January 22, 2019 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | John Lothian Publisher John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes JLN Staff JLN Managing Editor Sarah Rudolph and I will be in New York for the Rates Evolved event by Viable Markets on Thursday. We will arrive on Wednesday for some meetings. There are still some slots from the 10 allocated of the 20% discount for JLN readers. Please say hello at the event.~JJL The Overstock.com subsidiary, tZERO, plans to launch its security token this week, according to Coinbase.~JK Lian Hao is now running both the Chicago Institute of Investment and Nanhua USA as CEO. Nanhua USA is a full clearing member of the CME Group.~JJL MarketsWiki has exceeded the 140 million page view mark.~JJL My wife is starting to feel the impact of empty nest syndrome and our youngest has not even graduated from high school yet. She wants to buy a second dog and keeps showing me pictures of cute puppies available at animal shelters. Talk about pressure.~JJL ++++ A Weakening Global Expansion Amid Growing Risks Gita Gopinath, IMF While global growth in 2018 remained close to postcrisis highs, the global expansion is weakening and at a rate that is somewhat faster than expected. This update of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) projects global growth at 3.5 percent in 2019 and 3.6 percent in 2020, 0.2 and 0.1 percentage point below last October's projections. bit.ly/2FJnp60 ***** Lots of global economy stories should be coming out of Davos this week. The IMF is just piling on.~JJL ++++ Fake news prompts journalists' fightback; Traditional journalism has suffered but new forms have keen sense of mission Gillian Tett - FT In 1859, Charles Dickens observed in his novel A Tale of Two Cities that the French Revolution felt like the best of times and worst of times to be alive, since it was the age of both wisdom and foolishness "the epoch of belief?.?.?.?the epoch of incredulity". /on.ft.com/2FGcg65 ***** I used to be able to whack many of the moles of fake news about the markets that popped up. Now there are too many moles and not enough hammers.~JJL ++++
***** Still time to sign up for Rates Evolved and use the link in the image above to get a 20% discount for up to 10 people.~JJL ++++ Monday's Top Three Our top three pieces from Monday were led by Crain's Chicago Business' CME Group CEO Duffy delivers strong growth. Second was Bloomberg's Quant Funds' Poor Performance May Not Be Temporary. Third was Gary DeWaal's Bridging The Week column Hacking at the SEC; Digital Assets; Spoofing ++++ MarketsWiki Stats 140,246,579 pages viewed; 23,390 pages; 216,333 edits MarketsWiki Statistics ++++
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Lead Stories | Wall Street Backlash Sinks Plan to Transform Swaps Market; CFTC's Giancarlo plans to walk away from proposal after pushback from Goldman, Citadel Gabriel T. Rubin Faced with criticism from firms such as Citadel Securities and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a Republican regulator plans to withdraw a revamp of rules for products used to hedge risks and make bets on everything from fuel prices to interest rates. /on.wsj.com/2FIrasp LSE breaks into cryptocurrency industry by selling trading tech; Bourse agrees deal with Hong Kong's AAX as safety concerns mount over digital exchanges Don Weinland - FT The London Stock Exchange is breaking into the cryptocurrency industry by agreeing to sell some of its trading technology to AAX, a Hong Kong-based digital asset exchange. /on.ft.com/2FHw8py Brexit Forces Equity, Foreign-Exchange Markets to Leave London Viren Vaghela and Will Hadfield - Bloomberg Cboe to trade European stocks from Netherlands, not the U.K.; CME moves its foreign exchange derivatives market to Amsterdam Two key markets are moving out of the U.K. as Brexit forces finance firms to put more of the region's trading infrastructure on the continent. /bloom.bg/2FORi4m Exchanges ask for share-pledge extensions to calm China market; Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges tell banks and other share-based lenders to be lenient Don Weinland - FT China's securities exchanges have asked banks to extend agreements on loans in which shares have been pledged up as collateral  the latest attempt to stabilise the world's worst performing major stock market last year. /on.ft.com/2FFkdIN Overstock Blockchain Fund Shuffles Management Ahead of tZERO Launch Anna Baydakova - Coindesk Overstock has promoted Joel Wright to chief operating officer (COO) of Medici Ventures, the company's blockchain venture fund. bit.ly/2FGhaQH Make No Mistake, Davos, the Fat Cat Backlash Is Coming; The recent travails of some of the best-known "Davos Men" are telling. Voters are increasingly unwilling to accept the excesses of executive pay. Lionel Laurent - Bloomberg Ten years ago, the Davos conference asked the question: "What must industry do to prevent a broad social backlash?" The answer probably wasn't "Double, triple, or sextuple the wealth of the most prominent conference attendees, while letting median household incomes stagnate back home." Yet that's what happened. Make no mistake: The backlash is coming. /bloom.bg/2FJnDtS Chilling Davos: A Bleak Warning on Global Division and Debt Andrew Ross Sorkin - NY Times As business and political leaders arrive in the Swiss Alps for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, a surprisingly alarming letter from an influential investor who studiously eschews attention has already emerged as a talking point. /nyti.ms/2FImuCO LSE's technology to power Asian cryptocurrency platform Reuters London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) said on Tuesday Hong Kong-based AAX would use its technology for cryptocurrency trading, allowing the British exchange operator enter a nascent yet highly speculative industry. /reut.rs/2FGVtQw European ETF trading increasingly automated as Mifid II takes hold; Transparency rules are eating away at the traditional phone-based trade Philip Stafford - FT Europe's Mifid II rules are inexorably reshaping its fragmented market for exchange-traded products  and humans are being phased out. /on.ft.com/2FJQOx4 Algorithms are an easy scapegoat for volatile markets; Computer-driven trading draws suspicion that obscures the advantages of algos David Siegel - FT Growing up in the science fiction-infused 1960s and '70s, nothing excited me more than computers' potential to do things that humans could and to improve the world. Today, they help aircraft to stay aloft, doctors to treat patients and investors to manage portfolios, all the while relieving humans of stressful tasks. /on.ft.com/2FHpZJJ Danske faces new investor lawsuit threat Kirstin Ridley, Simon Jessop - Reuters Litigation funder IMF Bentham (IMF.AX) has teamed up with legal experts Quinn Emanuel and Njord Law Firm and plans to file a shareholder lawsuit against Danske Bank (DANSKE.CO) by July over a 200 billion euro ($230 billion) money laundering scandal. /reut.rs/2FJtOhy UBS won't take lead in consolidating European bank sector: Weber Reuters Switzerland's UBS Group (UBSG.S) will not take the lead in consolidating a fragmented European bank sector, Chairman Axel Weber said on Tuesday. /reut.rs/2FDqAw4 Why Do Billionaire Bond Traders Bother to Tweet?; It's hard to see the upside for Jeffrey Gundlach and his ilk to be on social media. Why not just stick to the "let my performance speak for itself" maxim? Lionel Laurent - Bloomberg Famed bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach has tweeted that he is quitting Twitter. This is the equivalent of promising everyone at the bar that this will be your last round. His account remains active, and all his tweets visible - including the one where he labels the head of French bank Societe Generale SA "moronic." He has given no extra details on the "suspicious activity" that apparently triggered his desire to close his account. Still, if he does walk away, it would be no bad thing. /bloom.bg/2FRx3D5 UBS's Crown Jewels Lose Their Sparkle; Both the wealth management and equities divisions had a dismal quarter. Elisa Martinuzzi - Bloomberg Overseeing money for the rich is supposed to be one of the best businesses in banking, but even the world's biggest wealth manager is finding that it doesn't always work out like that. /bloom.bg/2FRx0Hd
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Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | LSEG Technology selected by ATOM to power the AAX digital asset exchange London Stock Exchange Group LSEG Technology, London Stock Exchange Group's technology solutions provider, today announces that Millennium Exchange has been selected by ATOM Group ("ATOM") for its new digital asset exchange venue AAX. Millennium Exchange's low latency, resilient, and scalable matching engine provides market-leading performance and reliability. bit.ly/2FHygO4 FTSE founder steps down as director of LSEG's information services group; Mark Makepeace will take on a non-executive chairman role as Waqas Samad succeeds him as director of the information services unit, which includes FTSE Russell. Hayley McDowell - The Trade FTSE founder and London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) veteran Mark Makepeace has stepped down from his role as director of the Information Services Division. bit.ly/2FIrGXn Information Services Division Leadership Appointments London Stock Exchange Group LSEG appoints Chief Data Officer for its Information Services Division; Waqas Samad Appointed Group Director, Information Services Division Mark Makepeace Appointed Non-Executive Chairman, Information Services Division London Stock Exchange Group ("LSEG", "the Group") today announces that Waqas Samad is appointed Group Director of the Information Services Division ("ISD") and a member of the LSEG Executive Committee, effective immediately. He will report to David Schwimmer, CEO, LSEG. bit.ly/2FGplfA Katja Renner joins Eurex Clearing Eurex Katja Renner has joined Eurex's Fixed Income Funding & Financing Sales team. She is based in London and primarily covers sell-side repo clients in the UK, bringing her extensive experience across repo, securities lending and swaps for both sell and buy-side clients. bit.ly/2FGdy0V PGGM is the first pension fund manager to centrally clear repos at Eurex; Eurex welcomes Dutch PGGM as the first pension fund manager to its centrally cleared repo markets using the central counterparty's ISA Direct service. Eurex With this direct clearing connection, Eurex addresses repo market liquidity concerns as well as the regulatory-driven challenges of asset owners, in particular pension funds. The European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) requires over-the-counter derivatives to be cleared through central clearing counterparties. Pension funds have been exempted as the requirement of CCPs to post Variation Margin in cash might pose liquidity challenges. bit.ly/2FH4qJo Frank Odendall discusses access to centrally cleared repo markets for pension funds; Welcome to new solutions! Eurex Pension funds play an important role both in the financial industry and for the daily life of pensioners in Europe. The aggregated assets across the EU28 are over Euro 5.2 trillion1. Regulatory changes, in particular the mandatory clearing of OTC IRS and the increase in capital requirements on banks, impose significant challenges to European pension funds. We spoke to Frank Odendall, Head of Buy-Side Repo Initiative at Eurex about these challenges and an interesting new solution for pension funds, asset managers and insurance companies. bit.ly/2FFprUN PGGM addresses liquidity concerns through Eurex's repo clearing service; PGGM is the first pension fund manager to centrally clear repos at German exchange group Eurex. Jon Watkins - The Trade Dutch pension fund PGGM has signed up to use Eurex's centrally cleared repo markets using the central counterparty's ISA Direct service as a way to address growing liquidity concerns caused by regulation. bit.ly/2FIrIyt HKEX's Cha Says China Markets Need to Be a Two-Way Street Bloomberg SurveillanceTV Laura Cha, chairwoman of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.'s, discusses what the U.S. misunderstands about China and the need to open up China's markets. She speaks at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on "Bloomberg Surveillance." /bloom.bg/2FGfdnb Borsa Italiana's Green Segment Sees Continued Growth With Enel EUR1bn Green Bond Mondovisione Enel's EUR1 billion green bond starts trading on Borsa Italiana's ExtraMOT PRO; Proceeds will be used to finance eligible Enel green projects Borsa Italiana welcomes Enel's new EUR1 billion green bond on ExtraMOT PRO, the professional segment of ExtraMOT market dedicated to the listing of bonds, commercial papers and project bonds. bit.ly/2FQkkjT
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Fintech | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Brussels takes a welcome lead on AI regulation; It is developing an ethics framework that will foster consumer confidence Julia Apostle - FT Established companies and start-ups around the world are rushing to develop or adopt artificial intelligence solutions that will reliably anticipate our behaviour and uncover our unconscious needs and desires. From trivial problems, like which groceries to buy or movies to watch, to decisions about whether to hire a candidate or extend a loan, AI-powered computers are increasingly making forecasts and decisions that affect all our lives. /on.ft.com/2FIqO53 India's Fintech Entrepreneur on Brand, Entrepreneurship and Leadership! Bhavya Kaushal - Entrepreneur The Indian government took a bold step on November 8, 2016. This move to demonetize 500 and 1000 rupee banknotes changed the face of the Indian economy. From being an economy that was heavily dependent on cash and plastic money for transactions, India started adopting digital payments technology. It was not an overnight move, it took a while, some time but today India has consumed and absorbed online payments industry like no other country has been able to. bit.ly/2MnF6so Fintech Sandboxes & Innovation Hubs: European Report Outlines What's Working Now JD Alois - Crowdfund Insider A joint report by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Banking Authority (EBA), and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), addresses the topic of Fintech Sandboxes, the approach by regulators to partner with emerging Fintech firms by creating a safe place to experiment under the watchful eye of public authorities. First envisioned by the British several years ago, Sandboxes have become a popular vehicle globally to not only test services but expose regulators to financial innovation. Financial regulators, and policymakers in general, are typically not entrepreneurially inclined. bit.ly/2MmC0oJ UK fintech MarketInvoice wins backing from Barclays and Santander as banking disruption gathers pace Callum Burroughs - Business insider UK fintech MarketInvoice has kicked off the funding market for 2019 with the backing of Barclays and Santander as part of a £56 million ($72 million) debt and equity financing. /read.bi/2FO4wyh
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Cryptocurrencies | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | The blockchain is coming to Wall Street Molly Wood - MarketPlace In 2018, ICOs, or initial coin offerings, were the hot new thing in startup fundraising. A company could raise money by selling you a little bit of value or equity in the form of a digital coin, similar to bitcoin but specific to that company. ICOs raised about $22 billion, or so we think. It's hard to know because the practice has been unregulated. A lot of ICOs turned out to be scams. The Securities and Exchange Commission started fining celebrities like Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled over sketchy paid promotions for ICOs. It got weird, and now it's regulation time. That means future ICOs and their digital coins might start to look a lot more like good old-fashioned stock, except traded on the blockchain. And that has big ramifications for Wall Street. Molly Wood talked with Kristen Howell, a partner with the law firm Fox Rothschild who helps companies create ICOs. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation. bit.ly/2FSNwae Coinbase Makes Push in Asia With Crypto Institutional Services Julie Verhage - Bloomberg Digital exchange sought Wall Street expansion in the spring; Expects rivals to use custodial services to prevent hacks Coinbase Inc. is turning to Asia a little more than six months after making a big push to become the go-to trading platform for Wall Street when it comes to all things related to digital currencies. /bloom.bg/2FDmfJi Bitcoin's Proof-of-Work Algorithm Needs Replacing, Argues BIS Study Yogita Khatri - Coindesk The proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm used by bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies is not viable in the long-term and needs to be replaced, argues a new study from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). bit.ly/2FJsFGM Coinbase Adds Cross-Border Wire Transfers for Whales in Europe and Asia Nikhilesh De - Coindesk Crypto exchange Coinbase is launching cross-border wire transfers for institutional clients in Asia, the U.K. and Europe. bit.ly/2FDZeGp Bitcoin's Price Counters the VIX, Confirming It's Still a Risk Asset Sam Ouimet - Coindesk Evidence is emerging that bitcoin has yet to truly earn its reputation as an "uncorreleated asset." Case and point, bitcoin's latest sell-off from $6,000 to nearly $3,000 was accompanied by a surge in the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX). The VIX measures the 30-day forward-looking volatility of the S&P 500 to gauge the market's fear and risk tolerance, which is why it is commonly referred to as the "fear gauge" for the broader U.S. stock market. bit.ly/2FHAuwU Dutch Financial Authorities Plan Licensing Scheme for Crypto Exchanges Yogita Khatri - Coindesk Financial authorities in the Netherlands are planning a licensing scheme for crypto exchanges and wallet service providers to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. bit.ly/2FGfdnk Crypto CEO Sentenced to 3-Year Jail Term for Faking Trading Volume Daniel Palmer - Coindesk Two executives from South Korean crypto exchange Komid have been handed down jail time for faking trading volume and deceiving investors. According to a report from CoinDesk Korea, the firm's CEO Hyunsuk Choi received a three-year sentence for his role in the crime, as well as for embezzlement. Another member of the team, Park Mo, got two years, according to local news source Blockinpress. bit.ly/2FFqrIF South Korean Exchange Loses $5 Million in Accidental Bitcoin Airdrop Nikhilesh De - Coindesk South Korean crypto exchange Coinnest is looking to take back cryptocurrencies accidentally sent to clients in an airdrop. bit.ly/2FGZ6Wn Coinbase expands OTC and institutional trading services into Asia and Europe Frank Chaparro - The Block Crypto Coinbase announced plan to push international expansion of OTC desk and other professional trading services; As such, it will support fiat deposits from non U.S. bank accounts from many regions for the first time Coinbase, the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, announced Tuesday a plan to push the international expansion of its over-the-counter trading unit. bit.ly/2FIfJ4a This Is What Some Experts Think Is Critical For Blockchain In 2019 Jennifer Kite-Powell - Forbes A January 2019 McKinsey article, Blockchain's Occam problem, noted that blockchain has the potential to be a game changer, but has yet to be proved. The report indicates that markets from financial services to healthcare and the arts have identified more than 100 blockchain use cases with the most impressive results are where blockchains are used to store information, cut out intermediaries, and enable greater coordination between companies. But the report noted that overall, blockchain is an 'infant technology that's relatively unstable'. bit.ly/2FQjljH
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Politics | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | The Stock Market's On-Again, Off-Again Relationship With Trump Peter Eavis, Stephen Grocer, Keith Collins and Karl Russell - NY Times Investors did not know what to expect from a Trump presidency. Would they get a traditional pro-business Republican who promised tax cuts, or an unpredictable populist who would disrupt trade? So far, they've gotten both in President Trump, who sees the stock market as a barometer of his success. Stocks are up 25 percent in the two years since his election, but it has not always been a smooth ride. /nyti.ms/2FFuwfW In Versailles, Macron vows to reform to avoid king's fate Jean-Baptiste Vey, Michel Rose - Reuters President Emmanuel Macron told dozens of the world's most powerful executives on Monday that he would not follow the path of guillotined French royals and would continue to reform the French economy despite a sometimes violent popular revolt. /reut.rs/2FP9yKM France and Germany to seal new deal as Brexit looms BBC France and Germany are to sign a new treaty on Tuesday aimed at breathing new life into their place at the centre of the European Union. /bbc.in/2FQI6fE How Bloomberg plans to create his own lane in 2020; 'Bloomberg's kind of money buys a lot of loyalty  or at least silence. Anyone else would be toast.' Marc Caputo - Politico At first glance, Michael Bloomberg would seem to have zero appeal in a Democratic Party where progressive populism is on the rise and activists and elites say it's time for a woman or a person of color to win the White House. /politi.co/2FRvlRX
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Regulation & Enforcement | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | European ETF trading increasingly automated as Mifid II takes hold; Transparency rules are eating away at the traditional phone-based trade Philip Stafford - FT Europe's Mifid II rules are inexorably reshaping its fragmented market for exchange-traded products  and humans are being phased out. /on.ft.com/2FJQOx4 Brussels urges crackdown on wealthy 'golden visa' investors; EU states told to tighten checks on guard against money laundering and corruption Mehreen Khan and Michael Peel - FT Brussels is set to tell EU member states to tighten security checks on wealthy investors applying for "golden visas", warning that the schemes have opened the bloc to money laundering, corruption and organised crime. /on.ft.com/2FRwIjB
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Investing & Trading | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Bunge says profit to come in below previous range Reuters Agri trader Bunge Ltd cut its forecast for full-year pre-tax earnings on Tuesday, citing a fall in the value of its Brazilian crops. /reut.rs/2FFqwfj Investors' Dash for Cash Adds to Stock Market's Vulnerability; Cash holdings in investment portfolios are rising quickly, raising doubts about recent rebound Michael Wursthorn - WSJ Investors are increasing their cash holdings at the fastest pace in a decade, highlighting doubts about the durability of the stock market's early 2019 rebound. /on.wsj.com/2FHwVa0 Market Volatility Tests UBS's Pivot to the Ultrarich; Shares in the Swiss lender fall after its profit misses expectations Brian Blackstone and Pietro Lombardi - WSJ UBS UBS 0.89% Group AG said Tuesday that it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter but missed analysts' expectations, as volatile financial markets weighed on its wealth-management unit. /on.wsj.com/2FFlXBP Philip Morris keeps powder dry on cannabis; Tobacco group wary of large investment amid differing regulatory policies worldwide Gillian Tett,Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and James Fontanella-Khan - FT The head of Philip Morris International has said the cannabis market remains too risky for it to follow rival cigarette maker Altria by making a significant investment in the nascent sector. /on.ft.com/2FFsMmN 'A List' climate change firms outperform on stock market - survey Alister Doyle - Reuters Apple (AAPL.O), L'Oreal (OREP.PA) and Mitsubishi Electric (6503.T) are among more than 120 global firms which scored top marks in a ranking of corporate efforts to slow climate change. /reut.rs/2FRzuW3
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Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Lawyers for ex-HSBC trader attack 'ever-shifting' case; New legal filings show US appeal will seek to have rate-rigging verdict overthrown Eva Szalay - FT The US Department of Justice failed to prove that HSBC's former chief currencies trader broke any laws, in an "ever-shifting, contradictory" case against him, lawyers will argue in an appeal against a conviction for rate-rigging. /on.ft.com/2FFobB3 UBS warns of worsening climate as clients pull $13bn of money; Swiss bank's 'very poor' earnings miss analyst expectations and send shares down Stephen Morris - FT UBS cast a shadow across Europe's banking sector as Switzerland's biggest lender blamed an economic slowdown and geopolitical tensions for missing analysts' profit forecasts and for causing almost $13bn of client outflows. /on.ft.com/2FJPytQ Ex-Credit Suisse Banker Fraud Case Still a `Five-Headed Hydra' Hugo Miller - Bloomberg New probe opened shows not all facts are known, plaintiffs say; Appeals of February verdict began Tuesday morning in Geneva A new probe in the case of a convicted Credit Suisse Group AG banker gave victims of Patrice Lescaudron fresh ammunition to argue for yet another exhaustive investigation of the four-year-old scandal. /bloom.bg/2FHRJ15 UBS Warns of Headwinds After Clients Pull $13 Billion in Quarter Patrick Winters and Jan-Henrik Foerster - Bloomberg Bank cites rising geopolitical, trade tensions and volatility;UBS sees almost $8 billion of outflows in global wealth unit UBS Group AG warned that the worst may not be over after clients pulled $13 billion in assets during a market meltdown in the final months of 2018. /bloom.bg/2FI4fh7 UBS CEO says succession 'years away' Reuters UBS (UBSG.S) Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti said on Tuesday any changes to the bank's leadership remain years away and that the bank remains open to both hiring and promoting in its search for talent. /reut.rs/2FJtSOk Gundlach's Tweet Hits SocGen Where it Hurts; CEO Frederic Oudea needs to do more than cut costs. Elisa Martinuzzi - Bloomberg Bond king Jeffrey Gundlach may not have meant what he said when he tweeted that Societe Generale SA's Frederic Oudea was running the bank into the ground after making the wrong decisions 10 years ago. But however intemperate his comment was, it will only add to the pressure growing on the French lender's chief executive officer. /bloom.bg/2FRZ4Kw
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Regions | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China's Xi Warns Party of 'Serious Dangers' as Risks Mount Bloomberg News President urges greater efforts to ensure political stability; Unusual meeting convened in recent weeks as economy slows President Xi Jinping stressed the need to maintain political stability in an unusual meeting of China's top leaders -- a fresh sign the ruling party is growing concerned about the social implications of the slowing economy. /bloom.bg/2FEAygY China spends $36bn on coal-fired power despite emissions goals; Beijing's clean energy credentials imperilled after funding projects in emerging markets Emily Feng - FT China financed more than a quarter of all coal plants announced outside the country last year according to a new report, putting its clean energy image at risk as Chinese institutions fund coal-fired projects in emerging markets. /on.ft.com/2FHW3xl Arab States Should Beware of Indexes Bearing Easy Money; Foreign capital blindly following emerging-market indexes can be a disincentive for real economic reform. Karen E. Young - Bloomberg The taps of foreign capital are about to open on some states in the Middle East, thanks to their inclusion in key emerging-market indexes. Over the next year, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are expected to join Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the MSCI EM index. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait are expected to join Oman in the J.P. Morgan Emerging Market government bond index. Kuwait was classified as "secondary emerging" status in 2018 in FTSE's Russell index, and Saudi Arabia is expected to be included in March. /bloom.bg/2FOlQmy
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Brexit | Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union | Brexiters feel the heat as prospect grows of delay to EU departure; Eurosceptics look for reasons to back Theresa May's deal if terms are improved George Parker and Laura Hughes - FT When Prime Minister Theresa May announced her new Brexit strategy on Monday, there was a sense of déjà vu in the House of Commons. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called it Groundhog Day, while Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston declared: "Plan B is Plan A". /on.ft.com/2FGnHuq Labour Calls For Vote That Could Spark Second Brexit Referendum Thomas Penny and Robert Hutton - Bloomberg Corbyn comes as close as ever to support for plebiscite; Polls suggest public support for staying in the EU has risen The U.K.'s main opposition party is backing a plan that could open the door to a second European Union referendum, bringing the possibility of stopping Brexit a step closer. /bloom.bg/2FH2zEq
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