| September 28, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Some Wall Street firms are being fined a total of $1.8 billion for using WhatsApp, as well as other similar apps. This is a big chunk of change for a private conversation. But then the apps became the favorite of certain Washington and Wall Street players during the Trump administration as a way of having conversations one did not want shared.
Brett Harrison stepped down as president of FTX US to become an advisor to the fast growing and increasingly complex firm. When he started he was one of three employees and there are now more than 100. Just my take, but this might be a good time to stop drinking from the crypto industry/FTX firehose for a while, and the advisor role seems like a good one as he steps back and can give a more thoughtful perspective.
The World Federation of Exchanges 61st General Assembly & Annual Meeting, hosted by Malta Stock Exchange, is occurring right now in Malta. The Annual Meeting is an invitation-only event, where leaders of global exchanges, regulatory authorities and the buy side gather for in-depth discussion on major issues surrounding the exchange industry. Some of the usual suspects are in attendance.
CFTC Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger gave a keynote address with a title right out of Iowa for this global exchange group assembled in Malta. The title of her speech was "A Field of Dreams."
The newest refugees of Europe are Russian draft dodgers, Bloomberg reports.
I worry whether I have enough money saved for retirement. Of course, it does not help when my stock holdings go down each day. Well, The Wall Street Journal is here to help with an article titled "People Don't Save Enough for Emergencies, but There Are Ways to Fix That."
As soon as I am done with physical therapy, I need to head to Florida to take care of some real estate business, assuming the property is still there, no thanks to Ian.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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The agenda for LME Week, the annual gathering of the global metals community in London, is taking shape. First day sessions conclude with LME Sustainability Afternoon, a free event that examines the progress made by the metals industry in the world's transition to sustainability. The LME will assess its, and the industry's, progress supporting the metals evolution. LME Week takes place October 24 through October 28. LME Sustainability Afternoon is Monday, October 24, 14:00 - 16:30 (GMT) in Queen Elizabeth II Centre, London. You can go here for more information and to register.~SAED
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MWE SHORT: Richard Sandor - The Building Blocks of the Financial Industry
JohnLothianNews.com
Dr. Richard Sandor, chairman and CEO of Environmental Financial Products LLC, talks about inventing markets and the evolution of exchanges such as the CME, CBOE and ICE. Sandor gives a detailed look at the various elements that gave each exchange its identity and reflects on how the innovations of the past have made the financial industry what it is today.
Watch the video »
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CME Group has investment ideas for the masses; The owner of Chicago's futures markets has rolled out event contracts tied to leading market statistics.
David Roeder - Chicago Sun Times
How confident are you in your sense of where the markets are headed? Are you pretty good at guessing when some big company will surprise investors with boffo earnings and send stock indexes higher? Or are you prescient about Federal Reserve decisions or new inflation data that can make stocks tumble? Well, step right up, chum. Chicago's futures markets are giving you a chance to profit from prophecy. CME Group, the Chicago-based owner of futures markets with a global reach, last week introduced a product line that opens a new phase of its business. They are called event contracts and are touted as a way to bring more everyday investors into the daily action.
/jlne.ws/3xV2uX8
****** These event contracts have a binary feel to them, win or lose.~JJL
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Americans Say Air Travel and Hotels Are Back to the Bad Old Days; J.D. Power consumer surveys rank the best and worst airports and lodging.
Martine Paris - Bloomberg
With life returning to normal, the post-pandemic travel boom has created a burst of grumpy customers. Crowded airports, jammed parking lots and standing-room only bars and restaurants have left many feeling frazzled. Satisfaction with the overall experience slipped on a measure of traveler sentiment on J.D. Power's 2022 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, after hitting an all-time high in 2021 when passenger volumes were low. And there doesn't appear to be any relief in sight.
/jlne.ws/3xUlbKv
*******The eggs are back to dry and the waffles are soggy again?~JJL
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TradeTech FX: "Don't miss the boat on crypto" warn industry participants; Digital assets are a key theme for this year's TradeTech FX - and while opinions diverge on their current adoption rate, most believe that convergence with conventional finance is inevitable.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
Crypto is big news - and while it's not all that everyone's talking about at TradeTech FX, there's definitely a buzz around digital assets that's impossible to ignore. Not everyone is on the same page with regards to adoption rate - some feel institutions are being left behind, while others advocate caution until we see which way the wind is blowing. But after the crypto winter we saw in recent months, one thing seems for certain - the sun is once again coming out. The industry consensus is that crypto is here to stay, and if you're not yet on board, you might have missed the boat.
/jlne.ws/3dMWkSa
****** The problem with boats is when too many people are on them they sink.~JJL
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Crypto Startup Saves Frankfurt's Iconic Euro Sculpture; Vandalism has made it expensive to maintain the much-photographed emblem of the common currency
Chelsey Dulaney - The Wall Street Journal
The euro has fought off countless threats to its existence over the past two decades, from debt crises to politicians who hoped to tear apart the currency union. Over the summer a new risk emerged to the common currency. Not its plunge below parity with the U.S. dollar, but the plan to dismantle an iconic blue sculpture of the euro currency sign, located for more than 20 years in the heart of Frankfurt, Germany's financial hub. The costs of maintenance, in part due to regular vandalism, had become overwhelming, the local nonprofit who owns it said.
/jlne.ws/3y1fKtz
****** There has to be a way to protect and preserve this icon.~JJL
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Hurricane Ian Spurs Evacuations as Airports, Schools Shut; Damages could exceed $45 billion with Florida landfall; More than 2 million Floridians urged to evacuate Orange State
Brian K Sullivan - Bloomberg
Hurricane Ian, projected to be one of the costliest storms in US history, prompted mass evacuations, school shutdowns and thousands of flight cancellations across the third-largest state. The storm, which has already caused a nationwide power outage in Cuba, has top winds near 120 mph as it swirls over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) from Punta Gorda, Florida, according to an advisory from the US National Hurricane Center at 9 p.m. New York time. The storm is forecast to strengthen through Wednesday, threatening to bring 6-foot storm surges into Tampa Bay and heavy rains across the US Southeast.
/jlne.ws/3reSRiq
******* This storm is nasty. It is even delaying the January 6 Congressional committee meetings in Washington. Makes you wonder about whether some crime in Chicago is worse than the violence of a storm like this in Florida.~JJL
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Tuesday's Top Three
Our top story Tuesday was Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research Draws Increasing Attention, from Bloomberg. (It certainly got attention from JLN readers.) Second was the LinkedIn post about the Greenwood Project placing four interns at Goldman Sachs this summer and all four getting full time offers. Third was China commodity trader woe a setback for Glencore, from the Financial Times.
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
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| Lead Stories | Crypto Leadership Upheaval Gives Fresh Jolt to Industry
Hannah Miller - Bloomberg
Another round of executive departures hit the crypto industry Tuesday, the latest sign that the fallout from this year's steep drop in prices -- also marked by a pullback in venture capital, widespread layoffs and growing regulatory scrutiny -- has yet to run its course. First came word that Celsius Network Ltd.'s Chief Executive Officer Alex Mashinsky -- who helped found the crypto lender and was a cheerleader for its sky-high yield offerings until the company ran into trouble -- resigned, calling his leadership an "increasing distraction" as the company struggles to survive its bankruptcy proceedings. Then FTX US President Brett Harrison announced he was stepping down at the crypto exchange and moving into an advisory role. He will be replaced by Zach Dexter, head of FTX US Derivatives, according to a company spokesperson.
/jlne.ws/3Srfuwc
FTX US President Brett Harrison Steps Down From Crypto Exchange; Harrison will move to advisory role in next few months; Shuffle comes as FTX US relocates HQ to Miami from Chicago
Yueqi Yang, Matthew Miller, and Kailey Leinz - Bloomberg
Crypto exchange FTX US president Brett Harrison is stepping down and will move into an advisory role, a surprise exit that came after less than 18 months on the job and as the industry weathers a downturn that's curbed trading. Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder and CEO of FTX, said Zach Dexter, head of FTX US Derivatives, and general counsel Ryne Miller will continue to oversee growth at the company as it plans a relocation of the entity's headquarters to Miami from Chicago. "I'm remaining in the industry with the goal of removing technological barriers to full participation in and maturation of global crypto markets, both centralized and decentralized," Harrison tweeted.
/jlne.ws/3r9Ocyl
C.E.O. of Celsius, the Crypto Bank, Resigns; Alex Mashinsky, the founder of Celsius, which filed for bankruptcy in July, said his role had "become an increasing distraction."
David Yaffe-Bellany - The New York Times
Alex Mashinsky, who founded the cryptocurrency company Celsius Network, which filed for bankruptcy in July, said on Tuesday that he was resigning as chief executive. Chris Ferraro, Celsius's chief financial officer, will serve as Mr. Mashinsky's interim replacement, the company said in a statement. "I regret that my continued role as C.E.O. has become an increasing distraction," Mr. Mashinsky, 56, wrote in a separate statement. "I am very sorry about the difficult financial circumstances members of our community are facing."
/jlne.ws/3M3PhkZ
To Calm Markets, Bank of England Will Buy Bonds on 'Whatever Scale Is Necessary'; The purchases are designed "to restore orderly market conditions," the central bank said, after days of turmoil that followed the government's plan for sweeping tax cuts and higher borrowing.
Eshe Nelson - The New York Times
The Bank of England said on Wednesday that it would temporarily buy British government bonds, a major intervention in financial markets after the new government's fiscal plans sent borrowing costs soaring higher over the past few days. The news brought some relief to the bond market, but the British pound resumed its tumble, falling 1.7 percent against the dollar, to $1.05, back toward the record low reached on Monday.
/jlne.ws/3BRk8fJ
Crypto Exchange FTX Is Moving Its US Headquarters From Chicago to Miami
Cheyenne Ligon - CoinDesk
Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX is moving its U.S. headquarters to Miami, only four short months after cutting the ribbon on its headquarters in Chicago. Mayor Lori Lightfoot had attended the opening ceremony on FTX.US's glitzy, 9,000 square foot office space in downtown Chicago, and touted the benefits of FTX's presence in the Windy City - especially a pilot program sponsored by FTX that would provide supplemental income and financial education for underbanked Chicago residents.
/jlne.ws/3xVArXS
Wall Street to Pay $1.8 Billion in Fines Over Traders' Use of Banned Messaging Apps; Eleven banks and brokerages admit they violated rules that require storage of written communications
Dave Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
Eleven of the world's largest banks and brokerages will collectively pay $1.8 billion in fines to resolve regulatory investigations over their employees' use of messaging applications that broke record-keeping rules, regulators said Tuesday. The firms include brokerage units of Bank of America Corp., Barclays PLC, Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, UBS Group AG and Nomura Holdings Inc. Brokerage firms Jefferies LLC and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. also settled the claims with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
/jlne.ws/3LMPdFQ
Central banks have prepared a recipe for monetary overkill and liquidity crises; While bankers are keen not to repeat 1970s mistakes, the financial environment and debt burdens are different now
John Plender - Financial Times
Having badly misjudged the strength of inflation over the past year, central bankers are now anxious to convey the message that they are determined not to repeat the mistakes of the 1970s. So much the better, you might think, because that era told us that the long-term costs of allowing inflation to become entrenched far outweigh the short-term ones of bringing it under control.
/jlne.ws/3Rjce4C
Crypto Bros Need to Stop Proving Jamie Dimon Right; There's plenty of naysayers ready to pounce on failures. Industry leaders needn't make it so easy for the critics.
Tim Culpan - Bloomberg
Do Kwon is not on the run. We know that because the cryptocurrency founder said so. Singapore authorities announced that he's no longer in their country, a South Korean court issued a warrant for his arrest, and Interpol put out a Red Notice. But that doesn't mean he's ready to reveal his whereabouts, or his legal strategy to fight the charges. Kwon's outfit is called Terraform Labs. It's one of dozens of blockchain startups built to reinvent the global financial system and challenge the fiat-based structure which has central banks at its core. Its spin on the theme was to build a stablecoin on top of its Terra blockchain.
/jlne.ws/3dOQ1O6
The DeFi Financial Crime Arms Race
Michael Karbouris - CoinDesk
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a vibrant and innovative ecosystem that has the potential to improve efficiency and transparency in financial markets and serve as a driving force in redefining the future of finance. Built on public permissionless blockchains, DeFi's mission is to give anyone with an internet connection the ability to tap into financial services, which in turn promotes equal opportunity and financial democratization around the world. However, given its open nature, DeFi is undergoing the same arms race that has plagued every nascent but innovative technology and industry: fighting criminals who want to take advantage of it.
/jlne.ws/3UMbrfu
California Regulator Targets 11 Crypto Trading Desks Operating Like 'Ponzis'
Nikhilesh De - CoinDesk
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) filed cease-and-desist orders against 11 little-known crypto firms Tuesday, alleging they were misappropriating customer funds or violating state securities laws. The regulator went so far as to cast doubt that the companies, which included firms Elevate Pass LLC and Metafi Yielders, were actually offering the services they claimed.
/jlne.ws/3xYRok2
The Crypto World Is on Edge After a String of Hacks; More than $2 billion in digital currency has been stolen in hacks this year, shaking faith in the experimental field of decentralized finance known as DeFi.
David Yaffe-Bellany - The New York Times
Not long after dropping out of college to pursue a career in cryptocurrencies, Ben Weintraub woke up to some bad news. Mr. Weintraub and two classmates from the University of Chicago had spent the past few months working on a software platform called Beanstalk, which offered a stablecoin, a type of cryptocurrency with a fixed value of $1. To their surprise, Beanstalk became an overnight sensation, attracting crypto speculators who viewed it as an exciting contribution to the experimental field of decentralized finance, or DeFi.
/jlne.ws/3dQgpXG
Ransom Demand Probed After Data Hack, Australia's Optus Says; Hack exposed personal details of up to 10 million customers; Optus faces growing pressure from customers, government
Angus Whitley - Bloomberg
Australian mobile-phone company Optus said authorities are investigating an online ransom demand following a major data hack that exposed the personal details of as many as 10 million customers. The Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.-owned company is still trying to retrieve the data and is working with police and cybersecurity officials, Chief Executive Officer Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said Tuesday. The Australian Federal Police is "all over" an online post indicating that customer details will be sold unless Optus paid a ransom, she said.
/jlne.ws/3Sf92rQ
Vanguard Is Liquidating a US-Listed ETF for the First Time Ever
Katie Greifeld - Bloomberg
Asset-management giant Vanguard Group is shutting down one of its US exchange-traded funds for the first time. The closure will be the first and only liquidation of an American ETF for the Jack Bogle-founded firm since the $244 billion Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) launched in 2001. Malvern, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard controls nearly $1.8 trillion in assets across 82 US ETFs and is known chiefly for its ultra-low cost, index-hugging funds. Actively-managed VFLQ, which carries a fee of 13 basis points, was an "odd fit" from the get-go, according to VettaFi's Dave Nadig.
/jlne.ws/3fsa5Gw
Concurrent to Leave Raymond James, Restructure as a $13B RIA
Andrew Welsch - Barron's
Concurrent Advisors, a fast-growing independent practice that is currently affiliated with Raymond James Financial , is restructuring as a multicustodial hybrid RIA, the firm said. As part of the move, the firm will end its relationship with Raymond James. Concurrent was founded in 2016 and has operated as a kind of office of supervisory jurisdiction, or OSJ, which provides advisors with back office and other services. The firm has recruited dozens of breakaway advisors and has grown to $12.7 billion in assets under management, according to Concurrent.
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A $100 Million Deli? Not So Fast, U.S. Prosecutors Say.; The Justice Department charged three men with fraud for their role in a scheme to bolster the value of a New Jersey sandwich shop that brought in less than $40,000 in annual sales.
Adam Pasick - The New York Times
Three men are facing federal charges after U.S. prosecutors accused them of orchestrating a brazen market manipulation scheme, the latest twist in the bizarre tale of a tiny New Jersey deli that somehow achieved a market capitalization of more than $100 million. Your Hometown Deli became an emblem of a frothy stock market in April 2021, when the hedge fund manager David Einhorn criticized the incongruous rise of the deli's parent company, Hometown International, in a letter to clients, quipping, "The pastrami must be amazing."
/jlne.ws/3RkWgXE
Time to Scoop Up Risk Is Closer, Says $70 Billion Australian Fund
Amy Bainbridge - Bloomberg
Australian pension giant UniSuper is ramping up its bargain hunting as global market ructions and the slump in sterling provide a cheaper entry point for riskier assets. The A$110 billion ($70 billion) fund is holding excess levels of cash and sees investment opportunities "across the full spectrum," Chief Investment Officer John Pearce said in an interview Tuesday. He hinted that it would be buying sooner rather than later.
/jlne.ws/3BUbFbs
The Secret Sauce for Private Equity Is Running Dry; As banks cut funding and borrowing costs rise, investors question industry performance.
Shuli Ren - Bloomberg
As banks get burned from financing billion-dollar buyouts and pension funds grow impatient with private equity's endless thirst for capital, skepticism is growing louder over the industry's performance — and whether some of their daredevil deals could result in disastrous losses for their financiers. The mood on Wall Street is quickly souring. Firms such as Bank of America Corp., Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are nursing more than $600 million of losses from a single deal: the $16.5 billion leveraged buyout of cloud computing giant Citrix Systems Inc. in January. Borrowing costs have surged since. Banks ended up selling $4 billion secured Citrix bonds at only 83.6 cents on the dollar, splashing red ink on their own balance sheets.
/jlne.ws/3RyTFJT
Tether's Former Auditor Fined $1M by SEC for Sloppy Accounting
Cheyenne Ligon - CoinDesk
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed and settled charges last week against Friedman LLP, the former auditing firm of stablecoin issuer Tether, finding "serial violations of the federal securities laws" and numerous instances of "improper professional conduct," according to an order published Monday.
/jlne.ws/3DYLeUQ
'Volatility vortex' slams into $24tn US government bond market; Key measure of turbulence in Treasuries reaches highest level since 2020 coronavirus crisis
Kate Duguid and Adam Samson and Colby Smith - Financial Times
The $24tn US Treasury market has been hit with its most severe bout of turbulence since the coronavirus crisis, underscoring how big swings in international bonds and currencies and jitters over US rate rises have spooked investors. The Ice BofA Move index, which tracks fixed income market volatility, has reached its highest level since March 2020, a time when deep uncertainty about how the pandemic would affect the world economy set off massive fluctuations in US government bonds.
/jlne.ws/3xZjmvW
JPMorgan's digital bank Chase UK hits 1mn customers; Digital app's deposit base of £10bn still trails Goldman Sachs' Marcus, which has accrued £22bn
Emma Dunkley and Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan - Financial Times
JPMorgan's UK digital bank has attracted more than 1mn customers and above £10bn in deposits in the first year of its attempt to crack the country's retail market and take on Wall Street rival Goldman Sachs's app Marcus.
/jlne.ws/3UJ6WCj
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Blinken Says Reports Indicate Nord Stream Leaks Were Sabotage; Blinken says leaks won't hurt Europe's energy security; India minister says price of oil is 'breaking our back'
Iain Marlow - Bloomberg
Leaks in the Nord Stream pipeline are under investigation and initial reports indicate they may have been the result of sabotage, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. "There are initial reports indicating that this may be the result of an attack or some kind of sabotage, but these are initial reports and we haven't confirmed that yet," Blinken told a news conference alongside India's Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in Washington.
/jlne.ws/3BQscNN
Putin's War Is a Crime Against the Planet
Thomas L. Friedman - The New York Times
There was no good time for Vladimir Putin's unprovoked, idiotic invasion of Ukraine. But this is a uniquely bad time. Because it's diverting worldwide attention and resources needed to mitigate climate change — during what may be the last decade when we still have a chance to manage the climate extremes that are now unavoidable and avoid those that could become unmanageable. Unfortunately, what happens between Ukraine and Russia does not stay between Ukraine and Russia. That's because the world is flatter than ever.
/jlne.ws/3DZ3ehM
Is Putin Fully Weaponizing the Nord Stream Pipelines?; Three gas pipeline leaks in a single day suggest the Kremlin may be sabotaging energy infrastructure.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
As Ian Fleming, the British author who created James Bond, wrote: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action." One does not need to be an avid reader of Cold War novels to see echoes of the adventures of 007 in the real-life events around the Nord Stream gas twin pipelines this week. In a single day, the conduits, which link Russia with Germany under the Baltic Sea, have suffered not one, not two, but three separate major leaks. The word sabotage springs to mind.
/jlne.ws/3LR8o1a
Russia's Mobilization, Plunging Oil Prices Weaken Putin's Economic Hand; Economic storm clouds come as Russian president orders more financial resources directed at war in Ukraine
Georgi Kantchev, Yuliya Chernova and Joe Wallace - The Wall Street Journal
A costly troop mobilization, plunging energy prices and a new round of Western sanctions threaten to bear down on Russia's already embattled economy and undermine the financial underpinnings of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. The economic storm clouds come as Mr. Putin orders more financial resources directed at the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin's decision to call up more than 300,000 soldiers will require new funds to equip, train and pay the new reinforcements, analysts said. It has also spread disruption among Russia's private businesses, which face a fresh challenge as workers report for duty or flee the country.
/jlne.ws/3LTu0tV
Act of Sabotage' Hits Europe's Energy and Stocks Markets; Natural gas prices soared in Europe and stocks fell, as officials investigate the causes of the Nordstream 1 and 2 gas pipeline explosions.Europe faces a winter without Russian gas
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bernhard Warner, Vivian Giang, Sarah Kessler, Stephen Gandel, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni - The New York Times
There is still no official explanation for what caused the explosions that ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, sending natural gas gurgling to the surface of the Baltic Sea. But that hasn't stopped some E.U. officials from calling the episode an "act of sabotage," with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland publicly blaming Russia. Then last night, the pipelines' operator, Gazprom, threatened to shut down the only pipeline that's still pumping Russian gas to Western Europe. The escalation caused natural gas prices to jump once again in Europe. The price of the benchmark Dutch TTF future contract for October has shot up by 20 percent over the past two trading sessions. Fearing further energy disruptions, investors sold off European stocks this morning, while the euro fell to a multidecade low against the dollar.
/jlne.ws/3SmJIjB
Sabotage of gas pipelines a wake-up call for Europe, officials warn; EU vows response to 'deliberate acts' as Moscow denies involvement
Richard Milne, Henry Foy and David Sheppard - Financial Times
The sabotage of two gas pipelines between Russia and Europe should serve as a wake-up call to the continent to protect its critical infrastructure, European officials have warned. Norway — which replaced Russia as the biggest gas exporter to the EU in the wake of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — and Denmark have both stepped up security around their oil and gas industries' infrastructure, rigs and buildings.
/jlne.ws/3xXTX5K
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Nasdaq Announces New Corporate Structure to Accelerate Strategy; Organizes Nasdaq's business units into three divisions: Market Platforms, Capital Access Platforms, and Anti-Financial Crime; Positions Nasdaq to better deliver for clients and scale for the future
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced that it is organizing its business units into three divisions: Market Platforms, Capital Access Platforms, and Anti-Financial Crime. This new structure will align the company more closely to the foundational shifts that are driving the evolution of the global financial system and evolving client needs. "The financial system is being transformed by the modernization of markets, corporate and investor focus on long-term value creation, and the growing importance of protecting the system's integrity," said Adena Friedman, President & CEO of Nasdaq. "The value created by our strategy over the past five years has given us the confidence to accelerate our efforts in our major growth areas through this new corporate structure, with our ultimate goal to become the trusted fabric of the financial system."
/jlne.ws/3LOYe17
ICE warms to carbon permits to ease Europe's energy crisis; Exchanges operator to accept allowances as collateral in its European futures market
Philip Stafford - Financial Times
Intercontinental Exchange plans to accept allowances generated by the EUR1tn carbon market as collateral in its European futures venue, in an effort to relieve pressure on utilities and traders hit by the region's energy crisis. Ice Clear Europe is consulting with members about accepting allowances for companies wanting to hedge against or bet on the price of carbon falling, according to a circular published late on Monday. It follows a push from authorities and exchanges to find flexibility within the market to ease the burden on stretched energy companies using futures and struggling with volatile price moves.
/jlne.ws/3E3PHFN
SGX Securities welcomes the listing of CSOP CGS-CIMB FTSE Asia Pacific Low Carbon Index ETF
SGX
SGX Securities today welcomed the listing of CSOP CGS-CIMB FTSE Asia Pacific Low Carbon Index ETF, with assets under management (AUM) of S$150 million at launch. It is the world's first[1] low carbon ETF with a geographical focus on developed and emerging markets in Asia Pacific. Today's listing brings the total global AUM of sustainability-linked ETFs listed on SGX to more than S$1 billion. The ETF tracks the FTSE Asia Pacific Low Carbon Index ETF, offering investors access to nearly 200 large and mid-cap stocks in 11 markets in Asia Pacific. The index is designed to reflect the performance of these stocks in the region and to enable investors to obtain increased exposure to companies with low carbon characteristics.
/jlne.ws/3BRpuaS
EEX Press Release - Exchange Council generally welcomes Europewide approach to manage the current energy price crisis
EEX
The Exchange Council of the European Energy Exchange (EEX) held its third meeting of the year, chaired by Dr. Bernhard Walter, Head of Market Design and Regulatory Affairs at EnBW AG, on 21 September 2022. The predominant topics of the discussions were the current market situation and the ongoing political proposals at EU level, about measures to be taken to support the market and to help consumers and the industry to cope with high energy prices. The Exchange Council members are fully aware of the current stressed market conditions that are also triggered by the external energy shock and the challenges for both the economy and the consumers due to the high prices for power and gas. The Council understands the situation that has led to the debate about the need for reasonable intervention to help vulnerable customers to cope with unprecedented price levels.
/jlne.ws/3SFWLww
Borsa Istanbul announces the constituent changes to the BIST Participation Indices for the period October 2022 - April 2023
Borsa Istanbul
Please click for the lists of included/excluded stocks and the lists of constituents of BIST Participation All Shares, BIST Participation 100, BIST Participation 50 and BIST Participation 30 Indices. All changes will be applied after the close of business on Friday, September 30, 2022 and will be effective on Monday, October 3, 2022.
/jlne.ws/3SE8dst
Borsa Istanbul: Uptick Rule Will Be Applied In The Session Dated 28/09/2022 In The Equity Market
Mondo Visione
It has been decided that the up-tick rule in short selling transactions to be valid for one day during the session dated 28/09/2022. Please click for the related Announcement.
/jlne.ws/3rftpJG
AGM Addresses By The Chair And The Managing Director And Ceo
ASX
Attached are copies of the addresses to be given by the Chair and the Managing Director and CEO at ASX Limited's Annual General Meeting today.
/jlne.ws/351gPmZ
Results Of Annual General Meeting
ASX
The results of ASX Limited's Annual General Meeting held on 28 September 2022 are set out in the attached document. All resolutions were passed as ordinary resolutions and decided by way of poll. In accordance with ASX Listing Rule 3.13(2)(f), ASX Limited advises that more than 25% of the votes cast on Resolution 4 were against the adoption of the 2022 remuneration report which constitutes a 'first strike' for purposes of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
/jlne.ws/351gPmZ
Deutsche Börse expands market data offering through partnership with Santiago Exchange
Deutsche Börse Group
Deutsche Börse and Santiago Exchange, Chile, have concluded a cooperation in the field of market data. Deutsche Börse thus offers access to the entire range of market data products from the third largest exchange in Latin America. In its role as licensee, Deutsche Börse will offer real-time and delayed data. The corresponding information product includes both the Santiago Exchange Indices and the Santiago Exchange Spot Market.
/jlne.ws/3rccBDi
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | SpiderRock selects Eventus for trade surveillance solution
Eventus
Eventus, a leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, announced today that SpiderRock Technology Services, a high-performance algorithmic execution and risk management technology provider to institutional trading clients, as well as agency broker-dealer and market data provider, has deployed the Validus platform for trade surveillance, initially for the firm's client activity in futures and options on futures contracts. SpiderRock serves large hedge funds, bank trading desks, proprietary trading firms and other institutional clients globally with its flagship equity and options offering and now growing futures business.
/jlne.ws/3SDDM5z
Revolut receives green light to run UK cryptocurrency business; Fintech group was the final company on the FCA's temporary register
Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan - Financial Times
Financial app Revolut has received permanent approval from the Financial Conduct Authority to run its cryptocurrency business in the UK, after months in limbo on the watchdog's temporary register. The news comes as the $33bn fintech awaits a decision on its UK banking licence, and faces questions around its auditing and a cyber attack that affected about 50,000 customers. The FCA became the anti-money laundering supervisor for UK crypto groups in early 2020, and has clashed with the industry over the speed at which it has processed applications.
/jlne.ws/3SIUX5X
Digital Asset Manager Safe to Offer Governance Token for SafeDAO
Sage D. Young - CoinDesk
Digital asset management platform Safe said that it will offer SAFE governance token to steward its newly formed decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The motivating force underpinning the launch of SAFE was "to effectively decentralize" Safe, which was previously known as Gnosis Safe.
/jlne.ws/3LPq25y
Russia said to consider digital ruble settlements with China
Timmy Shen - Forkast
Russia is planning to use its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in testing, the digital ruble, to carry out mutual settlements with China, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a senior Russian lawmaker.
/jlne.ws/3rbPedd
Algorithmic Stock Platform Delphia Debuts Digital Asset Component
Michael Bellusci - CoinDesk
Algorithm-backed stock advisor Delphia has added a digital asset feature to its platform, allowing users to earn rewards through being active in the community. Dubbed the Ecosystem, the new platform will include a utility token, Phi (PHI). Members can earn Phi by participating in a range of signal-generating games that would in turn improve the company's data set, according to a statement Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3LMQhK5
Robinhood Launches Beta Version of Web3 Wallet to 10,000 Users
CoinDesk
No-fee trading platform Robinhood is releasing the beta version of its Polygon-based Web3 wallet, allowing 10,000 users to swap assets on its non-custodial wallet. "The Hash" team discusses Robinhood's latest crypto push.
/jlne.ws/3LMV669
Goldman Sachs launches new options price discovery and trade idea generation tool; New tool, Visual Structuring, aims to provide faster price discovery, detailed scenario analysis and improved collaboration on trades and ideas.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Goldman Sachs has launched a new tool for options price discovery and trade idea generation, named Visual Structuring, which is available through Goldman Sachs Marquee. Initially with FX options, the new tool offers a mobile-first approach to speedily price variations, assess scenarios, conduct back-testing analysis and enhance collaboration between colleagues.
/jlne.ws/3BM4F0q
TradeTech FX: Open standards for front-office technology essential for hybrid working; Panellists agreed open standards and desktop interoperability are essential to ensure front-office technology evolves to meet the demands of the hybrid working environment.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Collaboration through open standards is essential for front-office technology in a post-pandemic world, a TradeTech FX panel has found. Panellists were united in their view that desktop interoperability was key to minimising the amount of screen real estate needed to work remotely.
/jlne.ws/3M4Bzyh
TradeTech FX: Is peer-to-peer an answer to liquidity fragmentation? Speaking on a market structure panel, participants debate the changing role of a counterparty amid the events of the past few years.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Peer-to-peer liquidity is one solution to the increasingly fragmented foreign exchange landscape, a market structure panel at TradeTech FX has found. However, peer-to-peer cannot be used to fix the problem alone, with several panellists noting the importance of relationships and even voice trading during the volatility seen within the last few years.
/jlne.ws/3LQETgj
Legal & General Investment Management taps Saphyre for AI solution; The platform aims to reduce risk and inefficiencies through removing manual tasks for both buy- and sell-sides.
Chris Lemmon - The Trade
Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has partnered with Saphyre to utilise its AI platform for the onboarding and maintenance of its funds. The platform is capable of tracking compliance-related activities, such as NAV terminations, contained within the respective ISDA and GMRA agreements, automating client checks for trading as a by-product of legal agreement setups and amendments. As a result, the platform reduces risk and inefficiencies by removing manual tasks for both buy- and sell-sides.
/jlne.ws/3SDQxNv
TradeTech FX: "This year has been huge - everything has changed" say buy-siders in keynote; TradeTech FX kicks off in Amsterdam with a buy-side keynote interview discussing the momentous changes in the market - and how traders can handle them.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
Toby Baker, head of FX trading at T. Rowe Price, and Ian Packer, senior FX trader at UBS Asset Management, launched the first day of TradeTech FX in Amsterdam with a detailed discussion of the key themes impacting FX traders today - and how they can be addressed. Looking at how firms can ready their FX desks for heightened volatility, interest rate uncertainty and the rise of electronification, the conversation kicked off with an evaluation of the enormous changes occurring in the market right now.
/jlne.ws/3y1S48h
Crypto Custody Firm Anchorage Digital to Be Preferred Custodian for Layer 1 Blockchain Aptos Labs
Margaux Nijkerk - CoinDesk
Cryptocurrency custody firm Anchorage Digital is set to become a preferred institutional custodian for Aptos Labs at their mainnet launch, the firm announced Tuesday. Anchorage, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S., will support the layer 1 blockchain by allowing institutions to build on Aptos, including via non-fungible tokens (NFT), decentralized finance (DeFi) and social media as well as other Web3 projects. Aptos Labs is a layer 1 blockchain made up of former employees from Facebook's parent company, Meta, and that raised $150 million in a Series A funding round in July. Last week, Aptos also shared that cross-chain bridge Wormhole would be launching on Aptos once the blockchain goes live.
/jlne.ws/3CdMNgu
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Ransom Demand Probed After Data Hack, Australia's Optus Says; Hack exposed personal details of up to 10 million customers; Optus faces growing pressure from customers, government
Angus Whitley - Bloomberg
Australian mobile-phone company Optus said authorities are investigating an online ransom demand following a major data hack that exposed the personal details of as many as 10 million customers. The Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.-owned company is still trying to retrieve the data and is working with police and cybersecurity officials, Chief Executive Officer Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said Tuesday. The Australian Federal Police is "all over" an online post indicating that customer details will be sold unless Optus paid a ransom, she said.
/jlne.ws/3Sf92rQ
The U.S. lags on happiness, health, but it tops the list for cyber power
Tim Starks - The Washington Post
The United States ranks 16th on the World Happiness list, last place on health-care systems among 11 high-income countries and 129th on the Global Peace Index. But there's one area where it's still No. 1: cyber power. That's according to the second edition of the National Cyber Power Index out today, part of the Cyber Project within the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center.
/jlne.ws/3E0HxhB
Optus under further fire for cyber breach, purported hacker claims data deleted
Renju Jose and Byron Kaye - Reuters
Australian telecoms giant Optus came under more fire from the government on Tuesday for a massive cyber breach, while an anonymous online account believed to be that of the hackers said it was deleting stolen data and withdrawing a $1 million ransom demand. Singapore Telecoms-owned (STEL.SI) Optus, the country's No. 2 mobile operator, said last week that data of up to 10 million customers including home addresses, drivers' licenses and passport numbers had been compromised in one of Australia's biggest data breaches.
/jlne.ws/3ff2pqP
Camille Stewart Gloster shares her plans for new White House cyber gig
Tim Starks - The Washington Post
Camille Stewart Gloster is one of the newest, big-deal additions to one of the newest parts of the federal government, officially known as the Office of the National Cyber Director but sometimes called the White House "cyber czar." Two directorates fall under her umbrella: one on technology and one on workforce. If those sound like two pretty different topics to you, she sees it otherwise.
/jlne.ws/3dMNS5o
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Trading Platform Crypto.com Secures Regulatory Approval to Operate in France
Amitoj Singh - CoinDesk
Singapore-based digital asset trading platform Crypto.com has been approved to operate as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) in France, the company announced on Wednesday. The trading platform has registered with France's top markets regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), according to the announcement.
/jlne.ws/3E0b3Us
Gemini Exec: We Like 'Thoughtful' Regulation
CoinDesk
Crypto exchange Gemini is partnering with robo-advisor Betterment, to bring diversified crypto portfolios to investors. Gemini Chief Strategy Officer Marshall Beard discusses the partnership, along with his views on the future of crypto regulation.
/jlne.ws/3Riy0VZ
Crypto Startup Saves Frankfurt's Iconic Euro Sculpture; Vandalism has made it expensive to maintain the much-photographed emblem of the common currency
Chelsey Dulaney - The Wall Street Journal
The euro has fought off countless threats to its existence over the past two decades, from debt crises to politicians who hoped to tear apart the currency union. Over the summer a new risk emerged to the common currency. Not its plunge below parity with the U.S. dollar, but the plan to dismantle an iconic blue sculpture of the euro currency sign, located for more than 20 years in the heart of Frankfurt, Germany's financial hub.
/jlne.ws/3rekHv6
Mike Novogratz Says Crypto More Resilient After Forced Seller Exodus
Joanna Ossinger - Bloomberg
Mike Novogratz, the billionaire founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., said cryptocurrencies have been relatively resilient in the past month partly because there aren't many forced sellers left in the sector. "We're in this weird equilibrium where there are a few buyers, there are a few sellers, and there's not that energy in the market like you're seeing in the equity market or the bond market where you have to sell, right?" Novogratz said. A lot of leverage has been taken out of the crypto sector, he added in a discussion with Bloomberg's Haslinda Amin at a conference in Singapore.
/jlne.ws/3UPh6Bw
French Central Bank CBDC Projects Aim to Manage DeFi Liquidity, Settle Tokenized Assets
Jack Schickler - CoinDesk
The Banque de France Tuesday announced new projects to achieve the benefits of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) used at a wholesale level by banks and financial markets. A wholesale CBDC could significantly contribute to improving cross-border and cross-currency payments," Villeroy de Galhau, a governor at the Bank of France, the country's central bank, said in an appearance at the bank's digital currency conference. CBDCs at the wholesale level attract less attention than their headline-grabbing retail equivalent, he added.
/jlne.ws/3rbQnkO
Ethereum Merge Vaults Cryptocurrency Past Bitcoin in Hard-Money Allure
Jocelyn Yang - CoinDesk
Ethereum won plaudits and the spotlight two weeks ago for smoothly pushing through its much-hyped Merge, a historic shift to a different "proof-of-stake" blockchain system designed to drastically reduce energy consumption - roughly 99% by some estimates.
/jlne.ws/3BRp44d
BIS mBridge cross-border CBDC project concludes pilot, advisor says
Timmy Shen - CoinDesk
Hong Kong's central bank digital currency (CBDC) project with three other central banks and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has completed its pilot, an advisor from the BIS and a specialist from Thailand's central bank said on Tuesday. The mBridge pilot saw 20 commercial banks in four participating jurisdictions conduct over 160 cross-border real-value payments and transactions worth over US$22 million, BIS advisor Daniel Eidan said in a LinkedIn post.
/jlne.ws/3LNNakQ
Luna Investors Failed to Appreciate the Risks, Novogratz Says
Sam Reynolds - CoinDesk
Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said many retail investors who lost money in the collapse of Terraform Labs' luna cryptocurrency had failed to appreciate the risks involved and held onto their tokens for too long.
/jlne.ws/3y1MMtr
Ethereum Project Ribbon Finance Launches Crypto Options Exchange to Boost Growth
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Ribbon Finance, known for its on-chain structured products, said it is launching an options exchange to boost demand for its services among savvy crypto traders. Announced at Token 2049 in Singapore, Aevo will allow users to initially trade ether (ETH) options, with plans to launch options for bitcoin (BTC) and other tokens in the coming months.
/jlne.ws/3SjmUl2
Why Crypto Won't Make You Rich; Stephen Diehl thinks policymakers should be offered an alternate view to crypto enthusiasts' dreams of a digital-asset Nirvana.
Victoria Vergolina - Bloomberg
If you've ever found yourself on Crypto Twitter, you'll be familiar with the hype machine that keeps the industry's thousands of projects going. Rallying cries of "WAGMI" — an acronym for We're All Going To Make It — and "To the Moon!" abound, found in tweets from accounts with colorful, graphic profile pictures and usually a hashtag or two. But there are two sides to every story, and if you've come across a Twitter display name featuring the Tulip emoji, you might find a crypto skeptic instead. A reference to the Dutch tulip mania of the 1600s, these figures - technologists, academics and writers among them - are working to counteract crypto enthusiasts' bullish zeal with a dose of reality.
/jlne.ws/3xVISSQ
Crypto Billionaire Bankman-Fried Eyeing Bid for Celsius Assets
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto billionaire who has been bailing out distressed industry players in recent months, is considering bidding for the assets of bankrupt lender Celsius Network, according to a person familiar with his deal-making. FTX is also in the process of raising a $1 billion funding round, the same person said. That round hasn't closed yet or been made public. In addition to its lending business, Celsius, which filed for bankruptcy in July, owns large Bitcoin mining operations and a crypto custody business. It's unclear if Bankman-Fried's crypto companies -- the FTX crypto exchange or trading firm Alameda Research -- are considering bidding for some or all of Celsius's assets.
/jlne.ws/3E0IKFE
South Korea Moves to Freeze Bitcoin Tied to Do Kwon; Prosecutors have moved to freeze about $67 million of Bitcoin; Kwon says on Twitter he's 'making zero effort to hide'
Sangmi Cha and Tanzeel Akhtar - Bloomberg
South Korean prosecutors are moving to freeze assets linked to Do Kwon, the crypto entrepreneur they are seeking to arrest on suspicion of breaking securities laws. Prosecutors sent requests to crypto exchanges KuCoin and OKX to freeze a total of 3,313 Bitcoins, worth about $67 million at current prices, that had been moved to the venues from a wallet linked to Kwon's Luna Foundation Guard, CoinDesk reported on Tuesday. An official at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office confirmed the CoinDesk story while declining to comment further.
/jlne.ws/3SCxe7s
NFTs For Art And Philanthropy Could Be Crypto's Next Act
Roslyn Layton - Forbes
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have come under fire, even pronounced dead as a fading trend with fewer sales and OpenSea's layoffs. This is the natural evolution of technology, the "hype cycle" of technology that rapidly comes onto the scene: a surge of interest from an "innovation trigger", followed by a "trough of disillusionment," until they settle on meaningful use-cases and value-creation. Even during this challenging time, there has been an explosion of creativity with open-minded leadership among several US states like Tennessee. Artists and entrepreneurs are looking at NFTs to solve real-world problems in the art, culture, and philanthropy domains.
/jlne.ws/3UVR0ga
3 Smart Ways to Use NFTs to Grow Your Business; How to use NFTs to launch club memberships, loyalty programs, and streamline ticketing.
Girri M Palaniyapan - Entrepreneur
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) entered the zeitgeist last year with trading volume hitting $17 billion last year. NFTs allow one to demonstrate ownership of a unique digital asset. Businesses spanning various sectors like entertainment, fashion and sports have begun NFTs. Recently, Starbucks announced plans to issue NFTs as part of its loyalty program later this year. Some other prominent companies which have issued their own NFTs include Nike, Adidas, Hasbro, Burger King, Taco Bell and Louis Vuitton. Here are 3 different ways you can use NFTs to grow your business.
/jlne.ws/3fpGrSj
Christie's Auction House Announces On-Chain NFT Art Platform; Christie's 3.0 has teamed up with Chainalysis, Manifold, and Spatial to sell NFT artwork on Ethereum.
Cameron Thompson - CoinDesk
Luxury auction house Christie's is launching an on-chain platform for non-fungible token (NFT) art, becoming the first global auction to facilitate fully on-chain sales. The new platform, called Christie's 3.0, was created in partnership with blockchain data firm Chainalysis, NFT minting platform Manifold and metaverse builder Spatial. The entire auction process, including all pre-and-post sale transactions, will be carried out on the Ethereum blockchain.
/jlne.ws/3E01aGz
Bitcoin Reserve Linked to Fugitive Do Kwon Denies Moving Tokens; Reserve says hasn't moved tokens 'held by LFG since May 2022'; South Korea seeks Kwon's arrest and is aiming to freeze assets
Sangmi Cha and Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
A Bitcoin reserve connected to fallen crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon denied transferring digital tokens after a trail of coin movement prompted South Korean prosecutors to take steps to freeze assets. The reserve, the Luna Foundation Guard, said on Twitter that it "hasn't created any new wallets or moved $BTC or other tokens held by LFG since May 2022." The tweet emerged after prosecutors Tuesday sought to freeze assets linked to Kwon, who is wanted in South Korea on suspicion of breaking securities laws amid the $60 billion implosion of his Terraform Labs crypto ecosystem.
/jlne.ws/3ScVWvf
NFT Trading Volumes Collapse 97% From January Peak; The fading NFT mania is part of a wider $2 trillion wipeout in the crypto sector.
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
Trading volumes in nonfungible tokens -- digital art and collectibles recorded on blockchains -- have tumbled 97% from a record high in January this year. They slid to just $466 million in September from $17 billion at the start of 2022, according to data from Dune Analytics. The fading NFT mania is part of a wider, $2 trillion wipeout in the crypto sector as rapidly tightening monetary policy starves speculative assets of investment flows.
/jlne.ws/3OBOgks
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | A GOP takeover of the House could be a boon for crypto legislation; There's widespread bipartisan agreement on the need for new digital-asset regulation
Chris Matthews - MarketWatch
With polls indicating Republicans will take control of at least the House of Representatives after November's U.S. elections, the conventional wisdom in Washington is that divided government will lead to little meaningful legislation getting passed over the next two years. While it's true that Democrats and the GOP are unlikely to come to agreement on hot-button topics like taxes or immigration, there are a few areas, like cryptocurrency regulation, that are ripe for bipartisan agreement, according to Ben Koltun, director of research at Beacon Policy Advisors.
/jlne.ws/3LQ12LA
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Miami-area woman charged in $4.6 million Ponzi scheme plans to plead guilty to fraud
Jay Weaver - Miami Herald
A Biscayne Park woman has been charged with running a $4.6 million Ponzi scheme and swindling hundreds of Haitian-American investors in South Florida, but she is expected to plead guilty to resolve the case, according to federal court records and her attorney.
/jlne.ws/3BRMp5Z
OSC requests new members for the Registrant Advisory Committee
Ontario Securities Commission
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is seeking applicants for membership on its Registrant Advisory Committee (RAC). In recognizing the importance of consulting with our stakeholders, the OSC's RAC serves as a forum to discuss issues and challenges faced by registrants in interpreting and complying with Ontario securities law, including registration and compliance related matters.
/jlne.ws/3DZYicI
Canadian securities regulators propose amendments to implement an access-based model for investment fund reporting issuers
Canadian Securities Administrators
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today published proposed amendments that would provide an alternative to delivering financial statements and management reports of fund performance for investment fund reporting issuers. The proposed changes will modernize existing delivery practices for investment fund continuous disclosure documents by increasing online availability and accessibility, which recognizes increased investor preference for accessing information electronically.
/jlne.ws/3xYAXEx
Qatar Investment Authority Launches Market Making Initiative To Boost Liquidity At Qatar Stock Exchange
Mondovisione
QSE licensed market makers will be able to access some of QIA's stock inventory and incentives programs move is part of QIA's commitment to support Qatar's economy and will facilitate markets in QSE listed stocks. QSE licensed market makers will be able to access some of QIA's stock inventory and incentives programs to facilitate markets in QSE listed stocks.
/jlne.ws/3SFXuxO
The UK Prudential Regulation Authority's Future Approach To Policy - Speech By Vicky Saporta, Executive Director, Prudential Policy, Given At The City & Financial Global Event
Bank of England
Vicky explains how regulation that is strong and responsive can avoid unnecessary trade-offs between competitiveness and resilience. The Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022 introduces new powers and a new secondary objective on competitiveness and growth for the PRA. Vicky argues that the PRA can use these new powers to regulate responsively, and better tailor rules to the needs of the UK. Vicky sets out the PRA's intention to take a proactive approach to the new objective. She explains that as a global financial hub, the UK's competitiveness in financial services rests on its skilled workforce, and its deep and specialised markets. Vicky argues that the UK economy has more to gain by having a regulatory regime that is open to international business, non-discriminating, predictable, transparent, responsive to threats and opportunities rather than in weakening standards to attract business.
/jlne.ws/3RlCKdk
Keynote Address by Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger: A Field of Dreams
CFTC
(As prepared for delivery at the World Federation of Exchanges Annual Meeting hosted by the Malta Stock Exchange)mGood morning, and thank you for the honor of speaking with you today. I am incredibly grateful to the World Federation of Exchanges for their invitation to be a part of this conference and participate in these important conversations. And I am not just saying that because we are in Malta at a gorgeous hotel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
/jlne.ws/3y1epmx
CFTC Seeks to Revoke Registrations of Commodity Trading Advisor and Its Principal and Associated Person
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today filed a Notice of Intent (notice) to revoke the registrations of Fintech Investment Group Inc., (Fintech), a registered commodity trading advisor (CTA) based in Florida, and its principal and associated person (AP), Alan Friedland of Florida (collectively, respondents).
/jlne.ws/3rbst95
CFTC Orders 11 Financial Institutions to Pay Over $710 Million for Recordkeeping and Supervision Failures for Widespread Use of Unapproved Communication Methods; Registered Swap Dealers and FCMs Admit Use of Texts, WhatsApp and Other Unapproved Methods to Conduct Business
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued orders simultaneously filing and settling charges against swap dealer and futures commission merchant (FCM) affiliates of 11 financial institutions for failing to maintain, preserve, or produce records that were required to be kept under CFTC recordkeeping requirements, and failing to diligently supervise matters related to their businesses as CFTC registrants.
/jlne.ws/3BTJo4P
Keynote Address by Commissioner Caroline D. Pham at CordaCon 2022
CFTC
Good afternoon to you all. Thank you to R3 for inviting me to speak at CordaCon in London. I am grateful to be in such a special place, although not one without sadness. I send my deepest condolences to the people of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and all those who honor the life and legacy of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
/jlne.ws/3frSxKz
The Market Risk Advisory Committee Announces Agenda for September 28 Meeting
CFTC
The Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC) today released the agenda for a public meeting that will be held on September 28, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. EDT at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Washington, D.C. headquarters. Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson is the sponsor of the MRAC. At the meeting, the MRAC will address refining an agenda and topics of discussion on a forward-looking basis, developments in the digital asset markets and the unique risks of such markets including with respect to investor protections, the importance of climate-related market risk, risks attendant to clearinghouse governance and use of cloud service providers, and market structure developments. The MRAC will also address procedural matters, including establishing new or re-establishing currently inactive MRAC subcommittees.
/jlne.ws/3rdKsvz
Statement of Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero Regarding Holding Wall Street Accountable; For Widespread Use of Unauthorized Communications Platforms, like Whatsapp and Signal, to Evade Regulatory Oversight
CFTC
I vote to approve the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's ("CFTC") enforcement actions that hold 11 Wall Street banks and other financial institutions accountable for senior executives, traders, and other employees' widespread use of unauthorized communications methods — like encrypted messaging apps and private emails and texts — to avoid creating records and evade regulatory and bank oversight.
/jlne.ws/3E276yQ
Statement of Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson Regarding CFTC Orders for $700 Million Penalty Against Bank-Affiliated Entities for Offline Communications
CFTC
Today, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) issued a series of orders settling charges against swap dealers and affiliated futures commission merchants[1] (Bank-Affiliated Entities) for failing to maintain, preserve, and produce records in compliance with CFTC recordkeeping requirements and for failing to diligently supervise matters related to their businesses as CFTC registrants. These orders require market participants who failed to meet legal and compliance obligations under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations to pay over $700 million in civil monetary penalties collectively and to implement immediate and effective remediation measures to ensure appropriate recordkeeping and supervision.
/jlne.ws/3RhNlWP
SEC Charges Owners of Jersey Deli Somehow Worth $100 Million With 'Brazen' Fraud; A deli in New Jersey that went viral last year for entering the stock market with a multimillion-dollar valuation is now facing charges.
Samantha Cole - VICE
On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the owners of a publicly-traded New Jersey deli business with running a massive market manipulation scheme. The deli made headlines last year for somehow being valued at more than $100 million on the stock market. The SEC wrote in an announcement of the charges that the deli owners, Peter L. Coker Sr., Peter L. Coker Jr., and James T. Patten, were "orchestrating fraudulent manipulative securities trading schemes." The trio set up a company called Hometown International, which financial experts called a "mini-SPAC" in 2021, when it announced it would be publicly traded and valued itself at $100 million—an outrageous claim for a tiny Paulsboro, N.J. cold cut and cheesesteak counter.
/jlne.ws/3SFO70Q
SEC Charges 16 Wall Street Firms with Widespread Recordkeeping Failures; Firms admit to wrongdoing and agree to pay penalties totaling more than $1.1 billion
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against 15 broker-dealers and one affiliated investment adviser for widespread and longstanding failures by the firms and their employees to maintain and preserve electronic communications. The firms admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders, acknowledged that their conduct violated recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws, agreed to pay combined penalties of more than $1.1 billion, and have begun implementing improvements to their compliance policies and procedures to settle these matters.
/jlne.ws/3fto3bf
Oracle to Settle SEC Foreign Bribery Charges For the Second Time; Business software giant to pay more than $23 million to settle SEC allegations
Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal
Oracle Corp. agreed to pay more than $23 million to settle allegations it violated antibribery laws for the second time, following a 2012 settlement, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday. The securities regulator alleged that between 2016 and 2019, the business software company's subsidiaries in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and India created so-called slush funds to bribe foreign officials and win business. The SEC said the employees of these units allegedly used excessive discounts and sham marketing reimbursement payments to create off-the-books slush funds in these markets that could be used for purposes prohibited by Oracle's internal policies.
/jlne.ws/3rgcTcu
SEC Charges Oracle a Second Time for Violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; Company to Pay $23 Million to Settle Charges
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced settled charges requiring Oracle Corporation to pay more than $23 million to resolve charges that it violated provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) when subsidiaries in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and India created and used slush funds to bribe foreign officials in return for business between 2016 and 2019.
/jlne.ws/3xUnInZ
ESMA Reminds Firms Of The Impact Of Inflation In The Context Of Investment Services To Retail Clients
European Securities and Markets Authority
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's securities markets regulator, today publishes a statement reminding firms to consider inflation and inflation risk when applying relevant MiFID II requirements in the interest of investor protection.
/jlne.ws/3SiC6ik
ESMA Publishes Report On The DLT Pilot Regime
European Securities and Markets Authority
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's securities markets regulator, has today published its Report on the distributed ledger technology pilot regime (DLT Pilot). In the report, ESMA provides guidance on certain technical elements and makes recommendations on compensatory measures on supervisory data to ensure a consistent application by DLT market infrastructures from the start of the regime.
/jlne.ws/3RkvRt5
Court dismisses challenge to SFC's power of issuing restriction notices
Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong
The Court of First Instance has dismissed a judicial review application against the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) relating to restriction notices issued in an ongoing investigation into a suspected "ramp-and-dump" scheme (Notes 1 & 2). The judicial review application, brought by Mr Tam Sze Leung, Ms Kong Chan and Ms Lee Ka Lo, sought to challenge the restriction notices issued on 15 March 2021 by the SFC under sections 204(1)(a) and 205(1) of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) to freeze their assets in various trading accounts held with certain licensed corporations. They contended that sections 204(1)(a) and 205(1) exercised on the basis of section 207(e) of the SFO was, amongst other things, not prescribed by law and a disproportionate interference with their property rights and was therefore unconstitutional.
/jlne.ws/3Sn9Lr9
MBIE releases consultations on regulations and fees for Conduct of Financial Institutions regime
Financial Markets Authority
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tatai Hokohoko notes two consultations by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on incentives regulations and proposed licensing fees to support the Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime. The Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Act 2022 amends the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 to ensure financial institutions treat consumers fairly. It introduces a new regulatory regime to ensure registered banks, licensed insurers and licensed non-bank deposit takers comply with the fair conduct principle when providing relevant services to consumers. It is designed to protect consumers by putting the consumer at the forefront of institutions' decisions and actions.
/jlne.ws/3RkIDaV
India's Enforcement Directorate Freezes $1.5M in Bitcoin in Gaming App E-nuggets Case
Amitoj Singh - CoinDesk
India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen cryptocurrency worth about Rs 128 million ($1.5 million) as part of a money laundering investigation relating to a mobile gaming application called E-nuggets, according to a press release. The investigation is related to a February 2021 complaint filed by regulatory authorities in India's eastern city of Kolkata against Aamir Khan and others. The ED conducted search operations on six locations earlier this month in which stacks of cash - more than Rs 170 million ($2 million) - were recovered from Khan's residence. The agency alleges that Khan and others launched a gaming app called E-Nuggets to defraud the public by collecting money, but then stopping withdrawals suddenly on different pretexts, and finally wiping off all data, including profile information, from the app servers.
/jlne.ws/3fqrCPp
Thai SEC Sues 5 Entities for Creating Fake Volume Across 2 Crypto Exchanges
Oliver Knight - CoinDesk
Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission has sued five entities for creating artificial volume on crypto exchanges Bitkub and Satang Corp. According to an official release, the regulator issued civil sanctions against two males and the Bangkok-based Bitkub as well. The three offenders in this case have been ordered to pay 24.2 million Thai baht ($636,000) to reimburse the SEC for its investigation expenses.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | US Housing Prices Fall for First Time Since 2012; Pandemic frenzy is hitting the skids as mortgage rates climb; Index of 20 cities posts first monthly decline since 2012
Prashant Gopal - Bloomberg
Say goodbye to the housing bull run. US home prices -- for the first time in a decade -- are falling. A national measure of prices in 20 large cities fell 0.44% in July, the first drop since March 2012, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index showed Tuesday. The last real estate crash ended in 2012, ushering in 10 years of price gains, capped off by the two-year pandemic buying frenzy. But the Federal Reserve has put a swift end to the party as it fights to curb inflation. Mortgage rates this year doubled, pricing out many buyers and causing sales to plunge. Now values are heading south. The biggest month-over-month declines in July were in San Francisco (-3.6%), Seattle (-2.5%) and San Diego (-2%).
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Risk Parity Funds Have Failed to Work as Advertised; Investors, especially nonprofessionals, have been hit with unexpected losses in a strategy designed to protect against an uncertain and volatile world.
Aaron Brown - Bloomberg
In times like these, when nothing seems to work in financial markets, risk parity strategies should act as a sort of shock absorber. It's a simple concept, really. Unless you have reason to believe one investment is better than another, you should take equal risk in each. That gives you maximum diversification, and diversification is still the only free lunch in finance.
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Lowly T-Bills Are Suddenly Sexy. Yes, Treasury Bills!; The interest rate on the one-year Treasury bill is an eye-popping 4.1%, up from .07% last year.
Alexis Leondis - Bloomberg
If a long, ugly recession is in fact going to happen later this year, many investors will want to shift some additional money into cash. There's good news: In July, yields on many cash-like investments, which means they're virtually risk-free and liquid, started soaring. The best play right now may be short-term US Treasury bills, or T-bills, which have been touted by the likes of Warren Buffett and Bill Gross. They're government bonds that mature in a year or less and are auctioned off periodically by the Department of Treasury. You can buy them directly at TreasuryDirect.gov, through a bank or broker, or you can invest in them more broadly using an ETF, such as the iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF.
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UK 30-Year Bond Yield Surges Above 5% for First Time Since 2002; It's a 'crisis of confidence,' says TwentyFour Asset's Shannon; Market selloff has wiped out billions in bondholder value
Alice Gledhill and Libby Cherry - Bloomberg
The UK government's long-term borrowing costs soared above 5% for the first time in two decades as investors braced for a flood of bond supply and aggressive rate hikes. The market suffered another day of meltdown, wiping out a relief rally earlier, as the government vowed to plough ahead with fiscal stimulus that the Bank of England's chief economist said requires a significant policy response. That led money markets to bet on four percentage points more interest-rate hikes by May, which would take the BOE's key rate to 6.25%, the highest since 2001.
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Investors Dodge Argentina Bond Pain by Buying YPF, Provinces; Quasi-sovereigns posting best returns in emerging markets; Meanwhile, Argentina's sovereign bonds slumped more than 35%
Scott Squires - Bloomberg
Investors are scoring some of the best returns in emerging markets by dumping battered Argentine sovereign bonds to buy the nation's corporate and provincial notes. While debt from the federal government has tumbled more than 35% this year to some 20 cents on the dollar, bonds issued by state controlled oil company YPF SA have returned as much as 18%. Notes sold by provinces like Mendoza and Cordoba have returned about 7%.
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Citi Says European Equity Outflows Are Biggest in a Decade; Regional stocks see eight months of outflows: Citi citing EPFR Strategists say the redemptions are a contrarian buy signal
Sagarika Jaisinghani - Bloomberg
Investors are abandoning European stocks at levels last seen during the euro zone debt crisis a decade ago, according to Citigroup Inc. strategists, adding that this could represent a contrarian signal to buy. European equity funds are on track for eight straight months of outflows totaling $98 billion, or 6% of assets under management, the bank said in a note citing EPFR Global data. On that basis, cumulative redemptions are now worse than the Covid-led selloff in 2020 and are comparable to the 2011-12 euro zone crisis, strategists including David Groman and Beata Manthey said.
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Work-From-Home ETFs Are Fading Away as Employees Head Back to Office; WFH and IWFH haven't posted a net inflow since late 2021; Direxion fund will capture 'long-term' opportunity, Mazza says
Katherine Greifeld - Bloomberg
Funds attempting to capture the work-from-home revolution are becoming an afterthought to investors as the office beckons. The Direxion Work From Home exchange-traded fund (ticker WFH), the largest with $37 million in assets, has plunged 44% over the past year and hasn't seen an inflow since November 2021. It's a similar story for the $3.7 million iShares Virtual Work and Life Multisector ETF (IWFH) -- no new money has entered the fund since December 2021 amid a 55% drawdown this past year.
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Cathie Wood's New Venture Fund Offers Access to Hard-to-Trade Assets for Just $500; ARK's 'interval' fund is now available on the Titan app; Minimum $500 means 'any individual' can potentially invest
Sam Potter and Emily Graffeo - Bloomberg
Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management has launched a new fund that will give almost any investor easy access to harder-to-trade assets -- though with a limit to how quickly they can cash out. The firm on Tuesday announced that its long-awaited ARK Venture Fund is now available to all US investors via an investing app called Titan. The fund, which carries a minimum investment of just $500, will target mostly private companies focused on tech-powered innovation, as well as some public firms and other venture capital funds.
/jlne.ws/3BQsKTR
Cathie Wood's ARK Launches Venture Fund Open to Individual Investors; Fund is set to invest in private, public firms similar to those held by ARK's high-growth, technology-focused ETFs
Hannah Miao - The Wall Street Journal
Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management LLC on Tuesday debuted the ARK Venture Fund, the firm's first foray into private investments. The venture fund intends to invest in early- to late-stage private companies and publicly traded businesses similar to those held by ARK's high-growth, technology-focused exchange-traded funds. The ARK Venture Fund is available to U.S. investors, including individuals, for a minimum initial investment of $500 on the online investment platform of financial-technology startup Titan.
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Welcoming VRforHealth to the Get Real Partner Alliance!
Get Real
Get Real is excited to announce VRforHealth is joining the Get Real Partner Alliance. At Get Real, we are committed to leading our clients in their adoption of Virtual Reality technology to improve the way they interact with key stakeholders and we are thrilled to be joining up with Beth and Denise from VRforHealth in a new partnership announced today! Our clients will benefit from VRforHealth's extensive domain knowledge in healthcare, educational resources, and directory members as they seek to bring technological innovation to their healthcare practices.
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Everything Is in a Bear Market. How Bad Can It Get?
Brian Swint - Barron's
After the Dow Jones Industrial AverageDJIA slipped to more than 20% below its January peak on Monday, joining the S&P 500 in a bear market, it's worth taking a step back to consider how unusual the global selloff has been. For a start, bonds—now in their first global bear market for 70 years—are falling at the same time as stocks. That's rare. Bonds are meant to be safe, low-returning investments. They're what you buy when stocks are falling. Stocks, by contrast, are higher risk but also higher reward. You sell bonds to buy stocks when they're going up.
/jlne.ws/3LQ2ZHJ
Oil Slides Toward January Low as Dollar Muscles Its Way Higher; API reports US stockpiles rose by more than 4 million barrels; OPEC+ may agree to reduce production at meeting due next week
Yongchang Chin - Bloomberg
Oil retreated as further gains in the dollar and figures pointing to higher US stockpiles countered speculation that OPEC+ will cut output. West Texas Intermediate sank below $78 a barrel, dropping toward the lowest level since early January that was hit on Monday. The US currency advanced to a record after a senior Biden administration official rejected the notion that there may be a coordinated global effort to rein in the US currency.
/jlne.ws/3RyTPAZ
Russia's Alrosa Discovers 22 New Diamond Deposits in Zimbabwe; President Emmerson Mnangagwa comments at meeting in New York; US-based investors to examine opportunities in mining sector
Ray Ndlovu - Bloomberg
Russian miner Alrosa PSJC has discovered 22 new diamond deposits in Zimbabwe, according to the southern African nation's president, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Alrosa will only be allowed to work on two of the diamond deposits, while the rest will be made available to other investors, Zimbabwe's Information Ministry said, citing comments by Mnangagwa in New York at the weekend. The president attended a business meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
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Saudi Wealth Fund Delivered 25% Return Last Year on Global Stock Rally
Archana Narayanan and Matthew Martin - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund said it delivered a shareholder return of 25% last year as global stocks rallied in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, in one of the first insights into the finances of one of the world's biggest state investors. The Public Investment Fund's returns more than doubled from an annual average of 12% between 2017 and 2020, according to a prospectus for its debt green bond sale that kicked off Tuesday. Last year's return for PIF shareholders is roughly in line with that of investors in the S&P 500 Index, which was up 27% over the same period.
/jlne.ws/3frUpTB
China Warns Yuan Speculators They Will Lose Money in Long Term
Bloomberg News
China's central bank stepped up its defense of the falling yuan with a strongly-worded statement to warn against speculation, after the currency dropped to its lowest versus the dollar since 2008. "Do not bet on one-way appreciation or depreciation of the yuan, as losses will definitely be incurred in the long term," the People's Bank of China said in the statement released Wednesday. Key market participants need to "voluntarily safeguard the stability of the market, and be firm when they need to iron out big rallies or declines in the exchange rate."
/jlne.ws/3UKBaor
China's Offshore Currency Hits Record Low Against Dollar; The yuan weakened past 7.2 to the dollar, complicating Chinese policy makers' efforts to boost the country's economy with lower interest rates
Rebecca Feng - The Wall Street Journal
China's central bank warned market participants against speculating on the yuan, after the currency slid to its weakest level against the dollar in more than 14 years and hit a record low in international trading. On Wednesday, the offshore yuan depreciated to more than 7.2 to the dollar for the first time since a separate system for trading the currency outside mainland China was launched more than a decade ago.
/jlne.ws/3rcS8Oy
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Why tackling climate change means a stronger economy — according to Janet Yellen
Ailsa Chang - NPR
Years of pandemic supply chain disruptions have left the world dealing with high inflation. Then, a war in Ukraine unfolded, one that has shaken worldwide supplies of grain and oil and gas. There are also the natural disasters that have intensified with climate change, like the hurricane barreling toward Florida at the moment. All of these factors have had substantial effects on the American economy. And one person whose purview it is to help the country absorb all of those impacts is Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
/jlne.ws/3SlSDC4
Revealed: 5,000 empty 'ghost flights' in UK since 2019, data shows; Exclusive: a further 35,000 flights have operated almost empty, with climate campaigners calling the revelations 'shocking'
Damian Carrington and Pamela Duncan - The Guardian
More than 5,000 completely empty passenger flights have flown to or from UK airports since 2019, the Guardian can reveal. A further 35,000 commercial flights have operated almost empty since 2019, with fewer than 10% of seats filled, according to analysis of data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). This makes a total of about 40,000 "ghost flights". https://jlne.ws/3UKN2qw
The SBTi launches the world's first standard method to cover land-related emissions and removals; The Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) Science Based Target Setting Guidance provides businesses in land-intensive sectors such as food, agriculture and forestry with the tools to play their part in preventing the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
Science Based Targets Initiative
The Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) Science Based Target Setting Guidance launches today to enable companies to set science-based targets that include land-related emissions and removals for the first time; This Guidance fills a 22% gap of global emissions that have not been addressed before; The framework has a whole sector approach covering everything from deforestation to diet shift and 11 mitigation pathways for major commodities with high carbon footprints including beef, palm oil, dairy, poultry, timber and wood fiber; 80% of the mitigation potential from land use change is from stopping deforestation. Companies setting FLAG targets are required to publicly commit to zero deforestation no later than 2025.
/jlne.ws/3rbQ2if
Florida's population has skyrocketed. That could make Hurricane Ian more destructive
Becky Sullivan - NPR
No state in the eastern U.S. has grown faster in recent years than Florida, which has added nearly 3 million residents since 2010. Now, the state is yet again in the path of a major hurricane, with Hurricane Ian expected to make landfall on Florida's western coast Wednesday. It is now classified as a Category 4 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tampa, Fort Myers and Sarasota - all among the state's fastest growing metropolitan areas - are within the range of predicted paths, the NHC said. Ian may bring a "life threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula," the hurricane center said in it's 5 a.m. ET update.
/jlne.ws/3M4qe1b
Hurricane Ian: Cuba suffers complete blackout after storm
Will Grant & Max Matza - BBC News
Cuba is completely without power after Hurricane Ian pummelled the western end of the island, its government has announced. The electrical system is experiencing total collapse, officials said, after one of the main power plants could not be brought back online. Two people were reported dead and buildings were damaged nationwide. The category three hurricane, packing wind speeds of up to 195km/h (120mph), is now bearing down on Florida.
/jlne.ws/3Sjdaa9
TCFD alignment in G7 countries: Initial insights
CDP
Analysis of the indexes from G7 countries and a Europe-wide Index (representing 17 European countries) reveals significant shortfalls in TCFD aligned disclosure amongst corporates. None of the indices had more than 19% of corporates achieving 100% TCFD-aligned disclosure when disclosing through CDP's platform. A key gap that spans across all the indices is the lack of disclosure on how climate-related information is fed into a corporate's strategy. Companies continue to perform poorly in terms of risk management, suggesting that they do not have sufficient processes in place to assess and manage climate risk.
/jlne.ws/3fo7NYQ
Two pension funds quit Mark Carney's green alliance; Groups cite the resources needed to meet data reporting requirements
Camilla Hodgson - Financial Times
Pension funds Cbus Super and Bundespensionskasse have become the first institutions to leave a financial alliance on tackling climate change spearheaded by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney. Australia's Cbus left the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance in recent months citing resourcing problems, while Austria's Bundespensionskasse left the Paris Aligned Asset Owners group this year, also due to a lack of internal resources, the PAAO said. The coalitions form part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (Gfanz) that was launched with great fanfare last year.
/jlne.ws/3SkWnDT
Another ESG Champion Disappoints
Surprise! Not all consumers think soap should have a social agenda.
James Freeman - The Wall Street Journal (Opinion)
Believe it or not, some corporate executives and investors who prioritize political agendas are having trouble delivering good financial results. Go figure. Last week this column noted the lackluster returns at the giant California Public Employees' Retirement System, conspicuous in its trendy embrace of so-called environmental, social and governance practices, or ESG. Now brings news of another organization that's made a show of being socially conscious but hasn't made investors happy. And as for consumers, maybe they don't really need their condiments to make political statements, after all. The website of Unilever PLC proclaims: We're a company of brands and people with a big purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace. We urgently need to bridge the divide to a fairer, more socially inclusive world. A world where we all live with, rather than at the expense of, nature and the environment. We still have time to act. But we don't have time to waste.
/jlne.ws/3Ci4NGD
US Inflation Reduction Act to Accelerate Low-Carbon Transition
Sustainable Fitch
The US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the country's largest climate bill in decades and will have profound impacts on politics and industry, Sustainable Fitch says in a new report. The bill will lead to investment of almost USD370 billion in clean energy, industry, manufacturing and other climate change mitigation efforts. The IRA will cut US greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40% by 2030 from 2005 levels, accelerating the country's transition to a low-carbon economy, and strengthen domestic industries and supply chains. The bill ties provisions to requirements covering domestic content, prevailing wage and apprenticeships, recognising the need for a just transition and the development of domestic industries and supply chains. The clean energy sector will be the main beneficiary many due to tax credits, incentives and other financial support.
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How general counsel became the corporate 'voice of conscience'; Increased responsibility for drafting and operating ethical standards looks unstoppable
Jane Croft - Financial Times
For in-house counsel, providing straightforward advice on a company's compliance with the law is no longer enough. So-called stakeholder capitalism means companies are under pressure on all sides — from investors to clients, consumers and campaigners — to carry out business with integrity and transparency.
/jlne.ws/3SlOaPM
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Credit Suisse loses top dealmaker to Citigroup; US bank seeks to capitalise on market downturn to poach from European rivals
Arash Massoudi and Owen Walker - Financial Times
Credit Suisse has lost one of its most senior remaining dealmakers to Citigroup, as the beleaguered Swiss lender prepares for a major restructuring of its investment bank after a series of scandals. Jens Welter is quitting Credit Suisse less than nine months after being named co-head of global banking, ending a 27-year career with the Swiss bank where he became known as a top adviser to consumer companies such as Nestlé.
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Wall Street Hit With $2 Billion of Fines in WhatsApp Probe; BofA, Citi, Goldman Sachs among banks slapped with penalties; Pandemic added to proliferation of mobile-messaging apps
Sridhar Natarajan, Jennifer Surane, and Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
US regulators reached settlements with a dozen banks in a sprawling probe into how global financial firms failed to monitor employees' communications on unauthorized messaging apps, bringing total penalties in the matter to more than $2 billion. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced $1.1 billion in fines and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission disclosed $710 million in penalties in separate statements Tuesday. Those levies -- against firms including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. -- combined with JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $200 million in fines from December, bring the total to $2.01 billion, making them the biggest penalties ever against US banks for record-keeping lapses.
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U.S. fines 16 Wall Street firms $1.8 bln for talking deals, trades on personal apps
Michelle Price - Reuters
U.S. regulators on Tuesday fined 16 financial firms, including Barclays (BARC.L), Bank of America , Citigroup , Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley and UBS (UBSG.S), a combined $1.8 billion after staff discussed deals and trades on their personal devices and apps. The sweeping industry probe, first reported by Reuters last year and subsequently disclosed by multiple lenders, is a landmark case for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), marking one their largest collective resolutions.
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Goldman Sachs Announces the Launch of Visual Structuring
Goldman Sachs
Today, Goldman Sachs announced the launch of Visual Structuring, a patent-pending new tool for options price discovery and trade idea generation, available through Goldman Sachs Marquee. Starting with FX options, Visual Structuring provides a mobile-first way to quickly price variations, assess scenarios, run backtesting analysis, and collaborate with colleagues wherever they are.
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BoE chief economist calls for 'significant monetary response' to turmoil; Huw Pill signals central bank does not expect to act before November following UK government's tax-cutting plans
Delphine Strauss, Tommy Stubbington, George Parker and Sebastian Payne - Financial Times
Borrowing costs in Britain are projected to nearly triple to 6.25 per cent by May, after the Bank of England's chief economist warned that the government's new debt-laden economic plan required a "significant monetary response". Huw Pill's intervention came as Kwasi Kwarteng, chancellor, prepared to reassure markets that he would control debt in a new medium-term fiscal plan, with ministers hoping to pledge that debt will fall within five years. The new plan, to be published in November, implies tight public spending controls continuing into the second half of this decade, as the chancellor tries to restore order to the public finances after announcing £45bn of debt-funded tax cuts.
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11 Wall Street Banks Pay $710 Million Fine for Shoddy Record Keeping
Ellen chang - The Street
Nearly a dozen Wall Street banks including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America are being fined a total of $710 million for not retaining better records of texts and messages from WhatsApp and Signal sent by its employees. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday said it will fine 11 financial institutions fines ranging from $6 million to $100 million each for failing to maintain, preserve or produce records that employees sent to each other or to clients. Some of the messages were sent from personal devices for work communications.
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Wall Street Hires WhatsApp Cops as US Blasts Bosses Who Texted; Eleven more banks settle inquiries into surveillance failures; Lapses among leadership force firms to hire compliance experts
Hannah Levitt, Jennifer Surane, and Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
A US investigation into unauthorized texting on Wall Street is forcing many of the world's biggest banks to create a new compliance role: the WhatsApp cop. Firms can blame the bosses who broke the rules. As US regulators punished 11 Wall Street banks Tuesday for failing to stop staff from using unauthorized messaging platforms, investigators took a moment to describe some of the worst offenders -- including heads of trading desks, dealmaking teams and executives with national and global responsibilities. In some cases, managers even texted with employees in charge of ensuring that banks complied with the law.
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Asian Central Banks Need Broader FX Defense as Reserves Slide; Thai, India FX sales have exceeded 10% of end-2021 reserves; Asia central banks may allow for more FX flexibility: Nomura
Subhadip Sircar - Bloomberg
Declining foreign-exchange reserves mean Asian central banks will probably start looking for alternative ways to support their currencies, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. Some of the potential methods they may choose include mandating exporters to sell foreign-currency proceeds, placing restrictions on trade accounts, and introducing measures to boost capital inflows, Nomura analysts including Sonal Varma in Singapore and Ting Lu in Hong Kong wrote in a research note.
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Cerberus Hires Ex-Credit Suisse Chairman Horta-Osorio as Adviser
Steven Arons - Bloomberg
Antonio Horta-Osorio, the former chairman of Credit Suisse Group AG, is joining Cerberus Capital Management LP as a senior adviser focused on European banking. Horta-Osorio, ousted from his role at the Swiss bank in January for breaching Covid quarantine rules, will work on the $60 billion US private-equity firm's financial deals across Europe, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity. An external spokesperson for Cerberus didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the appointment, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Half of Hong Kong's Covid Vaccine Exemptions Are Probably Fake; Authorities invalidate more than 20,000 exemption certificates; City leader John Lee said rulebreakers could derail reopening
Jinshan Hong - Bloomberg
More than half the certificates Hong Kong doctors have given to patients exempting them from Covid-19 jabs are suspected to be fake. Authorities have arrested a total of seven doctors for allegedly issuing notes fraudulently and from Oct. 12 will invalidate more than 20,000 exemptions those practitioners have given out, the government said Tuesday. That's more than half the total number of certificates in the city that are currently valid.
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Are we sleepwalking into a male mental health crisis?; Suicide remains the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45, a statistic aided by a resistance to ask for help. Joe Ellison asks what we can do about it, and speaks to some of the individuals tackling the problem in radical new ways
Joe Ellison - Independent
In mid-2020, amid a burgeoning pandemic, 19-year-old Llyr George - the younger brother of Love Island star Dr Alex George - died by suicide. What made it even more crushing for Llyr's family, like countless others, was that there had been no warning sign. Unanswered questions only compounded the grief. "Sadly, men are still much more likely to take their own life than women," his brother says today - three-quarters of UK suicides in 2020 were by men. "The awful shame is [that many] don't tell you, so you're not aware that they're struggling. We know that men generally use violent forms of suicide, while women have more help-seeking behaviours and will often present to A&E or they'll talk to their friends."
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Alzheimer's Progression Slowed by Drug in Major Trial; Medicine is first to slow the disease in a definitive study; Companies will apply for full US approval; Roche, Lilly gain
Robert Langreth and Michelle Fay Cortez - Bloomberg
Shares of Eisai Co. and partner Biogen Inc. surged after they reported that a drug significantly slowed Alzheimer's disease, making it the first medicine to blunt progression of the most common dementia in a definitive, large-scale trial.
/jlne.ws/3BJlB7O
North Korea Launches Mass Covid-19 Vaccination Campaign; Rollout is in border areas, Seoul's spy agency says; China is likely supplier
Dasl Yoon - The Wall Street Journal
North Korea has begun a mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign in its border areas, according to South Korea's spy agency, becoming one of the world's final countries to embark on such a national rollout. North Korea and Eritrea, in east Africa, were the only remaining countries that hadn't started widespread vaccination distribution, the World Health Organization has said.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China Asking Funds to Limit Stock Sales Before Congress, Sources Say
Bloomberg News
Chinese regulators have asked several big mutual fund houses and brokers to refrain from large sales of stocks before the party congress in October, according to people familiar with the matter. The China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges made the request last week via so-called "window guidance," said the people who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. The move is a fairly common operation to prevent big swings during volatile periods and major political events, the people added.
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How Europe can adapt to living without Russian gas for years; Households turning down thermostats 3C could reduce much of the gap between supply and demand
Pierre Andurand - Financial Times
Russia has historically supplied about 30 per cent of the EU and UK's gas consumption by pipeline. Those exports have already been cut by 75 per cent. If Moscow stops them entirely, will Europeans freeze to death in the winter, as Russian propagandists have been warning? Almost certainly not. In fact, it looks as though Europeans have a great deal more capacity in managing the situation than the fearmongers thought. Much of European gas demand comes from heating. If Europeans just lower thermostats in their homes by an average of 3C — down to 19C this winter — that could make a big difference.
/jlne.ws/3SyU6V6
France Is Hit by Strikes Over Pay at Multiple Oil Refineries
Alaric Nightingale, Alex Longley, and Rachel Graham - Bloomberg
A strike by workers at France's oil refineries is disrupting fuel supplies in Europe's third-largest economy, another blow to the country as it battles a sprawling energy crisis. Workers have gone on strike at oil refineries that handle more than half the country's fuelmaking. Two have fully halted while a third is moving toward running at technical minimum levels. Together they account for more than half of France's capacity to make diesel, gasoline and other fuels. There's also a strike at a fourth plant that was hobbled by a fire anyway.
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Germany Adds EUR22.5 Billion to Debt Sales to Fund Energy Aid; Federal government lifts 4Q issuance to more than EUR100 billion; Ruling coalition has assembled three packages of aid measures
Kamil Kowalcze - Bloomberg
Germany's federal government will increase debt sales by EUR22.5 billion ($21.5 billion) in the fourth quarter to help fund spending to soften the impact of the energy crisis. Issuance of bonds and bills will total EUR106.5 billion in the October to December period, up from EUR84 billion in a preliminary plan announced at the end of last year, the Federal Finance Agency said on Wednesday. For the full year, sales will be around EUR445 billion, including syndicated issuance.
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Steve Schwarzman Buys £80 Million English Country Estate; Blackstone co-founder acquires 2,500-acre historic property west of London.
Devon Pendleton and Jack Sidders - Bloomberg
Steve Schwarzman has purchased a historic property in England's Wiltshire county for about £80 million ($85.5 million). The co-founder and chief executive officer of Blackstone Inc. said he plans to restore the 2,500-acre rural estate, known as Conholt Park, whose main building dates to the 17th century. "Steve has always been passionate about architecture and buildings of cultural significance and heritage," a spokesperson for Schwarzman said Tuesday in a statement. "He is excited about the opportunity to restore Conholt Hall to its original state."
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Rio Warns Miners Not Moving Fast Enough on Lithium Extraction
James Fernyhough - Bloomberg
Planned lithium production will fail to meet growth in demand for lithium ion batteries that are needed to meet global climate goals, according to Rio Tinto Plc's minerals chief. Lithium consumption needed "to surge way above anything that's planned to be mined," Sinead Kaufman told a conference in Perth on Wednesday. The metal is a vital ingredient in the batteries that power zero-carbon electric vehicles.
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