| January 29, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed concerns that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a third world war if Russian aggression is not restrained with the support of Western allies, The Independent reported. During an interview with the German state broadcaster ARD, Zelensky emphasized the potential gravity of the situation, stating that any Russian attack on a NATO member would mark "the beginning of the Third World War."
Today alumni, leaders, and long-tenured employees of TMX Group joined Luc Fortin, the president & CEO of Montreal Exchange & global head of trading, TMX Group, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Montreal Exchange by opening the markets. Montreal Exchange officially began in January 1874, becoming Canada's first chartered stock exchange through an act of the Quebec Legislature, TMX shared on LinkedIn.
Lynn Martin, the president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), said in a Bloomberg Television interview that companies are proceeding with their plans for initial public offerings (IPOs) despite the ongoing market volatility, which is expected to persist throughout the year. Martin mentioned a substantial number of companies actively pursuing IPOs and emphasized that when these firms decide to go public, they will need to exhibit a clear path to profitability and reassure investors of their capacity to thrive even in uncertain periods.
Meanwhile, London's stock market has witnessed a significant decline in the number of listed companies over the past decade, dropping by 25%, according to recent data, Bloomberg reported. The report, sourced from the London Stock Exchange and provided by the UK trading platform XTB, reveals that the total number of listings decreased by 6% to 1,836 in 2023 alone. In 2013, the market boasted 2,448 firms listed. This trend is attributed to companies opting for New York's more extensive pools of investor capital and technology hubs. The decline is expected to continue in 2024 as takeover activities rise and new share listings struggle, as indicated in a report by brokerage Peel Hunt.
The Sunday Times published its estimated list of the highest UK taxpayers for the year, which highlights some prominent figures, including billionaire quant trader Alex Gerko of XTX Markets. Gerko, originally from Moscow, secured the top spot on the index by contributing around 487 million pounds to public finances. This places him ahead of former Formula 1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone and Denise Coates, the head of gambling firm Bet365, who came in second and third, respectively. Sir Chris Hohn came in number 13, he is the hedge fund king and son of a Jamaican car mechanic who donated more than 2.1 million pounds to charity last year. Also, Peter Hargreaves of the fund manager Hargreaves Lansdown came in 38th, despite his funds losing 100 million pounds last year. American Stephen Schwarzman, the private equity baron, paid a big stamp duty bill on a 2,500-acre Wiltshire estate for 82.2 million pounds.
Jeremy Grant, writing for The Scotsman, explored the challenges and opportunities in Scotland's offshore wind sector, highlighting the significance of harnessing the North Sea's wind resources under the ScotWind project, in a story titled "Re-industrialisation of Scotland faces turbulence."
ICE's Fixed Income Forum brought together industry leaders to discuss the latest developments and challenges within the fixed income sector. The event provided a platform for sharing best practices related to enhancing efficiency and automation across various aspects of fixed-income operations, spanning from front to back offices. Attendees also engaged in discussions concerning the regulatory landscape and the evolving influence of ESG factors on fixed-income investments. Key industry figures such as Chris Edmonds, president of fixed income & data services at ICE, and Jim Craige, chief investment officer of Stone Harbor Investment Partners, among others, contributed their insights to this important dialogue. You can watch their videos HERE.
Abaxx Singapore Pte. Ltd., the owner of Abaxx Exchange and clearinghouse, has joined the Futures Industry Association, Abaxx shared in a press release.
Gil Mandelzis, the founder and CEO at Capitolis and former CEO of Traiana, has written a commentary shared on TheMessenger.com titled "The Harvard Board Is Still There, and So Is Antisemitism."
Vermiculus Financial Technology has opened the summer internship application process and is searching for students that have finalized their third year in computational mathematics, computer science, engineering physics, or similar programs to join the Swedish technology firm this summer.
In a bizarre incident in Paris, two women affiliated with an environmental group tossed pumpkin-colored soup at the iconic artwork, the Mona Lisa, displayed within bulletproof glass at the Louvre, The New York Times reported. Fortunately, the painting did not appear to sustain any damage from the unusual protest action. No word on how the soup tasted.
After sharing my latest bad medical experience with my readers, I am joining OverSharers Anonymous. I guess I should not have shared that.
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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The Asset Management Derivatives Forum 2024 anticipates drawing 350 members from the Financial Industry Association (FIA) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) from February 7 to 9, 2024, to the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, in Dana Point, CA. Sessions will center on emerging products and strategies in today's business and macroeconomic landscape, offer insights into the regulatory pipeline, and examine trends in technology, including AI and blockchain. The opening day will include a luncheon featuring a Washington update, sponsored by Women in Financial Markets (WIFM). Learn more and register HERE. ~SAED
"New Green Shoots 2024: Latest trends and innovations in nature finance" is a webinar presented by The UN Environment Program - Finance Initiative (UNEPFI) January 30, 2024, 14:00 - 15:15 CET (8:00 a.m. EST). Adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in 2022, and the launch of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework have heightened awareness of biodiversity loss among those in finance. The webinar looks at emerging trends in nature finance from the past year, and highlights innovative products and mechanisms with high potential to scale the market. Learn more and register here. ~SAED
Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- ADM CEO's legacy clouded by accounting probe at commodity trader from the Financial Times.
- Traders Bid Up Newest VIX Contract to Hedge Trump-Biden Risks from Bloomberg.
- Ether options monthly trading volume hits all-time high in January from The Block. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Shunned in computer age, cursive makes a comeback in California
Daniel Trotta - Reuters
Starting this year, California grade school students are required to learn cursive handwriting, after the skill had fallen out of fashion in the computer age. Assembly Bill 446, sponsored by former elementary school teacher Sharon Quirk-Silva and signed into law in October, requires handwriting instruction for the 2.6 million Californians in grades one to six, roughly ages 6 to 12, and cursive lessons for the "appropriate" grade levels - generally considered to be third grade and above.
/jlne.ws/48QciSV
***** The kids of today should learn how to swear properly.~JJL
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A Famed Analyst's Final Forecast Is the Fall of the U.S. Economy; Dick Bove, the ubiquitous banking expert, is going out swinging after more than half a century in the business.
Rob Copeland - The New York Times
Over his 54 years as a financial analyst, Richard X. Bove perfected the art of grabbing attention. Through thousands of newspaper interviews, cable news appearances and radio segments, Mr. Bove turned what can be a dull, by-the-numbers career into a more showy one. Weighing in on the economy and the inner workings of Wall Street, he often bucked conventional wisdom and made enemies along the way. By his own recollection, he never turned down a media request; American Banker once called him "the country's most quotable bank analyst."
/jlne.ws/48NTuUj
****** One last hurrah for Dick Bove!~JJL
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Billionaire Quant Trader Alex Gerko Named UK's Biggest Taxpayer; Sunday Times estimates Gerko contributed about £487 million; Gerko replaces gambling mogul Denise Coates at top of ranking
Benjamin Stupples - Bloomberg
Alex Gerko built a quantitative trading firm over the past decade that handles almost $300 billion in daily volume across equities, commodities, currency and fixed income. It's made him a billionaire several times over, and it's now earned him the status of the UK's biggest taxpayer.
/jlne.ws/499Iqk1
****** My father always said paying a lot of taxes was a good thing because it meant that you made a lot of money. Alex Gerko made a lot of money.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top story Friday was the press release New report "Repo Trading & Clearing 2023/2024" is out from Eurex. Second was FCA statement on judicial review of debt packager measures, from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Third was Jamie Dimon Shakes Up JPMorgan's Leadership Once Again, from The Wall Street Journal, about a change in roles for Daniel Pinto, Jennifer Piepszak, and Troy Rohrbaugh.
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| Lead Stories | Wall Street Has a Dire Warning About Green Investments Under New 'Endgame' Rule
Natasha White and Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
Senior Wall Street bankers are warning that a plan by US regulators to rewrite the rules of tax-equity investing will deliver a major blow to a market dominated by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. At issue is the perceived risk of tax-equity investments, which are a form of financing in which banks provide capital to green projects in exchange for tax credits. It's a market in which JPMorgan and BofA have been estimated to do more than 50% of the roughly $20 billion worth of annual transactions.
/jlne.ws/3Uf5FF5
The financial system needs more capital and less complexity; As the Fed ponders the Basel III rules, we should aim for a regulatory structure that is simple and boring
Rana Foroohar - Financial Times (Opinion)
Have we learnt anything from the great financial crisis of 2008? Or any number of banking crises that came before or since, right up to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and others last year? Sometimes I think not. To me, the core lesson is that too much debt and leverage, combined with too little high-quality capital on hand, always ends in tears. And yet, as the massive lobbying by US banks pushing back against the Fed's attempt to implement Basel III rules shows, we are still arguing about the basics of what makes the financial system safer.
/jlne.ws/3UjgcPz
UK looks increasingly isolated in its anti-crypto ETF stance; Spot bitcoin exchange traded products are already available in the US, Europe, Australia, Brazil and Canada
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
The UK is becoming increasingly isolated as one of the few major global markets to continue to hold back from approving retail access to cryptocurrency exchange traded products. Continental Europe has them, as do Australia, Brazil and Canada. The US has followed suit most recently with spot bitcoin ETFs, prompting Hong Kong to say it will also jump on board. Yet the UK will not even let small investors buy those listed elsewhere even though Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has championed the UK as a crypto hub and has advocated for a regulatory framework that allows the sector to flourish in Britain.
/jlne.ws/3ubpdQ6
Crypto may have become boring, but it still isn't legit; The SEC's approval of 11 bitcoin ETFs is not as meaningful as aficionados would like to think
Jemima Kelly - Financial Times (Opinion)
It was easy to poke fun at crypto back in late 2022. The market had tanked by about two-thirds in the space of a year; many of the industry's biggest companies and coins had collapsed into oblivion, their flagrant practices exposed; and the bubble that had driven receipts for pixelated images of apes (remember NFTs?) to sell for millions of dollars had burst. Longtime critics like me were being encouraged to take virtual victory laps, while the crypto crew had egg, clearly, all over their laser-eyed faces.
/jlne.ws/3ub0UBR
Chinese regulators curb short selling as market downturn deepens; Measures come into effect from Monday and are designed to 'create a fairer market order'
Chan Ho-him - Financial Times
China has moved to officially limit short selling after informal efforts failed to stop a worsening stock market sell-off. Investors who buy shares will not be allowed to lend them out for short selling within an agreed lock-up period, the Shenzhen and Shanghai bourses said on Sunday. The measures, which will come into effect from Monday, are designed to "create a fairer market order", the China Securities Regulatory Commission said. Further limitations on securities lending will be introduced from March 18, the regulator added.
/jlne.ws/3HEhFZw
Why Elon Musk Is Comparing Index Fund Consultants to ISIS; The billionaire worries about the power other shareholders have over Tesla, and the advice they get
Tim Higgins - The Wall Street Journal
The unsexy index fund helped make Elon Musk the world's richest man. Now, he appears worried that passive shareholders will indirectly turn on him as Tesla shares sink in the midst of investor anxiety that the company has let its product pipeline stagnate. Musk's index-fund concerns, which he has expressed publicly in piecemeal over the past two years, are twofold: Index funds have become too powerful, and they are overly influenced by proxy advisers that guide fund managers on votes in corporate matters.
/jlne.ws/4btj2rJ
Banker Bonuses Are Down Again-but It Stings This Time; Wall Streeters hoped their payouts would bounce back this season to supersize levels. They haven't.
Justin Baer - Bloomberg
This bonus season is shaping up to be another underwhelming one for bankers on Wall Street as lackluster deal activity pushes down the closely watched annual payouts. The bonuses that some bankers are getting are flat or down from what they received a year earlier, bank employees and recruiters said. Investment-banking bonuses have fallen as much as 25% so far, according to Johnson Associates, a Wall Street compensation consultant. And those payments are down from what already qualified as an underwhelming bonus season a year ago.
/jlne.ws/3HCNKAL
China Tightens Securities Lending Rule to Support Stock Market
Bloomberg
China will halt the lending of certain shares for short selling from Monday, the securities regulator announced Sunday, in a move to support the country's slumping stock markets. Strategic investors won't be allowed to lend out shares during agreed lock-up periods, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange said in separate releases following the China Securities Regulatory Commission's statement.
/jlne.ws/3SiMNCr
We are all hypocrites on corporate governance; Sound management and controls don't improve returns - far from it
Stuart Kirk - Financial Times (Opinion)
Even as politicians gouge each other's eyes out they all agree on the importance of education. Likewise in the corporate and investing world: I bet you've never met anyone who says governance doesn't matter. Is that right, though? Or is it just that a global complex of directors, trustees, headhunters, consultants and money managers has its nose so deep in the sound governance trough that uncomfortable truths are ignored?
/jlne.ws/3vZ0NtC
Abaxx Exchange and Clearing Joins Futures Industry Association
Abaxx Technologies Inc.
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (NEO:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, producer of the SmarterMarketsâ„¢ Podcast, and indirect majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd. ("Abaxx Singapore"), the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, "Abaxx Exchange" and "Abaxx Clearing"), announces that Abaxx Singapore Pte. Ltd has been approved for membership into the Futures Industry Association (FIA).
/jlne.ws/47Yhin4
Traders swoop on bitcoin 'cash and carry' trade after ETF launches; Activity in futures contracts linked to cryptocurrency surges to record levels in January
Jennifer Hughes and Philip Stafford - Financial Times
Futures traders have jumped on the arrival of the first US spot bitcoin exchange traded funds, ramping up a lucrative bet that capitalises on the volatile moves of crypto-related prices. The number of bitcoin futures contracts open at Chicago's CME Group has climbed to record levels in January as traders target a short-term return from the difference between those contracts and the spot price - aping a strategy that has long been popular in more established financial and commodity markets.
/jlne.ws/47S0e23
Bank encouraged Libor rigging, court to be told; Property tycoon suing Lloyds over allegations that the benchmark rate was compromised
James Hurley - The Times of London
Claims that the Bank of England encouraged the manipulation of Libor will be heard in the High Court in a £1.3 billion dispute between a businessman and Lloyds Banking Group. Ardeshir Naghshineh, the former owner of the Centre Point tower in central London, is suing Lloyds, claiming he would not have taken on loans from HBOS, which Lloyds rescued in 2009, if he had known about alleged "fraudulent manipulation" of the Libor benchmark.
/jlne.ws/3OlwfZq
NYSE President Sees More IPOs Coming Even With Market Volatility
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
Companies are moving forward with plans for initial public offerings despite volatility in the market that's expected to stick around this year, said New York Stock Exchange President Lynn Martin. "We have a tremendous amount of companies on the road," she said in a Bloomberg Television interview Monday. When firms do go public, they will need to demonstrate a path to profitability and show investors they have the ability to thrive even in periods of uncertainty, Martin said. "Companies are going to be disciplined about when they tap the public markets."
/jlne.ws/3UjxrR8
Number of London-Listed Companies Shrank 25% in the Past Decade
Joe Easton - Bloomberg
London's shrinking stock market has reached a new milestone, with the latest data showing that the bourse has lost 25% of its companies in the past decade. The tally fell further last year, with total listings dropping 6% to 1,836, according to a report from UK trading platform XTB, citing data from the London Stock Exchange that includes the main and junior markets. Back in 2013, there were 2,448 firms listed.
/jlne.ws/47SQMLY
The Jujitsu Champ Who Got Nearly $500 Million From Sam Bankman-Fried; Rashit Makhat was one of the biggest individual beneficiaries of what U.S. prosecutors called a 'spending spree' of money Bankman-Fried stole from FTX customers
Eliot Brown - The Wall Street Journal
Billions of dollars evaporated in the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX cryptocurrency empire. But one man sits on a massive pile of that cash: a burly jujitsu champion from Kazakhstan. Rashit Makhat was paid close to $500 million months before FTX collapsed when he sold most of his stake in a bitcoin-mining enterprise, Genesis Digital Assets, to Bankman-Fried's hedge fund. Makhat's lawyers in London say he remains in possession of the proceeds. The peak-of-market deal made Makhat one of the biggest individual beneficiaries of what U.S. prosecutors in Bankman-Fried's recent trial called a "spending spree" of money Bankman-Fried stole from FTX customers. In pressing their case, prosecutors used details such as bank-account data and testimony from insiders to show how much of the $8 billion of customer money went into startups and other investments. Bankman-Fried was convicted and is in custody awaiting sentencing.
/jlne.ws/42g06sa
Hottest Job in Corporate America? The Executive in Charge of A.I.; Many feared that artificial intelligence would kill jobs. But hospitals, insurance companies and others are creating roles to navigate and harness the disruptive technology.
Yiwen Lu - The New York Times
In September, the Mayo Clinic in Arizona created a first-of-its-kind job at the hospital system: chief artificial intelligence officer. Doctors at the Arizona site, which has facilities in Phoenix and Scottsdale, had experimented with A.I. for years. But after ChatGPT's release in 2022 and an ensuing frenzy over the technology, the hospital decided it needed to work more with A.I. and find someone to coordinate the efforts.
/jlne.ws/3ShDrab
Top Goldman Sachs executive Jim Esposito to depart; Co-head of investment bank and trading business calls time on almost three-decade career at firm
Joshua Franklin - Financial Times
Goldman Sachs' Jim Esposito, one of chief executive David Solomon's top lieutenants, is leaving the Wall Street firm in a surprise departure. Solomon told staff in a memo on Monday that 56-year-old Esposito, known to colleagues as "Espo", was leaving the bank after almost three decades. He was most recently co-head of Goldman Sachs' flagship investment banking and trading business.
/jlne.ws/3OkRc6S
What I Learned When I Stopped Watching the Stock Market; Over-reacting to the news can poison your portfolio and sour your life. Here's how to keep your investment plan on track.
Jason Zweig - The Wall Street Journal
I just pulled a Rip Van Winkle-and maybe you should, too. I'm back at my regular post at The Wall Street Journal after being away on book leave. That long hiatus disengaged me from the daily hubbub of markets so I could frame investing ideas in a longer historical and broader psychological perspective. Like the character in the Washington Irving story who woke up after a 20-year nap, I've returned to a world both transformed and hauntingly familiar. The best part about coming back after this market sabbatical is noticing how silly so many forecasts seem to be-including my own. The second best part is the contentment that comes from never having been remotely tempted to act on any of those forecasts.
/jlne.ws/3OkPpPe
FX Brokerage That Faced Whistleblower Allegations Will Appeal
Jonathan Browning - Bloomberg
The foreign exchange brokerage Goldenway Global Investments will appeal an employment tribunal ruling linked to allegations from a whistleblower who said he was ordered to obtain a UK visa for an employee who turned out to be a Chinese spy. Goldenway said in an email that it disagreed with the London tribunal, which found in favor of the whistleblower, former compliance officer Bharat Bhagani. Bhagani won a lawsuit seeking damages after he was fired for making several complaints to the Financial Conduct Authority.
/jlne.ws/3Sf2oTD
Oil Algorithms That Spurred Recent Gains Need Help for Next Leg Higher; Trend-following traders piled in after WTI hit key price level; Analyst says next batch of programs keyed in on $81 a barrel
Devika Krishna Kumar - Bloomberg
Oil traders that rely on trend-following algorithms fueled crude's rally this week by piling into bullish positions, but the commodity may need help from other investors for its next leg higher. Crude prices broke out of their recent range this week, and West Texas Intermediate's climb above $76.20 triggered signals that allowed trend-following commodity-trading advisers to buy oil, extending the rally. Prices are now on track for their best week since October.
/jlne.ws/3HCy5S4
Jim Cramer ETFs Are History With Closure of Struggling Short Fund; SJIM to close after attracting $2.4 million in assets; 2023 was the second-highest year for ETF closures on record
Emily Graffeo and Isabelle Lee - Bloomberg
Jim Cramer has spent about four decades on Wall Street in a career that has taken him from hedge-fund manager to host of CNBC's Mad Money show. The ETFs he inspired have proved a lot less durable. The Inverse Cramer Tracker ETF (ticker SJIM), a fund that aimed to short stocks recommended by the bombastic TV personality, is poised to join its bullish sibling on the ETF scrapheap, it was announced Thursday. SJIM will stop trading Feb. 13, according to a press release. The product has managed to attract just $2.4 million in assets since its launch in March 2023.
/jlne.ws/3vXeN7u
Investing in EDX Markets; The Future of Institutional Trading
Jonathan Gieg and Ryan Barney - Pantera
The gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance has become increasingly evident as crypto has matured. Institutional investors are accustomed to the regulated and sophisticated mechanisms of TradFi products and struggle to navigate the complexities of crypto platforms. Current crypto trading solutions, while innovative, often fall short in addressing the nuanced needs of institutional players. Fragmented liquidity, heightened counterparty risks, and the lack of a low-cost, capital-efficient trading environment are major hurdles for institutions to overcome. We believe seamless integration of institutional capital into the crypto markets is integral to the next evolution of the industry.
/jlne.ws/3Onj22h
Private Equity Is Starting to Share With Workers, Without Taking a Financial Hit; The buyout giant KKR pioneered a model of granting ownership stakes to employees at portfolio companies. Now it wants the approach to spread.
Lydia DePillis - The New York Times
In 2018, Anna-Lisa Miller was working with agricultural cooperatives in Hawaii, helping them reinvest in their communities through shared ownership. Ms. Miller, who had gone to law school and had planned to do civil rights litigation, loved the principle of workers partaking in the financial success of their employers, and the next year joined Project Equity, a nonprofit that helps small businesses transition to worker ownership. But it was slow going, with each transaction requiring customized assistance.
/jlne.ws/3vR1lBP
Middle East conflict could fuel gas price volatility, warns IEA; Energy watchdog notes 'unusually wide range of uncertainty' in its forecasts for this year
Shotaro Tani - Financial Times
The International Energy Agency has warned of volatile gas prices this year, with conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine creating "an unusually wide range of uncertainty" in its forecasts. The west's energy watchdog said in its quarterly report on Friday that geopolitical issues such as the war in Ukraine and heightened tensions in the Middle East, shipping disruptions and potential start-up delays at new liquefied natural gas plants "all represent downward risks to the current outlook, which could fuel price volatility through 2024".
/jlne.ws/3UfOMtW
Dimon, Solomon Urged by US Energy Chief to Back Clean Power
Ari Natter - Bloomberg
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm urged Jamie Dimon, David Solomon and other top Wall Street brass at a private New York dinner t o invest in clean power, according to people familiar with the event. Granholm invoked President Joe Biden's signature climate law in making her case to the chairmen of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and more than a dozen other executives, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
/jlne.ws/3Uk4cNR
Dimon Says Rich Should Pay More to Fund Low-Income Tax Cuts
Lyla Du - Bloomberg
Cutting taxes for lower-income Americans would improve their upward mobility, health and lives overall, and contribute to growth of the US economy - even if doing so means raising taxes for wealthier people, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said. "This is, I think, as much of a no-brainer policy as any I've ever seen," Dimon said Friday at a panel discussion in Washington hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center. Tax reductions for lower-income people would be used for food, taking care of children and education. "And I would pay for it by taxing the wealthy a little bit more."
/jlne.ws/3SwBBDO
JK Rowling and Ed Sheeran estimated to be among UK's highest tax payers
Sam Gruet - BBC
A Russian-born billionaire, JK Rowling and Ed Sheeran all feature in an estimated list of the highest UK tax payers. The 100 contributors, ranked by the Sunday Times, were judged to have added £5.35bn to public finances last year The newspaper estimated tax paid on business profits, share sales, dividends, house purchases and personal income. Two-thirds of the list paid less tax in 2023 than in the year before, it said. Originally from Moscow, financial trader Alex Gerko topped the index, followed by former Formula 1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, while the boss of gambling firm Bet365, Denise Coates, came in third.
/jlne.ws/47QKSuH
Sales of climate-focused mutual funds fall 75% in two years; Market faces challenges including high interest rates, poor performance and a campaign against 'woke' investment
Attracta Mooney and Sally Hickey - Financial Times
Sales of climate-focused mutual funds have fallen by 75 per cent in two years as the market struggles with challenges from high interest rates to poor performance and a US political campaign against "woke" investment. Climate-focused funds attracted $37.8bn of new investor money in 2023, compared with a record $151bn in 2021, according to provisional figures from data provider Morningstar. Last year was the worst for net inflows since 2019, when interest in green investments intensified.
/jlne.ws/3SdIFE1
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Video appears to show Ukraine's new 'Ironclad' drone vehicle machine-gunning a Russian outpost
Nathan Rennolds - Business Insider
Video footage released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense earlier this month appears to show Ukraine's new "Ironclad" combat drone vehicle in action against Russian forces. The video, which the ministry shared on X, formerly Twitter, bears the insignia of Ukraine's 5th Separate Assault Brigade, and it appears to show the remotely controlled drone firing its M2 machine gun on a Russian outpost.
/jlne.ws/48S424E
'The enemy is amassing': Ukrainian army officials give unvarnished account of the battlefield
Andrew Carey, Maria Kostenko and Christian Edwards - CNN
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is conducting offensive operations along much of the frontline, with Ukraine's military trying to hold its positions as its ammunition begins to run low and United States funding remains stalled in Congress. Fighting is intense in the northeast along a stretch of territory where the regions of Kharkiv and Luhansk meet. Ukraine announced earlier this week it had withdrawn its forces from the Kharkiv village of Krokhmalne in order to take up more advantageous defensive positions on higher ground, while reports suggest Russian forces have continued to press in the area.
/jlne.ws/3UjQUkC
Houthi Hit on Russian Fuel Has Oil Traders Recalculating Risks
Alaric Nightingale - Bloomberg
A missile attack on Friday on a tanker taking Russian fuel through the Gulf of Aden may prove to be a defining moment for an oil market that had previously been somewhat immune to months of Houthi militants' attacks on merchant trade. Why the calm? Because much of the oil flowing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal came from Russia and - so the theory went - it might be safe. The Houthis themselves signaled Russian ships had nothing to fear, and Moscow is an ally of their sponsor Iran. Oil tankers generally had been largely spared.
/jlne.ws/3vNoO6S
Ukraine says it uncovers mass fraud in weapons procurement
Reuters
Ukraine's SBU security service said on Saturday it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the purchase of arms by the country's military totalling the equivalent of about $40 million. The announcement of mass procurement fraud, confirmed by Ukraine's Defence Ministry, will have a huge resonance in a country beleaguered by Russia's nearly two-year-old invasion.
/jlne.ws/3SC83o4
EU Prepares to Rule Out Ukraine Gas Transit Deal With Russia
John Ainger - Bloomberg
The European Union is preparing to rule out a renewal of a key Ukraine gas pipeline deal with Russia when it expires at the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. The rationale of the EU's executive arm is that even countries most reliant on Russian supplies - including Austria and Slovakia - would be able to find alternative supplies in the event of a cutoff, the people said.
/jlne.ws/3Jvap0X
Zelensky warns Ukraine conflict will turn into World War 3 if Russia not contained; Volodymyr Zelensky raises fears diminishing support from allies could embolden Putin
Shweta Sharma - The Independent
/jlne.ws/3HAxikw
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Benjamin Netanyahu at War; Israel's prime minister is determined to crush Hamas, diplomatic about the Biden administration, and optimistic about peace with Saudi Arabia.
Tunku Varadarajan - The Wall Street Journal
It's 9 p.m. and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just returned to Israel's capital from a military base near Haifa. He'd gone up north to give the troops a pep talk. An aide tells me that a young reservist stood up and asked, "What do you expect from us?" "Total victory," Mr. Netanyahu replied. What does total victory mean to a country that lived through a genocidal attack on Oct. 7? What does it mean to win after suffering such loss?
/jlne.ws/4bbZwj9
Trafigura assesses Red Sea risks after tanker attacked by Houthis
Reuters
Commodities trader Trafigura said on Saturday it was assessing the security risks of further Red Sea voyages after firefighters put out a blaze on a tanker attacked by Yemen's Houthi group a day earlier. The U.S. military said a U.S. Navy ship and other vessels provided assistance after the Marlin Luanda was hit by a Houthi anti-ship missile.
/jlne.ws/3uh5fn2
Drone Strike Kills 3 U.S. Soldiers in Jordan, White House Says
The New York Times
Three U.S. service members were killed in Jordan on Sunday and at least 34 others were injured in what the Biden administration said was a drone attack from an Iran-backed militia, the first American military fatalities from hostile fire in the turmoil spilling over from Israel's war with Hamas.
/jlne.ws/3SEqEQM
Where Is Hamas Getting Its Weapons? Increasingly, From Israel; The very weapons that Israeli forces have used to enforce a blockade of Gaza are now being used against them.
Maria Abi-Habib and Sheera Frenkel - The New York Times
Israeli military and intelligence officials have concluded that a significant number of weapons used by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attacks and in the war in Gaza came from an unlikely source: the Israeli military itself. For years, analysts have pointed to underground smuggling routes to explain how Hamas stayed so heavily armed despite an Israeli military blockade of the Gaza Strip. But recent intelligence has shown the extent to which Hamas has been able to build many of its rockets and anti-tank weaponry out of the thousands of munitions that failed to detonate when Israel lobbed them into Gaza, according to weapons experts and Israeli and Western intelligence officials. Hamas is also arming its fighters with weapons stolen from Israeli military bases.
/jlne.ws/3u1Rw3D
Surging Red Sea violence could imperil a fragile Yemen
Kareem Fahim and Missy Ryan - The Washington Post
The escalating military confrontation between the United States and Houthi militants is threatening to deepen a humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where aid groups were already struggling to meet the country's needs, relief workers have warned. Nearly a decade of civil war in the Arabian Peninsula country has driven millions of people from their homes, deepened poverty and spread starvation. Now a new conflict - Houthi fighters are firing missiles on commercial shipping; American and British forces are striking back - is disrupting tentative efforts at peace.
/jlne.ws/3OpMtRl
Houthis Fire Missile Close to a Tanker Hauling Russian Oil
Omar Tamo and Alex Longley - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3OkNev7
Hamas reiterates that Gaza war must end for any hostage release
Reuters
/jlne.ws/3OlDIYK
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | CME Stock Beat the S&P 500. One Director Bought Up Stock.
Ed Lin - Barron's
CME Group stock rose in 2023, edging out the broader market last year, One longtime director continues to buy shares of the operator of financial-derivatives exchanges. CME stock logged a 25% gain last year, ahead of the 24% rise in the S&P 500 index. The company is the parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade. Longtime CME director William R. Shepard paid $281,000 on Jan. 18 for a total of 1,390 shares, an average price of $202.44 each. According to a form he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Shepard bought 59 shares through a personal account that now owns 2,322 CME shares. A trust that Shepard controls purchased the other 1,331 shares, and now owns 253,060 shares.
/jlne.ws/3SbzaoK
CME Group Latin American FX Futures Hit All-Time Volume and Open Interest Records in 2023
CME Group
Increased client participation deepens liquidity and further strengthens price discovery function. CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced its Mexican peso and Brazilian real FX futures contracts reached all-time average daily volume (ADV) and open interest (OI) records in 2023. The increased trading is resulting in deeper liquidity and broader client participation, which in turn, strengthens reliance on these markets as the premier source of price discovery for the broader FX marketplace.
/jlne.ws/3Ujgki1
EEX to launch USD-denominated TTF Natural Gas Month Futures on 15 April; Product to extend existing LNG offering
European Energy Exchange
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) expands its product offering on the EEX natural gas derivatives markets with new, financially settled EEX TTF Natural Gas Month Futures denominated in US$/MMBtu, from 15 April 2024. Steffen Koehler, COO of EEX, comments: "In recent years, TTF in US$/MMBtu has become the pricing benchmark of choice for European LNG imports as well as being used outside of this region for LNG-related trading strategies. We therefore believe that our new extended offering will be ideal to meet the growing needs of this market, by enabling wider hedging opportunities for the LNG trading community."
/jlne.ws/4bggzAt
Adapting to climate change in central clearing: risks, environmental footprint and enabling transition
Eurex
Central clearing houses (CCPs) are a key part of the Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) landscape that can be impacted by climate change in multiple ways. Eurex spoke with Fiona van Echelpoel, a Deputy Director General in the Directorate General Market Infrastructure and Payments (DG-MIP) of the ECB, about how the ECB is approaching the role and responsibilities of FMIs in tackling climate risks.
/jlne.ws/4b9jg77
ICE Reports Record Total Futures and Options Open Interest with Record Trading Activity in Global Commodities Markets
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced that its global futures and options markets reached record open interest of 87.2 million contracts on January 25, 2024, with ICE's commodities futures and options markets hitting record open interest of 61.5 million contracts. ICE's energy futures and options portfolio recorded record open interest of 56 million contracts on January 24, 2024, as ICE's energy futures hit record open interest of 33 million contracts, the highest since June 2021. ICE TTF natural gas futures and options hit record open interest of 3.6 million contracts, up 93% year-over-year (y/y).
/jlne.ws/3UeUrRb
Japan Exchange Group, Inc. and Consolidated Subsidiaries
JPX
Consolidated financial results for the nine months ended December 31, 2023
(Based on IFRS), unaudited.
/jlne.ws/3HAsc7Z
NEWS UPDATE: SIX head of equity sales Europe joining Scott Bradley to launch new pan-European MTF
Laurie McAughtry - Best Execution
Sherlock, who has been with Six Swiss Exchange as head of equity sales Europe for almost three years, was formerly business development manager at LSEG for cash secondary markets and Turquoise, working with Bradley.
/jlne.ws/42bzmJl
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | You should turn on this new iPhone feature immediately
Associated Press via Business Insider
You're in a crowded bar when a thief watches you unlock your iPhone with your passcode, then swipes it. That sinking feeling hits when you realize it - along with priceless photos, important files, passwords on banking apps, and other vital parts of your digital life - is gone. This week, Apple rolled out an update to iOS devices with a feature called Stolen Device Protection. This feature makes it a lot harder for phone thieves to access key functions and settings. Users are being urged to turn it on immediately.
/jlne.ws/48X7yuU
Musk's X aims to hire 100 content moderators in Austin by end of year
Sheila Dang - Reuters
Social media company X is in the process of hiring 100 content moderators for a new office in Austin, Texas that will focus on fighting child abuse content, a goal it hopes to complete by the end of the year, an X executive said on Saturday. The Elon Musk-owned company announced the new "Trust and Safety center of excellence" ahead of a U.S. Senate hearing on Jan. 31 about online child sexual exploitation. X Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino is scheduled to testify, along with the CEOs of Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, Snap (SNAP.N), opens new tab, TikTok and Discord.
/jlne.ws/4beyrvG
OpenAI's ChatGPT breaches privacy rules, says Italian watchdog
Reuters
Italy's data protection authority has told OpenAI that its artificial intelligence chatbot application ChatGPT breaches data protection rules, the watchdog said on Monday as it presses ahead with an investigation started last year. The authority, known as Garante, is one of the European Union's most proactive in assessing AI platform compliance with the bloc's data privacy regime. Last year it banned ChatGPT over alleged breaches of EU privacy rules.
/jlne.ws/47TRmc8
US Wants Cloud Firms to Reveal Foreign Clients in China AI Race; Amazon, Alphabet will need to disclose customers' names; Biden seeks to block 'malicious cyber-enabled activities'
Courtney Rozen and Mackenzie Hawkins - Bloomberg
The US wants cloud services providers such as Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to actively investigate and call out foreign clients developing artificial intelligence applications on their platforms, escalating a tech conflict between Washington and Beijing. The Biden administration proposal, scheduled for release Monday, requires such firms to reveal foreign customers' names and IP addresses. Amazon and its peers, which include Alphabet Inc.'s Google, would have to devise a budget for collecting those details and report any suspicious activity, according to draft rule published Sunday.
/jlne.ws/3Ucd9ZE
Virtu Financial makes new appointment for ETP and fixed income sales role; Incoming individual has previously served at: Bluefin Europe, BlackRock, Barclays Capital, Blue Oak Capital, Compagnie Financial Tradition and City Equities.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Virtu Financial has appointed Simon McGhee in an exchange-traded product (ETP) and fixed income sales role, The TRADE can reveal. McGhee joins Virtu Financial after a career break, which followed a nearly eight-year stint at Bluefin Europe.
/jlne.ws/3S9Kj9C
A third of trades would face issues in a T+1 environment with current workflow, finds BNY Mellon analysis; BNY Mellon digs deep into its own data in an effort to shine a light on processes which need to improve before May, as expert explains to sister publication, Global Custodian, how results show concerns for Europe, certain profiles of client and why it may just be a case of adjusting to not rely on that extra day.
Jonathan Watkins - The Trade
BNY Mellon has conducted an analysis of its US custody base to show that roughly a third of trades settled by DTCC may face issues in preparation for the new T+1 settlement cycle reduction in their current workflow format. The data collected in November 2023 found that 25% of client transactions need to adjust their workflows to meet the new settlement cut-offs. Meanwhile, another 9% would need "significant operating model changes" to meet the new deadlines which come into force on 28 May in the US.
/jlne.ws/3w0FaJo
Macro volatility will force market operators to reform; A range of macroeconomic, regulatory and market structure changes occurring across the world will drive the need for transformation for market operators across the globe, writes, Magnus Haglind, head of marketplace technology, Nasdaq, who points out that change doesn't always come with a heavy price tag and substantial execution risk.
The Trade
This year will drive profound change for mission-critical service providers across global capital markets. Extreme spikes in volume and volatility - triggered by election cycles and other global events - will strain markets around the world. The introduction of T+1 in the US, alongside swathes of regulatory reforms, will mandate structural change across the global financial system. And emerging technologies will expose organisations that don't have the in-built flexibility to embrace it.
/jlne.ws/4bgCvLV
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Cybersecurity Resume Skills and Certifications for 2024
Dice Staff
Main image of article Cybersecurity Resume Skills and Certifications for 2024
As we enter 2024, the cybersecurity job market remains robust even as other parts of the technology and IT industry shed workers and slash costs. By one estimate, there are more than 1.2 million people employed in the U.S. cybersecurity industry, with an additional 570,000 job openings in the private and public sectors. A report released at the end of 2023 by (ISC)2 found that the global cybersecurity market needs about 4 million additional workers, and tech pros with skills in artificial intelligence (A.I.) and cloud computing remain in demand.
/jlne.ws/4bi3pTy
Florida Bill Seeks Safe Harbor for Organizations with Robust Cybersecurity Programs
Steve Alder - The HIPAA Journal
Healthcare organizations and businesses in Florida could soon be given protection against data breach lawsuits if they implement and maintain cybersecurity measures that meet government and industry standards. The Florida Cybersecurity Incident Liability Act (H.B 473) has been introduced in the Florida legislature and aims to introduce a "safe harbor" that limits liability for all businesses that implement reasonable and appropriate cybersecurity measures that meet industry standards and cybersecurity frameworks.
/jlne.ws/3Sjhibp
Prioritizing cybercrime intelligence for effective decision-making in cybersecurity
Mirko Zorz - Help Net Security
Prioritizing cybercrime intelligence for effective decision-making in cybersecurity
In this Help Net Security interview, Alon Gal, CTO at Hudson Rock, discusses integrating cybercrime intelligence into existing security infrastructures. Our discussion will cover a range of essential aspects, from the importance of continuous adaptation in cybersecurity strategies to practical advice for CISOs on enhancing threat detection and response capabilities. We'll also explore the challenges of balancing intelligence gathering with privacy and legal considerations and look at strategies for prioritizing intelligence inputs in decision-making.
/jlne.ws/3u3QN1U
An Examination Of Deep File Inspection Technologies For Enhanced Cybersecurity Analytics
Michael Arcamone - Forbes
In today's world, businesses face a barrage of cyber threats, demanding more sophisticated and robust defensive countermeasures. As enterprises increasingly embrace digital transformations, the sheer volume of artifacts, files and objects they handle-whether from internal or external sources-multiplies exponentially. Each of these files, while appearing legitimate, could serve as a carrier of malware or ransomware, housing malicious entities designed to disrupt, destroy, steal or corrupt.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | FTX Is Unloading Crypto to Raise Cash and Pay Back Customers; Cash of key affiliates rose to about $4.4 billion at end-2023; Increased cash coincided with rising value of customer claims
Jonathan Randles - Bloomberg
FTX is unloading cryptoassets and hoarding cash as bankruptcy advisers look for a way to repay customers whose accounts have been frozen since the platform collapsed in 2022. The fraud-tainted crypto firm's four largest affiliates - including FTX Trading Ltd. and Alameda Research LLC - together nearly doubled the group's cash pile to $4.4 billion at the end of 2023 from about $2.3 billion in late October, according to Chapter 11 monthly operating reports. The company's total cash is likely higher including the rest of its affiliates.
/jlne.ws/48O0CA3
Crypto Lender Nexo Seeking $3B in Damages From Bulgaria; Nexo has accused the country of making "wrongful and politically motivated actions...involving unjustified and oppressive criminal investigations."
Jamie Crawley - CoinDesk
Cryptocurrency lender Nexo has filed an arbitration claim against the Republic of Bulgaria, seeking $3 billion in damages. Nexo has accused the country of making "wrongful and politically motivated actions...involving unjustified and oppressive criminal investigations," according to an emailed statement on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/49b0xWV
Hong Kong Gets Spot-Bitcoin ETF Application, Stablecoin Interest From China's Harvest Global: Reports; Venture Smart Financial Holdings is also aiming for a spot-bitcoin ETF and is involved in the discussions about the stablecoin sandbox.
Amitoj Singh - CoinDesk
Harvest Global Investments, a major asset-management company in China, applied for a spot-bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and is in discussions with regulators regarding the city's stablecoin sandbox, according to separate reports by Tencent News and Bloomberg.
/jlne.ws/3Sl3aym
Hong Kong Stablecoin Push Attracts One of China's Top Fund Firms
Zheping Huang, Annabelle Droulers and Kiuyan Wong - Bloomberg
A push in Hong Kong to roll out rules for stablecoins as soon as this quarter has drawn interest from companies including the international arm of major Chinese asset manager Harvest Fund Management Co., people familiar with the matter said. Harvest Global Investments Ltd., fintech specialist RD Technologies and crypto exchange-traded fund aspirant Venture Smart Financial Holdings Ltd. are in discussions with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority about planned stablecoin trials known as regulatory sandboxes, the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private.
/jlne.ws/3OkMTZg
EU reinforces tight limits on crypto firms from outside bloc
Huw Jones - Reuters
Crypto companies based outside the EU will only be able to directly serve customers within the bloc under very limited conditions to avoid unfair competition, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) proposed on Monday. The EU approved the world's first comprehensive rules for crypto markets last year, known as MiCA, a groundbreaking move in an online sector where national borders have been hard to police.
/jlne.ws/48OrkIP
Bitcoin Whales Boosted Coin Stash by $3B in January, Data Show
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/48RHml5
Bitcoin ETFs in and Around Asia After U.S. Approvals? Analysts Are Optimistic About Momentum
Amitoj Singh - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/493JndW
Beware of AI Crypto Trading Bot Scams, CFTC Warns
Yousra Anwar Ahmed - CoinMarketCap
/jlne.ws/3w14H5b
Nigerian Crypto Licensing Rules Slammed for Overlooking Local Exchanges
Yousra Anwar Ahmed - CoinMarketCap
/jlne.ws/4bd16kS
Hong Kong's Financial Authorities Raises Concerns Over Floki Inu Staking
Hope C - CoinMarketCap
/jlne.ws/48NZWuo
Solana Trading Aggregator Jupiter Sees Trading Volumes Jump Ahead of JUP Issuance; The platform settled over $500 million in trades on Sunday, briefly becoming the biggest on-chain trading platform.
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/4be744Y
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | LNG Exports Shouldn't Be the Next Keystone Campaign; Pausing approvals for liquefied natural gas terminals may win Biden points with young voters, but it's myopic energy policy.
Liam Denning - Bloomberg
The greenest White House the US has ever seen also happens to preside over a record-breaking domestic oil and gas boom. While that complicates Republican talking points, it also stokes a conflict within President Joe Biden's own party that has now found its battleground: Liquefied natural gas.
/jlne.ws/498lLoj
Biden Expected to Announce Billions in Chip Subsidies, WSJ Says
Louise Moon - Bloomberg
The Biden administration is expected to soon announce billions of dollars in new subsidies to chipmakers including Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing as part efforts to reshore production, the Wall Street Journal reported.
/jlne.ws/3Shqxcr
Standing up to government overreach is an American tradition. Now it's crypto's turn
Norman Reed - Fortune
The Securities and Exchange Commission was founded on principles of transparency, fairness, full disclosure, and stable regulation, taking into account the economic impact of its regulations and the well-being of investors. It is these principles that I sought to uphold during my tenure at the SEC earlier in my career. Yet with regard to digital assets, the SEC has lost its way. This has become clear to me in my current role as interim CEO of Binance.US and through my prior experience as general counsel of Ripple.
/jlne.ws/3SAwKBz
Trump Engaged in Insurrection, Voter Group Tells Supreme Court
Greg Stohr - Bloomberg
Donald Trump engaged in insurrection by inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a group of Colorado voters told the Supreme Court in a historic case that threatens the viability of his bid to reclaim the White House. In a 60-page filing Friday, the voters said Trump is seeking a "free pass" from the constitutional clause that bars insurrectionists from holding office. The Colorado Supreme Court said the provision meant Trump can't appear on the presidential election ballot there after he tried to overturn his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.
/jlne.ws/494vGLq
Barclays Banned From Texas Municipal-Bond Market Over ESG Dispute
Amanda Albright - Bloomberg
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton barred Barclays Plc from working on municipal-bond deals after his office said the bank didn't respond to requests for information about its carbon emission commitments. "When asked for more information concerning its ESG commitments, Barclays elected not to respond to the questions and acknowledged that by doing so it would likely forfeit its ability to contract with Texas governmental entities," Paxton's office said in a statement on Friday.
/jlne.ws/49bM0ue
Manchin Vows Hearing to Investigate Biden's Natural Gas Export Freeze
Ari Natter - Bloomberg
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There's So Much Data Even Spies Are Struggling to Find Secrets; Scouring open-source intelligence may not have the same cachet as undercover work, but it's become a new priority for the US intelligence agencies.
Peter Martin and Katrina Manson - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4bj1o9Z
Why embracing Bitcoin would be a low-risk, high-reward strategy for Trump
Brian Morgenstern - Fortune
/jlne.ws/4bbdoKp
Lots More on China's Moves to Create a Dollar Alternative; Major changes are underway.
Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3OkuZpF
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | New SEC rules on Spacs shut the barn door after horses have bolted; It's too late, Gary, now it's too late
Craig Coben - Financial Times
"And it's too late, Baby, now it's too late." As Carole King sings in her iconic 1971 hit, sometimes you take too long to fix a situation and the damage is done. "Something inside has died, and I can't hide and I just can't fake it." Last week the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued final rules for special purpose acquisition companies (Spacs). A Spac is a blank-cheque vehicle that offers private companies an alternative route to a stock exchange listing. Once the Spac raises money, its sponsors have usually two years to combine it with an operating company.
/jlne.ws/49giR0V
Commissioner Johnson to Address Commodity Market Council's Board of Directors and Executives at 2024 State of the Industry Conference
CFTC
Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson to participate in Commodity Market Council's Board of Directors and Executives Meeting at 2024 State of the Industry Conference and Annual Meeting.
/jlne.ws/3HyjeIm
Keynote of Chairman Rostin Behnam at the ABA Business Law Section Derivatives & Futures Law Committee Winter Meeting
"CFTC GT"
CFTC
Good afternoon. I am delighted to join you today back in Naples for the first time since 2020. The last several years tested resilience across the derivatives markets, which required working together to meet the most extreme, but plausible issues, events, inquiries, and environmental, geopolitical, and fiscal conditions. The urgent need for action could not be met with hyperbolic responses. Creating ad hoc boundaries and structures to earn an immediate victory lap rarely instills or supports market integrity. Of course, neither does abdicating action until optimal conditions prevail. As I think about my tenure and the direction of the agency, I have tried to follow the racing line: the most optimal path, making use of the entire breadth of our track.
/jlne.ws/3Hzaq4S
Commissioner Pham to Speak at FIA-SIFMA AMG Asset Management Derivatives Forum 2024
CFTC
Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will speak on a panel titled "Regulator Deep Dive" at the FIA-SIFMA AMG Asset Management Derivatives Forum 2024.
/jlne.ws/48R4Bfa
MAS Monetary Policy Statement - January 2024
Monetary Authority of Singapore
1. In the October 2023 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 level at which it was centred. Since then, the S$NEER has strengthened in line with the appreciating policy band.
/jlne.ws/49bAXB7
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | ADM Says Sales Being Probed Don't Materially Affect Results
Gerson Freitas Jr - Bloomberg
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.'s chief executive officer told employees Friday that the company's intersegment sales, which are under investigation, won't significantly impact the crop trader's earnings. "We are a strong company with a strong financial position," CEO Juan Luciano said in a memo that was released in a filing. "These sales do not materially affect our overall results." The executive said the company expects to report earnings above $6.90 per share, which would be the second-highest on record, and that debt levels should remain stable at "healthy levels."
/jlne.ws/3HziWkm
Grifols Sues Gotham City Over 'False' Short-Seller Report; Spanish company blasts Gotham City, principals as 'predatory'
Chris Dolmetsch - Bloomberg
Grifols SA sued Gotham City Research over a report alleging the company has overstated profit and misstated its accounting. Gotham City Research, run by Daniel Yu and Cyrus de Weck, is the publishing arm of General Industrial Partners, a hedge fund that launched when Gotham City and short-selling fund Portsea Asset Management combined.
/jlne.ws/3HzSlnp
Traders Line Up for 'Once-in-a-Generation' Emerging Markets Bet
Carolina Wilson and Zijia Song - Bloomberg
One of last year's best wagers in emerging-market debt is getting a fresh boost from bets the Federal Reserve will finally begin cutting interest rates. Optimism is sweeping through domestic bond markets as investors wager that the Fed will soon start lowering rates, with Wall Street set to scour this week's meeting for clues on timing. Alongside a weaker dollar, a potential US pivot would help coax central bankers in emerging markets to ease - resulting in a potential windfall for holders of local-currency debt.
/jlne.ws/49dQYGS
The Anonymous Meme Account Chronicling Credit Market Craziness; High Yield Harry speaks.
Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal - Bloomberg
The past few years have been pretty wild for anyone working in credit, the business of selling and trading corporate debt. First you had the pandemic, which changed working patterns across Wall Street. Then you had a surge in deal activity that had everyone working overtime to meet demand. Meanwhile, private credit's been booming and is now competing with banks' cash cow businesses of selling bonds and leveraged loans. And finally, everyone is wondering how long the credit space can withstand higher interest rates, and how frothy the underlying deals actually all. High Yield Harry, an anonymous social media account, has been chronicling it all -- making memes out of junk bond offerings, and cracking jokes about conversations with investment committees. In this episode, he talks about his experience working in both private and public credit, what it's like to run an anonymous FinTwit account, and the outlook for bonuses this year. High Yield Harry's voice is concealed in this episode to preserve anonymity.
/jlne.ws/3SBh5BR
ADM postpones some exec bonuses amid accounting probe -memo
Chris Prentice and Karl Plume - Reuters
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co will delay paying performance bonuses to some executives until its financial statements are completed and audited, according to a staff memo seen by Reuters. The delay, detailed in a memo sent to staff on Thursday, comes days after ADM sidelined its chief financial officer and brought in outside lawyers to launch an investigation into accounting practices last week.
/jlne.ws/3SCH2Rq
US Treasury Seen Boosting Long-Term Debt Sales One Last Time; Most dealers see refunding auction getting third straight lift; Potential Fed shift to slowing Treasuries runoff seen as key
Liz Capo McCormick - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/48Q5cxv
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | How to Fix 'ESG' by Changing Its Name; The moniker has become so politicized that it prevents clear-headed thinking, says a London Business School professor.
Saijel Kishan - Bloomberg
As ESG comes under fire for yet another year, a Morgan Stanley banker-turned-finance professor said it's finally time to get rid of those deeply divisive three letters. The ESG moniker has become so politicized that it now prevents clear-headed thinking, said Alex Edmans, who teaches at London Business School. He's instead proposing the term "rational sustainability." It may be bland, he said, but sustainability is about producing long-term value-and that's hard to politicize.
/jlne.ws/3SEUxQY
DOE Selects Consortium to Bridge Early Demand for Clean Hydrogen, Providing Market Certainty and Unlocking Private Sector Investment
U.S. Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) today announced the selection of a consortium to help accelerate commercial liftoff of the clean hydrogen economy and support the launch of the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs), funded through President Biden's Investing in America Agenda. The consortium-which consists of the EFI Foundation (EFIF), a leader in clean hydrogen economy development, in partnership with the commodity markets information experts S&P Global (S&P) and the financial exchange operator Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)-will design and implement demand-side support mechanisms for unlocking the market potential of the H2Hubs.
/jlne.ws/42gttdH
EU climate chief rebuts business fears that green policies hit competitiveness; Wopke Hoekstra says measures to tackle global warming should not undermine industry
Alice Hancock - Financial Times
The EU's climate chief has warned the bloc must not be lured into a "false narrative" that action against global warming is undermining the competitiveness of European businesses, as Brussels fights a backlash against its ambitious environmental laws. Speaking to the Financial Times ahead of the February 6 announcement of a new EU plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said that despite "significant worries" from industry, he was "absolutely convinced" Europe could continue to have a "world class, second to none, business environment".
/jlne.ws/42euMKh
Sales of climate-focused mutual funds fall 75% in two years; Market faces challenges including high interest rates, poor performance and a campaign against 'woke' investment
Attracta Mooney and Sally Hickey - Financial Times
Sales of climate-focused mutual funds have fallen by 75 per cent in two years as the market struggles with challenges from high interest rates to poor performance and a US political campaign against "woke" investment. Climate-focused funds attracted $37.8bn of new investor money in 2023, compared with a record $151bn in 2021, according to provisional figures from data provider Morningstar. Last year was the worst for net inflows since 2019, when interest in green investments intensified.
/jlne.ws/3SdIFE1
Michael Mann's Defamation Case Against Deniers Finally Reaches Trial; After a 12-year journey through the courts, the climate scientist behind the 'Hockey Stick' graph tells a jury that bloggers sullied his name with a crass comparison.
Marianne Lavelle - Inside Climate News
Michael Mann, one of the nation's most prominent climate scientists, told a Washington, D.C. jury on Wednesday that he was made to feel like a "pariah" and saw his grant funding plummet after right-wing bloggers sought to discredit his science with vulgar attacks in 2012. Mann sued the bloggers for defamation after they drew comparisons between his science and a child sex abuse scandal that had rocked his institution, Pennsylvania State University, that year. They wrote that he had "molested and tortured data," and that the school had engaged in a "whitewash" of his science, much as it had failed to unearth the transgressions of Penn State's disgraced assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky.
/jlne.ws/4bgNNQs
Biden Power Plant and EV Plans Hit a New Obstacle: Vulnerable Democrats; Moves could appeal to cost-sensitive voters in tight contests; Pause on LNG export permits could stoke fresh outcry
Jennifer A Dlouhy - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/48RygVo
Global watchdog proposes new ethics code to combat greenwashing
Simon Jessop and Huw Jones - Reuters
/jlne.ws/3HCHrNK
Europe's Gas Rush Spurs $223 Billion of New Polluting Investment
John Ainger - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3HCgw4v
NYC's Community Composting Cuts Are Putting Its Curbside Plan at Risk; By killing funding for community programs, composting advocates say the city is kneecapping its plan to make curbside composting mandatory.
Kendra Pierre-Louis - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3uhxPok
BP faces activist investor pressure to ditch clean energy pledges; London hedge fund Bluebell calls for abandonment of 'irrational strategy' that has 'depressed value'
Tom Wilson - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/42hmlhi
Activist investors fret over Exxon Mobil's lawsuit bypassing US regulator
Ross Kerber and Jody Godoy - Reuters
/jlne.ws/489p0Lv
BP faces activist investor pressure to ditch clean energy pledges; London hedge fund Bluebell calls for abandonment of 'irrational strategy' that has 'depressed value'
Tom Wilson - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/42hmlhi
Global watchdog proposes new ethics code to combat greenwashing
Simon Jessop and Huw Jones - Reuters
/jlne.ws/3HCHrNK
ESG and DEI Policies Were Always Luxury Goods; The end of the low interest-rate era has coincided with both the public and corporate sectors pulling back on efforts to be virtuous.
Merryn Somerset Webb - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3UdSaWk
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Deval Patrick Leaves Bain for Chicago Investment Firm With Obama Ties
Miranda Davis - Bloomberg
A Chicago investment firm with ties to Barack Obama has hired former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick from Bain Capital as a senior adviser. Patrick, 67, is joining Vistria Group, an $11 billion impact investment firm co-founded by Marty Nesbitt, treasurer for Obama's presidential campaigns, according to a statement on Friday. He was a senior adviser at Bain, the private equity firm co-founded by fellow ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
/jlne.ws/3OiwlRv
JPMorgan Chase Names Co-CEOs of Commercial & Investment Bank
MarketsMedia
JPMorgan Chase announced new and increased responsibilities for a number of key executives that will build upon the company's successes and continue to position the firm for the future.
/jlne.ws/47LVMln
BofA Says China Leads Historic Flows Into Emerging-Market Stocks; Rush of money came amid stimulus measures from Beijing; Buy China stocks is world's most enticing trade, Hartnett says
Henry Ren - Bloomberg
Money flooded into beaten-down Chinese shares over the past week as authorities in Beijing ramped up stimulus measures to support the ailing stock market, according to Bank of America Corp. strategists. A total $11.9 billion was allocated to Chinese shares in the week through Jan. 24, the second-highest weekly tally ever, a team led by Michael Hartnett said, citing EPFR data. That accounted for almost all of the record $12.1 billion of funds that rushed into emerging-market equities.
/jlne.ws/3ShqCNh
JPMorgan vs Goldman: How Jamie Dimon's bank gains from the confidence factor; Investor and depositor faith instilled by powerhouse spread of business has helped lower cost of capital
William Cohan - Financial Times
JPMorgan Chase announced recently that the bank, under its gifted chief executive Jamie Dimon, had just earned $50bn in net income in 2023. That is the most money the bank has made in its history and the most money any bank has made ever. A few days later, Goldman Sachs announced that it had made far less over the same year, about $8.5bn. That must make for some painful comparisons among David Solomon's troops at 200 West St in Lower Manhattan.
/jlne.ws/3SAAxyP
Goldman Sachs Exited 2023 With A Q4 Win But Like Morgan Stanley, Its Annual Figures Lacked Luster
Benzinga
During the second week of the new year, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) opened the earnings season by with their reports, with one-time charges tainting how well they performed over the fourth quarter of 2023. Moreover, JPMorgan Chase reported its best-ever annual profit. A week after, four biggest U.S. banks were joined by The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) who blew past estimates and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) who reported mixed fourth quarter results along with warning of geopolitical and economic risks ahead.
/jlne.ws/3SeX3vB
Goldman Sachs Co-Head of Banking and Markets Plans to Exit After 29 Years
Sridhar Natarajan - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3Sj8G4J
Credit Suisse AT1 Bond Fallout Hits India's Most Valuable Bank; Certain customers allege HDFC mis-sold Credit Suisse AT1 bonds; HDFC says it complied with all laws, took 'extreme care'
Preeti Singh - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3SAVMAk
Millennium Pulls Out of Hedge Fund It Backed With $1.5 Billion; Izzy Englander's firm invested with Malik's Meridiem in 2021; Millennium cut ties after the end of a lockup period
Liza Tetley and Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/48LTXX0
Craig-Scheckman's Deer Park Hedge Fund Craters on Hedges; Flagship STS Master fund down 23% in 2023, its worst on record; Founder expects bets to gather momentum on rate cuts this year
Laura Benitez and Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/47RY6Ym
Parataxis Hedge Fund Gains 341% With Bets on Revival in Crypto; Parataxis Absolute Return Fund scores with Solana, Bitcoin; The fund focused on coins that were oversold, CEO says
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3SBBozh
Leonard Green Taps Blackstone, AlpInvest Talent for New Private Equity Effort; Private equity firm to provide capital for GP-led secondaries; David Fox, Garrett Hall to co-head the new effort as partners
Gillian Tan, Allison McNeely, and Paula Seligson - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3SzQvcp
Goldman: Hedge funds lap up China stocks at fastest pace in 5 years
Nell Mackenzie - Reuters
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Facts or feelings? Managers need both; Data matters to business but must be presented in a way that engages employees
Michael Skapinker - Financial Times
When I began a training course to become a counsellor, my classmates told me my nearly four decades in journalism were peeking through. In our "fishbowls" - simulated therapy sessions observed by the class - they said my counselling style was markedly interrogatory. There was an emphasis on facts: what had happened, why and when, rather than on how my client, played by a fellow-student, felt.
/jlne.ws/48TgJMC
We should have fixed jet lag by now
Pilita Clark - Financial Times
In September 1970, a story with disturbing implications for business travellers appeared on page 36 of the Financial Times. It was about what the newspaper called "the so-called jet lag", and it revealed that an experiment on 14 volunteers who had flown from London to San Francisco and back had produced unhappy results. Scientists who collected reams of measurements from the guinea pigs, and 50 gallons of their urine, concluded the flyers' performance had been "significantly upset" by the trip for as long as five days. The travellers took up to 20 per cent longer to reach a decision, raising fears they might have appeared feeble at the negotiating table. Worse, there seemed to be no cure in sight.
/jlne.ws/3UkpPxI
Why Introverted Leaders Are Ideal for the Postpandemic Workplace; As an extrovert, I hate to admit it, but charisma really doesn't improve a firm's performance
Leigh Thompson - The Wall Street Journal
I'm an extrovert and I admit I've benefited from it. Outgoing people are more likely to be noticed, selected as leaders and awarded "halo" traits-meaning that other people just assume extroverts are more likable, intelligent and have other positive qualities. But as a social scientist, I can't ignore the research: Most of these beliefs about extroverts simply aren't true.
/jlne.ws/493cXA6
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Philips halts sleep apnoea device sales in US after FDA deal; Dutch health technology group sets aside EUR363mn to fix issues with breathing machines
Donato Paolo Mancini and Ian Johnston - Financial Times
Philips has halted sales of its sleep apnoea machines in the US after reaching an agreement with authorities there, following the recall of millions of devices in the past three years. The Dutch manufacturer said on Monday it was setting aside EUR363mn in the fourth quarter to fix long-running problems with its breathing machines following a deal with the US Department of Justice, acting on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration.
/jlne.ws/3ufg4WP
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | US Traders Snap Up China Options as Cheap Way to Catch Rebound
Yiqin Shen - Bloomberg
Traders who fear missing out if there is a recovery in China stocks after a tumultuous stretch are dipping a toe in the options market as a cheaper way in. This week, the $4.2 billion iShares China Large-Cap ETF (ticker FXI) - one of largest US-traded funds tracking China equities - saw the most call options trade in more than a year, while the volume of bullish contracts in technology-focused KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (ticker KWEB) surged to the second highest level ever.
/jlne.ws/497lDVX
China Evergrande is ordered to liquidate, with over $300 billion in debt. Here's what that means.
Elaine Kurtenbach - Associated Press
A court in Hong Kong on Monday ordered China Evergrande to be liquidated in a decision that marks a milestone in China's efforts to resolve a crisis in its property industry that has rattled financial markets and dragged on the entire economy. Here's what happened and what it means, looking ahead.
/jlne.ws/3HyuG6R
Singapore Shophouses Tied to Laundering Case Up for Sale: BT
Ruth Carson - Bloomberg
A series of properties held by entities linked to suspects in a more than S$3 billion ($2.2 billion) money-laundering case in Singapore have been placed for sale, Business Times reported. Eight shophouses have surfaced on the market, three of which are now being advertised for S$61.1 million, the report said. The trio of properties, located at Stanley Street in Chinatown, were purchased by a Chinese businessman with links to Wang Dehai - one of the ten accused who are currently in remand in Singapore, the report said.
/jlne.ws/47V35aL
Malaysia Palm Oil Harvest Gets Boost From Foreign Worker Move; More overseas labor means extra fruit likely to be gathered; Decision seen bringing 'significant relief' to palm industry
Anuradha Raghu - Bloomberg
Palm oil output in Malaysia, the No. 2 supplier, could rise 5% this year after the government allowed plantations to hire foreign workers, said Joseph Tek, chief executive of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association. The admission of new workers potentially means that an additional 5.2 million tons of fresh fruit bunches can be harvested, the top growers' group said in a statement. That translates into 1 million tons of crude palm oil, Tek said.
/jlne.ws/3vZYtm8
Gas-Addicted Europe Trades One Energy Risk for Another; Rather than replace Russian fuel with next-generation renewables, the continent has increasingly turned to American natural gas. But it's risky, too.
Anna Shiryaevskaya, Ruth Liao, and Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
Europe, long-reliant on Russian natural gas, has nearly severed its dependency on the Kremlin in less than two years. Its preferred replacement - gas from the US - is widely viewed as abundant, politically palatable and less likely to be choked off than pipelines from Siberia.= It's also growing riskier by the day.
/jlne.ws/49dfVBY
German Court Clears Way for LNG Terminal to Provisionally Open
Petra Sorge - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3SjOrDU
Egypt Does Not Plan to Hedge Wheat Imports in 2024-2025
Abdel Latif Wahba - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/42fKg0y
Europe's Diesel Supply-Chain Threatened by Soaring Freight Costs; East-West spread isn't wide enough for Europe to draw cargoes; Europe's diesel margin jumps to highest since early December
Jack Wittels - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4bhB7sk
French farmers keep Paris roadblock threat as protests endure
Reuters
/jlne.ws/47TmtVe
Climate Change a Risk to South Africa Premiums, Insurer Says; Cost to reinsure rises 30% since pandemic, Old Mutual says; Reinsurance industry paid out $1.6 billion for floods in 2022
Adelaide Changole - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/42iExHp
Amsterdam Mayor Calls for Regulation of Cocaine as Crime Thrives
April Roach - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3OmYwyL
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | After a Boom, Craft Beer Considers a New Creed: Less Is More; Many breweries, bars and supermarkets that once offered a dizzying array of new beers are now paring back to a chosen few.
Joshua M. Bernstein - The New York Times
More than a decade ago, when Ryan Guererri was in his early 20s, he became obsessed with craft beer. As breweries rolled out a nonstop roster of new products, he bought hundreds of different beers, from bitter I.P.A.s to strong Belgian ales. "It was exciting trying everything," said Mr. Guererri, who is now 35 and a human resources manager in Geneva, N.Y. But with more than 9,500 breweries across the United States, sampling every pilsner and lager is nearly impossible, and not all that palatable. "It's easy to get overwhelmed," he said. These days, Mr. Guererri mainly stocks his fridge with just a small collection of tried-and-trusted brands.
/jlne.ws/47SI7ZS
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