| June 26, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
New Cboe CEO Craig Donohue's summer is set to be interrupted by a lingering legal case, a barnacle that Terry Duffy hasn't been able to scrape from the good ship CME. Former CME CEO Donohue, former CME MD of Co-location and Data Services Craig Mohan, CME Executive Director of Co-location Craig Weick, CME Board Member Martin J. Gepsman, CME Chief Strategy Officer R. Jason Weller and CME Chairman & CEO Terrence A. Duffy have all been subpoenaed to appear and testify at the trial for the class action lawsuit brought by Sheldon Langer, et al. The trial starts on July 7.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs have placed the cmelawsuit.com website, with all its documents, behind password protection.
Yahoo Finance is expanding its global presence with the launch of a new editorial studio and team in London, debuting its first live UK-based show, "Morning Brief: Market Sunrise," on June 30. Anchored by former Reuters correspondent Ramzan Karmali, the program will provide daily coverage of global markets and U.S. futures, bridging time zones and offering investors timely insights, interviews, and analysis. This initiative is part of a broader shift to a 24/5 programming model, with live and on-demand content spanning the trading day and correspondents reporting from major financial centers, including the NYSE, NASDAQ, and the London Stock Exchange
In partnership with Blue Ocean Technologies, Yahoo Finance will also become one of the first major financial news platforms to offer 24-hour, five-days-a-week market data for U.S. stocks and ETFs, providing real-time quote data from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET, Sunday through Thursday. This integration aims to meet the needs of investors who require continuous updates as global events unfold outside traditional trading hours, reinforcing Yahoo Finance's commitment to delivering real-time, actionable information for a worldwide audience.
In his ICE Fixed Income Monthly column on LinkedIn, "Rethinking risk in the municipal bond and housing market," ICE President of Fixed Income & Data Services Chris Edmonds examines how proposed changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could reshape risk for municipal bond and housing investors. Edmonds notes that the potential shutdown or restructuring of FEMA may remove a key financial backstop, forcing investors to reconsider credit profiles, stress-testing approaches, and the impact of rising insurance costs-especially as climate events intensify and private insurers withdraw from high-risk regions. He highlights that ICE's physical risk projections show over $19 billion in municipal debt tied to high climate risk and low credit ratings, concentrated in states like Florida and Texas, which could face higher default risk if federal support is reduced.
Edmonds also warns that the loss of FEMA's National Risk Index would create a significant data gap, making it more difficult for investors to assess flood, hurricane, and wildfire risk. In the absence of federal data, he suggests that private-sector analytics, such as ICE's property and climate risk datasets, will become increasingly important for quantifying risk and valuing collateral. He concludes that as disaster relief and insurance structures evolve, rigorous risk assessment and high-quality data will be critical for navigating the municipal bond and housing markets in an era of heightened climate vulnerability.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: CFTC allows MIAX wheat options to trade as blocks ahead of migration, Europe at 'crossroads' on integration - ECB's de Guindos, ANALYSIS: Cboe looks to buoy FLEX market with complex order rollout, Sigma Broking in 'advanced talks' about sale to third party, LCH global head of sales Kate Birchall resigns from clearing house and Marex and NatWest partner to offer FX margin offsets.
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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Our most-read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Citadel Securities Seeks to Stop Launch of IEX Options Venue from Bloomberg.
- Three Decades of FLEX Innovation: Meet Cboe's New FLEX vs. Listed Complex Orders from Cboe.
- Everything Is an ETF Now from Bloomberg. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Sterling Trading Tech Eyes AI for Risk Management, Stresses Security and Scalability JohnLothianNews.com PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (JLN)-June 25, 2025 - Artificial intelligence is top of mind for risk managers. Still, security and data privacy remain the biggest concerns, said Brian Saldeen, senior product manager for risk and margin at Sterling Trading Tech, in an interview at the 2025 Options Industry Conference. Watch the Brian Saldeen Video » Meaghan Dugan - Cboe Watch the Meaghan Dugan Video » Ivan Brown - Cboe Watch the Ivan Brown Video »
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SEC fines Chicago traders behind $1B fund meltdown
Mark Weinraub - Crain's Chicago Business
The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission settled a fraud case with officers of defunct LJM Partners, about seven years after the Chicago-based investment manager shut its doors following a two-day market rout where the firm incurred trading losses of 81% of the value of its funds. Under terms of the deal, which must be approved by a judge, LJM founder Anthony Caine will pay about $5.1 million in penalties and fines and Chief Portfolio Manager Anish Parvataneni will pay $921,000.
/jlne.ws/4niMcPZ
****** How do you mete out the level of the fines for Volmageddon?~JJL
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Trump Megabill Reshapes Tax Breaks for Charity Contributions; House and Senate have competing proposals that offer contrasting incentives
Ashlea Ebeling - The Wall Street Journal
Congress wants people to give more money to charity. The House and the Senate have different ideas on how to do it. The two chambers will have to hash it out as part of the megabill they hope to pass by July 4. But they agree they need to rework the 2017 law, which led to a drop in donations among small donors. They are aiming to revive the charitable-donation deduction for people who take the standard deduction. At the same time, they would impose new limits for people who itemize.
/jlne.ws/3IeJ1IY
***** Tax benefits are the last motivation for people to give to charities, though they are one of the motivations. The motivations for charitable giving are primarily rooted in a desire to help others, personal values and beliefs, a sense of community and social connection, and the desire for recognition or legacy, reflecting both altruistic and social influences.~JJL
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How Much Energy Does Your AI Prompt Use? I Went to a Data Center to Find Out.; From your laptop to a loud GPU cluster, AI prompts are a mysterious energy drain. Our columnist attempted to trace their journey-and their impact.
Joanna Stern - The Wall Street Journal
There they were. Golden boxes, louder than a toddler on a red-eye, hotter than a campfire in a heat wave, pricier than a private Caribbean island. Yes, real, working Nvidia GPUs. I was under strict "look, don't touch" orders-as if I'd, what, lick the mesh metal enclosure. Just standing there, I could hear and feel the electricity being devoured. We've all heard about AI's insatiable energy appetite. By 2028, data centers like this one I visited in Ashburn, Va., could consume up to 12% of all U.S. electricity, according to a report from the Energy Department and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
/jlne.ws/4l15NTq
****** The increased production of 1s and 0s in the world is dramatically growing the demand for data centers. ~JJL
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AI Will Prompt a New Wave of Energy Innovation, Says Former Meta CTO; "Energy access has become a boardroom conversation in a way that wasn't true literally four years ago," Mike Schroepfer, former Meta CTO and now climate VC, tells the Zero podcast.
Akshat Rathi, Oscar Boyd, and Eleanor Harrison-Dengate - Bloomberg
Climate tech is not the hot investor thesis it once was a couple of years ago. After several record breaking years, and billions of dollars being poured into climate startups, venture capital investments are way down. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi speaks with Mike Schroepfer, who runs Gigascale Capital, a venture firm focusing on climate investments, and used to be Meta's chief technology officer.
/jlne.ws/444HyO9
****** Find me a better way to consume energy that is more cost-effective and environmentally friendly, that does not involve having to wage wars.~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top story Wednesday was Bloomberg's Jane Street Boss Says He Was Duped Into Funding AK-47s for Coup. Second was supposed to be ANALYSIS: Swap clearing in focus as CME expands margin service, from FOW, but the link was broken. This is the correct link. And third was Cboe Navigates Record Options Volumes With Tech Upgrades, Global Outreach, a John Lothian News video interview with Cboe's Meaghan Dugan.
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| Lead Stories | How the next financial crisis starts; The climate shocks that could trigger wider market turmoil
Pilita Clark - Financial Times
If you are over the age of 40, there is a good chance you remember where you were on September 15 2008, the day Lehman Brothers went bust. It was one of the first of many shocking moments during the last global financial crisis, a searing time of bank runs, crashes and bankruptcies when big economies tumbled into some of their deepest recessions since the Great Depression. Stunned Lehman staff, who left the 158-year-old investment bank's offices carrying their belongings in cardboard boxes, came to symbolise the millions who lost their jobs, homes and life savings in a disaster that destroyed trillions of dollars of wealth.
/jlne.ws/3THDRaZ
How war became contagious; With peaceful norms fading, a new weapon has made conflict cheaper and easier
Simon Kuper - Financial Times
Not long ago, we lived in one of the most peaceful eras in modern history. 2005 saw the fewest recorded deaths in armed conflict since the second world war, according to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program. How times change. Last year, there were 61 "state-based conflicts", the most since 1946, reports the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Now add the Israel-Iran conflict. Why are there so many wars? The only thing worse than a biased and brutal police force is no police force at all. The world experienced that shift this century. The 1990s were the heyday of the two global policemen, the US and UN. After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, a UN resolution authorised member states to drive it out. That decade, the American policeman patrolled the world, seeking a near-monopoly of international violence. The "international community" (meaning the US plus friends) tolerated only civil wars in containable arenas: Somalia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia.
/jlne.ws/40nGX7G
Data Is Changing Shareholder Capitalism; Corporations should still strive to maximize investor returns, but in some cases, other values should take precedence.
Allison Schrager - Bloomberg
If America's CEOs have learned one lesson over the last half decade, it's this: Avoid politics. It is the right lesson - as usual, Milton Friedman was correct, the primary purpose of a business should be to increase its profits - but the rapidly changing nature of the economy calls for an update: Avoid politics whenever possible, but never when necessary. The recent history of corporate activism is instructive. Just before the pandemic, the chief executives of 181 of the largest US corporations signed a pledge to "lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders," not just shareholders. They essentially promised to pursue a better world beyond profits. It did not go well. After several prominent instances of companies or executives getting burned for taking political stances - just ask Budweiser or Elon Musk - most companies now just stick to business or at least stay silent.
/jlne.ws/44xWcgN
U.S. Regulators Move to Ease Financial Crisis-Era Bank Capital Rules; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said loosening the requirements would help bolster the U.S. economy
Dylan Tokar - The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. took a step toward easing some of the requirements placed on banks in the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis, issuing a proposal that would let the largest lenders free up some of the capital they hold for times of market turmoil. Banks have long lobbied for lowering what's known as the supplementary leverage ratio, and Treasury Secretary Bessent has said the change would help buttress global markets by allowing banks to buy more Treasurys. The Federal Reserve's board voted 5-2 on Wednesday to issue a proposal to lower the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio. The enhanced ratio dictates how much capital big banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup must hold against their total assets. One of the opposing votes came from Fed governor Michael Barr, who served as the central bank's top bank regulator before stepping down amid pressure from President Trump. Barr said in a statement the proposal would "significantly increase" the risk of a big bank failure.
/jlne.ws/44B0PH2
**** Here is the Financial Times version of this story.~JJL
Canada Maintains Bank Capital Level Despite Uncertain Economy
Christine Dobby - Bloomberg
Canada's financial regulator left capital requirements unchanged for the country's largest banks, signaling that it believes systemic risks to bank balance sheets remain stable despite the uncertain economic picture. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said in a statement Thursday that the domestic stability buffer will remain at 3.5% after its semi-annual review, the fourth consecutive hold. The regulator last boosted the buffer in June 2023.
/jlne.ws/4kg2lD7
Prediction Market Kalshi Hits $2 Billion Valuation in New Funding Round; The $185 million round will help the trading startup integrate with more brokers, CEO says
Alexander Osipovich - The Wall Street Journal
Kalshi, a startup prediction market that became a popular way to bet on the November election, said Wednesday that it had been valued at $2 billion in a new funding round, a vote of confidence in its business of facilitating wagers on future events. New York-based Kalshi-which offers a variety of yes-or-no contracts allowing users to bet on topics ranging from hurricanes to the National Basketball Association finals to the Oscars-said it had raised $185 million from investors led by Paradigm, a venture-capital firm best known for its crypto investments. The round values Kalshi at $2 billion, cementing its status as a "unicorn," with a valuation in the billions.
/jlne.ws/4ngCBJH
Yahoo Finance Expands Global Coverage with New UK-Based Programming and 24/5 Market Data; A new London studio and show, extended programming, and a partnership with Blue Ocean Technologies to offer round-the-clock market data
Yahoo
Yahoo Finance is expanding its global footprint with a new editorial team and studio in London, extended hours of programming, and a partnership with Blue Ocean Technologies that will make the company one of the first major financial news platforms to offer round-the-clock market data.
Bringing the best talent and programming. Starting on June 30, Yahoo Finance will debut Morning Brief: Market Sunrise, a daily live show streaming from the London-based studio at 7am ET. Anchored by veteran business correspondent Ramzan Karmali, formerly of Reuters, the show will give individual investors an edge by providing a look at global markets and U.S. futures, along with newsmaking interviews, signature analysis that Yahoo Finance is known for and deep context. Morning Brief: Market Sunrise will be the company's first live show produced outside of the U.S. The show will bridge the gap between Asia, Europe, and U.S. markets-offering investors a head start on the trading day with coverage of overnight market moves and key global headlines. The addition of a permanent editorial presence in the UK gives Yahoo Finance greater agility to report on impactful financial developments in real-time-enhancing the depth and credibility of its global coverage.
/jlne.ws/4lpSzz5
Wall Street Panics Over Prospect of a Socialist Running New York City; Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani's stunning primary win is rattling the financial industry that had backed Andrew Cuomo
Kevin T. Dugan, Gregory Zuckerman and Brian Schwartz - The Wall Street Journal
On Wednesday morning, the world's epicenter of capitalism woke up to find it might soon have a socialist mayor. Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's stunning win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic primary for mayor shocked Wall Street. Some of the world's most influential and powerful financiers were left grasping to understand what Mamdani's victory would mean for their industry-and whether they would leave the city. "It's officially hot commie summer," Dan Loeb, chief executive of hedge fund Third Point, and a major Cuomo backer, wrote on X.
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A.I. Is Homogenizing Our Thoughts; Recent studies suggest that tools such as ChatGPT make our brains less active and our writing less original.
Kyle Chayka - The New Yorker
In an experiment last year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, more than fifty students from universities around Boston were split into three groups and asked to write SAT-style essays in response to broad prompts such as "Must our achievements benefit others in order to make us truly happy?" One group was asked to rely on only their own brains to write the essays. A second was given access to Google Search to look up relevant information. The third was allowed to use ChatGPT, the artificial-intelligence large language model (L.L.M.) that can generate full passages or essays in response to user queries. As students from all three groups completed the tasks, they wore a headset embedded with electrodes in order to measure their brain activity. According to Nataliya Kosmyna, a research scientist at M.I.T. Media Lab and one of the co-authors of a new working paper documenting the experiment, the results from the analysis showed a dramatic discrepancy: subjects who used ChatGPT demonstrated less brain activity than either of the other groups.
/jlne.ws/4k7YFmI
Nvidia Shares Hit a New High to Reclaim World's Largest Stock Record
Ryan Vlastelica - Bloomberg
Nvidia Corp. shares rose to an all-time high on Wednesday, with the leader in artificial intelligence chips extending an advance that has cemented its position as one of the most valuable companies in the world. The stock rose 4.3% to $154.31, taking out an all-time high that has stood since January. The record is only the latest milestone for the company, which has risen 63% off an April low, a rally that has added nearly $1.5 trillion to its market capitalization.
/jlne.ws/3FYHeat
You Can't Exactly Buy Stock in Athletes; Also private credit trading desks and PRIMEs and SCOREs.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
Fernando Tatis
One thing that sometimes happens is that a small startup needs some money to keep the lights on, so it finds an investor who is willing to put in $100,000 but wants 10% of the company in exchange. The startup says yes, because (1) without the $100,000 the lights will go off and there won't be a startup anymore, and (2) $100,000 for 10% of the company - a $1 million valuation - seems pretty generous, given that the startup has no revenue and can't keep the lights on. The investor is putting up real money that the startup needs, and getting back nothing but a share of the startup's very uncertain future success.
/jlne.ws/4nkoOS8
CFA Level I Exam Pass Rate Stays Above Decade Average at 45%
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
The pass rate for the first level of the chartered financial analyst exam stayed above its historic average, while additional test centers are poised to open in India and other locations outside the US. In May, 45% of candidates passed the Level I test, unchanged from the percentage who were successful in February and up from 43% for those who took the exam in November, the CFA Institute said Thursday. That's also higher than the 40% average for the past decade and the lows from 2021, when exam performance was hurt by test-taking deferrals amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
/jlne.ws/4epPOf2
Bruce Markets Announces New Round of Strategic Investment Backed by Industry Leaders;Backers include Fidelity Investments, Nasdaq Ventures, NH Investment and Securities, PEAK6 Investments, Apex Fintech Solutions, Robinhood, tastytrade, Webull
Bruce Markets LLC
Bruce Markets LLC is excited to announce a major new strategic investment round led by some of the most prominent names in the financial industry, including Apex Fintech Solutions, Fidelity Investments, Nasdaq Ventures, NH Investment and Securities, PEAK6 Investments, Robinhood, tastytrade, and Webull. This funding represents a pivotal step in realizing Bruce ATSâ„¢'s mission to expand access to U.S. market opportunities through enterprise-grade overnight trading technology.
/jlne.ws/4liWq0Q
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| Trade War and Tariffs | | A roundup of today's trade war and tariff news and the global economic ripple effects shaping markets, industries, and investment strategies. | China Is Still Choking Exports of Rare Earths Despite Pact With U.S.; Western companies are struggling to secure approvals for rare-earth imports from Chinese authorities, despite U.S.-China deal
Jon Emont - The Wall Street Journal
China is slow-walking rare-earth magnet export approvals despite promising the U.S. to ease restrictions. Two weeks after China promised the U.S. it would ease the exports of rare-earth magnets, Chinese authorities are dragging out approval of Western companies' requests for the critical components, a situation that could reignite trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Western companies say they are receiving barely enough magnets for their factories and have little visibility of future supplies. Firms are waiting weeks as Chinese authorities scrutinize their applications-only to be rejected in some cases. And applications for raw rare earths, which are used to make magnets, are rarely granted.
/jlne.ws/3Ghdbuy
China Imports Argentina Soymeal in Trial Trade Amid US Tensions
Alfred Cang and Hallie Gu - Bloomberg
China has booked a rare shipment of soybean meal from Argentina, as the country seeks to secure supplies of a key animal feed ingredient amid an ongoing trade war with the US. Several Chinese traders and feed producers jointly ordered the cargo from the world's top exporter of soybean meal and oil as a trial shipment, according to people with the knowledge of the deal. It marks the first purchase since Beijing opened the door to imports from the country in 2019, the people said.
/jlne.ws/444j6MI
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| World Conflicts | | News about various conflicts and their military, economic, political and humanitarian impact. | Ukraine Invasion
All NATO, including US, 'totally committed' to keeping Ukraine in fight, Rutte says
Andrew Gray - Reuters
The whole of NATO, including the United States, is "totally committed" to keeping Ukraine in the fight against Russia's invasion, alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. Speaking at the end of a summit of NATO leaders in The Hague, Rutte also said nobody in NATO was naive about Russia and all alliance members "have more or less the same assessment" of Moscow, U.S. President Donald Trump's more conciliatory stance towards Russia in his efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine has prompted questions about U.S. commitments to Kyiv.
/jlne.ws/40p8iGy
Russian Banks Fear Debt Crisis Is Coming as War Strains Economy
Bloomberg News
Russia's economy faces a worsening outlook that is graver than publicly acknowledged, with a credible risk of a systemic banking crisis in the next 12 months, according to Russian banking officials. Russian banks are increasingly concerned about the level of bad debt on their balance sheets, according to the officials and documents seen by Bloomberg News. They have privately raised the alarm about the number of corporate and retail clients who are failing to make loan payments as they struggle with high interest rates, the people said.
/jlne.ws/4kbOMES
Russia no longer needs Iran's help to sustain the war in Ukraine; Tehran's humiliation won't please Moscow, but domestic drone production and new alliances mean Vladimir Putin can fight on
Hanna Notte - Financial Times
As Israel and Iran begin a ceasefire after nearly two weeks of war that significantly damaged Tehran's military and nuclear infrastructure, one might think that Russia is worried about the ramifications for its own military campaign in Ukraine. Russia has had to watch Israel claim control of the skies over Tehran and knock out Iran's air defences, an achievement that has eluded Moscow in Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3Gl7CLD
Putin Has Lost Something Worse Than a War
Michael Kimmage - The New York Times
When Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, he was betting against the West. The West - understood as Europe and the United States - would not have the mettle to save Ukraine, he surely surmised. Neither united nor effective, it had a long record of failure in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. Russia's victory would prove that the West's golden age was over, freeing Russia to partner with China and other rising countries, asserting itself anew on the world stage. Mr. Putin's bet has not paid off. As the war drags on and on, the Kremlin has taken a two-pronged approach to the West. Domestically, the Kremlin has demonized it, encouraging Russians to rally around Mr. Putin in a civilizational battle. Abroad, Russia has sought to divide the West, peeling away the doubters and the dissenters from the pro-Ukraine coalition. In this project, Donald Trump's election in November was supposed to be a turning point. The West would tear itself apart, leaving Ukraine to Russia.
/jlne.ws/46l9ZIS
Middle East Conflict
Trump says US to hold nuclear talks with Iran next week
Jeff Mason, Alexander Cornwell and Parisa Hafezi - Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would likely seek a commitment from Iran to end its nuclear ambitions at talks next week and credited U.S. strikes on Iran with bringing a swift end to the war between Israel and Tehran. Trump said his decision to unleash huge bunker-busting bombs in Sunday's attack had devastated Iran's nuclear program and called the outcome "a victory for everybody". "It was very severe. It was obliteration," he said, shrugging off an initial assessment by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency that Iran's path to building a nuclear weapon may have been set back only by months. Meanwhile, anxious Iranians and Israelis sought to resume normal life after 12 days of the most intense confrontation ever between the two foes and a ceasefire that took effect Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/440rXz2
Iran turns to internal crackdown in wake of 12-day war
Parisa Hafezi and Ahmed Rasheed - Reuters
Iranian authorities are pivoting from a ceasefire with Israel to intensify an internal security crackdown across the country with mass arrests, executions and military deployments, particularly in the restive Kurdish region, officials and activists said. Within days of Israel's airstrikes beginning on June 13, Iranian security forces started a campaign of widespread arrests accompanied by an intensified street presence based around checkpoints, the officials and activists said.
/jlne.ws/40jM34P
Why Iran's Unaccounted for Uranium Worries Nuclear Experts
Jonathan Tirone - Bloomberg
For those concerned about Iran becoming a nuclear-armed state, it's essential to understand not just what the attacks by the US and Israel did to the country's capacity to enrich uranium, but also its existing inventory of atomic fuel. Prior to the airstrikes, Iran had accumulated a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that, if processed a bit further, could fuel 10 nuclear bombs. Where that stockpile is now is unknown to the international inspectors who had been keeping tabs on it.
/jlne.ws/44lsgn6
Does It Matter Whether America's Iran Strike Was Lawful?; In the US attack on Iran so far, power has trumped legitimacy. But to resolve the conflict without major war, the president needs both.
Andreas Kluth - Bloomberg Opinion
Historians will judge the massive US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities by trying to answer two questions, which ultimately become inseparable. Was the intervention wise? And was it legitimate? It's far too early to assess the wisdom of Operation Midnight Hammer - that is, whether it will make the world safer. Stunning as its execution was, the mission's objective was to end Iran's ability to make nukes. But even though President Donald Trump keeps boasting that the attacks "obliterated" the Iranian targets, leaks of early intelligence from the Pentagon suggest that the bombing only set the nuclear program back by a few months. If Tehran now hurries to make atomic bombs in secret - and if other countries in the region then build their own nukes for self-protection - the tactical triumph of Midnight Hammer will turn into a strategic disaster.
/jlne.ws/4l0LXYt
Iran's Khamenei Says US Intervention in War Achieved Nothing
Patrick Sykes and Eltaf Najafizada - Bloomberg
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed victory in the war with Israel and said the US's intervention achieved nothing, in his first comments since a ceasefire came into effect earlier this week. "The Islamic Republic emerged victorious and delivered a harsh slap to America's face" he said in a pre-recorded video message, adding the US "gained no achievements from this war."
/jlne.ws/46dlYrV
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Abaxx Announces Digital Title Pilot to Unlock the Collateral Value of Physical Commodities Through its Integrated Market Infrastructure
Abaxx
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (CBOE:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd., the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, "Abaxx Exchange" and "Abaxx Clearing"), and producer of the SmarterMarketsâ„¢ Podcast, today announced it intends to conduct a pilot transaction to finance margin with physical gold using its ID++ Technology to create real-time digital documents of title.
/jlne.ws/3HY8GFS
ASX welcomes ASIC inquiry panel appointments
ASX
ASX acknowledges today's announcement by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) of the appointment of panel members to examine the frameworks and practices within ASX Group in relation to governance, capability and risk management. The panel will be chaired by Rob Whitfield AM and he will be joined by two other members; Christine Holman and Guy Debelle.
/jlne.ws/44kyl2O
Changes to the Madrid Stock Exchange General Index for the Second Half of 2025
BME-X
The Management Committee of the Madrid Stock Exchange General Index (IGBM) has decided at the ordinary Index review meeting that both the IGBM and the Total Index will consist of 110 listed companies in the second half of 2025, following the additions of HBX Group and Prisa and the deletions of Corporación Financiera Alba, Lar España and Urbas. The two new companies entering the indices meet the necessary requirements, while the delistings of Corporación Financiera Alba and Lar España are due to their respective takeover bids and that of Urbas because it has been suspended from trading by the CNMV since 30 April.
/jlne.ws/4nh2gBX
Boerse Stuttgart Group continues its strategic leadership reorganization
Boerse Stuttgart Group
Boerse Stuttgart Group is continuing to reshape its management team. Dr. Oliver Vins and Dr. Constantin Bettermann, who are already members of the Group Executive Committee, are joining the Group's Management Board, where they will take over the functions of Dr. Manfred Pumbo: Vins will become Chief Financial and Risk Officer, while Bettermann will become Chief Operating Officer. Stephan Simmang, who was previously a member of the Management Board at flatexDEGIRO and worked in senior positions at Goldman Sachs for many years, is also joining the Group's Management Board. He will become Chief Information Officer as the successor of Michael Jaeggi.
/jlne.ws/4cewWxh
The Global Association Of Central Counterparties - CCP Global Annual General Meeting 2025
CCP Global
This year's CCP Global AGM week began in London with a workshop on stablecoins, distributed ledger technology (DLT), and blockchain, led by Simon Gleeson. This was followed by vendor presentations on IT risk solutions, model validation, and strategic consulting from Zeliade, swissQuant, and Davies, marking the first of the Pitch Sessions organized by CCP Global.
/jlne.ws/4k4bxdB
Market Surveillance
CME Group
Position Limits, Position Accountability Levels and Large Trader Reporting Requirements in Connection with the Initial Listing of the Thai Baht/U.S. Dollar (THB/USD) Futures and Singapore Dollar/U.S. Dollar (SGD/USD) Futures Contracts
/jlne.ws/4ln3Ekx
RBC Capital Markets Joins ICE Clear Credit as an FCM to Expand CDS Client Clearing Services
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced that RBC Capital Markets, LLC (RBC), a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, has joined ICE Clear Credit, the world's premier clearinghouse for credit default swaps, as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) clearing participant. RBC Capital Markets, LLC, is the first FCM with a Canadian parent company on ICE Clear Credit. "We are excited to announce the launch of Credit Default Swap clearing on ICE Clear Credit. This builds on our FCM offering and complements our capabilities for Futures and Interest Rate Swaps, deepening our client relationships and providing new growth opportunities," said Eric Aldous, Head of Futures at RBC Capital Markets.
/jlne.ws/4nmbAEC
Limited-Time "Stock Exchange" Pavilion Coming Soon to KidZania Tokyo
JPX
Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE) and KCJ GROUP INC. (KCJ GROUP), which produces activities and operates the children's job and social experience facility KidZania, will open a limited-time "Stock Exchange" establishment at KidZania Tokyo from Tuesday, July 22, 2025, to Monday, July 28, 2025. The Establishment is being implemented in accordance with KidZania Tokyo's event theme, "Connect to the Future Through Finance and Economy," and as part of its "KidZania Summer 2025" summer camp program.
/jlne.ws/3HWZdyr
LME Clear Margin Parameters June 25 v2
LME
LME Clear Members are advised that new SPAN1 margin parameters have been set.
/jlne.ws/3G6Z7E3
Nasdaq Announces Mid-Month Open Short Interest Positions in Nasdaq Stocks as of Settlement Date June 13, 2025
Nasdaq
At the end of the settlement date of June 13, 2025, short interest in 3,207 Nasdaq Global MarketSM securities totaled 13,689,191,607 shares compared with 13,504,275,894 shares in 3,184 Global Market issues reported for the prior settlement date of May 30, 2025. The mid-June short interest represents 2.32 days compared with 2.19 days for the prior reporting period. Short interest in 1,642 securities on The Nasdaq Capital MarketSM totaled 2,687,331,325 shares at the end of the settlement date of June 13, 2025, compared with 2,610,068,615 shares in 1,632 securities for the previous reporting period. This represents a 1.00 day average daily volume; the previous reporting period's figure was 1.00.
/jlne.ws/3Glc78Z
Nasdaq and QCP Set New Standard of Capital Efficiency by Connecting Canton Network to Nasdaq Calypso
Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced it has facilitated end-to-end margin and collateral workflows on the Canton Network, connecting the blockchain-based technology to Nasdaq Calypso. The use case was developed in partnership with QCP, Primrose Capital Management and Digital Asset, to demonstrate that the integration of on-chain capabilities alongside existing institutional workflows enhances collateral mobility across all asset classes for institutional market participants.
/jlne.ws/40nu7GB
NSE to launch monthly electricity futures in next 2-3 weeks
The Economic Times via MSN
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday said it will launch electricity futures contract - a product which will allow power buyers, sellers, traders, industrial and retailers to manage price risks - in the next 2-3 weeks. "We have all approvals in place ... we are talking to all stakeholders. Our internal team is fully prepared ... within 2-3 weeks we will announce the launch date," NSE head of sustainability, power, carbon markets and listing Harish K Ahuja said.
/jlne.ws/4lutEe6
Circular on the Release of the Amended Rules on the Management of Non-ferrous Metal Products for Futures Delivery of the Shanghai Futures Exchange (Revised in May 2025)
SHFE
To ensure the smooth operation of cast aluminum alloy futures to be listed on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, strengthen the management of non-ferrous metals futures products for delivery, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of all parties involved in futures trading, the Shanghai Futures Exchange has amended the Rules on the Management of Non-ferrous Metal Products for Futures Delivery of the Shanghai Futures Exchange (Revised in August 2022) in accordance with the Trading Rules of Shanghai Futures Exchange and other applicable rules. Please refer to the appendix for the amended Rules.
/jlne.ws/4l6m4GK
Circular on Releasing the SHFE Cast Aluminum Alloy Futures Contract, Cast Aluminum Alloy Futures Option Contract and Cast Aluminum Alloy Futures Rules
SHFE
The SHFE Cast Aluminum Alloy Futures Contract, SHFE Cast Aluminum Alloy Futures Option Contract and Cast Aluminum Alloy Futures Rules of the Shanghai Futures Exchange have been adopted by the Board of Directors of Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), and reported to the China Securities Regulatory Commission. These contracts and rules shall take effect on June 10, 2025.
/jlne.ws/3Ggv1Oo
Liquidity Boost for ETF Quote on Demand through Societe Generale; Today, SIX welcomes Societe Generale as our newest liquidity provider in Quote on Demand (QOD), the leading on-exchange RFQ solution for ETF trading on SIX Swiss Exchange.
SIX
ETF Quote on Demand (QOD) is the leading on-exchange RFQ service that allows institutional investors to execute orders in a bidding process directly with registered liquidity providers - of which Societe Generale is now the sixth. The service offers price improvements compared to EBBO (European Best Bid and Offer) while benefitting from fully integrated, efficient post-trade processing.
/jlne.ws/3IexTMa
Tradeweb Introduces T-bill Trading on ICD Portal; Corporate treasurers using ICD Portal can now trade U.S. Treasury bills directly via Tradeweb's leading electronic trading platform
TradeWeb
Tradeweb Markets Inc. (Nasdaq: TW), a leading global operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities, and money markets, today announced the launch of direct U.S. Treasury bill (T-bill) trading for corporate treasurers via direct connection between its ICD Portal and its institutional trading platform. Corporate treasurers using ICD Portal can now trade T-bills through Tradeweb's institutional trading platform, allowing them to manage T-bill investments seamlessly alongside other core investment options on ICD Portal-including money market funds, separately managed accounts, bank deposits, and bond funds-through a single, integrated solution.
/jlne.ws/3ZOIWSm
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Artificial Intelligence
Klarna Founder's VC Firm Pledges EUR300 Million Investment in AI
Lydia Lothman - Bloomberg
Swedish impact investor Norrsken VC has pledged to invest EUR300 million ($348 million) in artificial intelligence startups that aim to help solve some of the climate's most pressing needs. The venture capital firm, founded by Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth, plans to invest in AI companies alongside its early-stage funds Norrsken Accelerator and Norrsken Launcher, according to a statement on Wednesday. "We would love to see AI with all its power be used to solve some of the biggest challenges out there," Norrsken General Partner Tove Larsson said in an interview.
/jlne.ws/46cMwJU
Is the Fed Ready for an AI Economy? Your computer may soon take out a loan, approved by a bank's computer. Millions of such transactions can determine the money supply.
Derek Horstmeyer - The Wall Street Journal
Federal Reserve presidents have been clear about their concerns regarding artificial intelligence's possible effects on productivity, banking customer service, and upheaval in the labor market. But the Fed may be ignoring another AI issue that could turn out to dwarf all others: AI's coming ability to create money and credit-and thereby determine the money supply in our economy.
/jlne.ws/3TG5UHN
Meta Poaches Three OpenAI Researchers; Social-media giant has hired Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai for its superintelligence effort
Meghan Bobrowsky - The Wall Street Journal
Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has poached three OpenAI researchers to join his superintelligence efforts, a recruiting coup intended to help steer Meta Platforms out of an AI crisis. The social-media giant hired Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai, who were all working in OpenAI's Zurich office, according to people familiar with the matter. The three set up OpenAI's office in Zurich late last year. Before that, they worked together at Google DeepMind, the company's AI unit.
/jlne.ws/4lnTIHx
The Anthropic Copyright Ruling Exposes Blind Spots on AI; The "fair use" decision stands to cripple the ability of creators of original work to make money in the coming age of artificial intelligence.
Dave Lee - Bloomberg
In what is shaping up to be a long, hard fight over the use of creative works, round one has gone to the AI makers. In the first such US decision of its kind, District Judge William Alsup said Anthropic's use of millions of books to train its artificial-intelligence model, without payment to the sources, was legal under copyright law because it was "transformative - spectacularly so." The closely watched ruling is a warning of what lies ahead under existing copyright laws. Designed to protect creative freedom, the "fair use" doctrine that Anthropic used to successfully defend its actions is now the most potent tool for undermining the creative industry's ability to support itself in the coming age of AI.
/jlne.ws/441InqR
Nvidia Can Reach $6 Trillion Market Cap on AI Growth, Loop Says
Ryan Vlastelica - Bloomberg
The artificial intelligence tailwinds that have driven the shares of Nvidia Corp. sharply higher the past few years show no signs of abating, and could eventually push the chipmaker's value to a market-topping $6 trillion, according to Loop Capital.
/jlne.ws/3HYqRuY
Intel Capital-Backed AI Firm Reconova Is Said to Plan HK IPO
Julia Fioretti - Bloomberg
Reconova Technologies Co., a Chinese artificial intelligence company specializing in visual perception, is planning a Hong Kong initial public offering as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The Intel Capital Corp.-backed firm is working with advisers on a share sale that could raise about $100 million, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn't public. Deliberations are ongoing and details such as size and timing may change, the people added.
/jlne.ws/44HUN6z
Salesforce CEO Says 30% of Internal Work Is Being Handled by AI
Brody Ford and Emily Chang - Bloomberg
Salesforce Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff said his company has automated a significant chunk of work with AI, another example of a firm touting labor-replacing potential of the emerging technology. "AI is doing 30% to 50% of the work at Salesforce now," Benioff said in an interview on The Circuit with Emily Chang, pointing at job functions including software engineering and customer service.
/jlne.ws/44xQDyV
Klarna Founder's VC Firm Pledges EUR300 Million Investment in AI
Lydia Lothman - Bloomberg
Swedish impact investor Norrsken VC has pledged to invest EUR300 million ($348 million) in artificial intelligence startups that aim to help solve some of the climate's most pressing needs. The venture capital firm, founded by Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth, plans to invest in AI companies alongside its early-stage funds Norrsken Accelerator and Norrsken Launcher, according to a statement on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/46cMwJU
Cloud Computing
Wedbush Securities integrates Rapid Addition's platform to upgrade trading infrastructure; The collaboration will set the stage for further innovations including possible expansion into asset classes and workflows, according to the firm.
Natasha Cocksedge - The Trade
Wedbush Securities has collaborated with technology provider Rapid Addition in a bid to enhance the firm's trading infrastructure. The integration sees Wedbush - Wedbush Financial Services' largest subsidiary - adopt Rapid Addition's cloud-ready platform, with the aim of streamlining multi-asset trading, risk management, and post-trade processes.
/jlne.ws/4ljtd64
Nvidia Ruffles Tech Giants With Move Into Cloud Computing; Things are getting awkward for cloud incumbents as the AI chip giant eyes their turf
Asa Fitch - The Wall Street Journal
Cloud computing generates big profits for Amazon.com, Microsoft and Google. Now that cash cow faces a nascent threat with the rise of artificial-intelligence cloud specialists and a new industry power broker: Nvidia. AI-chip maker Nvidia launched its own cloud-computing service two years ago called DGX Cloud. It has also nurtured upstarts competing with the big cloud companies, investing in AI cloud players CoreWeave and Lambda.
/jlne.ws/4nkHEJ1
Connectivity/Data Centers
AT&T Bets Big on Fiber-Optic Lines in Fight for Internet Traffic
Kelcee Griffis and Lisa Abramowicz - Bloomberg
AT&T Inc. executives made the case for giving up on copper landlines and investing in fiber-optic cable on Bloomberg TV's Chief Future Officer. "It has the fastest speed," Chief Financial Officer Pascal Desroches said in the interview. "It has the lowest cost to maintain relative to your traditional copper, which is what we were upgrading." The Dallas-based telecom giant, whose roots go back to the earliest days of the telephone, has been pushing customers to give up their copper lines, which cost the company $6 billion annually to maintain. AT&T is laying fiber-optic cable which can handle more traffic, including an expected boom from a new generation of data-heavy artificial intelligence tools.
/jlne.ws/443csqb
Payments
PayPal-Backed Pine Labs Files India IPO Riding on Fintech Boom
Ashutosh Joshi - Bloomberg
Digital payments provider Pine Labs Ltd. filed for an initial public offering in India, as the government's digitization push fuels a boom in the financial technology space. The company seeks to raise as much as 26 billion rupees ($303 million) selling new shares. It may consider a pre-IPO sale of as much as 5.2 billion rupees of shares, a draft red herring prospectus showed Thursday.
/jlne.ws/4nkLWjx
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Patient death at London hospital linked to cyber attack on NHS; Guy's and St Thomas', King's College and Lewisham and Greenwich hospitals were all affected by the cyber attack in June last year
Rebecca Whittaker - The Independent
The death of a patient has been linked to a cyber-attack on the NHS last year. Cyber criminals attacked two major NHS trusts causing more than 1,000 cancer treatment delays, 2,000 outpatient appointments to be cancelled and more than 1,000 operations postponed. King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said on Wednesday; a patient died during the cyber attack as a result of a long wait time for blood test results.
/jlne.ws/4ek5dNX
Coffee apps: they eliminate queues but will cost you your data; Chains battle to ensure no one has to wait for their caffeine shot
Claer Barrett - Financial Times
As more companies order their workers back to the office, queues at coffee shops in London are definitely getting longer. With most of the capital's chains charging around £4 a cup, it's also an expensive habit. So when my caffeine-loving FT colleague Katie Martin challenged me to investigate how much time and money could be saved using coffee apps, I gleefully accepted. As a skinflint who's happy to drink the free coffee in the FT canteen, I confess this new wave of apps offering "skip the queue" click and collect ordering had hitherto passed me by. Every chain from Greggs to Gail's Bakery now has its own app, making it possible to pre-order and pay for a coffee on your way into work, then sail to the front of the queue and grab the cup with your name on it from the collection point when you get there.
/jlne.ws/40ip2iQ
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Blackstone, Tether Duo Tap Wilbur Ross for Crypto Reserve
Ryan Weeks and Muyao Shen - Bloomberg
A former Blackstone Inc. dealmaker and a co-founder of stablecoin giant Tether Holdings SA are teaming up to raise $1 billion for a listed crypto vehicle that aims to hoard a portfolio of digital assets. The capital is being raised via M3-Brigade Acquisition V Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company backed by the pair. The vehicle would hold a diversified mix of tokens including Bitcoin, Ether and Solana, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are confidential.
/jlne.ws/4l0glSw
Guotai Junan Surges 300% This Week on Crypto-Trading Approval
Bloomberg News
Guotai Junan International Holdings Ltd. shares are headed for their best week on record after the broker obtained regulatory approval to offer trading services of cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong. The stock extended gains to a fourth day, bringing this week's advance to nearly 300%. Shares jumped after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission approved the company's license upgrade that would enable its clients to directly trade virtual assets, including Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoins, on its platform.
/jlne.ws/4ejUcvY
Circle Becomes Top Pick for South Korea's Crypto-Hungry Traders
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
Circle Internet Group Inc. has emerged as the hottest overseas stock among South Korean investors this month, underscoring the growing retail appetite for crypto-linked bets as the country's new administration ushers in policies to foster industry growth. Circle, the issuer of the second largest stablecoin by market share USDC, has rallied more than sixfold since its June 5 public debut, underscoring a global frenzy.
/jlne.ws/44B8dlK
DeFi
Trump's World Liberty Token Draws Accumulators' Attention, Co-Founder Says
Kirk Ogunrinde - Bloomberg
World Liberty Financial Inc., the Trump family affiliated decentralized finance platform, is getting a "lot of interest" from public companies wanting to use its token as a treasury asset, according to co-founder Zak Folkman. Folkman made the comments at Permissionless, a crypto industry conference in New York on Wednesday. He also announced the launch of a new World Liberty Financial App.
/jlne.ws/44l2org
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | America's retreat from the world stalls again; The bombing of Iran suggests that a global role is a hard thing to give up
Janan Ganesh - Financial Times
I take it we all agree now that he isn't an "isolationist". A word that should never have been applied to Donald Trump in the first place went up in smoke last weekend, along with an unknown amount of Iran's nuclear programme. The US bombings were consistent with his strike against Syria in 2017, against the leader of the militant group Isis in 2019 and against Iran's most senior general in 2020. Given all the abstract nouns that fit Trump well - jingoism, unilateralism, anti-Europeanism - it is a wonder that isolationism ever saw daylight. It is not even clear that he opposed the Iraq war as a private citizen in 2003.
/jlne.ws/3FWHEhB
U.S. Administration
Europe placates Trump with NATO pledges it can ill afford
Mark John - Reuters
In their rush to retain Donald Trump's support for NATO, the alliance's European members have promised to more than double the amount of wealth they set aside for military spending. The snag is that most can ill-afford to spend 5% of output on defence - so while there will be some unpalatable sacrifices in national budgets, there will also be some creative accounting to divert existing spending to the effort.
/jlne.ws/40qISIG
Deportations Alone Can't Fix US Immigration Problems; Amid rising dysfunction and public unrest, a new approach is needed. It's the old approach.
The Editorial Board - Bloomberg
Underlying the demonstrations and street clashes of recent weeks is a dysfunctional system of immigration enforcement that needs to be fixed. With a bit of goodwill - from both the president and his opponents - that shouldn't be too much to ask. To much public outcry, federal immigration authorities have been detaining unauthorized migrants at job sites, courthouses and other public places in recent weeks. They're doing so both to meet the administration's steep deportation quotas and because too many state and local officials are refusing to cooperate.
/jlne.ws/4l26xrm
Treasury Close to Deal That Would Make 'Revenge Tax' Irrelevant
Daniel Flatley - Bloomberg
The Treasury Department is nearing a deal that would make the so-called "revenge tax" irrelevant, the agency's second-in-command said, a development that could bring great relief to Wall Street investors worried about punitive tax measures on foreigners.
/jlne.ws/3ZLnxtq
U.S. Congress
AI Titans Flex Clout to Leverage Tax Bill to Override State Laws
Emily Birnbaum and Oma Seddiq (BGOV) - Bloomberg
Powerful Silicon Valley leaders are throwing their weight behind the tech industry's drive to use Donald Trump's tax bill to sweep away state regulations on artificial intelligence. A handful of Republican lawmakers have expressed staunch opposition to the measure - which they deride as a giveaway to the biggest tech companies - endangering swift passage of the industry priority.
/jlne.ws/3ZPxA0w
Other U.S. Politics
Mamdani's Shock Win Has Wall Street Fretting Over 'Hot Commie Summer'
Sridhar Natarajan and Laura Nahmias - Bloomberg
Even Zohran Mamdani's detractors recognize that the vibes are with the 33-year-old democratic socialist. "It's officially hot commie summer," hedge fund billionaire Dan Loeb said on X, after Mamdani shocked the Democratic establishment by crushing Andrew Cuomo in the party's primary for the New York City mayoral race. It's a quip that masks the deep anxiety among the city's elite that a Mamdani win in the general election in November would lead to higher taxes and a subsequent exodus of wealthy residents from the five boroughs.
/jlne.ws/44pgcRJ
New York's Leftward Shift Jolts US Politics; Zohran Mamdani's ascendancy has rocked the political establishment in the world's financial capital
Gregory Korte - Bloomberg
It didn't take long after polls closed for Zohran Mamdani to upend New York City politics - and maybe US national politics, too. The 33-year-old democratic socialist claimed a commanding lead over Andrew Cuomo in the city's Democratic mayoral primary, forcing the former governor to concede. Final results are still pending, but Mamdani's advantage appears insurmountable - and his momentum unmistakable.
/jlne.ws/4l12FHd
Is Zohran Mamdani US Democrats' saviour or 'albatross'? Moderates charting the future of the party prefer to pin hopes on more pragmatic politicians
Guy Chazan - Financial Times
Of all of Zohran Mamdani's campaign videos, few went viral more than the TikTok post where he dived fully clothed into the Atlantic Ocean on New Year's Day to trumpet one of his most eye-catching policies. "I'm freezing...your rent! As the next mayor of New York City!" a suited and tied Mamdani said on the Coney Island beach before running into the water. "Here's to a new year, a new mayor and the same rent."
/jlne.ws/46dYe76
NATO Leaders' Price for Supporting Ukraine Is Their Self-Respect; But stroking Trump's ego will be worth it if the US doesn't cut off Zelenskiy
Max Hastings - Bloomberg Opinion
It was scripted as a lovefest with only one purpose: to prevent the most impulsive and erratic US president in history from throwing NATO's toys out of his pram. No one provoked a tantrum. Yesterday's summit in the Hague made little pretense of discussing global strategy. It merely showcased the desperate efforts of European NATO members to increase their defense spending. It offered flattery to the US guest of honor in a fashion unprecedented even during the Cold War.
/jlne.ws/4njfmys
The 'Deport Them All' Playbook Doesn't Match Public Opinion; Trump has long taken an extreme stance on immigration, but polls show most Americans have more nuanced views.
Patricia Lopez - Bloomberg
For more than a decade, President Donald Trump has been scapegoating immigrants, decrying them as criminals and vermin and vowing to deport them by the millions. The American people, by and large, aren't buying it, nor should they. A new Pew Charitable Trust poll shows that 65% of Americans support having undocumented immigrants stay legally if certain requirements are met. About half of those say a green card should be possible, and the rest say a path to citizenship should be available. The poll also showed that majorities oppose suspending most asylum applications, curtailing the Temporary Protected Status program, and conducting workplace raids - all actions the Trump administration has taken.
/jlne.ws/3ZLULc3
European Union
How Europe and Canada's Military Spending Stacks Up Against the U.S. and Russia; NATO allies, under pressure from Trump, agreed to historic increases in their targets
Roque Ruiz and Daniel Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
European members of NATO and Canada lag far behind the U.S. in defense-spending levels and military capabilities. Now they are trying to fix that, as Russia expands its arms production and rebuilds its fighting forces. This week European governments agreed to break with decades of low military budgets, raising their spending targets to 3.5% of gross domestic product, up from 2% of GDP. They also agreed to an additional 1.5% in nonlethal spending related to defense, the first time the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has explicitly set such a target.
/jlne.ws/4k7kanO
Ursula von der Leyen faces no-confidence vote over Pfizergate; Far-right motion relating to pandemic scandal threatens to derail European Commission president's second-term agenda
Andy Bounds and Alice Hancock - Financial Times
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is facing a no-confidence vote over a Covid-19 pandemic scandal that threatens to scupper her second-term policy agenda. Far-right lawmakers in the European parliament claim they have secured sufficient support for their motion demanding the entire commission's resignation after an EU court ruled against von der Leyen's handling of private messages with the chief executive of a pharmaceuticals company.
/jlne.ws/44056DM
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Treasury Issues Historic Orders under Powerful New Authority to Counter Fentanyl; Takes First Actions Under FEND Off Fentanyl Act
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued orders identifying three Mexico-based financial institutions-CIBanco S.A., Institution de Banca Multiple (CIBanco), Intercam Banco S.A., Institucion de Banca Multiple (Intercam), and Vector Casa de Bolsa, S.A. de C.V. (Vector)-as being of primary money laundering concern in connection with illicit opioid trafficking, and prohibit, respectively, certain transmittals of funds involving CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector. These orders are the first actions by FinCEN pursuant to the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which provide Treasury with additional authorities to target money laundering associated with the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, including by cartels.
/jlne.ws/45HaDAi
AI Titans Flex Clout to Leverage Tax Bill to Override State Laws
Emily Birnbaum and Oma Seddiq (BGOV) - Bloomberg
Powerful Silicon Valley leaders are throwing their weight behind the tech industry's drive to use Donald Trump's tax bill to sweep away state regulations on artificial intelligence. A handful of Republican lawmakers have expressed staunch opposition to the measure - which they deride as a giveaway to the biggest tech companies - endangering swift passage of the industry priority. But AI titans' success in persuading the Trump administration and Republican congressional leaders to incorporate the controversial 10-year ban into the party's centerpiece legislation is a stunning demonstration of their ascendant influence in Washington.
/jlne.ws/4l3wXci
Citi UK Head Says Regulators Must Review Crypto Curbs on Banks
Laura Noonan - Bloomberg
Financial watchdogs should revisit the "prohibitive" treatment of lenders' crypto holdings and ensure those assets aren't forced into the shadow banking sector as the market grows, according to Citigroup Inc.'s UK country head Tiina Lee. Speaking about tensions between regulation and growth at TheCityUK's annual conference in London on Thursday, Lee said restrictions on banks' crypto holdings was an area where there "will be an interesting debate."
/jlne.ws/3TcW53Z
CFTC Staff Issues No-Action Letter to MIAX Futures Exchange, LLC
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of Market Oversight today issued a no-action letter stating it will not recommend an enforcement action against MIAX Futures Exchange, LLC in connection with the temporary provision for the trading of Minneapolis Hard Red Spring Wheat options on futures (HRSW Options) exclusively through block trades, subject to the conditions in the letter.
/jlne.ws/4npTl1c
Regulators to Hold Outreach Event for Municipal Market Professionals
FINRA
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and FINRA today announced that registration is now open for the 2025 Joint Compliance Outreach Program, a two-day event to discuss compliance and regulatory matters directly with municipal market professionals. The program will be held virtually via Zoom on November 18 and 19. The event gives market professionals the opportunity to share perspectives on how firms are evolving and responding to business, regulatory, and technology matters. This year's program provides practical and tailored discussions addressing top concerns and interests among municipal securities dealers and municipal advisors, including conflicts of interest, broker-dealer primary offering and pricing practices, compliance concerns, and other key municipal market topics.
/jlne.ws/442L3EM
SEC Extends Compliance Date to Help Broker-Dealers Fully Test and Implement Daily Reserve Computation Requirement
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to extend the compliance date to June 30, 2026, for the amendments to Rule 15c3-3 (the broker-dealer customer protection rule) that the Commission adopted on Dec. 20, 2024. The amendments require certain broker-dealers to increase the frequency of required reserve computations under Rule 15c3-3 from weekly to daily. The compliance date for these required daily reserve computations was originally Dec. 31, 2025.
/jlne.ws/3TcZ1xE
Regulators to Hold Outreach Event for Municipal Market Professionals
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announced that registration is now open for the 2025 Joint Compliance Outreach Program, a two-day event to discuss compliance and regulatory matters directly with municipal market professionals. The program will be held virtually via Zoom on November 18 and 19.
/jlne.ws/4nDg2z5
SEC Office of the Investor Advocate Delivers to Congress Report on Objectives for Fiscal Year 2026
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of the Investor Advocate today delivered its Report to Congress on the office's objectives for fiscal year 2026.
/jlne.ws/3I0I9Yq
ASIC appoints expert panel for ASX Inquiry
ASIC
ASIC today announced it has appointed three panel members to conduct its Inquiry into Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) group. This follows ASIC's recent announcement of an Inquiry into ASX, focusing on the frameworks and practices in relation to governance, capability and risk management within the ASX group (25-103MR). ASIC has appointed Rob Whitfield as Chair of the panel and Christine Holman and Guy Debelle as panel members. ASIC Chair Joe Longo said, 'Rob, Christine and Guy bring a wealth of experience in their roles as members of ASX top 20 boards and government investment funds, as well as deep experience across global markets, banking, regulatory, risk and technology.
/jlne.ws/44xHztX
ASIC secures $12,000 fine from Cairns pawnbroker who preyed on vulnerable consumers
ASIC
Cairns pawnbroker Cash Lenders, who offered high-interest credit contracts to consumers in one of Australia's most disadvantaged areas, has been convicted and fined $12,000 for engaging in credit activity without a licence. Following a guilty plea, Cash Lenders was convicted and fined in the Cairns Magistrates Court on 23 June 2025.
/jlne.ws/3TawoB2
Registration of the auditor of the FY2018 financial statements of iSignthis Ltd cancelled by Companies Auditors Disciplinary Board
ASIC
The Companies Auditors Disciplinary Board (CADB) has cancelled the registration of Bradley Laurence Willot Taylor as a company auditor. Mr Taylor, a partner of Grant Thornton Audit Pty Ltd, was the lead auditor of the financial statements of iSignthis Ltd for the financial year ended 30 June 2018 (the FY18 Audit).
/jlne.ws/3ZNQKE6
ESMA provides advice on eligible assets for UCITS
ESMA
/jlne.ws/3ZSbFWp
FMA cancels Filcare Services Limited's Financial Advice Provider licence
FMA
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tatai Hokohoko - has cancelled Filcare Services Limited's (Filcare) Financial Advice Provider licence, at its request. Filcare held a full financial advice provider licence, providing financial advice to approximately 1,800 retail clients, many of whom were migrant workers from the Filipino community.
/jlne.ws/441aTZJ
Upper Tribunal upholds Jes Staley ban
FCA
The FCA's decision to ban Jes Staley, former CEO of Barclays, from holding senior management roles in the financial services industry has been upheld by the Upper Tribunal.
/jlne.ws/45HCIYd
What kind of market do we want to be?
Speech by Nikhil Rathi - FCA
It's that time of year. Students finishing school or university, wondering what direction next. We are just through our own period of reflection at the FCA - working intensely with many of you on our new 5-year strategy. And from personal experience: deciding to stay on into a second term as chief executive involved a few hours of thoughtful mirror-staring.
/jlne.ws/3THJq9n
Finalisation of Japan's Stewardship Code (Third revision)
FSA
The Expert Panel on the Stewardship Code (hereafter, the "Panel") (Chairman: Hiroyuki Kansaku, Professor, Gakushuin University, Faculty of Law), discussed to review the "Principles for Responsible Institutional Investors ≪Japan's Stewardship Code≫" (hereafter, the "Code") starting from October 2024.
/jlne.ws/3GeIKFs
Response to Letter "Stronger safeguards needed for inter-bank transfers" - The Straits Times, 20 June 2025
MAS
We refer to the Forum letter by Chan Cheng Lock ("Stronger safeguards needed for inter-bank transfers", June 20). We thank the writer for the suggestion to implement additional safeguards for large transfers. MAS will consider the suggestion as part of efforts to better protect customers against fraudulent or erroneous transfers.
/jlne.ws/4l0YVW9
Court sets out buy-out offer details for Sound Global's former chairman to purchase shares from minority shareholders
SFC
The Court of First Instance has determined the buy-out offer details for former chairman and executive director of Sound Global Ltd. (Sound Global), Mr Wen Yibo, to purchase shares in the company held by minority shareholders. The court decision came after Wen was found to have orchestrated a scheme to falsify Sound Global's bank balances and fabricate bank statements and balance confirmations (Notes 1 to 3).
/jlne.ws/3Td1gkr
SFC and HKMA conclude annual update to Financial Services Providers list under OTC derivatives regulatory regime
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today issued joint consultation conclusions on the annual update to the list of Financial Services Providers (FSP List) (Note 1) under the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives clearing regime. Having considered market feedback, the SFC and HKMA will implement the proposed change to the FSP List as set out in the joint consultation paper (Note 2). The consultation conclusions paper and updated FSP List are available on the websites of the SFC and HKMA (Note 3).
/jlne.ws/3TdSpPv
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Palantir Short Sellers Bail as Top S&P 500 Stock Keeps Climbing
Ryan Vlastelica - Bloomberg
Investors betting against Palantir Technologies Inc. are throwing in the towel as the software maker's shares keep pushing higher, aided by fervent retail traders and heightened geopolitical tensions. Short interest in Palantir as a percentage of shares available to trade is about 2%, down from a high of 5% in October, according to data from S3 Partners. The stock has rallied nearly 300% over that span, handing short sellers paper losses of roughly $7 billion.
/jlne.ws/4nmbZGS
Short Sellers Upped Worldline Bets Days Before Fraud Reports
Neil Callanan, Lisa Pham, and Tasos Vossos - Bloomberg
Short sellers raised their wagers against Worldline SA's bonds and shares in the days leading up to news reports that the French firm allegedly covered up fraud by some of its customers. The amount of bonds maturing in 2030 out on loan - a measure of short interest - rose to almost 78 million on Tuesday, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. That's more than three times the level on June 12. Meanwhile, short interest as measured by the percent of outstanding shares out on loan has risen by more than two percentage points over the past week, according to the data.
/jlne.ws/44kFIr6
The experiment is back: why accounting firms are considering life on public markets; Listing by MHA prompts shift in thinking as firms consider alternatives to selling to private equity
Ellesheva Kissin and Stephen Foley - Financial Times
When RSM Tenon, the UK's first publicly listed accounting firm, collapsed in 2013, it marked the failure of the profession's decade-long experiment with the public markets. A number of acquisitions left the UK's then top-10 auditor saddled with debt it couldn't service and accounting errors that regulators put down to "extensive misconduct". RSM Tenon was put into administration and investors moved on. But the experiment is suddenly back on. In a profession that historically operated as private partnerships, advisers and executives are predicting a wave of initial public offerings in the next few years.
/jlne.ws/44iNvpz
Markets should watch out for the summer fling; Keep an eye on the yen and other areas of consensus as temperatures rise
Katie Martin - Financial Times
The summer months are a time for taking a break, basking in the sunshine with friends and family, and financial markets going loopy for little or no obvious reason. As we approach the season in the northern hemisphere and markets start their usual process of thinning out and flapping around, there's every danger of some kind of flare-up in the coming months.
/jlne.ws/45DIbzn
Platinum Jumps to Highest Since 2014 on Mounting Supply Concerns
Yihui Xie and Jack Ryan - Bloomberg
Platinum surged to its highest level since 2014 as supply concerns and a wave of speculative buying jolted the market. The precious metal surged as much as 4.6%, while palladium was up more than 5% at one point. Gold edged higher as investors waited for clearer signs that Israel-Iran tensions won't spill over again, and for more certainty on the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.
/jlne.ws/4lqSStJ
US Ranchers Finally Moving to Increase Cattle Supplies, JBS Says
Gerson Freitas Jr - Bloomberg
US ranchers are moving to expand their herds from a seven-decade low, paving the way for a long-awaited recovery in beef supplies, according to top producer JBS NV. "We are into herd rebuild right now," Wesley Batista Filho, chief executive officer of the Brazilian company's North American business, said in an interview. "The economic incentives are there, the weather is helping."
/jlne.ws/3TGh13t
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | The US is failing its green tech 'Sputnik moment'; Prejudice and protectionism are dismantling Joe Biden's environmental legacy
Alan Beattie - Financial Times
At least the Soviet Union only produced one "Sputnik moment", when the launch of its orbiting satellite in 1957 administered a galvanising shock to the US scientific and defence establishment. America's current superpower rival, China, is claiming them on a regular basis, the launch of the DeepSeek AI large language models being one among several. But for an array of green technologies, notably batteries and electric vehicles, the US seems content to shrug and let China win.
/jlne.ws/44oBsHi
Fintech Startup Lana Raises Funds To Back APAC Corporates In Cutting Energy And Carbon Costs - Liminal, A Venture Creation Group Founded By Temasek, And Twynam Investments Join Lana To Accelerate Energy Transition Financing
Mondovisione
Lana, a pioneering finance platform for corporate decarbonization, today announced the successful closure of its first funding round from Liminal, a venture creation group founded by Temasek and Twynam Investments. The platform addresses the urgent challenge facing APAC CFOs: rising energy costs and looming carbon taxes that threaten corporate margins as the region transitions to new energy models.
/jlne.ws/44d8UBP
Solar Manufacturer Meyer Burger's US Units File for Bankruptcy
Libby Cherry - Bloomberg
Meyer Burger Technology AG's US operations have filed for Chapter 11 proceedings with the aim of selling all or most of the Swiss-headquartered solar manufacturer's assets in the country. Meyer Burger (Holding) Corp. sought court protection on Wednesday in Delaware, listing liabilities of between $500 million and $1 billion, alongside assets between $100 million and $500 million in its petition. Creditors will provide up to $10 million in debtor-in-possession financing to help fund the sales transactions, according to court filings.
/jlne.ws/3TGaHca
UK Won't Back 2,500-Mile UK-Morocco Subsea Power Cable Project
Will Mathis - Bloomberg
The UK government won't back the £24 billion ($33 billion) Xlinks First Ltd. project to bring renewable energy from Morocco via undersea cables, according to a person familiar with the matter. Xlinks wanted the government to offer a so-called contract for difference, which would guarantee a fixed price for the power the project would bring to the UK, the person said, asking for anonymity because the matter is not public. The contracts are the standard way that the country incentivizes the construction of new offshore wind farms.
/jlne.ws/44iShTJ
Meta Inks More Clean Energy Deals with Developer Invenergy
Mark Chediak - Bloomberg
Meta Platforms Inc. signed four contracts with closely held renewable energy developer Invenergy for wind and solar power as part of the Facebook-owner's push to secure clean sources of electricity for its operations and data centers. The agreements involve projects in three US states with a total capacity of 791 megawatts, the companies said in a statement. The electricity will supply local power grids while Meta will get the clean energy credits tied to the new generation.
/jlne.ws/3TIF7dW
The AI Boom Can Give Rooftop Solar a New Pitch; The renewables industry could play a key role in helping the electricity grid combat its biggest challenge in decades.
Liam Denning - Bloomberg
Rooftop solar has often been sold as a way of going off-grid. Facing a crisis, it needs a new pitch: Helping that same grid cope with the demands of the artificial intelligence boom. Federal credits for rooftop solar are poised on a knife edge in the giant tax bill wending its way through Congress. Current Senate language looks set to chop them to zero in short order, although one Senator indicated this week that some unspecified relief may yet surface in future drafts. Absent a significant revision, that the solar-allergic House majority could live with, this would be the third big blow to the industry in as many years; the others being cuts to state incentives, particularly in California, and higher interest rates. Installations fell last year for the first time since 2018. Shares of the number one installer, Sunrun Inc., are down by almost a quarter so far this year and almost 90% over the past four years. Two large firms, Sunnova Energy International Inc. and loan provider Solar Mosaic LLC, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.
/jlne.ws/40pg1V4
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | JC Flowers-Backed Jefferson Capital's IPO Raises $150 Million
Georgie McKay and Anthony Hughes - Bloomberg
Jefferson Capital Inc. and some of its backers raised $150 million in an initial public offering, pricing shares at the bottom of the range. The company, which buys charged-off consumer debt, and the investors sold 10 million shares for $15 apiece, according to a statement Wednesday. The shares were marketed in a range of $15 to $17 each, an earlier US Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed.
/jlne.ws/4l0Rs9z
Marex and NatWest announce cooperative margin offsetting agreement to benefit FX clients
Marex
Marex and NatWest today announce their cooperation to deliver a new cross margining solution. The new service enables clients that access FX Futures through Marex, and FX prime brokerage services through NatWest's markets business, to receive margin relief. The collaboration ensures both Marex and NatWest can expand their service offering, whilst focussing on client satisfaction. Terry Hollingsworth, Global Head of Futures & OTC Clearing Sales, Marex, commented: "This collaboration means we are able to gain access to new clients and provide them with our best-in-class Clearing service. We are excited to be cooperating with NatWest, providing our clients with access to a margin offset for their FX prime brokerage services, complementing our own Prime services offering."
/jlne.ws/4nktUOg
Citadel Securities Can't Ignore China, Asia-Pacific Head Says
Bei Hu and Lulu Yilun Chen - Bloomberg
Citadel Securities LLC, Ken Griffin's market-making giant, cannot ignore China as a global business, its Asia-Pacific head Vikesh Kotecha said. Confirming the company is applying for a securities license in China, Kotecha cited the country's contribution to the global economy and continuing development of its capital markets. He also lauded the depth, size and quality of the local talent pool along with recent innovations such as the DeepSeek artificial intelligence model.
/jlne.ws/3HTvAyf
US Bank Stocks Revival Depends on Relaxed Rules and Deal Recovery
Georgie McKay - Bloomberg
Loosening regulations, the steady drumbeat of dealmaking, elevated interest rates: It's a recipe for US banking stocks shares to rip higher. Lenders have been an underdog in the broader market's blistering rally for the past couple years. Now, with stress test results and the easing of bank capital rules on the horizon, many on Wall Street see a chance for the sector to break out.
/jlne.ws/44l0SFF
Citi Rides Hedge Fund Volatility to Trillion-Dollar Growth in FX
Todd Gillespie - Bloomberg
Flavio Figueiredo's flight had just lifted off the ground in London when President Donald Trump announced sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs in April, setting off the biggest daily electronic trading volume ever seen by the Citigroup Inc. executive's global foreign-exchange team. Such unexpected bouts of market turmoil - as well as the bank's investments in talent and technology - have helped drive a trillion-dollar increase in FX volumes traded by Citigroup's hedge fund clients. In this year's first four months, the firm saw such business jump about 23% to a record $6.1 trillion from a year earlier.
/jlne.ws/40qOCCe
Hedge Funds
Wall Street Pitches Sci-Fi ETFs for Robots, UFOs, Quantum Bets
Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
In a speculative corner of the ETF world, artificial intelligence is fast becoming yesterday's trade. Instead, the next disruptive bet on humanity's fate is moving into the realm of science fiction: Humanoid robots, UFOs and quantum computing. To a niche band of opportunistic fund managers, these aren't far-flung fantasies - they're frontier investments for risk-loving tech maximalists and beyond.
/jlne.ws/3TN3Bmc
Hedge Fund Magellan Capital's Office Searched by Dubai Regulator
Omar El Chmouri, Hema Parmar, Nishant Kumar, and Abeer Abu Omar - Bloomberg
Dubai's financial regulator conducted a search last month at the offices of Magellan Capital Limited, following complaints from a former trader who claimed a senior executive at the hedge fund startup had concealed investment losses and prevented staff from flagging risks. Officials at the Dubai Financial Services Authority went through laptops and company phones as part of the search, according to people familiar with the matter. Some employees were questioned in conference rooms, the people said, declining to be identified as the information is private.
/jlne.ws/4eiEWiY
Carlyle Makes New Retail Fund Push to Buy and Sell PE Stakes
Dawn Lim - Bloomberg
Carlyle Group Inc. is rolling out new funds for individuals that will buy and sell secondhand private equity fund stakes. The bet it's wagering: Mini-millionaires, rather than billionaires, will fuel the next wave of expansion in a growing corner of finance known as the secondaries market.
/jlne.ws/442gNd1
Private Markets
BlackRock Deepens Push Into Private Investments for the Masses; World's largest asset manager is preparing to offer its own target-date fund with private equity and private credit
Anne Tergesen - The Wall Street Journal
BlackRock is accelerating a push into private investments by including them in funds for 401(k) retirement plans. The world's largest asset manager plans to offer a 401(k) target-date fund with a 5% to 20% allocation to private investments, depending on an investor's age, in the first half of 2026, the company said. As a step toward that goal, BlackRock is expected to say Thursday that it is providing public and some private investments for a 401(k) target-date fund offered by Great Gray Trust Co., which offers 401(k) investments.
/jlne.ws/4nlbFYZ
Private Equity
Carlyle Makes New Retail Fund Push to Buy and Sell PE Stakes
Dawn Lim - Bloomberg
Carlyle Group Inc. is rolling out new funds for individuals that will buy and sell secondhand private equity fund stakes. The bet it's wagering: Mini-millionaires, rather than billionaires, will fuel the next wave of expansion in a growing corner of finance known as the secondaries market.
/jlne.ws/442gNd1
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | London Office Bought by Goldman in 2018 Back on Sale at 30% Off
Natasha Voase - Bloomberg
An office overlooking the River Thames that was bought by a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led venture in 2018 has been put back on the market for roughly the amount of debt secured against it, a more than 30% discount to its previous asking price. Brokers at Savills Plc and Knight Frank have been appointed to sell Vintners Place and the adjoining Thames Court, seeking bids of £140 million ($192 million), according to a statement. That's down from £208 million when a venture between Goldman and developer Greycoat attempted to sell the properties in 2022, according to a report published by Savills at the time.
/jlne.ws/4ltITnx
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | RFK Jr.'s New Vaccine Advisers to Re-Examine Shot Advice for Children; Panel's new chairman questions hepatitis B vaccine timing, even as CDC nominee says vaccines save lives
Liz Essley Whyte and Dominique Mosbergen - The Wall Street Journal
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new panel of vaccine advisers will re-evaluate the recommended schedule for vaccines for children and teenagers, including for measles and hepatitis B, its new chairman said Wednesday. The new slate of advisers met for the first time Wednesday in Atlanta, kicking off a two-day meeting with an agenda partially set by political appointees. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, the nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez, told senators she believes vaccines save lives and there is no causal link between vaccines and autism.
/jlne.ws/4nmeWYe
RFK Jr. Pulls US Funding for Vaccines for the World's Poorest
Ashleigh Furlong - Bloomberg
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the US will cut funding to the organization responsible for vaccinating children in poor countries, a move experts warned will result in unnecessary deaths. The US will no longer fund Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, due to concerns over its approach to vaccine safety, Kennedy said in pre-recorded remarks to the agency's meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. It confirms a decision leaked in March in US funding documents, and reverses a pledge made under the previous Biden administration to give at least $1.58 billion to the organization.
/jlne.ws/4es0BFI
Supreme Court ruling allows states to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood
PBS
A divided Supreme Court allowed states to cut off Medicaid money to Planned Parenthood in a ruling handed down Thursday amid a wider Republican-backed push to defund the country's biggest abortion provider. The case centers on funding for other health care services Planned Parenthood provides in South Carolina, but the ruling could have broader implications for Medicaid patients. The court split 6-3 in the opinion, with the three liberal justices dissenting.
/jlne.ws/4esqZPO
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | JPMorgan Sees China Leveraging Clean Tech for Geopolitical Gain
Natasha White and Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
China is likely to step up efforts to use its clean-tech transition as a pathway to economic and geopolitical dominance, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s global head of sustainable solutions. The world's second-largest economy "is leveraging its early investment into green technologies not just for economic benefit but for geopolitical advantage as well," JPMorgan's Chuka Umunna said during a panel at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit on Thursday. "I think we are going to see that more pronounced, how these issues play into geopolitics."
/jlne.ws/4ek0qMm
The World's Biggest Users of Cocaine Are in Australia
Angus Whitley - Bloomberg
Australia and New Zealand are the world's biggest users of cocaine, as global consumption of the illicit drug reaches record highs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in its latest report. While more people use cocaine in the Americas than anywhere else, per-capita consumption is most prevalent in Australia and New Zealand, according to the World Drug Report 2025. Waste-water analysis suggests most people there are using cocaine only occasionally, the report said.
/jlne.ws/44kqEd0
Korea Overhauls Liquidity Framework to Curb Market Volatility
Heesu Lee - Bloomberg
The Bank of Korea said it's revamping its liquidity tools as it seeks to boost its ability to respond during periods of financial market stress. Starting July 10, the central bank will conduct both buying and selling of repurchase agreements, or repos, on fixed days, shifting away from a model focused largely on liquidity absorption through sales. It will offer 14-day repo purchases on Tuesdays to better manage short-term funding mismatches. Currently, BOK offers 7-day repo sales every Thursdays and conducts repo purchases on an ad-hoc basis.
/jlne.ws/3IhBCZm
China Opens First Offshore Gold Vault in Hong Kong
Yihui Xie and Sybilla Gross - Bloomberg
The Shanghai Gold Exchange has expanded outside mainland China for the first time, with the rollout of two new contracts and a bullion vault in Hong Kong. The launch serves a number of purposes, from broadening the Shanghai bourse's international reach, to strengthening China's clout in commodity and currency markets and Hong Kong's status as a financial center.
/jlne.ws/4eimcQy
Hong Kong Intervenes to Defend FX Peg as Local Currency Drops
Bloomberg News
Hong Kong's de-facto central bank spent more than a billion dollars propping up the city's currency, as it sought to defend a peg that has been strained by volatility in the greenback. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority took HK$9.42 billion ($1.2 billion) out of circulation after the exchange rate touched the weak end of its dollar peg, marking the first time it stepped in to offer support since May 2023. In earlier weeks, the monetary authority had injected liquidity into the financial system to rein in gains in the Hong Kong dollar as the US currency declined.
/jlne.ws/45J19EQ
The Waning Ambitions of China's $1.3 Trillion Fund Giant
Bloomberg News
China's $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund spent years as one of the most sought-after investors in the world. It owned massive stakes in Blackstone Inc. and Morgan Stanley, struck deals with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and plowed tens of billions of dollars into funds across Wall Street. Today, China Investment Corp. is in retreat from the world's largest economy, caught in the crosshairs as tensions with the US throw up investment roadblocks and Beijing seeks to lower risk by reining in the massive fund. CIC is reducing its exposure to US private assets, and had explored a sale of some fund stakes held with US private equity managers before pulling it, Bloomberg News reported this week.
/jlne.ws/3GgoEus
Drone maker Raphe raises $100m in India's largest defense startup deal; New Delhi's use of UAVs against Pakistan has boosted interest in sector
Sayan Chakraborty - Nikkei Asia
/jlne.ws/3IgEOV9
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Jes Staley Loses Appeal Over Jeffrey Epstein Ban; Judge says end to former Barclays CEO's career is 'inevitable consequence' of his conduct
Joe Wallace and Caitlin McCabe - The Wall Street Journal
Jes Staley has failed in a long-shot bid to clear his name, with a U.K. tribunal upholding a financial-industry ban imposed over how he portrayed his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The former Barclays chief executive subjected himself to two weeks in court this spring to make his case. But a London judge on Thursday sided with the U.K.'s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, which found that Staley didn't fully disclose the terms of his relationship with Epstein.
/jlne.ws/44HUVD5
***** Here is the Bloomberg version of this story.~JJL
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