| December 15, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. CEO Nicolas Aguzin will depart at the end of his contract, succeeded by co-COO Bonnie Chan, who will be the first woman in the role. The leadership change comes amid a prolonged IPO slowdown at the exchange. Chan, 54, previously headed the listing division and was promoted to co-COO earlier this year. She will assume the CEO position in May. Bloomberg, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Trade have the story and here is the press release from HKEX.
The FIA EPTA has released a report titled "Exchange Traded Derivatives: Strengthening the Backbone of Sustainable Capital Markets," emphasizing how Exchange Traded Derivatives (ETDs) can play a vital role in advancing green and sustainable capital markets. While the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) aims to promote environmentally and socially responsible investments, ETDs have been overlooked for their significant contribution to this transition.
ETDs form a crucial part of the overall market infrastructure, fostering trust and participation in financial markets. They offer a means to mitigate risks, including those associated with climate-related events such as extreme weather conditions.
The paper calls for a more inclusive approach within SFDR that recognizes the unique value ETDs bring to capital markets, potentially expediting the shift towards a more environmentally and socially responsible financial landscape.
Today is a "triple witching" day, The Wall Street Journal reports. This term refers to the simultaneous expiration of derivatives contracts linked to index options, index futures, and single-stock options, providing investors with opportunities to leverage their trades or manage risks. Triple witching occurs quarterly on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December. Back when we had single stock futures in the U.S. it was a quadruple witching day.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) announced a new record in open interest with 86 million contracts on December 13, 2023, surpassing the previous record set in June 2021. This includes record open interest in commodity, energy, and natural gas futures and options markets, marking a 21% year-over-year increase in open interest across these segments.
This one is a little embarrassing. The former chief operating officer of now-defunct payment-processing giant Wirecard, which imploded in a financial fraud, may have been a Russian operative who funded covert operations around the world for Moscow, The Wall Street Journal reported. Jan Marsalek may have been a Russian agent for a decade, the Journal reported.
Exchange Analytics has recently introduced a completely revamped catalog of regulatory compliance courses. This updated catalog features significant revisions and enhancements to courses covering initial futures ethics, cybersecurity, and customer protection rules. You can see the course catalog HERE.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) unveiled the optional standard mileage rates for 2024, which are employed to compute the deductible expenses associated with operating a vehicle for business, charitable, medical, or moving purposes. Starting on January 1, 2024, the standard mileage rates for car usage (including vans, pickups, or panel trucks) will be as follows: 67 cents per mile for business use, marking a 1.5 cent increase from 2023.
The Guardian reports early risers owe a nod to their Neanderthal genes, say scientists. DNA passed down from our prehistoric cousins appears to boost the "morning person" trait. It's a genetic gift from our thick-browed relatives, making some folks naturally inclined to wake up and sleep early, a study suggests. So, if you're an ancient-genetic-morning-warrior, thank your Neander-genes for that!
We have a correction from yesterday and it is all my fault. The write up for the video interview from FIA Asia with two CQG executives identified one of them as John Co and the other Pat Kenny. John Co was originally identified as our interview subject and when I wrote up the summary of the video, it was his name I used. I did not catch that Ben Soong was interviewed instead. My apologies for the mix up. It has been corrected on the video and writeup. Additionally, in the video we misspelled Ben Soong's name. That has also been fixed. Me paenitet.
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 International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG) have published a new, globally consistent, voluntary code of conduct for ratings and data products providers in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) space. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) asked the ICMA and IRSG to create the code. The organizations convened an industry group to develop a globally consistent voluntary code for those providing the third-party data and ratings that are increasingly used by the market. The code is aligned with IOSCO's recommendations and focuses on promoting transparency, good governance, management of conflicts of interest, and strengthening systems and controls in the sector. The code is intended to be internationally interoperable and could be used by jurisdictions where no local code or regulation is in place. View the code on the ICMA Group website. ~SAED
Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Fields of Honor from Fields of Honor.
- Asia-Pacific's ETF industry is taking off, says Invesco executive from Financial Times.
- CFTC wrestles with new clearinghouse models from FIA. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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FIA Tech and Eurex form strategic data partnership for Foreign Security Futures
FIA Tech
FIA Tech, a leading futures industry technology provider, today announced that it has formed a strategic data partnership with global derivatives exchange Eurex. Eurex will begin using FIA Tech's Foreign Security Futures (FSF) data service to evaluate FSF eligibilities effective 31 December 2023 and Eurex will join the Databank Network.
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***** JLN missed catching up with FIA Tech in Asia, but will do so soon.~JJL
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A quant winter's tale; Across the multifactorquantiverse with AQR
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
Clifford Asness's office is an odd mix of finance old-timer and teenage bedroom. Books about Churchill stand alongside DC Comics encyclopaedias, the sea of family photos is dotted with islands of vintage Marvel memorabilia, and next to his computer a jar of Pepcid sits next to a jumbo bottle of sriracha.
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****** Cliff Asness PR team is busy.~JJL
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Markets are becoming less efficient, not more, says AQR's Clifford Asness; Eugene Fama protege warns a mass of superfluous data is confusing many investors
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
The mounting deluge of mostly irrelevant information is overwhelming many investors, making financial markets more chaotic and less efficient at pricing in important data, says hedge fund magnate Clifford Asness. The founder of US-based AQR Capital Management, still one of the world's biggest computer-driven investment firms despite a sharp drop in assets in recent years, once studied under the University of Chicago's Eugene Fama, who won a Nobel Prize for his efficient markets hypothesis.
/jlne.ws/41pjBhB
***** Cliff Asness's PR team is very busy.~JJL
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El Nino Nears Historic Intensity With Threat of Weather Havoc
Brian K. Sullivan - Bloomberg
El Nino is threatening to become one of the most intense events of its type in history as the weather pattern approaches its peak strength in the coming weeks. The phenomenon is driven by warming waters across the equatorial Pacific, and the odds of rising ocean temperatures have gone up - amplifying El Nino's influence over global weather patterns. There's now a 54% chance water temperatures will reach 2 C (3.6F) above normal across the key region, according to the US Climate Prediction Center. Those odds were calculated at 35% just a month ago.
/jlne.ws/3GJrS6d
****** They had me at "historic intensity."~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our most read story on Thursday was The New York Times' story, New SEC cyber rules are about to go into effect. Expect some bumps. Second was from Bloomberg, CVS Is Among Health-Care Companies Adopting Biden's AI Safeguards. Third was the SEC story, Credit Suisse Entities to Pay $10 Million for Providing Prohibited Mutual Fund Services.
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| Lead Stories | Hong Kong stock exchange chief Nicolas Aguzin to step down; Former JPMorgan banker has led HKEX at a time when it has struggled to maintain its status as global listings destination
Kaye Wiggins and Hudson Lockett - Financial Times
Nicolas Aguzin is to leave his role as chief executive of Hong Kong's stock market operator HKEX at the end of a three-year term during which the exchange has struggled to maintain its status as an important global destination for listings. Aguzin, a former JPMorgan banker known as "Gucho", has "informed the board that he will not seek reappointment at the end of his current contract in May 2024", HKEX said in a statement on Friday.
/jlne.ws/4apSuHh
AI presents growing risk to financial markets, US regulator warns; Financial Stability Oversight Council flags emerging technology as a 'vulnerability' for the first time in latest report
Stephen Gandel and Brooke Masters and James Politi - Financial Times
The growing use of artificial intelligence has become a significant risk to stocks, bonds and financial markets in general, according to a new report from the chief US financial stability regulator. It is the first time that AI was identified as a "vulnerability" by the Financial Stability Oversight Council in its annual report. Treasury secretary Janet Yellen, who also chairs the FSOC, on Thursday predicted at a meeting of the council that the use of AI by banks, investors and other financial market players is likely to continue to increase.
/jlne.ws/3NoRitN
Hacker Hits One of Crypto Industry's Biggest Names in Security; Ledger is one of the largest makers of digital wallets; The hack saw hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen
Hannah Miller - Bloomberg
The latest crypto hack involved one of the industry's top names in security: hardware wallet-maker Ledger. The Paris-based startup saw its Ledger Connect Kit software compromised leading to hundreds of thousands of dollars being drained from users' wallets early Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3NuhLG6
IMF chief says rules, infrastructure needed to prevent crypto risks
Reuters
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that crypto currencies need to be regulated because they pose risks to financial stability. "The challenge is that high crypto asset adoption could undermine macro-financial stability," the IMF's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said in her opening speech at a conference in Seoul on digital currencies.
/jlne.ws/3v8EIs4
Gensler says SEC's 'new look' at spot bitcoin ETF applications has involved recent court rulings
Sarah Wynn - The Block
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said Thursday that the agency's "new look" at applications for a spot bitcoin ETF had been taking recent court rulings into consideration. While the SEC has for years denied previous applications for a spot bitcoin fund, a panel of judges who ordered the regulator to reconsider a failed bid from Grayscale Investments may be starting to tip the balance. The agency is considering more than a dozen applications now from major asset managers including BlackRock and Fidelity.
/jlne.ws/4apvTKI
The CEO of One of the World's Top Stock Exchanges Is Headed for the Exit
Rebecca Feng - The Wall Street Journal
Nicolas Aguzin, the international financier who has steered Hong Kong's stock exchange through a difficult period, is departing next May, the exchange's parent company said Friday. Aguzin, widely known as Gucho, will step down as chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing when his three-year term ends. He will be succeeded by Bonnie Chan, HKEX's co-chief operating officer.
/jlne.ws/41oBKfi
CME SOFR futures and options hit volume, OI records
Radi Khasawneh - FOW
CME Group has set new trading volume records in its US Libor alternative listed derivatives market, underlining strong adoption of the US risk-free rate. CME reported on Thursday trading volume (ADV) in Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) futures and options has been 5.1 million contracts in the year-to-date, its best year so far.
/jlne.ws/3Tn8CTP
He's Wanted for Wirecard's Missing $2 Billion. He's Now Suspected of Being a Russian Spy; Jan Marsalek, the jet-setting former COO of now-defunct Wirecard, enabled Moscow to fund covert operations around the world, officials say; 'whiff of Silicon Valley'
Bojan Pancevski and Max Colchester - The Wall Street Journal
Soon after payment-processing giant Wirecard reported in June 2020 that nearly $2 billion had gone missing from its balance sheet, its chief operating officer Jan Marsalek boarded a private jet out of Austria. After a landing in Belarus, he was whisked by car to Moscow, where he got a Russian passport under an assumed name. Western intelligence and security officials now say they have reached the unsettling conclusion that Marsalek had likely been a Russian agent for nearly a decade.
/jlne.ws/3tmWsj5
US Still Needs Fossil Fuels, White House Climate Adviser Says
Elizabeth Elkin, Romaine Bostick and Katie Greifeld - Bloomberg
White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said the US will still need oil and gas to meet near-term energy demand, even as nearly 200 nations signed on to a pact at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels. To satisfy demand in the short term, the US needs to "accept the reality of the stock we have, whether it's in buildings, transportation, or the power sector," Zaidi said in an interview Thursday on Bloomberg Television. "But we're rapidly turning that stock over to clean energy."
/jlne.ws/47S8MXA
Citi Shuts Muni Business That Once Was Envy of Rivals
Jenny Surane, Sridhar Natarajan and Amanda Albright - Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. will shutter its municipal business, one of the most dramatic moves yet by Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser as she seeks to squeeze better returns out of the Wall Street giant. The bank decided the business, which has tumbled in the rankings for underwriting state and local debt, is "no longer viable given our commitment to increase the firm's overall returns," according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News.
/jlne.ws/3NrJOGd
The Money Is Oregone; Inside Sam Bankman-Fried's weird attempt to put an effective altruist in Congress.
Nitish Pahwa - Slate
The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried was pitched by close observers as something of a reckoning: for the cryptocurrency industry, for the Silicon Valley move-fast-and-break-things ethos, for the freewheeling zero-interest-rate era, and more generally for the blind spots of American capitalism. But it also lowered an unforgiving microscope on effective altruism, the utilitarian philanthropic movement to which the disgraced FTX CEO subscribed. For, despite their ostensibly laudable intentions-earning heaps of money and giving it away to charities and nonprofits that address major issues like global poverty and public health-effective altruists appear to have been willing and enthusiastic participants in some of the man's sketchiest schemes.
/jlne.ws/47XQLqL
Carbon price tumbles as investors fret over 'weak' impact of COP28 deal; EU futures contracts drop below euro 66 per tonne in London after traders left unconvinced by wording of agreement
Kenza Bryan - Financial Times
The price of carbon fell to its lowest level in 14 months on Thursday after traders were unconvinced that the agreement struck at the COP28 summit would lead to meaningful action by governments on the climate. Futures contracts tracking the EU's emissions trading scheme, the world's largest carbon trading market, briefly slumped as much as 4 per cent to below euro 66 per tonne of carbon emissions in London. The fall, to its lowest level since October 2022, compared with euro 71 before talks started and extended the declines of the week when a draft agreement emerged that had dropped references to the phasing out of fossil fuels.
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ESMA to consider all possibilities for shortened settlement - including T0 - following industry feedback; The watchdog's consultation period closes today; T0 has come under fire from AFME which called it an 'unrealistic and undesirable' near term objective.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
ESMA's Call for Evidence (CfE) on the shortening of the settlement cycle, closed earlier today, 15 December, with the watchdog now considering a wide spectrum of outcomes following industry feedback. The CfE was designed to assess the costs and benefits of a possible reduction of the settlement cycle in the European Union (EU). It also assessed whether any regulation would be required to help ease the impact of the shift to T+1 on other jurisdictions outside Europe, such as the US.
/jlne.ws/3GKzVQs
Fireside Friday with... Grasshopper's Alex Wong; The TRADE sits down with Singaporean proprietary trading firm, Grasshopper's, chief investment officer, Alex Wong, to unpack the specific complexities when it comes to trading in Asia, the increasingly important role of regulation, and some of the common mistakes made by new entrants to these markets.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
What are the key intricacies when trading in Asia?
I understand that there are a number of European HFTs [high frequency trading firms] and market makers that are moving into the Asian markets because profitability here has been through the roof. But, if a European company has the desire to move in and simply attempt to plug and play their models into Asia, I suspect that they're going to be in for a rude shock. Asian markets aren't as well-behaved as those in Europe.
/jlne.ws/3Tqk552
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine needs a military-industrial complex of its own; As the country waits for government aid, it is also courting business support for its defence innovation
Gillian Tett - Financial Times
Back in 2015, when Volodymyr Zelenskyy was "just" a comedy star with the Kvartal 95 troupe, he joked on television that securing American military aid was "like installation of [a] new app on PC [personal computer]". "In the beginning it is all smooth and fast" but, when the "last percentage remains", the process glitches - or so he laughed at the time.
/jlne.ws/41qDkx3
EU seeks to reassure Ukraine on funding after Hungary veto; Leaders vow to find solution to support Kyiv financially even without Viktor Orbán's approval of EUR50bn lifeline
Laura Dubois, Alice Hancock, Javier Espinoza and Andy Bounds - Financial Times
EU leaders gathering in Brussels have vowed to find a way to support Ukraine after Hungary's Viktor Orbán vetoed a EUR50bn lifeline for the war-torn country. Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said "Ukraine will not be left without support" and that there was a "strong will" among the other 26 EU member states to deliver the necessary aid. Belgian PM Alexander De Croo also reassured Kyiv that "we will be there to support you, we need to figure out a few details".
/jlne.ws/3TqtfhG
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| Israel/Palestine Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Palestine | Israel is using an AI system to find targets in Gaza. Experts say it's just the start
Geoff Brumfiel - NPR
The pace is astonishing: In the wake of the brutal attacks by Hamas-led militants on October 7, Israeli forces have struck more than 22,000 targets inside Gaza, a small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast. Just since the temporary truce broke down on December 1, Israel's Air Force has hit more than 3,500 sites. The Israeli military says it's using artificial intelligence to select many of these targets in real-time. The military claims that the AI system, named "the Gospel," has helped it to rapidly identify enemy combatants and equipment, while reducing civilian casualties.
/jlne.ws/3RsugDx
Displaced Gazans Put Pressure on Egypt's Border; Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled to southern Gaza, but they cannot cross into Egypt because the border is heavily fortified and Cairo is determined to keep it closed.
Ben Hubbard - The New York Times
The main reason Israel's heavy bombardment of Gaza for nine weeks has not pushed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into Egypt is that country's heavily fortified border and Cairo's ironclad determination to keep it closed.
/jlne.ws/48aFGCM
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | HKEX's chief executive to step down with new succession plans in place; Current CEO announced he will not seek reappointment following the end of his contract in May next year; will be replaced by current co-chief operating officer.
Wesley Bray
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX)'s chief executive, Nicolas Aguzin, has announced that he will not seek reappointment at the end of his current contract in May 2024 - as he steps down after three years in the position. During his tenure, Aguzin has overseen the delivery of a number of significant strategic initiatives, led efforts to promote HKEX internationally, opened new offices in New York and London and helped deliver a series of products and platforms, including the growth in HKEX's derivatives and ETF markets.
/jlne.ws/47gdjlL
Retirement of Chief Executive And Appointment of Chief Executive And Change in the Holding of Executive Office Retirement of Mr Alejandro Nicolas AGUZIN
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing
The Board of Directors (the "Board") of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited ("HKEX") today announces that Mr Aguzin, Chief Executive of HKEX, has informed the Board that he will not seek reappointment at the end of his current contract in May 2024. The Board would like to express its gratitude to Mr Aguzin for his contribution and leadership over the last two and a half years against a particularly challenging macro backdrop, shaped by Covid and weak global markets. During his tenure, Mr Aguzin has overseen the delivery of a number of significant strategic initiatives, led efforts to promote HKEX internationally, opened new offices in New York and London and helped to deliver and enhance a series of products and platforms, including the growth in our derivatives and ETF markets. Mr Aguzin has expressed his appreciation to the Board for giving him the opportunity to lead the Company since May 2021.
/jlne.ws/4732EKK
ICE Reports Record Total Futures and Options Open Interest of 86 Million Contracts
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced that its global futures and options markets reached record open interest of 86 million contracts on December 13, 2023, surpassing the record last set on June 10, 2021. The record depth of liquidity includes record open interest across ICE's global commodity futures and options markets of 57.5 million, record open interest of 52.7 million across ICE's global energy futures and options markets, and record open interest of approximately 20 million contracts across ICE's natural gas futures markets. Open interest across ICE's commodity and energy futures and options markets is up 21% year-over-year.
/jlne.ws/3tl8xW2
Initiatives to Invigorate the Securities Market in Preparation for the Start of New NISA
Japan Exchange Group
Japan Exchange Group, Inc. today announces the release of " Initiatives to Invigorate the Securities Market in Preparation for the Start of New NISA".
/jlne.ws/3RHaFRo
Regular Change in KRX Minimum Volatility Index
KRX
There will be regular constituent changes in KRX Minimum Volatility Index, effective from December 22, 2023. Please refer to the index website menu or index data product file for details and target weight.
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Consultation On: (I) Proposals In Respect Of Daily Price Limits; And (Ii) Proposed Amendments To The Lme Rulebook In Respect Of Investigations, Enforcement And Discipline; A New Version Of Lme Select; And The Lme Select Api Market Data Distribution Terms.
London Metal Exchange
Introduction. 1. The London Metal Exchange (the "LME") seeks the views of Members and other interested parties in relation to: (i) proposed actions that the LME will take where a contract is impacted by daily price limits ("DPLs") on multiple days in the same direction; and (ii) proposed amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the LME (the "LME Rulebook"). 2. This Notice contains four main sections: (i) Section A - proposed LME actions in relation to contracts impacted by DPLs on multiple days in the same direction; (ii) Section B - LME Rulebook amendments in relation to investigations, enforcement and discipline; (iii) Section C - LME Rulebook amendments to support a new version of LME Select; and (iv) Section D - LME Rulebook amendments in relation to the removal of the LME Select API market data distribution provisions.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa
Position Limits - Government Of Canada Bond Listed Products (All Months)
TMX
The applicable position limits for the Government of Canada Bond futures and options on the Government of Canada Bond futures have been updated and are reflected in the position limit file. The position limit file is retrievable here. The position limits will apply as follows.
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Changes in Nifty Fixed Income indices
National Stock Exchange of India
The Index Maintenance Sub-Committee (Debt) of NSE Indices Limited has decided to make changes as listed hereunder on account of scheme of amalgamation of L&T Finance Limited and L&T Infra Credit Limited with L&T Finance Holdings Limited. These changes shall become effective from December 20, 2023.
/jlne.ws/3toWAOY
Joint Statement by Singapore Exchange Regulation and Stamford Land Corporation Ltd
Singapore Exchange Group
1. In December 2021, Stamford Land Corporation Ltd ("Company") announced a renounceable non-underwritten rights issue exercise to raise net proceeds of approximately S$238.9 million ("Rights Issue"). 2. This was the first time since the listing of the Company in December 1989 that the Company had tapped the capital market for fund raising via a rights issue. The Company engaged United Overseas Bank Limited ("UOB") as its lead manager for the Rights Issue. 3. In February 2022, the Company announced the application results of the Rights Issue, and the allocation of rights shares for excess applications ("Excess Allocation").
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Regulator's Column: What SGX RegCo expects of listed issuers when allotting excess rights shares
Singapore Exchange Group
Introduction. From time to time, issuers may need to raise funds for various purposes including working capital and capital expenditure. In the current high interest rate environment, issuers may be prompted to review their capital structure and shift the balance towards raising equity instead of debt. Indeed, some issuers have raised equity for the purpose of paying down loans to avoid incurring high interest costs. Shareholders may also be supportive of the issuer's fund-raising objectives and take a positive view on the issuer's longer-term prospects.
/jlne.ws/41ohJp3
News and Events. TAIFEX to Launch PHLX Semiconductor Sector Futures on December 18
Taiwan Futures Exchange
Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX), in collaboration with CME Group and Nasdaq, is set to launch the TAIFEX PHLX Semiconductor Sector Futures (SXF) on December 18, 2023. This strategic move expands TAIFEX's product portfolio to include futures contracts on four major U.S. equity indexes, with the SXF complementing the Exchange's existing offerings tied to the Nasdaq-100, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and S&P 500, positioning TAIFEX as the sole exchange outside the U.S. providing such comprehensive coverage. The semiconductor industry plays a pivotal role in global technological progress, and the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index, featuring constituents such as NVIDIA, AMD, Micron, ASML, and Intel, further solidifies ties between 30 U.S. tech giants and leading electronic and tech companies in Taiwan.
/jlne.ws/48kmPF0
On the procedure for collecting applications and concluding transactions when placing bonds of PJSC Sberbank of Russia series IOS_PRTACm_TATN-5Y-001Р-598R from December 18, 2023
MOEX
Based on the letter received from PJSC Sberbank of Russia, and in accordance with Part I. General part of the Rules for trading on the stock market, deposit market and loan market of PJSC Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS, approved by the decision of the Supervisory Board of PJSC Moscow Exchange on November 15, 2023 (Minutes No. 13) and Part II. Stock market section of the Rules for trading on the stock market, deposit market and credit market of PJSC Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS, approved by the decision of the Supervisory Board of PJSC Moscow Exchange on February 17, 2023 (Minutes No. 15), the following conditions, time, period and procedure are established filing applications with the activation date and concluding transactions with exchange-traded interest-bearing non-convertible book-entry bonds with centralized accounting of rights, series IOS_PRTACm_TATN-5Y-001Р-598R PJSC Sberbank of Russia
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Wirecard's former chief financial officer charged with fraud; Burkhard Ley accused by Munich prosecutors more than three years after failure of payments company
Olaf Storbeck - Financial Times
Munich prosecutors have charged Wirecard's former chief financial officer with fraud more than three years after the payments company collapsed in one of Germany's biggest corporate scandals. Burkhard Ley, who was CFO from 2006 to 2017 and then worked as an external adviser to Wirecard, was on Thursday charged with fraud, breach of trust, accounting and market manipulation.
/jlne.ws/4723I1s
OpenAI CEO promotes crypto project Worldcoin after fundraising report
Elizabeth Howcroft and Martin Coulter - Reuters
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has doubled down on his vision for cryptocurrency project Worldcoin, following reports the company was seeking $50 million in funding. ++Worldcoin says it aims to create a global identity and financial network. More than 2.6 million people have signed up to have their irises scanned by Worldcoin's "orb" devices in exchange for a digital ID and free cryptocurrency.
/jlne.ws/3v78bmg
AI scientist Fei-Fei Li: 'Maths is pretty clean. Humans are messy'; The China-born technologist on Silicon Valley's 'bro' culture - and her mission to keep AI safe for humanity
George Hammond - Financial Times
As I wait for Fei-Fei Li to meet me for lunch, groups of students begin queueing for seminars around me. Through glass walls I can hear the squeak of marker pen on whiteboard and see the furrowed brows of a dozen eager scientists in the making. I feel a nostalgic dread as I await the arrival of a professor and wonder if I am adequately prepared.
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Taiwan Calls on US Support to Defend Banks Against Hacking
Betty Hou and Jamie Tarabay - Bloomberg
Taiwan's financial system undergirds a $760 billion high-tech economy, but its vulnerability to advanced hacks has raised fears of a worst-case scenario: a full-blown cyberattack from China that sends its currency and markets into a tailspin. To bolster its online defenses, government officials and financial institutions in Taipei are consulting security experts from the US Treasury Department and working with American cybersecurity company SimSpace Corp. to run simulated cyberattacks, cramming a hypothetical three weeks of digital assaults into an eight-hour drill.
/jlne.ws/3RFMenk
Ion Hack Spurs New Cybersecurity Push for Swaps Dealers, Brokers; CFTC-registered firms would have to update risk evaluations; Hack on Ion Trading highlighted third-party vulnerabilities
Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed new cybersecurity rules for brokerages and swaps dealers in response to this year's highly disruptive ransomware attack on software company Ion Trading UK. The CFTC on Wednesday floated new requirements for how firms it oversees should handle security risks posed by outside vendors. In February, a cyber incident at Ion Trading, which was widely used by big players in stock, bond and commodities, rippled through markets and forced traders to process transactions manually for days.
/jlne.ws/3RFckXB
'Disrupt or destroy': China-linked hackers have targeted U.S. infrastructure 'to cause societal chaos,' officials say - are your finances also vulnerable? Banks have upped their security in response to new threats.
Bethan Moorcraft - Moneywise
Critical U.S. infrastructure was infiltrated by China-affiliated hacking groups in 2023, according to U.S. officials. The cyberattacks or invasions were led by hackers associated with China's People's Liberation Army, and compromised over 20 critical entities in the past year, including a water utility in Hawaii, a major West Coast port and at least one oil and gas pipeline, officials told The Washington Post.
/jlne.ws/3REtmVE
This Clunky Chinese Disinformation Effort Has Spread To All Corners of The Internet; 'Mold of the internet' has appeared on 50 platforms, researchers say
Margi Murphy - Bloomberg
When a Twitter account for Utah business coach Spencer Taggart began posting about hot-button political issues in 2020, it garnered widespread attention. Tweets about an endemic cultural divide in the US and support for Black Lives Matter were shared by two Chinese embassy officials.
/jlne.ws/3tpV1Aj
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | U.S. IRS Highlights Crypto-Related Cases in Annual Top Ten Criminal Cases List
Hope C - CoinMarketCap
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division has released its annual list of the "most prominent and high-profile" cases it investigated in 2023, with four of the top ten cases involving cryptocurrency-related crimes.
/jlne.ws/3NrPSPk
Ex-Credit Suisse Executive Debuts Crypto Trading Venue for Banks
Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
A former private banking executive at Credit Suisse AG has launched a crypto trading venue targeting banks and securities firms as clients, betting on the growing participation of traditional financial companies outside the US in digital-assets.
Musk's X receives Pennsylvania money license in push toward payment features
Sheila Dang and Pete Schroeder - Reuters
Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, took a step closer to offering payment features after receiving a money-transmitter license from a 13th U.S. state this week. The approval by Pennsylvania, which occurred on Monday according to a public licensing database, has not been previously reported. It grants X the ability to facilitate money transfers and paves the way for the company to allow users to send money to one another, similar to PayPal's (PYPL.O) Venmo.
/jlne.ws/46YEVeP
Rulematch, a Swiss Crypto Exchange for Banks, Goes Live With Spain's BBVA; The institutional crypto platform uses Nasdaq's trading tech, and comes out the gates with seven banks and securities firms.
Ian Allison - CoinDesk
Switzerland is home to a newly established cryptocurrency exchange for banks called Rulematch, which uses Nasdaq's technology and comes out the gates with seven banks and large securities firms onboard, including Spain's digital assets pioneer Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA).
/jlne.ws/3RnpmYq
Over $300M in stolen crypto assets reached Bitcoin mixers in 2023; Data shared by CertiK showed that a third of the losses from 50 of the largest crypto exploits in 2023 ended up in the Bitcoin network.
Erza Reguerra - CoinTelegraph
While Bitcoin's decentralization gives many the freedom to transfer assets without the risk of censorship, malicious actors are also taking advantage of the network's inherent privacy to move stolen funds. Before being sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2022, Tornado Cash was the prominent choice for hackers to launder stolen crypto. According to OFAC, over $7 billion in crypto assets have been laundered using the mixer since 2019. However, new findings from blockchain security firm CertiK show that there's been a shift in 2023.
/jlne.ws/3NsCMRO
Ledger Exploit Endangers DeFi; Sushi Says 'Do Not Interact With ANY dApps'; The exploit reportedly prompts users to connect their wallets via a pop-up, triggering a token drainer.
Oliver Knight - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3RrXl1M
Tether freezes wallet of Ledger library exploiter; Ledger provides more details
by Anna Baydakova - The Block
/jlne.ws/46YGCsH
Ledger says attacker conducted phishing attack on former employee; The Ledger attacker was able to upload the malicious code to ConnectKit after phishing a former Ledger employee
Katherine Ross - Blockworks
/jlne.ws/3Tkf5yO
Meta forced to apologise to Qatari billionaire over crypto scams; US tech giant promises Janet Jackson's former husband extra protection after false ads used his image on Facebook
Daniel Thomas - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4aAbPpl
Bitcoin Miner Marathon Digital CEO Thiel Expects to Make Acquisitions; Marathon's shares have jumped more than 400% this year; Thiel expects Bitcoin spot ETF approval to boost demand
Romaine Bostick - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/41riLk4
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Which world leaders have made big promises on crypto? From Nayib Bukele to Donald Trump, many current and former heads of state across the globe have used crypto and blockchain as political tools.
Turner Wright - CoinTelegraph
Few world leaders have been openly supportive of digital assets while in office or while they were campaigning. Though the technology is relatively young and untested as a political issue, many candidates have staked their reputations on crypto and blockchain.
/jlne.ws/3uSAF35
Rishi Sunak's strategic genius; The Rwanda policy is bad. But the Conservatives are the real problem
The Economist
The conservative party has changed Britain profoundly during its 13 years in office. One such change is that it has made the absence of chaos seem like competence and the previously unthinkable seem acceptable. A prime minister should not be a relief because he did not blow up the financial markets within a month, yet Rishi Sunak was just that. Governments with large majorities should not lose votes in the early stages of legislation, yet the fact that the new Rwanda bill passed a second reading this week was greeted as a triumph of Tory party management. It is not normal for a British government to suspend human-rights legislation, ignore international law or set Parliament in opposition to the judiciary, yet moderate Tory mps cravenly go along with it. Britain needs stability. The Rwanda row underlines that neither Mr Sunak nor the Tories can provide it.
/jlne.ws/3NsGPNQ
MPs warn over new powers to inspect pensioners' bank accounts; Government says measures would be used to target fraud
Josephine Cumbo and Rafe Uddin - Financial Times
MPs have urged a "rethink" on controversial changes that they warned would give the government new powers to inspect the bank accounts of millions of pensioners. The work and pensions select committee has written to the minister in charge of benefits and the state pension to raise concerns over "last minute" government amendments to the data protection and digital information bill.
/jlne.ws/48fF7HG
Hong Kong Expands Bounties in Hunt for Democracy Activists; City offers $128,000 for information on five dissidents abroad; US State Department strongly condemns 'egregious actions'
Bloomberg News
Hong Kong police offered HK$1 million ($128,000) in rewards for information on five dissidents living overseas, stepping up its controversial use of bounties to chase pro-democracy activists in the name of national security. "All of them, who have already fled overseas, have continued to commit offenses under the national security law that seriously endanger national security," Li Kwai-wah, chief superintendent of the police's national security department, said in a briefing Thursday.
/jlne.ws/41neRc6
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Musk Must Testify in SEC Twitter Stock Probe, Judge Signals
Rachel Graf - Bloomberg
A San Francisco federal judge signaled that Elon Musk should testify about his purchase of Twitter Inc. stock ahead of his $44 billion buyout of the company last year as part of an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Despite the billionaire's complaint that the agency was harassing him, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler on Thursday asked the two parties to work out an agreement on logistics themselves. If they don't, she said she would side with the SEC in forcing Musk to testify over share purchases of Twitter, now known as X Corp.
/jlne.ws/41uE9oU
US regulators add artificial intelligence to potential financial system risks
Pete Schroeder - Reuters
Rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) could create new risks for the U.S. financial system if the technology is not properly supervised, a panel of regulators warned on Thursday. The Financial Stability Oversight Council, which comprises top financial regulators and is chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, flagged the risks posed by AI for the first time in its annual financial stability report. While the group said AI could spur innovation or efficiencies at financial firms like banks, the rapidly advancing technology requires vigilance from both the companies and their watchdogs.
/jlne.ws/4aiCLts
Regulator reports strong Q3 inflows to Hong Kong-listed ETFs; Mainland China-Hong Kong ETF Connect scheme is enjoying 'robust growth', SFC says
Sandra Heistruvers - Financial Times
Hong Kong-listed exchange traded funds attracted "strong net inflows" of HK$16.2bn ($2.07bn) representing a 12 per cent jump in average daily turnover from the previous quarter, according to the Securities and Futures Commission. The local regulator said that the territory's total of 175 SFC-authorised ETFs had a market capitalisation of HK$369.5bn at the end of September.
/jlne.ws/3RJS8Uz
CFTC Orders Freepoint Commodities LLC to Pay $91 million for Fraudulent Scheme to Misappropriate Material Non-Public Information
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued an order simultaneously filing and settling misappropriation-based fraud charges against Freepoint Commodities LLC, a commodities merchant in Stamford, Connecticut. The fraudulent and deceptive conduct spanned from 2012 to 2018 and involved unlawful misconduct designed to obtain material non-public information from a South American state-owned enterprise (SOE) in connection with the purchase and sale of fuel oil. The order requires Freepoint to pay more than $91 million in civil monetary penalties and disgorgement.
/jlne.ws/478pu40
Cybersecurity Disclosure
Erik Gerding - SEC
As is customary, I am expressing my views today in my official capacity as Director of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance, and my views do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, any of the Commissioners, or any other Commission staff. In July of this year, the Commission adopted final rules that will require public companies to disclose both material cybersecurity incidents they experience and, on an annual basis, material information regarding their cybersecurity risk management, strategy, and governance.[1] These rules will provide investors with timely, consistent, and comparable information about an important set of risks that can cause significant losses to public companies and their investors. This disclosure can help investors evaluate those risks as they make investment and voting decisions.
/jlne.ws/4aovB6K
SEC Small Business Advocacy Office Delivers Report to Congress on Capital Raising from Startups to Small Public Companies
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation issued its 2023 Annual Report today to Congress and the Commission. The report details how entrepreneurs and investors are building companies together, from startups to small public companies.
/jlne.ws/471McdY
SEC Obtains Emergency Relief to Halt $191 Million Cattle Ponzi Scheme
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it obtained a temporary restraining order, asset freeze, the appointment of a receiver, and other emergency relief to halt an ongoing $191 million cattle Ponzi scheme being perpetrated by Fort Worth, Texas company Agridime LLC, which claims to specialize in meat sales, distribution, and animal supply chain management, and its owners, Josh Link of Gilbert, Arizona, and Jed Wood of Fort Worth. The SEC alleges that the defendants diverted millions of dollars of investor funds to make Ponzi payments and to pay undisclosed sales commissions to themselves and others.
/jlne.ws/4anotaN
SEC Charges Titanium Capital and Founder Henry Abdo with Operating Ponzi Scheme
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Florida-based Titanium Capital LLC and its founder Henry Abdo with operating a Ponzi scheme that raised at least $5.3 million from more than 160 retail investors in the United States and abroad. The SEC also charged Titanium representative Carol Ann Barsh for her role soliciting investors.
/jlne.ws/3RwKhbI
SEC Charges Investment Adviser for Misappropriation of Investor Money
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Justin Murphy, a former resident of Greenwich, Connecticut, and his investment management firm Mara Investments, LLC, for fraudulent misappropriation of approximately $3.4 million of investor assets.
/jlne.ws/3NueF4W
SEC Dismisses Charges in Trading Scheme Involving Confidential Government Information
SEC
On November 17, 2023, the SEC dismissed its charges against David Blaszczak, Christopher Worrall, and Theodore Huber. The dismissal resolves all remaining claims arising out of the SEC's May 24, 2017 complaint, which alleged, among other things, that Blaszczak, Worrall, and Huber engaged in a scheme to trade on nonpublic information about government plans to cut Medicare reimbursement rates, which affected the stock prices of certain publicly traded medical providers or suppliers. A fourth defendant, Jordan Fogel, previously settled with the SEC.
/jlne.ws/47YkaBo
Statement on Jury's Verdict in Trial of Mykalai Kontilai and Collectors Coffee Inc.
Gurbir S. Grewal - SEC
On Dec. 13, 2023, after a seven-day trial, a jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York found Mykalai Kontilai and his company, Collectors Coffee, Inc. (a/k/a Collectors Café) liable for securities fraud. Each were found liable in connection with their roles in a fraudulent securities offering and Kontilai's misappropriation of millions of dollars in investor proceeds.
/jlne.ws/3Tpxkmi
Remarks before the Financial Stability Oversight Council: 2023 Annual Report
Chair Gary Gensler - SEC
Thank you, Secretary Yellen. I thank the staff for their collaboration on the Financial Stability Oversight Council annual report, which I am pleased to support. When we gathered last December, we spoke about uncertain times in the global economy and financial markets-from the war in Ukraine to central banks tightening their policy stances. One year later, unfortunately, the world is experiencing yet another major war. Further, with rising interest rates, we experienced regional bank failures, leading to the extraordinary intervention by the agencies around this table to prevent contagion spreading to the broader economy. In addition, as discussed by this Council as well as in the annual report, there currently is significant leverage facilitated by the relationship between hedge funds on the one hand and banks and broker-dealers on the other. These events once again highlight the importance of our shared work to promote financial stability.
/jlne.ws/3tfWWHR
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | The Fed's Shrinking Balance Sheet Is Worrying a Key Corner of US Financial Markets; Recent funding-market squeeze stirs up liquidity concerns; Powell signals reserves are adequate, says QT to continue
Alex Harris - Bloomberg
As markets staged a monster rally following the Federal Reserve's shift toward loosening monetary policy, one corner of the financial system had reason to remain on edge. For participants in the overnight funding markets - a key conduit for bank borrowing and linchpin for determining interest rates - Wednesday's policy meeting contained a more pertinent message from Chair Jerome Powell than the one that sent stocks soaring and pushed the 10-year US yield below 4%: namely, that the Fed's balance sheet reduction would continue as planned.
/jlne.ws/3v0jZH7
Elon Musk told lenders they would not lose money on Twitter deal; Banks are facing serious losses on the debt as social media platform's business deteriorates
Joshua Franklin, Eric Platt and Ortenca Aliaj and Hannah Murphy - Financial Times
Elon Musk privately told some of the bankers who lent him $13bn to fund his leveraged buyout of Twitter that they would not lose any money on the deal, according to five people familiar with the matter. The verbal guarantees were made by Musk to banks as a way to reassure the lenders as the value of the social media site, now rebranded as X, fell sharply after he completed the acquisition last year.
/jlne.ws/3H3OXkx
Poor countries' debt costs to hit 'crisis' levels, says World Bank; Warning that higher interest rates mean 'difficult choice' faced between servicing debts and spending on public services
Mary McDougall - Financial Times
Debt servicing costs in a clutch of the world's poorest countries are set to soar to "crisis" levels as high interest rates damage already fragile economies, according to the World Bank. Twenty-four of the world's lowest income economies are set to spend a total of $21.5bn on financing their external public debt across this year and next, as bond repayments become due and the impact of higher interest rates feeds through, according to calculations from the bank in its latest debt report. That represents a rise of almost 40 per cent over the previous two years.
/jlne.ws/3Ty6Lvc
Beware the Most Crowded Trade on Wall Street: Next Year's Soft Landing; Each of the past three years had a similarly strong consensus that proved entirely wrong
James Mackintosh - The Wall Street Journal
At the end of last year, investors thought recession was a done deal. The year before, they thought big tech would be immune to rate increases. And a year before that, they were convinced that paying high prices for stocks popular with the wider public would make them rich. This December, they believe, again with absolute conviction, that the economy is heading for a soft landing and lower interest rates. Maybe this time they will be right.
/jlne.ws/3RK5Zu4
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | COP28 Ends With a Deal on Fossil Fuels. Now Comes the Hard Part; "There is a phrase that was used in the text: 'orderly transition.' Well, it's going to be messy," Akshat Rathi says on this week's Zero.
Akshat Rathi, Oscar Boyd, and Christine Driscoll - Bloomberg (Zero podcast)
This year's COP28 started as a fraught climate summit presided over by the chief executive of an oil company - and ended with an agreement among 200 nations to transition away from fossil fuels. It's an auspicious conclusion that some are already heralding as a "turning point" in the climate fight. Of course, few are 100% happy with the outcome of this year's conference. Limiting warming to 1.5C is still out of reach, little progress was made on adaptation, and negotiators failed to agree on standards for a new United Nations-overseen emissions market. The final language around transitioning away from fossil fuels also leaves plenty of room for interpretation.
/jlne.ws/41vWbqH
Global coal use at all-time high in 2023 - IEA
Reuters
Global coal use is expected to reach a record high in 2023 as demand in emerging and developing economies remains strong, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Friday. Demand for coal is seen rising 1.4% in 2023, surpassing 8.5 billion metric tons for the first time as usage in India is expected to grow 8% and that in China is seen up 5% due to rising electricity demand and weak hydropower output, the IEA said.
/jlne.ws/3Ty6NDk
Nature Got a More Prominent Place at the Table at COP28; Animals' roles in the carbon cycle have long been overlooked. At the climate conference in Dubai, scientists showed how rewilding ecosystems can have big climate benefits.
Bob Berwyn - Inside Climate News
As COP28 ended with just a faint glimmer of hope that the world will take seriously the need to decarbonize by 2050, leading scientists at the conference said it's time to "put the protection and restoration of wild ecosystems at the heart of global climate policy" as a viable option for cutting carbon dioxide pollution. Nature is humanity's biggest ally in the struggle to limit global warming. Forests, oceans and fields absorb and store about half the annual heat-trapping carbon dioxide pollution from burning oil and gas and other industrial and agricultural activities. The final COP28 statements prominently emphasized the importance of nature, and not just forests.
/jlne.ws/3tisr3R
Exclusive: Biden poised to deliver win for ethanol makers on SAF credits
Stephanie Kelly, Jarrett Renshaw and Leah Douglas - Reuters
The Biden administration is expected this week to recognize a soon-to-be-updated methodology favored by the ethanol industry in guidance to companies looking to claim tax credits for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. For months the administration has been divided over whether to recognize the Department of Energy's Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model.
/jlne.ws/47XMow5
Moving South, Black Americans Are Weathering Climate Change; The desire for a better quality of life is pushing Black people toward the epicenter of climate disasters and racism.
Adam Mahoney, Capital B - Inside Climate News
Stephanie Roberson wasn't expecting this phone call from her husband, Corey. "I can't do this anymore," she remembers him saying. Do what? Her mind went racing. He was stuck on a mountain over 400 miles away from his family in Cincinnati, his big rig trapped in nearly 3 feet of snow that had blanketed parts of Virginia during that January 2016 storm. He was tired. Roberson was exhausted by it all, too - the ice-slicked roads and power lines freezing until they snapped like twigs. Not to mention the threat of death: 55 people perished in that snowstorm.
/jlne.ws/4ao0CYQ
BlackRock, TPG Deal With UAE Finds New Way to Juice ESG Returns;; UAE will cap and redistribute its own returns on $5 billion; Arrangement seen as key in attracting new, risk-averse capital
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4anyaGj
US Still Needs Fossil Fuels, White House Climate Adviser Says
Elizabeth Elkin, Romaine Bostick, and Katie Greifeld - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/48a21jI
Hong Kong Weighs More Digital Green Bond Sales Amid Hub Push; City hires five banks for potential multi-currency debt sale; Hong Kong issued its debut digital green bond in February
Alice Huang - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3tbndqP
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Woodford investors approve FCA-backed redress scheme; Controversial compensation deal is voted through with 94% support
Arjun Neil Alim - Financial Times
Investors in Neil Woodford's flagship fund have voted decisively to approve a controversial reimbursement scheme backed by the UK regulator, signalling an end to the four-year saga triggered by the collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund. Ninety-four per cent of those who voted, including institutional investors, opted for the "scheme of arrangement" administered by Link Fund Solutions and supported by the Financial Conduct Authority, according to provisional results released by Link on Thursday. More than 54,000 investors participated in the vote, according to Link.
/jlne.ws/3RJIstg
Sacked Macquarie staffer alleges colleague touched her inappropriately
Lucas Baird - AFR
A senior Macquarie staffer allegedly "clapped" the bottom of a female co-worker at a social gathering held by the financial services giant earlier this year, with his colleague claiming he repeatedly touched her inappropriately during the event.
/jlne.ws/3Ts7H4m
Morgan Stanley bankers hope new CEO Ted Pick ends fines in brutal texting clampdown
Lydia Moynihan - NY Post
Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman has slightly more than two weeks left in his nearly 14-year tenure at the helm of the Wall Street giant - and many of the rank and file are counting the days. That's because junior bankers are hoping to catch a break after weathering more than a year of harrowing interrogations and punishing fines stemming from a clampdown by the Securities and Exchange Commission for doing business on messaging apps in breach of record-keeping rules.
/jlne.ws/3uTwsfy
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | HK Corporate Governance Tumbles to Decades Low
Kiuyan Wong - Bloomberg
Hong Kong's corporate governance ranking in Asia tumbled to the lowest level in decades, falling behind those of Japan and Singapore, amid concerns about the deterioration of minority shareholder rights and the independence of the judiciary in the city, according to a research report. The financial hub dropped to sixth place this year from second, according to the Asian Corporate Governance Association's CG Watch rankings. It's the first time Hong Kong dropped out of the top three spots in the rankings since they began in 2003, according to the report, which was released with CLSA Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/41psojB
Who Gets Promoted to the C-Suite-and How That Has Changed Over the Decades; Among our findings: The average age of top executives started falling after 1980. But now it's higher than it was 40 years ago.
Peter Cappelli - The Wall Street Journal
Here's the face of the new C-suite: older, with broader industry experience and increasingly female. These are some of the most surprising findings my colleagues and I have uncovered about how C-suite leaders have changed over time. My co-researchers-Rocio Bonet and Monika Hamori-and I have been tracking the attributes of the leaders of the world's biggest corporations, the Fortune 100, since 1980, when many of the key forces shaping business today began.
/jlne.ws/3Ns6NkF
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | A growing COVID-19 variant has taken off this holiday season. How to protect yourself.
Eduardo Cuevas - USA TODAY
Scientists are narrowing in on the fastest-growing COVID-19 variant, learning more about the strain that has coincided with a rise in cases as Americans head into the holidays. The JN.1 variant now accounts for more than one-fifth of all cases, based on estimates Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the CDC's latest Nowcast reporting period, cases involving this mutation make up between 15% and 29% of COVID infections. The variant previously accounted for an estimated 8% of cases.
/jlne.ws/4aeG8lf
Reading print improves comprehension far more than looking at digital text, say researchers; A study from the University of Valencia found that print reading could boost skills by six to eight times more than digital reading
Ella Creamer - The Guardian
Reading print texts improves comprehension more than reading digital materials does, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Valencia analysed more than two dozen studies on reading comprehension published between 2000 and 2022, which assessed nearly 470,000 participants. Their findings suggest that print reading over a long period of time could boost comprehension skills by six to eight times more than digital reading does. "The association between frequency of digital reading for leisure and text comprehension abilities is close to 0," said Ladislao Salmeron, a professor at the University of Valencia who co-authored the paper. This may be because the "linguistic quality of digital texts tends to be lower than that traditionally found in printed texts", he added. Text on social media, for example, may be conversational and lack complex syntax and reasoning.
/jlne.ws/3GQb79r
Why more men are joining the ranks of therapists: 'We're rushing to a place we're needed' Several factors including stigma around mental health and years of low-paid work kept men away. But men's attitude toward the profession seems to be changing now
Daniel Duane - The Guardian
Last winter, my 53-year-old sister told me she was tired of her profession and wanted to become a therapist. Nothing noteworthy there: 76% of psychotherapists are women and it's been that way for decades. I surprised my sister by confessing that, after 25 years as a journalist, I, too, wanted to become a therapist - and was already in graduate school making it happen. My sister soon texted that she'd told her husband, Mario, and it turned out that he, too, was thinking of becoming a therapist.
/jlne.ws/3RINeaf
How Tainted Chemo Wound Up in Pediatric Cancer Wards; Hospitals around the world use drugs from a small but crucial Indian supplier. In Colombia four kids died and more than a hundred fell ill.
Kendall Taggart and Priyanka Pulla - Bloomberg
Methotrexate, a drug used to treat leukemia and other cancers, is commonly prescribed, usually tolerated, often given as an injection. Much of it is manufactured in India. It's a pale yellow liquid that's always supposed to be sterile, free from any bacteria. Making it correctly requires every action be tightly controlled-how employees wash their hands, wear their goggles, walk along the production line. If someone moves too quickly in a cleanroom, air turbulence could spread bacteria. If technicians enter without being carefully sanitized, they could carry a contaminant. Even their pens and paper must be disinfected. If the raw ingredients aren't tested adequately, if the equipment isn't cleaned properly, if the water isn't filtered thoroughly, then the lifesaving medicine could become lethal.
/jlne.ws/47VQ8hr
CDC warns of 'urgent need' to boost vaccine coverage as winter virus activity picks up
Erika Edwards - NBC News
Not enough Americans are being vaccinated against Covid, the flu and RSV to stem rising numbers of the respiratory illnesses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The agency issued a health alert to doctors across the country, warning that low vaccination rates amid "ongoing increases in national and international respiratory disease activity" could strain U.S. health care systems in the coming weeks, and called on doctors to encourage their patients to get the shots immediately to protect them for the remainder of the season.
/jlne.ws/48gfgPQ
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Hong Kong's universities shrivel in Beijing's grip
Grace Tsoi - BBC
"There is no 'red line'," in Hong Kong any more, says a 30-something humanities professor in the city. "If they want to come after you, everything can be used as an excuse." He did not wish to reveal his name because of the repercussions that could follow. He says his nightmare is being named and attacked by Beijing-backed media, which could cost him his job, or worse, his freedom. That fear has swept through Hong Kong's universities and academic circles, which once attracted top talent. The city was close to the mainland, yet far enough to host progressive classrooms, world-class libraries and archives that allowed academic freedom, even in Chinese studies.
/jlne.ws/3RpHfFP
Cold wave freezes most of China, shutting highways, roads
Liz Lee and Ethan Wang - Reuters
President Xi Jinping called for "all-out" emergency response efforts as a cold wave extended its grip over China on Friday, with temperatures falling below freezing across most of the country and snowfall affecting transport in many places. Temperatures were expected to drop to below minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of the northeastern province of Heilongjiang and in the region of Xinjiang in the northwest, along with Inner Mongolia and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai, according to forecasts from China's National Meteorological Centre.
/jlne.ws/41qlBG9
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Mother Jones to Merge With the Center for Investigative Reporting; The combined newsroom will have more than 70 people.
Katie Robertson - The New York Times
Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting will merge next year to become a single nonprofit news outlet. The two organizations, both in San Francisco, have a decades-long history of collaborating. Mother Jones, a progressive website and print magazine, started in 1976. The Center for Investigative Reporting was founded a year later, and is known for the "Reveal" radio public show and podcast, as well as its documentary film arm.
/jlne.ws/4765iiR
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