| July 31, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
For you readers in Illinois, if it seems like there have been a lot of tornadoes in 2023 so far, you are correct. Illinois is the state with the most recorded tornadoes for the year so far, with 97 confirmed tornadoes across the state, USA Today is reporting, up from the 54 tornadoes Illinois sees per year on average. And Chicago? It normally sees 12 tornadoes per year and so far has seen 40. The story for this by my local Patch.
WILD is hosting a trivia night fundraiser on August 9th for WILD Gives Back, its 501(c)(3) arm that funds scholarships for women taking derivatives courses at schools affiliated with the Associated Colleges of Illinois. The trivia night will be held at The Terrace Lounge, 425 S. Financial Place, Chicago, IL on August 9 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. The trivia night features teams from IMC, SocGen, CME, CBOE, OCC, NFA and BP. WILD will also have items for auction. OCC and WILD are sponsors, so 100% of ticket sales and auction will go towards the scholarships. Tickets are $50 and WILD will match people up with teams if they don't already have a team.
Federal prosecutors have told a federal judge that Sam Bankman-Fried's bail should be revoked and he should be jailed pending his criminal fraud trial, saying, "there are likely no conditions that the cryptocurrency entrepreneur will abide by to satisfy their concerns," Yahoo Finance reported. Bankman-Fried has sent dozens of letters to journalists since he has been under house arrest, some of which prompted a story in The New York Times that was construed as witness tampering.
The CME Group issued three disciplinary notices on Friday for Lewis Langston - WASH TRADES PROHIBITED, Fortune Commodities DMCC - PREARRANGED, PRE-NEGOTIATED AND NONCOMPETITIVE TRADES PROHIBITED (in part) and Alessandro Bonaffini - DISRUPTIVE PRACTICES PROHIBITED.
Ukraine is trying to distance itself from Russia and it took a giant step when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a bill Friday that moved its official Christmas holiday to December 25. This is a break with the Russian Orthodox church, which celebrates it on January 7, The Guardian reported.
The Wall Street Journal has what looks like a very helpful article titled "Little-Known Tips for Working Smarter With Your Office Software" with the subheading, "You may think you know all there is to know about Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Excel, PowerPoint, Gmail, Outlook and other apps. But you probably don't."
The Journal also has a helpful article that is just a few decades too late, titled "The Best Shoes for Standing All Day", with the subheading, "Whether you're heading to the office or have a long day of traveling, these pairs will keep up with you every step of the way." Where was this article when I was standing all day on the MidAm trading floor?
Hugh Carter, an aide and cousin of President Jimmy Carter, has died at the age of 80. Hugh Carter, who was known as "Sonny," was in charge of making the White House less imperial and was called "Cousin Cheap" by White House staff, The New York Times reported. Interestingly, Hugh, who was part of the Peanut Brigade of Georgians that helped get Jimmy elected president, was a Sunday school student of Jimmy Carter's, who also served as his Scoutmaster in Boy Scouts. Carter also served as a troop committee chair and in 1978 was awarded the Silver Buffalo for service to youth.
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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VERGE 23, the climate tech and solutions event from GreenBiz, takes place October 24-26 at the San Jose Convention Center. The event explores new climate technology and brings together the climate community: leaders from business, government, solution providers and startups. Attendees will explore emerging technology and solutions in six key areas: buildings, carbon, energy, food, startups and transport. The main conference is preceded by a one day VERGE 23 Water Forum, an invitation-only, half-day gathering of leaders at the forefront of creating sustainable, resilient and equitable water systems. Learn more and register here. ~SAED
A new financial publication from SIX, "Cornerstones for Growth," explores the growth drivers and challenges surrounding institutional adoption of digital assets and ESG investing. Download the report here. ~SAED
Our most read stories last Friday on JLN Options were:
- Bearish traders swarm AMC options as stock conversion plan faces doubts
- Is this as calm as it gets for markets? Just look at the VIX
- Eurex wargames pricing derivatives during disruption events ~JB
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The Benefit of Owning Stocks Over Bonds Keeps Shrinking; Some worry the rally is unsustainable after a gauge of stocks' relative value falls to two-decade low
Sam Goldfarb - The Wall Street Journal
The extra reward for holding stocks instead of bonds has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years, threatening a recent hot streak for major indexes. One method for gauging the value of stocks is to compare their earnings yield-calculated by dividing a company's expected earnings over the next year by its stock price-to the yield on government bonds, considered the closest thing to a risk-free return. The difference, sometimes called the equity-risk premium, shows how much investors are being compensated for the additional risk of owning stocks.
/jlne.ws/44K9Yuw
****** This reads like the stock bears are on the run story, and are trying to fight back. ~ JJL
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Most of the 100 million people who signed up for Threads stopped using it
Jon Brodkin - Ars Technica
Meta's new Twitter competitor, Threads, is looking for ways to keep users interested after more than half of the people who signed up for the text-based platform stopped actively using the app, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told employees in a company town hall yesterday. Threads launched on July 5 and signed up over 100 million users in less than five days, buoyed by user frustration with Elon Musk-owned Twitter.
/jlne.ws/3q7Y66u
***** I am not as consistent as I would like to be using Threads. Threads has work to do to make it easier to use.~JJL
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Twitter neighbours complain of lit-up 'X' sign working at high intensity
The Guardian
A giant glowing X marks the San Francisco spot where Elon Musk says he plans to keep his company, the messaging platform formerly known as Twitter. But city officials and some residents are unhappy with the display. On Friday, the company erected an X logo on the roof of its Market Street headquarters, to the chagrin of neighbours who complained about intrusive lights, and San Francisco's building inspection department, which said it would start an investigation.
/jlne.ws/44OBrew
****** They need to run Elon MusX out of town.~JJL
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Goldman Sachs to run auction of The Telegraph; Lloyds Banking Group appointed receivers in June after dispute with the Barclay family
Christopher Williams - The Telegraph
The investment bank Goldman Sachs has been appointed to run an auction of The Telegraph on behalf of Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds took ownership last month by sending in receivers. It had been in dispute with the previous owners, the Barclay family, over debts of more than £1bn secured against The Telegraph and The Spectator magazine, which was part of the same group of companies.
/jlne.ws/3q2QhPL
****** Here is your chance to buy a storied newspaper. Mr. Bezos?~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our most-read story Friday was The Wall Street Journal's What Happens When You Stop at One Glass of Wine a Day? Second was Sk3w Technologies, Inc. Raises $7M Series A to Help Financial Exchanges Establish and Maintain Fair, Transparent, and Auditable Access to Markets, a press release from Sk3w Technologies. Third was Ken Griffin's $63 million Chicago condo selloff is not going well, from Crain's Chicago Business.
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| Lead Stories | Virtu Is Bracing for SEC Lawsuit After Settlement Talks Fail; Previously disclosed case focused on information-access policy; Firm said Friday that settlement talks with regulator failed
Austin Weinstein - Bloomberg
Virtu Financial Inc. expects to be sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission after talks failed to settle a dispute over the firm's safeguards for trading data. The shares fell in extended trading. The New York-based wholesale brokerage said in a filing Friday that the agency had zeroed in on its "information barriers policies and procedures" and sent a Wells Notice indicating a lawsuit was likely.
/jlne.ws/43W9PmM
The climate crisis requires a wartime footing; Only by invoking the spirit of joint endeavour against a common enemy can we make the radical changes we need
Camilla Cavendish - Financial Times
"I wish," a longstanding US Democrat and environmentalist said to me recently, "that we'd never politicised global warming." Even as extreme heat is demonstrating that no country will be immune from climate change, the politics are becoming more treacherous. Parts of the right are mobilising to slow down the path to net zero, as inflation bites and the fossil fuel industry comes under pressure.
/jlne.ws/3DAH83T
SEC asked Coinbase to halt trading in everything except bitcoin, CEO says; Request would have meant 'the end of the crypto industry in the US', according to Brian Armstrong
Scott Chipolina - Financial TImes
The US Securities and Exchange Commission asked Coinbase to halt trading in all cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin prior to suing the exchange, in a sign of the agency's intent to assert regulatory authority over a broader slice of the market. Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong told the Financial Times that the SEC made the recommendation before launching legal action against the Nasdaq-listed company last month for failing to register as a broker.
/jlne.ws/43J2mHz
Worldcoin's official launch triggers swift privacy scrutiny in Europe
Natasha Lomas - TechCrunch
Worldcoin, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's bid to sew up the market for verifying humanness by convincing enough mobile meatsacks to have their eyeballs scanned in exchanged for crypto tokens (yes, really), only started its official global rollout this week but it's already landed on the radar of European data protection authorities. Why should anyone feel the need to prove their humanness on the Internet?
/jlne.ws/3OAs0d5
An Overheating Planet Requires Extreme Climate Solutions; Heat is accelerating faster than attempts to counteract it. Here's how experts at eliminating carbon pollution think we can catch up - and cool down.
Eric Roston and John Ainger - Bloomberg
First came the hottest June in recorded history. Now it's the hottest-ever July. This year is already highly likely to replace 2016 atop the heat ranking. Scientists suspect the last several years have been warmer than any point in more than 125,000 years. This acceleration of heat is the result of burning enough fossil fuel to raise global average temperatures about 1.2C since the Industrial Revolution. And we're not yet halfway to Peak Heat.
/jlne.ws/3q7Itfx
Worldcoin's premise is a disturbing one; Sam Altman's dystopian cryptocurrency project has several core problems
Tabby Kinder - Financial Times
Last week, I joined a group of 2mn people and counting who have given up their irises to Sam Altman's dystopian cryptocurrency project, Worldcoin. OpenAI chief executive Altman, who has already had a busy year with ChatGPT, started the global rollout of his latest venture last week, scanning eyeballs in 35 cities across 20 countries.
/jlne.ws/3OiXzGO
Simmons & Simmons joins FIA Tech's Databank Network as a law firm partner; FIA Tech and Simmon & Simmons partner to incorporate Trading Venue Reviewer (TVR) into Contract Specifications offering
FIA Tech
FIA Tech, a leading technology provider to the exchange-traded derivatives industry, announced today that international law firm Simmons & Simmons will be joining the Databank Network as a law firm partner. FIA Tech will incorporate Simmons & Simmons' Trading Venue Reviewer (TVR) data within FIA Tech's Contract Specifications user interface.
/jlne.ws/457eK5b
SEC's 'Lenient' Treatment of SPIKES Futures Tossed as Unreasoned
Martina Barash - Bloomberg Law
'Competition' rationale unsound, D.C. Cir. says; Market gets three-month wind-down period
An SEC order exempting certain stock volatility futures from a definition that would impose heavier tax and other requirements in order to promote competition with another index was arbitrary and capricious, the D.C. Circuit said Friday.
/jlne.ws/43Jec4t
Audit firms fight to block expansion of fraud detection role; New US rules are impractical and would send fees soaring, industry group says
Stephen Foley - Financial Times
The world's largest accounting firms are fighting to block new rules in the US that would force them to take more responsibility for rooting out fraud at the companies they audit. With days to go before the end of a consultation period on the proposal from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, they are trying to sign up their clients to oppose the plan, saying that audit fees will soar if the changes go through.
/jlne.ws/3QkOgZN
We bailed out the banks but we're not prepared to bail out the planet
Larry Elliott - The Guardian
Like many other politicians, Joe Biden talks a good game about the need to tackle global heating. Climate change is an "existential threat", the US president said last week, as America sizzled amid record-breaking temperatures. Biden had to do something in response to what António Guterres, the UN secretary general, described as the boiling of the planet.
/jlne.ws/3rRRpWT
Florida man charged over $35M Ponzi scheme targeting elderly members of his own church
Muri Assuncao - New York Daily News
A Florida man accused of operating a $35 million Ponzi scheme targeting members of his own church was charged Thursday by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Brent Seaman, a resident of Naples, on Florida's west coast, told investors he would use their money to invest in technology companies and to trade currencies and commodities, falsely promising annual returns between 18 and 48%, SEC officials said in a news release.
/jlne.ws/456qc0P
Michael Milken was the junk bond genius who symbolized the 'decade of greed' but he was no Bernie Madoff
Charles Gasparino - NY Post
Before there was alleged crypto scamster Sam Bankman-Fried, the harrowing Ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff and the rapacious Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort, there was Michael Milken. If you're old enough to remember, Milken symbolized the so-called "decade of greed," a slander perpetuated by the left during the 1980s boom. From his perch at the now-defunct Drexel Burnham Lambert, Milken's creative use of so-called junk bonds financed a wave of buyouts and led to unmatched Wall Street corruption that destroyed jobs, upended once-great companies and ate at the moral fabric of the nation's soul.
/jlne.ws/3rWTRv1
Europe's Most Important Trade Route Is at Risk Due to Climate Change; Low waters are becoming more frequent and forcing costly and cumbersome workarounds to keep supply lines open
Petra Sorge, Wilfried Eckl-Dorna and Carolynn Look - Bloomberg
The Rhine River has been a reliable shipping lane for centuries, helping spawn industrial giants along its banks. But those days are coming to an end, and the scramble is made all the more urgent as Germany's government fails to keep pace. With water regularly receding to levels that impede shipping from late summer through the fall, companies up and down Europe's most important trade route are rushing to adapt, underscoring how the climate crisis is hitting even advanced industrial economies.
/jlne.ws/3KmQZOC
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Putin reviews show of Russian naval might
Reuters
President Vladimir Putin reviewed a parade of warships and nuclear submarines in his native St Petersburg on Sunday and announced that the Russian Navy would receive 30 new ships this year. Forty-five ships, submarines and other vessels took part in Russia's annual Navy Day event, a traditional show of military might which takes place in the Gulf of Finland and on the River Neva in St Petersburg. Around 3,000 navy personnel also took part in a parade on land, the Kremlin said.
/jlne.ws/44ObkEv
Ukraine 'fires missiles at targets inside Russia' for first time; Moscow accuses Kyiv of a 'terrorist attack' after apparent strike on the port city of Taganrog
Nataliya Vasilyeva - The Telegraph
Ukraine appeared to fire missiles at ports inside Russia for the first time as the conflict intensified in the Black Sea. The first attack was reported on Friday afternoon when a missile crashed down on the city of Taganrog, situated about 25 miles east of the border with Ukraine. The projectile landed near an art museum and a busy café, creating a large crater and sparking scenes of panic. Local officials reported 20 people were injured.
/jlne.ws/47cSuIT
Russians fear being caught in pincer movement; After the recapturing of Staromaiorske Ukraine's troops could cut off Moscow's forces in Urozhaine
Joe Barnes - The Telegraph
Russians fear being caught in a pincer movement by Ukrainian soldiers pushing past the first village recaptured in Kyiv's new counter-offensive thrust. The Ukrainian military said it was "consolidating" gains after Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, celebrated the liberation of Staromaiorske in a push into Russian-held territory.
/jlne.ws/3Ym6fkv
Zelenskiy expects Russia to resume attacks on Ukraine's power grid
Reuters
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that he expects Russia to resume its attacks on Ukraine's energy system once cold weather returns later this year, and vowed to do everything possible to protect the power grid. Nearly 40% of the Ukrainian energy system was damaged in Russian missile and drone strikes over the past winter, which plunged Ukrainian cities into darkness and cold in what Kyiv called a deliberate strategy to harm civilians, a war crime. Moscow says it launched the attacks to reduce Ukraine's ability to fight.
/jlne.ws/3OefZbY
DTEK's Maxim Timchenko: 'If we are crushed, technically or financially, then we would lose this war'; Head of Ukraine's largest private energy supplier is fighting to keep the lights on while also attempting to plan future expansion
David Sheppard - Financial Times
In the middle of the night on February 24 last year, Maxim Timchenko was awakened by explosions reverberating against the windows of his 26th-floor apartment in Kyiv. After a quick call urging his parents to evacuate, the chief executive of DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy supplier, rushed to his office downtown. His response, he knew, would decide not just the future of his company, but power to the whole country. And if Ukraine did not keep the lights on, its resistance to Russia's invasion could be fatally undermined.
/jlne.ws/476iZjn
Banks Are Untold Story of Ukraine's Survival, Even State Banks; Oschadbank CEO says Ukrainian state should keep control of some banks after the war because they'll be helpful if Russia attacks again
Marc Champion, Olesia Safronova and Volodymyr Verbyany - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3OCN0jB
Why One Country Is Struggling to Break Away From Russian Gas; Austria, unlike most European Union countries, is still buying nearly as much natural gas from Russia as it was before the war in Ukraine.
Patricia Cohen - The New York Times
/jlne.ws/3Kn4Apc
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Nodal Exchange to Launch the First-Ever Washington Carbon Allowance Vintage; Specific and Washington Clean Fuels Program Futures Contracts in Collaboration with IncubEx
Nodal Exchange
Nodal Exchange and IncubEx announced today the planned launch of Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) Vintage Specific futures and Washington Clean Fuels Program (CFP) futures contracts. The two first-of-their-kind listed contracts are scheduled for launch on August 11, 2023, pending regulatory review. The Washington CFP futures contract physically delivers credits issued by the Washington Department of Ecology via the Washington Fuel Reporting System Credit Bank and Transfer System (WFRS-CBTS). Washington launched its Clean Fuel Standard on January 1, 2023, as the third state (after California and Oregon) to implement a market-based GHG emissions reduction program for transportation fuels, setting an emissions reduction target of 20% (based on 2017 levels) by 2034.
/jlne.ws/44Oa8B5
ICE Expands Fixed Income Liquidity Offering With Relaunch of Enhanced Sweeps Protocol for Corporate Bonds
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced the relaunch of ICE Risk Matching Auction (RMA), an enhanced sweeps session-based protocol for dealer-to-dealer fixed income trading. ICE RMA, which was initially launched in 2015, is part of the ICE Bonds' suite of trading protocols, and now conducts multiple auctions each week, with 50 registered firms and over 400 users with access to the protocol. With ICE RMA, after traders upload their inventory of bonds, an ICE proprietary algorithm matches buyers and sellers of the same bond or list of bonds.
/jlne.ws/3KpBc1p
Nasdaq Halt Shows Need for Segregated Digital Asset Custody
Shanny Basar - Traders Magazine
Nasdaq has halted the launch of Nasdaq Digital Assets, which aimed to start with providing custody, which highlights that institutions want custodians in the space who are independent from exchanges according to market participants. Jack McDonald, chief executive of PolySign, which builds blockchain-enabled institutional grade infrastructure for digital assets, told Markets Media that his immediate reaction when Nasdaq announced the launch of a custody business was that this was the opposite of best practice.
/jlne.ws/3DG5uck
Delist of Several Bakkt Bitcoin Futures Contracts and All Bakkt Bitcoin Option Contracts
ICE Futures U.S.
Effective immediately, the Exchange has delisted all Bakkt Bitcoin futures contracts other than the August and September 2023 expiry months, and has also delisted all Bakkt Bitcoin Option contracts. Also effective immediately, no new Bakkt Bitcoin futures or option expiry months will be listed for trading.
/jlne.ws/3rS8dgr
ACUDEO College Crystal Park earns top honours in Equity Portfolio of the JSE Investment Challenge for June; The team's strategic prowess and passion for investing are testament to the success of the JSE's initiative to enhance financial literacy among students.
Johannesburg Stock Exchange
Showcasing exceptional strategic thinking and investment skills, Team ACCP-88mph from ACUDEO College Crystal Park, Gauteng, has seized the victory in the Schools Equity Portfolio category for the June edition of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Investment Challenge.
/jlne.ws/3Qie4Wi
Listing of CoreShares all Asia Actively Managed ETF gives investors acces to Apac region
Johannesburg Stock Exchange
Following the successful listing of the CoreShares Income Actively Managed Exchange Traded Fund (AMETF) in May 2023, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is pleased to announce the listing of the second AMETF, the CoreShares All Asia AMETF by 10X Investments (APACXJ). This AMETF will allow investors to access key regions in the Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) region to diversify their portfolios.
/jlne.ws/3Dy2WNE
23 133 Special Contract Rules Addition of jumbos and other administrative amendments
LME
This Notice advises Members and other interested parties of amendments to the LME's Special Contract Rules. The changes include: (i) adding jumbos as a deliverable shape for the Special High Grade Zinc Contract; and (ii) a number of minor administrative amendments including to the names of certain metal standards.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa
Moscow Exchange switched to a unified trading and settlement mode T+1
MOEX
On July 31, 2023, the Moscow Exchange transferred trading in shares and bonds to a single T+1 settlement cycle. Thus, settlements on concluded transactions in all markets of the Moscow Exchange in the main trading modes and delivery of acquired assets are now carried out on the next trading day after the day the transaction was concluded (previously on the second trading day).
/jlne.ws/3OxjI5H
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Why Elon Killed the Bird; Three theories about Twitter's seemingly nonsensical rebrand to X
Charlie Warzel - The Atlantic
In May, Elon Musk presided over an uncharacteristically subtle tweak to Twitter's home page. For years, the prompt in the text box at the top of the page read, "What's happening?," a friendly invitation for users to share their thoughts. Eight months after the billionaire's takeover, Twitter changed the prompt ever so slightly to match the puzzling, chaotic nature of the platform under the new regime: "What's happening?" became "What is happening?!"
/jlne.ws/3OBEpgP
Meta plans retention 'hooks' for Threads as more than half of users leave app
Katie Paul and Sheila Dang - Reuters
Meta Platforms executives are heavily focused on boosting retention on their new Twitter rival Threads, after the app lost more than half of its users in the weeks following its buzzy launch, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday. Retention of users on the text-based app was better than executives had expected, though it was "not perfect," said Zuckerberg, speaking at an internal company town hall, the audio of which was heard by Reuters.
/jlne.ws/3QiO8tC
Once a Pioneer, Cosmos Blockchain Project Faces 'Existential' Crisis
Sam Kessler - CoinDesk
The early days of the blockchain industry were defined by maximalists. A winner-takes-all mindset pervaded crypto Twitter and blockchain forums, with fans of each new project - be it Ethereum, Bitcoin, or Cardano - hell-bent on convincing others that its chain would be the chain to snuff competitors and take the tech mainstream.
/jlne.ws/457Sf00
Eco App CEO on Launching 'Cash-Like' Crypto Wallet 'Beam'
CoinDesk
Coinbase and a16z-backed crypto wallet Beam went live Thursday. Andy Bromberg, CEO of the Eco app and contributor to the Eco protocol, discusses the launch and how Beam offers a more "cash-like" experience compared to other digital wallets.
/jlne.ws/44O3fQh
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | FBI: Hackers Are Having a Field Day With Open-Source AI Programs
Michael Kan - PC Magazine
To no one's surprise, criminals are tapping open-source generative AI programs for all kinds of heinous acts, including developing malware and phishing attacks, according to the FBI. The agency on Friday held a call with journalists to discuss how generative AI programs-which are all the rage in the tech industry-are also fueling cybercrime.
/jlne.ws/3OyGhqK
SEC Finalizes New Cybersecurity Disclosure Rules
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP - JDSupra
By a 3-2 vote on July 26, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules enhancing disclosure requirements regarding public companies' cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance and incident reporting. These rules apply to all registrants, including business development companies. The SEC adopted the final rules after receiving more than 150 submissions during the comment period, and streamlined the proposed rules to address concerns that excessive disclosures could lead to greater cybersecurity risk (see our prior alert on the proposed rules).
/jlne.ws/3OB2YKZ
SEC exempts asset-backed issuers from new cybersecurity rules
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP - Lexology
The SEC issued proposed rules on March 9, 2022 that, on their face, would have applied to corporate issuers and asset-backed issuers alike, though they would have included an exception for a narrow subset of the new disclosures relating to certain governance matters in cases where the asset-backed issuer did not have any executive officers or directors. In an effort spearheaded and led by Orrick partner Mike Mitchell, the Structured Finance Association ("SFA") organized a task force to assess and comment on the proposed rules. SFA submitted their comment letter on the proposed rules on May 9, 2022.
/jlne.ws/3DCft2y
Expect More Cyber-Enforcement under the False Claims Act
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC - JDSupra
Earlier this month, the White House released the National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan outlining specific "high impact initiatives" that the federal government will carry out to achieve its cybersecurity objectives.
/jlne.ws/44Noguu
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Couple, 76, robbed of $150K in cryptocurrency by hostage takers who threatened to cut off man's body parts
Brie Stimson - Fox News
Three alleged kidnappers held a 76-year-old couple hostage in their North Carolina home and stole more than $156,000 in cryptocurrency while threatening to cut off the husband's genitalia and rape the wife, a newly unsealed federal criminal complaint said this week. The suspects came to the couple's Durham, North Carolina, residence around 7:30 in the morning on April 12, claiming they were construction workers inspecting pipes, the Thursday complaint said.
/jlne.ws/44Nbzjk
SEC asked Coinbase to trade only in bitcoin before suing crypto exchange -FT
Reuters
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had asked Coinbase to stop trading in all cryptocurrencies except bitcoin before suing the cryptocurrency platform in June, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing CEO Brian Armstrong.
/jlne.ws/43QVUy9
Rouble-Tether crypto trading surged as Wagner rebellion erupted; Trading volumes were up 277% as Russians sought an alternative to weakening national currency
Scott Chipolina - Financial Times
The volume of trade between the Russian rouble and the largest dollar-pegged crypto token surged during the attempted insurrection by the Wagner Group earlier this month, as Russians rushed to find an alternative to the country's weakening currency.
/jlne.ws/43SzU5U
No, Sam Bankman-Fried Is Not Being Bailed Out by Democrats
David Z. Morris - CoinDesk
Yesterday, July 27, 2023, we received an object lesson in the dangers of disinformation. News of changes to the criminal charges against disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried began spreading like wildfire on social media. But these changes were misrepresented by influential figures - in some cases with the obvious goal of feeding a conspiratorial and partisan narrative.
/jlne.ws/3OyoIaa
Binance doesn't think the US has jurisdiction over its crypto exchange; The embattled crypto firm is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by federal regulators
Diego Lasarte - Quartz
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), arguing the regulatory body has exceeded its jurisdiction. Binance-the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange-filed a motion in Northern Illinois District Court that accuses federal regulators of operating extraterritorially.
/jlne.ws/478fXed
Sam Bankman-Fried must be jailed, is intimidating witnesses, prosecutors say
Luc Cohen - Reuters
/jlne.ws/3rODrFh
Lionel Messi Is a Walking Crypto Billboard
Michael P. Regan - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/43PGJW3
Kraken says all systems operational after issue with Ethereum funding gateway
Reuters
/jlne.ws/3YbfXWV
Microsoft 'Bears Responsibility' For China-Tied Hacks, Senator Says; Microsoft 'bears significant responsibility,' the senator says; Wyden asks DOJ, FTC to probe whether Microsoft violated laws
William Turton - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/43MPYq2
Binance's Founder Changpeng Zhao Drew Scrutiny From German Regulator; Crypto exchange says it proactively withdrew license application and will continue to cooperate with regulators
Patricia Kowsmann, Caitlin Ostroff and Alexander Osipovich - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3Yd0PZ8
Crypto.com Trumps Binance, Securing Netherlands Registration as Larger Rival Withdraws
Jack Schickler - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/44LtWFq
Crypto Trading Bots Are Taking Over Telegram; New type of bots make it easier to trade less-known crypto; Possible vulnerabilities around security, privacy create risks
Muyao Shen - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3OABXHv
US Crypto Fans Are Drawn to Altman's Worldcoin Orb and They're Not Sure Why; About 2 million people worldwide have had their irises scanned by Tools for Humanity. Now the firm is rolling out in the US, even though its tokens aren't available there.
Annie Massa, Anna Jean Kaiser, and Caelyn Pender - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/45qlCef
Why substituting cryptocurrency for gold exposure may be a costly mistake
Lina Hassen - CNBC
/jlne.ws/3OLfuI1
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Energy groups mount campaign against tough US clean hydrogen rules; Oil majors and utilities seek tax credits for projects powered in part by fossil fuels
Amanda Chu - Financial Times
Energy companies have launched a lobbying blitz in Washington over pending rules they say will make or break the case for tens of billions of dollars' worth of investment in hydrogen fuel.
/jlne.ws/3qaullG
RFK Jr: Bitcoin 'Currency of Freedom'; Canadian Government Morphed Into 'Monster' During Trucker Protests
Frederick Munawa - CoinDesk
Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Canada's government suddenly morphed into a monster during the trucker protests in that country's capital of Ottawa last year. The 69-year-old longtime environmental lawyer and Kennedy family scion made the comments during a 90-minute Twitter Spaces event on Wednesday. During the conversation, he also hailed bitcoin as a "currency of freedom" and revealed that he recently bought two bitcoins (BTC) for each of his seven children.
/jlne.ws/44EwtRD
US Steel CEO Hails IRA as a 'Manufacturing Renaissance Act'
Eddie Spence and Kailey Leinz - Bloomberg
The Inflation Reduction Act is spurring manufacturers to return to the US in droves, the chief executive officer of US Steel Corp. said. "This is the most amazing thing we've seen in the United States for a very long time," David Burritt said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "It's a Manufacturing Renaissance Act."
/jlne.ws/3DBuW2J
Wall Street Banks Side With Nemesis Elizabeth Warren on Crypto Crackdown; Renewed bipartisan push to curb crypto-related crime; Bill gets backing from Bank Policy Institute trade group
Allyson Versprille - Bloomberg
Wall Street banks and Senator Elizabeth Warren have finally found something they can agree on: the need to crack down on crypto. The Bank Policy Institute, a trade group for lenders that Warren often blasts, threw its weight behind bipartisan legislation that the Massachusetts Democrat and three of her Senate colleagues reintroduced this week.
/jlne.ws/3KlO8Fo
Crypto-Friendly Wyoming's Stablecoin Chief Will Earn More Than Governor Mark Gordon; Stablecoin executive director will earn $150,000 annual salary; Appointee will oversee Wyoming's effort to issue its own token
Immanual John Milton - Bloomberg
Wyoming is seeking an executive director who will oversee the state's stablecoin project-and earn a bigger wage than Governor Mark Gordon. The appointee must devise and implement a business plan for the token on a $150,000 annual salary, according to a job posting dated July 20. That's more than the $140,000 paycheck attached to the governor's role.
/jlne.ws/43QJYwl
Transgender America Fights Back; From sanctuary states to the courts, lawyers and political allies resist Republican bans on transgender care for minors
Stephanie Armour and Jathon Sapsford - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/47dGIhy
Nigel Farage Triumphs in Battle With Bankers; NatWest CEO Alison Rose steps down after a fight with the politician-turned-pundit. Are more exits coming?
Sommer Saadi - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/47bUIIK
UK government cuts cost of polluting in latest anti-green move; Quietly announced changes to carbon pricing water down incentives for industry to reduce emissions
David Sheppard and Rachel Millard - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/43PRQyj
City investors putting UK security at risk over ESG, ministers warn; 'Perverse' to be shunning defence companies at time of war, say Griffith and Cartlidge
Sylvia Pfeifer - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/43SzDzU
France's watchdog questions legality of Worldcoin biometric data collection
Elizabeth Howcroft - Reuters
/jlne.ws/3KIu7td
Germany Warns Its Officials That China Is Stepping Up Spying; Officials should 'exercise particular caution and restraint'; Sees Communist Party's international unit as de-facto spy body
Alexey Anishchuk - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3Yhf9j2
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Binance's Founder Changpeng Zhao Drew Scrutiny From German Regulator; Crypto exchange says it proactively withdrew license application and will continue to cooperate with regulators
Patricia Kowsmann, Caitlin Ostroff and Alexander Osipovich - The Wall Street Journal
Germany's financial regulator advised Binance to withdraw its license application over concerns about its founder and the crypto company's complicated structure, according to people familiar with the decision and an internal Binance document viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
/jlne.ws/475G4CJ
SEC Sets Sights on Technologies That Encourage Excessive Trading
Kiplinger - Yahoo! Finance
Public comment sought on new plan aimed at protecting customers from conflicts of interest. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking public comment on newly proposed rules that require trading platforms, such as Robinhood, to take steps to address conflicts of interest associated with their use of predictive data analytics and other technologies that may influence excessive trading.
/jlne.ws/3q7IO1N
SEC Case Had 'Almost No Impact' on Ripple's Talks With Central Banks, Says Exec
Jamie Crawley - CoinDesk
Ripple's long legal saga with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had "almost no impact" on its conversations with central banks, the firm's vice president of central bank engagements told CoinDesk TV on Friday. James Wallis also said the decision that Ripple's sale of XRP did not constitute investment contracts was a major victory, not just for Ripple but also for the industry as a whole.
/jlne.ws/43MgqQr
SEC adopts rule requiring companies to disclose cyber incidents
Ines Kagubare - The Hill
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a rule this week that will require publicly traded companies to report significant cyber incidents that are "material" to investors. Companies will have four business days to report to the agency from the time they determine that the incident was material. "Whether a company loses a factory in a fire - or millions of files in a cybersecurity incident - it may be material to investors," SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3YhmvU4
SEC Sets 4-Day Deadline for Public Companies to Report Hacks; Delay possible if public safety or national security at risk; Some business groups argued that deadline was too short
Andrea Vittorio and Margi Murphy - Bloomberg
Companies hit by cyberattacks face a four-day deadline for publicly disclosing significant impact under controversial new rules approved Wednesday by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Those rules, proposed last year and vigorously contested by trade organizations and businesses, would require publicly traded firms to file details of a cyberattack within four days of identifying that it has a material impact.
/jlne.ws/3DCIgUy
Statement of Commissioner Caroline D. Pham In Support of Swap Confirmation Requirements for Swap Execution Facilities Proposal
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
I support the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Swap Confirmation Requirements for Swap Execution Facilities (SEF Confirmation Proposal) because the Commission is finally fixing unworkable rules that have defied the reality of market structure, legal documentation, and operational processes since they were first issued in 2013.
/jlne.ws/473RVky
Remarks before the Financial Stability Oversight Council: LIBOR
Chair Gary Gensler - SEC
Thank you, Secretary Yellen. Thank you to all of my colleagues-not only at this table but around the globe-for their hard work putting an end to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) LIBOR was an innovation of the 1970s to facilitate businesses borrowing from banks at a rate that adjusted based upon market interest rates. By the 1980s, to determine LIBOR, banks were using the rate at which banks were lending to each other without taking collateral. It became so popular that it was embedded in hundreds of trillions of dollars of financial contracts around the world-well beyond businesses, even to mortgages and car loans. Thus, it was critical that LIBOR be based on something honest and reliable.
/jlne.ws/3YiWAer
Remarks before the Financial Stability Oversight Council: Climate Risk Disclosure
Chair Gary Gensler - SEC
Thank you, Secretary Yellen. As the staff progress report mentions the work of the Securities and Exchange Commission, I thought I'd put the SEC's proposal with regard to climate-risk disclosure in context. In response to the Great Depression and fraudulent practices of the time, President Roosevelt and Congress came together to enact the federal securities laws in which they established a basic bargain in our markets. Investors get to decide which risks to take, so long as public companies raising money from the public make what Roosevelt called "complete and truthful disclosure."
/jlne.ws/44YR2YO
SEC Charges New York Registered Representative with Fraud
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Clarice Saw, a former registered representative at a New York broker-dealer, for allegedly defrauding a customer of approximately $2.4 million.
/jlne.ws/3OyJW7Q
SEC Obtains Judgments Against Principals of Investment Firm Charged with Fraudulently Misleading Investors
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained final judgments in a previously-filed case against Thomas D. Renison and Timothy J. Allcott, whom the agency charged with making false statements to current and prospective retail investors about the performance of the investment firm they controlled, ARO Equity, LLC, and with using investor funds to pay interest to other investors. Among other things, the judgments order the defendants to pay a total of $12,348,181, with that amount deemed satisfied by orders of forfeiture and restitution in parallel criminal actions.
/jlne.ws/44O8gs3
SEC Charges Florida Resident with Operating $35 Million Ponzi Scheme that Targeted Church Members
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday charged Brent Seaman of Naples, Florida, and various entities he managed for fraudulently raising approximately $35 million from at least 60 investors through an unregistered securities offering. Many of these investors were elderly, retired, and connected to a Naples church where Seaman was an active member.
/jlne.ws/3OAnVFE
SEC Charges Real Estate Investment Fund with Offering Fraud Targeting Investors in Chinese-Speaking Communities
SEC
The SEC brought charges against Summitcrest Capital, Inc., and its principals, Johnny Tseng and Kevin Zhang, for conducting an offering fraud through their real estate investment fund, SC Development Fund, LLC. SC Development Fund raised approximately $19.8 million from about 30 investors in the United States and China between February 2018 and November 2019. SC Development Fund filed for bankruptcy in July 2020 and is now defunct.
/jlne.ws/3q4KpWa
Financial Market Infrastructures Standards issued
Financial Markets Authority
Standards for designated Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) have been issued by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te PÅ«tea Matua (RBNZ) and the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana TÄtai Hokohoko, following two rounds of public consultation. FMIs are multilateral systems (such as payments systems and central counterparties) that enable electronic payments and financial market transactions and are therefore essential for the day-to-day operation of the financial system and economy.
/jlne.ws/3Km9Vga
FCA sets out 14-point action plan on cash savings
FCA
The FCA has today set out a 14-point action plan to ensure banks and building societies are passing on interest rate rises to savers appropriately, that they're communicating with customers much more effectively and offering them better savings rate deals.
/jlne.ws/3rQ709i
"The Code of Conduct for ESG Evaluation and Data Providers"; 17 ESG Evaluation and Data Providers have endorsed the "Code of Conduct" as of June 30, 2023
FSA
The Technical Committee for ESG Evaluation and Data Providers (chaired by Tetsuo Kitagawa, Professor Emeritus of Aoyama Gakuin University and Specially Appointed Professor of Tokyo Metropolitan University) extensively discussed the current status of ESG evaluation and data, challenges faced by stakeholders in the appropriate provision and use of ESG evaluation and data, and future developments, and compiled the "Report of the Technical Committee for ESG Evaluation and Data Providers" on July 12, 2022.
/jlne.ws/3rWKD1R
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Everyday Investors Are Thriving in a World Awash in Yield; Cash-like investments are offering their highest rates since 2001, offsetting rising interest costs
Eric Wallerstein - The Wall Street Journal
Interest rates are hovering at their highest level in more than two decades. For individual investors, that has been an unexpected blessing. Although it is more expensive for consumers to borrow money now than it was 18 months ago, they also have more options to put their cash to work. American households are earning an additional $121 billion from income on investments annually versus a year ago, according to Commerce Department data through June, blunting the $151 billion increase in interest payments on mortgages, credit cards and other loans.
/jlne.ws/3OfeABR
Wall Street Rekindles Risk-On 'Goldilocks' Trade: Markets Wrap; Key US inflation measures cool down in boost for soft landing; Big tech leads stock gains; Treasury yields drop with dollar
Rita Nazareth - Bloomberg
Wall Street shook off worries over the Bank of Japan policy tweak as another round of US data bolstered bets on the so-called Goldilocks scenario of an economy that's neither running too hot nor too cold. The stock market powered ahead as key gauges of inflation showed further easing while Americans grew more optimistic about the economic outlook.
/jlne.ws/3rMbZYB
Petrobras Cuts Dividend Policy to 45% of Free Cash Flow; Petrobras keeps minimum $4 billion yearly dividend payments; Brazil's state-controlled oil major may also do share buybacks
Mariana Durao - Bloomberg
Brazil's state-controlled oil producer Petrobras approved a new dividend policy on Friday that curbs payments to 45% of free cash flow, it said in a filing. While it reduced the dividend level, it included share buybacks as an option to reward shareholders. The Brazilian state-controlled oil producer previously distributed as much as 60% of operational cash flow minus investments, when total debt was below $65 billion.
/jlne.ws/3DBIICD
Glencore in Advanced Talks for Argentina Copper Stake; The world's biggest miners are seeking to expand in copper; Glencore close to deal for Pan American's 56% of Mara project
Jonathan Gilbert and Thomas Biesheuvel - Bloomberg
Glencore Plc is in advanced talks to buy out its partner in Argentina's Mara copper project as the commodity trader and miner seeks increased exposure to the metal, according to people familiar with the matter. Glencore is close to finalizing a deal to acquire Pan American Silver Corp.'s 56% stake that could be announced as soon as next week, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
/jlne.ws/3qfheiY
Saudi Metals Deal to Test Canada's New Foreign Investor Rules; Canada rules require scrutiny on deals by state-owned entities; Vale dismisses potential for regulatory hiccups in mining deal
Jacob Lorinc, and Mariana Durao - Bloomberg
Canada's vow to curb foreign investment in its critical minerals sector will face its first major test with Saudi Arabia's deal to buy into some of the country's largest nickel mines. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government introduced new rules in October that added a layer of regulatory scrutiny to investments by foreign state-owned entities.
/jlne.ws/3rVyPNj
Panic Buyers Load Up on Rice Supplies as India Bans Exports
Keira Wright and Anuradha Raghu - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/43MYoxw
Forget China, The Hot Money in Mining Is Suddenly Saudi; Vale agreed to sell stake in base-metals business last week; PIF has also held talks with Barrick about Pakistan mine
Thomas Biesheuvel, and Jacob Lorinc - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/44LKdu1
Investors Are Happy to Pay Premium for Tech, But Not for AI; MLIV respondents plan to boost tech exposure or keep it steady; Half of investors do not want to pay anything for AI tools
Jackie Davalos - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/45bElKp
Traders Brace for $102 Billion Wave of Treasury Bond Sales; Treasury's quarterly refunding plan is due on Wednesday; Dealers see series of boosts to debt sales in coming quarters
Liz Capo McCormick - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3Ycpe0U
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Cooling Technology's Next Act Could Be Even More Important Than Today's Heat Pumps; The world is struggling to stay cool amid worsening extreme heat. A new wave of startups is working to make sure the future is more bearable - without frying the climate.
Michelle Ma - Bloomberg
July is set to be the hottest month on record, and over half of the US has been under excessive heat warnings and advisories this week. And with the climate crisis set to turn the heat up even further in the coming years, the need to keep people cool has never been more pressing, doubly so for doing it without emitting more greenhouse gases.
/jlne.ws/45apaB9
Emergency viewing: 15 must-see films about the climate crisis
Guy Lodge and Chris Packham - The Guardian
We are rapidly becoming the all-star cast of the biggest disaster movie of all time, and tragically it's a global success. Towering infernos blaze over Canada, the Canaries and Rhodes, Bangladesh, China and even northern England have had their own devastating Poseidon adventures while the whole world continues to reel in the socioeconomic chaos of the Covid contagion and in fear of an H1N1 outbreak.
/jlne.ws/43LNBnm
The ground is deforming, and buildings aren't ready; With Chicago as a living lab space, Northwestern study links underground climate change to variations beneath urban areas
Amanda Morris - Northwestern University
There is a "silent hazard" lurking underneath our major global cities, and our buildings were not designed to handle it. A new Northwestern University study has, for the first time, linked underground climate change to the shifting ground beneath urban areas. As the ground heats up, it also deforms. This phenomenon causes building foundations and the surrounding ground to move excessively (due to expansions and contractions) and even crack, which ultimately affects structures' long-term operational performance and durability.
/jlne.ws/3Yh3d15
Companies with good ESG scores pollute as much as low-rated rivals; The finding holds true even when researchers looked only at the environmental part of the metric
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
Companies rated highly on widely accepted environmental, social and governance metrics pollute just as much as lowly rated companies, research has found.
/jlne.ws/43PV7h1
3 straightforward ways to combat the anti-ESG push
Joel Makower and Dylan Siegler - GreenBuzz
State and federal policymakers on the right were not targeting corporate sustainability programs when they began lobbing anti-ESG rhetoric and proposed laws into state and national legislatures. But what began as a campaign against making environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities part of investment decisions predictably spread, just as high-profile battles over drag shows and critical race theory took over the news cycle. Bans against banks and financial services companies that "boycott" fossil fuels, as in Texas Government Code Chapter 809, became a pressure on companies to back away from social impact as well as environmental measures.
/jlne.ws/3DyXXw4
Watch webcast on connections between accounting and sustainability disclosures
IFRS
/jlne.ws/43Pj33S
The Synergy between Blockchain and ESG Reporting: A Path to Sustainable Progress
Vicky Stavropoulou - CityLife
/jlne.ws/43QWFY1
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Dame Alison Rose was a 'great leader' forced out by politics, says NatWest chairman; Sir Howard Davies ultimately concluded former bank chief's position was 'untenable'
Robert Mendick, Simon Foy and Nick Gutteridge - The Telegraph
NatWest's beleaguered chairman declared the bank's scandal-hit former chief executive a "great leader" undone by politics, paving the way for her to receive a £2.4m pay-off. Sir Howard Davies blamed political pressure for Dame Alison Rose's downfall after she was forced to quit over leaking Nigel Farage's private information to the BBC.
/jlne.ws/3DUjOyp
Banks are still losing deposits. Just not the banks you might expect.
David Hollerith - Yahoo! Finance
The banks that showed some of the biggest deposit declines during the second quarter weren't midsize regional lenders. They were the industry's giants. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) - the four biggest banks by assets - gave up a net $262 billion in deposits when compared with the year-earlier period. From the first quarter to the second quarter, customers pulled $62 billion from three of those banks.
/jlne.ws/3Dx5LP3
BlackRock Clashes With Hedge-Fund Giant Over Control of Funds; Boaz Weinstein's Saba Capital has been buying up shares in three closed-end funds
Jack Pitcher - The Wall Street Journal
Hedge-fund manager Boaz Weinstein is locked in a fight with BlackRock over control of several investment products it runs, a battle that could upend part of the mutual-fund world. Saba Capital Management, Weinstein's $4.4 billion hedge fund, has been buying up shares in three of BlackRock's closed-end funds that are trading at a discount to their underlying assets.
/jlne.ws/3DCQI6u
Troubles at Barclays Prompt a Shake-Up-and Banker Exits
Josh Mitchell and Cara Lombardo - The Wall Street Journal
Barclays executives embarked on a drastic overhaul of the British bank's Wall Street arm early this year. The goal: prove it can hang with the likes of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. They replaced key leaders and laid out a strategy to become a top five player in as many lines of business as it can, if not investment banking overall.
/jlne.ws/453TH3q
Barclays and Deutsche Bank Aren't Delivering the Goods; The lenders are falling short in profitability and shareholder payouts.
Paul J. Davies - Bloomberg Opinion
NatWest Group Plc got all the bad publicity last week after a political storm over its dealings with a provocative client led its chief executive officer to resign. But UK rival Barclays Plc was a bigger loser in the stock market and is still among the lowest valued major banks in Europe. Barclays's second-quarter results last Thursday didn't paint a much worse picture than UK and European rivals in the areas where investors were most focused: margins on lending and losses on problem loans.
/jlne.ws/3OE5Vuo
Why We Should Pity the Bank of England; The UK central bank faces a more acute set of challenges compared with those confronting the ECB and the Fed.
Mohamed A. El-Erian - Bloomberg Opinion
/jlne.ws/43PGjPs
How Angry Should the UK Be With the Bank of England?
Sommer Saadi - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3rUGI5E
The Massive Shift Underway in the US Banking System
Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3rQ1pzW
Blackstone's Breit sells property to finance push into AI data centres; Flagship $68bn real estate fund turns net seller to meet redemptions and serve artificial intelligence boom
Antoine Gara - Financial times
/jlne.ws/3qatYri
Asset Management: Goldman's latest blow to asset management ambitions; Plus, GQG and the rightwing yoga evangelist, Japan's 'great repatriation', and Portraits of Dogs at the Wallace Collection
Harriet Agnew - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3DHDiWx
UBS to Dispose of Riskiest Credit Suisse Loans to Asian Clients; Bank to place most structured APAC loans into wind-down unit; UBS seeking to reduce risks from Credit Suisse legacy business
Ambereen Choudhury, Marion Halftermeyer, and Steven Arons - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3KpC06r
MUFG Says It Handled Credit Suisse Debt Sales 'Mostly Properly'
Takashi Nakamichi, and Nao Sano - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3DyQiOi
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | The Work of Leadership
Ronald Heifetz and Donald L. Laurie - Harvard Business Review
To stay alive, Jack Pritchard had to change his life. Triple bypass surgery and medication could help, the heart surgeon told him, but no technical fix could release Pritchard from his own responsibility for changing the habits of a lifetime. He had to stop smoking, improve his diet, get some exercise, and take time to relax, remembering to breathe more deeply each day.
/jlne.ws/3OE3Leg
Bad bosses are evolving not disappearing; Scrutiny has made it harder to be an overt bully but subtler forms of harassment can be as destructive
Grace Lordan - Financial Times
When people imagine a bully boss in the workplace, they conjure up images of tantrums, mockery, shouting and intimidating behaviour. They visualise sexism, racism, homophobia and cultures of fear. They recall stories of workplaces that have at times been reported as having bullying cultures, such as Westminster, Goldman Sachs, the Metropolitan Police or Uber.
/jlne.ws/458wkG4
The Sorry State of Search Is an Ominous Sign for the AI Era; Scammers have been gaming Google results for years, making it hard for users to know when they can trust results.
Max Chafkin - Bloomberg
On a recent Saturday night, a bored tech executive decided to play around with an artificial intelligence app he'd been hearing about. The executive, who we'll call Matthew, started the way most people look for things on the internet: He flipped open his laptop and typed the AI company's name, Midjourney, into Google. He clicked on the top result, and with a few more clicks he downloaded and installed the app.
/jlne.ws/455p8dM
Your Biggest Career Mistakes-and What You Learned From Them; Everybody stumbles at some point. The question is: What do you do next?
Demetria Gallegos - The Wall Street Journal
Agonizing about the academic degree you got? The decision to accept a job you had doubts about? Your regrettable candor in that meeting? The avoidance of a small problem that then nearly torpedoed your whole reputation? You're not alone. We all stumble at some point in our careers. Sometimes, we bounce back quickly. Sometimes, it takes years. And sometimes, we never quite recover.
/jlne.ws/3OhZFH2
The Robots We Were Afraid of Are Already Here
Ben Ryder Howe - The New York Times
Digit drew a crowd, even here, in a convention center full of robot aficionados. A humanoid warehouse worker, Digit walked upright on goatlike legs and grabbed bins off a shelf with muscular arms made from aerospace-grade aluminum. It then placed the boxes on an assembly line and walked back to the shelf to search for more.
/jlne.ws/3OhZXxC
Outcry Against AI Companies Grows Over Who Controls Internet's Content
Deepa Seetharaman and Keach Hagey - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3qbt0Lm
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Why E-Bikes, EVs and Laptops Are Catching Fire; Deadly incidents raise safety concerns about batteries used to power electric cars and cellphones
Josh Ulick, Adrienne Tong and Danny Dougherty - Thee Wall Street Journal
Thanks to their ability to store large amounts of energy in a small package, lithium-ion batteries have become increasingly popular, powering such devices as laptops and vape pens as well as electric cars and bikes. While most of the batteries operate safely, a small percentage can malfunction and catch fire, sometimes with lethal results.
/jlne.ws/3Yg0yVh
New Covid vaccines are coming to the U.S. this fall, but uptake may be low - Here's why
Annika Kim Constantino - CNBC
A new round of Covid vaccines is coming to the U.S. this fall - but many Americans may not roll up their sleeves and take one. That's largely because pandemic fatigue, the belief that Covid is "over" and confusion over personal risk levels could deter some people from getting an additional shot, experts in public health and health policy told CNBC.
/jlne.ws/3OmUkP0
Food Is Getting Cheaper. Not Everyone's Happy.; Inflation peaking and promotions increasing are great news for shoppers, less so for retailers and manufacturer
Andrea Felsted - Bloomberg Opinion
Huge hikes in the prices of food and other daily essentials are coming to an end. That's the message coming loud and clear from the big European retailers and consumer-goods companies. While this should bring relief to long-suffering consumers, it means a whole different set of challenges for supermarkets and manufacturers.
/jlne.ws/3OE5QH6
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Investment flows poised for historic shift after 'giant leap' by Bank of Japan; Long-dated bond yields jump to 9-year high as analysts hail 'de facto abolishment' of trading cap
Kana Inagaki and Leo Lewis, Mary McDougall and Katie Martin - Financial times
Japanese government bond yields jumped on Monday as global debt, currency and equity markets began to absorb a landmark shift by the Bank of Japan to allow yields to rise more freely.
/jlne.ws/44TD0bq
Asia's Richest Families Fuel Race for Lucrative Finance Jobs
David Ramli - Bloomberg
On a sweat-laced evening in June, while much of Hong Kong dug into supper, two dozen students snaked their way past ginseng dispensaries and tailor shops to the third floor of an office tower to be schooled in finance's hottest trend. The cohort was a white-collar jumble - some were private bankers with gym bags, others primly-dressed accountants.
/jlne.ws/47bVsx9
Plummeting Production Show Australia's Lithium Refining Challenge; Production at Tianqi plant 'significantly below expectations'; Continues run of setbacks in country's refining ambitions
James Fernyhough - Bloomberg
Production has plummeted at Australia's first lithium hydroxide refinery, operated by Tianqi Lithium Corp., extending a run of setbacks in the country's attempt to move into battery metal refining. The Kwinana refinery south of Perth produced just 142 tons of the battery-grade chemical in the three months to June 30, the project's joint venture partner IGO Ltd. said in a statement Monday.
/jlne.ws/3Oh2Oqx
One Big Gold Seller Among Central Banks Has Even More to Offload; Kazakh central bank to cut gold's share to 50%-55% of reserves
Bullion prices hold up despite decline in central bank demand
Nariman Gizitdinov - Bloomberg
In a turnaround that's already taken it from one of the world's biggest gold buyers to a top seller this year, Kazakhstan's central bank is looking to cut the metal's share to as low as half of its $34.5 billion reserves.
/jlne.ws/3rIlCHG
South America braced for economic hit from return of El Niño; Extreme weather phenomenon could spark inflationary surge due to food and energy shortages
Joe Daniels, Ciara Nugent, Bryan Harris and Chris Campbell - Financial Times
South America is bracing itself for the impact of El Niño, with flooding and droughts intensified by climate change forecast to deliver a $300bn hit to growth for the region's economies.
/jlne.ws/3YewFEF
Troubles for Wall Street office tower worsen as foreclosure looms
Steve Cuozzo - NY Post
The unfortunate case of 111 Wall Street might be even more unfortunate than it sounds. Two months since we wrote that the vacant, 1.2 million square-foot tower at the corner of South Street "epitomized the crisis" of the downtown commercial market, the building owned by Nightingale Properties and Intervest Capital Partners now faces a foreclosure action by mezzanine lender Oaktree Capital Management, as first reported by Real Estate Alert.
/jlne.ws/3rPWXkF
How Ivy League Schools Tilt Your Odds in the Lottery of Life
Josh Zumbrun - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3Kkuhq9
Local officials want extreme heat to be declared a federal disaster
Julie Tsirkin - NBC News
/jlne.ws/3OB19gU
Americans are flocking to cities most at risk of extreme weather. Can they stand the heat?
Nathan Vanderklippe - The Globe and Mail
/jlne.ws/3rOE0in
Home Insurers Are Charging More and Insuring Less; Industry tries to rebound from years of losses owing to storms, fires and inflation
Jean Eaglesham - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3QhysqE
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | The Pizza That's Taking Over the US; Crispy, crusty tavern pies, with edge-to-edge toppings, are showing up on menus from coast to coast.
Kat Odell - Bloomberg
In the world of pizza, Chicago will forever be associated with the gut-busting deep-dish version. But recently, it's the city's crisp-crusted, tavern-style pie that's dominating menus from New York to Los Angeles. "Nothing is more Chicago than a cracker-thin pizza," maintains Tony Scardino, a Windy City pizzaiolo who runs the Professor Pizza pop-up. His family started serving tavern pies to Chicagoans 80 years ago.
/jlne.ws/3Yhluve
Goldman's Jonny Fine Swaps Debt for Duck on Food Network Show; Fine battled top chef Faison for best duck dish on Outchef'd; His day job: Goldman's head of investment-grade debt syndicate
Tanaz Meghjani - Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s Jonny Fine is used to the high-stakes game of advising America's biggest companies on their multibillion-dollar financings. On Thursday, he swapped that role for a different type of heat. Fine, who heads investment-grade debt syndicate at Goldman, starred in an episode of Food Network's Outchef'd, a show on which home cooks unexpectedly find themselves duking it out with world-class chefs to deliver the best dish.
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