| January 24, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
A Katherine Doherty story from Bloomberg cast a dark shadow across the start of today's newsletter. For the first time, the majority of U.S. stock trading is consistently occurring off-exchange, with alternative platforms and internal firm systems accounting for a record 51.8% of traded volume in January, according to Bloomberg data. This shift marks the culmination of a years-long trend, potentially signaling a permanent change in market structure. While public exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq have historically dominated trading, off-exchange venues, including dark pools, are now playing a larger role, particularly in low-priced stocks favored by retail investors. Market-makers like Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial handle much of this activity, which has coincided with a rise in trades for stocks valued under $1.
The move toward off-exchange trading raises concerns about market transparency and efficiency. With fewer trades on public exchanges, the ability to determine the best price through competitive quotes could weaken, according to Larry Tabb of Bloomberg Intelligence. The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken steps to counter this trend, including revising rules for stock pricing and trade execution, but much of the market's evolution remains driven by institutional strategies. Alternative trading systems (ATS) offer anonymity and limit information leaks, making them attractive to large investors. In November, ATS platforms processed 1.7 billion shares daily, the highest volume since March 2020. While the long-term implications for pricing and liquidity remain uncertain, this shift reflects an evolving market dynamic.
The FIA issued a statement on the EU equivalence for UK clearinghouses today, with Jackie Mesa, FIA's chief operating officer & senior vice president of global policy, saying:
"FIA welcomes the Commission's proposed extension of the equivalence decision. While our members prefer a non-time limited equivalence determination, once finalised, the three-year extension will provide much needed certainty to EU market participants for the moment."
In the member class action lawsuit against CME Group, the plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion requesting leave to submit additional evidence opposing CME's summary judgment motion. The motion includes two exhibits: CME Group's first-quarter 2024 earnings script, which highlights substantial dividends and profits tied to its trading operations, and a June 2024 press release announcing plans for a new co-location facility and private cloud region in collaboration with Google Cloud. These exhibits, unavailable at the time of the original filing, are presented to demonstrate the financial benefits and motivations related to the contested trading floor operations. CME did not oppose the inclusion of these materials, provided they are allowed an opportunity to respond. The plaintiffs argue that the new evidence further supports their claims regarding the harm caused by the defendants' trading practices and underscores their motivations for maintaining and expanding the Aurora Data Center facility. The court is scheduled to hear the summary judgment motion on January 31, 2025, at which time both parties will have the opportunity to address the supplemental evidence.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: ANALYSIS: Deribit sees untapped pools of institutional flow after record year, Clear Street ramps up in London with a dozen hires, Miami International to move wheat futures to rebranded futures venue, Trade bodies welcome extension of UK clearing recognition, Eurex eyes second quarter for blockchain collateral clearing and ANALYSIS: New technology and AI in focus at Davos.
Congratulations to Dan Driscoll, who recently retired from the NFA after 42 years. He was celebrated at a party at the NFA wishing him a happy retirement.
Traders Magazine has been profiling some industry veterans lately and the latest is another retired Cboe professional whom I last saw at a cricket match at the Oval in the south side of London. Andy Lowenthal, whose wife Tracey is a high school classmate of mine, was profiled by the magazine about his career and post retirement activities.
President Trump issued an executive order yesterday on crypto that had been widely anticipated. The order is titled "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology."
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Wall Street's Tech-Powered Bond Trades Hit Record $1 Trillion from Bloomberg.
- Hedge Fund Clients Pulled $7 Billion From Elite Money Manager Since 2021 from Bloomberg (via Yahoo Finance).
- Yen Options Traders Flip Strategy Going Into BOJ Decision from Bloomberg. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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 IMX's Nick Johnson Explains How IMX Health Tech Helps Risk Management in the Healthcare Sector JohnLothianNews.com IMX is trying to create a holistic asset class of indexes and tradable products that focus on the healthcare sector, according to Nick Johnson, the chief regulatory officer at the Intelligent Medicine Exchange (IMX), who spoke with John Lothian News at FIA Expo 2024. He said IMX's proprietary indexes are based on medical data, but the company also wants to focus on having a suite of equity-based indexes and more traditional products. Watch the video »
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ETFs increase efficiency of markets, new study shows; Academic findings on macro-market behaviour contradict widely accepted previous research
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
The growth of exchange traded funds has improved the efficiency of stock markets, according to new research that runs counter to some previous claims. The global ETF industry has ballooned to almost $15tn in assets, a more than fivefold increase in the past decade, according to figures from consultancy ETFGI, with all but $1tn of this in passive, index-tracking funds. New research from academics from the US, UK and France argues that this surge in passive money has made equity markets more efficient, contradicting some previous research that has found the opposite.
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***** ETFs are the market, taste great and are less filling.~JJL
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MicroStrategy Suddenly Has a Tax Problem, and Needs Help From Trump's IRS; New rules could tax unrealized gains on bitcoin holdings at large companies
Jonathan Weil - The Wall Street Journal
If you think MicroStrategy's business model is wild, wait until you see its tax issues. After years of raising money through stock and debt offerings to buy bitcoin, MicroStrategy owns a stash worth about $47 billion, which includes $18 billion of unrealized gains. In an unusual twist, it could have to pay federal income taxes on those paper gains-even if it never sold a single bitcoin. The tax bill could total billions of dollars starting next year, according to a new disclosure this month by MicroStrategy that has received little attention. Usually investment gains aren't taxed until the assets are sold. But under the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022, Congress created a "corporate alternative minimum tax" in which MicroStrategy now finds itself ensnared. The tax rate would be 15%, based on an adjusted version of the earnings that MicroStrategy reports on its financial statements under generally accepted accounting principles. Its best hope is that the Internal Revenue Service adopts new rules that let MicroStrategy off the hook.
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***** Or, MicroStrategy could just pay the taxes they owe rather than trying to weasel out of it.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our most clicked item Thursday was the notice for the STAC 99th Annual Mid-Winter Meeting, which took place January 22 - 23, 2025 at the Hilton Chicago, from the Security Traders Association of Chicago. Second was President Trump, Crypto Billionaire, subtitled "His new family tokens, which have soared in value, are courting legal and political trouble," from The Wall Street Journal. Third was FactSet Launches AI-Powered Pitch Creator, a press release from FactSet.
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| Lead Stories | Wall Street enters darker age with most stock trading now hidden
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
Here's a surprising new fact about the world's largest and most-liquid public equity market: Most of the activity on it isn't public anymore. For the first time on record, the majority of all trading in US stocks is now consistently occurring outside the country's exchanges, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This off-exchange activity - which happens internally at major firms or in alternative platforms known as dark pools - is on course to account for a record 51.8% of traded volume in January. Barring an unexpected dip, it will be the fifth monthly record in a row, and the third month running that hidden trades make up more than half of all volume. In other words, the shift "appears to be developing into a longer-term trend and quite possibly a permanent one at that," Anna Ziotis Kurzrok, head of market structure at Jefferies, wrote in a note to clients this month.
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Supreme Court Revives Law Meant to Fight Money Laundering; The Corporate Transparency Act, which requires businesses to disclose ownership information, was blocked by a federal judge as beyond Congress's authority.
Adam Liptak - The New York Times
The Supreme Court on Thursday revived a federal law requiring companies to report information about their owners in an effort to combat money laundering, the drug trade and terrorism. The court's brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. The ruling was provisional, reinstating the law while a challenge to it moves forward. Critics say that the law, the Corporate Transparency Act of 2021, is needlessly burdensome, a threat to privacy and an unconstitutional federal intrusion on matters that have been historically regulated by states.
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SEC Staff Repeals Crypto-Accounting Guidance Reviled by Industry
Nicola M White - Bloomberg
US Securities and Exchange Commission staff repealed accounting guidance the crypto industry has said squashed its ability to work with banks. "The staff reminds entities that they should continue to consider existing requirements to provide disclosures that allow investors to understand an entity's obligation to safeguard crypto assets held for others," according to the repeal notice issued Thursday. Released in 2022, Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 called on businesses to account for customers' crypto assets as their own by listing them on their balance sheets.
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Corporate-Bond Trading Gets Frenzied as More Volume Goes Digital; Increased trading activity is lowering the liquidity premium; High-grade bonds are the main drivers of rising trading volume
Caleb Mutua - Bloomberg
Credit trading volumes reached a fresh record in 2024 and could hit a new high this year, potentially resulting in lower borrowing costs for US companies. An average of $46 billion of high-grade and junk bonds changed hands every trading day last year, up 21% from 2023, according to a report by Crisil Coalition Greenwich, a provider of research and data for the financial services industry. In the first week of January, trading volume averaged $56 billion per day, nearly 25% higher than the first week of 2024, Kevin McPartland and Neha Jain wrote in the report published this week.
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Revised Global FX Code Released With Focus on Transparency; Updated principles on conflict of interest, use of market data; Revisions to voluntary rules also aim to curb settlement risk
Michael O'Boyle - Bloomberg
A committee overseeing the voluntary code of best practices for the $7.5 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market revised guidelines to boost transparency in the loosely-regulated industry. The Global FX Committee, or GFXC, focused its latest changes on principles designed to reduce settlement risk and increase transparency on methods of execution by market participants as well as the use of market data by trading platforms. The report released Friday followed an overhaul negotiated over the last three years.
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France Calls for EU to Delay Basel Trading Rules By Extra Year
Claudia Cohen - Bloomberg
French authorities are calling for the European Union to agree to hold off on new bank capital rules on trading for longer than previously planned after the UK pushed back its implementation to 2027. The European Union introduced some new bank capital rules this month but delayed the ones affecting their markets businesses until 2026. A further one-year deferral is necessary to allow sufficient time to ensure a "level playing field" with the UK, which postponed the wider package of Basel standards, and the US "where the new administration is likely to call transposition into question." the French government wrote in broader document that calls for a major reworking of the European regulatory framework.
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Donald Trump calls on Opec to push down global oil prices; US president tells World Economic Forum he will insist central banks lower interest rates 'immediately' afterwards
Ben Hall and Sam Fleming in Davos and James Politi in Washington - Financial Times
Donald Trump has called on Opec to push down global oil prices and insisted that central banks around the world lower interest rates "immediately" afterwards. In a speech to executives in Davos on Thursday, the US president urged Saudi Arabia and other producers to lower the cost of crude oil, expressing dismay that they had not done so already. "I'm going to ask Saudi Arabia and Opec to bring down the cost of oil. You gotta bring it down. Which frankly I'm surprised they didn't do before the election," Trump said.
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BlackRock CEO wants SEC to 'rapidly approve' tokenization of bonds, stocks: What it means for crypto; BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said he's "a huge believer in crypto" and urged the SEC to "rapidly approve" asset tokenization. Is this a net positive for the crypto sector?
Marcel Pechman - CoinTelegraph
Larry Fink, CEO of the world's largest fund manager BlackRock, has expressed his hope that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will swiftly approve the tokenization of bonds and stocks. During a CNBC interview on Jan. 23, Fink strongly endorsed digital assets, underscoring their potential to democratize investments. The open question is whether this shift toward tokenizing traditional assets can benefit cryptocurrencies, which sectors might flourish, and which projects might face heightened competition.
/jlne.ws/40xhoQU
Trump orders administration to evaluate potential for 'national digital asset stockpile'; The price of bitcoin briefly soared on the president's directive, but it appeared to fall short of crypto advocates' expectations.
Rob Wile - NBC News
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration will evaluate whether to create a "national digital asset stockpile" - making good on a promise to support the use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. However, his executive order fell short of creating a strategic bitcoin reserve outright, as some crypto advocates had hoped. The price of bitcoin briefly surged on the news, but fell back to daily lows as traders took stock of the move.
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Jump Trading accuses ex-engineer of stealing IP for rival startup; Jump Trading has sued a former employee, claiming he stole the crypto firm's intellectual property to help start a rival blockchain company.
Stephen Katte - CoinTelegraph
Crypto firm Jump Trading has sued a former software engineer, accusing him of violating non-competition obligations and stealing intellectual property to help start a competing business. In a Jan. 21 complaint filed in a Chicago federal court, Jump claimed its former employee, Liam Heeger, violated a non-compete obligation of his contract by running a "competitive business" that "directly competes with Jump." Jump said that Heeger worked as one of the lead software engineers on Firedancer, a "major blockchain project" at the firm, and helped analyze, design, write, and optimize blockchain code from February 2023 up until his resignation on Nov. 11, 2024.
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Howard Lutnick, Trump's pick to run commerce department, releases financial disclosures
Reuters
Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Commerce Department, on Friday disclosed his financial holdings and assets ahead of a Senate hearing to confirm him for the role. The Wall Street CEO earned nearly $200 million through financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald.
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Italian Banking M&A Takes Another Machiavellian Twist; A tie-up between two major Italian lenders would bring lopsided benefits to different groups of shareholders.
Chris Hughes - Bloomberg
Nothing is ever quite as it seems in Italian finance. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA's EUR13.3 billion ($13.9 billion) approach for Mediobanca SpA is much more than a simple attempt to create a big No. 3 Italian banking house. But one thing is precisely as it appears: The proposed deal carries dubious attractions for Mediobanca's ordinary shareholders. The two sides could scarcely be more different. MPS claims to be the world's oldest bank, but it's survived to the present day thanks only to government bailouts. It would bring retail and commercial banking assets to the combination. Mediobanca is best known as the investment bank that used to be the seat of power in Italian finance through its web of cross-shareholdings. Under Chief Executive Officer Alberto Nagel, it's evolved into a more conventional advisory and wealth management business, although one of its principal assets is a large stake in insurer Generali.
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***** Here is the Financial Times version of this story, titled "Monte dei Paschi launches EUR13bn takeover offer for Mediobanca." and The Wall Street Journal version, titled "World's Oldest Bank Joins Rush to Consolidate European Lending."~JJL
Griffin Taps NYC's Related to Develop New Miami Headquarters; Billionaire is seeking to build tower in Brickell neighborhood; New building is expected to include offices and a hotel
Natalie Wong - Bloomberg
Ken Griffin is partnering with Related Cos. to help develop the massive new Miami headquarters to house his Citadel businesses. Related, known for its work on developments such as Hudson Yards, is being brought onto a project to build a 54-story tower along Miami's waterfront at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive. "We are excited to partner with the team from Related Companies as we work together to develop an iconic tower that will redefine Miami's skyline," a Citadel spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia says it repelled massive Ukrainian drone attack on 13 regions including Moscow
Andrew Osborn and Ronald Popeski - Reuters
Russian air defences repelled a massive Ukrainian drone attack overnight, intercepting and destroying 121 drones targeting 13 regions, including Moscow, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday, making no mention of casualties or damage. The ministry said six drones had been destroyed over the Moscow region and one over the capital itself, while other drones had targeted other regions, including those that border Ukraine and Kursk, where Ukrainian troops hold a chunk of land despite Russian efforts to eject them.
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Trump says Ukraine should have surrendered to Russia and blames Zelensky for war
Andrew Feinberg - Independent
President Donald Trump claimed in part two of a televised interview that the nearly three-year-old war between Russia and Ukraine that started when Moscow's forces kicked off an invasion in 2022 was the fault of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's failure to preemptively capitulate before Russian troops began their attack. Trump made the incendiary comments in a pre-taped interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity that aired Thursday on Hannity's program. After Hannity asked about Trump's threat to impose tariffs as a penalty on Russia if the Ukrainian war continues much longer, Trump responded that Zelensky "has had enough" and "wants to settle" with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
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Trump uses Davos address to accuse oil producers of prolonging Ukraine war; President also threatens tariffs on imports to US and repeats call for Nato countries to increase defence spending to 5%
Heather Stewart in Davos - The Guardian
Donald Trump has made a combative return to the world stage, accusing oil producers of prolonging the Ukraine war by failing to cut prices, and threatening tariffs on all US imports. In a typically blustering online address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the new president called on Saudi Arabia and the oil-producers' cartel Opec to cut the cost of oil, in order to choke off revenues to Russia and halt the conflict in Ukraine.
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Europe Pushes Trump to Play a Part in Guarantees for Ukraine; US must be part of peacekeeping force, according to Zelenskiy; Trump camp signals to Europeans that they will stay engaged
Michael Nienaber, Donato Paolo Mancini, and Andrea Palasciano - Bloomberg
European officials are seeking commitments from the new US administration of President Donald Trump to take part in security guarantees for Ukraine as diplomatic pressure to end the Russian invasion mounts. The allies broadly agree with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the US will have to contribute troops to any future peacekeeping forces in the country to make such effort credible, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke under condition of anonymity.
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Ukraine intel chief says North Korean weapons are flooding into Russia; Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said North Korea has already provided Russia with 120 self-propelled artillery guns and 120 multiple-launch rocket systems, with more to come.
Serhii Korolchuk - The Washington Post
The head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate said in an interview published Wednesday that North Korea has sent hundreds of artillery and rocket systems to help Russia's ongoing fight against Ukraine, with more on the way. North Korea troops have been helping Russian forces as they seek to push Ukrainian soldiers out of Russia's Kursk region, where they have controlled a small salient for the last six months. Multiple clashes between Ukrainian armed forces and North Korean troops have been reported, though neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has confirmed their presence.
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Seizing Russian Assets Risks Unintended Outcomes, Euroclear Says
Levin Stamm and Francine Lacqua - Bloomberg
Euroclear Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Valerie Urbain warned of unintended consequences if the European Union were to confiscate frozen assets from Russia's central bank. US President Donald Trump is pressuring Ukraine to negotiate with Russia and certain options for peace will come with risks, Urbain told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday. Russia's frozen assets could be an element in the negotiations, she added, acknowledging that some officials are interested in pushing ahead with a confiscation.
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Hungary threatens to disrupt Russia sanctions unless Ukraine reopens gas transit; Viktor Orbán floats new demand as EU rushes to renew restrictions on Moscow
Marton Dunai and Paola Tamma - Financial Times
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| Middle East Conflict | | News about the current conflict in the Middle East that began with the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. | Netanyahu Signals Israel's Truce With Hezbollah Will Be Extended
Dana Khraiche and Marissa Newman - Bloomberg
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that Israel's truce with Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, due to expire this weekend, will be extended. "Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the State of Lebanon, the phased withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States," according to a statement from Netanyahu's office on Friday.
/jlne.ws/3WxKvT5
Israel's forces to remain in Lebanon beyond expiry of 60-day ceasefire deal; Government says Hizbollah has not fully withdrawn so exit by Israeli military will not be complete by Sunday deadline
James Shotter - Financial Times
The Israeli government said its forces would remain in Lebanon when a 60-day ceasefire deal with Hizbollah expires on Sunday. Under the agreement struck in November, Hizbollah was required to withdraw above the Litani river, which runs up to 30km north of the border with Israel, while the Israeli military was to withdraw from southern Lebanon over a period of 60 days and be replaced by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). But the Israeli prime minister's office said on Friday that Hizbollah had not fully withdrawn or been replaced by the LAF, and so the withdrawal of Israeli forces would take longer.
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Abaxx Announces Closing of Final Tranche of C$2,756,000 Private Placement
Abaxx
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (CBOE CA:ABXX) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte. Ltd., the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, "Abaxx Exchange" and "Abaxx Clearing"), and producer of the SmarterMarketsâ„¢ Podcast, is pleased to announce it has today closed its final tranche (the "Final Tranche") of a non-brokered private placement financing (the "Financing"). The Final Tranche consisted of the issuance of 50,000 common shares (the "Shares") of the Company at a price of C$13.00 per Share for aggregate gross proceeds of C$650,000. The Financing, which consisted of the Final Tranche and a tranche which closed on November 22, 2024, consisted of the issuance of 212,000 Shares at a price of C$13.00 per Share for aggregate gross proceeds of C$2,756,000.
/jlne.ws/4jmRlop
ICE Announces Record Environmental Market Trading in 2024
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced that a record number of environmental contracts traded on ICE in 2024, equivalent to over $1 trillion in notional value for the fourth consecutive year. A record 20.4 million environmental futures and options contracts traded on ICE in 2024, up approximately 40% year-over-year (y/y) along with record average daily volume and participation. ICE's EU Carbon Allowance (EUA) futures and options, which represents the world's most liquid carbon derivatives market, and U.K. Carbon Allowance (UKA) futures and options each reached record participation in 2024 and physically delivered carbon allowances worth $40 billion. Across ICE's North American environmental markets, a record 5.6 million futures and options traded in 2024, with a record $12.3 billion physically delivered. ICE's California Carbon Allowance (CCA) market hit record traded volume in 2024 of 3.9 million contracts, up 68% y/y.
/jlne.ws/3Ci7ACp
Miami International Holdings Announces Timeline for Migration of Minneapolis Hard Red Spring Wheat Trading to New MIAX Futures Onyx Platform
MIAX
Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH), a technology-driven leader in building and operating regulated financial markets across multiple asset classes, today announced it will migrate Minneapolis Hard Red Spring Wheat (Minneapolis HRSW) futures to its MIAX Futures Onyx platform in Q2 2025. Minneapolis HRSW futures will continue to be available for trading on CME Globex until the launch of MIAX Futures Onyx.
/jlne.ws/40IyBbv
ETF Market Report: 4th Quarter 2024; Discover the latest figures about the development of the ETF segment at SIX Swiss Exchange, one of Europe's top 3 ETF venues - including statistics for Quote on Demand (QOD).
SIX
The fourth quarter was the strongest in terms of revenue in 2024. For the third time in a row, both revenue and the number of transactions in the Swiss ETF market increased. The revenue generated in the fourth quarter of CHF 25.263 billion was the highest since the second quarter of 2022. The number of contracts concluded in 2024 even reached a new record level of 2,455,769.
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CME Globex Notices: January 20, 2025
CME Group
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Bloomberg offers auto-RFQ chat feed-but banks want a bigger prize; Traders hope for unfettered access to IB chat so they can build their own AI-enhanced trading tools
Emma Siponmaa - Waters Technology
Every day, thousands of bilateral trades in cash and derivative instruments are arranged via Bloomberg instant messages on the tech firm's ubiquitous terminals, with parties sending out requests for quotes (RFQs), haggling over prices, and exchanging market color. However, the process is often cumbersome, requiring salespeople to manually cut and paste information between chat windows. This slows down pricing and results in patchy data capture.
/jlne.ws/40wVBZO
Sarna Technologies Selected by StoneX Group Inc. for Risk and Portfolio Margin Management Platform
Sarna Technologies
Sarna Technologies, a financial services software provider specializing in advanced risk monitoring, analytics, and management solutions across the securities and derivatives industry, has been selected by StoneX Group Inc., a diversified global brokerage and financial services firm, to support StoneX's growth through technological innovation. By implementing Sana's Risk and Portfolio Margin solutions, StoneX will gain greater control and monitoring of intraday capital and credit exposure.
/jlne.ws/3WxCuxD
Perplexity Adds AI Assistant That Calls Other Apps and Performs Tasks
PYMNTS
Perplexity AI has launched an assistant within its Android app. "This marks the transition for Perplexity from an answer engine to a natively integrated assistant that can call other apps and perform basic tasks for you," Perplexity Co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas said in a Thursday (Jan. 23) post on X. The new Perplexity Assistant can help users with tasks like booking dinner, finding a forgotten song, calling a ride, drafting emails and setting reminders, Perplexity AI said in a series of posts on Threads. "Assistant uses reasoning, search and apps to help with daily tasks ranging from simple questions to multi-app actions," the company said in one post.
/jlne.ws/3WxFNET
Swedish AI Startup Sana Labs Targets US IPO in Couple of Years
Charles Daly - Bloomberg
Artificial intelligence startup Sana Labs AB is aiming to become a public company in the US in a couple of years, joining a growing trend of Swedish technology firms favoring the deeper capital markets of North America. "The US is currently a better environment for tech companies across most dimensions," Chief Executive Officer and founder Joel Hellermark said in an interview. He pointed to the $100 billion market capitalization of Spotify Technology SA as an inspiration, as well as Klarna Bank AB, the Swedish fintech and a client of Sana Labs, which is readying an initial public offering in the US.
/jlne.ws/4azVSjk
OpenAI struggles to price Microsoft stake in deal to become for-profit company; ChatGPT maker in complex talks over splitting from its non-profit arm in move opposed by Elon Musk
Cristina Criddle and George Hammond - Financial Times
OpenAI's board is locked in complex negotiations to become a for-profit company, struggling to determine the price of Microsoft's stake in the start-up while holding talks to value its newly formed charitable arm at $30bn. The ChatGPT maker, which is overseen by its not-for-profit board, has been discussing a restructuring since September that would split the start-up in two. Its charitable arm, tasked with OpenAI's original mission of "benefiting humanity", would be given a stake in the newly formed public benefit corporation (PBC).
/jlne.ws/4h6kyCt
Blackstone to buy $1 billion Virginia power plant near data centers
David French - Reuters
The unit of Blackstone (BX) dedicated to investments in the energy industry has agreed to acquire Potomac Energy Center, the asset manager told Reuters on Thursday, in a deal symbolizing the allure to investors of power plants sited near data centers. Blackstone Energy Transition Partners has agreed to buy the 774-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in Loudoun County in northern Virginia, according to a statement.
/jlne.ws/40NNNEp
Trump's big AI goals start small: 57 jobs at a Texas data center
Brody Ford - Bloomberg
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NextEra Takes Step to Restart Nuclear Plant as AI Demand Soars; Request to US regulator is first move toward potential revival; Surging power use has reawakened interest in nuclear energy
Josh Saul - Bloomberg
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Fiserv Appoints Michael P. Lyons as President and CEO-Elect
Fiserv
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | BoE warns over risk of system-wide cyber attack; Senior policy official Carolyn Wilkins also expresses concern over global fragmentation of bank regulation
Philip Alexander - Risk.net
A senior Bank of England (BoE) policy-maker has identified a cyber attack with system-wide consequences as a category of risk that "keeps me up at night". Responding to a question at an event on geopolitical risk organised by Fitch Ratings on January 23, Financial Policy Committee member Carolyn Wilkins said a cyber attack affecting multiple institutions "feels like the kind of event we have seen", even if such an attack has not had a systemic impact so far.
/jlne.ws/4as19JH
EU Banks Must Enhance Cyber Resilience as DORA Takes Effect; The new rules require financial institutions and their tech suppliers to strengthen IT system security against cyberattacks
Banking Exchange
European banks must now strengthen their cybersecurity systems to comply with strict regulations designed to safeguard their vital systems and infrastructure from cyber threats. After a two-year implementation period, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) came into effect on January 17, requiring financial services firms and their technology suppliers to enhance their IT systems to ensure the industry's resilience against cyberattacks and other disruptions.
/jlne.ws/4hnhDWd
Tokenisation faces cyber and regulatory risks despite 'many benefits' for implementation; Investor education also a concern
Sorin Dojan - Investment Week UK
Tokenising financial and real-world assets could bring "many benefits" to the field of investment, but challenges ranging from cybersecurity threats to regulatory discrepancies between regions could hinder its implementation. According to the CFA Institute Research and Policy Center's latest report on tokenisation, applying distributed ledger technology in finance and tokenising assets could simplify, automate and streamline operational chain efficiency, as well as result in cost and time savings. However, Olivier Fines, head of policy research and advocacy at the CFA Institute, noted that while tokenisation could bring many advantages, "it is not without risks".
/jlne.ws/3EjaV4x
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Trump's Crypto Embrace Seen Forcing Regulatory Changes in Africa; Yellow Card's Chris Maurice sees year of regulatory approvals; Crypto trading is still illegal in most African nations
Nduka Orjinmo, Anthony Osae-Brown, and Emele Onu - Bloomberg
The CEO of Yellow Card Financial Inc., a pan-African focused digital assets exchange, says he has received increased interest from traditional banks and expects regulators to act quicker on establishing rules for the sector following the inauguration of crypto-friendly US President Donald Trump. "With the US moving this way, I think that you'll see a lot more speed from various governments around Africa in terms of getting to a point regulatory clarity," Chief Executive Officer Chris Maurice said in an interview on Wednesday. "This gives us more confidence that over the next year or so, you're gonna see sweeping regulatory change across the African continent."
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How Trump Came Around to Crypto-and What Crypto Wants in Return
Monique Mulima - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump was once skeptical of digital assets, saying Bitcoin "seems like a scam" and that crypto's value was "based on thin air." Times have changed. During his latest presidential campaign, Trump pivoted to crypto cheerleader: A July speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference capped his complete about-face. Since his reelection, cryptocurrency prices have surged - especially Bitcoin's, which hit a record high above $109,000 on his inauguration day - amid expectations that his administration will pursue a pro-crypto agenda. On Jan. 23, Trump issued an executive order establishing a working group on digital assets.
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Coinbase asks appeals court to rule crypto trades aren't securities
Stephen Katte - CoinTelegraph
Crypto exchange Coinbase asked a US appeals court to rule crypto trades are not securities in its continued fight against a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit. In a Jan. 21 filing to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Coinbase said understanding if secondary market crypto transactions are investment contracts under securities laws is of "immense importance to the crypto industry." "This case presents an ideal vehicle to address that question and provide clear rules for this multi-trillion-dollar industry," it said.
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Chinese traders made millions from TRUMP, Coinbase in Philippines?
Yohan Yun - Magazine by CoinTelegraph
Chinese-language trading accounts have raked in millions of dollars from the launch of US President Donald Trump's memecoin. Trump launched his token days before his Jan. 20 presidential inauguration. The memecoin's market capitalization quickly skyrocketed, briefly placing it among the top 15 cryptocurrencies before a companion token, named after First Lady Melania Trump, made its debut. The Mandarin-language blockchain media outlet Blockbeats analyzed trading data to report that the TRUMP token's price spikes coincided with Asian trading hours.
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Vitalik Buterin takes aim at 'unlimited political bribery' using tokens; The Ethereum co-founder warned against crypto projects offering "sugar-high short-term fun" rather than those used to build wealth.
Turner Wright - CoinTelegraph
Vitalik Buterin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, delved back into politics on social media, warning users about the consequences of elected officials launching "political coins." In a Jan. 23 reply on X, Buterin said the regulatory space governing digital assets had entered a "new order" with "the most powerful people in the world [...] cheering on the idea of anyone creating tokens for anything, at any scale." Though he did not specifically call out US President Donald Trump for the launch of his Official Trump (TRUMP) token, Buterin hinted that similar projects were "sugar-high short-term fun" rather than tokens helping many to build wealth.
/jlne.ws/3ElK2wQ
Blockstream launches two Bitcoin investment funds; Institutional demand for high-yield Bitcoin funds is growing following the successful launch of BTC ETFs.
Sam Bourgi - CoinTelegraph
Blockchain development firm Blockstream has launched two institutional investment funds that provide direct exposure to the company's Bitcoin ecosystem, giving investors the ability to earn yields on Bitcoin-backed loans and other revenue streams. In a Jan. 23 announcement, Blockstream debuted its new asset management business, unveiling the Blockstream Income Fund and the Blockstream Alpha Fund, which are set to launch in the first quarter of this year.
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Dogecoin ETF Registered as Elon Musk's D.O.G.E Gains Traction; Bitwise has registered for an ETF product tracking the world's largest memecoin as the crypto subsector becomes more prominent within the market.
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump challenges BofA CEO Moynihan: 'I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives'
David Hollerith - Yahoo Finance
President Donald Trump confronted Bank of America (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan Thursday over a claim gaining traction in conservative circles: that customers are being 'de-banked' for their personal beliefs. "I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America," Trump told Moynihan during a virtual question and answer session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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Judge halts Donald Trump's effort to end US citizenship at birth; Judge in Washington state declared the policy 'blatantly unconstitutional' and issued temporary order blocking it
Stefania Palma in Washington - Financial Times
A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump's executive order denying US citizenship to children born in the country to unauthorised immigrants, dealing a blow to an immigration clampdown that is a top priority of his second presidency. Residents of the states who filed the lawsuit led by Washington were "irreparably harmed by depriving them of their constitutional right to citizenship" and by "subjecting them to risk of deportation and family separation; depriving them of access to federal funding for medical care...and impacting their education, employment, and health", John Coughenour, a US district judge in the state of Washington, wrote in the restraining order issued on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/4g68XBW
Trump Issues Executive Order to Support the Growth of Cryptocurrencies
David Yaffe-Bellany - The New York Times
President Trump on Thursday issued an executive order to support the growth of the cryptocurrency industry, calling for a new plan to regulate a business in which he has substantial personal investments. The executive order, which was light on details, said the Trump administration would create a working group on digital assets to come up with a comprehensive plan including "regulatory and legislative proposals." The group would also consider establishing a national cryptocurrency stockpile, the order said - a government-controlled stash of digital coins that the industry has spent months lobbying the new administration to create.
/jlne.ws/4hprvhB
US lawmakers seek to end China's special trade status, import duty exemption
Michael Martina - Reuters
U.S. lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday that would revoke China's preferential trade status with the United States, phase in steep tariffs and end the "de minimis" exemption for low-value Chinese imports. The bill, introduced by John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives' select committee on China, comes after President Donald Trump issued a memo on Monday asking his cabinet to assess legislation on the Permanent Normal Trade Relations designation for Beijing.
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Trump would 'rather not' put tariffs on China, maintains threat
Bloomberg
President Donald Trump said he'd prefer not to have to impose tariffs on China, his latest dovish remark toward the world's second-biggest economy even as he continues to threaten sweeping action. "We have one very big power over China, and that's tariffs, and they don't want them," the US leader told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Thursday in the US. "And I'd rather not have to use it. But it's a tremendous power over China."
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Trump Calls for US Dominance in AI With New Executive Order
Skylar Woodhouse, Jackie Davalos and Rachel Metz - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump called for boosting US dominance in artificial intelligence with an executive order that demands a new policy direction for a rapidly evolving technology that's the focus of intense competition with China. Under the order signed at the White House on Thursday, Trump called for an interagency group to craft a new policy within six months intended to ensure US dominance in AI. The move came days after Trump scrapped an AI policy established by President Joe Biden that set safety and transparency requirements for AI developers.
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Is TikTok a national security threat - or is the ban a smokescreen for superpower rivalry?
Dan Sabbagh - The Guardian
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Elon Musk has shown his hand. If politicians like me won't curb his malign powers, who will?
Ed Davey - The Guardian (opinion)
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Trump Says Banks Shouldn't Refuse to Do Business With Conservatives
PYMNTS
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UK could join Europe-wide customs deal in post-Brexit reset, Brussels trade chief says; Maros Sefcovic said the European Union would consider letting Britain join the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM) as the PM chases closer ties with Brussels
Archie Mitchell - The Independent
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Google Wins UK Ruling Blocking Russian Fine Worth More Than World GDP
Upmanyu Trivedi - Bloomberg
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Key issues outlook 2025
ASIC
ASIC actively scopes and monitors the shifting regulatory environment in which it operates. This informs ASIC's ability to identify and assess the issues facing Australia's financial system. Drawing from these observations, ASIC has identified the most significant current, ongoing and emerging issues within its regulatory remit in 2025. ASIC has a broad remit and the issues outlined here cannot convey the full scope of work and surveillance underway at the agency, however identifying the key issues for 2025 is intended to provide insights for Australian businesses and consumers.
/jlne.ws/3PN4vxe
Firstmac ordered to pay $8 million in penalties for failing to comply with its design and distribution obligations
ASIC
The Federal Court has ordered Firstmac Limited to pay $8 million in penalties for failing to meet its design and distribution obligations (DDO). In ASIC's first civil penalty action against a distributor involving DDO breaches, the Court found Firstmac contravened section 994E(3) of the Corporations Act when it failed to take reasonable steps that would have resulted in, or would have been reasonably likely to have resulted in, distribution of its High Livez investment product to term deposit holders being consistent with its target market determination (TMD).
/jlne.ws/4hqKxUQ
ASIC permanently bans former financial adviser David Eduardo Cubilla
ASIC
ASIC has made two orders permanently banning Calamvale based financial adviser David Eduardo Cubilla following his conviction of fraud. The conviction related to Mr Cubilla stealing funds from a client's superannuation account. Under the Corporations Act and National Consumer Credit Protection Act, ASIC may permanently ban a person from providing financial services and engaging in credit industries if they are convicted of fraud.
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Progress on the FCA's case against care home investment scheme
FCA
We welcome a positive outcome for investors, following our High Court proceedings over collective investment schemes. We brought a High Court claim against Lupton Fawcett LLP in respect of work undertaken for the Qualia Group of companies by a former member of the firm in and around 2016. In our claim, we alleged that Lupton Fawcett LLP had been knowingly concerned with the promotion of collective investment schemes operated by Qualia.
/jlne.ws/4hb8hg6
MAS Monetary Policy Statement - January 2025
MAS
1. In the October 2024 Monetary Policy Statement (MPS), MAS maintained the rate of appreciation of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) policy band, with no change to the width of the band or the level at which it was centred. Since then, the S$ has eased against the US$, amid broad-based US$ strength, but continued to appreciate against several other currencies in the S$NEER basket. The S$NEER remains within the gradually rising policy band.
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SFC concludes consultation on proposals to pave way for fully digitalised public offerings
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today released consultation conclusions on proposed amendments to cease permitting mixed media offers (MMOs) (Note 1) to facilitate a fully electronic subscription process for public offerings (Note 2). All respondents supported the proposals, which will be adopted by the SFC in full. Once implemented, online channels will serve as the only means to subscribe to public offers of equity securities or interests in collective investment schemes (Note 3) listed or to be listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK) (Note 4). Electronic prospectuses will be issued, and printed application forms will no longer be available.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Stocks Hit a Record Amid Strong Earnings and Easing Inflation Concerns
Joe Rennison - The New York Times
The S&P 500 clambered back to a record high on Thursday, inching above a peak reached in early December, building on gains after President Trump reiterated his commitment to bring down oil prices - a major component of inflation. The S&P 500 rose just 0.5 percent on Thursday, but the gain added to a winning streak that began more than a week ago with data that showed inflation slowing in December by more than economists had expected. With Thursday's rise the index is up 4 percent in the first three weeks of the year.
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Corporate Insiders Dump Shares at Record Pace Amid S&P 500 Rally; A gauge of insider sentiment for January at lowest since 1988; Selling comes as equity benchmark sets another record
Esha Dey - Bloomberg
Shares of US companies roared to a record this week, seemingly shrugging off worries about tariffs, immigration and inflation. Yet, company executives are doing something decidedly less bullish - they're selling their stocks at a rapid pace. A gauge of insider sentiment that tallies the number of buyers versus sellers shows there were just 98 companies where at least one insider purchased the company's shares this month through Jan. 22, compared with 447 at which at least one insider sold, according to data compiled by the Washington Service. With a little over a week of trading left in January, that buy-sell ratio, at 0.22, is currently on track to be the lowest in data going back to 1988.
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Why the Stock Market Might Be at Peak Concentration Risk; Kevin Muir on why things could change soon.
Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal - Bloomberg
There's a lot of talk right now about concentration risk in US equities. For instance, the top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 currently account for 38% of the total index, compared to just 17.5% a decade ago. And all the big winners have been tech companies like Apple, Nvidia, Meta, etc., prompting questions about whether investors are getting overly-enthused about AI. For some, it's also bringing back memories of the dot-com bubble. So just how concentrated is the US stock market right now? What exactly is "concentration risk" anyway? What does this trend say about the power of benchmark index providers like S&P? And -- crucially -- are market participants doing anything about it? In this episode we speak with Kevin Muir, a.k.a. the Macro Tourist, about why he thinks the market is now at "peak concentration," and what could change to reduce Big Tech's dominance.
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Egg Prices Are High. They Will Likely Go Higher; Avian influenza has led to a shortage of eggs and wholesale prices that are through the roof. Consumers can expect to feel the pain for a while.
Julie Creswell - The New York Times
On a trip to a Walmart in Ozark, Mo., in early January, Laura Modrell was surprised to see shoppers "standing around and gasping" in the grocery's dairy section. As she got closer, she saw that the shelves, where there would normally be stacks of egg cartons, were nearly empty. "All of the normal-size cartons of eggs were practically gone," Ms. Modrell said. "I heard some elderly people being really upset."
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Trump Said, 'We Have More Coal Than Anybody.' See Where We Burn It.; There are 206 coal-burning power plants left in the United States, which supply about 16 percent of the country's energy. Experts say burning more doesn't make financial sense.
Austyn Gaffney and Mira Rojanasakul - The New York Times
After declaring a national energy emergency on his first day in office, President Trump said Thursday that coal could be a fuel source for new electric generating plants. He announced a plan to issue emergency declarations to build power plants to meet a projected increase in electricity demand for artificial intelligence.
/jlne.ws/4jqm2c5
Javier Milei eyes exit from Paris climate deal; Argentine government explores proposal to follow US in quitting landmark agreement
Attracta Mooney and Ciara Nugent - Financial Times
Javier Milei's government is weighing up a proposal for Argentina to leave the Paris agreement, days after Donald Trump announced the US would exit the world's key accord on climate change. While a final decision has yet to be made, two people familiar with the discussions said Argentina was likely to follow in the US's footsteps, a move that would make it just the second country to quit the agreement signed by almost 200 nations.
/jlne.ws/3Cze0gm
Nevada's Lithium Could Help Save the Earth. But What Happens to Nevada? Many climate experts see its deserts as a place to build the green-energy future. For two local activists, the price is too great.
Meg Bernhard - The New York Times
Few Americans follow the nation's lithium-mining industry as closely as Patrick Donnelly. Since 2021, he has set up 30 or so Google Alerts for variations on the word "lithium," and he uses the findings to populate an online map of projects across the West. It is so useful that one industry insider has referred to it as "an investor's handbook."
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L.A. Fires Will Drain Public Coffers From Pasadena to Utah; Taxes and fees are taking a hit ahead of a costly rebuild
Heather Gillers - The Wall Street Journal
Fires have left parts of Los Angeles in ruins. They have also damaged local-government finances. Recovering from the devastating wildfires will be lengthy and expensive. Property taxes are due for a hit because owners of destroyed properties only owe duties on the underlying land. Burned homes and evacuated residents won't be paying monthly water or electric bills.
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'Chaos agent' Trump revives California water wars as experts warn of turmoil; President claims to be 'putting people over fish' but critics say order could derail years of carefully crafted water policy
Gabrielle Canon - The Guardian
It didn't take long for Donald Trump to reignite the California water wars he waged in his first term. On his first day in office, Trump directed the secretary of commerce and the secretary of the interior to develop a new plan that will "route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply".
/jlne.ws/40PH1gf
Trump's Exit From Paris Accord Will Make COP30 'Difficult,' Brazil Official Says; The US reversal on climate change will have "a big influence" on discussions at the global summit, said COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago.
Simone Iglesias - Bloomberg
Brazil's role as host of the climate summit COP30 was already set to be tricky, with the planet reaching 1.5C of warming - the lower target set by the Paris Agreement - for the first time last year. President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris accord makes it more so, and Brazil "won't underestimate the challenge," said Andre Correa do Lago, the president of COP30.
/jlne.ws/3Cny8Cc
Trump's executive orders might threaten growth of electric vehicles and wind power; Advocates strongly criticized the orders, which target two of the fastest-growing climate technologies in the U.S.
Nidhi Sharma - NBC News
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LNG Freight Rates Plunge to Record-Low Levels as Vessels Pile up; Lower shipping costs could provide relief for gas importers; Influx of new vessels is outpacing additional export projects
Ruth Liao and Anna Shiryaevskaya - Bloomberg
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Wall Street will stymie Donald Trump's US oil surge plan, say shale bosses; Output set to rise more slowly under new president than during Joe Biden's term
Amanda Chu and Jamie Smyth - Financial Times
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When peak Chinese oil demand meets 'drill, baby, drill'; Trump's slogan is a bet on the energy status quo, not on the future
The editorial board - Financial Times
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | TD Money Laundering Head Mazariegos Exits, Sanjuas Promoted
Christine Dobby - Bloomberg
Toronto-Dominion Bank is promoting one of its top US anti-money-laundering executives, Jacqueline Sanjuas, to a role that will see her head up financial crime risk management for the entire bank. Sanjuas, who joined Toronto-Dominion in January 2024, is replacing Herb Mazariegos, the firm said in a statement Thursday evening. She's already TD's bank secrecy officer, the executive in charge of ensuring a bank complies with all US anti-money-laundering rules, and will remain in that crucial regulatory position.
/jlne.ws/4gb7FWu
Barclays plans overhaul of CEO CS Venkatakrishnan's pay; Boss of UK bank would have base salary slashed and total remuneration capped at £14mn
Simon Foy and Ortenca Aliaj in London - Financial Times
Barclays is proposing to overhaul how it pays its chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan in a move that would slash his fixed pay but hand him £9mn if the lender hits its profitability targets. The British bank wrote to investors this week outlining plans to change how it pays Venkatakrishnan and the group's finance director Anna Cross, according to a person familiar with the matter. The changes, if approved, would see Venkatakrishnan's fixed pay cut from £2.95mn to £1.59mn, but the former JPMorgan executive would become eligible for bonuses and long-term stock options worth up to eight times his new salary, the person said.
/jlne.ws/4hbfywq
New York AG settles for $1B with merchant cash advance firm
Polo Rocha - American Banker
New York's attorney general reached a $1 billion settlement with the merchant-cash advance company Yellowstone Capital, with half of that going to forgive small-business loans that the state claimed were illegal.
/jlne.ws/4jvI7WF
Deutsche Bank's DWS Struggles to Lure Money to Private Credit
Leonard Kehnscherper, Arno Schutze and Silas Brown - Bloomberg
A few months into his role as chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank AG's asset management unit, Stefan Hoops presented shareholders his vision for growth with a "private debt muscle" as one key part of the strategy. Frankfurt-based DWS Group is struggling to attract sizable commitments from investors for a private credit fund targeting EUR1 billion ($1.05 billion), according to a person familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, some senior sales staff have been heading to the exit because the pay is higher at US rivals, several other people said.
/jlne.ws/3aao11M
Vanguard's S&P 500 Fund Is About to Become World's Largest ETF
Katie Greifeld - Bloomberg
A seemingly unstoppable flood of money has Vanguard Group Inc. on the brink of claiming a crown that State Street Corp. has held for decades. Nearly $18 billion has flowed into Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF (ticker VOO) in the opening days of 2025 - more than five times the amount attracted by the closest runner-up - after breaking the record for annual inflows last year with a $116 billion haul, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Assets in the fund have ballooned to $626 billion, putting it on the cusp of eclipsing the $637 billion SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) - currently the world's largest ETF.
/jlne.ws/42yNgXU
Melvin Capital Founding Partner Clymer Prepares Long-Biased Fund
Hema Parmar - Bloomberg
A founding partner of Melvin Capital Management is preparing to launch a stock-picking hedge fund more than two years after Gabe Plotkin's firm shuttered under the weight of wrong-way short bets. Greyson Clymer's Ninth Avenue Capital will debut later this year with a long-biased strategy, meaning it will wager more of its cash on stocks rising instead of falling, according to a person familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/4hs5U8h
Tax-Slashing ETF Trailblazer Preps for a Fresh $5 Billion Haul; ETF Architect has backlog of ETF conversions to do this year; Deals are 'no-brainer' for clients, despite added cost: Burney
Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4hqDueO
Hedge Funds See Further Gain in Hot Korean Stock After 250% Jump; Samyang rose three-fold last year, while Kospi gauge fell; There will be a second stage of growth: VIP Research
Youkyung Lee - Bloomberg
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Active ETFs are a wheeze - an extremely clever one; They undercut traditional managers while upselling traditional ETF investors
Stuart Kirk - Financial Times
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Explainer: What can Trump do to stop federal employees from working remotely?
Daniel Wiessner - Reuters
President Donald Trump is requiring most federal employees to return to work in person full time, a move that is likely to spark backlash and legal challenges from unions. What does Trump's order do? Trump on Monday directed the heads of all federal agencies to "take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements" and require employees to report to "their respective duty stations" full time. The two-sentence order, says the directive "shall be implemented consistent with applicable law."
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Why Grapefruit Interferes with Medication, and What to Do about It; Could gene editing produce a tasty citrus fruit that doesn't interfere with prescription drugs?
Charlotte Hu - Scientific American
Unfortunately for lovers of grapefruit, mixing the appealingly bitter citrus with certain medications can lead to dangerous side effects. According to the National Capital Poison Center, a not-for-profit poison control organization, at least 85 drugs-including commonly prescribed antidepressants, statins and antibiotics-have known or suspected interactions with grapefruit or grapefruit juice. But plant researchers are now working on a possible solution: genetically engineering a variety of the fruit that is medication-safe.
/jlne.ws/4jwJPXO
Coffee and tea may be associated with a reduced risk of head and neck cancer; Drinking more than four cups of coffee daily is linked with a lower risk of head and neck cancer, a new analysis reveals.
Sarah Raza - The Washington Post
Coffee and tea consumption may be associated with a reduced risk of head and neck cancer, a new analysis suggests. Head and neck cancer, referring to cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity, and salivary glands, is the seventh-most common type of cancer. There are over 900,000 cases globally and over 400,000 deaths every year, according to the Global Cancer Observatory. The analysis, published in the journal Cancer last month, found that drinking more than four cups of coffee daily is associated with a lower risk of head and neck cancer.
/jlne.ws/4jvHfkX
Purdue and Sackler family agree to $7.4bn opioid settlement with US states; New deal is $1.4bn higher than previous one struck down by Supreme Court last year
Amelia Pollard and Sujeet Indap in New York - Financial Times
The Sackler family and the opioid maker they founded, Purdue Pharma, have together agreed to pay $7.4bn to settle liabilities over their roles in the opioid crisis, ending months of negotiations after a previous deal fell apart.
/jlne.ws/4jwMWyY
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Japan Plans to Sell Rice from Emergency Stockpiles to Cut Prices
Eddy Duan - Bloomberg
Japan plans to release some of its rice stockpiles reserved for emergency use in response to record domestic prices for the grain. The government will discuss selling part of its strategic rice reserve next week, the Minister of Agriculture Taku Eto said in a presser on Friday. The rice price in Japan is up 60% year-on-year as of last month, according to Bloomberg's calculation using wholesalers' price data compiled by the ministry.
/jlne.ws/4ht4kmv
Hong Kong can become a multicurrency bond hub with Beijing's support: experts
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong can become a multicurrency bond hub and Beijing's recently announced measures to expand the Bond Connect scheme will further enhance the city's role as a prime destination for debt issuance, analysts said. Earlier this month at the Asian Financial Forum, People's Bank of China (PBOC) governor Pan Gongsheng spoke about increasing the "asset allocation operation in Hong Kong" from the nation's foreign exchange reserves. He also said Hong Kong and China would encourage "more high-quality enterprises to list and issue bonds in Hong Kong". Also at the forum, authorities said the cross-border Bond Connect scheme would be expanded.
/jlne.ws/4jqKRET
China Pushes Neighboring Countries to Rein In Scams After Rare Public Outcry
Feliz Solomon and Clarence Leong - The Wall Street Journal
Authorities in Beijing are ramping up pressure on neighbors to rein in cyberscams after the high-profile kidnapping of a young Chinese actor who says he was trafficked into a criminal enclave in Myanmar. Parts of war-torn Myanmar and other countries in Southeast Asia have become havens for sprawling scam compounds, where hundreds of thousands of people are forced to swindle billions of dollars out of victims in the U.S., China and elsewhere. The scammers, many of whom have themselves been duped and effectively enslaved by criminal gangs, often ensnare victims in fake relationships and persuade them to pour money into bogus investments.
/jlne.ws/40PiF7y
Taiwan Retail Investors Buy Record Amounts of US Assets in 2024; Nation's retail traders bought $3.2b in US stocks, ETFs, bonds; Inflows driven by investors looking to diversify: Allspring
Sangmi Cha and Chien-Hua Wan - Bloomberg
Taiwan's retail traders bought a net record amount of US assets last year, as households look beyond traditional insurance products in search of higher returns. Retail investors purchased about NT$105.5 billion ($3.2 billion) combined in US stocks, exchange-traded funds and bonds in 2024, an all-time high, according to data from the Taiwan Securities Association calculated by Bloomberg. Taiwanese inflows into the three American assets also each hit record levels last year.
/jlne.ws/42sMfRl
Hong Kong's bitcoin ETFs could open to Greater Bay Area investors under new measures; New rules further opening up
Xinmei Shen - South China Morning Post
New Chinese investment guidelines aimed at opening financial markets have raised hopes that mainland residents in the Greater Bay Area could soon invest in cryptocurrency-related products in Hong Kong such as bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs). The People's Bank of China (PBOC) and four other financial regulators announced on Wednesday that they will "optimise" the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect scheme in the bay area and support mainland residents in the region in purchasing "eligible investment products" offered by financial institutions in Hong Kong and Macau. They also plan to expand the scope of participating institutions and qualified products.
/jlne.ws/4ggaV2C
People leave New Zealand in record numbers in the 12 months to November
Lucy Craymer - Reuters
People leaving New Zealand hit record levels in the 12 months to November 2024, in another sign of the weakness in the country's economy that moved to a technical recession in the third quarter. Data released by Statistics New Zealand on Thursday showed that 127,800 people left the Pacific nation in the 12 months to November, up 28% on the prior 12-month period. This was provisionally the highest number of people leaving in an annual period ever, according to the statistics bureau.
/jlne.ws/40MEp3G
Fighting Rages Near Congo Trading Hub as UN Warns of Broader War; M23 rebels fight Congo forces, take final town outside Goma; UN chief Antonio Guterres warns of possible regional conflict
Michael J Kavanagh and Ignatius Ssuuna - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/42t8Hdc
Argentina Drought Forces Bourse to Cut Soy, Corn Crop Forecasts; Nation's most important crops will be 2% smaller than expected; Rain expected to fall last week didn't materialize in Pampas
Jonathan Gilbert - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/42r9Bqk
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Five ways to fix the knowledge crisis in the age of Trump; Elites must not be complacent about a widening epistemological gulf which threatens democracy
Gillian Tett - Financial Times
A couple of days ago, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, I heard a flock of global luminaries parsing this week's inauguration of Donald Trump. Solemnly, over a dinner of grilled trout, they shared their fears about economic, political and geopolitical upheaval. Then one world leader turned to Ancient Greek. "We have an epistemological crisis," he declared, referring to the Greek words episteme ("knowledge") and logos ("study of"). More specifically, different social tribes are now interpreting knowledge in such different ways that he fears "democracy is being undermined".
/jlne.ws/40vUp8L
Former Apple Executive Asks $25.5 Million for San Francisco Apartment; Jon Rubinstein, who was also co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates, says he and his wife are spending more time at their Florida home
E.B. Solomont - The Wall Street Journal
Former Apple engineer Jon Rubinstein likes to build things. So when he and his wife bought a circa-1920s San Francisco apartment, Rubinstein threw himself into gut renovating it, obsessing over details like insulation and lighting. He even helped the electricians pull wires. "It's in my DNA," said Rubinstein, who helped to oversee development of the iMac and iPod as Apple's head of hardware engineering. He later became CEO of the smartphone maker Palm and co-CEO of hedge-fund Bridgewater Associates. "It doesn't matter whether it's iMacs or iPods or houses and apartments-it's all the same," he said.
/jlne.ws/4jx0CtS
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