| March 07, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been actively engaged in addressing various issues surrounding climate risk disclosure, order execution quality, and the standardization of climate-related disclosures for investors. Chair Gary Gensler has been at the forefront, hosting "Office Hours with Gary Gensler: Climate Risk Disclosure" and issuing statements on final rules regarding order execution quality and mandatory climate risk disclosures. Commissioners Hester M. Peirce, Caroline A. Crenshaw, Mark T. Uyeda, and Jaime Lizarraga have also contributed with their statements on rule adoption, amendments, and dissenting opinions regarding order execution reporting and climate-related disclosures.
The statements and video include:
"Office Hours with Gary Gensler: Climate Risk Disclosure" - Chair Gary Gensler "Statement on Final Rules Regarding Order Execution Quality" - Chair Gary Gensler "Keeping Up with the Markets: Statement on Rule 605 Adoption" - Commissioner Hester M. Peirce "Statement on Adoption of Amendments to Rule 605: Disclosure of Order Execution Information" - Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw "Statement on Rule Amendments Regarding Disclosure of Order Execution Information" - Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda "Enhancing Order Execution Reporting for the Benefit of Investors" - Commissioner Jaime Lizarraga "Statement on Final Rules Regarding Mandatory Climate Risk Disclosures" - Chair Gary Gensler "Green Regs and Spam: Statement on the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors" - Commissioner Hester M. Peirce "A Risk by Any Other Name: Statement on the Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures" - Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw "A Climate Regulation under the Commission's Seal: Dissenting Statement on The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors" - Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda "Enhancing and Standardizing Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors" - Commissioner Jaime Lizarraga Don't miss the upcoming FIA webinar titled "The SEC's New Treasury Clearing Rule," hosted by Allison Lurton, scheduled for March 21st at 10 am ET. This webinar, part of the L&C Division series, promises an insightful exploration into the implications of the SEC's latest regulatory move. Joining the discussion are esteemed panelists Deborah North, Brandon Hammer, Lauren Semrad, and Wankun Wang, all from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Together, they will review the final rule and its potential impacts on Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) and derivatives lawyers. This event offers a valuable opportunity to navigate the complexities of the SEC's regulatory landscape and gain crucial insights into compliance strategies and best practices. You can register HERE.
Our friends at Connamara are sponsoring the Pickleball tournament at FIA Boca 2024 and it made me wonder where the name pickleball originated from. Did you know that Pickleball is named after the family dog of one of its founders, Joel Pritchard? In 1965, Pritchard, along with his friends Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, created the game to entertain their families during a summer gathering. The name "pickleball" reportedly originated from the Pritchard family's dog, Pickles, who would chase after stray balls during the game. As the sport gained popularity, the name stuck, eventually becoming known as pickleball. Had I created the game as an adult, it might have been called Snickersball, Bellaball or IndyBall. Of course Indy's real name is Indiana Jones, so it would have been Indiana Jonesball. If I had invented it as a kid, it would have been Fritzieball or Ladyball. Now, Fritzie was a girl and you could not name a girl dachshund a boy's name, so her real name was SnoopyFritzette. How about that for a game, SnoopyFritzetteball?
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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On March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted long-awaited rules to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures for investors. In a Bloomberg Podcast, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler responded to criticism that California's rules and Europe's rules are significantly stricter than the SEC's, saying those entities have a different goal: that of managing the environment. Gensler said the SEC is a securities regulator and "We stay within our chalk lines." On LinkedIn, ESG professional networks were buzzing with comments about the scope of the rules related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Hana Heineken, attorney for ClientEarth, posted: "Critics are rightly disappointed with the SEC's final decision to exclude mandatory disclosure of a company's upstream and downstream (Scope 3) GHG emissions, which typically make up the largest proportion of their carbon footprint. And the other mandated disclosures on direct (Scope 1) emissions and energy usage (Scope 2) are still subject to a materiality test. But let's remember that materiality is fundamentally about what is important to a reasonable investor. This is well established in case law. As climate risks mount, a reasonable investor will want and need more information on how public companies are addressing climate risk. This rule is only the beginning."
Hours after the rules were released, ten Republican-led states sued to challenge them, according to a Reuters story. The SEC action came amidst a political and cultural retreat in the United States against the environment, social and governance (ESG) financial framework, which helps stakeholders understand how an organization manages risks and opportunities related to sustainability. View the press release, download a fact sheet, and peruse the 800 pages of rule details HERE. ~SAED
Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- SEC Pushes Back Decision on BlackRock, Fidelity's Ether ETF Applications CoinDesk via Yahoo Finance.
- FIA announces 2024 President's Award winners from FIA.
- VIX from Cboe. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Bitcoin Bulls Cite a Simple Reason for Its Rally: Not Enough Coins; What makes the cryptocurrency different from just about any other commodity is its tightly constrained supply
Alexander Osipovich - The Wall Street Journal
Why did bitcoin soar to a record this week? Fans of the world's largest cryptocurrency say it is due to old-fashioned laws of supply and demand. Like the price of any commodity-whether it be gold, oil or soybeans-bitcoin's price is sensitive to fluctuations in demand. And demand for bitcoin surged after the January launch of U.S. exchange-traded funds, known as "spot" bitcoin ETFs, that directly hold units of the digital currency. Since then, investors have poured billions of dollars into these ETFs. Those inflows prompted the funds to buy bitcoin to meet the demand, bidding up the price.
/jlne.ws/3TpXwgc
***** I honestly and humbly say this, thank you to Alexander Osipovich for writing this story, which mirrored my comments from last week about Bitcoin and the supply and demand issues. He did a much better job with this, without all my opinions dripping from it.~JJL
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Senior Russian officer warns Ukraine conflict could escalate into full-scale war in Europe
Reuters
A senior Russian military officer has warned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in Europe and said the probability of Moscow's forces becoming involved in a new conflict is increasing "significantly." Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, head of the Russian army's Military Academy of the General Staff, made the comments in an article for "Military Thought", a defence ministry publication, the state RIA news agency reported on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/4a1L2Rz
****** Yes, that is the risk, and why Ukraine has friends.~JJL
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The Satoshi mystery: Bitcoin's anonymous creator and a $70 billion fortune
Brady Dale - Axios
A trial unfolding this week in the U.K. centers on the biggest open question in the cryptocurrency world: who is Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto? Why it matters: Almost no one believes the man currently in court claiming to be Satoshi really is Bitcoin's anonymous founder. But there are some compelling theories for who Satoshi really is - and who might control the 1.1 million bitcoin in known Satoshi wallets.
/jlne.ws/4c51XEr
***** This story says Satoshi is an individual, not a group. Here is my question. If Satoshi has $70 billion made in the Genesis Block of crypto he reportedly owns, then what would a Mrs. Nakamoto have to say?~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top story Wednesday was Hedge Fund Startups on the Rise With Giant Firms Under Scrutiny, from Bloomberg. Second was Simon Rostron's LinkedIn post about the LBMA London Gold Price scaling new heights. Third was Top real estate CEO warns '500 or more' banks will either fail or be consolidated over the next two years, from Fortune.
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| Lead Stories | CEO of Options Powerhouse Cboe Swats Down Talk of a Takeover; Fredric Tomczyk has slowed M&A, focused on organic growth; Exchange has made it 'very expensive' for potential acquirers
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
Cboe Global Markets Inc. is aiming to grow too large for potential acquirers to swallow up. After years of speculation about takeover possibilities, the exchange operator's new chief executive officer says it's unlikely a suitor will make an offer that works. "We're 100% focused on making it very expensive if anybody wants to acquire us, and we'd be very suspect of what would actually get done," Fredric Tomczyk said in his first media interview since taking over in September. "If you walk through the logic, it's not obvious to us that anybody would be allowed or able to do it."
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SEC approves rule requiring some companies to report greenhouse gas emissions. Legal challenges loom
Suman Naishadham - The Associated Press
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved a rule that will require some public companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, after last-minute revisions that weakened the directive in the face of strong pushback from companies. The rule was one of the most anticipated in recent years from the nation's top financial regulator, drawing more than 24,000 comments from companies, auditors, legislators and trade groups over a two-year process. It brings the U.S. closer to the European Union and California, which moved ahead earlier with corporate climate disclosure rules.
/jlne.ws/3V5SsyQ
24 Exchange Aims to Launch National U.S. Equities Exchange
Anna Lyudvig - Traders Exchange
24 Exchange, a multi-asset class trading platform, has recently submitted an updated Form 1 application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a license to create a new national securities exchange. If approved, this new U.S. equities exchange, 24X National Exchange, will be the first fully electronic exchange in the U.S. that allows around the clock trading of securities.
/jlne.ws/4c71MbO
'Sued on both sides': SEC braces for lawsuits from supporters and critics of climate rule; US regulator's mandate for companies to report emissions encounters immediate challenge from 10 states
Stefania Palma, Aime Williams and Patrick Temple-West - Financial Times
A court challenge was widely expected after the US securities regulator imposed a long-anticipated rule on company climate risks. In the event, the first lawsuit was filed in two hours. Ten US states petitioned to vacate the rule, accusing the Securities and Exchange Commission of overstepping its statutory authority as it finalised a policy on Wednesday that requires companies to disclose some data on their emissions and other climate-related risks.
/jlne.ws/3V8r7vX
A Quarter of Robinhood's Trading Volume Often Comes After Hours
Paige Smith - Bloomberg
Robinhood Markets Inc. is seeing as much as 25% of total trading volume coming outside of traditional market hours as investors take advantage of extended days on the retail-brokerage platform. Consumers have traded more than $10 billion in volume overnight since Robinhood launched its 24-hour, five-day-a-week trading capabilities last May - data the firm hasn't previously announced. Robinhood defines "overnight" as between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. in New York from Sunday through Friday, and a fourth of trading now takes place outside standard market hours on the platform's busiest days, the company said.
/jlne.ws/3T1gdFI
New SEC Climate Rules Are Weak, But They're Progress; Emission disclosure requirements for companies are the latest grim compromise for a Biden administration that is at least trying to fight global warming.
Mark Gongloff - Bloomberg
Mario Cuomo once said politicians should campaign in poetry but govern in prose. President Joe Biden's climate policy seems to have taken that to heart, often reading like a washing-machine repair guide: It gets a job done but isn't exactly inspiring. Consider the new climate-disclosure rules from the administration's Securities and Exchange Commission. After two years of furious debate and lobbying, the SEC on Wednesday approved new requirements that public companies disclose their greenhouse-gas emissions, which may sound like a historic move. But they are riddled with monumental caveats.
/jlne.ws/3ItOdG2
Elon Musk Wanted Control, Not Charity; OpenAI, Celsius earnings leak, Crown Castle fiduciary out, top secret dating and Crypto: The Fragrance.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
I want to make a few points about this list. First: It's a fine list? Stopping climate change, colonizing space, and changing public discourse are all reasonable things to prioritize. There are tech founders who are like "I wanted to solve the problem that sometimes when I order food delivery, it arrives cold"; Elon Musk is not a founder like that.1 Second: He has made a lot of progress on these problems. Tesla revolutionized electric cars; SpaceX revolutionized space; I personally do not care for the effect that Musk has had on the conversation at Twitter (now X), but he sure has had an effect, and I assume he's happy with it. As a founder of companies intended to solve big problems, Elon Musk has been quite effective.
/jlne.ws/3V7cWHJ
The Lehman liquidators taking on China's Evergrande; Alvarez & Marsal duo face more complex case with troubled property developer
Kaye Wiggins and Chan Ho-him - Financial Times
When Eddie Middleton and Tiffany Wong worked on the liquidation of Lehman Brothers' vast Asian operations, it must have seemed like the largest and most complicated task they would ever take on. Fifteen years later, China Evergrande, the world's most indebted property developer, has collapsed - and they are handling the wreckage.
/jlne.ws/4a1UDrp
The hedge fund-bank nexus; The BIS eyeballs prime brokers
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
The Bank for International Settlement's latest Quarterly Review is out, and it includes an interesting little aside on prime brokerages, the corner of investment banks that service hedge fund clients. PBs are one of the main links between traditional banks and shadow banks, offering services like custody, margin loans, derivatives, research and introduction to companies and investors. In return, they hope to get thiccc trading commissions.
/jlne.ws/3V5eou0
SEC 'caution' extends Vanguard's ETF share class monopoly; Six managers have applied to use ETFs as share class of mutual funds but regulatory approval seems a long way off
Will Schmitt - Financial Times
More than nine months after Vanguard's lucrative patent on using exchange traded funds as a share class of existing mutual funds expired, rival asset managers are still waiting for approval to copy the structure. Guinness Atkinson, the first firm to convert a mutual fund to an ETF, is the latest to file for permission to add ETF share classes to its mutual funds. It is the sixth US asset manager to do so, joining Morgan Stanley, PGIA (the US division of Australia's Perpetual), Dimensional Fund Advisors, Fidelity and First Trust. Meanwhile, F/m Investments has filed to launch mutual fund share classes of its ETFs, bringing to seven the total filing for a multi-share class structure.
/jlne.ws/3wNCwra
FIX EMEA 2024: Over two-thirds of attendees ready for T+1 in the US, but multiple concerns linger;' At the FIX EMEA Trading Conference, panellists explored the scheduled shift to T+1 in North America, the impacts it will have on global jurisdictions and whether or not the UK and EU should follow suit.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Attendees at the FIX EMEA Trading Conference said T+1 is the greatest regulatory headache currently within financial markets, though 70% of the audience said they will be ready for the acceleration of settlement times come May. With markets just months away from North America moving to T+1 settlement, panellists discussed market readiness and whether the rest of the world should follow suit.
/jlne.ws/3Tr9iqU
FIX EMEA 2024: Regulators ponder global conformity in the face of regional disparity; Just over half of experts in the room at the FIX EMEA Trading Conference say that reducing existing requirements to focus more on guidelines should be the main priority for regulators across the board.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
A panel of experts hailing from regulatory bodies across the globe gathered today at the FIX EMEA Trading Conference to unpack what themes should be at the fore of market participants' agendas. A key discussion point was around the balancing act of global conformity in the face of regional disparity, and the idea of regulators playing a key role in whether regions will continue to be more or less fragmented.
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Celebrating International Women's Day with... Mizuho's Lu Fu; To celebrate International Women's Day (IWD) 2024, The TRADE sits down with managing director, head of eSales and digital transformation EMEA at Mizuho, Lu Fu, to unpack market moves, including the impact of digitisation on how desks are evolving, and outlooks on what trading floors might look like in the future.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
What is the main priority for traders on the desk when looking to digitise their processes? The desk has been focused on equipping itself with advanced data analytics to enable traders to make more data-driven decisions related to pricing and risk management, and to utilise this data to make us more relevant to our clients based on client insights analysis.
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine's Drone Boats May Have Herded A Russian Warship Into Open Water Before Striking
David Axe - Forbes
Ukrainian navy drone boats ran chased down the Russian Black Sea Fleet missile-corvette Sergei Kotov on Tuesday, severely damaging if not sinking the 1,700-ton vessel outside the port of Feodosiya in southeastern Crimea. The strike by the 18-foot, explosives-laden "Sea Baby" drones extends a remarkable kill-streak by a navy that no longer has any large warships-but which still has managed to sink a quarter of the Black Sea Fleet's own large ships.
/jlne.ws/3uQUZCB
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Rising above: Israeli tech startups show resilience amid conflict
Amir Haramaty - The Times of Israel
Despite the toll that the ongoing war against Hamas is taking on the Israeli economy, resulting in Moody's recent downgrade of Israel's credit ratings, the country's tech ecosystem is showcasing unprecedented resilience. In January alone, Israeli startups raised over $473 million, a 75% increase compared to the same period last year.
/jlne.ws/3Iy2DEN
Arab world directs anger at US and the west for Gaza devastation; Sweeping resentment driven by what many see as double standards over Israel-Hamas war
Raya Jalabi - Financial Times
Rashad has clashed with family about the US for as long as he can remember, defending America as a "force for good" when relatives railed against US military interventions. When they complained that Washington pushed "liberal values" down Arab throats, Rashad replied that someone had to support human rights in an illiberal region. But "everything changed" after the October 7 attack on Israel, said the Lebanese-Saudi, as the US gave its staunch backing to the Jewish state's retaliatory offensive in Gaza.
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Nodal Exchange achieves February trading records as power market grows 30% and environmental market grows 133%
Nodal Exchange
Nodal Exchange today announced it achieved a calendar month trading record for February 2024 with 379.1 million MWh of traded power futures volume in the month, up 30% from the prior year. This represents Nodal Exchange's highest volume month ever, surpassing Nodal's prior monthly record volume of 325.2 million MWh of traded power futures volume in February 2022. Nodal continues to be the market leader in North American power futures having the majority of the open interest with 1.35 billion MWh at the end of February.
/jlne.ws/48HYclK
Miami International Holdings Reports Trading Results for February 2024; MIAX Exchange Group YTD Options and Equities Volumes at Record Levels while MGEX Futures Volume Surges 30.3%
Miami International Holdings
Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH) today reported February 2024 trading results for its U.S. exchange subsidiaries - MIAX®, MIAX Pearl® and MIAX Emerald® (together, the MIAX Exchange Group), and Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX). February 2024 and Year-to-Date Trading Volume and Market Share Highlights. Total multi-listed options volume for the MIAX Exchange Group reached a monthly total of 145.3 million contracts, a 6.0% increase year-over-year (YoY) and representing an increase of 3.4% from January 2024.
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Celebrating five successful years of ESG Index Derivatives
Eurex
Eurex marks a significant achievement this February: our ESG Index Derivatives celebrate their fifth anniversary! On 18 February 2019, Eurex launched their derivatives on ESG versions of the well-known European STOXX® benchmarks, pioneering the ESG Index Derivatives space and setting a remarkable growth sector in motion.
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Euronext announces March 2024 review results of the OBX Family
Euronext
Euronext today announced the results of the March 2024 review for the OBX family including the OBX, OSEBX, OSEFX and the OBX ESG. Changes will be implemented after markets close on Friday 15 March and will be effective from Monday 18 March.
/jlne.ws/48J3bT9
Euronext announces March 2024 annual review results of the PSI
Euronext
Euronext today announced the results of the annual review for the PSI®, which will be implemented after markets close on Friday 15 March 2024 and will be effective from Monday 18 March 2024.
/jlne.ws/3Itqd5E
Euronext announces March 2024 annual review results of the BEL Family indices
Euronext
Euronext today announced the results of the March 2024 annual review for the BEL 20, BEL Mid, BEL Small and BEL ESG, which will take place after markets close on Friday 15 March 2024 and be effective from Monday 18 March 2024.
/jlne.ws/3wFZwrT
Nasdaq Chief Financial Officer Sarah Youngwood to Present at the BofA Securities 2024 Information and Business Services Conference
Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) will be presenting at the following conference with a webcast available at Nasdaq's Investor Relations website: ir.nasdaq.com/events.cfm. Who: Sarah Youngwood, Executive Vice President & CFO, Nasdaq. What: BofA Securities 2024 Information and Business Services Conference. When: Thursday, March 14, 2024 8:40 AM ET.Where: Ms. Youngwood's presentation will be webcast at Nasdaq's Investor Relations website: ir.nasdaq.com/events.cfm.
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ASX Complies With ASIC Infringement Notice
Attached Is A Media Release Regarding ASX's Compliance With An Infringement Notice Given By ASIC.
/jlne.ws/46R1Cme
Business Conduct Committee
CME Group
Attached are the New York Mercantile Exchange and Commodity Exchange disciplinary postings for the following, which have an effective date of Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
- Michael Lim - NYMEX 19-1122-BC-16. Read Full Notice
- Thomas Lim - NYMEX 19-1122-BC-17. Read Full Notice
- Thomas Lim - COMEX 19-1122-BC-7. Read Full Notice
- Aaron Dao Chang Pang - NYMEX 19-1122-BC-18. Read Full Notice
- Aaron Dao Chang Pang - COMEX 19-1122-BC-8. Read Full Notice
NSE Indices launches new Sub-Category level Nifty AIF Benchmark and Fund of Funds Benchmark
National Stock Exchange of India
NSE Indices Limited today published its standard semi-annual Category and Sub-category level Nifty Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) Benchmark Reports for the period ended 30th September 2023. These reports include industry level performance of category and sub-category benchmarks. In the sub-category level report, NSE Indices Limited curated a new sub-category level benchmark for Category III- "Hybrid Fund" which includes schemes having a combination of equity and debt
exposures.
/jlne.ws/49IQngI
SGX RegCo details how sustainability reports should incorporate ISSB Standards
Singapore Exchange
Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) is consulting the market on details of how the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards are to be incorporated into its sustainability reporting rules for climate-related disclosures, in line with the Sustainability Reporting Advisory Committee's recommendations announced on 28 February 2024.
/jlne.ws/3V9hHAy
Moscow Exchange study: 93% of issuers disclose information about the gender and age of employees
MOEX
The Moscow Exchange presented the results of a study on the disclosure of information on equal opportunities by issuers. The presentation of the results took place on March 6, 2024 at the round table "Equality of opportunity - the basis of social and economic development" organized by the exchange. According to the study, 93% of public companies report the gender and age of their employees in their sustainability reports. 80% of issuers cite the gender composition of employees depending on position level.
/jlne.ws/48OsC5E
March TAIFEX Newsletter
TAIFEX
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TMX Group Consolidated Trading Statistics - February 2024
TMX
TMX Group Limited today announced February 2024 trading statistics for its marketplaces - Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange (Alpha), including Alpha-X & Alpha DRK, and Montréal Exchange (MX).
/jlne.ws/49Zzeza
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | SK Hynix Invests $1 Billion in Key AI Memory Chip Technology
Yoolim Lee - Bloomberg
SK Hynix Inc. is ramping up its spending on advanced chip packaging, in hopes of capturing more of the burgeoning demand for a crucial component in artificial intelligence development: high-bandwidth memory. The Icheon-based firm is investing more than $1 billion in South Korea this year to expand and improve the final steps of its chip manufacture, said Lee Kang-Wook, a former Samsung Electronics Co. engineer who now heads up packaging development at SK Hynix. Innovation with that process is at the heart of HBM's advantage as the most sought-after AI memory, and further advances will be key to reducing power consumption, driving performance and cementing the company's lead in the HBM market.
/jlne.ws/3Iy2IZ7
AI is Driving Record Sales at Multibillion-Dollar Databricks. An IPO Can Wait ...;
Belle Lin - The Wall Street Journal
Databricks, the multibillion-dollar heavyweight long expected to make its public market debut, is instead taking a different tack: Choosing to act as a public firm by self-reporting business performance, as it waits for the right moment to commit to an IPO, says Ali Ghodsi, its co-founder and CEO.
/jlne.ws/3P9WpPk
The Dark Side of Open Source AI Image Generators
Lydia Morrison - Wired
Whether through the frowning high-definition face of a chimpanzee or a psychedelic, pink-and-red-hued doppelganger of himself, Reuven Cohen uses AI-generated images to catch people's attention. "I've always been interested in art and design and video and enjoy pushing boundaries," he says-but the Toronto-based consultant, who helps companies develop AI tools, also hopes to raise awareness of the technology's darker uses.
/jlne.ws/3TtYbxu
OpenAI and Microsoft's AI bot Copilot are on the hot seat for sexual and copyright-violating images
Laura Bratton - Quartz
Microsoft engineer Shane Jones filed a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Wednesday alleging that its AI design tool Copilot is "not safe." Jones told CNBC in an interview that he was able to use Copilot to generate images of teenagers playing with assault rifles. He also said the tool would produce unsolicited violent, sexualized images of women and ones that may violate copyright laws. Microsoft is partnering with OpenAI's French rival Microsoft's new price plans for AI are trying to make back its OpenAI investment
/jlne.ws/3wTSj7u
Intel Stands to Win $3.5 Billion to Produce Chips for Military
Mackenzie Hawkins - Bloomberg
The US government is poised to invest $3.5 billion in Intel Corp. so the chipmaker can produce advanced semiconductors for military and intelligence programs, according to congressional aides. The money, tucked into a fast-moving spending bill the House passed on Wednesday, would establish Intel as a dominant domestic player in the lucrative defense market.
/jlne.ws/436n9pC
Apple's 10 Biggest Challenges, From AI to China
Nick Turner and Mark Gurman - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/49ZhQdU
Sal Khan Has Big Dreams for AI in Education. Are They Too Big? Educator says the technology could save education, but the gains he hopes for haven't been seen in modern research
Matt Barnum - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/49MfU8T
Hertz Taps Fintech Stripe for Processing of Rental-Car Payments
Paige Smith - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3PcQUzs
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | IBM Debuts New, State-of-the-Art Washington DC Cyber Response Training Facility
IBM
IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the official opening of the new IBM X-Force Cyber Range in Washington, DC. The range includes new custom training exercises specifically designed to help U.S. federal agencies, their suppliers and critical infrastructure organizations more effectively respond to persistent and disruptive cyberattacks, and threats posed by AI. The state-of-the-art facility is designed to help everyone from legal and mission-critical leaders, to the C-Suite and technical security leaders prepare for a real-world cyber incident.
/jlne.ws/3V3Ecqx
1st Annual Cybersecurity Startup Expo 2024
CISO MAG
Introducing a brand-new cybersecurity event in Sweden, the 1st Annual Cybersecurity Startup Expo. The main goal for the event is to promote cybersecurity startups and new emerging cybersecurity enterprises. The Expo is open for both Nordic and international cybersecurity startups.
/jlne.ws/48EqfCB
Google sets up first Asia-Pacific cybersecurity base in Tokyo, Nikkei reports
Reuters
Google has set up a cybersecurity base in Tokyo, its first in the Asia-Pacific region, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3V8oEl7
Beyond the table stakes: CISO Ian Schneller on cybersecurity's evolving role
Michael Bertha - CSO
The security leader at Health Care Service Corporation talks about today's scope and risks of being a CISO and what's needed to be successful in the role. When Ian Schneller entered the workforce in the early 1990s, cybersecurity was just emerging as a function within companies. It was a dedicated function, and where it existed at all, it served principally in a technical capacity by thwarting attacks against the organization and, to some extent, against customers. "That was really the role," recalls Schneller, "defending against that constant onslaught of attackers, protecting the organization's systems, information, and services...still a very, very technical role that in many cases developed from somebody working inside of it, maybe a system administrator, maybe a developer, or someone with a very technical background."
/jlne.ws/3V8zuaX
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | What Is Bitcoin 'Halving' and Does It Push Up the Cryptocurrency's Price?
Vildana Hajric and David Pan - Bloomberg
Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, prone to sudden price surges and swift reversals that can wipe out millions of dollars of value in minutes. Those changes are often mysterious to market observers, because of the digital currency's lack of ties to the real economy. Bitcoin has another quirk, one that was built into the code that gave it birth: Every so often, the formula that governs the rate at which new tokens are created changes. As another such event - called a halving - approaches, Bitcoin supporters and skeptics are debating what kind of impact it may have on the coin's value. The coin hit records after each of the last three halvings and rose past its previous peak of $68,991.85 in March, making a comeback from a plunge in 2022.
/jlne.ws/4c2tLcN
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Norway, Sweden and Finland host Nato military exercises; Nordic Response aims to strengthen cooperation between countries and bolster alliance's ability to defend region
Miranda Bryant - The Guardian
A first-of-its-kind training exercise involving more than 20,000 soldiers from 13 countries has launched across northern Norway, Sweden and Finland as the region prepares to become a fully Nato territory within days. The joint defence exercise, which runs until 14 March, was previously known as Cold Response and held in northern Norway, a founding Nato member, every other year. In recognition of Finland's recent membership of the western military alliance, and with Sweden expected to join imminently, this year it is being designated Nordic Response for the first time.
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Washington pushes allies to tighten China chipmaking restrictions; Biden administration wants greater curbs after technological advances by Huawei and SMIC
Christian Davies, Qianer Liu, Kana Inagaki and Andy Bounds - Financial Times
The US is pushing Japan and the Netherlands to tighten restrictions on exports of chipmaking equipment to China, following a series of advances by blacklisted Chinese tech companies Huawei and SMIC. Washington imposed unilateral export controls in October 2022 in an effort to slow Chinese efforts to build or obtain high-performance semiconductors that can be used for military purposes.
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EU Proposes New Russia Sanctions Over Death of Alexey Navalny
Alberto Nardelli - Bloomberg
The European Union will propose new sanctions related to the death of the Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in an arctic prison last month. The restrictive measures will include 35 persons and two entities, according to a draft of the proposal seen by Bloomberg. The EU approved a modest package of sanctions last month aimed at Moscow, its 13th since Russia invaded Ukraine. Those measures focused on enforcing existing restrictions.
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Top US official warns Austria over banking with Russia
Alexandra Schwarz-goerlich and John O'Donnell - Reuters
A top U.S. sanctions official will this week warn Austria and Raiffeisen Bank International of the dangers of doing business in Russia, piling pressure on the biggest Western bank there. As part of a renewed push by Washington on sanctions enforcement, Anna Morris, a U.S. Treasury official focused on illicit money flows, will encourage banks in Austria to examine their Russian exposure and "take mitigation measures".
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Ex-Google Engineer Charged With Stealing A.I. Secrets for Chinese Firm; Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in California and accused of uploading hundreds of files to the cloud.
Glenn Thrush and Nico Grant - The New York Times
A Chinese citizen who recently quit his job as a software engineer for Google in California has been charged with trying to transfer artificial intelligence technology to a Beijing-based company that paid him secretly, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday. Prosecutors accused Linwei Ding, who was part of the team that designs and maintains Google's vast A.I. supercomputer data system, of stealing information about the "architecture and functionality" of the system, and of pilfering software used to "orchestrate" supercomputers "at the cutting edge of machine learning and A.I. technology."
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Testimony of Chairman Rostin Behnam: U.S. House Committee on Agriculture
CFTC
For over a century, derivatives markets have played a key role in the U.S. economy, contributing to financial stability and predictability of prices that impact the daily lives of all Americans, especially our nation's farmers and ranchers. Recognizing the historical roots of our agency and the continued importance of derivatives to agricultural stakeholders, I am pleased to announce that the CFTC and the Center for Risk Management Education and Research (CRMER) at Kansas State University will be hosting the third Agriculture Commodity Futures Conference on April 11th and 12th in Overland Park, Kansas.[1]
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SEC Adopts Amendments to Enhance Disclosure of Order Execution Information
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted rule amendments that update the disclosure required under Rule 605 of Regulation NMS for order executions in national market system stocks (NMS stocks), which are stocks listed on a national securities exchange. Rule 605 was adopted in 2000 to help the public compare and evaluate execution quality at different market centers.
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Statement of Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero: Global Markets, Local Impacts
CFTC
Good morning. I'm pleased to welcome you to the CFTC for the first Global Market Advisory Committee meeting of 2024. I am very grateful for the service of the members, as well as Commissioner Pham for her leadership of this Committee, and the CFTC staff. I am always reminded that commodity derivatives markets are truly global markets-markets that can have local impacts on end users and consumers. Lately, I have followed how shifting weather patterns in West Africa have driven cocoa futures to record highs, and chocolate producers like Nestle have reportedly warned about price increases. Even Cookie Monster recently expressed concerns that the size of his favorite product, which includes chocolate as a key input, is shrinking
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SEC Adopts Rules to Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted rules to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings. The final rules reflect the Commission's efforts to respond to investors' demand for more consistent, comparable, and reliable information about the financial effects of climate-related risks on a registrant's operations and how it manages those risks while balancing concerns about mitigating the associated costs of the rules.
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Changes to the Financial Promotions Order
FCA
The FCA and industry implemented the changes to the high net worth exemption by 31 January 2024 as required under the law. These changes were taken forward after detailed consultation and recommendations made by the Treasury Select Committee in 2021 that the government should re-evaluate the appropriateness of the Financial Promotion Order exemptions.
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SFC CEO appointed chair of IOSCO Asia-Pacific regional committee
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) welcomes the appointment of its Chief Executive Officer, Ms Julia Leung, as the Chair of the Asia-Pacific Regional Committee (APRC) of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) (Notes 1 and 2). Her two-year term will start on the date of the IOSCO Annual Meeting in May 2024.
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India Bars JM Financial From Managing Public Debt Issues; Sebi also probing oversubscription of a small IPO involving JM; JM can carry out existing debt issue mandates for two months
Chiranjivi Chakraborty and Menaka Doshi - Bloomberg
India's capital market regulator has barred JM Financial Ltd. from acting as a manager for any new public issues of debt by Indian companies on account of alleged unfair trade practices and violation of code of conduct for merchant bankers, according to an initial order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The Sebi order comes days after India's central bank barred the company's unit from lending against shares and bonds citing serious deficiencies in loans sanctioned for IPO financing and bonds subscriptions. Shares of JM Financial closed 2.9% higher in Mumbai on Thursday after falling 10% in the previous session following RBI's action.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | What the SEC vote on climate disclosures means for investors
Greg Iacurci - CNBC
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday voted 3-2 to issue a final rule that requires certain U.S. companies to disclose their risks related to climate change and how they contribute to a warming planet via greenhouse gas emissions. The 886-page rule - which follows a March 2022 proposal - establishes a disclosure framework "floor" for publicly listed companies, transparency that will help inform investors' decisions, according to Caroline Crenshaw, an SEC commissioner who voted in favor of the rule.
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Lyft accidentally put an extra zero in its earnings report. Now shareholders are suing; One too many zeros prompted Lyft's shares to swell over 60%.
Francisco Velasquez - Reuters
Less than a month after Lyft posted its fourth-quarter earnings and complete 2023 financial results on Feb 13., shareholders are still feeling burned. Now they're suing. In a civil class action suit, plaintiff and shareholder Yuan Chen alleges that he purchased 20,000 shares of Lyft's common stock and suffered damages as a result of misleading statements made by the San Francisco, California-based company.
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A Hidden Crisis in U.S. Housing; In places most prone to wildfires and hurricanes, state "insurers of last resort" are absorbing trillions of dollars in risk.
Leslie Kaufman,Saijel Kishan and Nadia Lopez - Bloomberg
It is so easy to start a wildfire. A smoldering campfire, a lightning strike, an errant firework or a spark from a power line or a hot muffler: However California's next monumental blaze begins, the toll will be vast. People will be injured, some will die. Thousands of homes will be destroyed. When the smoke clears, the most populous US state, home to Hollywood, Silicon Valley and a real estate market worth more than $9 trillion, will be ground zero for a sweeping financial crisis.
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Nvidia Directors Reap Windfall With $180 Million Share Sale
Jeran Wittenstein - Bloomberg
Two Nvidia Corp. directors sold about $180 million in shares of the chipmaker in recent days, becoming the latest insiders to cash in as the stock continues to push deeper into record territory. Tench Coxe, a former managing director at venture capital firm Sutter Hill Ventures who has been on Nvidia's board since 1993, sold 200,000 shares on March 5 at $850.03 to $852.50, according to a filing. Coxe still holds more than 3.7 million shares.
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Reddit's IPO Success Hinges on Infamously Unruly User Base; Some Redditors have scoffed at the invitation to buy shares, but they keep coming back to the platform.
Priya Anand - Bloomberg
Reddit's users love to complain about Reddit. They also love to use it. This week marks the deadline for the company's most loyal posters and moderators to preregister for the chance to buy shares in Reddit's impending initial public offering, before they start trading on the open market. There will be space for about 75,000 users, according to a person familiar with the matter. The move is intended to give the people who moderate Reddit's forums and write its content for free the chance to reap some financial rewards.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Ireland to vote on removing 'sexist' references to women from constitution
Padraic Halpin and Clodagh Kilcoyne - Reuters
Ireland is poised to vote on Friday - International Women's Day - to replace constitutional references on the importance of a woman's "life within the home", the latest attempt to update its socially conservative 1937 founding document. While social change in the once deeply Catholic nation has spurred the removal of bans on abortion and same-sex marriage, the constitution contains a clause recognising "that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved".
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Carbon Markets Test the Limits of Voluntary Action; As companies retreat from green pledges, advocacy for broader corporate climate action may be misplaced.
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
The limits of voluntary climate action are evident everywhere you look. Every day it seems there's another company scaling back its sustainability ambitions or another investment firm pulling out of industry coalitions set up to press corporations to decarbonize their operations.In the voluntary carbon market, where corporates buy credits to compensate for their emissions, that same regressive dynamic may soon be at play. But there are still some who have hope that companies will not only keep buying credits, but perhaps invest in cleaning things up beyond their own patch.
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Global Green Bond Sales Top $54 Billion in Busiest February Ever
Caleb Mutua - Bloomberg
Green bonds, which make up the largest category of sustainable debt, had their busiest February ever amid an unprecedented bonanza of global debt offerings. Sales of green bonds globally totaled $54.7 billion last month, making this the most active February since the inception of the green-debt market in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. About $83.3 billion worth of green bonds priced in January, also setting a record for that month.
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EU countries to exit energy treaty over climate concerns, officials say
Kate Abnett - Reuters
European Union countries agreed on Thursday to jointly quit an international energy treaty over concerns that it undermines efforts to fight climate change, officials said. The 1998 Energy Charter Treaty, which allows energy companies to sue governments over policies that damage their investments, has in recent years been used to challenge moves that require shutting down fossil fuel plants.
Europe's Biggest Pension Fund ABP Tightens ESG Guardrails; Total number of invested companies to decline by half; ABP targeting 30 billion euro in climate, biodiversity investments
Sarah Jacob - Bloomberg
Europe's biggest pension fund is imposing stricter environmental, social and governance requirements on its portfolio, as it steers more capital toward companies it assesses to be greener and fairer. ABP, which is based in the Netherlands, said the policy means it will apply tougher screening when it reviews holdings for climate and biodiversity risk, according to a statement on Monday.
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EU underprepared as climate change risks mount, draft report says
Kate Abnett - Reuters
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IBM Commits Up To $45M to Climate Adaptation, Starting With New RFP for Resilient Cities
IBM
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Recycling Wind Turbine Blades Can Solve the Industry's Biggest Problem
Dan Murtaugh and Spe Chen - Bloomberg
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Warmer, wetter, hotter, drier - February caps unending stretch of record temperatures
Kenza Bryan and Steven Bernard - Financial Times
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | JPMorgan pursued Discover deal before Capital One's $35bn offer; Talks show largest US lender's appetite for a payments network to support its credit card business
Joshua Franklin and Stephen Morris - Financial Times
JPMorgan Chase spent about a year discussing a possible deal with Discover Financial before Capital One agreed a $35bn bid for the credit card company, as the largest US bank pursued ways to get control of Discover's Pulse electronic payments network. JPMorgan started actively exploring a deal in mid-2021, but abandoned the effort in mid-2022 when it failed to convince Discover of its merits, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
/jlne.ws/3TpuRb7
Alphabet's AI Missteps Are Opportunity For One Fund Manager; Boston Partners' Cohen says AI upside isn't priced into stock; Alphabet's price-to-earnings ratio is below other Big Tech
Sagarika Jaisinghani and Subrat Patnaik - Bloomberg
Concerns about Alphabet Inc.'s artificial intelligence missteps have weighed heavily on the Google-parent's stock, but a Boston Partners fund manager believes this has created a golden opportunity for investors. The shares trade at "a low multiple for an extraordinary business," David Cohen, who manages just over $30 billion as a portfolio manager for Boston Partners' large cap value strategy, said in an interview in London. "We don't think the upside from what the company can do with AI is priced into the equity."
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | The remote-work revolution means only managers can afford to live in pricey cities
Irina Ivanova and Alena Botros - Fortune
The pandemic surge toward remote work, it was once hoped, would bring in a more egalitarian America, where workers no longer had to live in pricey coastal cities to advance in their career. But four years on, the remote-work revolution has had some unexpected effects-and one of them is a polarization in where bosses and frontline workers live.
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Home Care Aides Fight to End 24-Hour Shifts: 'This Work Is Killing Them'; Home health care, among the fastest growing industries in New York and nationwide, is also one of the lowest paying, with often grueling hours.
Stefanos Chen - The New York Times
For eight years, Lai Yee Chen worked 24-hour shifts, up to five days a week, as a home care aide for bed-bound seniors in New York City. She cooked, cleaned, changed diapers and turned her patients at least every two hours to prevent bedsores. Ms. Chen, 69, has since retired, but she still jolts awake at night, as if she's still on call. "The 24-hour workday is inhumane. It's violence against workers," she said in Cantonese.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Dementia is not an inevitable part of aging - these 3 things can help
Paul Brandus - MarketWatch
One very normal concern we have as we age is the question of whether we will gradually slip into dementia, or Alzheimer's (there is a bit of a difference between the two, by the way). The basic definition of dementia is a decline in mental function. Don't worry: Misplacing your keys or cellphone, which I seem to do a lot, isn't a sign. What is, says AARP, is "a loss of functioning that interferes with daily life," which "can diminish focus, attention, language skills, problem-solving and visual perception."
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Chemical Linked to Cancer Found in Acne Creams Including Proactiv, Clearasil; Tainted products contain same carcinogen detected in sunscreens, dry shampoo
Anna Edney - Bloomberg
Hand sanitizers were tainted by benzene. Sunscreens and dry shampoos too. Now acne treatments are joining the list of widely used consumer products found to contain high levels of the chemical linked to cancer. Acne products from brands including Proactiv, Target Corp.'s Up & Up and Clinique have elevated levels of the carcinogen, an independent testing laboratory said in a petition filed with the US Food and Drug Administration late Tuesday. The lab asked the FDA to recall the affected treatments - all of which contain the active ingredient benzoyl peroxide - while regulators investigate.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Bond Scion Taps India Markets Boom to Transform Her Family Firm; Mittal co-founded an online bond platform for retail investors; Only 3% of top jobs among 2,000-odd listed firms held by women
Divya Patil and Subhadip Sircar - Bloomberg
In India's male-dominated corporate world, particularly in the bond market, women in leadership roles are a rare sight. Aditi Mittal is all too aware of this disparity. She stands out among the few women at the forefront of the nation's $2 trillion plus fixed-income market, having co-founded an online bond platform that gives individuals direct access to a market traditionally dominated by large institutions.
/jlne.ws/3TpxHgf
Belgium Retail Bond Gets Paltry Demand After 2023 Blockbuster; Issuer had capacity to sell EUR6b across one, three-year notes; Similar offering in September drew EUR22b in demand from buyers
Alice Gledhill and Lyubov Pronina - Bloomberg
Belgium drew less than EUR500 million ($542 million) of orders for a bond sold to retail investors, a fraction of a similar transaction last year as demand for the securities crumbles. The one-year bond drew EUR413.3 million of orders while those for a three-year note were just EUR19.7 million, according to a statement from the country's federal debt agency. Demand for Belgium's last retail offering in September 2023 totaled a record EUR21.9 billion.
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