| October 22, 2020 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Mark Haraburda, Kevin Darby, Brian Mehta
Harris Kay Joins Murphy & McGonigle
John Lothian - JLN
The law firm of Murphy & McGonigle has opened a Chicago office staffed by industry veteran Harris Kay. Kay worked with the principals of M&M at a previous firm, so this is a coming home of sorts.
It is also an expansion of Murphy & McGonigle's footprint, as the firm also recently opened an office in San Francisco, CA.
Before joining Murphy & McGonigle, Kay was with Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C. He has also practiced with Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Henderson Law LLP, LeClair Ryan and Hunton & Williams.
It was at LeClair Ryan that James Murphy, the co-founder who put the Murphy in Murphy & McGonigle, took Kay under his wing 10 years ago and mentored him, Kay told JLN.
To read the rest of this story, go HERE.
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Hits & Takes
JLN Staff
New donations to the JLN MarketsWiki Education GoFundMe campaign came from Barchart and Kevin Darby. Thank you to Barchart and their CEO Mark Haraburda. My roots with Barchart go back to the days of Barchart founder Dave Lowden in the 1990s. Kevin Darby is with CQG after the recent deal for Blue Trading Systems to be acquired by CQG. Thank you to both, all who have given and all how have yet to give. Support our efforts to preserve industry history by supporting our GoFundMe campaign.
The latest edition of FIA's MarketVoice is now available. You can find it HERE.
Today is the virtual RocktoberFest for A Leg to Stand On. The fundraising event features videos of industry bands who have helped raise funds for the charity. You can see the event at https://altsorocks.org at 7 PM EST.
With the retirement of Nasdaq Chief Financial Officer Michael Ptasznik and the ascension of Controller and Chief Accounting Officer Ann Dennison to the position, Nasdaq will be one of just five other companies in the S&P 500 with both a female CEO and female CFO. The other companies are Oracle, Tapestry, Kohl's Corporation, Gap Inc. and Arista Networks, Inc. Dennison takes over the CFO role in March.
Another webinar to check out is from ErisX, presenting on "Crypto for FCM Customer Accounts." Did you ever want to deposit virtual currencies to margin transactions in virtual currencies? Well, this is the webinar to learn about that. The webinar is on October 29 at 11 AM ET and includes a Washington insider (Scott Parsons), a guy in a fishing vest with lots of thoughts on cryptocurrencies (Gary DeWaal), one cool accountant (Todd Briggs), another hip accountant from the same firm (Jay Shulman) and the man with a chip on his shoulder about cryptocurrency and the CEO of ErisX (Thomas Chippas). You can register HERE or learn more HERE.
OSTC CEO Lee Hodgkinson announced on LinkedIn that OSTC is hiring traders. He says that thanks to OSTC's substantial investment in AI and digital learning solutions, the company now offers a full suite of onboarding, training, and mentoring activities remotely.
The London Stock Exchange Group commissioned a special report with Acuiti Management Intelligence on LIBOR transition: current challenges on the long road to resolution. You can Download the paper HERE and watch the replay of the webinar HERE.
Clive Furness says Contango Markets has developed an innovative hedging methodology for physical commodity markets participants who are exposed to the mismatch of cash flows between a physical and futures trade. He claims the 'Contango Hedge' is significantly cheaper than a traditional hedge funded by margin finance and is designed for companies who value the relationships that they have built up over the years in the physical markets. This works for any major commodity or energy asset class. Contact him if you want to learn more.
Maggie Sklar of the Financial Markets Group of the Chicago Federal Reserve has published her first working paper on CCPs about the financial systemic implications of access and non-access to Federal Reserve deposit accounts. The title of the paper is "What Are the Financial Systemic Implications of Access and Non-Access to Federal Reserve Deposit Accounts for Central Counterparties?"
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York is offering a real-time map with train locations and delays. The digital map also includes updates on elevators and escalators that are out of service.
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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Nasdaq's Q3 earnings were up 13 percent from a year ago, thanks in part to record options trading volumes. Nasdaq's U.S.-traded equity options volumes were up 52 percent on last year, hitting a record 660 million contracts traded. Profits from Nasdaq's index products were also a significant factor.~MR
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Mike Unetich: The Path to Electronic Trading
JohnLothianNews.com
Mike Unetich always liked trading and investing classes in college and in fact started trading options from his dorm room. He saw newspaper ads for option floor clerks and through some friends who worked at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg in New York was referred to DRW in Chicago, where he was hired. He started in the Eurodollar pit, then at the age of 24 transferred to the 10-Year Note options pit at the Chicago Board of Trade. He would also trade on the CBOE for DRW before breaking off for himself and trading Eurodollars.
Watch the video »
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CFTC Staff Issues Advisory on Virtual Currency for Futures Commission Merchants
CFTC
The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued an advisory to futures commission merchants (FCMs) regarding the holding of virtual currency in segregated accounts. The advisory provides guidance to FCMs on how to hold and report certain deposited virtual currency from customers in connection with physically-delivered futures contracts or swaps. The advisory also provides guidance that FCMs should follow when designing and maintaining risk management programs concerning the acceptance of virtual currencies as customer funds.
/bit.ly/3dO8yFB
**********Attend the ErisX webinar on this subject and learn more. See above.~JJL
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The Pandemic's Real Toll? 300,000 Deaths, and It's Not Just From the Coronavirus; A C.D.C. analysis finds that overall death rates have risen, particularly among young adults and people of color.
Roni Caryn Rabin - NY Times
The coronavirus pandemic caused nearly 300,000 deaths in the United States through early October, federal researchers said on Tuesday. The new tally includes not only deaths known to have been directly caused by the coronavirus, but also roughly 100,000 fatalities that are indirectly related and would not have occurred if not for the virus. The study, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is an attempt to measure "excess deaths" — deaths from all causes that statistically exceed those normally occurring in a certain time period. The total included deaths from Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, that were misclassified or missed altogether.
/nyti.ms/31xuhN9
*****COVID-19 has now killed more Americans than World War I, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War combined.~MR
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When Milton Friedman, prophet of profit, met a pandemic; Coronavirus sheds fresh light on the economist's narrow definition of social responsibility
Andrew Hill - FT
Among the many things Milton Friedman could not have predicted in 1970 was that the 50th anniversary of his famous New York Times essay, headlined "The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits", would fall in the middle of a global pandemic.
/on.ft.com/3kxLMEs
*****I would ask Leo Melamed what Friedman would say. Leo was a close friend of the late influential economist.~JJL
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Norwegian official apologizes for making 2020 an hour longer
Ben Hooper - UPI
The Norwegian official responsible for Daylight Saving Time in the country apologized for adding an additional hour to what "has already been a very demanding year."
/bit.ly/37s5Jcl
***** I'm kinda ready to be done with 2020 too. ~JB
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top story Tuesday was Bloomberg's Commodities King ADM Pivots to Pet Food, Veggie Burgers, and Probiotics. Second was the Financial Times' Two top Morgan Stanley commodities traders lose jobs over use of WhatsApp. Third was I Spoke to a Scholar of Conspiracy Theories and I'm Scared for Us, from the New York Times.
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MarketsWiki Stats
190,740,001 pages viewed; 24,475 pages; 226,436 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
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| Lead Stories | Why Ditching Libor Is Vexing the Financial World
William Shaw and Silla Brush - Bloomberg
Declaring an end to Libor is one thing, making it happen another altogether. The deadline to drop the discredited London interbank offered rate is approaching at the end of 2021, leaving the financial world scrambling to adjust contracts on hundreds of trillions of dollars' worth of products, from mortgages and credit cards to derivatives. The risk of a chaotic transition has been likened to Y2K and the fear of computer systems misfiring at the end of the last millennium, only with the added challenge of a global pandemic thrown in. Whether the outcome will be as benign as Y2K turned out for the financial industry is about to unfold.
/bloom.bg/2IUpgrI
Hospitals Across the U.S. Are Crammed With Covid-19 Patients
Elise Young - Bloomberg
U.S. hospitalizations for Covid-19 hit the highest point since Aug. 22, with New York doubling its count from early September and at least 10 other states reporting records. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meanwhile, cited four national studies that predicted a probable in-patient increase of as much as 6,200 daily over the next four weeks.
/bloom.bg/2IYywv3
New Records Across Europe; Spike in South Africa: Virus Update
Bloomberg News
Poland joined Germany and Hungary in reporting another record gain in coronavirus infections, while Spain and France became the first countries in Western Europe to pass 1 million cases. South Africa is concerned over a sharp resurgence after the country eased movement curbs at the beginning of the month. AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson may resume U.S. trials as soon as this week for vaccines that are backed by the government's Operation Warp Speed program. The companies previously halted testing for the shots because participants fell ill.
/bloom.bg/31wHwxC
Siberian Gold Deposit Has World's Largest Reserves
Yuliya Fedorinova - Bloomberg
Audit shows Sukhoi Log holds 40 million ounces of reserves; Russian miner plans to start main spending on deposit in 2023
Polyus PJSC, Russia's largest gold producer, said its untapped Sukhoi Log deposit in Siberia holds the world's biggest reserves. An audit showed Sukhoi Log has 40 million ounces of proven reserves as measured by international JORC standards, with an average gold content of 2.3 grams per ton, Chief Executive Officer Pavel Grachev said. That means the field -- accounting for more than a quarter of Russian gold reserves -- is bigger than Seabridge Gold Inc.'s KSM Project in Canada and Donlin Gold in Alaska.
/bloom.bg/3maLSlZ
More money flowing into hedge funds amid global unrest
Thornton McEnery - NY Post
For the first time in more than two years, more money is flowing into hedge funds than is being pulled out of them as smart-money investors look to protect themselves from growing uncertainty around the world.
/bit.ly/2ThkYwA
China Wealth Link With Hong Kong to Be Capped at $23 Billion Each Way
Alfred Liu - Bloomberg
Wealth Management Connect seen launched in early 2021; Hong Kong is seeking deeper integration with mainland China
China's plan to allow investments for private wealth across the border between Hong Kong and its increasingly affluent southern region will be capped at 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) in each direction. The Wealth Management Connect program, which will allow residents of Hong Kong, Macau and major cities in China's southern Guangdong province to invest across the border, will also have an individual quota of 1 million yuan, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
/bloom.bg/35gk34M
Goldman Fined $350 Million by Hong Kong Over 1MDB Scandal
Jonas O Bergman - Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s Asian unit was fined $350 million by Hong Kong's financial regulator over its role in Malaysia's 1MDB investment-fund scandal. The U.S. bank was "reprimanded" for "serious lapses and deficiencies in its management supervisory, risk, compliance and anti-money laundering controls," the Securities and Futures Commission said in a statement. Goldman Sachs Asia's acceptance of the SFC's findings and disciplinary action facilitated an early resolution of the matter, it said.
/bloom.bg/31tJKhu
India Has Set Aside $7 Billion to Vaccinate the World's Second Biggest Population
Siddhartha Singh - Bloomberg
India's government has set aside about 500 billion rupees ($7 billion) to vaccinate the world's most populous nation after China against the coronavirus, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration estimates an all-in cost of about $6-$7 per person in the nation of 1.3 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details are private. The money provisioned so far is for the current financial year ending March 31 and there will be no shortage of further funds for this purpose, they added.
/bloom.bg/2Ho6zMz
Barclays Private Bank CEO Tackles Brexit and Pandemic Challenges
Benjamin Stupples - Bloomberg
Gerard targets U.K. wealth growth, European family offices; Dublin is at forefront of Barclays's Brexit planning
Jean-Christophe Gerard picked up some healthy habits during the lockdown. Barclays Private Bank's chief executive officer made daily walks part of his confinement routine and still aims to find an hour to amble outside when he works from home as he helps his business navigate the dual challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit.
/bloom.bg/31ywGHt
The U.S.-China Conflict Over Chips Is About to Get Uglier; The ability to make semiconductors for everything from artificial intelligence to smartphones has become a national security issue, and the U.S. election won't change that.
Alan Crawford, Debby Wu, Colum Murphy, and Ian King - Bloomberg
On a scorching hot day in late August, representatives of Taiwan's government and industry crowded into the clinical cool of a state-of-the-art semiconductor facility for a symbolic moment in the global tech conflict.
/bloom.bg/2HmURBS
Finastra and CloudMargin partner to deliver Collateral Management as a Service; Solution will help financial institutions meet time-critical regulatory deadlines and reduce costs associated with managing collateral
Finastra, CloudMargin
Finastra, one of the world's largest fintechs, and CloudMargin, creator of the world's first and only collateral and margin management solution native to the cloud, today announced a global partnership to deliver an integrated collateral and margin management solution to market participants of all sizes through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Collateral Management as a Service, powered by CloudMargin and available through Finastra's FusionFabric.cloud platform, connects to Finastra's core treasury and capital markets solutions, facilitating end-to-end straight-through processing of derivatives transactions, and all associated collateral management workflows, from trade booking through to settlement. The solution will automate and optimize the collateral management process, helping users reduce costs and realize significant efficiency savings.
/prn.to/2HrFVCm
Nasdaq Promotes Chief Accountant to CFO; Ann Dennison will succeed Michael Ptasznik, who will retire at the end of February
By Kristin Broughton - WSJ
Nasdaq Inc. promoted its top accountant to the role of chief financial officer. The New York-based provider of trading, clearing and listing services said Ann Dennison will start as finance chief March 1. Ms. Dennison, who joined the company five years ago, is Nasdaq's controller and chief accounting officer.
/on.wsj.com/3kgPEd0
Hamptons Home Prices Soar to a Record in Rush for Beach Retreats
Oshrat Carmiel - Bloomberg
New Yorkers working remotely look to settle in for the winter; Competition pushes more buyers to pay above asking prices
New Yorkers searching for a pandemic retreat have sent Hamptons home prices to a record high. The median for properties that changed hands in the third quarter soared 40% from a year earlier to $1.2 million, the highest in more than 15 years of data-keeping, appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report Thursday. Sales ju
/bloom.bg/2HnUZB8
ECB Accused of Bias, Climate Failures in Public Listening Event
Carolynn Look and Piotr Skolimowski - Bloomberg
Civil groups speak at listening event for ECB strategic review; Lagarde warns 'not everyone will be satisfied' with outcome
The European Central Bank is fielding the clearest calls yet for more democratic accountability, tougher action on climate change, and new stimulus that more directly helps workers rather than boosting asset prices.
/bloom.bg/31wmxuN
The Fed Has Trained Bond Traders Not to Push Yields Up Too Far
Liz McCormick - Bloomberg
Mere prospect of central-bank action is pinning yields down; Buyers emerged this week to limit selloff amid stimulus talks
The message from the bond market after the latest brief leap in yields is clear: The Federal Reserve is standing by to prevent an alarming increase in rates, no matter how much debt the Treasury sells amid the pandemic.
/bloom.bg/3mgyDQV
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| Coronavirus | | Stories relating to the COVID-19 pandemic | Covid Drags 2 Million More U.K. Adults Into Financial Troubles
Marion Dakers - Bloomberg
Borrowers could need fresh help under new lockdowns, FCA says; Payment freezes and interest-free overdrafts due to taper off
The pandemic means 2 million more British adults may be struggling to pay the bills, and British regulators want banks to help them. A Financial Conduct Authority survey estimates that shuttered restaurants and empty offices pushed the total number of adults facing financial hardship to 12 million in July, up from 10 million in February.
/bloom.bg/3jiWb5O
The pandemic model that's spooking the UK government; Turns out there was one model that predicted the future more accurately than others.
Izabella Kaminska - FT
This has been doing the rounds for a while, but it's worth reposting because as we move ever closer to the prospect of another countrywide lockdown the absurdity of our national (if not global) response to Covid-19 is becoming more self-evident.
/on.ft.com/3kkW76F
Will coronavirus break the UK? Covid-19 has already driven a greater wedge between the four nations, testing the boundaries of power. But could it push them even further apart?
Robert Shrimsley, Peter Foster, Jim Pickard, Mure Dickie, Andy Bounds and Chris Tighe - FT
This story is part of a major Financial Times series Coronavirus: could the world have been spared?, investigating the global response to the crisis and whether the disaster could have been averted. It was a planeload of tourists returning from Greece that perhaps did most to expose the strain Covid-19 has put on the UK and the uneasy balance of power between its four nations. Sixteen of those flying into Cardiff airport on August 25 from Zante tested positive for coronavirus, forcing all 193 passengers to self-isolate.
/on.ft.com/2Hf9eZ3
What I wish I'd known at the start of the pandemic; Leading business people and thinkers reflect on the early days of Covid-19 — and what lessons we can learn
FT reporters
What do you wish you'd known six months ago?
I'm sure everyone will say the same but I wish we had known how long Covid would last. We have a team in China, so we had greater foresight than most, but I don't think anyone was predicting the turmoil it would cause or how much of a profound and long-term impact it would have on society.
/on.ft.com/35limTL
How much will a Covid-19 vaccine cost? Race for an effective shot has stoked debate on price and how to support poorer countries
Michael Peel in Brussels, Donato Paolo Mancini and Clive Cookson in London and Stephanie Findlay - FT
The race for a coronavirus vaccine has stoked a debate on how much the jabs will cost and who will pay for them, as prices range from $3 to more than $30 a dose and public health advocates including Bill Gates call for a price cap for poor countries.
/on.ft.com/3mbJkUS
Europe Facing Dearth of Medical Staff in Test of Virus Readiness
Chris Reiter, Lenka Ponikelska, and John Ainger - Bloomberg
Record surge in Covid-19 cases seen hitting strained hospitals; Lack of personnel is like having a 'Ferrari without a driver'
Europe is preparing for a surge in coronavirus cases to hit hospitals, and authorities are acutely worried about a key resource: trained medical staff. During the initial wave of the pandemic, clinics scoured basements for spare beds and governments pushed manufacturers to churn out ventilators and face masks. Equipment is now at hand, but a shortage of doctors, nurses and medical technicians is putting health-care services to the test, as record infections hit across the region simultaneously.
/bloom.bg/31ywUyj
Maybe We're Getting Herd Immunity and Lockdowns Wrong; Pandemics are complex, so the response must be complex too.
Mark Gongloff - Bloomberg
To Herd or Not to Herd
Maybe it's a vestige of our ancestral experience of constantly being at risk of ingestion by predators, but humans aren't always great at nuance. Either the lion is about to eat you or it isn't. Either that stranger is an enemy or she isn't. Either we fight a pandemic by locking everybody away for 18 months or we let it run wild.
/bloom.bg/31NT1Bd
Germany, Spain Risk Losing Control as Europe's Cases Hit Records
Naomi Kresge and Andrew Blackman - Bloomberg
German daily infections climb above 10,000 for the first time; France, Spain first W. European nations above 1 million cases
Germany and Spain risk losing control over the coronavirus, health officials warned, as new infections climb to records across Europe and governments scramble for an adequate response.
/bloom.bg/31xPgPV
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Demand for Electronic Solutions and Strong Origination Volumes Drive Record Registrations on the MERS eRegistry; Adoption of digital mortgages and eNotes continues to grow
Intercontinental Exchange
MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. ("MERSCORP"), now ICE Mortgage Technology, a division of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of mortgage technology, data and listings services, today announced record registrations for the MERS eRegistry. This activity is being driven by a number of factors, including strong industry-wide origination volumes and a movement by lenders and originators to adopt digital mortgage solutions that include eNotes.
/bit.ly/31t0ZPH
Resetting of Price Limits for Grain, Oilseed and Lumber Futures
CME Group
Effective Sunday, November 1, 2020 for trade date Monday, November 2, 2020, The Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. ("CBOT") and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. ("CME") (collectively, "the Exchanges") will reset price limits for grain, oilseed, and lumber futures. This is the second of the two price limit resets in 2020 that is stipulated by the variable price limits mechanism pursuant to each product's respective Rulebook Chapter, as linked below.
/bit.ly/35o3FiX
Reduction of the Minimum Price Increments of the Monthly and Weekly Options on the Russian Ruble/U.S. Dollar (RUB/USD) Futures and Options on the South African Rand/U.S. Dollar (ZAR/USD) Futures
CME Group
Effective Sunday, November 22, 2020 for trade date Monday, November 23, 2020, and pending all relevant Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") regulatory review periods, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. ("CME" or "Exchange") will amend the Price Increment rule of the Monthly and Weekly Options on Russian Ruble/U.S. Dollar (RUB/USD) Futures and Options on the South African Rand/U.S. Dollar (ZAR/USD) Futures (the "Contracts") to reduce the minimum price increment of the Contracts (collectively, the "Rule Amendments") as noted in the table below
/bit.ly/35mdBti
CBOT Grain Delivery Invoice CSV Reports
CME Group
Please be advised, csv versions of the CBOT grain delivery invoice reports are now available from the New Release environment for download and review in EREP. These reports are representative of the grain delivery assignment detail and summary activity, now made available to EREP in a csv format.
/bit.ly/34kJ1B2
Single Stock Dividend Futures: Introduction of 21 Single Stock Dividend Futures
Eurex
The Management Board of Eurex Deutschland took the following decision with effect from 2 November 2020:
Introduction of 21 Single Stock Dividend Futures pursuant to Annex D of Attachment 2
This circular contains all information on the introduction of the new products and the updated sections of the relevant Rules and Regulations of Eurex Deutschland.
/bit.ly/2Hr8z6w
The TRADE - Eurex Improve: For guaranteed execution at the best price; Markus-Alexander Flesch, Market Development at Eurex, tells The TRADE about the launch of Eurex Improve earlier this year and explains how the tool delivers benefits to all participants of a transaction.
Eurex
What is Eurex Improve and when did it launch?
Markus-Alexander Flesch: Eurex Improve is a client flow facilitation service that we launched for all equity options and equity index options in February this year. It provides our members with a tool that guarantees their buy-side clients full execution of their orders below minimum block trade sizes at the best price available in the Eurex order book.
/bit.ly/3jna8j3
Is Eurex's Lending CCP Succeeding in Expanding the Size of the Market?
Featured article on Securities Finance Monitor - Via Eurex
Eurex's Lending CCP is the first global example of a CCP that offers buy-side membership for securities lending services. When the idea was discussed in the early 2010s, borrowers were immediately interested but the buy-side and agent lenders took longer to sign on. By 2020, however, Eurex was successful in seeing buy-side firms come directly to the CCP and agent lenders participating on behalf of underlying clients. Both market participants and Eurex report that there are important points of momentum that prove the value of the model.
/bit.ly/3dKN8JG
Turquoise Plato 'Trade At Last' closing auction mechanism goes live; LSEG said that the tool launched with 12 Turquoise members entering new orders in 76 different symbols of 11 different country markets on its first day.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
The London Stock Exchange Group's (LSEG) Turquoise went live with a closing auction mechanism after market close on Monday, as part of its most recent collaboration with not-for-profit group Plato Partnership.
/bit.ly/34j2z8B
Bursa Malaysia Kicks Off Breast Cancer Fundraising Campaign In Support Of Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Mondovisione
In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month or Pink October, Bursa Malaysia Berhad ("Bursa Malaysia" or the "Exchange") has launched a campaign to raise funds in support of breast cancer among Malaysia's underprivileged women in the bottom 40 per cent (B40) income group. For every CDS account opened by female investors, Bursa Malaysia has pledged to donate RM10 to the National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM). This initiative also forms part of the Exchange's efforts in promoting gender equality in the marketplace.
/bit.ly/35ogz0f
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Goldman Sachs streams US corporate bond pricing to MarketAxess live order book; The Live Markets order book from MarketAxess has added Goldman Sachs as a dedicated market maker for US investment grade corporate bonds.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Goldman Sachs is actively streaming firm prices for US investment grade corporate bonds to the live order book for institutional credit markets from fixed income platform provider MarketAxess.
/bit.ly/34jY65K
JP Morgan executes first electronic SONIA swap vs gilt future on Tradeweb; The first electronic invoice spread trade on Tradeweb was executed on the platform between Capula Investment Management with JP Morgan acting as the liquidity provider.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
An electronic swap versus gilt future transaction referencing SONIA has been executed on the Tradeweb interest rate swap platform between JP Morgan and Capula Investment Management.
/bit.ly/34lAZaW
TORA integrates MTS BondsPro platform with OEMS; The new connectivity allows market participants to electronically trade bonds from the TORA OEMS on the MTS BondsPro platform.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Trading systems provider TORA has expanded its order and execution management system (OEMS) fixed income trading capabilities with the London Stock Exchange group's MTS BondsPro. TORA has integrated the LSEG's electronic bond trading platform with its OEMS to allow market participants to electronic trade bonds from the OEMS in the MTS BondsPro platform.
/bit.ly/3jmp3da
SteelEye revamps regtech offering with Refinitiv market data addition; SteelEye clients will gain access to a wide range of Refinitiv data to carry out investigations and analysis across multiple asset classes and regions.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
SteelEye has expanded its technology platform with the addition of Refinitiv market data to improve compliance processes and analytics for clients. The RegTech firm said that the addition of Refinitiv's cross-asset global market data has more than doubled the number of reference sources used for its market abuse algorithms and transaction cost analysis.
/bit.ly/3jn9FgN
Why Group Chats—and What We Name Them—Are Helping Us Get Through the Pandemic; For many, group texts have become something they look forward to more than ever. Naming them can be an art—here's how to perfect it
Lane Florsheim - WSJ
Jolie Kerr, a writer in New York City, has a lot of group chats, and they all have one thing in common: She's in charge of the names. "No one else would dare change the name," says Kerr, 44. "They say, 'That's Mom's job,' because they call me Mom" as a nickname. The names Kerr comes up with are rooted in inside jokes, ranging from the innocuous yet mysterious—"Team Nobody Forever"—to more risqué, popular culture-inspired fare like "Mother Earth Has a WAP." That one came about when the group was watching a nature documentary simultaneously, but in their own homes, texting each other, with a reference to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's raunchy, chart-topping summer song. The names are "a really easy way to inject some levity into your day," says Kerr.
/on.wsj.com/35gnfgM
How Wirecard misled investors over KPMG's special audit; Executives defied directions from supervisory board as forensic accountants closed in
Olaf Storbeck - FT
On April 22, Wirecard's investors and short sellers were nervously awaiting a special audit from KPMG. Due that day, results of the accountancy firm's forensic investigation into Wirecard were supposed to resolve once and for all the persistent questions over the payments group's accounts, rewarding either its faithful shareholders or the sceptical hedge funds betting against the stock.
/on.ft.com/3odz93P
Five years of full depth US order book data now available via BMLL
Mondovisione
BMLL Technologies, the award-winning data and analytics company, today announced that five years of granular, Level 3 order book data is now available to its US customer base and European funds trading US stocks. As the demand for data driven insights to improve trading decisions is continuously increasing, so is the need for new, alternative and granular data sets that help industry participants navigate market volatility while maintaining a competitive advantage. However, the technical lift and scalable compute power required to ingest huge amounts of data and derive meaningful insights is significant. To achieve these insights, a large proportion of quants spend 80% of their time cleansing and harmonising data, before they can use it to improve trading decisions and backtest strategies for alpha generation.
/bit.ly/3dL0KEM
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Frozen OKEx Crypto Traders Can Cash Out, But Would Pay a Price
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
Institutional users of cryptocurrency exchange giant OKEx can now get their holdings out, though it will cost them to do so. The exchange, which made withdrawals unavailable last week after Chinese police launched a probe linked to the firm, began letting users within OKEx trade with each other on Wednesday.
Hours later, blockchain developer Zulu Republic -- along with liquidity provider Alameda Research and crypto trading community Whalepool -- created a way for institutional investors to sell their OKEx deposits for a token representing Bitcoin or Tether on the Ethereum blockchain. A user gets one token for every OKEx Bitcoin deposited into the venture's OKEx account. The token currently trades for about 93 cents on the dollar on the Uniswap exchange.
/bloom.bg/3oqNFWa
Ripple Eyes Japan, Singapore If Blockchain Firm Leaves U.S.
Takashi Nakamichi and Takako Taniguchi - Bloomberg
Ripple Labs Inc. has shortlisted Japan and Singapore as countries the blockchain payment services company could move to if it leaves the U.S. due to a lack of regulatory clarity, its top executive said. Switzerland, the U.K. and the United Arab Emirates are also potential destinations, Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse said in an interview. "The common denominator between all of them is that their governments have created a clarity about how they would regulate different digital assets, different cryptocurrencies," he said.
/bloom.bg/2Hua83j
Why Central Banks Want to Create Their Own Digital Currencies Like Bitcoin
Caitlin Ostroff - WSJ
Central banks around the world are weighing introducing a new kind of money, known as digital currency. China has been at the forefront of such efforts. In April, Beijing said it would expand its pilot program for a homegrown electronic-payment system, which shares some features with bitcoin and other private cryptocurrencies, to a number of large cities. Even the Federal Reserve, which has long said it doesn't have plans to launch a digital currency, plans to build and test a hypothetical design. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell cautioned Monday that a "great deal of work" needs to be done before the central bank would decide to launch a digital dollar.
/on.wsj.com/3dPL0QS
Nigeria Protests Show Bitcoin Adoption Is Not Coming: It's Here
Sandali Handagama - Coindesk
As protests sweep across the country, with multiple regions placed under curfew, Nigerians are using social media and bitcoin in their fight against police corruption. Nigerians called for the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad (SARS) in 2017, and the government supposedly complied. But after reports of SARS officers allegedly killing a young boy in southern Nigeria surfaced on Oct. 3 of this year, protests erupted again. The police unit stands accused of illegal killings, extortion and torture of innocent civilians: many of its victims over the years were young men between the ages of 18 and 35.
/bit.ly/3jkCpH3
Raiffeisen Bank Bringing Blockchain Interoperability to Its Stablecoin Project
Daniel Palmer - Coindesk
Austria-headquartered Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is turning to technology that will allow its tokenized fiat currency to connect to multiple blockchains. The initiative will see the bank's RBI Coin integrated with the Pantos blockchain interoperability tool from Vienna-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda, according to a press release on Thursday.
/bit.ly/34hPdK2
Kraken Relaunches Crypto Trading in Japan After Two-Year Break
Sebastian Sinclair - Coindesk
U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken is once more letting Japanese residents fund their accounts and trade crypto on its platform. Announced Thursday in a company blog post, Kraken said the move comes as the start of a larger push to expand its services within the APAC region. The exchange first said it was reopening for Japan's market in September.
/bit.ly/31s24aH
CFTC Issues Advisory Mandating New Rules for Crypto Deposits
Aziz Abdel-Qader - Finance Magnates
US regulators continue to evolve with the explosive growth of cryptocurrency in recent years. Today, the CFTC issued an advisory expanding the notifications and reporting requirements for virtual currencies held by futures commission merchants (FCMs). The new rules build upon the CFTC's existing customer protection regime, as amended by Dodd-Frank, under which FCMs are required to segregate from their proprietary assets all money, securities and other assets deposited by customers. Additionally, it is intended to enhance these protections and to specifically address systemic risks posed by the nature of virtual assets that surrounded the recent hacks of crypto exchanges.
/bit.ly/3odvqTP
Binance CEO: BitMEX indictment is 'wake-up call' for cryptocurrency industry
Robert Hackett - Fortune
Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department charged the owners of BitMEX, a high-flying, Hong Kong - based cryptocurrency exchange known for its fast-and-loose approach to the law, with violating anti - money laundering rules. The event—one cofounder, Samuel Reed, was arrested in Massachusetts, while three business partners remain at large—has caused cryptocurrency entrepreneurs to do some soul-searching and to reassess the soundness of their own operations.
/bit.ly/3jj347a
ISDA Launches New Legal Papers On Smart Contracts And DLT
Mondovisione
ISDA and R3 have collaborated with Clifford Chance, Jones Day, Linklaters and McCann FitzGerald to publish four new whitepapers that analyze the legal issues associated with using smart derivatives contracts on distributed ledger technology (DLT).
/bit.ly/3ojlo3x
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | America and the Virus: 'A Colossal Failure of Leadership'; In its destruction of American lives, treasure and well-being, this pandemic marks the greatest failure of U.S. governance since Vietnam.
Nicholas Kristof - NYTimes
One of the most lethal leadership failures in modern times unfolded in South Africa in the early 2000s as AIDS spread there under President Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki scorned science, embraced conspiracy theories, dithered as the disease spread and rejected lifesaving treatments. His denialism cost about 330,000 lives, a Harvard study found.
/nyti.ms/35gnGHW
Bidenomics can preserve support for capitalism; No radical, the Democrat wants to save markets by softening them
The Editorial Board - FT
People are supposed to grow ever more conservative with age. The teenage dreamer becomes the middle-aged pragmatist, who in turn settles into late-life reaction. A curious feature of Joe Biden's story is that it defies this classical arc. The New Democrat of yesteryear, tough on welfare and even tougher on criminals, is now the party's most progressive candidate for the White House since the 1980s.
/on.ft.com/3ofgXGV
U.S. intelligence agencies say Iran, Russia have tried to interfere in 2020 election
Joseph Menn, Sarah N. Lynch - Reuters
U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday that Russia and Iran have both tried to interfere with the 2020 presidential election.
/reut.rs/3mfKcI7
Investors Surfing the Blue Wave Trade Need a Hedge; Plenty can still go awry with the market-calming prospect of a Democratic sweep in next month's elections.
John Authers - Bloomberg
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
One trade dominates talk at the moment: "The Blue Wave Plus Vaccine." With Joe Biden well ahead in the polls, Democratic candidates with their noses ahead in enough states to retake a majority in the Senate, and several vaccine candidates now into the final stages of testing, the bet is on that we should now prepare for a big growth spurt. Democrats will arrive, and spend money not only to tide people through the pandemic, but to help them rebuild, putting fiscal stimulus back in place for the first time in a generation. With a vaccine at last available, people will have the confidence to go back to work, and to play.
/bloom.bg/3ohbkrW
Judge Says Injury 'Speculative' in Trump's Bid to Crack Down on Social Media
Joel Rosenblatt - Bloomberg
Voting rights lawyer say Trump distracts from 'core mission'; U.S. argues dispute amounts to a 'political disagreement'
A federal judge expressed skepticism about interfering in President Donald Trump's attempt to restrict social platforms after Twitter started fact-checking his posts. Rock the Vote, Voto Latino and other nonprofits encouraging voter registration asked for a court order protecting the rights of Twitter, Facebook and other online platforms to rebut the president's unproven claims that, among others, mail-in ballots are fraudulent.
/bloom.bg/35D3xML
Wall Street donors keep their distance from cash-strapped Trump in campaign's final days
Brian Schwartz - CNBC
Conservatives on Wall Street and in the broader finance community apparently no longer consider President Donald Trump a worthy investment.
/cnb.cx/3m5yJKW
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | Commissioner Stump to Participate on a Panel at the Women in Derivatives Event
CFTC
/bit.ly/35lNJNX
FCA welcomes Financial Services Bill
UK FCA
The FCA welcomes the Financial Services Bill introduced in Parliament, which will help to maintain high standards and provide greater clarity to firms.
bit.ly/34mAT2Z
FCA highlights continued support for consumers struggling with payments
UK FCA
The Financial Conduct Authority is urging consumers struggling to make repayments due to the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19), to speak to their lenders about options available to them. The FCA has put in place a package of support for people in difficulty to ensure help is available after 31 October 2020.
/bit.ly/3dO8LbR
Our letter to the TSC on passive servicing issues after the transition period
UK FCA
The FCA's Chief Executive, Nikhil Rathi, wrote a letter on 9 October to Rt Hon. Mel Stride MP, Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, about UK bank closures of the current accounts of customers living in the EU after the EU withdrawal transition period.
/bit.ly/2Thnl2s
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Kik Interactive For Unregistered Offering
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that a federal district court has entered a final judgment on consent against Kik Interactive Inc. to resolve the SEC's charges that Kik's unregistered offering of digital "Kin" tokens in 2017 violated the federal securities laws.
/bit.ly/2Hr9UKA
Steven Maijoor Delivers Keynote at Irish Funds Annual Global Funds Online Conference
ESMA
Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), has delivered a keynote address at the Irish Funds Annual Global Funds Online Conference today.
/bit.ly/34i3O84
Updated regulatory guidance for share transfers using s444GA of the Corporations Act
ASIC
ASIC has today released updated regulatory guidance to formalise its policy on when we will give Chapter 6 relief for share transfers under s444GA of the Corporations Act. This follows our review of submissions received in response to CP 326 Chapter 6 relief for share transfers using s444GA of the Corporations Act.
/bit.ly/3dPDNAi
Goldman Fined $350 Million by Hong Kong Regulator Over 1MDB Scandal; It comes as the bank finalizes a settlement with U.S. Justice Department to end a bribery probe related to the Malaysian investment fund
WSJ staff
A Hong Kong regulator fined a local unit of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS -2.46% $350 million for the investment bank's role in a multibillion-dollar scandal involving Malaysian investment fund 1MDB.
/on.wsj.com/31y0ap0
FCA says 12m in UK set to be left struggling with debt; Regulator fears further local coronavirus lockdowns could add to household finance woes
Matthew Vincent - FT
The UK financial regulator is urging borrowers affected by coronavirus lockdowns to seek support from their banks, as its figures show 12m Britons are likely to struggle with bills or loan repayments.
/on.ft.com/2IW4UOP
Ontario Securities Commission Seeks Applications For The Securities Proceedings Advisory Committee
Mondovisione
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is seeking new members to join the Securities Proceedings Advisory Committee. The Committee advises the Office of the Secretary on a variety of policy and procedural initiatives relating to the OSC's administrative tribunal. The Committee meets on an as needed basis. Members may also be consulted from time to time on tribunal initiatives and are required to provide written feedback.
/bit.ly/31wjByq
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Pandemic Boom Stocks Don't Have Earnings to Support Them; For winners of today's stock market like Apple, Alphabet and Twitter, much of their value lies in the hope of earnings many years to come
James Mackintosh - WSJ
If I'd told you at the start of the year that Twitter's TWTR 8.39% forecast operating earnings of 91 cents a share would by October have turned into a forecast loss of 87 cents a share, would you have bought the stock? My guess is no—but you'd have missed out on a gain of 45% as a result.
/on.wsj.com/37u5LAi
Bond Insurance Returns to the Muni Market in a Big Way; Build America Mutual and Assured Guaranty see opportunity with the drop in local government creditworthiness
Heather Gillers - WSJ
The decimated municipal-bond insurance industry is having a renaissance. Weakened by Covid-19, state and local borrowers are using insurance at their highest rates in more than a decade. This type of upfront protection offers a promise from insurance companies to pay investors if the municipality defaults. Overall, the share of newly issued muni debt carrying insurance reached 7.13% in the second quarter and was 6.8% in the third quarter, up from an average of 4.72% in the decade before the pandemic, according to Municipal Market Analytics data.
/on.wsj.com/2Hrle9E
'Set and forget' investors stick with target-date funds; Covid-19 turbulence buoys loyalty to simpler defined contribution plans
Stephanie Forshee - FT
The vicissitudes of 2020 have underscored the importance of having a nest egg, including for retirement. They have also created significant headaches for active investors. Little wonder, then, that when it comes to retirement planning in the US, most investors rely on plans that remove any need to second-guess the market.
/on.ft.com/37zFssz
MMT: The case against Modern Monetary Theory; The deficit reality is that we are in effect borrowing from our collective economic futures
Stephen King - FT
In a world in which government debt is rapidly rising, it's hardly surprising that there's growing interest among investors in Modern Monetary Theory. After all, one of its central claims is that budget deficits are, from a financing perspective, an irrelevance. So long as increased government borrowing doesn't lead to inflation — and, at the moment, there really isn't much of it around — we can all afford to relax.
/on.ft.com/35qFeRZ
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | LGBTQ Holdings To Launch New Social Equality ETF Next Year
ETF Trends - Via Nasdaq
The world of exchange trade funds has become recognized for offering a plethora of sector-specific and niche funds that cater to investor interest. These funds have been as diverse as targeting builders in the 5G space to concentrating on renewable energy sources. A proposed ETF entrant is now related to social equality and civil rights. Financial data company LGBTQ Loyalty Holdings, Inc. (pink:LFAP) is set to launch an exchange traded fund linked to the LGBTQ+ ESG100 Index in the first quarter of 2021, and perhaps sooner depending upon on market conditions.
/bit.ly/3dN9bzn
Trump racing ahead to stall ESG investing by ERISA funds
Pensions & Investments
Despite widespread objections from the money management industry, President Donald Trump, through the Department of Labor led by Eugene Scalia, is speeding ahead with a proposal to make it more difficult for fiduciaries of retirement plans to direct money to ESG-focused funds.
/bit.ly/37xygNQ
Talking 'bout a revolution: The disruptive impact of ESG on wealth management
William Trout - FinExtra
The wealth management industry stands on the cusp of revolution, the implications of which extend to product, proposition and the structure of the business itself. At the frontline of this revolution is ESG investing: the use of environmental, social and governance criteria for portfolio creation and maintenance.
/bit.ly/35kSkQJ
Carbon Pledge Lifts Wind and Solar Stocks in China; Investors are trying to anticipate winners from whatever policies come out of nation's next five-year plan
Chong Koh Ping - WSJ
Chinese renewable-energy stocks have soared recently as investors believe the country's drive to become carbon neutral will fuel heavy investment in wind farms and solar parks. Big moves in Chinese shares are often tied to government plans and this is the latest example, as investors try to anticipate winners from whatever policies are included in the nation's next five-year plan.
/on.wsj.com/31wuekZ
ESG to Be 'Point of Differentiation' for Wealth Managers in 2021, Forrester Predicts
Ross Snel - Barron's
With more consumers looking to align their investments with goals such as mitigating climate change, wealth managers next year will enhance their platforms to track those objectives. Wealth managers will also implement changes in how advisors discuss environmental, social, and governance goals (ESG) with clients.
/bit.ly/2IL4j2b
Three Ways AI Can Assist ESG Investment Decisions
Dr. Steven Gustafson - Forbes
It is becoming increasingly important to understand how companies contribute to society, from preventing negative behaviors to identifying positive impacts that others can learn from. A recent book by Rebecca M. Henderson, Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, makes the case for initiatives that encourage the reporting and standardization of metrics such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
/bit.ly/3mbAx55
Don't call it a fad. Ethical investing is here to stay
Darla Mercado - CNBC
With billions of dollars flowing into sustainable investing strategies, it's safe to say it's no longer a fad.
Investors are pouring cash into funds that use environmental, social and governance criteria to screen the companies they invest in.
/cnb.cx/35n9gWH
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Vanguard active fund closure highlights challenge in Europe; Low-cost provider's passive fund growth is vastly outpacing its actively managed business
Ed Moisson - FT
The closure of Vanguard's Irish-domiciled actively managed US Fundamental Value fund highlights how the growth in its active business in Europe is lagging behind that of its passive offering.
/on.ft.com/3dLjtjA
Jefferies' Quant Team Builds Chatbot For Faster Equities Trading; In minutes, JEFQuants compiles information from multiple sources into a unique data package based on traders' queries.
Rebecca Natale - Waters Technology
The quantitative arm of American investment bank Jefferies has built a chatbot, JEFQuants, to assist in equity trading by providing anyone—traders, clients, or portfolio managers—with real-time pre-trade information, such bid-ask spreads, where liquidity can be found, or whether a stock is a historically volatile name.
/bit.ly/2FVNOzu
Apollo investor halts new commitments over Leon Black's Jeffrey Epstein ties; US pension fund speaks out after founder of buyout group said he paid late paedophile millions
Kaye Wiggins and Mark Vandevelde and Billy Nauman - FT
One of the biggest US public pension funds has frozen new investments with Apollo Global Management, as growing concerns about founder Leon Black's relationship with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein take a toll on the $414bn private equity group.
/on.ft.com/31upUm2
Asset managers in $300bn drive to build private lending funds; Investors switch focus to credit funds as alternative to public markets flooded with stimulus money
Michael Mackenzie and Eric Platt - FT
Asset managers are seeking to raise almost $300bn to plough into private lending deals with groups such as Goldman Sachs and Oaktree hoping to lure investors away from frothy public markets.
/on.ft.com/37vnEPl
Outgoing UBS Chief Sergio Ermotti Joins in Blank-Check Boom
Crystal Tse and Ruth David - Bloomberg
Banker to serve as chairman of Investindustrial Acquisition; SPACs have been gaining traction with investors in Europe
The booming club of special purpose acquisition companies just recruited a new, prominent member. Sergio Ermotti, the outgoing chief executive officer of UBS Group AG, has agreed to serve as chairman of Investindustrial Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company, according to a revised prospectus filed Tuesday. Investindustrial filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $350 million in a New York Stock Exchange listing.
/bloom.bg/37BzAPL
Deutsche Bank in Talks to Sell Tech Unit to Tata Consultancy
Steven Arons and Saritha Rai - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank's Postbank Systems unit employs 1,400 people; The talks are expected to result in a deal by end of year
Deutsche Bank AG is in advanced talks to sell a technology services unit to Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Asia's biggest software exporter by market value, people with knowledge of the matter said. The discussions about Bonn-based Postbank Systems AG are expected to result in a deal with the Indian company by the end of the year, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing the private information.
/bloom.bg/35iBLEW
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | How digitised supply chains can help multiply Africa's crop yields; Technology can help primary producers to access much-needed resources including finance, inputs and fair prices
Marianne Schoemaker - FT
European farmers, responding to urbanisation and growing demand for food in the 19th century, banded together to form not only agricultural co-operatives, but financial ones. Today, African farmers are in a similar position, but they now have the opportunity to organise themselves in a different fashion, integrate value chains to their benefit and develop their businesses.
/on.ft.com/3meDCkO
Petropavlovsk chief executive faces Russian criminal probe; Investigation follows Maksim Meshcheryakov's forced entry of FTSE 250 gold miner's Moscow office
Neil Hume and Max Seddon - FT
FTSE 250 gold producer Petropavlovsk is facing further turmoil after Russian prosecutors launched an investigation into its interim chief executive. The Investigative Committee of Russia told the Financial Times it was "investigating a criminal case" against Maksim Meshcheryakov, who was appointed two months ago. It added that "a notification of the initiation of a criminal case was sent to citizen Meshcheryakov"
/on.ft.com/3ojNZWK
Russia's Polyus claims Siberian gold mine as world's biggest; Company says undeveloped deposit holds 40m ounces of proven reserves
Henry Foy - FT
Russian gold miner Polyus has said its undeveloped Siberian deposit Sukhoi Log is the largest in the world, with 40m ounces of proven reserves. The deposit, which accounts for about a quarter of Russia's entire unmined gold, makes Polyus the world's second-largest gold miner by proven reserves, the company said on Thursday.
/on.ft.com/3ohQOr2
China's Ant gets final approval for world's biggest-ever IPO; Payments group owned by Jack Ma set to raise about $30bn in Hong Kong and Shanghai offering
Hudson Lockett - FT
China's Ant Group has cleared the final hurdle for its $30bn initial public offering, after receiving approval from Hong Kong's bourse ahead of what is set to be the world's biggest-ever stock market debut.
/on.ft.com/37uAIV3
Hong Kong fines Goldman Asia record $350m over 1MDB; Securities regulator says US investment bank penalised for 'serious lapses' in risk compliance
Hudson Lockett - FT
Hong Kong's securities regulator has fined Goldman Sachs's Asia business a record $350m for serious deficiencies in risk compliance and money laundering controls in relation to Malaysia's 1MDB.
/on.ft.com/35lnk2Z
Germans Are Hoarding Toilet Paper and Yeast Again
Carolynn Look - Bloomberg
Germans' demand for toilet paper is once again on the rise as coronavirus cases reached new records: sales were 90% higher last week than pre-pandemic averages, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office. The figures suggest that hoarding behavior is returning as consumers fear supply shortages and contact restrictions. Sales of soap, flour and yeast were also up by a significant amount.
/bloom.bg/3m9fSPe
Pound Surges Most in Six Months on Market Confidence Over Brexit
Greg Ritchie - Bloomberg
The pound climbed the most since March's market turmoil on bets that a Brexit deal might still be possible next month. Sterling rose as much as 1.7% to $1.3171, its highest in over six weeks, after Bloomberg reported that trade talks between the U.K. and European Union are on the verge of resuming. Negotiators have a goal of finding a deal by mid-November, according to people familiar with the matter. "Rather than a walk away deadline, we now have in store a timeline on a potential deal," said Neil Jones, head of foreign-exchange sales to financial institutions at Mizuho Bank. "There is an air of constructiveness on a deal that had not hit sterling previously."
/bloom.bg/35mkWsS
Wall Street banks see rare payday bonanza in India despite pandemic
Kane Wu, Scott Murdoch - Reuters
Major Wall Street banks in India raked in their second-highest fee income since the global financial crisis in the first nine months of this year, benefitting from a flurry of private-sector deals despite the coronavirus pandemic.
/reut.rs/2ILfAj1
Hong Kong Consumer Prices in Worst Deflation Run Since 2009
Eric Lam - Bloomberg
Decline attributed mainly to rent waivers for public housing; After excluding relief measures, underlying prices rose 0.5%
Hong Kong's consumer prices contracted for a third month in September, matching the longest deflationary stretch in more than a decade largely because of government relief measures to combat the coronavirus and recession.
/bloom.bg/3m8A5on
China Has Copper Flying Like a FANG Stock; Green prospects are likely to keep supporting the red metal, even after post-pandemic stimulus fades.
Clara Ferreira Marques - Bloomberg
Copper has touched $7,000 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, having climbed roughly 60% from a late-March nadir. The industrial metal is trading at levels unseen since 2018 despite a surge in coronavirus infections in Europe and beyond, stockpiles rising off recent lows, and expectations of a surplus in 2021. The reason is China, which is dominating the 24-million-ton per year market like never before thanks to a recovery that is outpacing other economies.
/bloom.bg/37A20JJ
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| Brexit | | Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union | UK and EU to resume talks in final push for post-Brexit trade deal; London agrees to lift block on negotiations following comments from EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier
Jim Brunsden and George Parker - FT
The EU and UK will embark on an intensified final phase of Brexit talks on Thursday after Britain agreed to lift its block on negotiations, prompting the biggest rally in the pound since March.
/on.ft.com/3dLCfXX
On Brexit's Front Lines: Covid Is Dry Run for Upheaval; Bloomberg has been following companies preparing for Brexit since the 2016 referendum. Here's a snapshot of how three are faring now.
Megan Durisin, Viren Vaghela, and Jennifer Ryan - Bloomberg
Leaving the European Union was supposed to be the most challenging time for Britain's chief executive officers. Then, of course, came the coronavirus pandemic. The unprecedented upheaval tested the ability of many companies to keep customers, secure supply chains and recruit and retain workers. And these are precisely the flashpoints that have raised questions about the U.K.'s preparedness to exit the single market at the end of the year.
/bloom.bg/31vSLXc
Brexit: UK to ban more EU citizens with criminal records
BBC News
Many more EU citizens with criminal records will be barred from entering the UK from January, the Home Office has said.
People sentenced to more than a year in prison will be turned away, in line with other foreign nationals.
Previously, officials had to show EU offenders presented a serious threat.
But there are concerns a no-deal Brexit could make it harder to identify foreign criminals, BBC home editor Mark Easton said.
/bbc.in/3dMlITy
Foreign rough sleepers face deportation from UK post-Brexit
Jamie Grierson - The Guardian
Foreign rough sleepers face being deported from Britain under draconian immigration laws to be introduced when the Brexit transition period ends. Under the immigration rules to be laid before parliament and due to come into force on 1 January, rough sleeping will become grounds for refusal of, or cancellation of, permission to be in the UK. Charities described the move as a "huge step backwards", which would prevent vulnerable people from asking for help.
/bit.ly/3m8yvCX
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