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John Lothian Newsletter
May 12, 2017 "Irreverent, but never irrelevant"
 
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All Together Now: Exchange Leaders Call For Cooperative Approach To Changing Market Structure
Jim Kharouf - JLN

U.S. equity options leaders said today's market structure needs fixing and vowed to work together to address it at the Options Industry Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Among some of the structural problems are a perceived lack of liquidity, a rigid regulatory structure that has supported the fragmentation of markets, and a concentration of volume on a relatively small number of listings.

Kevin Kennedy, who serves as senior vice president, head of U.S. options at Nasdaq, called for the exchanges and participants to work together to upgrade the market structure so it works better and more efficiently in the coming years.

Read the rest here.

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Not as Bad as it Seems: Schwartz Addresses the State of the Options Industry
Spencer Doar - JLN

Henry Schwartz, president of Trade Alert, gave his annual "State of the Options Industry" address at the Options Industry Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, and painted a more optimistic picture than recent portrayals in the press.
Yes, options volumes for 2017 are predicted to be flat to slightly up, a bit more than 4 billion contracts, but to Schwartz, that is a good number given the lack of volatility.
Read the rest here.


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Cerulli Study Says Financial Advisors Who Currently Use Options Expect to Increase Use of Options by 30 Percent in Three Years
OCC
The Options Industry Council (OIC), an industry resource funded by OCC and the U.S. options exchanges, today announced the results of a study, How Financial Advisors Use and Think About Exchange-Listed Options, which found that approximately one-third of financial advisors currently use options in 20 percent of client portfolios, and that usage is expected to increase by 30 percent in the next three years. The goal of the study, conducted by Cerulli Associates, a global research and consulting firm specializing in asset management and distribution trends worldwide, is to identify target audiences and educational strategies for the OIC that may lead to increased adoption of exchange-listed options strategies among financial advisors.
/goo.gl/GTBaS2

***** Latest study from the OIC.

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Transitioning E-mini Russell 2000® Positions from ICE to CME
By CME Group
On July 10, 2017, CME Group will launch the E-mini Russell 2000® Index futures and options suite. CME will have the exclusive rights to list futures and options on the index; however, at the time of the launch, the futures products will be dually listed by CME as well as by ICE for a period of time to facilitate the transition of open interest between the exchanges.1
/goo.gl/yJyCrF

***** Are you ready for the Russell migration back to the CME?

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Was CME Europe Doomed From the Start?; CME Europe's experiment on the continent has come to an end - where did it go wrong?
by Neil Crammond, Director of Risk Management at Avem Capital Limited.
On the heels of the news of CME's Europe pullout, this article looks at what a new entrant needs to do in order to survive. What characterises the European marketplace and what was CME doing wrong?
/goo.gl/XLwB3Z

****** Most experiments fail. That is how we figure out what works.

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Richemont founder backs universal basic income; Rupert warns on impact of AI on economy and appoints son and Google executive to board
by: Ralph Atkins in Zurich - FT
Johann Rupert, wealthy founder of Swiss luxury group Richemont, has said he backs governments introducing "universal basic incomes" for all citizens to cope with economic upheaval. He also announced his son and a former top Google executive would join the company's board to help it adjust to new technologies.
/goo.gl/VLTx9h

****** The most interesting part is the conclusion that some people will just be unemployable in the future based on the technological change.

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Barclays CEO Staley Emails Prankster Posing as Chairman, FT Says
by Donal Griffin - Bloomberg
CEO apologized this week for mishandling whistle-blower case; McFarlane's 'fearlessness' on guitar lauded by bank chief
Jes Staley, the Barclays Plc chief executive officer warding off criticism for attempting to ferret out the identity of a whistle-blower, responded to emails from an impostor pretending to be Chairman John McFarlane, the Financial Times reported on its Alphaville blog.
/goo.gl/MB5bZe

****** Oh, they got him good.

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Thursday's Top Three
Bloomberg took the trifecta in yesterday's Newsletter. The most-read story was Bloomberg's Citigroup Trader Fired Over 5-Word Message Uses 2-Second Defense. Second was another Bloomberg story, Hedge Funds Are Facing a U.S. Criminal Probe Over Bond Valuations. And third referred to a Comey-related op-ed by Michael Bloomberg himself, in "QOTD: Michael Bloomberg has had enough" from The Reformed Broker. You can read the actual Michael Bloomberg article here

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John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals.
 
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John Lothian News Editorial Staff:
 
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Lead Stories
Trading Fortunes Depend on a Mysterious Antenna in an Empty Field
by Brian Louis - Bloomberg
High-speed firms jockey for proximity to data center; Jump Trading, McKay Brothers and Webline among players
It was an odd transaction from the outset: $14 million, double the going rate, for a 31-acre plot of flat, undeveloped land just west of Chicago. In the nine months since, the curious use of the space has only added to the intrigue. A single, nondescript pole with two antennas was erected by a row of shrubs. Some supporting equipment was rolled in. That's it.
/goo.gl/82kzXd

Goldman Sachs's Waning Dark Pool Revamped to Woo More Trades
by Annie Massa and Dakin Campbell - Bloomberg
Bank accustomed to being top player, but not among dark pools; New system, called Sigma X-Squared, to debut with two stocks
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is accustomed to winning, but its dark pool lags far behind private stock-trading systems run by its fiercest rivals. It has a plan to start turning that around.
/goo.gl/EU1PrH

An Algorithm, an ETF and an Academic Study Walk Into a Bar; Most of the supposed market anomalies academics have identified don't exist, or are too small to matter
By James Mackintosh - WSJ
Tie together an algorithm, an exchange-traded fund and an academic study finding an anomaly in the markets, and voilà! You have a formula for making money. Trouble is, it turns out that most of the supposed anomalies academics have identified don't exist, or are too small to matter.
/goo.gl/ClE1sV

Goldman Sachs to launch new 'dark pool' for stocks on Friday
By John McCrank - Reuters
May 11 Goldman Sachs Group Inc will launch a new private stock-trading venue, known as a "dark pool," on Friday, that is run by exchange operator Nasdaq Inc , according to a note to clients obtained by Reuters.
/goo.gl/UiFZiV

Top US regulator threatens Europe with a financial trade war if EU tries to cripple Britain over Brexit; US CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo said the EU should proceed with 'care'; The EU revealed this month it is looking at whether euro-denominated clearing; London currently makes up for 75 per cent of the $1trillion euro-clearing market; The issue is politically sensitive at a time when Britain and the EU embark on divorce talks, with proposals on clearing due from Brussels next month
By Kelly Mclaughlin For Mailonline and Reuters
The United States has warned European Union officials that forcing a lucrative London business to Europe post-Brexit could result in an international financial trade war.
/goo.gl/WguKJK

Hong Kong bourse says mainland commodity platform to support futures trading
By Melanie Burton - Reuters
The head of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) said the bourse's upcoming commodity platform in mainland China would support futures trading at other Chinese exchanges.
/goo.gl/u5Kpg7

Deutsche Boerse extends tech contract with Malta Stock Exchange; Trading technology contract for cash markets on the Malta Stock Exchange has been extended by five years.
By Hayley McDowel - The Trade
The Malta Stock Exchange has decided to extend its trading technology agreement with Deutsche Boerse until 2021.
/goo.gl/EFSpuj

The Volcker Rule: How Trump's New Regulator May Unleash Big Banks; Keith Noreika, acting comptroller of the currency, in exclusive interview, says agency could reinterpret proprietary trading definition
By Ryan Tracy and Liz Hoffman - WSJ
The nation's main national bank regulator could act on its own to give banks relief from the Volcker rule trading ban, the agency's acting chief said in his first interview since taking the job.
/goo.gl/H1nmgO

HKEX backs LME to create 'Home Depot style' market; Charles Li says physical delivery to remain at the heart of the 140-year-old exchange
by: Jennifer Hughes in Hong Kong - FT
The owner of the London Metal Exchange says the storied bourse's transformation plans will create a marketplace akin to the stores run by US chain Home Depot, which has grown by serving both professional builders and consumers doing DIY.
/goo.gl/vks3RU

How the Global Audit Firms, Led by Deloitte, Are Using Their Lobbying Clout to Dilute Sarbanes-Oxley Reforms
by Francine McKenna
A look at the Big Four's congressional lobbying activity shows the auditors and their trade association taking advantage of the "Trump" window to roll back the 2002 reforms that changed their business.
/goo.gl/cRXsFa

PwC fined record £5m for 'misconduct' in social housing group audit; Penalty is FRC's biggest and follows 7-year probe into collapse of Connaught
by: Chloe Cornish and John Murray Brown - FT
The UK's accounting watchdog has fined professional services firm PwC a record £5m for "misconduct" in relation to the audit of Connaught, a FTSE 250 social housing maintenance group put into administration in 2010.
/goo.gl/LRZNvz

Opinion: Wilbur Ross says a very dumb thing about the oil business
By Rex Nutting - MarketWatch
Ross tortures the facts when he blames Obama for slump in oil production
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is an extremely successful businessman who apparently doesn't know that the oil business is affected by the laws of supply and demand. If he did, he wouldn't have said the dumb things he said on Thursday about the oil-patch recession.
/goo.gl/7uBLbr

ISDA 32nd AGM: Market Innovation And Technology
ISDA
As part of a push to create greater efficiency in derivatives markets, this panel at the 2017 ISDA AGM in Lisbon debated the role of new technologies, including the potential for smart contracts.
/goo.gl/BZ44jj

Glass-Steagall, Sandy Weill, and President Trump's Plans to Replace Dodd-Frank
Chris Skinner, TheFinanser.com via TABB Forum
Donald Trump is thinking about bringing back Glass-Steagall style laws to the US banks, which would force the banks to separate and break up their operations between their investment bank and the retail and commercial bank structures. Eighteen years after the law was repealed, it's helpful to look at why Glass-Steagall was repealed in the first place. And it's no wonder it's back on the table again today.
/goo.gl/Q2mieA





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Exchanges, OTC & Clearing
Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities
Move Over Bitcoin, CME Group Will Offer Real Digital Gold
By Bradley Fink - Nasdaq
Because of its scarcity, portability, divisibility and current valuation, many people are calling bitcoin the modern "digital gold." And like gold, bitcoin seems to be establishing itself as a popular store of value. But now CME Group, one of the world's largest providers of gold futures contracts, wants to bring real, physical gold to a blockchain-based asset, and it has landed a big partnership with the U.K.'s Royal Mint.
/goo.gl/LhVKEe

TMX Group Announces Election of Directors
TMX
TMX Group today announced that the nominees listed in the management proxy circular for the 2017 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders were elected as directors of TMX Group Limited. Detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at the Annual and Special Meeting on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 in Toronto are set out below.
/goo.gl/drxwYg

BM&FBOVESPA: Provision Of Services To Other Financial Market Infrastructures
Mondovisione
According to the External Communication available below, BM&FBOVESPA has submitted to public consultation, for comments and review by its participants and other interested parties, the rules, operating procedures and commercial conditions that will govern the access by other financial market infrastructures to the following services:
/goo.gl/IhVr6E

London Stock Exchange welcomes ADES to the Main Market
London Stock Exchange Group
Dubai-based oil and gas production services firm IPO raises $243 million, valuing it at $693 million; Largest oil and gas services firm to join the market in 2017; Proceeds will support a planned scale up of ADES' operations in Africa and the Middle East; Underlines LSEG's position as a leading international financial centre
London Stock Exchange today welcomes ADES International Holding (ADES), the Middle East-based oil and gas drilling and production services firm to the Main Market. The company successfully raised $170 million of primary proceeds at IPO with a further $73 million offered by existing shareholders. At the $16.50 offer price, ADES will have a market capitalisation of $693 million at the start of unconditional trading this morning.
/goo.gl/31QvFC

8 new ETCs from the metal and energy sector of BNP Paribas launched on Xetra
Deutsche Börse
8 new ETCs from the metal and energy sector of BNP Paribas launched on Xetra
ETCs provide access to the Rogers International Commodity Enhanced Index (RICI) commodity index family and are tradable in USD
/goo.gl/WOPWnM

Deutsche Börse and Malta Stock Exchange extend trading technology agreement
Deutsche Börse
The Malta Stock Exchange will continue to use Deutsche Börse's trading technology. The two stock exchanges have extended their contract by a further five years with effect from 1 January 2017 until 31 December 2021. The Malta Stock Exchange has also extended its trading hours: the daily trading in a variety of products is now from 9.00 to 15:30 hours possible.
/goo.gl/1M22X6

VolkerWessels lists on Euronext; EUR 575 million raised, market capitalisation of approximately EUR 1,840 million
Euronext
Euronext Amsterdam today welcomed Koninklijke VolkerWessels N.V. (ticker symbol: KVW), a leading integrated and diversified construction group. The listing follows the company's successful Initial Public Offering (IPO), with a total offering of EUR 575 million.
/goo.gl/w35A99

Prodways launches on Euronext; 51 million euros raised and a market capitalization of approximately 232 million euros
Euronext
Euronext today welcomes Prodways, a specialist in 3D printing solutions for professional and industrial applications, on compartment B of its regulated market. It joins the 330 technology companies listed on the pan-European markets of Euronext and testifies to the dynamics of this sector. The IPO of Prodways was very successful with individual investors who subscribed for nearly 51 million euros. This participation is a record for the IPO of an SME-ETI since the creation of EnterNext in May 2013.
/goo.gl/7IhZrL

Asian exchanges jostle to claim LNG derivatives market; SGX and Platts hope to capitalise on physical hedgers, who remain pensive
Jimmy Nicholls - Risk.net
Asian commodity exchanges are showing increasing interest in the market for the region's liquefied natural gas (LNG) derivatives, with several product launches in the offing in coming months. Bu
/goo.gl/bbhocl

LME throws hat into ring to run London silver price fix
Reuters
The London Metal Exchange (LME) will submit a proposal to take over the London silver fix, a senior executive said on Wednesday, the first company to publicly express interest in replacing the current operators of the price benchmark.
/goo.gl/VP6sCk

LME clearing house says interest growing to use metal as margin collateral
The Star
The head of the clearing house for the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday said interest was growing from major commodity financing banks to use metal as collateral for margins.
/goo.gl/UztTwB

Hong Kong bourse chief ready to listen as LME plans more reform
The Star
The head of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) rebuffed criticism of the bourse's handling of the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday, but pledged to listen to core users of the world's oldest metal market as it plans more reforms.
/goo.gl/upNlQt




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Fintech
A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors
TORA preps for shorter settlement cycle with new tool; TORA Ticketing also provides pre- and post-trade allocation, commission management and trade reconciliation.
By Hayley McDowell - The Trade
TORA has developed a service aimed at shortening the settlement cycle ahead of MiFID II T+1 transaction reporting requirements.
/goo.gl/i3ZCfH

Cobalt attracts top currency traders to blockchain service; Market makers Citadel Securities and XTX join UK start-up platform
by: Philip Stafford - FT
A UK start-up trying to put the plumbing of the vast foreign exchange market on the blockchain has secured two of the world's biggest traders, Citadel Securities and XTX Markets, to its fledgling service.
/goo.gl/HDVZ2k



Politics
An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets
The Goldman guys in the White House are acting exactly how America feared they would
Linette Lopez - Business Insider
One thing is certain after President Trump's Trumpenomics interview in The Economist: The Goldman Sachs guys in the White House are acting exactly as America feared they would.
/goo.gl/UNweKa

Trump's Odds of Impeachment Are Spiking Onlin; Betting markets are predicting the president won't last a full term.
BY BESS LEVIN - Vanity Fair
Since the election, millions of people the world over have comforted themselves with the thought that no matter how outrageous, incompetent, or stupid Donald J. Trump may be, at least the odds are reasonably high that he won't make it through a full term. Sure, with Republicans controlling Congress, impeachment would be no easy feat, but sooner or later, he would have to do something that would get them to put country before politics. (Whether Vice President Mike Pence would be an improvement is, among Democrats, another subject of debate.)
/goo.gl/0XDoIU

Trump's Know-Nothing Tour de Force; The president is winging it, even on an issue that risks his entire presidency.
By Jonathan Bernstein - Bloomberg
I was going to write about something else today, but frankly I just can't work around what Donald Trump has said in multiple interviews released today. You should really see the full interviews, or at least the excerpts I'm linking to, but here's the gist:
/goo.gl/pu0pds

Demand for guns and ammunition collapsed after Trump election, says Vista Outdoor
By Ciara Linnane - MarketWatch
Shares of Vista Outdoor Inc. slid 3% Thursday before recouping their losses, after the company posted much weaker-than-expected profit for its fourth fiscal quarter and said demand for guns and ammunition has collapsed since the November election.
/goo.gl/OC6FSH

Some Fund Managers Let Their Political Biases Show When Picking Stocks; Some mutual-fund managers are biased toward stocks of companies run by executives with similar political views—and it hurts their performance
By Jeff Brown - WSJ
Mutual-fund managers are paid to ferret out the best stocks with hardheaded analysis. But a new study suggests that their judgment can be clouded by politics.
/goo.gl/5xsR1Y



Regulation & Enforcement
For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts.
SEC Turns to Big Deals Lawyer to Spur More Public Companies; Bill Hinman has worked on transactions involving Google, Facebook and Alibaba
By Dave Michaels - WSJ
To spur more companies to go public, the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission has turned to a veteran Silicon Valley lawyer whose career has involved some of the biggest deals in history.
/goo.gl/CQk5vg

Washington warns against EU location policy; Head of US derivatives regulator lays out impact of euro clearing decision
by: Philip Stafford in London and Jim Brunsden in Brussels - FT
Washington has weighed into a dispute over the fate of one of London's most lucrative financial businesses, warning that any EU move to require euro-denominated trading to take place within the bloc would break with international norms and could lead to US countermeasures.
/goo.gl/UcZJrS

FCA delays decision on probe into Barclays' Qatar ties; Huge cache of 'significant' documents pushes back inquiry
by: Caroline Binham, Financial Regulation Correspondent - FT
The UK financial watchdog has had to delay a decision over its investigation into Barclays' arrangements with Qatar at the height of the financial crisis after the bank belatedly turned over thousands of "significant" documents.
/goo.gl/51iiID

Deutsche Bank Fined for Delayed Bafin Filing on CEO Changes
by Steven Arons - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank was fined by German regulators for being too slow to give the reasons for why it delayed confirmation that ex-CEOs Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen were stepping down.
/goo.gl/jrJO7s

FCA and SFC sign Fintech co-operation agreement
UK FCA
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today entered into a co-operation agreement with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong to foster collaboration in support of financial technology (Fintech) innovation.
/goo.gl/KjB9b0

Law Firm Partner and Neighbor Charged in $1 Million Insider Trading Scheme
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former partner at an international law firm and his neighbor with making more than $1 million in illicit profits by insider trading around corporate announcements.
/goo.gl/JJstgS








Investing & Trading
Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities)
Who Wants to Buy a 100-Year Bond? It Depends on the Yield; With ultralong bonds under consideration at the Treasury Department, The Wall Street Journal surveys economists about likely yields
By Josh Zumbrun - WSJ
For the Treasury Department to issue 40-year, 50-year or 100-year bonds, or for investors to consider buying them, it sure would help to know the price.
/goo.gl/VWfpHR

Investors clamour for European stock funds; Record capital of $6bn pours in over the past week
by: Eric Platt in New York - FT
Investors poured a record $6bn of new capital into European stock funds in the past week, underlining the voracious appetite for assets across the continent as growth accelerates, earnings recover and several of the bloc's largest countries move past critical elections.
/goo.gl/0oHtX8

Commodity trader Cargill expects grain glut to last long time
Reuters
Cargill Inc expects international grain markets to remain oversupplied for a long time due to bountiful harvests and a rise in storage, the head of the global commodity trader said on Friday.
/goo.gl/8LHLqA

Stick with winning stocks but be ready for a twist; Complacency is dangerous but the current market status quo could have further to run
by Michael Mackenzie
In many walks of life, consensus is a desirable outcome. For markets, it can represent a dangerous case of complacency.
/goo.gl/Do7qAm

How to Lose Friends and Alienate Investors
By Chris Hughes - Bloomberg
U.S. hedge fund Elliott Advisors is going to court to secure a no-confidence vote in AkzoNobel NV's chairman.
/goo.gl/8YQHmS

Here's how much investors lose thinking they can time the market
By Ryan Vlastelica - MarketWatch
Think you can beat the market with sheer timing, by jumping into securities when they bottom and then exiting before the next selloff begins? Data show that basically no investor can, but a lot think otherwise, and that overconfidence costs them.
/goo.gl/VLj5aY

Fall in number of US-listed companies goes beyond regulation; Debate grows over reasons for decrease and what can be done to arrest the slide
by: Nicole Bullock in New York - FT
Regulation has played a role in shrinking the pool of US-listed companies, but issues such as a white-hot market for private funding and mergers and acquisitions may be bigger factors, according to investors, lawyers and other market participants.
/goo.gl/TAvSZ9




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Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds
The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures
Deutsche Bank combines electronic trading team; The combination of its e-trading teams reflects the growing importance of electronic trading as a result of regulation.
By Joe Parsons - The Trade
Deutsche Bank has promoted its head of FX to a new role responsibility for leading its electronic trading team across all asset classes.
/goo.gl/sNI6zG

Goldman reshuffle is an effort to shore up its core business; Bank's partnership ethos is why it believes three co-heads are better than one
by Ben McLannahan in New York and Laura Noonan in Hong Kong - FT
By its own standards, Goldman Sachs had a rough 2016.
/goo.gl/l6rCPZ

RBS CEO sees potential to settle major U.S. mortgage probe
Reuters
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) Chief Executive Ross McEwan said the bank is in talks to settle one of the two major U.S. investigations into allegations it mis-sold mortgage-backed securities that it needs to overcome before the British government can sell its shares in the bailed-out bank.
/goo.gl/DHmmFj

Merrill Lynch Eases Ban on Commission-Based IRAs; New accounts to include sales of money funds, brokered CDs, concentrated stock
By Michael Wursthorn - WSJ
Merrill Lynch will unveil new commission-based retirement accounts next month, people familiar with the matter said, relaxing a wholesale move to fee accounts that the Bank of America Corp. BAC -0.33% -owned brokerage had planned to comply with the "fiduciary" rule.
/goo.gl/oEM4G2




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Regions
Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions
China yield curve inverted as regulators target leverage risk; Five-year government bond yield at highest since 2014
by: Gabriel Wildau in Shanghai - FT
The yield on Chinese five-year government bonds hit its highest since 2014 on Friday, as tight liquidity and a regulatory crackdown on leveraged investment caused a rarely seen inversion of the yield curve.
/goo.gl/dfEpxC

Trump administration hails US-China trade deal; Beijing pledges access for rating agencies, credit card companies and American beef
by: Shawn Donnan in Washington and Tom Mitchell in Beijing - FT
China will open its market to US credit rating agencies and credit card companies as well as resume imports of US beef, part of a package hailed by the Trump administration as the first step in redefining the trade relationship between the world's two largest economies.
/goo.gl/OHqYsw

China Stocks Are Tumbling Again. Unlike 2015, World Doesn't Care
by Sofia Horta E Costa - Bloomberg
Rout wipes out $560 billion from country's stock market; Shanghai benchmark now near most oversold level since 2013
Global investors are still shaking off a rout that's erased more than $560 billion from the value of Chinese equities, making them the world's worst performers since mid-April.
/goo.gl/L8QDoL

At G7, world finance chiefs are trying to gauge Trump's plans
By William Schomberg and David Lawder - Reuters
Finance chiefs from some of the world's richest nations began a two-day meeting in Italy on Friday, with Europe, Japan and Canada hoping to come away with a clearer picture of U.S. President Donald Trump's plans on important policies.
/goo.gl/x2uVTA

US and China reach deal expanding beef trade and increasing access to financial services; The deal is part of a plan to reduce the massive US trade deficit with Beijing, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said
Ayesha Rascoe - Independent
Mr Trump pledged during his presidential campaign that he would stop trade practices by China and other countries that he deemed unfair to the United States Carlos Barria/Reuters
The United States and China will expand trade in beef and chicken and increase access for financial firms, as part of a plan to reduce the massive US trade deficit with Beijing, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday.
/goo.gl/ITW14p

Some of the biggest names on Wall Street all love the same stock market
Frank Chaparro - Business Insider
Since Donald Trump's victory in November, the US stock market has reached new highs. But many Wall Streeters think American equities have reached their ceiling.
/goo.gl/5Zucjt

Saudi Arabia prepared to ease foreign caps in MSCI index push; Chief executive of Tadawul, the Saudi bourse, will listen to investors' feedback
by: Simeon Kerr in Riyadh - FT
Saudi Arabia is prepared to ease regulations limiting foreign investment in the country's stock market ahead of the much-anticipated Saudi Aramco initial public offering next year.
/goo.gl/w63EOf








Brexit
Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union
Bundesbank's Frankfurt Expansion Puts Squeeze on Office Market
by Stephan Kahl and Andrew Blackman- Bloomberg
Germany's Bundesbank has just made life harder for the banks that are considering Frankfurt as their new European Union base after Brexit.
/goo.gl/mukrHh

EU's Chief Brexit Negotiator Reassures Ireland That It Won't Be Forgotten in Talks
by Dara Doyle and Ian Wishart - Bloomberg
The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator quipped that his Ryanair flight to Dublin, even without coffee, underlined the benefits of the bloc, as he sought to reassure the Irish of his commitment to protecting the nation as the U.K. pulls out of the EU.
/goo.gl/LX21jw








Miscellaneous
Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections
The Heroin Business Is Booming in America; Cartels boost profits as painkiller supplies tighten up.
by Jeanna Smialek - Bloomberg
On a drizzly May afternoon, a man in gray sweatpants and a black Bengals hoodie sold a half-gram of heroin for $70 inside a dingy market on the west side of Cincinnati. The buyer was a plainclothes police officer; the seller was promptly handcuffed. The bust was the first of two that a team of local police would make that Thursday and one of several heroin-related cases to cross their radios: Three people overdosed, and another was caught driving under the influence. Compared with some days in their district, it was pretty slow.
/goo.gl/CRxTXj

How the 'Trump Effect' Is Driving Foreign Students Away From U.S. B-Schools; A "less inclusive and less diverse" America is a turnoff for international students seeking MBAs.
by Nick Leiber - Bloomberg
In January, Rodrigo Paolucci sold his 50-person video distribution startup in São Paulo, planning to go to business school overseas. Although he'd long dreamed of getting an MBA in Silicon Valley or New York, he applied only to the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. The reason: The Trump administration's anti-immigration rhetoric "makes it harder for foreigners," says Paolucci, who got a scholarship from Rotman that covers 40 percent of tuition. Just as important, his wife will be able to work as soon as they move to Toronto this summer, and they'll be able to stick around for three years after he graduates. "Of course you want to be at Stanford or Columbia, but you have to place your bets," says Paolucci, 31. "Top talent is going to go where it's welcome."
/goo.gl/2P4FL4

Cult Wines strengthens management team to support record international growth
Economic Voice
Cult Wines, a specialist in the acquisition and investment management of fine wines, has today announced the appointment of Patrick Thornton-Smith as a Non-Executive Director and member of the firm's Global Management Team. Patrick's appointment will support the firm's record-breaking growth levels which have been driven by rising global demand, particularly in the UK and Asia.
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