| July 23, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The U.S. Presidential race was swinging towards Donald Trump. The markets were showing the "Trump Trade" and the Democrats were at Joe Biden's heels to end his race for the Democratic nomination for President. He stepped down and Kamala Harris was endorsed and the Trump Trade was being reassessed. On her first day as a candidate Harris reversed the Republican fundraising advantage for former President Trump, raising a record $81 million in 24-hours. The Wall Street Journal reported that "the Democratic National Committee say(s) they pulled in $81 million from 888,000 donors. According to the campaign, 60% of these people were making their first contribution of the 2024 cycle." Harris also secured enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination for President, Bloomberg reported. She was endorsed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom, governor of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. That is a good first day as a candidate.
Bloomberg reported that the world recorded its hottest day ever on June 21, with many parts of the Mediterranean facing extreme wildfire risks. According to provisional data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, Sunday set the highest average temperature on Earth, surpassing a previous record. Global temperatures have already hit or exceeded a key climate threshold for 12 months, underscoring the challenge of limiting global warming to below 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Climate change is intensifying heat waves, flooding, and wildfires, with southern Europe experiencing temperatures over 40C for two weeks, increasing wildfire threats in Greece, Spain, southern France, and Italy. Berlin and Paris are also set for heat waves in early August. Extreme heat has disrupted the global economy, affecting air travel and power grids. The average temperature through June 2024 was 1.64C higher than the 1850-1900 era, and June 2024 was the hottest June on record, the 13th consecutive month to set a new temperature record.
Today FOW reported behind its paywall that Exberry has partnered with Google to offer its cloud trading infrastructure technology through Google Cloud Marketplace, marking a significant milestone that allows customers to develop market or exchange solutions using Exberry's advanced technology. Meanwhile, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) reported that the time to negotiate key derivatives documents has not improved since 2006, emphasizing the need for increased efficiency and automation. Additionally, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has released a paper advocating for better financial regulation in the UK, enhanced EU integration, and addressed current issues in financial services.
FOW published the following stories in front of its paywall on July 22, including that Abaxx Exchange recently launched a new commodity venue in Singapore, culminating a multi-year development effort with a robust technology infrastructure poised for rapid growth. Meanwhile, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) released a report emphasizing the increasing significance of non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) in global finance. Cboe Global Markets is set to relaunch its redesigned S&P 500 variance futures contract in September, pending regulatory approval. A study by Invesco highlights that geopolitical tensions, particularly between the US and China, are prompting sovereign investors to diversify geographically and seek "safe haven" assets. In another development, the UK Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) has partnered with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) to help actuaries address ethical issues in using AI for risk management. Additionally, in a story fully available on FOW, the emergence of US spot ETFs and corresponding futures has facilitated basis trading among institutional investors, leading to increased short positions by hedge funds and leveraged funds exploiting "positive basis" opportunities.
Nice work by the interns of the National Futures Association. The New York NFA interns delivered care packages for residents at Ronald McDonald House New York, and Chicago interns packaged and delivered welcome bags to residents at Guest House, the NFA shared on LinkedIn.
My wife has informed me she will not be available after 6:30 pm on Friday when the Summer Olympics begin. Luckily The New York Times has come out with a list to help her enjoy the Olympics. The story is titled "10 French Wines to Drink While Watching the Olympics."
The girls of Troop 117G, the Scouts BSA Troop I co-founded back in 2017 when girls were allowed into the renamed Boy Scout program, are at summer camp this week. I am happily retired from unit-level Scouting and thus sleeping comfortably in my own bed with the air conditioning on. The Troop is going strong with its third Scoutmaster and about 25 girls in the Troop. While I wish I could be at camp with them, those days are long past.
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:
- Cboe Announces Planned Launch of New Cboe S&P 500 Variance Futures from Cboe.
- CME Group Volatility Index from CME Group.
- BlackRock forecasts active ETF assets will hit $4tn by 2030 from the Financial Times. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Immigrants Are Risk Takers and I Like Risk Takers
JohnLothianNews.com
Last week during the GOP convention in Milwaukee we heard a lot of bad things about immigrants. This is actually a very old story in American politics. A bill passed by the very first Congress of the United States, the Naturalization Act of 1790, limited naturalization to "free white person(s) ... of good character," explicitly excluding Native Americans, indentured servants, enslaved people, free Africans, and Asians from citizenship.
Read MORE »
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Bad Trades Are Also Valuable; FX backrunning, crypto interns, Ray Dalio's non-compete, Ozempic and HBS.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg (opinion)
Wing Fung
If you are a trader, a good skill to have is buying stuff that will go up. If the stuff - stocks, bonds, currencies, whatever - that you buy reliably goes up, then you can make a lot of money. You can make money simply by buying the stuff, having it go up, and then selling it for more money than you paid. But there are other ways to monetize the skill. You can start an investment newsletter, and charge people a fee for telling them what stuff will go up. You can start a hedge fund, buying stuff for other people and taking a cut of their profits.
/jlne.ws/3WwEkiv
***** Matt Levine also picked up on the disciplinary action story by the CME against Wing Fung Futures Limited we shared yesterday. ~JJL
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Ken Griffin lists Gold Coast penthouse for $11M
Rachel Herzog - Crain's Chicago Business
Ken Griffin has listed a top-floor Gold Coast condominium for sale, the latest of the billionaire hedge fund founder's Chicago condos to hit the market since he announced his personal and corporate moves to Florida in 2022. The listing, the unfinished 38th floor at No. 9 Walton, came on the market yesterday priced at $11 million. Griffin paid more than $58 million for the building's top four floors in 2017; of that, the purchase price for the top floor was almost $21.2 million.The 7,500-square-foot space has 16-foot ceilings, two outdoor terraces, four tandem parking spaces, a private elevator and its own rooftop pool. The listing, which touts the opportunity for the buyer to create their "dream home" by customizing the space, is represented by Emily Sachs Wong of @properties Christie's International Real Estate. "No. 9 Walton is a spectacular building, but this is the icing on the cake," Wong said. "Most buildings don't even have a pool this nice, so it's pretty outstanding."
/jlne.ws/4bZQYLf
***** This is part of Ken's never-ending supply of Chicago condos to sell.~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our top story Monday was Joe Biden drops out of US election and endorses Kamala Harris, from the Financial Times. Second was Joe Biden's tweet announcing he was dropping out of the race. And third was the CME Group's disciplinary action against Wing Fung Futures Limited.
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| Lead Stories | Lenders Tout a New Way to Transfer Risk, but Why Bother? Banks such as Ally Financial are turning to structured finance to flatter their capital ratios
Jonathan Weil - The Wall Street Journal
Ally Financial has joined the ranks of banks doing deals known as synthetic credit-risk transfers. These deals-for a price-might make lenders look less risky for certain purposes. They don't transfer any loans off their books. Behold the wonder of structured finance. Companies simultaneously can accomplish different objectives that one might think should be mutually exclusive. In this case, Ally gets to make itself look less leveraged even while issuing more debt-a neat trick. Here is how it works: In its second-quarter earnings presentation last week, Ally said it recently issued $330 million of a type of debt that comes with an unusual twist. The amount Ally pays back will depend on the performance of a $3 billion pool of auto loans to customers with high credit scores. If the loans perform as well as expected, Ally will repay the principal in full, with interest. If the losses are worse than expected, Ally won't have to pay back the full amount. Or at least that is the plan.
/jlne.ws/3WhRz5b
Google Talks to Acquire Cybersecurity Startup Wiz Fall Apart; The search giant was in talks to acquire Wiz for $23 billion
Miles Kruppa - The Wall Street Journal
Alphabet unit Google's talks to acquire the cybersecurity startup Wiz for a planned $23 billion have fallen apart, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions. In an email to employees sent Monday and viewed by The Wall Street Journal, Wiz Chief Executive Assaf Rappaport said the company is now aiming for an initial public offering.
/jlne.ws/3LAEE9O
***** Here is the Financial Times version of this story.~JJL
CrowdStrike Outage Is Another Sharp Warning for Banks; Relying on a handful of third-party vendors creates risks for the financial industry.
Paul J. Davies - Bloomberg
The chaos that froze digital systems around the world on Friday is exactly the kind of crisis that financial regulators have been fretting about in recent years. What's worse, US bank supervisors have recently criticized leading lenders for poor management of such operational risks in private report cards. Together they're a wake-up call about the dangers of a few dominant third-parties providing critical services to the industry.
/jlne.ws/3zUrCkQ
US spot ether ETFs set to make market debut in another win for crypto industry
Hannah Lang and Suzanne McGee - Reuters
The first U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the price of ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, are due to begin trading on Tuesday, in another watershed event for the crypto industry's push to go mainstream. Ether ETFs from VanEck, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, 21Shares and Invesco will begin trading on Cboe, the exchange said in a Friday notice, while one from BlackRock will begin trading on the Nasdaq, according to an exchange notice. Products from Bitwise and Grayscale Investments will also trade Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange, the exchange said.
/jlne.ws/3WwJTh0
SEC Clears Final Hurdle for Ether ETFs to Launch Tuesday
Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday cleared the final hurdle for the launch of the first U.S. exchange-traded funds holding ether, paving the way for them to start trading Tuesday. The agency declared in the late afternoon that the ETFs' prospectuses have gone "effective," a key step funds need to go through before they can start selling shares. In May, the regulator approved stock exchanges' applications to list the so-called spot ether ETFs in an about-face that surprised the crypto community.
/jlne.ws/46j1Ans
SEC Seen Approving Spot-Ether ETFs in Latest Crypto Milestone; Fund managers said the SEC has approved the products; Analysts anticipate lower demand than for Bitcoin ETFs
Emily Graffeo and Suvashree Ghosh - Bloomberg
Regulators approved the first US exchange-traded funds investing directly in Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, according to filings and statements from asset managers. 21Shares AG, Bitwise Asset Management Inc., BlackRock Inc., Invesco Ltd., Franklin Templeton, Fidelity Investments and VanEck were among the issuers to receive US Securities and Exchange Commission assent, the documents indicated Monday. The SEC didn't immediately return requests for comment. The latest development paves the way for the imminent trading of the ETFs and highlights a softening in the US regulatory climate for the digital-asset sector. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, currently leading in the polls, has also adopted a pro-crypto stance ahead of November's election.
/jlne.ws/3ybUggJ
****Here is the Financial Times' version of this story.
CrowdStrike Warns of Hacking Threat as Outage Persists; Roughly 8.5 million users of Microsoft Windows devices were affected
Gareth Vipers - The Wall Street Journal
The CrowdStrike glitch that caused outages for millions of users of Microsoft Windows devices last week continued to roil industries and snarl global air travel. Around 8.5 million devices were affected by the outage, CrowdStrike said in a statement, adding that it had brought a significant number back online. Warning customers that bad actors were trying to exploit the event, the company said it had identified a malicious file being sent around by hackers posing as a 'quick fix' to the problem. A file named "crowdstrike-hotfix.zip" was being distributed that included malware enabling hackers to remotely control or monitor a user's device, CrowdStrike said in a blog post.
/jlne.ws/3SjkJje
CrowdStrike CEO called to testify to Congress over cybersecurity's firm role in global tech outage
Associated Press via the Chicago Tribune
U.S. House leaders are calling on CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz to testify to Congress about the cybersecurity company's role in sparking the widespread tech outage that grounded flights, knocked banks and hospital systems offline and affected services around the world. CrowdStrike said this week a "significant number" of the millions of computers that crashed on Friday, causing global disruptions, are back in operation as its customers and regulators await a more detailed explanation of what went wrong. Republicans who lead the House Homeland Security committee said Monday they want those answers soon. "While we appreciate CrowdStrike's response and coordination with stakeholders, we cannot ignore the magnitude of this incident, which some have claimed is the largest IT outage in history," said a letter to Kurtz from Rep. Mark E. Green of Tennessee and Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York. They added that Americans "deserve to know in detail how this incident happened and the mitigation steps CrowdStrike is taking."
/jlne.ws/3LFryb2
Voice trading remains prevalent in Treasury trading
Lucy Carter - The Desk
Citadel Securities is conducting a third of its Treasury risk by voice, according to a representative. Kevin McPartland, head of research, market structure and technology at Coalition Greenwich, explains to The DESK why this figure is not as surprising as it might seem. Earlier this year, Will Boeckman, head of fixed income platform sales at Citadel Securities, stated during a panel at FILS USA that the firm was "still doing a third of our Treasury risk voice, whether it's manual booking or post-process trade. That's a pretty significant number for a tech-forward firm," he added.
/jlne.ws/4bPnH6d
SEC approves ether ETFs as crypto moves closer to the mainstream; Latest authorisations follow January launches of first US spot bitcoin ETFs
Will Schmitt - Financial Times
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the first spot ethereum exchange traded funds, another landmark for cryptocurrency advocates and investors following the debut of bitcoin ETFs earlier this year. The ether ETFs, including the conversion of a $9.3bn Grayscale Investments trust and new launches from bitcoin ETF giants BlackRock and Fidelity, gained approval from the SEC on Monday afternoon, with trading set to begin as early as Tuesday, according to fund sponsors. The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
/jlne.ws/3YlecZr
Woodside Looks to Build 'Dream Team of LNG' at Acquired US Plant; Australian firm unveiled purchase of Driftwood project Monday Japanese gas importers could be partners, says CEO
Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
Woodside Energy Group Ltd. is searching for partners for its just-purchased US liquefied natural gas project in a bid to finally launch the troubled development. "We've got an opportunity with the acquisition to put together the dream team of LNG," said Meg O'Neill, chief executive officer at the Australian oil and gas producer. The company plans to "talk to a number of different players who will have things to add to the venture," she said in an interview on Tuesday. Woodside announced the $900 million purchase of Tellurian Inc. on Monday, and is aiming to sell down as much as 50% of the project, with the goal of reaching a final investment decision from first quarter 2025. The American LNG developer had struggled to move its Gulf Coast Driftwood project forward since its founding in 2016.
/jlne.ws/3xZu3lF
US spot ETF markets driving crypto basis trades
Radi Khasawneh - FOW
The emergence of US spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures referencing the same rate has made it easier institutional investors to make trades designed to benefit from divergence in prices between the markets. Increased interest in basis trades - a strategy involving long and short positions across spot and futures on the same asset - can be inferred from the increase in short positioning by hedge funds, according to specialist benchmark provider CF Benchmarks. Proprietary traders and leveraged investors looking to benefit from "positive basis" opportunities since the launch of US regulated spot ETFs earlier this year. There has been an increase in net short positioning by "leveraged funds" as reported to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
/jlne.ws/3Wyw7KI
FX HedgePool extends credit intermediation beyond FX swaps; New service lets buy side trade spot and forwards with LPs without prior credit ties, including non-banks
Cole Lipsky - Risk.net
FX HedgePool is expanding its flagship credit-as-a-service matching model to cover all foreign exchange instruments, potentially opening up a range of new counterparty relationships for buy-side firms. The platform started off in 2020 with FX swaps, allowing asset managers and corporates to match off predictable hedging flows with their peers via credit-intermediating banks willing to provide balance sheet in exchange for a fee, later extending this to an all-to-all functionality.
/jlne.ws/3WgnJy3
Op Risk Benchmarking 2024: the G-Sibs Eleven large banks feature in round II, with new data points on first-line risk teams, taxonomies and AI adoption
Risk.net
This is the second edition to focus on the top operational risks selected by global systemically important (G-Sib) banks, and the fourth package of highlights published by Risk.net since the service launched a year ago.
/jlne.ws/4bUk7b0
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Europe turns to conscription as threat of wider war with Russia grows
Radina Gigova - CNN
Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many, including Kyiv, were skeptical that a major war could return to Europe. More than two years on, another shift once unthinkable is underway on conscription. Several European nations have reintroduced or expanded compulsory military service amid Moscow's mounting threat, part of a range of policies aimed at boosting defenses that are likely to be scaled up even further. "We are coming to the realization that we may have to adjust the way we mobilize for war and adjust the way we produce military equipment and we recruit and train personnel," said Robert Hamilton, head of Eurasia research at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, who served as a US Army officer for 30 years.
/jlne.ws/46eqDYT
Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba to visit China for talks in search for end to war
South China Morning Post
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is set to begin a high-stakes visit to China on Tuesday, with the mission focused on a potential Chinese role in restoring peace in Ukraine. "The main topic of discussion will be the search for ways to stop Russian aggression and China's possible role in achieving a sustainable and just peace," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that both nations would also discuss the state of bilateral relations and prospects for development.
/jlne.ws/3LziR25
Ukraine strikes deal to restructure $20bn of debt; Agreement with bondholders boosts Kyiv's drive to use private capital to fund fight against Russia
Joseph Cotterill - Financial Times
Ukraine has struck a deal with international bondholders to restructure about $20bn of debt, boosting Kyiv's drive to use private capital to finance its war effort against Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government said on Monday that it won support from investors to reduce the face value of the debt by more than a third, paving the way for a formal restructuring in the coming weeks.
/jlne.ws/3YaXITx
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Netanyahu signals cease-fire deal could be shaping up as deaths top 39,000
The Associated Press
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled that a cease-fire deal that would free dozens of hostages in Gaza could be taking shape. Netanyahu is in Washington, where he is to address Congress. The Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of part of a crowded area in the Gaza Strip it had designated a humanitarian zone,. The Health Ministry in Gaza says over 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nine-month war.
/jlne.ws/3SkYlWG
WHO 'extremely worried' about possible Gaza polio outbreak
David Gritten - BBC News
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the virus risks a new "health catastrophe" in the territory. The World Health Organization is "extremely worried" about the possibility of an outbreak of the highly infectious polio virus in Gaza after traces were found in wastewater. Dr Ayadil Saparbekov, head of the WHO's team in the Palestinian territories, told reporters a risk assessment was being implemented and that in the meantime health workers were providing protection advice to Gaza's 2.3 million population.
/jlne.ws/3YfcZTp
Hamas and Fatah sign declaration on ending decadeslong rift after talks in China; China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi called it "a historic moment for the cause of Palestine's liberation."
Janis Mackey Frayer - NBC News
Senior representatives from Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a joint declaration in China's capital Beijing on Tuesday aimed at building unity and ending a decades-long rift as the fighting with Israel in Gaza rumbles on. The agreement, called the "Beijing Declaration to End the Division and Strengthen Palestinian National Unity", was announced at the end of three days of meetings here and was hailed today as a breakthrough by China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who called it "a historic moment for the cause of Palestine's liberation."
/jlne.ws/4fbkiRT
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | NYSE Arca 'certifies its approval' for listing spot Ethereum ETFs as issuers await SEC's final sign-off
Sarah Wynn - The Block
NYSE Arca confirmed it has approval to list and trade spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds from firms Grayscale and Bitwise, according to documents filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. Issuers vying for a spot Ethereum ETF will still have to wait for the SEC to allow for registration statements to go effective, which is expected to happen on Monday. Exchange NYSE Arca confirmed that it has approval to list and trade spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds from firms Grayscale and Bitwise, according to the latest filings. "The NYSE Arca certifies its approval for listing and registration of the common units of fractional undivided beneficial interest of Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETH), under the Exchange Act of 1934," the exchange wrote in a document filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
/jlne.ws/3SkAfeC
NSE EMERGE achieves 500th SME listing milestone
NSE
National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE), India's leading stock exchange today celebrated yet another milestone of 500 listings of SME companies on its NSE EMERGE platform. Prizor Viztech Limited became the 500th company to be listed on the NSE EMERGE SME platform on 22nd July 2024.
/jlne.ws/4fbdgwt
Announcement Date of 2Q24 Results & Conference Call
ATHEX
National Bank of Greece will announce 2Q24 results on Thursday, August 1, 2024, before the market opening. A conference call for the presentation and discussion of the results is scheduled at 10:30 (GMT +3:00) on the same day.
/jlne.ws/4fiMzpV
First Initial Access Document on BME Scaleup from MISTRAL IBERIA II
BME
The Market Coordination and Incorporations Committee considers that MISTRAL IBERIA II will meet the requirements to join the BME Scaleup trading segment. The Board of Directors of the company, has taken as a reference for the start of trading of the shares a price of EUR1.88 per share, which implies a total valuation of the company of EUR9.5 million.
/jlne.ws/3LzrMAv
SPAN 2 Framework Agriculture Product Removal from Cross Model Offset ("CMO") - Effective July 23, 2024
CME Group
As per the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc., Clearing House Risk Management staff approved the performance bond requirements for the following products listed in the advisory at the link below. The rates will be effective after the close of business on 7/23/2024
/jlne.ws/4feX2m
Product modification Summary: Delisting of the U.S. Dollar/South African Rand (USD/ZAR) Futures and U.S. Dollar/Chilean Peso (USD/CLP) Futures Contracts - Effective July 22, 2024
CME Group
Delisting of the U.S. Dollar/South African Rand (USD/ZAR) Futures and U.S. Dollar/Chilean Peso (USD/CLP) Futures Contracts
/jlne.ws/4c2jKLC
OCC Stories: Zephaniah Manning on His Empowered Growth
OCC
Zephaniah Manning joined OCC's Human Resources team in 2022. In his OCC Story, he shares how he felt empowered to grow and develop thanks to his manager and our Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO).
/jlne.ws/3xXt7hH
SGX Group to report FY2024 Results on 8 August 2024
SGX Group
Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) has rescheduled the release of its full-year results for Financial Year 2024 (FY2024). The new date is set for 8 August 2024 before market opens.
/jlne.ws/3LxqVk5
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Top 3 Things For Financial Exchanges To Think About This Summer
Guy Melamed - Exberry
We're half way through 2024 and we're pleased to see the global financial exchange industry currently characterised by significant developments and steady growth. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) continues to lead the market with an equity market capitalisation exceeding $28 trillion as of June 2024, underscoring the enduring dominance of traditional exchanges. The market has experienced steady growth through 2023 into 2024, driven by innovative strategies from key industry players. Notably, the integration of cryptocurrency-related products, such as Bitcoin ETFs, marks a significant trend, indicating a growing synergy between traditional exchanges and the growing crypto market.
/jlne.ws/4dci5UB
Exberry Announces Its Trading Platform Is Now Available On Google Cloud Marketplace
Mondovisione
Exberry, a prominent provider of exchange technology, is delighted to announce that its fully comprehensive trading platform is available on Google Cloud Marketplace. Building upon its strong track record as a cloud-agnostic exchange infrastructure provider, with numerous clients already benefiting from its cloud-based solutions, Exberry's collaboration with Google Cloud marks a significant milestone to create a dynamic ecosystem tailored for the future of financial markets.
/jlne.ws/3zSMHMF
Despite Musk's Trump endorsement, X remains a go-to platform for Democrats
Barbara Ortutay - Associated Press
A week after Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump for president, President Joe Biden's team used Musk's social media platform X - in addition to more neutral spaces such as Facebook and Instagram - to announce he is ending his reelection campaign.
/jlne.ws/3ShRRrE
CrowdStrike's Botched Tech Update Wasn't Unique. Are Lessons Ever Learned? Critical infrastructure is at the mercy of tech vendors doing everything right
James Rundle - The Wall Street Journal
Friday's global tech outage shows how fragile and interconnected infrastructure can be, proving once again companies are vulnerable to their trusted vendors. A defective software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike roiled businesses across the world. It wasn't a cyberattack, but the effects of a worst-case attack quickly emerged: Airlines grounded flights, hospitals canceled procedures and key systems for everyday life were disrupted from Sydney to San Francisco.
/jlne.ws/3SluNIJ
A Clamor for Generative AI (Even If Something Else Works Better); CIOs say they feel pressure to shoehorn the tech into areas better served by other forms of predictive AI-or perhaps just a spreadsheet
Isabelle Bousquette - The Wall Street Journal
Chief information officers know generative AI isn't the right tool for every tech problem. But lately some are having to throw a wet blanket on the enthusiasm of chief executives and boards intoxicated by the technology's promise. "There are situations where we have to temper the perception that we should be doing more and more with GenAI," Sridhar Sharma, CIO of nonbank mortgage servicer and originator Mr. Cooper, said of his frequent dialogues with the CEO and other C-suite colleagues on AI and generative AI.
/jlne.ws/3Wizu71
A.I. Can Write Poetry, but It Struggles With Math; A.I.'s math problem reflects how much the new technology is a break with computing's past.
Steve Lohr - The New York Times
In the school year that ended recently, one class of learners stood out as a seeming puzzle. They are hard-working, improving and remarkably articulate. But curiously, these learners - artificially intelligent chatbots - often struggle with math. Chatbots like Open AI's ChatGPT can write poetry, summarize books and answer questions, often with human-level fluency. These systems can do math, based on what they have learned, but the results can vary and be wrong. They are fine-tuned for determining probabilities, not doing rules-based calculations. Likelihood is not accuracy, and language is more flexible, and forgiving, than math. "The A.I. chatbots have difficulty with math because they were never designed to do it," said Kristian Hammond, a computer science professor and artificial intelligence researcher at Northwestern University.
/jlne.ws/46xR8sx
AI start-up Cohere raises $500mn as it seeks to take on OpenAI; Funding round values Canadian group launched by Google alumni at $5.5bn
George Hammond - Financial Times
Artificial intelligence developer Cohere has raised $500mn in a new funding round, making it one of the world's most valuable start-ups in the field, boosting the Canadian company's efforts to take on rivals including OpenAI and Anthropic. The funding round values Cohere at $5.5bn. Founded by former Google researchers in 2019, it is in fierce competition with larger rivals to secure lucrative contracts with companies scrambling to build AI into their businesses.
/jlne.ws/4firyf4
Baton Systems welcomes Japanese Securities Clearing Corporation to its CCP network; Clearing members will receive normalised data from Baton directly from the CCP, enhancing efficiency and enabling members to receive real-time balances.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Baton Systems has completed bi-directional integration with the Japanese Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC) through its Baton Core-Collateral ecosystem. The move will enable JSCC's clearing member clients using the Core-Collateral platform to have direct access to the largest central counterparty clearing house (CCP) in Asia Pacific (APAC).
/jlne.ws/3yc9dzn
Baader Bank becomes latest trading member to join Spectrum Markets; Move will allow Spectrum to access a larger network of retail brokers across Germany, while offering retail investors within the country new features such as extended trading hours.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Pan-European trading venue for securities Spectrum Markets has welcomed Baader Bank as a new trading member. Baader Bank has been trading securities for over four decades, offering its partners and institutional investors access to capital markets through integrated trading platforms.
/jlne.ws/3zNFKw4
Swiss Banks Aim to Plug Crypto Payments Gap Left by US Collapses; AMINA, Sygnum debuted new payment platforms recently; Firms are still searching for alternatives to SEN and Signet
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3yb0ptK
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Wiz Rejects Google's $23 Billion Offer, Seeks IPO Instead; CEO announced rejection of takeover bids in employee memo; Firm's next milestones are reaching $1 billion ARR and IPO
Lynn Doan and Julia Love - Bloomberg
Cybersecurity startup Wiz Inc. has turned down a takeover bid of as much as $23 billion from Alphabet Inc.'s Google, sticking instead with a plan for an initial public offering. The rejection will come as a blow to Google, which is trying to catch up with Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. in an intensely competitive cloud services market. Google, which bought cybersecurity firm Mandiant for $5.4 billion just two years ago in its second-largest acquisition, could have used Wiz to round out its security offerings. The New York-based startup connects to cloud storage providers such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, and scans data stored there for security risks.
/jlne.ws/3Ya6WiR
CrowdStrike Is Too Big to Fail; Learn from the 2008 financial crisis and pay attention to systemically important tech companies.
Jonathan Welburn - The Wall Street Journal
If you couldn't use your laptop last week, you weren't alone. A computer system disruption swept the globe on Friday, grounding flights, stopping trains, and bringing businesses to a halt. Worse, the outage was traced to a single security update, underscoring the risks of global interconnectivity, particularly among firms critical to public safety, economic stability and national security.
/jlne.ws/4dcdced
Insurers' losses from global IT outage could reach billions; Disruption to companies' systems estimated to be most significant loss event since NotPetya malware attacks of 2017
Ian Smith - Financial Times
The insurance industry is braced for losses that could run into the billions after last week's worldwide IT outage exposed the vulnerabilities of a global economy run on a handful of software platforms. Industries ranging from airlines to retailers were thrown into turmoil on Friday after a botched update from security firm CrowdStrike triggered one of the biggest-ever IT outages, affecting more than 8mn devices reliant on Microsoft Windows software.
/jlne.ws/4cP8MtZ
36 courthouses of the largest trial court in the U.S. closed after a ransomware attack shuts its computer system
The Associated Press via Fortune
The largest trial court in the country was closed Monday after a ransomware attack shut down its computer system late last week, officials with the Superior Court of Los Angeles County said.
/jlne.ws/3y7vtum
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Ethereum ETFs Approved by SEC, Bringing Popular Funds to Second-Largest Cryptocurrency
Helene Braun - CoinDesk
U.S. regulators have given final approval for spot exchange-traded funds that hold Ethereum's ether {{ETH}}, giving Americans access to a second major cryptocurrency via the easy-to-trade vehicles. The decision caps a years-long process to get ether ETFs approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and follows the regulator's approval of bitcoin {{BTC}} ETFs in January. Packaging ether in an ETF wrapper could make them more palatable to conventional investors since the funds can be bought and sold through traditional brokerage accounts. Since their debut in January, bitcoin ETFs have attracted tens of billions of dollars of investment.
/jlne.ws/4fi7r0f
Ethereum ETFs Could See Underwhelming Demand, Two Research Firms Predict
Helene Braun - CoinDesk
A couple of prominent crypto firms see a relatively muted debut from exchange-traded funds that hold Ethereum's ether {{ETH}}. Wintermute, a major market maker, sees ether ETFs collecting $4 billion, at most, of inflows from investors over the next year. That's below the $4.5 billion to $6.5 billion expected by most analysts - and that latter number is already roughly 62% less than the $17 billion that bitcoin ETFs have so far collected since they began trading in the U.S. six months ago.
/jlne.ws/3LyLIUg
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Kamala Harris Is a Multimillionaire Index Investor. Where She Puts Her Money.
Joe Light - Barron's
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband are multimillionaires with dozens of holdings in diversified index funds that would look familiar to many retirement savers. But part of their portfolio is hidden behind a trust whose holdings are at least partially obscured from the public. Harris, 59 years old, vaulted into position to lead the Democratic ticket on Sunday, after President Joe Biden announced that he would no longer seek reelection. With no time for a regular primary, the nominee will be chosen over the coming weeks by Democratic Party electors. Some Democrats had supported the idea of an open convention, where several candidates could compete for the nomination, but since Biden's announcement, most Democratic politicians and interest groups have lined up behind Harris.
/jlne.ws/3y8Mqo9
A Six-Second Decision Shows How Harris Snapped Up Delegates; Democrats from most populous states line up their support; 'Call in the dogs - the hunt is over,' says Texas delegate
Eliyahu Kamisher and Julie Fine - Bloomberg
It took just seconds for Lateefah Simon to signal her support for Kamala Harris as the Democratic party's nominee to run for president. Simon, a California superdelegate to the party's convention, received a form Sunday from the state party chairman asking if she'd back Harris after President Joe Biden quit the race. "In 6 seconds, I returned it," said Simon, an Oakland congressional candidate who worked under Harris when she was San Francisco's district attorney. "California is going to come in super strong for Kamala Harris." Interviews with officials in some of the most populous states indicated similar levels of enthusiasm for Harris, showing how the vice president consolidated support to be a near-lock for her party's nomination.
/jlne.ws/4fgnPyw
Harris Wins Soros Backing While Other Billionaire Donors Want an Open Contest; Wealthy backers seek competition for new Democratic ticket; Democrats set to solidify ticket at August convention
Amanda L Gordon and Heather Perlberg - Bloomberg
Within hours of Joe Biden's decision to bow out of the presidential race, many of the biggest names in Democratic politics - from Hillary Clinton to Gavin Newsom to megadonor George Soros - rushed to join him in backing Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket. Some prominent Democratic donors are questioning the hurry. An open convention next month in Chicago where the party's best and brightest can make their case would generate excitement among voters and offer a prime-time showcase for Democratic policies, this line of thinking goes. Many of the donors said they'd be pleased if Harris wins the contest, but they don't want the job handed to her.
/jlne.ws/3zWSa4X
Ex-Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci donated $30K to Joe Biden last month - says he now backs Kamala Harris: 'She will beat Trump'
James Franey - NY Post
Former Trump White House aide Anthony Scaramucci gave $30,000 to President Biden's now-defunct 2024 presidential campaign last month - and in an exclusive interview with The Post, said he now backs Kamala Harris to use the cash for her own Oval Office bid. Filings with the Federal Election Committee show that former President Donald Trump's White House communications director - who lasted just 10 days in the role in 2017 - made the fat donation on June 17.
/jlne.ws/3SfZyig
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Billionaire founder of Kakao arrested in K-pop stock manipulation case; South Korean internet company's chief in custody over bidding battle with agency behind boy band BTS
Song Jung-a - Financial Times
The billionaire founder of South Korea's leading internet company Kakao has been arrested in connection with alleged stock manipulation during last year's heated bidding battle for a K-pop agency. Seoul's Southern District Court issued the arrest warrant on Tuesday for Brian Kim, citing concerns about destruction of evidence and flight risk. It is the latest legal twist for the internet group as it faces regulatory scrutiny.
/jlne.ws/4fgUUug
French regulators propose two step approach to T+1 in Europe; The AMF and Banque de France are calling for a coordination between the UK and Europe in their plans to shorten the settlement cycle.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
French regulator Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) and Banque de France have released a joint paper proposing a two-step approach to the European Union's move to T+1 settlement. Europe is now in a 'when not if' situation when it comes to its plans to shorten its settlement cycle, as confirmed by the European Commission in January earlier this year.
/jlne.ws/4daH7U2
Keith E. Cassidy Named Interim Acting Director of the Division of Examinations
SEC
In response to a previously announced medical issue, the Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Richard Best, the Director of the Division of Examinations, will take leave from the agency to focus on his health. Keith E. Cassidy, the Division's Deputy Director, will serve as its interim Acting Director.
/jlne.ws/3ygmdE4
Charges laid in alleged Telegram 'pump and dump' conspiracy following ASIC investigation
ASIC
Following an ASIC investigation, four people have been criminally charged for their alleged involvement in a coordinated scheme to pump up shares in Australian stock values before dumping them at inflated prices. Syed Yusuf, Larissa Quinlan, Emma Summer, and Kurt Stuart were charged in the Downing Centre Local Court with conspiracy to commit market rigging and false trading, to artificially increase the price of Australian shares before dumping them.
/jlne.ws/3WhDqVL
Speech by Jane Brown to 20th Annual Financial Markets Law Conference
FMA
Thank you, David, it's a pleasure to be here to provide an update on our regulatory outlook and priorities. Well, it's been a pretty eventful year as I'm sure all of you are well aware. There is no shortage of topics to cover. I am going to try to cover as much as I can, and we can always mop up anything else in the Q and A. I do want to start by speaking a little bit about myself. This is the first formal speech I've given since I joined the FMA as Head of Insurance. My background, like many of you in this room, is in the law. I started my career in-house at a very small local government insurer, which is actually how I met David, who did some work for the superannuation side of the business. I was then General Counsel at Te Kahui Inihua o Aotearoa/ The Insurance Council of New Zealand for six years, before I joined the FMA in October last year. It has been a pleasure, and an exciting challenge, to help establish and set up the FMA's Insurance team, as we prepare to implement CoFI.
/jlne.ws/4bWV1Ig
Occasional Conversations Podcast #1: Fairness in Financial Services
FMA
In the first episode of our new podcast series 'Occasional Conversations,' Chief Economist, Stuart Johnson and Senior Adviser, Sophia Scragg discuss a new piece of research around fairness in financial services. Overall, this research has shown that when presented with specific customer focused scenarios, consumers have a remarkably consistent understanding of what constitutes fairness in financial services.
/jlne.ws/3Ww0Nfw
London Court Limited enters liquidation
FCA
On 15 July 2024, London Court Limited (LCL) appointed Rehan Ahmed and Tauseef Rashid of Quantuma Advisory Limited (Quantuma) as joint liquidators. LCL (firm reference number (FRN) 146522) has entered creditors' voluntary liquidation. LCL is a regulated firm that acted as the bond administrator and Individual Savings Account (ISA) manager for a number of bonds via the 'My Investment Hub' platform.
/jlne.ws/3Wo0KkW
Consumer Price Developments In June 2024
MAS
This June 2024 report contains an update of the latest consumer price developments in Singapore, prepared by MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
/jlne.ws/3zRpU3E
Three jailed between 52 and 80 months in landmark market manipulation case
SFC
The Court of First Instance today sentenced Ms Sit Yi Ki and Mr Tam Cheuk Hang to imprisonment of six years and eight months, and Ms Lam Wing Ki to imprisonment of four years and four months after they were found guilty in a jury trial of conspiracy to carry out false trading in the shares of Ching Lee Holdings Limited following extensive investigations by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the prosecution by the Department of Justice (Note 1). This is the heaviest jail sentence imposed on market manipulation cases since the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) came into effect in 2003.
/jlne.ws/3yb8QFl
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Citi Warns of Euro-Yen Intervention Risk If Pair 'Threatens' 180; Tokyo may sell the greenback again if dollar-yen nears 165; Bank of Japan conducted rate check on euro-yen this month
George Lei - Bloomberg
Japanese authorities might step into the market and sell the European common currency if euro-yen nears the 180 level, according to analysts at Citigroup Inc. Euro-yen traded as high as 175.43 on July 11 - a record since the common currency was launched in 1999 - before retreating, with the pair trading around 171 on Tuesday in Tokyo. The Asian nation likely spent approximately ¥3.5 trillion ($22 billion) on July 11 to prop up its currency against the dollar - marking what appeared to be the third intervention this year. The next day, the Bank of Japan conducted a rate check on the euro-yen pair, followed later by another suspected intervention in dollar-yen. Rate checks typically signal that Tokyo is ready to intervene in the foreign-exchange market.
/jlne.ws/4dcogIb
Moody's raises 2024 profit forecast above estimates on robust demand for analytics
Reuters
Ratings agency Moody's Corp raised its forecast for full-year adjusted profit above Wall Street estimates, driven by strong demand for its research and analytics products. Hopes of a rate cut amid cooling inflation and firming bets of the U.S. avoiding a recession have prompted investors to spend more on products that enable better investment decisions, helping firms such as Moody's rake in gains.
/jlne.ws/4ddFFjW
How Could the Presidential Election Impact My Money? Despite Americans' anxiety about the economy, many economists are optimistic
Tanza Loudenback - The Wall Street Journal
As the 2024 presidential election heats up, you may wonder what it means for your money. In the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Trump and the news of President Biden stepping out and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, it's natural to wonder if there is anything you should be doing differently. Should you hold off buying a house or time your retirement differently? Is it wise to keep more money in cash and prepare for inflation? "In any election year, I think that there's a level of concern and heightened awareness by investors," says Lawrence Sprung, a certified financial planner in Hauppauge, N.Y.
/jlne.ws/3zNxn3C
The 401(k) Rollover Mistake That Costs Retirement Savers Billions; Much of the money moved into IRAs misses out on market returns
Anne Tergesen - The Wall Street Journal
Workers miss out on billions in investment gains by pulling retirement savings out of the stock market after switching jobs-often without meaning to. When people roll 401(k) balances from their old company's plan into an individual retirement account, the money is frequently held as cash until they select new investments. Many never do, according to new research from Vanguard Group. Nearly a third who rolled savings into IRAs at Vanguard in 2015 still had the balance sitting in cash seven years later.
/jlne.ws/3ShDkMw
IPOs Finally Bring Summer Heat With $5.5 Billion in Deals on Tap; Lineage headlines biggest week for offerings since September; IPO market hasn't delivered 'sustained momentum': Citi
Bailey Lipschultz - Bloomberg
US initial public offerings should get a boost this week from as much as $5.5 billion in first-time equity issuance that could be the opening investors have been clamoring for during this latest new listings slump. The up to $4 billion deal for Lineage Inc., a temperature-controlled storage and logistics real estate investment trust, headlines what could be the most crowded slate for new issues since September. The typical bread-and-butter IPOs by tech firms that are growing faster than public peers have been virtually nonexistent, as companies sop up private dollars and avoid the risks of launching shares into this market. So bankers and Corporate America are hoping this latest action sparks some momentum.
/jlne.ws/3Lzyw1h
Leverage Shares launches single-stock covered call ETPs in Europe; The products, based on Nvidia, Tesla and GLD, provide premium income, limit capital gain, but cushion losses
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
Leverage Shares has launched Europe's first "covered call" exchange traded products based on single stocks. The initial batch of three ETPs are centred on technology stocks Nvidia and Tesla, as well as the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD), which tracks the price of the metal. Covered call ETFs involve selling call options on the underlying index or stock. This limits an investor's potential upside capital gain but provides a stream of premium income instead - augmenting a limited capital gain or, in the worst-case scenario, cushioning losses if the price of the underlying asset falls.
/jlne.ws/4c1csaB
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | World registers hottest day ever recorded on July 21, monitor says
Gloria Dickie - Reuters
Sunday, July 21 was the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to preliminary data from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. The global average surface air temperature on Sunday reached 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit) - slightly higher than the previous record set last July of 17.08 C (62.74 F). Heatwaves have scorched large swathes of the United States, Europe and Russia over the past week.
/jlne.ws/3xYngIZ
AI helps to produce breakthrough in weather and climate forecasting; Advances in predictions promised by machine learning matched with physics in latest model involving Google
Michael Peel - Financial Times
Artificial intelligence has helped to make a breakthrough in accurate long-range weather and climate predictions, according to research that promises advances in both forecasting and the wider use of machine learning. Using a hybrid of machine learning and existing forecasting tools, a model led by Google called NeuralGCM successfully harnessed AI to conventional atmospheric physics models to track decades-long climate trends and extreme weather events such as cyclones, a team of scientists found.
/jlne.ws/3SipREi
UN attacks companies' reliance on carbon credits to hit climate targets; Draft policy document pushes for corporate cuts in emissions rather than using multimillion-dollar carbon trading market
Kenza Bryan - Financial Times
The UN has outlined its opposition to companies using credits to cancel out their carbon dioxide footprint, putting it on a collision course with big oil and technology groups. A draft document seen by the Financial Times and drawn up by a task force convened by UN secretary-general António Guterres says groups should not use carbon credits to offset emissions outside of state-regulated schemes.
/jlne.ws/3LzVFRj
US remains off track on climate pledge despite Biden green spending push; Record clean energy investment fails to drive emissions cuts far enough to close the gap on UN climate goal
Aime Williams - Financial Times
The US remains off track for the steep greenhouse gas emissions cuts promised by 2030 under the Paris accord despite the Biden administration's sweeping green subsidies and new climate rules, the latest analysis shows. The US, historically the world's biggest polluter, has significantly reduced emissions under President Joe Biden but it will still fall short of the pledge to eliminate at least 50 per cent by the end of the decade, compared with 2005 levels, according to independent research from Rhodium Group.
/jlne.ws/3YemS3q
Cash Dries Up for Locals Fighting Climate Change; Collapse of carbon-credit market threatens projects in developing countries
Henry Kronk - The Wall Street Journal
Jorge Cantuarias has paid thousands of dollars a year since 2020 to more than 700 families in the Peruvian Amazon to preserve the rainforest while they harvest Brazil nuts. The money came from the sale of carbon credits, a once booming market that has collapsed in the past two years. Now Cantuarias is sitting on roughly three million credits he can't sell.
/jlne.ws/3zP4rZ0
Kamala Harris could set 'new high bar for climate ambition', advocates say; Vice-president's record on climate crisis strikes stark contrast with Trump in potential 2024 election match-up
Oliver Milman - The Guardian
Kamala Harris has a strong record on the environment that will provide a vivid contrast with Donald Trump, who has vowed to rescind climate change policies should he return to the White House, according to green advocates who have welcomed the prospect of a Harris presidency.
/jlne.ws/3WzWdgy
Judge Orders Oil and Gas Leases in Wyoming to Proceed After Updated BLM Environmental Analysis
Jake Bolster - Inside Climate News
The order settles the question of whether hundreds of leases would be terminated after a court found the agency failed to thoroughly link its emissions analysis to its decision to hold an auction.
/jlne.ws/4fi7KrS
Britain's climate change plan challenged in landmark court case
Sam Tobin - Reuters
Britain failed to set proper objectives in its climate adaptation strategy, environmental campaigners argued on Tuesday in a case which relies on a landmark recent ruling by Europe's top human rights court. Friends of the Earth is taking legal action over Britain's national adaptation programme, which was published last year and sets out what the government and others will do to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
/jlne.ws/3Sjn5i4
Analysts forecast EU carbon price rise, but say supply could swell
Susanna Twidale - Reuters
/jlne.ws/3WzL2o3
German government must do more to tackle air pollution, court rules
Reuters
/jlne.ws/3zRigGD
'Clear policy window': ZSL calls for joint COP16 and COP29 solution to 'intrinsically connected' climate and nature crises
Stuart Stone - BusinessGreen
/jlne.ws/3SHHPR5
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Jamie Dimon's Handpicked Wall Street Duo Hunts More Market Share; JPMorgan's new investment bank bosses just set revenue record; In interview, Piepszak and Rohrbaugh discuss strategy for more
Hannah Levitt - Bloomberg
One was in the car with her family, the other had his phone off, when Jamie Dimon began dialing their numbers on a Saturday in January with a question: Could they run a Wall Street operation bigger than Goldman Sachs? That's how Jenn Piepszak and Troy Rohrbaugh learned they were about to co-lead JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s massive commercial and investment bank - one of the industry's most significant leadership changes in years. Their task: Continue building a Wall Street juggernaut that already ranks near the top of every major business line.
/jlne.ws/3zTBsn3
Coinbase's stock gets upgraded as this bullish driver is 'too large to ignore'; Citi sees 30% upside for Coinbase shares, partly because the regulatory landscape seems to be improving
Emily Bary - The Wall Street Journal
Citi Research analyst Peter Christiansen acknowledges that Coinbase Global Inc. shares have gained 52% so far this year, but he's still switching to a bullish stance. The key reason? A more upbeat assessment of the company's regulatory backdrop.
/jlne.ws/3Wo1wym
Indian Banks Short-Term Debt Rise to 12-Year High on Loan Demand; Outstanding CDs at 4.3 trillion rupees in July 12 fortnight; Banks struggle for deposits as equity market lures savers
Divya Patil - Bloomberg
Indian banks are increasingly turning to shorter-maturity borrowing to bridge a funding shortfall caused by robust loan growth and dwindling deposits. The outstanding amount of certificates of deposit issued by banks rose to 4.3 trillion rupees ($51.4 billion) in the fortnight through July 12, according to the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India. That's the highest since June 2012, and came as bank loans expanded at 17.4% in the year through June 28, higher than the 11% growth in deposits. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das last week warned that such borrowings increase lenders' sensitivity to interest-rate movements and pose challenges to liquidity management. Bank's deposit growth may be lagging as households shift their savings to financial markets, he added.
/jlne.ws/3SiM0T0
US banks' stress test accuracy worsens in DFAST 2024 Gap between Fed's and large dealers' projections widens to six-year high
Joshua Walker - Risk.net
US banks' self-assessments of their stressed Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratios diverged from the US Federal Reserve's predictions once again in the latest Dodd-Frank Act stress test (DFAST), with large banks reporting the widest disparity in at least six years, Risk Quantum analysis shows. The eight US global systemically important banks and Northern Trust's projections for their peak-to-trough depletions were, on average, 132 basis points off those calculated by the Fed. This marked a
/jlne.ws/3Sltfyp
Julius Baer Appoints Goldman Sachs's Bollinger to CEO Post; Stefan Bollinger is currently co-head of private wealth management for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Goldman Sachs in London
Enes Morina - The Wall Street Journal
Julius Baer appointed Goldman Sachs partner Stefan Bollinger as its new chief executive, almost six months after the previous chief left in the wake of credit losses. Bollinger is currently co-head of private wealth management for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Goldman Sachs in London. He will take the CEO position no later than Feb. 1, 2025, the Swiss private bank said Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/4cQi7Bz
***** Here is the Bloomberg version of this story.~JJL
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | America's 60-Year-Olds Are Staring at Financial Peril; A bruising recession and the disappearance of pensions have left many young boomers financially exposed
Jon Kamp, Scott Calvert, and Paul Overberg - The Wall Street Journal
Shauna Sharpes doesn't travel and grows much of her own food at her home in western Washington state. The payroll manager for a local Native American tribal authority has meager savings and expects she will have to keep working for at least the next decade. Part of her challenge: She turned 60 in January, putting her at the tail end of a baby boom generation that is hurtling toward retirement age in uncertainty. Born in a midcentury, postwar America brimming with promise, many of the youngest boomers are still sporting financial bruises from the 2007-09 recession and the nation's steady shift away from guaranteed pensions. "The most important things for me right now are a place to live indoors, water and food," said Sharpes, who has about $3,000 in her retirement accounts. "And thinking about how I'm going to provide that for myself from now until I drop dead."
/jlne.ws/4fcrb5z
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Too many pills? How to talk to your doctor about reviewing what's needed
Carla K. Johnson - Chicago Tribune
Swallowing a handful of pills is a daily ritual for many people, from young adults coping with anxiety to older adults managing chronic conditions. Overall, 13% of people in the U.S. take five or more prescription drugs. For those 65 and older, that number is 42%. If you're taking multiple meds, it's smart to be aware of potential problems. One pill can lead to a side effect, leading to another pill and another side effect in what experts call a "prescribing cascade." Some drugs can cause harm if taken for years. Others stop working or interact badly with a new drug. A drug tolerated well at first can cause side effects later, leading to cognitive decline and injuries from falls. "Our metabolism changes as we get older," said Dr. Elizabeth Bayliss, who studies deprescribing at Kaiser Permanente's Institute for Health Research in Aurora, Colorado. "Everyone's ability to metabolize the medications they've been taking for a long time may change."
/jlne.ws/4fcQLHz
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China's Richest Man Risks Losing Crown After $13 Billion Wipeout
Bloomberg
China's richest man is at risk of losing the pole position he's held for almost three years, with his wealth slipping the most among billionaires worldwide as intensifying competition and public relations challenges plague his bottled water giant. Zhong Shanshan, chairman of Hangzhou-based Nongfu Spring Co., has lost $13 billion so far in 2024, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a fortune of $54.8 billion as of Monday. That keeps him a whisker above Colin Huang, founder of online shopping platform PDD Holdings Inc. Huang's fortune stands at $47.3 billion.
/jlne.ws/4fgq1WM
China's New Plan to Fix Debt Woes Is Seen as Marginal at Best; Beijing is looking to shift more revenue to local governments
Bloomberg News
Xi Jinping's government has finally outlined its plan to fix a regional fiscal crisis that has weighed on China for years. Economists say it's not nearly enough. The ruling Communist Party signaled at a key policy meeting last week that Beijing is willing to share its tax revenue with regional governments while easing their spending burden, one of the country's biggest tax revamps in decades. A core part of the plan involves passing the proceeds of consumption levies - which currently goes entirely to the central government - to cities and towns.
/jlne.ws/4bZV1Y2
'Modi Stocks' Face Investor Caution Before Budget
Ashutosh Joshi - Bloomberg
Good morning, this is Ashutosh Joshi, an equities reporter in Mumbai. Stocks seem poised to start trading on a firm note on the federal budget day, buoyed by gains in the rest of Asia. Although sentiment remains positive, one can expect increased volatility during the course of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's speech. The India VIX, known as the fear gauge, has risen for five straight days leading up to the event, marking its longest run in over two months.
/jlne.ws/4bVgTDO
India Cuts Gold Import Tax in Boost to Local Jewelry Makers; The government reduces levy on gold and silver to 6% from 15%; Shares of Indian jewelers increase after budget announcements
Pratik Parija and Alex Gabriel Simon - Bloomberg
India cut its import tax on gold to support jewelry manufacturing in the world's second-biggest consumer of the precious metal. The government slashed the duty on the yellow metal to 6% from 15%, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her annual budget speech in New Delhi on Tuesday. The aim is to "enhance domestic value addition in gold and precious metal jewelry in the country," she said.
/jlne.ws/3SiX4j0
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Google Is Keeping Cookies in Chrome After All; Tech giant reverses course after four years of fights with advertisers and regulators
Patience Haggin - The Wall Street Journal
In a major reversal, Google is ending a plan to eliminate cookies in its Chrome browser after four years of efforts, delays and disagreements with the advertising industry. The decision to keep the pervasive tracking technology known as "cookies" in Chrome comes after a series of setbacks, as both digital-advertising companies and regulators objected to the plan and to Google's proposed replacement technologies. Chrome users can already choose to block cookies in the browser's settings. Now, instead of eliminating them, Google will present users with a prompt to decide whether to turn cookies on or off, said the U.K. competition regulator, which has been overseeing Google's plan to block cookies.
/jlne.ws/3A1ZagK
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