| March 18, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The major league baseball season opened today in Tokyo with the Chicago Cubs playing the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Tokyo Dome. The Dodgers prevailed 4-1 in the opening game of a two-game series that featured a number of Japanese-born players, including the uber popular Shohei Ohtani.
I made it as far as the northside of Atlanta yesterday on my trek back to Chicago, stopping in a Hampton Inn near the Robins Air Force Base. My next stop is Indianapolis, where I will have dinner with Pat Shettle, a longtime friend I met at Purdue, who is the godfather to my son Tim. His wife Manet, Tim's godmother, and their daughter Rachel, are on a trip to New Zealand in search of Hobbits. It turns out Manet is a big J.R.R. Tolkien fan who wrote to Tolkien and got a response when she was in middle school. Unfortunately, an older brother stole the letter, which is lost.
I hope to make it to Elmhurst after dinner, so it will be a long day of driving.
Tomorrow we will start rolling out the first of our 30 video interviews from FIA Boca, sponsored by OCC. Several are already edited. I just need to review them and write them up before we can publish them.
I am not sure how I missed this from February, but Microstrategy renamed itself just "Strategy" and adopted the bitcoin orange as a color, representing energy, intelligence and Bitcoin. It also adopted a stylized B as its logo, representing its Bitcoin strategy. It bills itself as "the world's first and largest Bitcoin Treasury Company." Before it jumped into Bitcoin in a big way, Microstrategy was a business intelligence (BI) company, primarily focused on providing software solutions for data analytics and business intelligence.
The News about Nasdaq opening a second or regional headquarters in Texas is making my EDGX joke about Cboe opening an office in San Antonio and renaming it BorderX more prescient.
Nasdaq announced it will honor Ross Perot Jr. with the inaugural Nasdaq Lifetime Achievement Award for his extraordinary contributions to Texas' economic growth and innovation. Perot, known for pioneering projects like the Fort Worth Alliance Airport and the AllianceTexas development, has played a key role in shaping the state's economy. As a founder of Hillwood and a co-founder of Perot Systems, Perot's impact extends across real estate, technology, and philanthropy. Governor Greg Abbott will also highlight the "Texas Miracle" during the event, emphasizing the state's culture of entrepreneurship and its global economic leadership. Perot's legacy includes transformative investments and his ongoing commitment to fostering innovation and job creation in Texas.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: Sticky inflation and decoupling to maintain volatility - report, ZISHI to host artificial intelligence governance, leadership webinars, ANALYSIS: Solana latest delivery in CME's nascent crypto market, ANALYSIS: ISDA working with regulators on Basel bank capital rules, Cboe's Hocking appointed to special advisory role at OCC and Nearly nine in ten listed firms use over-the-counter derivatives - ISDA.
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:
- Clear Street partners with Blue Ocean Technologies to enable 24/6 trading from The Trade.
- OCC Reappoints Six Board Members, Names Robert Hocking as Special Advisor to the Chairman from the OCC.
- Robinhood Ramps Up Prediction Markets Offering in Time for March Madness from Barron's. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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With beer drinking down in US, barley farmers now fear tariffs
Heather Schlitz - Reuters
Overdue loans and mounting interest payments often weigh on Montana barley grower Mitch Konen as he bales hay and loads trailers at his remote farm overlooking the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. As spring sunshine warms the fields, Konen, 65, and other barley farmers worry tariffs will take away crucial export markets and increase the cost to grow the grains, even as sinking U.S. beer consumption has slashed demand for barley.
/jlne.ws/4hhOj2s
***** Who knew my personal consumption changes would have such a profound impact on the industry?~JJL
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Stricter truck pollution rule would prevent 500 deaths a year in Chicago region, study shows
Nara Schoenberg - The Chicago Tribune
Switching to stricter California-style limits on truck emissions would prevent 500 deaths per year in the greater Chicago region by 2050, according to a new study from Northwestern University. The study also found that 600 new childhood asthma cases would be prevented each year by 2050, and that neighborhoods with higher percentages of Black and Latino residents would see the greatest health benefits. "It does show that we can do better," said lead author Victoria Lang. "And we can do better in such a way that not only are we preventing premature loss of life, but also just making cleaner and more equitable neighborhoods."
/jlne.ws/41A1J43
****** The word "stricter" has been removed from the regulatory rule book in Washington, DC, so the chances of something like this happening are slim and slimmer.~JJL
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Border Patrol Has Seized More Eggs Than Fentanyl So Far This Year
Sophie Clark - Newsweek
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized more egg products from United States borders this year than it has seized pounds of fentanyl. Statistics from the CBP website show that so far in 2025, the agency has seized 5,938 egg products and 1,631 pounds of fentanyl coming into the US.
/jlne.ws/3RgOMal
******* But did they look in the eggs for the fentanyl? That is where I would hide it.~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our top story on Monday was New York Magazine's Shayne Coplan's Big Bet Is Paying Off He upended political polling by creating the billion-dollar betting platform Polymarket. But is it legal? (Also, Shayne Coplan was our MarketsWiki Page of the Day.) Second was Beyond 60/40: Using Options-Based Strategies in Portfolios, from Cboe. Third was Goodbye, church ... Hello, Wellness Industrial Complex!, a podcast from NPR.
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| Lead Stories | Investors slash US equity holdings by most ever, BofA survey shows; Threat to global growth from Trump's trade tariffs sparks 'bull crash' in fund manager sentiment
Mari Novik, Ian Smith and Emily Herbert - Financial Times
Investors made the "biggest ever" cut to their US equity allocations in March, as President Donald Trump's erratic trade war sparked fears over the US economy and prompted a heavy Wall Street sell-off. Allocations to US equities plunged 40 percentage points, from 17 per cent overweight in February to net underweight 23 per cent in March, according to Bank of America's closely watched survey of fund managers. Stagflation fears, the global trade war and an end of US exceptionalism were cited as drivers of a "bull crash" in sentiment. The month-on-month decline in investor sentiment is the survey's largest since the Covid-19 drop in March 2020.
/jlne.ws/3FvEIrp
Euronext Sees Investors Moving Money to Europe in US Rethink
Claudia Cohen and Tom Mackenzie - Bloomberg
Euronext NV Chief Executive Officer Stephane Boujnah said investors are increasingly moving money to Europe amid prospects for higher government spending and as investors reevaluate the US markets. The policies of the Trump administration in the US have created "massive volatility," accelerating a flow of funds globally to Europe, where valuations remain cheaper, Boujnah said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. "Trump's policies have injected massive volatility in the market, in particular with the hesitation on tariffs every day", Boujnah said. "There is a fundamental rethinking of investing in the US for European firms, because it is becoming a fundamentally different country."
/jlne.ws/4bxSTIF
Nasdaq Plans Second U.S. Headquarters in Texas; The stock exchange operator's Dallas plan is another sign of 'Y'all Street's' growing threat to New York's financial dominance
Corrie Driebusch - The Wall Street Journal
Nasdaq, long associated with its prime Times Square location, will soon be opening its first regional headquarters in Dallas, according to people familiar with the plans. It's the latest push by a New York institution into Texas, which is trying to unseat the Northeast as the epicenter of U.S. business. The details: The stock exchange operator is establishing a regional headquarters later this year in Dallas, the seat of so-called Y'all Street, serving Texas and the entire Southeast. The focus of the office won't be solely on winning listings (often viewed as the prestige business of a stock exchange), according to people familiar with the matter. It will also house part of Nasdaq's technology and financial crime management businesses, which help Nasdaq clients detect fraud and money laundering.
/jlne.ws/3DRpgFD
DTCC plans to offer 24-hour equities clearing in Q2 2026
Reuters
Market infrastructure company Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) said on Tuesday it plans to increase its clearing services operating hours to support extended U.S. equities trading in the second quarter of 2026, according to a statement.
/jlne.ws/4iAhTkQ
Unit of Stuttgart bourse gets OK for blockchain-based trading system in Switzerland
Reuters
Switzerland's financial market regulator FINMA has granted a Swiss subsidiary of the Stuttgart Stock Exchange a licence to operate a blockchain-based trading system in the country, the unit, BX Digital, said on Tuesday. The core element of the new BX Digital trading system is direct settlement and transfer of assets via a blockchain based on the Ethereum operating system, without the need for intermediaries such as central securities depositories.
/jlne.ws/4hzy9BL
The US establishment is scared of its own shadow; Fear and muddled thinking are stopping Trump's opponents from acting in defence of a democracy in peril
Edward Luce - Financial Times
"We will never, ever, in any way, shape or form be part of the United States," says Mark Carney, Canada's new prime minister, about Donald Trump's designs on his country. "It's crazy. It's very simple. That's all you can say." That message would make no sense coming from a US governor, president of an Ivy League university or a Fortune 500 chief executive. But there is nothing to stop them from sharing Carney's spirit of defiance. Many who in fair weather routinely cite the heroism that launched the US republic have held their tongues since the storm clouds arrived. When a government fears the people there is liberty, goes the saying, but when a people fear their government there is tyranny. The US establishment lives in dread of the kraken.
/jlne.ws/4kxV2bg
SEC to Prioritize Review of Mutual Fund ETF Applications
Lydia Beyoud - Bloomberg
Acting Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mark Uyeda wants the regulator to move faster in reviewing applications to launch novel exchange-traded funds like the one filed by Dimensional Fund Advisors. "More than two years have passed since the most recent set of exemptive applications for ETF share class relief was filed," Uyeda said Monday in prepared remarks at an Investment Company Institute event in San Diego.
/jlne.ws/4iAr8l2
CME Group Expands Credit Products with High Yield Duration-Hedged Futures
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced the first day of trading in High Yield Duration-Hedged Credit futures, its fourth contract based on Bloomberg corporate bond indexes. The new product enables investors to manage credit exposure with greater precision as demand for fixed income hedging tools continues to grow. "In an environment driven by uncertainty, our high yield and investment grade credit futures provide highly efficient risk management solutions for corporate bonds, interest rates, equities and other assets," said Agha Mirza, CME Group Global Head of Rates and OTC Products.
/jlne.ws/4ieZIkW
Spain's Biggest Bank Is Making a Big Push in the U.S.; Santander is pursuing new customers through deals with Verizon and others
Gina Heeb - The Wall Street Journal
Spanish banking giant Santander is pushing to expand its U.S. operations through a partnership that taps into Verizon's vast customer base. The two companies have struck a deal that will let some of Verizon's millions of customers earn bill credits if they open a high-yield savings account with Santander's new digital bank platform and meet certain balance thresholds.
/jlne.ws/3DLqP8a
Jamie Dimon Unloads on the Proxy Duopoly; The JPMorgan CEO tells the truth about Glass Lewis and ISS.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon unloaded on the proxy advisory duopoly of Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services this week, and it's hard to think of two companies more deserving of the lashing. Let 'em have it, Jamie. Glass Lewis and ISS provide recommendations to asset managers on how to vote their shares on proxy ballots. Pension funds, college endowments, foundations and mutual fund providers outsource their voting to the two firms, which make up 90% of the proxy advisory market. But the firms have conflicts of interest and don't do adequate due diligence.
/jlne.ws/4hCWGWl
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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. | Powell Contends With Double Threat of Economic Chaos and Political Hostility; Federal Reserve is navigating the fog of a trade war from an administration ready to blame officials for any economic slowdown
Nick Timiraos - The Wall Street Journal
Not long ago, it looked like Jerome Powell's final test as Federal Reserve chair would be to stick the soft landing. Now, with about one year left in his term, he faces a serious complication: navigating a trade war that threatens to push prices up while weakening the economy. During a seven-year tenure that included Donald Trump's first trade war, a pandemic, historic inflation and high-profile bank failures, Powell's final act also unfolds with an imperative to preserve the institution's apolitical DNA that protects its autonomy in setting interest rates.
/jlne.ws/3FD8eeY
U.K. business minister flies to Washington urging Trump to spare Britain from steel import tariffs
AFP via Fortune
UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will meet US counterparts in Washington on Tuesday to try to make progress in talks on a trade deal between the two countries.
/jlne.ws/4ihsZLQ
Trump Team Explored Simplified Plan for Reciprocal Tariffs; Instead of equalizing tariff rates with every nation, Trump's team debated sorting trading partners into tiers
Gavin Bade, Josh Dawsey and Vipal Monga - The Wall Street Journal
Trump administration officials are roiled in debate over how to implement the president's pledge to equalize U.S. tariffs with those charged by other nations, with aides scrambling to meet the president's self-imposed deadline of April 2 to debut a plan. Officials have recently weighed whether to simplify the complex task of devising new tariff rates for hundreds of U.S. trading partners by instead sorting nations into one of three tariff tiers, according to people close to the policy discussions, who emphasized that the situation remains fluid and could evolve in the coming weeks. The proposal was later ruled out, said an administration official close to the talks, adding that Trump's team is still trying to sort how to implement an individualized rate for each nation.
/jlne.ws/3FMp4YK
Global Silver Market Faces Strains as Trump's Tariffs Hit
Sybilla Gross - Bloomberg
The silver market faces mounting stress as trade-war concerns intensify, with higher rates to borrow metal adding to signs of global dislocation. A surge in lease rates for the precious metal has become the latest sign of alarm, with anxiety building over the impact of further tariffs from US President Donald Trump. That's sparked a dash to ship silver into the US in a bid to capture premium prices in New York, possibly causing a squeeze in London.
/jlne.ws/4kzasfq
China Halts US LNG Imports as Trade War Reroutes Deliveries
Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
China hasn't imported liquefied natural gas from the US for 40 days, the longest gap in almost two years, as traders are forced to divert shipments elsewhere to avoid Beijing's tariffs on the super-chilled fuel. The barren streak is the most extended since June 2023, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. There currently aren't any US shipments en route to China either, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler, an analytics firm. The trade war provoked by the Trump administration is threatening to decouple the world's biggest LNG seller and buyer. Beijing slapped a 15% tariff on US LNG shipments from Feb. 10 in retaliation for blanket American levies on Chinese exports. In response, Chinese gas buyers with long-term commitments to US projects are reselling those shipments to Europe, according to traders. Firms in China are also reluctant to sign new deals with US facilities, and are looking to procure supply from Asia-Pacific or the Middle East instead.
/jlne.ws/4kYegHd
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| World Conflicts | | News about various conflicts and their military, economic, political and humanitarian impact. | Ukraine Invasion
Trump Discussion With Putin to Focus on What Ukraine Will Lose; In an echo of the Yalta Conference in 1945, the American and Russian leaders will talk on Tuesday about who gets what in the process of ending the war in Ukraine.
David E. Sanger - The New York Times
To hear President Trump describe it, he and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia are about to have something akin to their own Yalta moment, great powers determining borders within Europe. He didn't explicitly refer to the 1945 meeting, where Churchill, Stalin and a deathly ill Franklin D. Roosevelt carved the continent into the American-aligned West and the Soviet-dominated East, creating spheres of influence that became the battlegrounds of the Cold War.
/jlne.ws/4kwUuCz
Putin Wants All Arms to Ukraine Halted for Trump Truce
Bloomberg News
Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding a suspension of all weapons deliveries to Ukraine during a ceasefire proposed by US counterpart Donald Trump, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The two leaders are set to speak by phone on Tuesday about ending the war in Ukraine, with a key objective being the 30-day truce that Kyiv has already said it's ready to accept. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the call is expected to begin at a time between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. in Moscow.
/jlne.ws/4kP4XJR
All-Robot Assault Opens New Chapter in Front-Line Warfare
Alistair MacDonald and Ievgeniia Sivorka - The Wall Street Journal
KHARKIV, Ukraine-In a snowy forest not long after dawn, a four-wheeled drone churned through the mud toward its target: a Russian bunker, where it eventually arrived and exploded. More drones followed. Some moved on land, including ones mounted with machine guns or packed with explosives. Others came by air, dropping munitions and providing a view of the battlefield.
/jlne.ws/4kx0w6b
Putin Doesn't Actually Want Peace
Mikhail Zygar - The New York Times (opinion)
Mr. Zygar is a Russian journalist and the author of the newsletter The Last Pioneer.
There is, at last, a breakthrough in efforts to end the war in Ukraine. After weeks of tortuous recriminations and reprisals, encapsulated by that notorious scene in the Oval Office, the United States and Ukraine last week agreed on a 30-day cease-fire. Military assistance and intelligence sharing, once paused, have resumed. Since President Trump took office, the saga of the war has played out almost entirely between America and Ukraine, with Russia somewhere in the background. Now all eyes are on Moscow.
/jlne.ws/4kSGxyR
Middle East Conflict
Live Updates: Israel Carries Out Deadly Strikes in Gaza and Warns of Intensified Attacks
Yan Zhuang, Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, Patrick Kingsley and Aaron Boxerman - The New York Times
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel would use "increasing military strength" against Hamas after talks with the group reached an impasse. The aerial assault, the first major strikes in Gaza since a truce began in January, killed hundreds, Gazan health officials said. Here are the latest developments. Israeli forces launched large aerial attacks across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday morning, in the first major strikes on the territory since Israel's cease-fire with Hamas began roughly two months ago. Gaza's health ministry said more than 400 people had been killed in the attacks, which raised the prospect of a return to all-out war.
/jlne.ws/4hi2nJd
Israeli Strikes Kill Hundreds, Tipping Gaza Back Toward War; The attacks mark one of the deadliest days since the war began and come after talks to release the remaining hostages broke down
Feliz Solomon, Abeer Ayyoub and Alexander Ward - The Wall Street Journal
Israel launched a series of attacks against Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing more than 400 people, according to Palestinian authorities, and threatening a return to full-scale war after talks to release the remaining hostages held in the enclave stalled out. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the attacks after Hamas failed to release the hostages or accept U.S. proposals for extending a fragile cease-fire that had held for two months, his office said.
/jlne.ws/4kLHglA
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | FIA Boca 2025: How Markets Are Reinventing Resilience
Mela Partners
Market resilience has never been more critical than it is today. At FIA Boca 2025, industry leaders gathered to discuss how global financial markets are adapting to economic uncertainty, regulatory shifts, and technological innovation. The event provided a platform for deep insights and strategic discussions, highlighting both challenges and opportunities ahead. At the Keynote Fireside Chat, Citigroup Chairman John Dugan addressed the economic pressures shaping capital markets. He emphasized the impact of inflation, geopolitical tensions, and interest rate fluctuations on global liquidity. Dugan also spoke about the evolving regulatory environment, underscoring the importance of financial institutions adapting to new compliance standards while ensuring market stability.
/jlne.ws/3Rex7jx
Abaxx Announces C$20,000,000 Convertible Debenture Offering
Abaxx
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (CBOE:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, indirect 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 announces it proposes to raise on a non-brokered private placement basis an aggregate principal amount of up to C$20,000,000 (the "Offering") pursuant to the issuance of secured convertible debentures (the "Debentures") due 36 months following the date of issuance (the "Maturity Date").
/jlne.ws/42bVUep
DTCC's NSCC to Increase Clearing Hours to Support Extended Trading; Move builds upon NSCC's continued efforts to meet evolving client and industry needs while delivering increased value to member firms
DTCC
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced that its National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) subsidiary will increase clearing hours to support extended trading with implementation targeted for Q2 2026, subject to regulatory review and approval of any necessary rule changes. Extending clearing hours will deliver increased client value by maximizing liquidity and reducing counterparty risk as NSCC will be able to apply its central counterparty guarantee to overnight activity across different time zones for global participants.
/jlne.ws/41H3jRM
Korea Exchange seeks global collaboration for nighttime derivatives trading
Chosun Biz
Korea Exchange noted on the 13th that it participated in the 'FIA International Derivatives Conference' held in Boca Raton, USA, to promote key initiatives aimed at enhancing the value of Korea's derivatives market to global institutions. The Futures Industry Association (FIA) hosts this event every March, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, attended by over 2,000 high-level officials from global exchanges, regulatory agencies, and the industry.
/jlne.ws/4kZwyrs
LME provides daily insight into off-warrant stocks
LME
The London Metal Exchange (LME) today confirms that it will make daily reports of off-warrant stocks held in LME warehouses available from 1 April 2025. This will provide market participants with a timely and more comprehensive picture of the holdings of LME-approved metals around the world.
/jlne.ws/3FD5j5Z
Everbright Financial Leasing brings inaugural green bond to LuxSE and LGX
LuxSE
Everbright Financial Leasing brings its inaugural RMB 3 billion green bond to the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LGX) and Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), making it the first Chinese non-banking financial institution to bring an onshore green bond to the exchange.
/jlne.ws/42bIijg
Nasdaq to open regional headquarters in Texas
Reuters
Exchange operator Nasdaq said on Tuesday it will open a new regional headquarters in Dallas, Texas. The announcement comes just a month after rival New York Stock Exchange committed to launch an exchange in the state.
/jlne.ws/43Qwwfy
Nasdaq Deepens Commitment to Texas with Additional Client Investment Across the Region
Nasdaq
Today, at an event hosted by Nasdaq with Governor Greg Abbott, Ross Perot Jr., and top leaders across Texas, Nasdaq will affirm its deep commitment to Texas and its place as an epicenter of growth and innovation across the globe. Nasdaq will also announce plans to make additional investments in the state, designed to enhance the liquidity, transparency, and integrity of the financial ecosystem. These investments will support the broad range of Nasdaq's clients in the region, including corporate issuers, financial institutions, asset managers and asset owners.
/jlne.ws/4hH3ouo
Nasdaq to Convene Texas Business Leaders to Honor the Legacy of Ross Perot Jr.
Nasdaq
Today, Nasdaq will convene top leaders across the Texas economy to celebrate the legacy of Ross Perot Jr. and to discuss strategies for the state's continued economic prosperity. The event will showcase Perot's role in driving Texas' economic success and emphasize the vibrant innovation ecosystem that has been developed under Governor Greg Abbott's tenure.
/jlne.ws/3FyQUro
Nasdaq and nuam Strengthen Technology Partnership to Drive Capital Market Integration in Latin America
Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) and nuam (NUAM: nuam), the merger of Santiago, Lima, and Colombia stock exchanges, today announced an extension of their strategic technology partnership, which will see all three exchanges' central securities depositories (CSD) adopt Nasdaq's CSD platform to optimize post-trade processing in the region. The agreement expands Nasdaq's existing relationship with nuam, with the exchanges currently consolidating their trading infrastructures on Nasdaq's platform to help attract global sources of liquidity. It also builds on Nasdaq's longstanding technology partnership with Chile's CSD, Depósito Central de Valores (DCV), one of the region's most advanced CSD platforms.
/jlne.ws/4iSINof
"We Are Stitching Back Together Fragmented Liquidity."; In a new interview, Simon McQuoid-Mason, Head Equity Product & Quant Research at Exchanges, shares insights on the start of the year, key challenges facing the industry and how SIX is tackling liquidity fragmentation to support trading participants.
SIX
In 2024, the exchanges operated by SIX, SIX Swiss Exchange and BME Exchange, recorded a combined turnover of CHF 1,582,659 million, an increase of 5.6% over the previous year, and welcomed the two biggest IPOs in Europe, with Galderma and Puig. In the first two months of 2025, the combined turnover has progressed by 18.9%.
/jlne.ws/4bCSO6r
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Robots are getting smarter - and that's a good thing; Artificial intelligence boosts automatons' utility beyond the factory floor
The editorial board - Financial Times
The exponential power of scientific innovation has been on show in recent days. In a series of demonstration videos, Google DeepMind unveiled that it had trained a robot to fold an origami fox, organise a desk and slam dunk a small basketball through a hoop. Last month, Microsoft showed off a robot conducting basic kitchen tasks. Both companies are capitalising on advances in artificial intelligence.
/jlne.ws/4ix9P4a
Nvidia Is Hosting the Super Bowl of A.I.; The giant chipmaker has transformed its annual developer conference from an academic event into a who's who gathering for the future of artificial intelligence.
Tripp Mickle - The New York Times
In 2009, when Nvidia held its first developer conference, the event was something of a science fair. Dozens of academics filled a San Jose, Calif., hotel decorated with white poster boards of computer research. Jensen Huang, the chipmaker's chief executive, roamed the floor like a judge. This year, Nvidia's developer conference is far different. More than 25,000 people are expected to congregate on Tuesday at the event, known as Nvidia GTC. The crowds will fill a National Hockey League arena to hear a speech about the future of artificial intelligence from Mr. Huang, who has been nicknamed "A.I. Jesus." Nvidia, the world's leading developer of A.I. chips, has also wrapped San Jose in the company's neon green and black colors, shutting down city streets and sending hotel prices soaring as high as $1,800 a night.
/jlne.ws/4201kYC
The Company Testing Wall Street's Appetite for A.I. Computing Power; CoreWeave, which provides computing power for A.I., was founded by three Bitcoin enthusiasts. The company is now set to make the first prominent A.I. initial public offering.
Eli Tan and Cade Metz - The New York Times
In 2016, three New York commodities traders - Michael Intrator, Brian Venturo and Brannin McBee - fell in love with cryptocurrencies. They were using Bitcoin to bet on pool games and fantasy football and were captivated by its wild swings in price. They soon decided to create more digital currencies through a process called "mining," which requires a lot of computing power. So they logged on to Amazon and ordered two Nvidia graphics processing units, or GPUs, powerful chips that can run calculations and analyze enormous amounts of data. They then stockpiled the components, filling up a garage and a warehouse.
/jlne.ws/3DRelfd
Anthropic set to focus on business users in search for new revenues; AI start-up's product head Mike Krieger says $60bn company is preparing to release features aimed at enterprise market
Cristina Criddle - Financial Times
Artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic is preparing to release a range of new features focused on business users, pitching its AI models at enterprise over seeking mass market adoption. Mike Krieger, the Silicon Valley group's chief product officer, told the Financial Times that it was focused on how computer systems could "help with knowledge work" for "people who spend all day in meetings or in Excel or Google Docs".
/jlne.ws/3FBR69u
Microsoft teams up with AI start-up to simulate brain reasoning; New artificial intelligence learns from real-world experience rather than pre-existing data
Michael Peel - Financial Times
Microsoft has joined forces with a Swiss start-up to deploy a new artificial intelligence model that simulates mammal brains' reasoning powers to advance fields from financial trading to robotics. The partnership between the US tech giant and Lausanne-based inait exploits two decades of digital neuroscience research to mirror biological intelligence and improve AI's capabilities.
/jlne.ws/3FzwG0N
Jack Ma's AI comeback
FT Podcast
/jlne.ws/4iz5ttD
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Google Strikes $32 Billion Deal for Cybersecurity Startup Wiz; A new all-cash deal came together after talks fizzled last summer
Lauren Thomas and Berber Jin - The Wall Street Journal
Google parent Alphabet agreed to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for $32 billion, in a massive bid to bolster its cloud business that has struggled to keep up with rivals. The all-cash deal would be Google's largest ever and also the biggest deal struck so far in 2025. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday evening that the talks between the two companies were advanced and an agreement could be reached soon.
/jlne.ws/3DLsk6i
Google parent Alphabet agrees to buy cyber security group Wiz for $32bn; Previous round of negotiations to purchase group fell through last year
Ivan Levingston, George Hammond and James Fontanella-Khan and Oliver Barnes - Financial Times
Google parent Alphabet has agreed to buy cyber security start-up Wiz for $32bn, the biggest acquisition in the search group's history. Alphabet held talks over a $23bn acquisition of Wiz last year, although the negotiations collapsed after some of the cyber security company's directors and investors became worried about antitrust hurdles.
/jlne.ws/4kZ7q4c
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Canary Capital continues flurry of US crypto ETF filings with Sui proposal
Suzanne McGee - Reuters
Canary Capital Group, a digital assets investment firm, said on Monday that it is seeking the green light from regulators to launch an exchange-traded fund tied to the spot price of Sui, a cryptocurrency associated with Sui Network, a blockchain service provider. That brings Canary's list of cryptocurrency filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission to six, and again extends the roster of new ETF filings on a growing array of coins seeking regulatory approval submitted since the election of President Donald Trump last November.
/jlne.ws/41Bm3lr
SEC could axe proposed Biden-era crypto custody rule, says acting chief; Acting SEC chair Mark Uyeda said he's asked his staff to look at possibly withdrawing a proposed crypto custody rule for investment advisers.
Jesse Coghlan - CoinTelegraph
The US Securities and Exchange Commission could change or scrap a rule proposed under the Biden administration that would tighten crypto custody standards for investment advisers, according to the agency's acting chair, Mark Uyeda. In prepared remarks to an investment industry conference in San Diego on March 17, Uyeda said the rule proposed in February 2023 had seen commenters express "significant concern" over its "broad scope."
/jlne.ws/4izageB
Strategy Plans $500 Million Preferred Stock Deal to Buy Bitcoin
James Crombie - Bloomberg
Strategy plans to sell $500 million of dollar-denominated perpetual preferred stock. The enterprise software company, formerly known as MicroStrategy, intends to use proceeds for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Bitcoin and for working capital. It aims to price the offering later this week after a roadshow consisting of small one-on-one meetings Tuesday and Wednesday. The deal will carry a fixed dividend rate of 10% per annum.
/jlne.ws/4ibnkqv
Trump's World Liberty Financial crypto project says it sold $550 million in tokens
MacKenzie Sigalos - CNBC
President Donald Trump's World Liberty Financial crypto project said on Monday that it raised $250 million in its second token sale, bringing the total amount of coins sold to $550 million. WLFI, a venture backed by the first family that describes itself as a sort of crypto banking platform, launched in October, weeks before Trump's election victory. In a document published at the time of launch, WLFI said the Trump family could take home 75% of net revenue.
/jlne.ws/41UYcx9
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump again implies he is a King in sharing latest AI-generated meme
James Liddell - The Independent
Donald Trump has again appeared to liken himself to a king in an artificial intelligence-generated meme posted to social media. Among a flurry of early morning Truth Social posts early on Monday, the president shared a screenshot of a meme posted by a supporter on X, which they captioned "Kings!" It included a lion sporting a tuxedo and a crown overlaid with the acronym "MAGA" on its chest. The post also teased the Republicans and Democrats with the big cat nestled between an elephant labeled with "GOP" and, furthest in the background, a donkey staring down at the sand branded "DNC." Trump offered no caption nor further context about the AI-generated image.
/jlne.ws/4kP3iE7
Trump Says a Recession Might Be Worth the Cost. Economists Disagree.; President Trump and his advisers say his policies may cause short-term pain but will produce big gains over time. Many economists are skeptical of those arguments.
Ben Casselman - The New York Times
Presidents usually do all they can to avoid recessions, so much so that they avoid even saying the word. But President Trump and his advisers in recent weeks have offered a very different message. Yes, a recession is possible, they have said. Maybe one wouldn't even be that bad. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, has said Mr. Trump's policies are "worth it" even if they cause a recession. Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, has said the economy may need a "detox period" after becoming dependent on government spending. And Mr. Trump has said there will be a "period of transition" as his policies take effect.
/jlne.ws/41TqKXT
Trump Escalates Push Against Legal Norms; President declares Biden pardons void while White House defends deportations despite court order
Jess Bravin - The Wall Street Journal
President Trump escalated his willingness to push legal boundaries as he aggressively pursues his policy objectives, declaring on Monday his predecessor's pardons are void while members of his administration brush aside court orders and the text of federal law on other issues. Trump's envelope-pushing second term reached new heights on two of his top priorities: immigration and paying back his opponents. The administration stood its ground after deporting hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members despite a court order issued Saturday evening, with the White House disclaiming that a federal judge could force flights with the deportees to return to the U.S.
/jlne.ws/4kLDsAO
A Judge Ordered Deportation Planes to Turn Around. The White House Didn't Listen.; A New York Times review of flight data showed that at the time of a federal judge's order, two flights were in the air, and one had not yet taken off.
Luke Broadwater, Albert Sun and Annie Correal - The New York Times
The federal judge's ruling was clear: The Trump administration could not use an obscure wartime law from the 18th century to deport people without a hearing. If any planes were already in the air, the judge said, they should turn back. That did not happen. Instead, the Trump administration sent more than 200 migrants to El Salvador over the weekend, including alleged gang members, on three planes. A New York Times review of the flight data showed that none of the planes in question landed in El Salvador before the judge's order, and that one of them did not even leave American soil until after the judge's written order was posted online.
/jlne.ws/4hlRaax
Musk's Team Evicts Officials at the U.S. Institute of Peace; A bubbling dispute broke into a dramatic standoff that ended with police involvement and the Department of Government Efficiency taking up residence at the independent agency.
Aishvarya Kavi - The New York Times
A simmering dispute between the Department of Government Efficiency and an independent agency dedicated to promoting peace broke into an open standoff involving the police on Monday, as Elon Musk's government cutters marched into the agency's headquarters and evicted its officials.
/jlne.ws/43Su8F3
The North Dakota court battle testing free speech in Donald Trump's America; Greenpeace is being sued by oil group over demonstrations a decade ago. Campaigners say the future of legal protest is at stake
Amanda Chu and Jamie Smyth - Financial Times
Most years, the biggest event in Mandan, a prairie town of less than 25,000 in North Dakota's oil country, is Buggies-n-Blues - the second weekend in June, when Main Street fills with classic cars and live music. This year is turning out to be somewhat different. The courthouse in Mandan is currently hearing a case that has become one of the first judicial showdowns over free speech and protest in the second term of Donald Trump.
/jlne.ws/41Vztcn
Canada's Carney Wants 51st State Talk to Stop Before Talks With U.S. on Economy, Security Ties; Prime minister calls Trump administration's comments 'disrespectful'
Paul Vieira - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3FBVgy1
Why Europe can't rely on French nuclear umbrella alone; France's president opens debate over using country's atomic arsenal as a deterrent against Russia if US scales back its presence
Leila Abboud and Ben Hall and John Paul Rathbone - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4iSNY7q
Everyone Loves German Rearmament; Investors can't buy enough European defense stocks as postwar inhibitions become history.
John Authers - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4iB3k0k
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Trump names Bowman as Fed's top bank cop, signaling shift in regulatory stance
David Hollerith and Jennifer Schonberger - Bloomberg
President Trump said Monday that Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman would be the central bank's new vice chair for supervision, tapping a former Kansas banking commissioner as the Fed's top banking cop. Bowman could take oversight of giant US banks in a new direction as the Trump administration makes it clear it wants to lift constraints on lenders and overhaul a regulatory framework put in place following the 2008 financial crisis.
/jlne.ws/43SuXh7
Rachel Reeves promises to scrap 'unnecessary' financial market reporting rules; UK chancellor to ease requirements on how much data companies have to provide
Martin Arnold, Philip Stafford and George Parker - Financial Times
Rachel Reeves has promised to scrap "duplicative and unnecessary" reporting requirements for financial services companies by rewriting laws inherited from the EU. After a meeting with chief executives of UK fintech companies on Tuesday, the chancellor said the Treasury was working on legislation to ease the rules on how much data companies have to provide to the Financial Conduct Authority.
/jlne.ws/3DQHuam
French Watchdog Ready to Cede Powers to Advance European Market
Nicholas Comfort, Anna Edwards, and Guy Johnson - Bloomberg
A top French financial watchdog said she's willing to transfer some powers to a European Union regulator to help develop the region's notoriously fragmented capital markets. "We are fully ready to relinquish some of our national powers and transfer them to ESMA," Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, chair of the Autorite des Marches Financiers, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. "Regulators or supervisors don't create markets, but having a fragmented supervision for markets in the EU is certainly not helping."
/jlne.ws/4hez0HK
SEC Charges New Jersey Investment Adviser and His Firm with Fraud and Other Violations; Defendants disregarded their 2021 settlement and continued their fraud unabated, causing $1.6 million in harm to their fund and the fund's retail investors
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has filed charges against David Yow Shang Chiueh of East Hanover, New Jersey and his investment advisory firm, Upright Financial Corp., for misconduct and for investing more than 25 percent of Upright Growth Fund's assets in a single company over multiple years, causing losses of $1.6 million.
/jlne.ws/4bDJ1Ns
Remarks to the Investment Company Institute's 2025 Investment Management Conference
Mark T. Uyeda, Acting Chairman - SEC
A core responsibility held by each SEC commissioner is the power to vote on how the agency should exercise its authority granted by the federal securities laws. Some of these votes are on the Commission's various rule proposals and adoptions that govern market participants. My roles as counsel to multiple commissioners, as well as being a rule-writer on the staff in the Division of Investment Management, have given me a unique view into all aspects of the rulemaking process. Rulemaking, when properly conducted, is not an easy task. But the legal and policy changes implemented through rulemaking can have profound effects on investors and the markets. It was a particular privilege to lead the rulemaking team that finalized the mutual fund summary prospectus rule in 2009. I saw first-hand the importance of a robust and informed rulemaking process in producing practical rules that serve the Commission's mission. Not to mention, of course, that this process is required by law.[2]
/jlne.ws/4iSUEm0
SEC Charges Former Public Company CFO with Lying to Auditors and Falsifying Records
SEC
On March 14, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Glen Leibowitz, a New York-licensed CPA and the former chief financial officer (CFO) of Acreage Holdings, Inc., for allegedly lying to Acreage's auditor and falsifying Acreage's accounting records.
/jlne.ws/4iACUM5
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Texas Oil and Gas Promotor and His Companies in Offering Fraud Scheme
SEC
On January 28, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a final judgment against Defendants Leon Ali Parvizian a/k/a Alex Parvizian ("Parvizian") and his two Dallas-based companies, Arcturus Corporation and Aschere Energy LLC (together, "the Parvizian Defendants"). The entry of the final judgment resolves all claims arising out of the SEC's Complaint, filed on December 12, 2013, which alleged that the Parvizian Defendants defrauded investors when they raised over $22 million between 2007 and 2011 through an unregistered offering of interests in six oil and gas well drilling projects, and that Parvizian acted as an unregistered broker. The Complaint charged the Parvizian Defendants with violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. In addition, the Complaint charged Parvizian with violations of Exchange Act Section 15(a).
/jlne.ws/3FAUIsl
SEC Charges New Jersey Investment Adviser and His Firm with Fraud and Other Violations
SEC
Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it has filed charges against David Yow Shang Chiueh of East Hanover, New Jersey and his investment advisory firm, Upright Financial Corp., for misconduct and for investing more than 25 percent of Upright Growth Fund's assets in a single company over multiple years, causing losses of $1.6 million.
/jlne.ws/4iyUn7H
Federal Court freezes assets of Rashid Alshakshir in connection with ASIC's investigations into Shield and First Guardian
ASIC
Following an application made by ASIC, the Federal Court has made orders freezing assets of Rashid Alshakshir, director of Lion & Horn Pty Ltd (in liquidation), Nohap Pty Ltd (in liquidation) and Indigo Group Pty Ltd (in liquidation). ASIC is investigating Mr Alshakshir and various entities associated with him in relation to the provision of marketing services (including lead generation) and the payment for those services, in connection with its investigations into the Shield Master Fund (Shield) and the First Guardian Master Fund (First Guardian). These investigations are ongoing.
/jlne.ws/4ie9B2a
Active Super ordered to pay $10.5 million penalty in ASIC's third greenwashing court action
ASIC
The Federal Court today imposed a penalty of $10.5 million against Active Super for greenwashing misconduct. In June 2024, the Federal Court found that Active Super contravened the law when it invested in various securities that it had claimed were eliminated or restricted by its environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment screens.
/jlne.ws/4hgXQ9R
FMA files criminal charges against David McEwen
FMA
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tatai Hokohoko - has filed criminal charges against former financial adviser David McEwen, for failing to comply with an FMA stop order, due to concerns he is still contacting potential investors.
/jlne.ws/42btKjD
Comments by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Chocolate Finance
MAS
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) notes that Chocolate Finance, an online robo advisory service operated by Chocfin Pte Ltd (Chocfin) has issued a press statement today, to update on the processing of withdrawal requests from their customers made from 10 March onwards.
/jlne.ws/4kPvLtc
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | The Days of Set-and-Forget Investing Just Ended for Many Americans; President Trump's economic policies are sending investors out of U.S. stocks and into cash, bonds, gold and European defense stocks
Joe Pinsker and Owen Tucker-Smith - The Wall Street Journal
For years, Yoram Ariely hadn't touched most of his investments, preferring to ride the stock market's ups and downs. Last Tuesday, he decided he had enough. The 82-year-old unloaded almost half of his stock investments, fearful of the effects of President Trump's economic agenda, and tariffs in particular. He may get rid of more still. "The decisions are changing daily," said Ariely, a retired business owner in Longboat Key, Fla. The Trump administration's chaotic mix of tariffs and government budget cuts have jolted legions of everyday investors, leading them to question the assumption that they should buy and hold stocks on autopilot.
/jlne.ws/3RmBh93
Berkshire Raises Stakes in Japan's Largest Trading Houses
Aya Wagatsuma and Momoka Yokoyama - Bloomberg
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. increased its stakes in Japan's biggest trading houses, a move that is expected to offer support to the wider Tokyo stock market. As foreshadowed three weeks ago in Warren Buffett's annual letter to shareholders, filings to Japan's finance ministry on Monday showed that Berkshire raised its stakes in Mitsubishi Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsui & Co., Itochu Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. The average holding across the five stocks increased by just over one percentage point to about 9.3%, according to the filings.
/jlne.ws/4iqFeFs
Short sellers make $16bn profit from Tesla's share price plunge; Payday follows years of pain for hedge funds that bet against Elon Musk's electric-car maker
George Steer and Costas Mourselas - Financial Times
Hedge fund short sellers have made $16.2bn betting against Tesla's shares as the value of Elon Musk's electric car company has halved over the past three months. Traders positioned to make money from falls in the share price have accumulated the paper profits since the stock's closing high on December 17, according to data provider S3 Partners. Tesla's market value has plunged more than $700bn over the same period, wiping more than $100bn from Musk's net worth.
/jlne.ws/4kwXQ8D
Record Gold Prices, High Unemployment a Boon for UK Pawnbroker
Chloe Meley - Bloomberg
Skyrocketing gold prices and a souring labor market in the UK are expected to boost profits for Britain's largest pawnbroker H&T Group Plc this year. H&T expects unemployment within its core customer base to increase this year, while the cost of living remains high despite inflation easing from peak levels. "Demand for our core pawnbroking service is expected to remain strong in the year ahead, as the need for small sum, short-term lending continues to grow given macroeconomic conditions," the company said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/4bWupsu
Ukraine's Kyivstar Valued at $2.21 Billion in Cohen SPAC Deal
Sarah Jacob - Bloomberg
Veon Ltd. has agreed to a deal to list Kyivstar in New York, giving Ukraine's largest mobile network operator a pro-forma valuation of $2.21 billion. The telecommunications company will list on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker KYIV through a deal with special purpose acquisition company Cohen Circle Acquisition Corp. I, according to a statement on Tuesday. Veon will own at least 80% of Kyivstar shares after the deal closes, which is expected in the third quarter. A letter of intent with Cohen Circle was signed in January.
/jlne.ws/4bAIZGa
Swiss Franc Option Activity Surges as Traders Bet on More Losses
Vassilis Karamanis - Bloomberg
In one of the busiest days in history for Swiss franc options, traders bet big that the currency will extend its recent losses. A total notional of EUR4.6 billion ($5 billion) traded in euro-franc options on Monday, the third largest on record, data from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation show. And almost 90% of the total exposure showed bets on a weaker Swiss currency.
/jlne.ws/4ie6mrw
China's Onshore Markets See Record Inflows Despite Trade Angst
Bloomberg News
/jlne.ws/4bAKt3c
T-Bill Supply Pressure on US Repo Rates Seen Encountering Limit
Alex Harris - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3RhM1Wi
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.'s Scientific Research Arm; More than 1,000 chemists, biologists and other scientists could be laid off under a plan to dismantle the Office of Research and Development.
Lisa Friedman - The New York Times
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, firing as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, according to documents reviewed by Democrats on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. The strategy is part of large-scale layoffs, known as a "reduction in force," being planned by the Trump administration, which is intent on shrinking the federal work force. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the E.P.A., has said he wants to eliminate 65 percent of the agency's budget. That would be a drastic reduction - one that experts said could hamper clean water and wastewater improvements, air quality monitoring, the cleanup of toxic industrial sites, and other parts of the agency's mission.
/jlne.ws/3DOZtxN
Morgan Stanley Went Big on DEI, and No One Is Happy About It; Black and white employees say the efforts added to a divisive culture. Now, as political pressure rises, the bank is watering down initiatives.
AnnaMaria Andriotis and Lauren Weber - The Wall Street Journal
Across America, corporate diversity initiatives are in the crosshairs of legal activists and a Trump administration set on wiping them out. At Morgan Stanley, the backlash bubbled up from within. After George Floyd's murder in 2020, the investment bank's then-CEO James Gorman called out "unresolved racial injustice" in society and vowed Morgan Stanley would be part of the solution. The bank created an Institute for Inclusion with external advisers to guide its efforts and pledged to boost the share of racial minorities in its executive ranks, where it trailed rivals.
/jlne.ws/41z4hPQ
Amid 'DEI' purge, Pentagon removes webpage on Iwo Jima flag-raiser; Pages celebrating Navajo code talkers and other minority service members were also erased.
Jon Swaine and Alex Horton - The Washington Post
Until recently, a page on the Defense Department's website celebrated Pfc. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian who was one of the six Marines photographed hoisting a U.S. flag on Iwo Jima in 1945, as an emblem of the "contributions and sacrifices Native Americans have made to the United States, not just in the military, but in all walks of life." But the page, along with many others about Native American and other minority service members, has now been erased amid the Trump administration's wide-ranging crackdown on what it says are "diversity, equity and inclusion" efforts in the federal government, a review by The Washington Post found.
/jlne.ws/3DQHJSO
The Business Case for Green Energy; Companies are rolling back climate commitments, but investing for sustainability is financially prudent.
Al Gore and David Blood - The Wall Street Journal
It seems like yesterday that we, as advocates for a sustainable economy, had the wind in our sails. At the 2021 United Nations climate change conference in Glasgow, many of the world's largest asset managers, banks and insurers pledged to decarbonize their investment portfolios, loans and insurance policies in line with the Paris Agreement. The world today looks very different. Many of the Glasgow signatories are stepping back from their commitments. Others are playing down their climate action to avoid controversy. Particularly in the U.S., the fossil-fuel industry, its allies and captive policymakers seek to punish companies and investors pursuing sustainability goals with frivolous lawsuits, smear campaigns and the withdrawal of state-controlled funds under management.
/jlne.ws/42bWQzr
Russia Is Wooing Arctic Gas Buyers With Life After US Sanctions
Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
From a cramped booth in a crowded conference center on New Delhi's outskirts, executives from one of Russia's biggest energy firms made their sales pitch to Indian buyers - take our Arctic gas now, while it's still cheap. A flagship project in the far north, Arctic LNG 2 was intended as a symbol of Russia's enduring gas might, even with only minimal pipeline sales to Europe. Targeted by US sanctions, however, the $21 billion-plus facility led by Novatek PJSC halted production last year. It began to assemble a shadow fleet of liquefied natural gas tankers to keep the super-chilled fuel moving, but those vessels remain idled.
/jlne.ws/4bSZy0h
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Private Credit Set to Beat Banks to EUR6.25 Billion Adevinta Deal
Silas Brown, Claire Ruckin, and Francesca Veronesi - Bloomberg
Private credit lenders are in advanced talks to strike a EUR6.25 billion ($6.8 billion) loan deal with online classifieds company Adevinta ASA, which would be among the largest of its kind, people with knowledge of the matter said. If the deal goes ahead, it would represent a blow to banks who pitched to refinance the company's debt. Though bank debt is usually cheaper, private credit funds are better able to execute loans in uncertain times.
/jlne.ws/4hH366M
Japan's Nomura ties up with regional bank Hyakujushi to boost wealth business
Anton Bridge - Reuters
TOKYO - Nomura Holdings, Japan's largest securities firm, said on Monday it has partnered with regional lender Hyakujushi Bank to boost its wealth management services. Hyakujushi Bank, based in Kagawa prefecture, will pass on some of its customer accounts, such as stock and bond investment trust accounts, to Nomura, which, in turn, will transfer staff to Hyakujushi and provide access to its financial platform, according to the statement from Nomura. Japan's financial institutions have sought to develop their asset and wealth management businesses to generate income from the mammoth savings held by Japanese households, of which around half is currently held in cash and deposits.
/jlne.ws/41VsVKP
Bank of America Tightens Oversight of Junior Bankers' Hours; The bank also eliminated around 150 junior investment banking roles last week
Alexander Saeedy - The Wall Street Journal
Bank of America says it is stepping up its oversight of young bankers' workloads, the firm's latest change since the death of an employee working 100-hour weeks sparked an outcry across Wall Street. The bank previously relied on midlevel employees on one-year rotations to assign work to its thousands of junior investment bankers. One of their responsibilities was supposed to be ensuring young bankers aren't overworked. But the midlevel employees weren't always provided incentive or equipped to enforce limits, according to people who work at the bank.
/jlne.ws/4hlHGw3
Deutsche Bank to Let DWS Take First Pick on Credit Deals
Leonard Kehnscherper and Arno Schutze - Bloomberg
DWS Group and its parent Deutsche Bank AG have agreed a private credit partnership that will grant the asset manager preferred access on loans originated by the lender, the latest bid to boost its crucial alternatives unit. The money manager will have "preferred access to certain asset-based finance, direct lending and other private credit asset opportunities" originated by Deutsche Bank, according to a joint statement on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/4hlSl9X
Hedge-Fund Momentum Bets Crater All at Once in Volatile Markets
Denitsa Tsekova and Justina Lee. - Bloomberg
One of the simplest hedge-fund strategies is misfiring this year as once-reliable trends, like betting on Big Tech and the outperformance of the US economy, crater en masse. Momentum investing, which buys up the market winners and sells the losers, has been swept up in the tariff-fueled volatility assailing global investors in 2025. That's a blow to trend-chasing quants spreading their bets across a slew of assets - and their hedge-fund peers more broadly, who tend to ramp up exposures to winning trades in the good times, while curtailing risk in the bad times.
/jlne.ws/42cxn92
Ex-hedge fund star Richard Perry stages a comeback at 70
James Franey - NY Post
Ex-Wall Street hotshot Richard Perry is reportedly plotting a comeback - nearly a decade after shuttering his hedge fund after losing a fortune trying to save the Barneys department store. The sharp-dressed 70-year-old - a Goldman Sachs alum who famously favored pricey Thom Browne suits with skinny ties and shrunken-looking trousers - will team up with his former right-hand man, Todd Westhus, according to Bloomberg. Perry - who also had grabbed headlines over an ostentatious Jeff Koons sculpture he placed on the balcony of his Midtown Manhattan apartment, irking neighbors - has joined Westhus's Olympus Peak Management firm as a partner, the outlet reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/4hkHD3F
Nicolai Tangen Reappointed CEO of Norway's Wealth Fund
Stephen Treloar - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4iqJq8a
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | IRS Retreats From Some Audits as Agency Slashes Workforce; Officials put faith in shift to technology, but others see dangers in cutting thousands of jobs
Richard Rubin and Ashlea Ebeling - The Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration's rapid shrinking of the Internal Revenue Service is ending some large audits and putting others in limbo. That is the early fallout of a retreat from stepped-up tax enforcement that could dent compliance and cost the government tens of billions of dollars in revenue. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hasn't detailed his plans for the IRS, its employees and operations. But a new direction is clear. Tough talk about pursuing tax dodging by corporations and high-income households is gone, and the administration is leaning more on technology for taxpayer service and enforcement. That would reverse the recent IRS push to put more people on telephone lines, in walk-in centers and on the front lines of audits and collections.
/jlne.ws/43R2rMO
European ETF industry salaries surge as managers fight for talent; Capital markets expertise is particularly in demand, observers say
Theo Andrew - Financial Times
The race to hire talent within the increasingly competitive exchange traded fund market is causing salaries to "bloom" across the sector, experts have said. Asset managers in Europe have piled into the market over the past couple of years in a bid to capitalise on client interest.
/jlne.ws/4iY8QtU
The AI chatbots offering workplace counsel; Virtual mentors offer cheaper - but more limited - advice to executives
Emma Jacobs - Financial Times
Conversing with one "difficult, abrasive" male colleague constantly interrupting made Vrnda Boykin sweat. "I was angry," she says. Despite the discomfort, the senior programme manager at software company HubSpot repeatedly returned to the discussion. For her interlocutor was not human but a chatbot - or "coachbot" - she had asked to act like a vexatious co-worker so she could rehearse prickly workplace conversations.
/jlne.ws/3FDdH5u
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Measles remains a danger to health even years after an infection
Maria Godoy - NPR
The measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico is now close to 300 reported cases, surpassing the total number of cases in all of the U.S. in 2024. The outbreak is happening in remote, rural areas. There have been a few isolated cases reported in 13 other states - not related to the Texas outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the nationwide risk remains low and that vaccination is the key to prevention. Still, doctors say it's a good time to remember how dangerous and long-lasting the health consequences of measles can be.
/jlne.ws/4iSSV0f
Measles Cases Are Climbing; Who Needs Another Shot? Most of us are protected, but some may need a booster. Here's who should check.
Sumathi Reddy - The Wall Street Journal
As measles cases proliferate across the country, more people are asking: Do I need a booster? Booster fatigue is real in some circles, post-Covid. Rest assured, the short answer for most of us is no, you probably don't need a measles booster unless you live in an area with an outbreak. But there's no harm in getting one if you only had one shot or are unsure of your status. First, let's back up. A measles booster is getting the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR vaccine, again. In late 1989 U.S. health agencies started recommending that children receive two doses of the vaccine: the first around age 1 and a second when children are between 4 to 6 years old. Two doses makes you 97% protected against measles.
/jlne.ws/4iXbKPD
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Commonwealth Bank CEO Says Australia Resilient to Trade War Risk
Carmeli Argana and Sharon Klyne - Bloomberg
The chief of Australia's biggest bank said the country is well placed to weather the risks of a trade war, even after Donald Trump's whipsaw tariff announcements recently spurred a steep selloff in global equity markets. Australia's overall trade balance with partners beyond the US as well as its regional security make it resilient to increasing geopolitical uncertainty, Commonwealth Bank of Australia Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn said on Tuesday at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit in Sydney.
/jlne.ws/3E0spTz
JBS Moves Closer to US Listing After Key Shareholder Deal
Clarice Couto and Martha Beck - Bloomberg
Brazil's JBS SA is moving closer to a long-awaited share listing in New York after a deal with its second-biggest shareholder. The equity holding arm of Brazil's state-owned lender BNDES, which owns almost 21% of JBS, will refrain from voting on the plan at the company's upcoming board meeting, removing the biggest hurdle for JBS's listing, according to a regulatory filing. The deal was reached with J&F Investimentos SA, which controls the world's largest meat producer.
/jlne.ws/42eBCAU
Canada's Oldest Company, Hudson's Bay, Tries to Avoid Full Liquidation
Stephanie Hughes - Bloomberg
Hudson's Bay Co. fought to avoid a full shutdown in a Toronto courtroom on Monday, asking for permission to begin liquidating most of its stores this week. A lawyer for Canada's oldest company, Ashley Taylor, said HBC's efforts to solve its cash flow crisis have "failed." Taylor also told a standing-room-only crowd at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that if the retailer can't find a workable solution with its creditors and landlords, it would need to fully liquidate.
/jlne.ws/43S6316
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Brown University Tells International Students, Staff to Avoid Travel Abroad; A professor at the school was deported when trying to re-enter the U.S. after a trip to Lebanon
Jennifer Levitz and Joseph Pisani - The Wall Street Journal
Brown University is warning international students and staff members not to travel outside the country after one of its professors with a work visa was deported after a trip to Lebanon. In a campuswide email sent Sunday and viewed by The Wall Street Journal, Brown said that "out of an abundance of caution" it was asking those from outside the U.S.-including those with visas or green cards-to postpone or delay personal travel abroad.
/jlne.ws/3E0lrxT
Europe courts US scientists fleeing Donald Trump crackdown; Cambridge university among institutions seeing chance to hire talent unsettled by US spending cuts
Michael Peel, Peter Foster and Gloria Li - Financial Times
Science institutions in Europe and beyond are racing to hire researchers from the US looking to flee the Donald Trump administration's crackdown on research agencies. Cambridge university is among a clutch of top research institutions seeking to entice experts in fields from biomedicine to artificial intelligence as Washington pushes for big funding cuts and suppresses some areas of inquiry.
/jlne.ws/4bAE7Ro
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