesses that rely on immigrants are pushing for legislation to ensure an adequate, legal flow of laborers from abroad as deportations ramp up.
Lydia DePillis - The New York Times
In recent weeks, managers of the nation's resorts, plant nurseries, fish processors and racetracks started getting very worried. The Trump administration had yet to release a batch of H-2B visas - those available for seasonal businesses that often can't find enough workers domestically to fulfill demand. Usually, the Department of Homeland Security releases them a few days after receiving more applications than the number of visas allowed for the second half of the year. That cap was reached on March 5, but no announcement came. Industry lobbyists got members of Congress to reach out on their behalf, put on a fund-raiser at Mar-a-Lago and sent a letter urging the administration to continue issuing the visas.
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Meet the LinkedIn superusers; More users are chasing high follower counts as the professional network expands its reach
Bethan Staton - Financial Times
Soon after lawyer Paul Verrico posted a plea on LinkedIn for hand sanitiser for his cancer charity in March 2020, the chief operating officer of a large Hong Kong energy company offered to help. During their discussions, the COO said it was a shame Verrico's team at law firm Evershed Sutherlands did not operate in Hong Kong. "Links were made and we ended up working on the largest safety consultancy project the team had ever done," Verrico recalls. "Yin and Yang, almost."
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Gen Z are terrified of layoffs and the spiraling economy-so they're copying Steve Jobs and showing up to the office in uniforms
Orianna Rosa Royle - Fortune
Getting fired for dressing inappropriately is so 2024. Now, Gen Z and young millennial workers are ditching the crop tops and "office siren" looks in exchange for a Steve Jobs-style daily uniform-but experts say it won't make anxious employees any more productive. It's not just Apple's Steve Jobs who liked to wear the same outfit on repeat. Now, Gen Z and young millennials are getting in on the productivity hack.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Utah Becomes First State to Ban Fluoride in Public Water; Medical experts warn the move could have consequences for oral health, especially among children.
Melinda Wenner Moyer - The New York Times
Utah has become the first U.S. state to outlaw the addition of fluoride to public drinking water. The law, which was signed by Gov. Spencer Cox on March 27 and will go into effect on May 7, comes amid renewed scrutiny of fluoride, a mineral that has been widely added to U.S. drinking water since 1945 to prevent cavities. Although controversy over the safety of water fluoridation first arose in the 1940s, concerns have intensified in recent years, driven in part by new research on fluoridation and by growing resistance to public health interventions since the pandemic.
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The Army Has a Fast-Food Problem. Can a TV Chef Fix That?; Robert Irvine has been enlisted to overhaul the dreary mess hall menus that drive many soldiers to less-healthy choices.
Alexander Nazaryan - The New York Times
Army food has been vexing and perplexing the soldiers who have to eat it for about as long as there's been an Army. An age-old marching song describes a biscuit that "rolled off the table and killed a friend of mine." Troops in World War II immortalized a much-reviled beef dish with the nickname S.O.S., an acronym that still can't be translated in this newspaper. And at lunchtime on a recent Wednesday, a mess hall at Fort Jackson in South Carolina was serving up tacos filled with nondescript meat that glistened with grease. The brussels sprouts had the green boiled out of them. The hall itself looked bland and dated.
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How to keep sick people in employment; Support often comes too late - after workers have left jobs and when they have little chance of going back
Sacha Romanovitch - Financial Times
The current debate on welfare and work risks overlooking a crucial fact: every year over 300,000 people in the UK leave their job and report a work-limiting health condition. Many do not return. But evidence shows that much of this could be prevented with the right support. Without it, more will fall permanently out of work, creating lasting costs for individuals, employers and public services.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Trump wants India to buy US corn - but here's why it probably won't
Soutik Biswas - BBC
India's journey from scarcity to surplus is a triumph of its agriculture sector [AFP]
Why won't India buy even a single bushel of American corn? That's the question US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick raised recently while criticising India's trade policies, taking a swipe at its market restrictions.In another interview, Lutnick accused India of blocking US farmers and urged it to open its agricultural market - suggesting quotas or limits as a possible approach.
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China to Recapitalize Four Big Banks With $69 Billion
Bloomberg
China's Finance Ministry will inject $69 billion into four of the nation's largest state banks via share placements, following through on a pledge to beef up capital buffers. Bank of Communications Co., Bank of China Ltd., Postal Savings Bank of China Ltd. and China Construction Bank Corp. plan to raise up to a combined 520 billion yuan ($72 billion) through additional offerings of mainland-traded stocks, according to filings on Sunday. The Ministry of Finance will be the top investor in all the proposed private placements, subscribing to 500 billion yuan in total.
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Angola Stock Market Confirms President's Daughter as New CEO
Candido Mendes - Bloomberg
Angola's stock exchange confirmed Cristina Dias Lourenço, the daughter of the country's president, as its new chief executive officer. Dias Lourenço was appointed for a four-year term that ends in 2028, Bodiva, as the Luanda-based stock market is known, said in a statement on Monday. Her predecessor, Walter Pacheco, resigned in January.
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In Tokyo, Rice Farmers Protest 'Misguided' Rules Fueling Shortages; A scarcity of rice is causing discontent among farmers and consumers in Japan and drawing attention to a policy some say has worsened shortages.
River Akira Davis and Hisako Ueno - The New York Times
In the United States, the affordability of eggs has prompted a national discussion - underscoring anxieties about the economy and the government's role in addressing them. In Japan, there's an equivalent: rice. Over the past year, Japan has grappled with a more than 200,000-ton shortage of its staple grain. Rice prices have skyrocketed, and supermarkets have been forced to restrict amounts that shoppers can buy. The situation became so dire that the government had to tap its emergency rice reserves.
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CoFI Regime Comes into Full Effect
riskinfoNZ
The Conduct of Financial Institutions regime has come into full effect with the FMA saying it expects banks, insurers and non-bank deposit takers to put New Zealand consumers at the forefront of their decisions and actions. FMA Director of Deposit Taking, Insurance and Advice, Michael Hewes says CoFI is fundamentally about treating customers and potential customers fairly - this is the fair conduct principle.
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Indians shift to gold investments as local equities flounder; Boom in gold ETFs fuels purchases of asset long loved by domestic investors as prices hit record
Andres Schipani and Arjun Neil Alim - Financial Times
Indians have become heavy investors in gold after a downturn in local equities, with a boom in exchange traded funds driving purchases as the commodity's price hits record highs. Net inflows to gold ETFs in India reached a record Rs37.5bn ($437mn) in January and Rs19.8bn in February as the metal touched all-time highs, according to the Association of Mutual Funds in India.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Gwen Robinson, a driving force in Asia journalism, dies at 65; Trailblazing correspondent and mentor instrumental in shaping Nikkei Asia's global presence
Ken Koyanagi - Nikkei
Gwen Akiko Robinson, Nikkei Asia's Bangkok-based editor-at-large, has died at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer. Throughout her life, she was a "walking internet router," keeping in touch effectively with every contributor and journalist colleague in Asia and elsewhere. She had friends to hang out with in every city she visited. She enabled Nikkei Asia to take advantage of her vast human nexus to develop its reporting team and contributor pool, as well as to promote Nikkei as a global media outlet.
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Gwen Robinson, FT foreign correspondent and editor, 1960-2025; The Asia expert was known for her network of contacts, intrepid reporting and ability to handle big egos
Edward Luce - Financial Times
"You can't put it like that Mr Chairman/governor/prime minister, readers will lose interest." Such were the admonitions that Gwen Robinson would be heard giving over the phone to any number of central bank governors, global business chiefs, politicians and academics. Nobody at the Financial Times, where Gwen was comment editor on the op-ed page for several years, encountered anyone who could tame egos quite so well. The fact that such dousings came in a raspy Australian accent from an intrepid soul who had covered wars and revolutions, carting her luggage in random plastic bags, made such eavesdropping involuntary.
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