| April 27, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The Options Conference held a nice event at the Wildhorse Saloon last night, with live music and instructions on how to line dance. Mrs. Lothian was right up there learning how to step and shimmy. It was a good event to network and we even snagged a couple more interviews for today at the event.
There is a lot going on in the options space, some of which people can't talk about yet, and some they can. One of the highlights yesterday for JLN was interviewing fellow journalist and former trader Mark Longo of The Options Insider for the Open Outcry Traders History Project. Alex Teng did the interview, his first for the series, and Mark was very forthcoming about his time as a trader.
Register for FIA's International Derivatives EXPO (IDX) by May 19 to get the early bird rates. IDX is June 19 to 21 in London at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London.
From Boerse Stuttgart: Dr Philipp Veit (36) has been appointed to head Stuttgart Financial - the financial centre initiative of Boerse Stuttgart Group, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism of the German Federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the banking industry foundation Stiftung Kreditwirtschaft of the University of Hohenheim - from May 1, 2023.
There are more women who run big companies than CEOs of big companies who are named John, according to a Bloomberg story citing a study by a Stanford University economics doctoral student. That had not always been the case, as a story in The New York Times in 2015 said there were fewer women who ran big companies than CEOs named John. There was no mention of how many of these women CEOs had the female version of the name John, i.e. Jane.
Accelex has published a commentary titled "ChatGPT and the LLM revolution: A private markets perspective." The subheadline of the piece is "Open AI's release of ChatGPT in 2022 sent shockwaves around the world. This chatbot revealed to the general public just how powerful large language models (LLMs) have become. Able to perform to a wide range of complex tasks at or beyond human level, the potential for ChatGPT or similar tools to disrupt was clear. An upgrade to ChatGPT's underlying model in 2023 significantly improved its performance, with Open AI showcasing examples of ChatGPT writing and debugging code, understanding complex tax law and interpreting images."
The Arab Federation of Capital Markets and The London Institute of Banking and Finance are offering an online course on "Derivatives and CCPs." The course defines what are the CCP's and helps you understand the functions and assess the advantages and disadvantages of CCP's and understand the dynamics and mechanisms applied and the terminologies used by CCP's in managing risks and operations. For more details, click HERE.
I have been invited to the 9th Asia Anti-Corruption Compliance Summit 2023 in Shanghai, China on June 15-16, 2023. Luckily, there is a virtual alternative for the conference as well. No links at this time.
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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AirCarbon's Thomas McMahon talks with John Lothian News about how ACX meets local and global needs, and the future of the carbon markets
JohnLothianNews.com
Thomas McMahon, co-founder and co-CEO of AirCarbon Exchange (ACX) talked with John Lothian News at the FIA International Futures Conference in Boca Raton, FL., about how ACX got its start, its local and global properties, and the policy-driven nature of the environmental markets.
Watch the video »
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Deutsche Boerse offers $4.3 billion for Denmark's SimCorp
Emma-Victoria Farr and Danilo Masoni - Reuters
Stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) on Thursday announced a 3.9 billion euro ($4.31 billion) takeover offer for Danish investment management software company SimCorp SA (SIM.CO), as it looks to diversify its business. Shares in Deutsche Boerse dropped more than 6% after the German company announced the all-cash deal at 735 Danish crowns ($109.04) per share, which the target said its board would unanimously recommend.
/jlne.ws/448N8Nb
***** Adding to the equation and getting Qontigo ready for an IPO by the looks of it.~JJL
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JPMorgan Creates AI Model to Analyze 25 Years of Fed Speeches; Economists use ChatGPT-based language to detect signals; Firm plans to expand tool to cover more than 30 central banks
Lu Wang - Bloomberg
A week before the Federal Reserve's next meeting, JPMorgan Chase & Co. unveiled an artificial intelligence-powered model that aims to decipher the central bank's messaging and uncover potential trading signals. Based off of Fed statements and central-banker speeches going back 25 years, the firm's economists including Joseph Lupton employed a ChatGPT-based language model to detect the tenor of policy signals, effectively rating them on a scale from easy to restrictive in what JPMorgan is calling the Hawk-Dove Score.
/jlne.ws/3Lc8Yqv
***** So ChatGPT will be able to talk like the Fed, but will they be able to walk like an Egyptian?~JJL
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Hamptons Luxury-Home Prices Soar to Records Even as Sales Slow; While a shortage of listings and economic worries held back deals in the first-quarter, a handful of big purchases pushed up high-end pricing.
Jennifer Epstein - Bloomberg
Luxury-home prices in New York's Hamptons soared to record highs in the first quarter. Sales in the top 10% of the market were completed at a median of $8.54 million, up 11% from a year earlier, according to appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The average price of high-end homes in the Long Island beach towns also set a record at $16.1 million, a 33% increase that was driven by a few especially large purchases.
/jlne.ws/40HbH0T
****** How about a nice $50 million fixer upper?~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top clicked item Wednesday was the picture of the Cboe opening bell ceremony yesterday celebrating their 50th anniversary, taken by our own Jeff Bergstrom. Second was John Lothian's piece on William Mallers, Sr., A Forgotten Rogue CBOT Chairman Who Helped Launch The Cboe And The Options Industry. Third was FTX Sells LedgerX to Miami Exchange Owner for $50 Million, from Bloomberg.
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MarketsWiki Stats
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | 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. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
Publisher | | | Sarah Rudolph
Editor-in-Chief
| | | Jeff Bergstrom
Editor
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| Lead Stories | Using crypto for crime is not a bug - it's an industry feature; Despite last year's market downturn, it was a record period for crypto-based illicit transactions
Jemima Kelly - Financial Times
One of the (many) times I have been heckled during a panel on crypto was when I argued that it shouldn't be thought of as money. The only reason to use it other than for speculation, I said, was to buy drugs on the internet. This was a preposterous idea, the heckler retorted; crypto is used for so much more than that.
/jlne.ws/448iHqn
Deutsche Borse set to acquire SimCorp in all cash takeover for $4.3 billion; The deal will combine Deutsche Borse's Qontigo and ISS; will create a new investment management solutions segment.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Deutsche Börse has entered into a binding agreement to acquire SimCorp in an all-cash public takeover for $4.3 billion. To complete the deal, Deutsche Börse will launch an all-cash voluntary recommended public takeover offer for all SimCorp shares except for its treasury shares.
/jlne.ws/3LxbE3u
Tradeweb in talks to acquire Australian electronic trading platform Yieldbroker; If a definitive agreement is reached, Tradeweb anticipates that the acquisition would be an all-cash transaction with a purchase price of $82.7 million.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Tradeweb Markets has announced that it is in advanced discussions to acquire Australian-based Yieldbroker, a government bond and interest rate derivatives trading platform covering the institutional, wholesale and primary markets. In a statement released on Wednesday, Tradeweb said it anticipates that the acquisition would be an all-cash transaction with a purchase price of $82.7 million.
/jlne.ws/3ABDoxD
Banking Problems May Be Tip of Debt Iceberg; 'Shadow banks' have grown rapidly and, like banks, are exposed to risk from higher interest rates
Greg Ip - The Wall Street Journal
The biggest question facing the economy lately has been: How bad will the banking turmoil be? Though two U.S. banks failed a month ago, and a third is still struggling, emergency lending by the Federal Reserve seems to have prevented broader harm. The next question should be: Will it spread beyond the banks? That is because the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank a month ago, which touched off this bout of turmoil, was a symptom, not a cause, of broader forces at work in the financial system and the economy.
/jlne.ws/3Az53Pz
First Republic Bank Is a Problem With No Easy Solution; A regulatory seizure would bring its own set of problems
Ben Eisen, Andrew Ackerman and Corrie Driebusch - The Wall Street Journal
First Republic Bank is running up against a grim reality in its fight for survival: There are seemingly no good options. Any solution would likely require assistance from regulators, the government or other lenders. But the darkening economic outlook, bad lending decisions and limits on Washington policy makers pose hurdles for any intervention.
/jlne.ws/41GBdVf
LSEG reports £2 billion income on the back off data and analytics growth, publishes strategy for 2023; Exchange group is seeking shareholder approval for the potential buyback of Refinitiv shares following 2021 acquisition.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has released its latest trading update, reporting a total income of £2 billion and a gross profit of £1.8 billion, up 14% and 15%, respectively, year-on-year. The increase is off the back of growth in LSEG's data and analytics division which reported earnings of £1.3 billion, up 15% year-on-year. Within the division, trading and banking solutions saw an increase in earnings by 12%, totalling £425 million.
/jlne.ws/3AvmTDg
Abaxx Provides Corporate Update, Appoints Abaxx Singapore Directors and Establishes At-The-Market Equity Program
Abaxx
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (NEO:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, majority shareholder of the Abaxx Commodity Exchange (Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd), and producer of the SmarterMarkets™ Podcast, announces updates to the Company's executive management and appoints five new board members to Abaxx Commodity Exchange boards of directors. Abaxx also announces that it has established an at-the-market (the "ATM") equity program.
/jlne.ws/3oI9nJL
Credit trading finally exits the Dark Ages; Thumping electronic beats
Steven Zamsky - Financial Times
After decades of inertia, corporate bond trading has evolved by leaps and bounds in the last several years. Frankly, it's pretty remarkable how far it's come. The long-fitful growth in the portion of trading volumes conducted on electronic venues has surged since the pandemic, and now stands at around 40 per cent in the US. As one trader puts it, "it's as if everyone working at home suddenly decided to trade credit electronically". And it stuck, even if WFH is fading.
/jlne.ws/3V8qAZ5
Japan's SMBC plans to triple stake in Jefferies in Wall Street push; New York and Tokyo banks seek deeper ties as they try to compete with larger rivals
Joshua Franklin and Leo Lewis - Financial Times
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is planning to triple its stake in US investment bank Jefferies Financial Group, deepening ties between the Wall Street and Tokyo banks in an effort to compete with larger rivals.
/jlne.ws/3LemGsP
Fed Bosses Steered Examiners Away From Probing Problems Like SVB; Quest for efficiency frustrated front-line bank inspectors; Ahead of Barr report, Quarles says consistency was key goal
Craig Torres, Steve Matthews and Catarina Saraiva - Bloomberg
All through the period when trouble was brewing at Silicon Valley Bank, the Federal Reserve was taking steps that effectively discouraged examiners from doing much about it. That's the picture of the Fed's supervisory culture, and the way it evolved in recent years, that emerges from interviews with more than half-a-dozen people familiar with the central bank's oversight of lenders.
/jlne.ws/3NcuWwi
Deutsche Bank reports decade-high profit during turbulent first quarter; Germany's largest lender helped by higher interest rates and inflows into asset management business
Olaf Storbeck - Financial Times
Deutsche Bank's profit hit its highest in a decade in the first quarter, helped by higher interest rates and inflows into its asset management business during a period of turmoil for the banking sector.
/jlne.ws/427iJxf
***** Here is The Wall Street Journal's version of this story.~JJL
Deutsche Bank Plans More Job Cuts After Traders Trail Peers; Corporate bank records best quarter since turnaround started; Fixed income trading slumps 17%, trailing Wall Street peers
Steven Arons - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG plans to cut about 800 senior back-office staff as Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing steps up cost reductions amid a slowdown in the trading business that has fueled much of the lender's growth.
/jlne.ws/3LaAHrx
Credit Suisse Employee Bonuses Tied to AT1 Bonds Also Wiped Out
Marion Halftermeyer - Bloomberg
Credit Suisse Group AG informed employees that deferred awards meant to mirror bonds that were wiped out in the firm's emergency sale to UBS Group AG will also be written to zero.
/jlne.ws/41K6SFi
Speed of US bank failures to play starring role in Fed, FDIC post-mortems
Hannah Lang and Ann Saphir - Reuters
Of all the facts that have emerged about last month's two U.S. bank busts - the unanswered warning letters from regulators, the ignored interest-rate risk, the outsized levels of uninsured deposits - one data point in particular continues to stir deep-seated unease among finance officials: 36.
/jlne.ws/3Hez2jt
Allegations against former Barclays CEO Staley 'very serious' - CEO
Lawrence White - Reuters
Allegations made against British bank Barclays' former CEO Jes Staley regarding his ties with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are "very serious", the lender's current CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3HjBWn9
Coinbase sues SEC in bid for clarity on crypto rules
Forkast.News
Dear Reader, Hello from Austin this week, at Consensus 2023, where significant conversations are taking place. And in the dialogue, news this week that Coinbase is suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is being cheered by many in the crypto community.
/jlne.ws/3LfpmGZ
Big Oil Is the Harley to Shale's Midlife Crisis; The industry is ripe for consolidation as investors seek the dependable cash flows and efficiency that favor the likes of Exxon and ConocoPhillips.
Liam Denning - Bloomberg
The general view of mergers and acquisitions is that they are expressions of ego, wrought by empire builders and their equally humble bankers. But there's always a seller, too, who has maybe concluded there's just no point in going on anymore.
/jlne.ws/3LAkCwO
At Charles Schwab, Being a Big Bank Has Become a Big Problem; With higher rates easily available elsewhere, the company is facing dwindling deposits.
Annie Massa - Bloomberg
Bob Thompson describes his retirement as quiet and happy. He lives in Indianapolis with his Welsh terrier, Stella, covering his expenses with savings he amassed over four decades as an accountant. He entrusts those savings to an advisory and financial planning firm, which in turn runs major parts of its business through a gold-standard mainstay of American finance: Charles Schwab Corp. "I had a really good impression of Schwab," Thompson says.
/jlne.ws/424arGo
Mifid post-Brexit: The current state of play; Following recent regulatory milestones in the UK and Europe, The TRADE explores Mifid II's current state of play on either side of the channel.
Editors - The Trade
After several years of back and forth following the UK's departure from the European Union, it appears regulatory discussions around Mifid II amendments in the UK and Europe are reaching a turning point.
/jlne.ws/42lrYdl
AFME calls on regulators to remove caps on block trading; The Association recommended that volume caps should be removed or, alternatively, suspended for a five-year period, after which ESMA should assess whether the cap is negatively impacting price formation.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has published its recommendations for the Mifr/d II review Trilogues, arguing that no size restrictions should be placed on midpoint trading through any mechanism.
/jlne.ws/40HP3p1
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia Industry Grows for First Time in a Year on War Production; Industrial output grew by 1.2% vs expectation of slump of 1.4%; Military-related sectors show double-digit output growth
Bloomberg
Russian industry unexpectedly rebounded for the first time in a year, as sectors associated with military production delivered strong performances amid rising spending on the invasion of Ukraine. Industrial production was up 1.2% in March from a year earlier, according to the Federal Statistics Service, well ahead of the 1.4% decline expected in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
/jlne.ws/3LzahBd
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | CME's SOFR Contract Volumes Exceed Eurodollar Activity
Shanny Basar - Markets Media
CME Group said average daily volume in SOFR futures and options exceeded the best ever quarterly ADV for Eurodollar contracts, which helped deliver record revenue for the derivatives exchange group's rates business in the first quarter of this year. Sean Tully, global head of rates & OTC products, said on the first quarter results call on 26 April that CME delivered all-time record revenue for its rates business.
/jlne.ws/41XqyFm
LME revenue drops in wake of nickel crisis; Legal and consultancy fees weigh on LME as it reels from controversial decision to cancel $4bn in trades
Jeremy Chan - Financial News
The London Metal Exchange reported lower revenue and higher operating costs as it looks to recover from last year's nickel crisis. Daily volume traded also dropped, first quarter results from the LME's parent company Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing show, in an early indication of the impact of a decision to cancel $4bn in trades amid a short squeeze last March.
/jlne.ws/3Lew67F
Deutsche Borse AG: Deutsche Börse AG: Deutsche Börse and SimCorp sign agreement on recommended voluntary takeover offer for SimCorp - Deutsche Borse intends to combine Qontigo and ISS
EQS Group
Deutsche Borse AG: Deutsche Börse AG: Deutsche Borse and SimCorp sign agreement on recommended voluntary takeover offer for SimCorp - Deutsche Börse intends to combine Qontigo and ISS
/jlne.ws/3LwYjrV
Nasdaq Collaborates With World Federation of Exchanges on Launch of Green Equity Principles
NASDAQ
After environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has moved into the mainstream over the past couple of years, the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) is launching the WFE Green Equity Principles, a global framework for identifying and appointing shares as green. Nasdaq collaborated closely with the WFE and contributed to the development of this global framework from Nasdaq's own Green Designations, a marker for equity issuers in our European markets to increase visibility and transparency toward investors looking for sustainable investments.
/jlne.ws/43ZSJ8y
Abaxx Provides Corporate Update, Appoints Abaxx Singapore Directors and Establishes At-The-Market Equity Program
Abaxx Technologies
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (NEO:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, majority shareholder of the Abaxx Commodity Exchange (Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd), and producer of the SmarterMarkets™ Podcast, announces updates to the Company's executive management and appoints five new board members to Abaxx Commodity Exchange boards of directors. Abaxx also announces that it has established an at-the-market (the "ATM") equity program.
/jlne.ws/3oI9nJL
ASX Receives Notice Of Meeting From Yieldbroker To Vote On Proposed Sale
ASX
/jlne.ws/351gPmZ
Deutsche Boerse AG Announces Voluntary Friendly Public Bar Takeover Offer For Simcorp A/S And The Proposed Merger Of Qontigo And ISS And The Creation Of A New Investment Management Solutions Segment
Deutsche Börse
/jlne.ws/421gcUZ
London Stock Exchange Group plc: Q1 2023 Trading Update; Strong start to the year across subscription and transactional businesses
LSEG
/jlne.ws/3HjLm1Z
Poll Results Of 2023 Annual General Meeting And New Appointments To HKEX Board
Corporate
Hong Kong Exchanges
/jlne.ws/41LTHE6
Study Panel on the Use of Digital Bonds in ESG Investing concludes discussions, publishes report
JPX
/jlne.ws/40HqrNq
Japan Exchange Group, Inc. and Consolidated Subsidiaries
JPX
/jlne.ws/3LakYsx
Notice of Partial Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation
JPX
/jlne.ws/3LgdrZ8
Result of AGM
LSEG
/jlne.ws/3NiFRV1
Regulator's Column: What boards and requisitionists should take note of in shareholder-requisitioned meetings
SGX Group
/jlne.ws/3nhdrAa
TMX Group CEO John McKenzie to present at the Barclays Americas Select Franchise Conference
TMX
/jlne.ws/3LBhDnG
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Cboe selects Broadway Technology as infrastructure provider for new interdealer US treasuries platform; Broadway will provide Cboe full-service co-location, cloud hosting and system oversight to improve the trading experience on Cboe's new trading platform.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Cboe has selected Broadway Technology to become the infrastructure service provider for its new interdealer US treasuries trading platform. Announced in November 2021, the new platform - Cboe Fixed Income - is the exchange group's first move into fixed income. The dealer-to-dealer electronic trading platform claims to be the first ever full amount trading platform for on-the-run US treasuries trading meaning any incoming marketable order will trade in full against one counterparty.
/jlne.ws/3oCzgdR
Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft Are Ready to Spend Big on AI, Despite Cost Cuts
Alex Barinka - Bloomberg
It's a time of austerity for Big Tech - quite the conundrum for companies expected to remain at the forefront of innovation. And from this tension between investing in the future and counting pennies, a new battle of man versus machine has emerged. The AI arms race is on, and it's being funded by the dollars saved through firing employees.
/jlne.ws/3V9A7yW
Microsoft Warns Over Cloud as EU-US Data Pact Awaits Sign Off; Software firm says lack of a solution could spark 'blockages'; EU court toppled a transatlantic pact ahead of Meta ruling
Stephanie Bodoni - Bloomberg
Microsoft Corp. warned that its cloud services could be a victim of the legal vacuum over transatlantic data transfers that's already prompted Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. to threaten to pull out of the European Union.
/jlne.ws/3V7R0Kx
ChatGPT spells the end of coding as we know it
Aki Ito - Business Insider
ChatGPT has come for software developers. When ChatGPT was released to the world in November, most of us marveled at its ability to write rap lyrics and cover letters and high-school English essays. But Adam Hughes, a software developer, was intrigued by artificial intelligence's much-ballyhooed aptitude for writing code. So he signed up for an account and asked ChatGPT to program a modified tic-tac-toe game, giving the game some weird rules so the bot couldn't just copy code that another human had already written. Then he quizzed it with the kind of coding questions he asks candidates in job interviews.
/jlne.ws/3LyON7t
OpenAI Targets Professionals With This New ChatGPT Update; The fast-growing AI service is evolving.
Ian Krietzberg - The Street
New changes and iterations are coming soon to ChatGPT, OpenAI revealed Tuesday. The artificial intelligence researcher said in a blog post that it is working on developing a ChatGPT business subscription. This service would target "professionals who need more control over their data as well as enterprises seeking to manage their end users."
/jlne.ws/3Va17yc
Broadway Technology Appointed as Infrastructure Service Provider for Cboe's New U.S. Treasuries Trading Platform
Broadway Technology
Broadway Technology, a leading provider of high-performance front-office solutions, today announced that Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of global market infrastructure and tradable products, has selected Broadway Technology as an Infrastructure Service Provider (ISP) for its new U.S. Treasuries trading platform.
/jlne.ws/44kDcAD
How Asia's Hottest New App Was Sunk by Secret China Connections; Bondee was booming in January when users thought its developer was from Singapore. Then they found out about its roots.
Yoolim Lee, Low De Wei and Zheping Huang - Bloomberg
For a short stretch early this year, Bondee seemed on track to be the next hot app in some of the biggest markets in Asia. Millions of young people were drawn to the idea of creating cute avatars and hanging out in one another's "virtual plazas," and users described it as a mixture of the video game Animal Crossing and Meta Platforms Inc.'s WhatsApp messaging service. It topped download charts from Singapore to South Korea.
/jlne.ws/3Hj6wNE
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Chinese and Russian hackers are making moves. Here's how the NSA is trying to counter them.
Tim Starks - The Washington Post
China is growing more "brazen" in its cyberattacks and Russia is targeting U.S. companies with intelligence operations over the war in Ukraine, the National Security Agency's top cyber official told me in an interview Wednesday. That analysis comes as the Discord Leaks pose potential harm to spy agency assets and the NSA risks losing what it considers a key tool to combat hackers, Rob Joyce said.
/jlne.ws/40JsekT
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto's Cure for a Shrinking Customer Base: Buy Government Bonds; DeFi platforms take a page from traditional finance's playbook to boost yields
Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
Cryptocurrency firms are leaning on traditional financial products to attract customers to the flagging market. More decentralized finance companies have bought up Treasurys to sweeten yields on their blockchain-based financial services. Decentralized finance, known as DeFi, allows users to borrow, lend, earn interest and trade digital assets without a human intermediary.
/jlne.ws/3He5rGT
Why the Politics of Crypto Feels Different This Time
Noelle Acheson - CoinDesk
Last week's appearance by Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler before the House Financial Services Committee was his first in more than a year, and his first since the current Congress took over. The political shift in the House of Representatives to Republican control rapidly became glaringly obvious as the tone was markedly hostile. The agency's approach to digital assets was a key point of contention.
/jlne.ws/423gueg
Binance CEO Lawyers Up Amid 'Chilling' U.S. Crypto Regulatory Climate
Alys Key - Decrypt
Legal pressure on Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has underscored the potentially "chilling" effect of a U.S. crackdown on crypto, legal experts have told Decrypt. The company is facing scrutiny from multiple agencies, including a suit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against both Binance and its founder Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao last month.
/jlne.ws/3HgKf3f
CeFi Exchanges Helped Mass Crypto Adoption; DeFi Will Further It
Aoyon Ashraf - CoinDesk
Centralized exchanges (CeFi) have helped to push early adoption of crypto by the masses, but many of these have suffered from recent failures. In the long term, decentralized exchanges (DEX) will strengthen the backbone of future financial systems, panelists said during the "DeFi vs. CeFi: A Distinction With a Difference" panel at CoinDesk's Consensus 2023 conference here.
/jlne.ws/3Lc8IYz
Coinbase and S&P-Backed Credora Raises $6M in Bid to Fix Crypto Lending
Mathew Di Salvo - Decrypt
A fintech startup with an eye on decentralized finance (DeFi) has raised a $6 million strategic round-with crypto exchange Coinbase and S&P Global as major investors. Privacy-focused Credora-formerly known as X-Margin-this week announced that the money would be used to "build transparent credit markets." Credora monitors over $4 billion of borrower assets with coverage across the majority of CeFi and DeFi venues.
/jlne.ws/3VcI3iN
Crypto Innovation and Regulation Can Co-Exist, Top Industry Executives Agree
Glenn Williams - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3AApvj2
Former Bridgewater CEO Deputy Joins Crypto Fund BlockTower; Move is rare as crypto executives leave for more stable jobs; Zhang will help manage staff of about 30 in Miami, New York
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/41JMxAb
Citadel Money Manager Exits to Join Biden's Push for Chips; Franklin Keller joins Commerce Department semiconductor effort; Griffin: "Need more people with real-world experience" in govt
Sridhar Natarajan and Eric Martin - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/41DXO4S
WisdomTree CEO Says Crypto Is 'Natural Evolution' of ETF Products
Helene Braun - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/424ktY4
Hong Kong's Crypto Licensing Regime Expected to Launch Next Month
Andrew Asmakov - Decrypt
/jlne.ws/3AvGlj8
UK Charities Offered Guidance for Accepting Crypto Donations
Jack Schickler - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3LfnBtn
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | A US debt default could spark mass unemployment, payment failures, and catastrophe that would raise interest rates 'into perpetuity,' Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns
Jennifer Sor - Business Insider
A government debt default would be catastrophic for the US economy, sparking mass unemployment, payment failures, and interest rates rising "into perpetuity," according to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. "Since 1789, the United States has paid all of our bills on time, and it should stay that way," Yellen said at a Washington conference on Tuesday, warning of an economic disaster if the US failed to meet its debt obligations.
/jlne.ws/3AyWowM
Citadel Money Manager Exits to Join Biden's Push for Chips; Franklin Keller joins Commerce Department semiconductor effort; Griffin: "Need more people with real-world experience" in govt
Sridhar Natarajan and Eric Martin - Bloomberg
President Joe Biden's administration has persuaded another money manager from Wall Street to join the government's efforts to create a computer-chip renaissance in the US. Franklin Keller, 37, is joining the CHIPS for America program on the investment team, led by Todd Fisher, who formerly worked at KKR & Co.
/jlne.ws/41DXO4S
Japan Ruling LDP Will Try to Pass LGBTQ Law Ahead of G-7; Japan has fallen behind on support for sexual minorities; Business groups say lack of rights makes Japan less attractive
Yuki Hagiwara - Bloomberg
A senior executive in Japan's ruling party said he'll seek to pass a law promoting understanding of the LGBTQ community before the country hosts the Group of Seven summit in less than a month. Toshiaki Endo, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party's general affairs council, said he's willing to have the ruling coalition submit a bill without opposition backing if no agreement can be reached. Endo, a lower house lawmaker, was speaking in an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Hong Kong SFC to Issue Crypto Exchange License Guidelines in May
Kiuyan Wong - Bloomberg
Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission plans to shed more light on the city's evolving cryptocurrency framework next month. The regulator will release guidelines on the licensing regime for virtual-asset exchanges in May, its Chief Executive Officer Julia Leung said at an event.
/jlne.ws/3L4bm2o
Commissioner Johnson to Participate on Panel at ISDA's 37th Annual General Meeting
CFTC
Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson will participate on a panel, NBFI: Threat to Financial Stability?, at ISDA's 37th Annual General Meeting.
/jlne.ws/3V8nlAT
US CFTC charges Fisher Capital with investment fraud targeting older adults
Reuters
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Tuesday filed a civil enforcement action against Fisher Capital and its owner, Alexander Spellane, alleging it perpetrated a precious metals investment fraud targeting older adults. The Los Angeles-based dealer of precious metals defrauded "hundreds of elderly persons into investing more than $30 million in gold and silver coins worth far less than the defendants led victims to believe," the agency said.
/jlne.ws/40Kc5vN
Eric R. Werner Named Director of Fort Worth Regional Office
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Eric R. Werner has been named Regional Director of the Fort Worth Regional Office, effective immediately. Mr. Werner is currently the Acting Co-Regional Director and has served as the Associate Regional Director of Enforcement in the Fort Worth office since 2018. He succeeds David L. Peavler, who left the agency in December.
/jlne.ws/3L701Pb
Rep. Patrick McHenry on Future of Crypto Regulation, SEC's Gary Gensler
CoinDesk
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) reacts to his heated exchange with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler on whether ether is a security in last week's House Financial Services Committee hearing. "With the crypto fallout over the past two years ... he's made things worse," McHenry said.
/jlne.ws/41Ln35m
SEC's Division of Investment Management to Host Inaugural Conference on Emerging Trends in Asset Management
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Investment Management today announced it will host virtually an inaugural Conference on Emerging Trends in Asset Management on Friday, May 19, 2023. The conference will bring together a variety of asset management industry participants and academics to discuss emerging trends in asset management.
/jlne.ws/3LebigB
Bittrex Global CEO Says Firm Will Fight SEC Charges, Did Not Serve U.S. Customers
Sandali Handagama - CoinDesk
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is "mistaken" in charging crypto exchange Bittrex Global GmbH with breach of local securities law, Chief Executive Officer Oliver Linch said during a phone interview with CoinDesk on Monday. On April 17, the SEC charged Bittrex Inc. and its former CEO William Shihara with operating an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency in the U.S.
/jlne.ws/3oLq5In
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | The Asia Trader's Strategy Guide to Playing US Debt-Ceiling Debate
Marcus Wong and Ishika Mookerjee - Bloomberg
Tension is building over the US debt ceiling, spurring investors as far away as Asia to prepare for the worst - even if a resolution is the base case and US markets will take the first hit from any potential default. Strategists have begun to tell clients ways to position for the fallout, pointing to 2011 when S&P Global Ratings downgraded the US credit rating as negotiations became deadlocked.
/jlne.ws/3HjZzw5
Bank of England Shows ECB How to Shrink a Balance Sheet; The UK central bank is setting the pace in unwinding the bond portfolios accumulated during quantitative easing.
Marcus Ashworth - Bloomberg
The Bank of England was the first in this cycle to raise interest rates among the major central banks, and it's now blazing a trail in how to shrink a balance sheet. Its success in scaling back its corporate bond portfolio should give it confidence to speed up the liquidation of its much larger government debt holdings - provided market conditions continue to allow the sales. There are clear lessons here for the European Central Bank which will soon have to accelerate its own quantitative easing unwind.
/jlne.ws/3LjW0r0
Short European Real Estate? Beware. So Is Everyone Else; The continent's property stocks are overrun by short sellers and the bear case is obvious. But crowding in a relatively small sector creates risks of its own.
Chris Hughes - Bloomberg
Europe's big short is getting bigger. Investors have been adding fresh bets against the region's sunken real estate stocks, anticipating further declines. An abundance of funds putting on similar trades creates its own risks.
/jlne.ws/3LAgrBh
Top Hedge Fund Says 'Violent' Emerging-Market Selloff Is Coming; Man Group Plc is the world's largest public hedge fund; Prepare for giant liquidity drain from the US, Man Group says
Selcuk Gokoluk and Esteban Duarte - Bloomberg
The hedge fund that beat 99% of peers last year with a bearish stance on emerging markets says the selloff since February has proven its skepticism right and risky assets will face even bigger losses later this year.
/jlne.ws/3oSAIZC
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | 1 big thing: Horn of Africa woes climate-driven, study says
Axios
A devastating drought in the Horn of Africa, which has now stretched across five straight failed rainy seasons, would not have occurred without human-caused climate change, Axios' Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath and Andrew write. Why it matters: According to a new scientific analysis, climate change sparked by human emissions are exacerbating the region's arid conditions, as well as the suffering of tens of millions of people. The drought has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
/jlne.ws/3AvJcsm
The 'woke police' are coming for ESG - here's why they should stand down
William S. Becker - The Hill (opinion)
The people we elect to solve problems in America have a rich assortment from which to choose. We have persistent wage and wealth gaps, accelerating climate change, insufficient defenses against cyberattacks, divisive culture wars, a fossilized energy economy, a stalemate on international nuclear arms control, threats of civil war, domestic terrorism, and more. So why do some politicians make a big deal out of problems that don't exist? Fake problems, as it were.
/jlne.ws/42592iS
BP Climate Backslide a Failure of Governance
Jack Grogan-Fenn - ESG Investor
Investors worried that the oil and gas major's backtracking on climate may "set precedent" for the sector. BP's backtracking on climate commitments raises questions on how much weight can be placed on oil and gas firms' transition plans, the extent such plans are grounded in science and the "direction of travel" for asset owner engagement, Patrick O'Hara, Director of Responsible Investment at UK pension scheme LGPS Central, told ESG Investor.
/jlne.ws/3oPaPtV
Turkmenistan Faces Unprecedented Calls to Clean Up Methane Leaks; The United Nations wants to work with the central Asian regime to curb planet-warming emissions from its aging fossil fuel network.
Aaron Clark and Verity Ratcliffe - Bloomberg
Turkmenistan, the central Asian state that's one of the world's biggest sources of planet-warming methane leaks, is facing growing international pressure to clean up its pollution.
/jlne.ws/3Lggsc2
Shipping Has Largely Relied on One Fuel. It Now Needs Many: Sparklines; Shipowners and operators know they must decarbonize, but the industry must be ready to handle not one but many alternatives to petroleum products - from liquefied natural gas to nuclear.
Nathaniel Bullard - Bloomberg
International shipping is a classic 'hard to abate' sector. Container ships, bulk carriers of ore, fuel, and grain, and large passenger vehicles are expensive to build, last for decades, and have gained efficiency historically by becoming bigger. More than 95% of today's ships run on petroleum products, fueling diesel engines which have been optimized for their specific purposes. They ship about 90% of global trade.
/jlne.ws/41JerfE
What the US Can Learn From Europe's ESG Mistakes; The EU isn't worried about wokeness, but it's struggling to develop rules that would help investors avoid greenwashing.
Tasneem Hanfi Brogger - Bloomberg
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Investors defy Goldman and BofA in vote for climate finance plans; Lenders under pressure on emissions as shareholders go against board recommendations
Attracta Mooney and Aime Williams - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/44jsIBs
Scrap Bank of England's Climate Mandate, Balls and Osborne Say; Both testify to House of Lords probe on bank's independence; Say role in net zero policy distracts from focus on inflation
Philip Aldrick - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/425dFJM
Premium chocolate venture brings benefits to DRC's cacao farmers; An ambitious scheme aims to raise incomes and protect nature in a region blighted by violence
Andres Schipani - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/40E3TNj
Global Index Revenues Increase 5.9% To $5.3 Billion In 2022 As Surging Demand For ESG And Factor Index Revenues Support Strong Growth Through The Industry; MSCI, S&P and FTSE Russell earn the most of all providers; Growing demand for ESG-related investing fuels global revenue growth
Mondo Visione
/jlne.ws/3NjvFvF
Midstream Running Dry: Energy transition also threatens firms that store and haul hydrocarbons
Carbon Tracker
/jlne.ws/3LAyLtU
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Swiss regulator says two banks' crisis plans are insufficient
Reuters
Swiss financial regulator FINMA has labelled the recovery and resolution plans of two of Switzerland's five systematically important banks as insufficient, it said on Wednesday. FINMA questioned the ability of Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB) and PostFinance to continue functioning in case they experienced a crisis.
/jlne.ws/3LwZAPM
Nomura's quest for global growth hits buffers again
Makiko Yamazaki and Mariko Katsumura - Reuters
Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc saw about $850 million wiped off its market value on Thursday as its latest earnings slump showed it remains a long way off CEO Kentaro Okuda's goal of finally making the bank a global force in investment banking. Shares in Japan's biggest investment bank and brokerage dropped more than 7%, its biggest daily percentage decline in two years, the day after it said first-quarter profit tumbled by three-quarters, exacerbating worries about a global banking crisis.
/jlne.ws/3V9jH9M
First Republic Calls In a Favor; Also Getty Images, Celsius, Voyager, Sunshine and Lollipops.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
I mostly think of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as a US government regulator that provides a government backstop on bank deposits. If a bank fails, the government - the FDIC - will come in and take it over and pay out all depositors (up to $250,000 each) with government money. This backstop is what makes bank deposits safe, what makes them money: An FDIC-insured bank account has no credit risk, because it is backed by the US government's ability to print dollars.
/jlne.ws/42l4ULN
David Solomon slammed at Goldman meeting: Processes 'look pretty weak'
Reuters
A Goldman Sachs Group shareholder criticized its Chairman and CEO David Solomon on Wednesday and proposed its board appoint an independent chairman. The proposal, along with eight others put forward by shareholders, failed after receiving the support of 16% of stock holders who voted.
/jlne.ws/3Nm5nc6
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Office Politics Are Just as Toxic in the Work-From-Home Era; Sucking up to bosses seen as even more critical when workers are operating remotely.
Matthew Boyle - Bloomberg
The gossip. The suck-up. The bully. Workplaces have been home to these toxic personalities since the beginning of work, and a new survey has found the problem persists in the hybrid world in which employees can be in-person or virtual. About half the 800 US workers surveyed say the negative effects of office politics have stayed the same in the Covid era, while another 25% say they expect the disruptive behavior to get worse before it gets better.
/jlne.ws/3AvPN6f
The 25 Highest Paying Internships Bring In Up To $9,000 a Month; Tech still leads the list despite the sector's recent layoffs and rocky outlook.
Jo Constantz - Bloomberg
The highest-paying US internships are still in tech, despite the industry's mass layoffs and shift to austerity in recent months. More than half of the 25 most richly rewarding internships are in the technology industry, according to Glassdoor, a website that compiles workers' reviews of their employers. The ranking was based on salary reports from March 2022 to March 2023 by current and former US-based interns on the platform.
/jlne.ws/40NAS1Q
Google reportedly eliminated some office snacks, including dried mangoes and M&Ms, in an effort to cut costs
Aaron Mok - Insider
A Google employee said certain snacks are no longer available at its San Francisco office, per The Atlantic. Dried mango, Maui-onion chips, M&Ms, and muffins are reportedly no longer available. The snack elimination is part of Google's efforts to cut costs in a challenging economy.
/jlne.ws/3Ve2Ges
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | NYC Still Has the Priciest Rents, But Jersey City Is Closing In; New Jersey community nicknamed `Wall Street West' has the fastest-growing apartment costs in the US.
Prashant Gopal - Bloomberg
Jersey City, New Jersey, leads the US in apartment-rent growth, and costs are surpassed only by its neighbor across the Hudson River, New York City. April's median monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit in Jersey City was $3,000. While that's tied with San Francisco, it's a relative bargain compared with New York's $3,570, according to a report by Zumper.
/jlne.ws/3NdY6Lu
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