| October 19, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Ralph DeNunzio, who was the youngest chairman of the New York Stock Exchange at age 39 in 1971 and the last unpaid chairman of the NYSE, has died at the age of 90. Back in 1973, DeNunzio and William J. Casey, who had served as SEC chairman under President Nixon, faced a U.S. Senate committee together for different nominations. Casey, who would be Ronald Reagan's campaign manager and then CIA head, was nominated to be president of the Export-Import Bank. DeNunzio was nominated for the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, an organization he had helped create through an industry committee he had led.
DeNunzio was the chairman of Kidder, Peabody & Company when an insider trading scandal involving Ivan Boesky rocked the firm. Even though DeNunzio was not implicated, his leadership was questioned and he stepped down after 34 years at the firm he had joined in 1953. While he was chairman of the NYSE, he oversaw the merger of two financially troubled firms, Francis I. DuPont & Company and Goodbody & Company. He also helped reorganize the NYSE, which created a public board of directors and created a full-time paid chief executive, leaving him as the last unpaid NYSE chairman.
The Bank of Ireland has introduced paid menopause leave for employees, whereby staff can get up to 10 days of paid leave to help prevent women from dropping out of the workforce.
Meanwhile, U.S. women in the workforce earn 83.4 cents for each dollar a man makes, according to a US Bureau of Labor Statistics report Tuesday.
The New York Times has a story titled "Bread Prices Skyrocket as Inflation Grips Europe." The subheadline is "The elevated costs of flour, nuts, eggs and even electricity are forcing bakers to increase their prices and cut their production." Of course, revolutions have started over the high cost of bread before, just saying.
The New York Times also has an opinion piece titled "The Last Thatcherite" whose headline on the front page of the Times is "They Believed in Markets, but the Markets Didn't Believe in Them." It is the story of UK Prime Minister Liz Truss's "faith in a fantasy version of the free market."
David Nealis is joining Eden Global Capital as president in Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh City and will be splitting his time between Vietnam and the USA.
Neil Leston has started a new role as co-head of Americas index sales for FTSE Russell.
Cboe Europe's Lauri-Anne Kapper and Elena Patimova were winners in the Markets Choice European Women in Finance Awards last week, hosted by Markets Media.
Coinbase commissioned a documentary about its early days through its public listing. It is titled "Coin: A founder's story."
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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FX Markets USA is meeting October 20 in person at etc.venues 360 Madison in New York City. Senior FX traders from asset management firms, investment banks, corporates, exchanges, hedge funds, insurance firms, pension funds and prime brokers attend to gain insight and critical analysis on the latest developments and issues shaping the future of the FX market. You can view the agenda and register here.~SAED
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MWE SHORT: Peter Nabicht - The Implied Job Descriptions in Finance
JohnLothianNews.com
Have you ever lost a million dollars in 4 ½ seconds? Neither have we. Peter Nabicht, however, once wrote an algorithmic trading program that did exactly that, when one of his teammates misplaced a decimal on a minor tweak to the algo. Though the blame could have easily gone to Nabicht and/or one of his colleagues, none of them was fired over the incident. Why? For one, though the tuition was steep, each received a valuable education from the incident. Plus, each team member accepted responsibility for the actions, meaning none tried to say, "It's not my job."
Watch the video »
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SEC NEWS AND SPEECHES-Commissioner says 'moment is ripe' for SEC to ensure investors have relevant ESG data, (Oct 17, 2022)
Suzanne Cosgrove - Vital Law
The SEC is reviewing thousands of comments submitted to the Commission on its recent proposals to facilitate comparable ESG disclosures and is continuing to meet with stakeholders to receive public feedback, Commissioner Lizárraga said. ESG is a dynamic market sector that generates enormous interest among investors, but it also has become a "lively topic" that has moved beyond financial circles, SEC Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga said Monday. "Several (U.S.) states are making headlines for their push against ESG investing, while other states are proactive in their ESG investments." The SEC's proposals were made against this backdrop, he noted. They seek to provide investors with objective metrics that provide the highest degree of comparability, he said. "I believe the proposed rules are a significant step forward in getting investors this information."
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****Former JLN editor Suzanne Cosgrove is keeping her eagle eye on the latest issues in ESG regulation, an increasingly important issue for investors.~SR
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How Can We Fix Inflation? With Economist Steve Hanke
The Problem With Jon Stewart Podcast - YouTube
Jon is joined by Steve Hanke, a Professor of Applied Economics at The Johns Hopkins University, for a chat about why we find ourselves in this current inflation disaster and how we might get out of it. They get into whether the Fed is blowing it, the role of money supply, and whether anyone is looking out for the little guy in all of this monetary maneuvering. They don't always agree, but Jon manages to score a passing grade from the professor.
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*****I guess you can't have Gary Gensler on every episode.~JJL
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Americans Reclaim 60 Million Commuting Hours in Remote-Work Perk; Instead of being stuck in traffic, workers are getting more rest and spending additional time with family.
Jo Constantz - Bloomberg
Americans who are working from home have reclaimed 60 million hours that they used to spend commuting to an office each day. They're now using that time to get more sleep instead. That's the takeaway from a research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which analyzed data from the American Time Use Survey to see what US workers spent their time on when they weren't stuck on a crowded train or locked in traffic. The main findings: Employees spent fewer total hours working and substantially more on sleep and leisure.
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***** I am not sure what I am going to do with my 60 million hours. Any suggestions?~JJL
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Offices in New York, Nationwide Hit Peak Post-Pandemic Occupancy; New York office buildings were 48% full last week, Kastle says; 10-city national average increases but remains below 50%
Matthew Boyle - Bloomberg
Offices in New York and other big US cities last week filled to their highest levels since the pandemic hit, but occupancy still hasn't surpassed 50% in most places. New York offices tracked by security firm Kastle Systems were 47.8% full in the week ended Oct. 12, up from about 44% in the previous two weeks, each of which had school holidays that kept some workers homebound. That's the highest occupancy since early March 2020, right before Covid-19 lockdowns took effect. Kastle's 10-city average occupancy also reached a post-pandemic high, at 49%, boosted by cities such as Austin, Texas, where offices are nearly two-thirds full.
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****** Are the office buildings half empty or half full? Are you an optimist or a pessimist?~JJL
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The U.S. Just Lost 26 Years' Worth of Progress on Life Expectancy
Tanya Lewis - Scientific American
With a few notable exceptions-such as during the 1918 influenza pandemic, World War II and the HIV crisis-life expectancy in the U.S. has had gradual upward trajectory over the past century. But that progress has steeply reversed in the past two years as COVID and other tragedies have cut millions of lives short.
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****** How can this be? I just gained 60 million hours of my life back because of commuting.~JJL
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The Stock Market Had a Terrible Year. These Americans Aren't Bothered; Some say they can't afford to put money into the market while others think there are better routes to wealth
Joe Pinsker - The Wall Street Journal
As stocks plunged this year, many retirement savers had to fight the urge to check their 401(k) balances, reminding themselves that investing is still a steady, gradual path to prosperity. Many Americans didn't have to resist that compulsion: They aren't in the market for the long term. They aren't in it at all. According to a Gallup survey from this spring, 41% of Americans say they have no money invested in the stock market. Many of them can't afford to invest: 75% of those with a household income under $40,000 a year say they have no investments, per Gallup. For others, it is a choice: 11% of Americans with a household income of at least $100,000 a year have nothing in stocks.
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****** They are sitting in cash, a smart investment for these volatile times. But for most of them, they are always sitting in cash - very little of it, unfortunately~JJL
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Tuesday's Top Three
Our top story on Tuesday was Bloomberg's Clean Energy Has a Tipping Point, and 87 Countries Have Reached It. Second was Business Insider's The stock market crash is exposing Wall Street's biggest charlatans, which was our No. 1 story Monday. Third was a tie between Retirement can mean a loss of identity - how to bring happiness to your next act and, for the third time in our top three, REVEALED: Exxon boss snapped at employees during virtual town hall and told them to 'work for Amazon' if they were unhappy - with workers scolded for not holding HANDRAILS in offices, from the Daily Mail.
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MarketsWiki Stats
27,041 pages; 241,273 edits
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
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| Lead Stories | Wall Street Traders or Washington Officials? Sometimes It's Hard to Tell.; Seven dozen senior executive-branch employees disclosed a total of 80,000 stock and fund trades in the past six years
James V. Grimaldi, James Benedict, Coulter Jones and Chad Day - The Wall Street Journal
It's the kind of rapid-fire trading you see on Wall Street: hundreds of stock-market wagers, sometimes peppered with options and other aggressive trades. But this wasn't done on behalf of professional traders. The transactions came from about seven dozen senior federal-government officials who disclosed that they or their families each made more than 500 trades from 2016 through 2021. That totals more than 80,000 transactions while these officials worked in government.
/jlne.ws/3ETLEfQ
Ralph DeNunzio, Wall Street Chieftain, Is Dead at 90; He was chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and rose to lead the venerable securities firm Kidder, Peabody, but stepped down after it was caught up in a 1980s insider-trading scandal.
Robert D. Hershey Jr. - The New York Times
Ralph DeNunzio, who reached Wall Street pinnacles of power with chairmanships of the New York Stock Exchange and the venerable securities firm Kidder, Peabody & Company, where he spent 34 years until stepping down after it was caught up in an insider-trading scandal, died on Monday at his home in Greenwich, Conn. He was 90. The cause was heart failure, his son Peter said. Setting aside aspirations for a sports broadcasting career, Mr. DeNunzio went straight from Princeton to Kidder, starting as a trainee in 1953 and rising to chief executive and chairman. At Kidder he headed an industry task force that resulted in the creation in 1970 of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, the body that protects investors against loss from failing brokers.
/jlne.ws/3yUhFk6
Day Traders Go Back to Their Day Jobs as Stock Market Swoons; Individual investors are placing fewer trades at Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley and Robinhood
Peter Rudegeair - The Wall Street Journal
The pandemic day-trading boom has gone bust. A swooning stock market and high inflation have sapped individual investors' enthusiasm for buying and selling stocks. That was on display in earnings reports and financial disclosures from some of the biggest retail brokerages in recent weeks. The average daily number of retail trades handled by Charles Schwab Corp. fell to 5.52 million in the third quarter, the lowest level since it acquired TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. in late 2020. At Morgan Stanley, retail traders placed an average of 805,000 trades a day in the third quarter. That was down 16% from a year earlier and the lowest level since the investment bank bought E*Trade Financial Corp. in late 2020.
/jlne.ws/3CLaD25
Cboe and S&P Dow Jones Indices Announce Plans for Cboe S&P 500 Dispersion Index, First Cboe Labs Concept to go to Market; New volatility-related index, jointly developed by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Cboe, is designed to provide representation of implied dispersion for the S&P 500 Index Aims to help market participants better understand portfolio diversification benefits and implement dispersion trading strategies; Index is first concept developed by Cboe Labs, company's newly-formed innovation arm focused on new tradable products and services
Cboe Global Markets, Inc.
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of global market infrastructure and tradable products, today announced plans to collaborate with S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI), the world's leading index provider, to develop the Cboe S&P 500 Dispersion Index at its global Risk Management Conference (RMC) in Reykjavik, Iceland. For a well-diversified portfolio, dispersion is a measure of the spread of constituent returns over a defined period, such as a month. In practice, dispersion measures both the opportunity set for individual security selection within a portfolio, as well as the potential diversification achieved by their combination. Akin to the way that the Cboe Volatility Index® (VIX® Index) represents implied volatility of the S&P 500, the Cboe S&P 500 Dispersion Index is intended to represent the implied dispersion among S&P 500 constituents over a 1-month horizon, based on the prices of single stock and index options.
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Why Are Crypto Companies Contributing To Super PACs? As the US midterms approach, crypto donors are splurging on campaigns
Victoria Vergolina - Bloomberg
Wealthy crypto investors are pouring money into US politics, especially going into November's congressional elections. Over the past 15 months or so, crypto-affiliated donors have sent about $70 million to political causes - that's more than what traditional players like defense and big pharma are spending. One of the most prolific donors is none other than Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire co-founder of FTX. Bankman-Fried isn't afraid to spend big here: he has said that he could disburse up to $1 billion on the 2024 presidential election. To discuss how crypto is shaping the political landscape, Zach Cohen from Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg campaign finance reporter Bill Allison join this episode.
/jlne.ws/3D7jnAW
Japan to Further Relax Crypto Rules by Easing Listings of Tokens; Crypto association plans looser screening as soon as December; Move adds to signs that Japan seeks revitalized crypto sector
Takashi Nakamichi and Nao Sano - Bloomberg
Japan plans to further loosen cryptocurrency rules by making it easier to list virtual coins, potentially burnishing the country's allure for Binance and rival foreign digital-asset exchanges. The body that governs crypto exchanges plans to allow them to list coins without going through its lengthy screening process, unless the tokens are new to Japan's market, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News.
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John Mack, Who Led Morgan Stanley Into a Crisis, Regrets Little; "I have f---ing killed it," he writes in a new memoir.
Max Abelson - Bloomberg
Up Close and All In teems with its star's name. "You've got to talk to John Mack," a Duke University bigwig tells corporate recruiters. "Goddamn it," an early Wall Street coworker says after seeing him in action, "John Mack just did that!" One veteran tells a big-time rival he's now No 2., behind a new No. 1: "John Mack!" When he lets a colleague take the bigger bedroom at the Dolder Grand in Zurich, their German-accented concierge announces: "Herr Mack, you are a true gentleman." Then, after leaving Morgan Stanley amid a power struggle in 2001 and returning in 2005 as the boss, his colleagues greet him with howls: "Mack! Mack! Mack!"
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Hong Kong launches $3.8bn fund to lure back international business; City will 'trawl the world for talent', says chief executive John Lee in maiden policy address
Primrose Riordan, Chan Ho-him and Hudson Lockett - Financial Times
Hong Kong has launched a HK$30bn (US$3.8bn) fund alongside a package of measures to attract international businesses back to the city after strict coronavirus controls and a security crackdown crippled its status as a global financial hub. Chief executive John Lee on Wednesday introduced visa and tax concessions for skilled foreign and mainland Chinese workers in his first policy address, including a move to make it cheaper for long-term expatriates to buy houses.
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Retail investors become vigilantes in hunt for crypto's most wanted man; UST Restitution Group is trying to track down Do Kwon after the crash of his terraUSD and luna coins
Song Jung-a in Seoul - Financial Times
Kang Hyung-suk's faith in cryptocurrencies was shattered by the $40bn collapse of Do Kwon's cryptocurrency operator Terraform Labs, where he used to work in Seoul. Now he is looking for payback. In about 10 days, Kang is flying to Dubai, the capital of the crypto-friendly United Arab Emirates, where he believes Kwon is hiding. "Finding him could be easier than thought," said Kang.
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The 'Merge' did not fix Ethereum; Switch in the way the blockchain works is leading to increasing centralisation of the network
Hilary Allen - Financial Times
The Ethereum blockchain that facilitates much of the crypto world last month finally accomplished the long-promised and oft-delayed "Merge", a technical switch in the way it works. The Ethereum blockchain is one of the world's most widely used digital ledgers, and is the main platform for Web3, non-fungible tokens, and decentralised finance. While the Merge is unequivocally good news for the environment, it brings the Ethereum blockchain's other problems into even starker relief.
/jlne.ws/3MFRoM1
Deutsche Bank Headquarters Searched in Tax Case
Patricia Kowsmann - The Wall Street Journal
German prosecutors searched Deutsche Bank's headquarters in Frankfurt on Tuesday as part of a long-running tax-fraud probe that has also targeted several other banks and financial firms across Europe. The investigation relates to historical arbitrage trades used by a wide range of financial firms and investors to reduce taxes on stock dividends. German officials argue that tax credits have been artificially claimed through these trades, known as cum/ex transactions, in ways that could constitute fraud.
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More Than $750 Million' Worth Of Bitcoin Has Left Crypto Exchanges Today
Charles Bovaird - Forbes
Investors have moved over 38,000 units of bitcoin, worth north of $750 million, off exchanges today, according to figures calculated this afternoon. These marketplaces had experienced net outflows of roughly 38,800 units of bitcoin today as of slightly before 1 p.m. EST, according to CryptoQuant data. The total market value of this cryptocurrency was determined using CoinDesk data pulled from the aforementioned data source close to the same time.
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Tipping Points Aren't Just for Climate Catastrophes; A letter from the editor of Bloomberg Green
Aaron Rutkoff - Bloomberg
The personal carbon footprint has a dismal origin. It's true - an oil company came up with it. An oil company also invented the lithium-ion battery. And now 1 in 10 new cars sold worldwide are electric, according to a recent finding from BloombergNEF. How it started shouldn't be confused with how it's going. Climate change, after all, is the process of something as negligible as carbon-dioxide molecules accumulating bit by bit until the planet shakes. It's easy to overlook that tipping points aren't just for desertification, collapsing ice sheets and coral bleaching.
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'We need to look at global regulation of crypto,' says European Commission financial-services commissioner Mairead McGuinness
Anushree Dave - MarketWatch
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mairead McGuinness, European commissioner for financial stability, financial services and the Capital Markets Union, said that regulating the crypto industry would need to be a global effort in order for it to be effective. "There's a lot of concern at a European level as to [what would happen] if crypto were not to be regulated," McGuinness told the FT, adding that there "could be - in time, if it grows - financial-stability problems."
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How Crypto Might Shake Up England's Ancient Property Laws
Camomile Shumba - CoinDesk
Financial regulators around the world are looking to tighten their control over crypto markets, especially after a turbulent year for digital asset prices and marketplaces. Although regulators can tell crypto companies and even investors how to behave, they don't actually make the laws that could inform their regulations.
/jlne.ws/3CNuFsD
US Women Earn 83.4 Cents for Each Dollar Men Make
Alexandre Tanzi - Bloomberg
US women earned 83.4 cents for every dollar men made in the third quarter, up a cent from the prior period but marking a pay gap below the high of 84.3 cents reached last year.
/jlne.ws/3yRXhjs
Instinet completes acquisition of FIS algo trading business; The firm agreed to buy FIS' execution services business - formerly known as Fox River - in June.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Instinet has completed its purchase of the FIS' execution services business just a few months after announcing the deal. FIS' execution services unit offers execution solutions including trading algorithms and execution services, including direct market access and sales trading. As part of the deal, Instinet offered FIS staff employment and acquired its assets.
/jlne.ws/3Sf1JQj
DAS: What does it really mean to be a crypto prime broker? Panellists at this week's Digital Assets Summit explored the definition of a crypto versus traditional prime brokerage - and what role they can really play in the new world of digital assets investment.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
The prime brokerage world from a traditional asset class perspective is well established - with a wide range of bells and whistles, its USP is its holistic approach, covering everything from custody to capital introduction, and assisting its client base to source liquidity they couldn't find themselves. But in the digital assets space, what role can prime brokers really play - and is it realistic to try and shoehorn the current model into this new decentralised world? Panellists at Blockworks' Digital Assets Summit (DAS) this week discussed the concept of prime brokerage, and how it can be updated to apply to the new paradigm.
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Leaders in Trading 2022: Meet the nominees for.... Outstanding Fixed Income Trading Venue; Learn more about the four firms shortlisted for our Editors' Choice Award for Outstanding Fixed Income Trading Venue this year: Bloomberg MTF, LedgerEdge, MarketAxess' Open Trading and Tradeweb.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Next up in our star-studded Editors' Choice awards nominees line up are the four firms shortlisted for this year's Outstanding Fixed Income Trading Venue award. Up for the award this year are four names that need little introduction: Bloomberg MTF, LedgerEdge, MarketAxess' Open Trading and Tradeweb. Find out what they've been up to this year, below.
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia's use of Iranian drones in Ukraine raises stakes for US, Europe
Laura Kelly - The Hill
Russia's escalation of its attacks on Ukraine using Iranian kamikaze drones and targeting critical infrastructure ahead of winter is raising the stakes for the U.S. and its allies to quickly send air defense systems to the country. The use of Iranian drones is also putting pressure on the U.S. and Europe to punish Tehran, even as they hold out hope to revive the comatose nuclear deal.
/jlne.ws/3eCVWGt
At war, Russia aims to claim Ukraine's land - and its carbon emissions; Countries usually try to lower emissions, but both Kyiv and Moscow claim Crimea's carbon impact as their own
Michael Birnbaum - The Washington Post
Countries usually try to lower their carbon emissions, not increase them. But this year, Ukraine and Russia are locked in a battle over who gets to claim the greenhouse gases of Crimea and other Ukrainian territory the Kremlin has occupied by force. It is the latest method by which Russia is trying to establish dominion over a nation its leaders are bombarding - and a measure of the wide-ranging consequences of the war as nations prepare to gather in Egypt next month for a fresh round of U.N. climate negotiations. Ukrainian policymakers, meanwhile, have been forced to expend effort on defending their territory as their own, including in U.N. emissions tallies.
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Putin Is Using Elon Musk To Signal Terms For Ending Ukraine War: Russia Expert; "Putin plays the egos of big men, gives them a sense that they can play a role," said former top National Security Council analyst Fiona Hill.
Marita Vlachou - HuffPost
Russian President Vladimir Putin is using billionaire Elon Musk to broadcast terms for ending his war in Ukraine, former top National Security Council analyst Fiona Hill said. Hill told Politico in an interview published Monday that Putin has chosen Musk in a well-worn playbook of using prominent businesspeople to communicate his demands to a wider audience.
/jlne.ws/3TC6JQ5
Bill Ackman echoes Elon Musk call for Ukraine to give Crimea to Russia in peace deal
Ariel Zilber - New York Post
Bill Ackman joined fellow billionaire Elon Musk in calling on Ukraine to cede Crimea to Russia as part of an overall peace package that would satisfy Moscow and bring an end to the months-long invasion. Ackman, the CEO of hedge fund management company Pershing Square, took to Twitter and threw in his own two cents on how best to resolve the unrest in Eastern Europe. "I believe that nuclear blackmail must never be allowed to succeed," Ackman tweeted on Sunday - alluding to threats by the Kremlin to use nonconventional weapons in order to secure its gains in Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3To3qvE
EU to Sanction Iran Drone Maker, Three Generals on Russia Sales; Measures set to target senior officials in Iran's UAV program; EU diplomats pushing to approve sanctions as early as today
Alberto Nardelli, Natalia Drozdiak, and Jorge Valero - Bloomberg
The European Union is set to propose sanctioning three Iranian individuals and one entity for providing military support to Russia for its war against Ukraine and their involvement in providing Moscow with drones, according to a person familiar with the matter. The entity, Shahed Aviation Industries, is responsible for the design and development of the Shahed series of Iranian drones that have been supplied to Russia and are currently being used in Ukraine, the person said.
/jlne.ws/3eIRh5K
US Ratchets Up Pressure on Turkey Over Ties With Russia; Erdogan's close relations with Putin anger Western powers; Turkey has positioned itself as a mediator in Ukraine war
Beril Akman and Firat Kozok - Bloomberg
US officials have held talks with their Turkish counterparts regarding compliance with financial sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the latest move by the West to pressure Ankara into taking a harder line against Moscow.
/jlne.ws/3F1Myqm
If Putin Orders a Nuke, Will His Generals Obey? In the nuclear and the conventional chains of command, insubordination might just be a tactical factor.
Andreas Kluth - Bloomberg
As military strategists in the West war-game a possible nuclear escalation by Russian President Vladimir Putin, they're also pondering the role disobedience could play. What if Putin gives the order to nuke, but others in the chain of command refuse to execute? Should the US and its allies try to sway those individuals now?
/jlne.ws/3TB87lE
The Wishful Theory of 'Strategic Russian Defeat'; Advocates of the strategy want to transform Russia the way Germany and Japan were after they lost World War II. But there's one big hitch.
Leonid Bershidsky - Bloomberg
Throughout the eight months of the Ukraine invasion, Vladimir Putin has stressed that his war is an existential struggle for Russia, a fight for a new world order. Now, important Western policy thinkers appear to be coming to the same conclusion: The narrative is shifting from helping Ukraine win to shaping a postwar global order that would sideline Russia, rendering it unable to cause further trouble.
/jlne.ws/3VIF41M
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2023 finalists announced: Bieke Depoorter, Samuel Fosso, Arthur Jafa, Frida Orupabo
Deutsche Börse
The four finalists of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2023 have been chosen: Bieke Depoorter, Samuel Fosso , Arthur Jafa and Frida Orupabo. Established in 1996 and awarded in partnership with the Photographers' Gallery in London since 2016, the influential prize annually recognizes artists and their projects who have made the most significant contribution to photography over the past 12 months.
/jlne.ws/3EUFfAX
Exchange Publishes Consultation Paper On New Listing Rules For Specialist Technology Companies
HKEX
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), today (Wednesday) published a consultation paper seeking public feedback on proposals to expand Hong Kong's existing listing regime to permit listings of Specialist Technology Companies. HKEX Chief Executive Officer, Nicolas Aguzin, said: "Connecting capital with opportunities sits at the core of HKEX's strategy and as part of this we are committed to further elevating Hong Kong's position as the listing venue of choice for innovative companies from around the world. These new proposals will expand the range of companies that can access Hong Kong's deep, liquid, international markets and will offer investors even greater choice."
/jlne.ws/3sdYKwB
HKEX 2022 Q3 Results
HKEX
HKEX 2022 Q3 Results; Highlights. Nicolas Aguzin, Chief Executive Officer said: "This has been a productive quarter for HKEX with a number of potentially significant strategic initiatives announced or going live. These include the addition of ETFs in Stock Connect, the announcement of the next phase in the Connect franchise - Swap Connect, the establishment of the Hong Kong International Carbon Market Council and a number of new product launches and market enhancements. These are all further exciting building blocks, as we shape the long term sustainable and successful future of our business and our markets.
/jlne.ws/3eFNUfO
Nasdaq Reports Third Quarter 2022 Results; Continues Strong Growth in Solutions Segments Revenue
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today reported financial results for the third quarter of 2022. https://jlne.ws/3TBjKci
Nasdaq Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.20 Per Share
Nasdaq
The Board of Directors of Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share on the company's outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on December 16, 2022 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 2, 2022. Future declarations of quarterly dividends and the establishment of future record and payment dates are subject to approval by the Board of Directors.
/jlne.ws/3CKci8e
NZX Board succession outlined - Chair-Elect announced
NZX
Experienced markets practitioner Rob Hamilton has been appointed NZX Board Chair Elect following the announcement in February that current Board Chair James Miller is to retire after next year's annual shareholder meeting (ASM). Mr Miller says Mr Hamilton's appointment follows a comprehensive succession process. He has been appointed to the Board effective immediately. He will take over from Mr Miller in April 2023 following confirmation at the ASM.
/jlne.ws/3Dch93v
2022 Q3 Results Briefing
HKEX
Nicolas Aguzin Chief Executive Officer, HKEX Group
Vanessa Lau Group Chief Financial Officer, HKEX Group
Agenda
01 | YTD Q3 2022 Key Highlights
02 | HKEX Group Financial Review
03 | Business and Strategic Update
04 | Appendix
/jlne.ws/3g9fwu6
Position Limits - Equity Listed Products
TMX
The applicable position limits for share futures and options on stocks, exchange-traded funds, and trust units have been updated and are reflected in the position limit file and table1 below. The position limit file is available in Annex 1 and retrievable here.
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Nasdaq Expands Anti-Financial Crime Technology for Digital Assets
Shanny Basar - MarketsMedia
Nasdaq created a dedicated crypto team at the beginning of this year and will continue to invest after launching a suite of solutions in anti-money laundering, fraud detection and surveillance that can also be used by traditional firms moving into the space. Valerie Bannert-Thurner, head of the buy-side and sell-side solutions business within Market Technology at Nasdaq, told Markets Media: "We created a separate investment request for crypto early this year that was well supported and we have set up a dedicated team. This is the beginning of a long stream of investments and innovation in the crypto space."
/jlne.ws/3Dc1JfE
Cryptocurrencies Will Play 'Very important Role' in Payments Disruption: Walmart CTO
Andrew Asmakov - Decrypt
Cryptocurrencies fall into one of the major areas of payments disruption and "will become an important part of how customers transact," according to Suresh Kumar, the global chief technology at the retail giant Walmart. "Crypto is going to continue to play a very important role in that. And obviously, we want to be there where the customer really needs us to be," Kumar said at Yahoo Finance's All Markets Summit on Monday.
/jlne.ws/3eLWNEQ
IDtech Is The New Fintech
Riley Hughes - Forbes
Fintech is one of the greatest technology revolutions in recent years-over 20% of "unicorns" (startups that have reached over $1 billion valuations) are considered fintech companies. Because of this trend, any company can be a financial services company, giving consumers and businesses more ways to manage their finances than ever before.
/jlne.ws/3TwQVOu
FinTech Automation Selects ForwardAI to Provide Seamless Access to Accounting Data for Financial Institutions
Yahoo Finance
ForwardAI, a fintech providing aggregated access to accounting & business data and analysis, announced today its partnership with FinTech Automation, a financial technology company that allows fintechs and traditional financial institutions (FIs) to offer various embedded finance and banking-as-a-service products. Through the partnership, FinTech Automation will adopt ForwardAI's premium API for seamless access to a full suite of accounting data platforms for its clients.
/jlne.ws/3ScwNzZ
JPMorgan Chase gives early payday deposits to Secure Banking customers
Hugh Son - CNBC
JPMorgan Chase is giving some customers early access to their direct deposits, a feature popularized by fintech rivals, as it hopes to attract users to a no-overdraft checking account.
The bank is switching on this feature - which accelerates payments including payroll, tax refunds, pensions and government benefits by up to two days - to customers of its Secure Banking product starting this week, according to Ryan MacDonald, head of growth financial products for Chase.
That typically means getting paid on a Wednesday rather than Friday, he said.
/jlne.ws/3CIhysV
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Germany's Cybersecurity Chief Removed Over Alleged Ties to Russia
Christopher F. Schuetze - NY Times
The German government's top cybersecurity chief was removed from his post on Tuesday after a hit comedy TV show highlighted his proximity to a German lobbyist group with ties to Russian intelligence. The Interior Ministry confirmed on Tuesday the dismissal of Arne Schonbohm, who had led the Federal Office for Information Security since 2016. The allegations of possible ties to Russian intelligence, which were reported this month by a German satirical news show, "have permanently damaged the necessary public trust in the neutrality and impartiality" of Mr. Schönbohm, a spokeswoman for the ministry said.
/jlne.ws/3eMkInl
Germany's cyber security chief sacked over alleged Russia links; Dismissal comes amid fears Moscow might target country's critical infrastructure because of its support for Ukraine
Guy Chazan - Financial Times
The head of Germany's national cyber security agency Arne Schönbohm has been sacked over reports of his alleged ties to Russian intelligence. A government statement said interior minister Nancy Faeser had released Schönbohm from his duties with immediate effect after the German media aired accusations against him.
/jlne.ws/3Da26at
What Does It Mean To 'Invest In Cybersecurity' In 2022 And Beyond?
Isaac Kohen - Forbes
After years of unfathomable cybersecurity incidents, including expensive data breaches, disruptive ransomware attacks and costly phishing scams, executives and board members are no longer willing to sit by and hope for the best.
/jlne.ws/3TA3AAg
Biden administration issues new cybersecurity requirements for rail operators
Sean Lyngaas - CNN Politics
The Biden administration on Tuesday released a directive requiring freight railroad owners and operators to tighten their security in the face of hacking threats from criminals and foreign governments.
It's the latest move by US officials to use their policy authorities to try to boost cybersecurity in key sectors following the damaging ransomware attack on a major pipeline last year.
/jlne.ws/3SdIrdY
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | What is KYC? How Crypto Exchanges Prevent Money Laundering
Jason Nelson - Decrypt
If you've ever used a cryptocurrency exchange or bought an NFT, it's likely that you will have had to perform a know-your-customer (KYC) check to verify your identity. KYC checks are a key part of the global financial system's infrastructure, and enable cryptocurrency businesses to remain compliant with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. For states and regulators, KYC requirements are a vital tool in preventing crypto being used for crimes such as human trafficking, money laundering and terrorist financing.
/jlne.ws/3Twx6Xp
'I finally found my tribe': Inside Latin America's booming crypto testing ground
Leo Schwartz - FORTUNE
Hermes Ribeiro Martins, a 34-year-old Web3 entrepreneur living in the Brazilian port city of João Pessoa, first heard about cryptocurrency through Twitter. It was 2016, a year before Bitcoin hit $20,000 and exploded into the mainstream. Ribeiro began investing in the biggest cryptocurrencies. After Bitcoin crashed in 2018, he started to move into altcoins. "I finally found my tribe," he told Fortune.
/jlne.ws/3ETNflQ
'Solana Killer'-A Radical New $2 Billion 'Facebook Spinoff' Cryptocurrency Is Coming Despite The Huge Bitcoin, Ethereum And Crypto Price Crash
Billy Bambrough - Forbes
BitcoinBTC and cryptocurrencies are currently snowed in as a bitter crypto winter shows no sign of thawing any time soon (though some think they've spotted a $28 trillion opportunity). The bitcoin price is stuck under the psychological $20,000 per bitcoin level after plummeting more than 70% from its all-time high of almost $70,000, while ethereum and other top ten cryptocurrencies, such as solana, are down even worse. Now, despite fears growing market "panic" could send markets down by another 20%, a new, highly-anticipated cryptocurrency project that's been branded a "solana killer" and valued at $2 billion by its top venture capital backers has launched to much fanfare but has recieved a mixed response.
/jlne.ws/3yQZGuN
Coinbase Piles On Support for Grayscale's EFT by Filing Amicus Brief in Effort to Reverse SEC's Rejection
James Rubin - CoinDesk
Coinbase filed an amicus brief supporting a Grayscale Investments lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for rejecting the firm's proposal for a spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund, adding to one filed Tuesday by three trade groups representing a wide swath of the crypto industry supporting the lawsuit
/jlne.ws/3MGb6as
Former Celsius exec joins JPMorgan as director of crypto regulatory policy
Reuters
Former Celsius executive Aaron Iovine has joined JPMorgan Chase & Co as executive director of digital assets regulatory policy, according to his LinkedIn profile, days after the bank's Chief Executive Jamie Dimon blasted cryptocurrencies as fraud and decentralized ponzi schemes. Iovine was head of policy and regulatory affairs at bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, which he left in September after an eight-month stint.
/jlne.ws/3CKhEQL
New IRS tax language tweaked to include NFTs
Dylan Butts - Forkast
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) updated its annual income tax instructions in a Monday draft that does away with the taxable category "virtual currency" and replaces it with the term "digital assets," which explicitly includes non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
/jlne.ws/3eI2T93
Time's Running Out for French Crypto Registration Regime, Regulator Says
Jack Schickler - CoinDesk
Crypto companies operating in France were urged to prepare for tough European Union standards by a senior official from the country's Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on Wednesday. AMF Secretary-General Benoît de Juvigny confirmed the country would be winding down its lighter national registration regime for crypto service providers.
/jlne.ws/3eLopK7
Crypto bank Nuri to shut down, asks customers to withdraw funds
Pradipta Mukherjee - Forkast
German crypto bank Nuri (formerly known as Bitwala) has asked customers to withdraw their funds by Dec. 18 so that the "business can be terminated and liquidated." Trading will be open until the end of November. Nuri filed for insolvency in August due to the prolonged crypto bear market and macroeconomic events.
/jlne.ws/3EXmRr5
DeFi Is the 'Absolute Killer' for Real Estate Investment: Rockoff Chains Exec
CoinDesk
Roofstock just announced its first property sale via NFT enabled by its Web3 subsidiary "Roofstock onChain." Executives Sanjay Raghavan and Geoff Thompson join "All About Bitcoin" live from CoinDesk I.D.E.A.S. to dissect why single-family purchases would want to do business in DeFi. Plus, the risks associated with this new business model.
/jlne.ws/3MM9ufu
Crypto Bank Silvergate to Miss Goal of Offering Stablecoin This Year
Michael Bellusci - CoinDesk
Silvergate Capital (SI) is no longer on track to bring its own stablecoin to market this year, though CEO Alan Lane said the company continues to work closely with regulators on the matter. "We're certainly disappointed that it looks like we're gonna miss our goal of launching it this year," Lane said during Silvergate's earnings conference call Tuesday. The company, Lane added, is working diligently to build its operational and regulatory compliance "muscle" to ensure a smooth launch.
/jlne.ws/3eKXKx5
Bored Ape Yacht Club Founders Talk SEC Investigation and Getting 'Doxxed'
Daniel Roberts - Decrypt
Last week brought news that rocked the NFT world: The SEC is investigating Bored Ape Yacht Club parent company Yuga Labs over potential securities violations for the sale of Bored Ape NFTs as well as ApeCoin tokens, according to Bloomberg, citing an anonymous source. The news sent APE down more than 10% and has some legal experts saying SEC Chair Gary Gensler is clearly widening his regulatory net to include NFTs.
/jlne.ws/3eCTxM1
SEC commissioner says agency could provide more guidance on NFTs
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez - Fortune
The Securities and Exchange Commission has provided little clarity over rules on NFTs, and that needs to change, according to Commissioner Hester Peirce. Peirce, one of five SEC commissioners including Chairman Gary Gensler, told the Financial Times that some NFTs could be regulated like stocks and bonds, and that the agency should provide more information that adds transparency for players in the industry.
/jlne.ws/3eLIAaT
The Once-Hot Market for Metaverse Land Is Attracting Risky Bets; Virtual property has become an investment strategy for some, even as values have tumbled alongside crypto prices
Carly Wanna - Bloomberg
Crashing cryptocurrency prices presented Aditya Saxena with an investment opportunity he just couldn't pass up: a parcel of land in the metaverse. A software engineer at Microsoft Corp., the 25-year-old purchased the plot for about $3,000 in August. A few months earlier he eyed similar properties that sold for three or four times that price.
/jlne.ws/3EY0jXr
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Inflation Causes IRS to Raise Tax Brackets, Standard Deduction by 7%
Richard Rubin - The Wall Street Journal
The Internal Revenue Service adjusted key tax code parameters for 2023 to reflect higher inflation, raising the standard deduction and the income thresholds where tax rates take effect. The 37% top marginal tax rate will apply to individual income above $578,125 and married couples' income above $693,750 next year, as those thresholds go up 7% from 2022 under inflation adjustments announced by the agency on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3ESRzS5
Griffin and Schwarzman fuel $111 million haul for GOP super PAC
Crain's Chicago Business
Fueled by $10 million donations from Citadel's Ken Griffin and Blackstone Group's Stephen Schwarzman, a super PAC with close ties to Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell raised $111 million in the third quarter, according to its latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. It will need the money. The Senate Leadership Fund has spent or reserved $219 million in advertising after Labor Day, the traditional kickoff of general election campaigns, according to AdImpact, which tracks political spending. The super PAC is propping up underfunded candidates in multiple battleground states that the GOP will need to win if it is recapture the Senate.
/jlne.ws/3s56SQ3
McCarthy signals GOP-led House likely to oppose more aid to Ukraine
Eugene Scott - The Washington Post
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is signaling that if Republicans win the House majority in next month's midterm elections, the GOP is likely to oppose more aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Since the invasion in February the majority of congressional Republicans and Democrats have united in authorizing billions of dollars in U.S. military and humanitarian assistance to Kyiv as a geopolitical and moral stand against Vladimir Putin's aggression. McCarthy, who could be House speaker if Republicans triumph, indicated that that could end in a GOP-led House.
/jlne.ws/3D8tOEl
Andrew Cuomo's Next Act Is a Podcast, With Scaramucci as His First Guest
Ella Ceron - Bloomberg
Andrew Cuomo is starting a podcast. The former governor of New York is set to debut his show, As a Matter of Fact... with Andrew Cuomo, on Quake Media, a podcast startup backed by Chicago Ventures and other investors. The show will debut on Oct. 20, and Cuomo's first guest will be Anthony Scaramucci, the financier and former White House communications director who infamously lasted just 10 days in his role with former President Donald Trump's administration.
/jlne.ws/3VGHRrU
A Humiliating End to Trussonomics; The British government's dramatic U-turn shows how policy mistakes can be rapidly punished in times of global economic uncertainty.
John Cassidy - The New Yorker
On Monday morning, Britain's new finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, delivered a funeral oration for Trussonomics-the regressive and ill-advised tax-cutting scheme of Britain's new Conservative Prime Minister, Liz Truss. In a televised address that lasted about five minutes, Hunt said that he was eliminating virtually all of the tax cuts that Truss's government proposed last month, which sent the financial markets into a conniption, and he also promised to rein in an expensive cap on energy bills, which the government recently introduced to counter soaring fuel prices. "A central responsibility for any government is to do what is necessary for economic stability," Hunt said.
/jlne.ws/3EU1Opy
U.K. wonders if embattled Prime Minister Liz Truss can even outlast a lettuce
CBS News
Powerless, humiliated, labeled a "ghost" prime minister and compared unfavorably to a head of lettuce - this is not a good week for Liz Truss. Britain's prime minister was scrambling to recover her grasp on power Tuesday after her economic plans were ripped up and repudiated by a Treasury chief whom she was forced to appoint to avoid meltdown on the financial markets. Truss remains in office, for now, largely because her Conservative Party is divided over how to replace her. In a bid at business as usual, Truss held a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and met lawmakers from rival Conservative factions, arguing that keeping her in the post can provide stability, even though she has had to ditch almost the entire prospectus on which she was elected party leader just six weeks ago.
/jlne.ws/3DatdC0
Brexit Cut Trade Between UK and EU by Close to 20%, ESRI Says; 'Significant' drop in trade seen between UK and most EU states; Ireland had large drop in imports from UK, no export impact
Morwenna Coniam - Bloomberg
Brexit resulted in a "substantial negative impact" for trade in both directions between the European Union and the UK, according to Ireland's Economic and Social Research Institute. Trade from UK to the EU dropped 16% while there was a 20% decline in trade from the EU to the UK, compared to a no-Brexit scenario, the ESRI said in a working paper published Wednesday. The analysis looked at product-level data on goods trade flows for 2021 -- the first full year of the UK's withdrawal from the bloc.
/jlne.ws/3yRjkXs
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Jeremy Hunt; How the new chancellor of the exchequer survived Johnson and Truss to become the UK's most powerful politician.
Adrian Wooldridge - Bloomberg
Jeremy Hunt is UK prime minister in all but name. Liz Truss is nothing more than a specter walking the corridors of power, occasionally wailing and clanking her chains. On Monday, she didn't even take an "urgent question" - posed by Labour - on what on earth is going on, leaving the job to her former leadership rival, Penny Mordaunt. She also turned up late and looked miserable. Hunt is now both the public face of the government, routinely acting as its spokesman in parliament and the media. He is also its leading decision-maker, tearing up almost all of Truss's budget and starting from scratch.
/jlne.ws/3yRMeqx
EU Countries Must Be Ready to Block Crypto Mining, Commission Says
Jack Schickler - CoinDesk
Members of the European Union must be ready to block crypto mining, the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm responsible for introducing new legislation, said Tuesday as the region prepares for an uncertain winter. The EU is also developing an energy-efficiency label for blockchains as the disruption of gas supplies from Russia leave some fearing high energy prices, blackouts and shortages.
/jlne.ws/3eKXONl
Climate Role Model Sweden's New Leader Axes Environment Ministry; Climate policies were moved under enterprise and energy unit; Sweden is among the global leaders in fighting global warming
Niclas Rolander - Bloomberg
Sweden's new government has scrapped the ministry for the environment in a move that critics say is indicative of policies that threaten the country's climate targets. The largest Nordic nation is widely seen as a front-runner on climate matters, and since 1987 it has had a separate ministry for environmental issues. That legacy is now coming under question, after Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson decided the new minister in charge of climate and environment policies will work under the ministry for enterprise and energy, as one of his first moves after assuming power on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3EOXrvP
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | U.K. Regulator's Enforcement Director to Step Down Next Year; The Financial Conduct Authority's director of enforcement and market oversight, Mark Steward, plans to leave next spring
Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal
The executive director for enforcement and market oversight at the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority, which also supervises compliance by U.K. cryptocurrency firms with anti-money-laundering laws, said he would step down next spring, the agency said Tuesday. Mark Steward was appointed to his role at the finance regulator seven years ago. He was known for leading some of the FCA's most complex and high-profile enforcement actions, including ones against major global banks and individuals, the agency said.
/jlne.ws/3s8Bkck
Commissioner Mersinger to Participate in a Panel Discussion Regarding Pragmatic Commodity Surveillance in Unprecedented Times
CFTC
Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger will participate in a panel discussion, Pragmatic Commodity Surveillance in Unprecedented Times, an event hosted by Commodities People and K3 by BroadPeak.
/jlne.ws/3SbzvG4
FMA warns InvestNow for AML/CFT deficiencies and failures
Financial Markets Authority
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko has issued a formal warning to InvestNow Saving and Investment Service Limited for failing to comply with anti-money laundering requirements, including conducting customer due diligence, and having adequate and effective processes.
/jlne.ws/3VQduzE
SEC Files Action Against Former Newage CEO
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it filed charges against Brent David Willis, the former Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of NewAge, Inc. (formerly known as New Age Beverages Corporation), alleging that Willis engaged in a multi-year fraud by disseminating numerous false and misleading press releases and making false public statements concerning NewAge's business dealings, and aided and abetted NewAge's disclosure of material information in violation of Regulation FD.
/jlne.ws/3gjZ0aW
SEC Charges Company and Estate with Fraudulent Investment Scheme
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against the estate of Stephen Romney Swensen, a former registered investment adviser representative, for operating a fraudulent investment offering from 2011 until 2022 that raised over $29 million from more than 50 investors.
/jlne.ws/3s7nDKx
SEC Obtains Nine Final Judgments in $345 Million Ponzi-Like Scheme
SEC
The SEC has obtained final judgments against eight defendants and one relief defendant in its case against them for their role in a $345 million Ponzi-like scheme.
/jlne.ws/3CROXl8
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Goldman CEO Frustrated by Stock Price, Says Most Staff in Office Every Day
Andrew Bary - Barron's
Goldman Sachs Group CEO David Solomon expressed some frustration with the valuation of the company's stock, noting that it generally has traded a premium to book value since its IPO in 1999. "Would I like the EPS [earnings per share] power of the firm to be recognized," Solomon told CNBC on Tuesday in an interview after Goldman (ticker: GS) reported third-quarter earnings of $8.25 a share, which were down 44% from year-earlier profits of nearly $15 a share but above the consensus estimate of $7.75 a share.
/jlne.ws/3CK7fED
Twitter Locks Staff Stock Accounts in Anticipation of Deal
Kurt Wagner and Ed Ludlow - Bloomberg
Twitter Inc. froze the equity awards accounts for employees on Monday as the deadline to seal a deal with Elon Musk approaches. The social media company updated its employee FAQ page this week to alert staff that they won't be able to access or trade shares from the Equity Award Center. The page said the change was done "in anticipation of the closing of the pending acquisition of Twitter by an entity controlled by Elon Musk," according to two people familiar with the change.
/jlne.ws/3Si6FDQ
Bill Gross Criticizes 'Total Return' Bond Funds He Popularized; Former bond king says strategy fails to live up to its mission; Funds seen clinging to their benchmarks, hurting retail crowd
Ye Xie - Bloomberg
Bill Gross pioneered the "total return" strategy in the 1980s that revolutionized the once-sleepy bond market. Now the co-founder of Pacific Investment Management Co., who was ousted in 2014, says many of the funds bearing the name are failing to live up to their mission after suffering heavy losses this year. Instead of helping to cushion the market downturn, they've clung to their benchmarks too closely, essentially becoming "quasi" index-tracking strategies, according to Gross, who created Pimco's Total Return Fund in 1987, which would eventually become the world's largest mutual fund at its peak.
/jlne.ws/3TvTiAT
Bill Gross: Bond-fund taxonomist; Not to be confused with taxidermist
Alexandra Scaggs - Financial Times
Bond-fund classification can be an arbitrary practice. It is also very important. And Bill Gross has some thoughts on it. In the US, at least, mom-and-pop investors and advisers build portfolios with the categories used by Morningstar et al. This straitjacket isn't always popular with asset managers, but these classifications have become standard because of their simplicity and popularity with financial advisers.
/jlne.ws/3ERPXIi
Have passive funds strangled US oil production?; Barclays finds evidence of 'common ownership' problems
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
"Common ownership" is a controversial theory that has been making waves in financial academia, which argues that big institutional investors and asset managers that own shares across an industry stunt competition. This is about incentives, not dodgy deals made in smoke-filled boardrooms. In other words, if you run a company and know your biggest shareholders are also the biggest shareholders in your rivals, perhaps your competitive instincts are blunted just a little?
/jlne.ws/3MHr3Nr
Shale Mogul Daniel Rice, 41, to Reap $975 Million From BP Deal
Gerson Freitas Jr. - Bloomberg
A young US natural gas mogul may be taking home nearly $1 billion after a deal with oil giant BP Plc. Daniel Rice stands to receive about $975 million in cash from the sale of Archaea Energy Inc., a renewable gas giant he helped create from a blank check company, according to Bloomberg calculations based on company filings.
/jlne.ws/3ScItmg
Only the Fed Can Return Gold's Lost Luster; With the war in Ukraine and inflation everywhere, 2022 briefly looked like a winner for gold. But times have changed.
Megha Mandavia - The Wall Street Journal
After a big rally early in the year, gold has lost much of its shiny appeal. To regain that luster it will need to win against a formidable opponent-King Dollar. But with economists and business leaders still sending contradictory messages on the economy and the Federal Reserve still firmly focused on clipping inflation's wings, gold bugs could be in for a long wait. Gold prices have taken a beating in 2022. Usually, gold prices get a bump when geopolitical risks or inflation rise but this time this story has been markedly different: the inexorably rising dollar, driven both by economic woes abroad and expectations of stiff Fed rate increases, has trampled everything in its path. According to FactSet, prices for front-month gold futures contracts are down 19% since notching near-record highs in March-right after Russia invaded Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3TAxOmH
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Bill Gates says investment in innovation is the important part of ESG
Emma Newburger - CNBC
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Tuesday addressed the issue of businesses that exaggerate environmental, social and governance credentials, arguing that though corporate sustainability credentials are often controversial, they are still critical for assessing whether to invest in a company. "The part that I believe in is where you accelerate the innovation. To me, it's not so much who you don't invest in but who you do invest in," Gates said during an interview with CNBC's Diana Olick.
/jlne.ws/3Db9ty8
ESG Compliance Strategy Must Align With Regulation
Stephanie Yonekura and Katy Forsstrom of Hogan Lovells - Bloomberg Law
Global companies are in various stages of developing programs focused on environmental, social, and governance compliance, while concerns in the US around ESG compliance are picking up as well. Though ESG legislation has yet to become commonplace, compliance officers are aware that their organizations face ethical, legal, and reputational risks relating to ESG factors. Those factors include violating environmental regulations, human rights abuses, and corruption concerns. With developing legislation and changing expectations from stakeholders, more organizations are considering how to incorporate ESG into existing compliance programs.
/jlne.ws/3yUzpM5
BlackRock's ESG Troubles Mount as Missouri Pulls $500 Million
Silla Brush - Bloomberg
Missouri withdrew $500 million of pension assets from BlackRock Inc., criticizing the firm for prioritizing ESG concerns over shareholder returns. "We should not allow asset managers such as BlackRock, who have demonstrated that they will prioritize advancing a woke political agenda above the financial interests of their customers, to continue speaking on behalf of the state of Missouri," state Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick said Tuesday in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3CKdtV3
Cheapest Path for Big Methane Cuts Goes Through Australia's Mines; The country's coal mines could reduce Australia's annual methane emissions 18% by 2030, according to an analysis from energy think tank Ember.
Aaron Clark - Bloomberg
Cutting methane leaks from coal mines is the cheapest way for Australia to significantly reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas, according to a new analysis from energy think tank Ember. The nation's coal mines spew more than 1 million metric tons of methane each year, contributing nearly a quarter of the country's emissions of the gas, the group said in an analysis released Wednesday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government is considering joining the more than 120 nations that have signed the Global Methane Pledge, in which participants take voluntary actions to collectively reduce emissions of the gas at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.
/jlne.ws/3SdAa9X
In the Netherlands, Balancing Energy Security Against Climate Concerns; A central location and web of gas pipelines are helping boost gas imports in the country even as it tries to stick to its clean energy goals.
Stanley Reed and Clifford Krauss - The New York Times
Two enormous vessels tethered to a pier in the Eemshaven harbor in the Netherlands form the centerpiece of this country's riposte to Russia's throttling energy supplies to Europe. On a blustery fall day, the Gaslog Georgetown, at nearly 1,000 feet long, was pumping liquefied natural gas brought from the U.S. Gulf Coast into a ship designed to receive the chilled fuel and send it into pipelines onshore. These cargoes of L.N.G., which started arriving in mid-September, are bringing massive transfusions of natural gas not only to the Netherlands but also farther on to other energy-hungry European countries, including Germany and the Czech Republic.
/jlne.ws/3VCUq7N
Can the World Learn to Live on Less Water?; A conversation with urban planning expert Diane Davis on why drought-related crises are a political problem that requires more than just tackling climate change.
Sarah Green Carmichael - Bloomberg
The 2022 drought continues to affect worldwide shipping, food production, hydropower and nuclear generation. Dwindling snowpacks mean water scarcity is likely to continue as global warming increases. You're the Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, and previously head of the International Development Group in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. Some of your earlier work looked at urban transport, violence, political leadership, and housing. How did you become interested in water?
/jlne.ws/3VBmVTj
Synthetic ESG funds found to hold polluting collateral; Index trackers and ETFs run by firms including BNP Paribas and Amundi are among those with 'unexpected' holdings
Chloe Leung - Financial Times
Synthetic "sustainable" index-tracking and exchange traded funds run by firms including BNP Paribas and Amundi hold polluting companies as collateral, Ignites Europe has found, risking undermining investor trust. A synthetic index fund replicates the performance of an index by using derivatives rather than investing directly in the index's constituents. The fund holds shares that serve as collateral for the swap counterparty.
/jlne.ws/3VGLJcq
HSBC ads banned for misleading consumers about green credentials; UK watchdog rules series publicising tree planting and net zero emissions plans failed to disclose fossil fuel financing
Camilla Hodgson - Financial Times
The UK's advertising watchdog has banned a series of HSBC's advertisements for being misleading about its green credentials by not mentioning the bank's financing of fossil fuel projects and links to deforestation. The ruling sets a precedent for the financial sector, marking the first time the regulator has barred ads by a bank on greenwashing grounds.
/jlne.ws/3StsSiB
Steve Ballmer Commits $400 Million to Black-Led Venture Capital and Private Equity; The former Microsoft CEO is seeding new private-fund ventures to help remedy the lack of capital available to Black entrepreneurs
Chris Cumming - The Wall Street Journal
Steve Ballmer has made a big bet on Black private-fund managers, aiming to back top-flight investment talent while helping fill the funding gap for minority-led firms and businesses. The former Microsoft Corp. chief executive and his wife, Connie Ballmer, this year invested $400 million across four investment vehicles focused on Black venture-capital and private-equity managers, Mr. Ballmer said in an interview. The transactions haven't been made public previously.
/jlne.ws/3sqCCQ5
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Deutsche Bank HQ Raided by German Prosecutors in Tax Probe; Cologne prosecutors searching lender's Frankfurt premises; Authorities also visited home of former co-CEO Fitschen
Karin Matussek and Nicholas Comfort - Bloomberg
German authorities raided Deutsche Bank AG's headquarters as well as the home of former co-chief executive officer, Juergen Fitschen, as part of a vast investigation of the controversial Cum-Ex transactions that's embroiled some of the world's most powerful financial firms. Cologne prosecutors began inspections at the bank's Frankfurt premises on Tuesday, the lender said, adding that the raid is part of an ongoing investigation pending since 2017, in which the company is fully cooperating.
/jlne.ws/3SeEOob
Credit Suisse Taps RBC, Morgan Stanley for Possible Capital Hike; Swiss bank said to work with firms including Canadian, US; Credit Suisse contacted Qatari wealth fund on capital raise
Jan-Henrik Foerster, Dinesh Nair, and Eyk Henning - Bloomberg
With just over a week to go until the unveiling of its critical turnaround plan, Credit Suisse Group AG executives are probing every corner of the business for ways to raise funds -- and preparing to tap outside investors in case they need more. The Zurich-based bank is working with Royal Bank of Canada and Morgan Stanley on a potential capital increase, should it need raise funds for its restructuring, according to people familiar with matter. Those discussions buttress efforts to dispose of some areas of the business, likely to include large parts of the investment bank and potentially asset management in the US.
/jlne.ws/3CJAOpY
JPMorgan Must Face Suit by Fired Trader Claiming Retaliation; Donald Turnbull says he was fired for cooperating in US probe; Bank paid $920 million in 2020 to settle spoofing claim by DOJ
Steve Stroth and Bob Van Voris - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. must face a suit from a former trader who claims he was fired for cooperating with US prosecutors probing illegal spoof trades at the bank's precious-metals trading business, a federal judge in New York ruled. Donald Turnbull was fired in 2019, at a time when the bank also was cooperating with the government probe. JPMorgan, the largest US bank, agreed in 2020 to pay more than $920 million to resolve government claims that its trading desks were spoofing markets in precious metals and treasuries.
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BoE says LDI funds 'better prepared' to manage shocks; Emergency bond-purchase programme helped improve liquidity and reduce risk, assessment finds
Josephine Cumbo - Financial Times
The Bank of England said liability-driven investment funds were "significantly better prepared" to manage shocks following the emergency bond-buying programme it launched last month. In its first full assessment of its 13-day intervention to buy £65bn of bonds, prompted by the chancellor's announcement of unfunded tax cuts, the Bank said its actions had injected liquidity into the system and reduced the risk of a repeat of fire sales that had damaged pension schemes.
/jlne.ws/3MPuOAz
Bank of Ireland Introduces Paid Menopause Leave for Employees; New policy means staff can get up to 10 days of paid leave; One in 10 women in the UK leave their jobs due to symptoms
Olivia Konotey-Ahulu
Bank of Ireland Group Plc is introducing leave for women going through the menopause, as momentum picks up among some employers in Europe to prevent women dropping out of the workplace.
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Swiss Banks Seek Most Dollars Since 2008 in Bid for Easy Profit
Bastian Benrath - Bloomberg
Banks in Switzerland sought the most dollars since 2008 using an emergency dollar swap facility provided by the Federal Reserve in what is likely to be a bid for easy profits. In Wednesday's auction conducted by the Swiss National Bank, 17 institutions took up $11.09 billion. That's the most since October 2008, when the Global Financial Crisis was raging in the wake of Lehman Brothers' collapse.
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Banks are discovering that holding cash can be lucrative again; Rising interest rates are reviving dim memories of what it means to live without free money
Brooke Masters - Financial Times
Suddenly, everybody wants your cash. As recently as last year, many US and European banks were actively trying to get out of holding clients' ready money because they were awash with deposits. The trend was quite extreme in Europe where central bank rates had been negative for years. UBS and Credit Suisse, among others, were charging their wealth management customers as much as 0.6 per cent simply for the privilege of having a large balance in their accounts. But US banks too kept cutting the interest rates they paid on corporate deposits in the hope of getting customers to go elsewhere.
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Goldman Sachs retreats from mass market in long quest for higher valuation; David Solomon admits to concerns as he unveils second big restructuring in four years
Joshua Franklin - Financial Times
As David Solomon set out to sell his latest overhaul of Goldman Sachs to investors on Tuesday, there was little sign of the sharp-tongued titan of the C-suite or the flamboyant "DJ D-Sol" known for frequenting music festivals. Instead, Solomon appeared to be contrite.
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Goldman Shuffle Aims to Reduce Reliance on M&A; Overhaul is meant to make firm less dependent on boom-and-bust Wall Street businesses; investment-banking revenue fell 57%
Charley Grant and Justin Baer - The Wall Street Journal
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is so dependent on its investment bank that a slump in deal making sent third-quarter profit down 43%-by far the steepest slide among its big-bank peers. A broad restructuring announced Tuesday is meant to change that: Goldman will fold investment banking and trading into one unit and merge asset and wealth management into another-giving it a higher profile at the same time.
/jlne.ws/3s8kCJP
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Fauci says fast-spreading COVID variants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are 'pretty troublesome'
Chloe Taylor - FORTUNE
New COVID variants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are gaining traction in the U.S. at a "troublesome" rate, according to the White House's top medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci. In the week ending Oct. 15, BQ.1 and its offspring BQ.1.1 were closing in on the position of second most widely circulating COVID variant in the United States, according to projections from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). On Friday, Fauci sounded the alarm on the new variants, which accounted for an estimated 11.4% of new COVID cases in the United States as of Oct. 15-double the proportion of infections they caused a week earlier.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | The creative way Italians outsmarted tax collectors
CNN
The cone-shaped buildings, called Trulli, in southern Puglia were strategically designed so they could be deconstructed to avoid taxes. "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
/jlne.ws/3MGZlQW
Dozens of LNG-laden ships queue off Europe's coasts unable to unload
Marwa Rashad and Belén Carreño - Reuters
Dozens of ships carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) circling off the coasts of Spain unable to secure slots to unload have prompted grid operators for the country to warn they may have to suspend loading to deal with this "exceptional situation". Europe is facing an energy supply squeeze as Russia has progressively cut gas flows after the West imposed sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February.
/jlne.ws/3eFeB4i
Europe's LNG Import Deluge Spurs Spanish Oversupply Warning; Enagas warns of potential network limitations to November; Record LNG shipments to Europe running into supply bottlenecks
Elena Mazneva and Thomas Gualtieri - Bloomberg
So much liquefied natural gas is flowing into Europe that the region's import facilities are struggling to keep up with the incoming tankers, according to Spain's gas network operator. Enagas SA may limit the number of cargoes its LNG system handles until the first week of November as a "significant" reduction in industrial demand since August and high storage levels left it little room to absorb excess imports, it said in a statement. "This situation is not an isolated event in the Spanish gas system, it's also taking place in other countries around us," Enagas said, without being more specific.
/jlne.ws/3MP5VVO
The plight of expat workers at KPMG Saudi Arabia; A dozen current and former employees at the Big Four accountancy firm's Riyadh office describe living in fear of being summarily fired and worse
Madison Marriage - Financial Times
Four months ago Abdullah al-Fozan, the head of KPMG's business in Saudi Arabia, broke some troubling news to his staff. In an email sent to employees on the afternoon of June 13, he wrote that a popular director who had worked at the firm for more than 20 years, Danie de Waal, had unexpectedly died. Fozan described De Waal, who led the firm's learning and development initiatives within its advisory team, with warmth and affection. The straight-talking South African had "a great sense of humour, loved cats and plants and always enjoyed a good meal", Fozan wrote, adding that he "constantly enriched the lives of those around him".
/jlne.ws/3gjMEQ4
Europe Diesel Stockpiles Set to Tank When Russian Supply Cut Off
Jack Wittels - Bloomberg
Inventories of diesel, the fuel that powers vast parts of the European economy, are forecast to plummet this winter as supplies from Russia are cut off. The amount of diesel-type fuel stored in northwest Europe will sink to 210.4 million barrels in February, the lowest it has been since at least 2011, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie Ltd. That's the month that European Union sanctions on seaborne deliveries of refined petroleum products from Russia -- currently the region's single biggest external diesel supplier -- come into play.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Opinion: Is Elon Musk being played by a master manipulator?
Frida Ghitis - CNN
If Elon Musk's actions didn't have such powerful consequences, we could sit back and enjoy the show. But, since he likes weighing in heavily on consequential matters, the rest of the world has to worry about the impact and wonder whose side he's on. What are the principles - moral, ethical, financial - that drive his rambunctious forays into world affairs? Nothing in Musk's monumental series of business accomplishments suggest that he has any expertise to delve into the world's most dangerous conflicts. But that hasn't stopped him.
/jlne.ws/3gh0m6b
Lionel Messi Launches Investment Firm Targeting Sports and Tech; Holding company Play Time will be based in San Francisco; Venture capital investor Razmig Hovaghimian will run firm
Carolina Millan - Bloomberg
Soccer superstar Lionel Messi is creating a holding company to invest in sports, media and technology globally. Based in San Francisco, Play Time Sports-Tech HoldCo LLC will be Messi's main investment vehicle, according to a statement. The company will explore "stage agnostic" opportunities that could include, for example, helping startup founders build football-tech companies or investing in teams.
/jlne.ws/3Da2lCl
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