| April 11, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
A top economic advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is demanding that four major commodity trading companies stop handling Russian oil. Oleg Ustenko was quoted in an FT story saying, "They are in this cycle of financing war crimes and genocide against Ukrainian citizens. The fact is that traders are trading and they are helping Russia to receive this blood money."
I don't believe it gets any more direct than that.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Alexander Osipovich shared on LinkedIn that his company, Dow Jones, "is looking to hire displaced Ukrainians with research/analysis skills at its office in Barcelona." For more information, click HERE.
Elon Musk is not joining the Twitter board of directors after all. He turned down the offer to join the board after he bought 9 percent of Twitter's stock. Twitter's stock dropped 7% this morning on the news. He did have an active weekend on Twitter, recommending Twitter help solve San Francisco's homeless problem by turning its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter, since no one is coming to the office anymore.
The Twittersphere weighed in with 90 percent of the people saying that was a great idea, and Jeff Bezos agreed, noting that Amazon had turned part of its headquarters into a homeless shelter to provide housing and services for 200 people based on suggestions from its staff. Maybe Mr. Musk can push this idea through and prove a tweet is more powerful than a board seat.
The Financial Times reported that Heathrow Airport reported the highest passenger numbers since the start of the pandemic. That is a good sign for the travel industry; however, a record number of people in the UK currently have the coronavirus.
Do you own a virtual reality headset? I just made a deal to acquire two sets I was sent last year when working with Get Real VR on their MarketsWiki Education World of Opportunity session. One of the things I want to start doing is play Putt Putt golf. There is a Wall Street Journal story below about how company employees will socialize in the future, including in the metaverse. Playing Putt Putt golf is a great example of a fun activity they can do together virtually and get to know each other. Accenture, according to the WSJ, bought 60,000 Oculus Quest 2 headsets that become part of the hardware offered to employees along with phones and laptops.
I think tournaments of Putt Putt golf would make a great fundraiser too and am exploring the idea for the Scouts, using a combination of virtual rounds with an in-person, real round too. To make this happen, I need to get a fleet of 10 to 20 headsets to bring to units to have them participate. At some point, I will be looking for a corporate sponsor for a fleet of VR headsets or two.
In the meantime, VR games make excellent exercise opportunities. You should try boxing. It is all the activity of boxing, without getting your retina detached by somebody with a great left hook.
For the fourth time in two years, Vermiculus Technologies has moved into new offices as the company continues to grow.
Tech executive and outside experience investor and enthusiast Jeremie Bacon of The Forge encourages Chicago area people interested in getting their hands dirty for Earth Day to come April 23, 2022 to The Forge in Lemont Quarries for its annual Earth Day Summit. For more information, click HERE.
Do you want to know how you can take action and live more sustainably in Chicago? Check out this group, Chicago Environmentalists.org. H/T to Brad Rosen.
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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ICE's Chris Edmonds Dishes on Risk, Messaging and Systemically Important Financial Institutions at Boca 2022
JohnLothianNews.com
ICE's Chris Edmonds took on an even bigger role at the exchange group in December when he was named chief development officer in addition to his role as head of clearing and risk for Intercontinental Exchange. He already had responsibility for six clearinghouses around the globe and was asked to add marketing and communications. But Edmonds made it sound like it all made sense; whether you are talking about the risk, marketing or communications, you should be getting a consistent message from the exchange.
Watch the video »
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Cboe, MIAX & OCC Release Trading Volumes; Tesla CEO's stake in Twitter Sparks Options Bets; Cboe Awards Scholarships
JohnLothianNews.com
"Alex Perry's Optionstopia" takes a look at this week's options news highlights: Cboe, MIAX & OCC Release Trading Volumes; Tesla CEO's stake in Twitter Sparks Options Bets; Cboe Awards Scholarships
TERM OF THE WEEK: Euronext presents "Options Term of the Week". American or European style.
Watch the video »
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Richest Agriculture Family's Fortunes Jump as Food Prices Surge; Three more in Cargill family join list of world's wealthiest; Cargill is the largest closely held company in the U.S.
Scott Carpenter - Bloomberg
Rising food prices and turbulent global commodities markets are fueling a surge in wealth for the billionaire family behind America's largest closely held company. Three more members of the Cargill family -- siblings James Cargill, Austen Cargill and Marianne Liebmann -- have joined the ranks of the world's 500 richest people thanks to their stakes in Minnesota-based food processor Cargill Inc. Each has a net worth of $5.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, up 20% this year.
/jlne.ws/3usEB84
*****The Cargills' money is no token fortune.~JJL
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Musk, Thiel, Andreessen and the Current Thing
Brad Stone - Bloomberg
Billionaire shitposters
Last Thursday at a cryptocurrency conference in Miami, Peter Thiel unloaded on the perceived enemies of Bitcoin. In a stem-winding speech, the contrarian called Warren Buffett the "sociopathic grandpa from Omaha" and dubbed JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and BlackRock Inc. CEO Larry Fink a "financial gerontocracy" restraining a crypto-inflamed youth uprising. He also inveighed against ESG — the mindset of investing with socially conscious criteria like environmental impact, social justice and good governance.
/jlne.ws/3v7YFfg
***** How about "The Missing Satoshi Nakamoto" as a perceived enemy of bitcoin?
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The Future of Socializing at Work? Virtual Golf; Companies like Meta often insist we will all be working inside the metaverse. But what if a round of mini golf with colleagues is the better application?
Christopher Mims - WSJ
I don't particularly like virtual reality, and I can't play golf. But I think the intersection of the two points to the future of socializing at work, with both co-workers and important contacts outside of a company. By extension, it could also represent the future of the kind of casual-but-essential networking, brainstorming and creative play that binds teams together and leads to innovation. Don't take my word for it. Companies and individual early adopters all over the world are finding that, while much has been made of using VR to do work—including by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms (previously known as Facebook)—a better or at least more accessible application might be casual connection with our colleagues and friends. You know, that thing many of us have struggled to recapture since the world's knowledge workers were scattered to homes, satellite offices and co-working spaces by the pandemic.
/jlne.ws/3DYIyEM
****** Golf any mini golf, or now putt putt golf course in the world, including some of the craziest windmills, with your colleagues and friends? Yes, I do think so.~JJL
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The Fortunes of MacKenzie Scott; Three decades after worrying about making rent, she is now giving away billions — all while trying to keep herself out of the spotlight.
Nicholas Kulish and Rebecca R. Ruiz - NY Times
The billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott once recounted, in a television interview, a Chinese folk tale sometimes known as "The Lost Horse." The story is about the reversals of fortune a farmer experiences after his prized stallion runs away. It can also be read as a summary of her philosophy.
/jlne.ws/3xjPoDA
***** It is a burden to try to give away a fortune in a way that does the most good and does not disrupt or corrupt organizations and their missions.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top story Friday by a very wide margin was A Market Mystery: The 'Wheat Whale' That Came Out of Nowhere, from The New York Times. Second was Giannis Antetokounmpo Put His Money in 50 Banks Until Bucks Owner Helped Him Invest, from Bloomberg via Yahoo! Finance. And third was Superyachts exist because the ultra-rich 'can't figure out what to do with their money,' FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried says, from Yahoo! Finance.
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
Publisher | | | Sarah Rudolph
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| Lead Stories | LME chief calls for scrutiny of private deals in nickel probes; Exchange and regulators seek answers after March's nickel trading crisis
Philip Stafford - FT
UK regulators are quizzing the London Metal Exchange over what went wrong in the nickel market last month but the exchange's chief has said the core problem lies with the trades he cannot see. The LME has launched its own independent review, as have the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England, which monitors its clearing house. The reviews follow a huge spike in nickel prices that led to the exchange suspending trade in the metal for eight days, sparking deep anger at the LME's handling of the event.
/jlne.ws/3rgKV0F
Big commodity traders reap rewards as margin calls squeeze smaller rivals; Market chaos makes large credit lines essential to cope with surging capital requirements
Neil Hume and Harry Dempsey - FT
Commodity traders prospered during the pandemic using their global network of terminals, storage facilities and shipping fleets to cash in on supply disruptions and rising demand. Vitol generated record net income of more than $4bn last year, according to people who have seen the results of the world's biggest independent oil trader, with rival Mercuria making $1.25bn. Trafigura also enjoyed record numbers, as did Glencore's trading arm. The big question now is whether the industry can repeat the trick and capitalise on the market chaos unleashed by the war in Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3joPRMi
Crypto Industry Helps Write, and Pass, Its Own Agenda in State Capitols; In the absence of federal regulations, crypto lobbyists and executives are going state by state to get favorable rules enacted. Many lawmakers have been willing partners.
Eric Lipton and David Yaffe-Bellany - NY Times
The debate took less than four minutes. In the Florida House last month, legislators swiftly gave final approval to a bill that makes it easier to buy and sell cryptocurrency, eliminating a threat from a law intended to curb money laundering. One of the few pauses in the action came when two House members stood up to thank crypto industry "stakeholders" for teaming with state officials to write a draft of the bill.
/jlne.ws/3rgygdM
S&P Global Places Russia in 'Selective Default'
Eshe Nelson
S&P Global has placed Russia under a "selective default" rating after the Russian government said last week that it had repaid about $650 million in dollar-denominated debt in rubles. The ratings agency said late Friday that it didn't expect investors to be able to convert the ruble payments into U.S. dollars that were equivalent to the original amount due, pushing Russia toward its first default on foreign currency sovereign debt in more than a century.
/jlne.ws/3jt39Yu
Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt, S&P says
Anna Cooban - CNN
Russia has defaulted on its foreign debt because it offered bondholders payments in rubles, not dollars, credit ratings agency S&P has said.
Russia attempted to pay in rubles for two dollar-denominated bonds that matured on April 4, S&P said in a note on Friday. The agency said this amounted to a "selective default" because investors are unlikely to be able to convert the rubles into "dollars equivalent to the originally due amounts."
/jlne.ws/3Kuopc7
Ukraine calls on commodity traders to stop handling Russian oil; Vitol, Trafigura, Glencore and Gunvor accused of helping Moscow receive 'blood money'
Harry Dempsey, Neil Hume and Chelsea Bruce-Lockhart - FT
The Ukrainian government has called on some of the world's largest energy traders to stop handling Russian crude, of which the companies have discharged more than 20mn barrels since the outbreak of war. Vitol, Trafigura, Glencore and Gunvor have continued to lift large volumes of Russian crude and products including diesel, according to ship tracking and port data.
/jlne.ws/3v1NAfq
EU countries remain at loggerheads over Russian energy ban; Hungary says measures targeting Moscow's lucrative oil and gas exports are a 'red line'
Sam Fleming, Henry Foy and Guy Chazan - FT
EU member states are at loggerheads over demands for an immediate blockade on Russian oil imports as the soaring cost of living weighs heavily on politicians considering how to punish Moscow over its war in Ukraine. Momentum is growing in the EU for fresh curbs on Russian fossil fuels as evidence mounts of atrocities against Ukrainian civilians. But while the European Commission is working on oil sanctions, there is scepticism about the idea of a rapid clampdown among some member states.
/jlne.ws/3KLBRZr
The UK energy strategy is both cowardly and incoherent; Consulting communities on cheap and quick onshore wind is hardly a Churchillian response to Britain's national crisis
Michael Grubb - FT
The writer is professor of energy and climate change at University College London and was former senior adviser to energy regulator Ofgem The defining feature of the UK energy strategy is its incoherence. It doesn't know what problem is it is trying to solve — and thus it doesn't solve any. By failing to boost energy efficiency and kicking the only possible short-term supply option — that of cheap onshore wind — into the long grass, it most certainly won't help those struggling with energy bills in the coming winters.
/jlne.ws/3E2CzPh
Oil and gas revenues give Russia's economy $3.4bn cushion; Yet Moscow downgraded to 'selective default' by S&P as it warns country is unlikely to honour foreign debt terms
Polina Ivanova - FT
Russia has boosted the fund that cushions its sanctions-hit economy with $3.4bn in additional oil and gas revenues thanks to rising energy prices since the start of its war with Ukraine, as it edges closer to its first debt default since 1998.
/jlne.ws/3JoGkQd
Peter Thiel turns up his tirade against crypto foes; Microsoft disrupts Russian cyber attacks, TalkTalk stalked, the piano reinvented
Chris Nuttall - FT
Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, Silicon Valley tech titans known for their controversial yet influential comments, are aiming for maximum impact this month. Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and libertarian tech investor, was talking about a revolution, at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3ut4oNk
SocGen to exit Russia with sale of Rosbank to oligarch; French bank strikes deal with Vladimir Potanin's Interros Capital
Robert Wright in London and Sarah White - FT
Société Générale will take a EUR3.1bn hit after agreeing to exit Russia by selling Rosbank to an investment company founded by billionaire Vladimir Potanin. The French bank said on Monday it was selling its entire 99.98 per cent stake in Rosbank, as well as its Russian insurance operations, to Potanin's Interros Capital after coming under scrutiny over its large exposure to the country following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/372QUzf
Credit Suisse angers investors with five-year 'hard grind' on Greensill losses; Investors, insurers, debtors and the Swiss bank are in a war of attrition
Owen Walker and Ian Smith and Nic Fildes - FT
A year on from Greensill Capital's collapse, payments to investors in funds linked to the supply chain finance firm have slowed to a trickle. The funds held $10bn of assets, mostly sourced from Credit Suisse's prized ultra-rich clients, and invested in notes provided by Greensill, which in turn lent money to a range of companies. Credit Suisse has so far returned $6.7bn to investors, with a further $600mn held in cash. The bank is now focused on recouping as much of the remaining $2.7bn as it can.
/jlne.ws/3riZAIx
Russia calls for integrating BRICS payment systems
Reuters
Russia, hit by Western sanctions, has called on the BRICS group of emerging economies to extend the use of national currencies and integrate payment systems, the finance ministry said on Saturday. Sanctions have cut Russia off from the global financial system and from nearly half of its gold and foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $606.5 billion in early April. On Friday, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told a ministerial meeting with BRICS, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, that the global economic situation had worsened substantially due to the sanctions, the ministry's statement said.
SocGen to Sell Rosbank to Billionaire Potanin in Russia Exit; French lender sticking with buyback, dividend plans for year; Interros is investment firm of Russian billionaire Potanin
Alexandre Rajbhandari - Bloomberg
Societe Generale SA agreed to sell its Rosbank PJSC unit to the investment firm of Russia's richest man, taking a hit of about 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) to exit the heavily sanctioned nation.
/jlne.ws/3rj6YUq
How Chief Technology Officers Are Investing Big in the Future; A survey of more than 3,000 executives across industries provides a crystal ball into how companies are spending today for tomorrow.
Alex Webb - Bloomberg
One way to anticipate the next tech revolution is to ask those spending the money: technology leaders. So Bloomberg Businessweek teamed with Bloomberg Intelligence, the analysis arm of Bloomberg LP, to survey 3,038 executives across industries. Their responses, detailed in the Bloomberg Digital Economy Index powered by Infosys, show where chief technology officers at leading companies are focusing spending—and why they're making those choices.
/jlne.ws/3Jldiks
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russian oligarch says sanctions against the nation are 'capable of destroying everything'
Grace Kay - Insider
Russian oligarch Vladimir Lisin said the constant threat of Western sanctions, including those already imposed against the nation's elite, will have a longterm impact on Russia's working class. "Being forced into this reality is inevitably unsettling because sanctions are capable of destroying everything that had taken many years to create," Lisin said on Monday, according to an Insider translation of his interview with the Russian newspaper Kommersant. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the US, EU, and UK have levied several rounds of sanctions against Russia, President Vladimir Putin, and some of his closest allies. The sanctions target the economy and the country's banks, as well as specific oligarchs and their foreign assets.
/jlne.ws/3r8h7Tx
Russian Oil Exports Are Forced on Longer Voyages to Find Buyers; Shipments from Russian ports jumped in week to April 8; Asia starting to compensate for European reluctance to buy
Julian Lee - Bloomberg
Russia's crude oil exports, a key source of revenue for Vladimir Putin's regime, are showing no signs that they are starting to crumble amid the disappearance of European buyers. Shipments in the seven days to April 8 continued a rebound that began the previous week, after consistently falling since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. That's according to Bloomberg News's first tracker of all crude leaving the country's export terminals on ocean-going tankers.
/jlne.ws/3LWACGY
How Putin aged into a classic oil state autocrat; From an economic perspective, the Russian leader is a universal type
Ruchir Sharma - FT
On a visit to New York in 2003, Vladimir Putin pitched himself to investors as an economic reformer willing to engage western capitalists, telling us that Russia was more than just another petrostate and shared the values of a "normal European nation".
/jlne.ws/3KueTWk
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | BME admits to trading a new 1 billion euro sustainable bond from the Madrid regional government
BME X
It is a new benchmark for the Madrid region, which contributes to building this issuer's sustainable curve
BME's fixed income market, AIAF, today admitted a new 1 billion euro sustainable syndicated public issue by the Madrid regional government. This issue, the sixth of this kind launched by the Madrid regional administration, is a new sustainability benchmark for the region and contributes to building the sustainable curve of this issuer.
/bit.ly/3usrcg9
FEX Global Suspension of ESPO Asian Crude (Argus) Futures and Options Contracts
FEX
The Board of Directors of FEX Global have determined to indefinitely suspend for trading all futures and options products referencing the ESPO Asian Crude (Argus) Benchmark. This suspension will come into effect after the close of today's trading session. A market notice has been published at 9.30am today AEST.
/bit.ly/3jqBBCV
ICE Offers ESG Data on Over 1.5 Million Mortgage-Backed Securities
APR 07, 2022
Expands fixed income ESG coverage to 3+ million instruments
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, today announced that it launched Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data coverage on more than 1.5 million mortgage-backed securities, increasing its total fixed income coverage to over 3 million instruments. ICE's mortgage-backed securities data set accounts for approximately 95% of all outstanding securitized real estate loan volume in the U.S.
/bit.ly/3NZhFVR
Notice Concerning Trading of Platinum and Palladium Futures
JPX
Now, since LPPM (London Platinum and Palladium Market) has taken steps to exclude Russian platinum and palladium brands from the certification list, OSE is considering measures including cancellation of the designation of the brand as Good Delivery Materials in our futures market. We will promptly give you a formal notice as soon as specific measures are decided.
/bit.ly/3JueIZU
Trading schedule of Moscow Exchange markets from 11 April
MOEX
From 11 April 2022, as decided by the Bank of Russia, the Moscow Exchange markets will operate according to the previous week's rules. In addition, negotiated trades/negotiated trades with the CCP in currencies other than Russian rouble will be available on the Bond Market. On 11 April, 52 ETFs will be available for trading.
/bit.ly/3O48Bz5
Spot Crypto ETF in Demand by Majority of Financial Advisors, Finds New Nasdaq Survey
Nasdaq
Advisors most likely to consider using an index fund when deciding how to allocate to crypto over coming year; 86% of advisors who are already investing in crypto plan to increase allocations within 12 months
According to a new Nasdaq survey of 500 financial advisors who are currently or considering allocating to crypto, 72% of advisors would be more likely to invest client assets in crypto if a spot ETF product were offered in the United States.
/bit.ly/3LSnqCT
Shanghai International Energy Exchange has released its Circular on the Delivery Issues of SC2205
Shanghai Futures Exchange
The last trading day for the crude oil futures contract SC2205 is April 29, 2022, and the delivery dates are May 5, May 6, May 9, May 10 and May 11, 2022. Accordingly, Shanghai International Energy Exchange (hereinafter referred to as "the Exchange") hereby notifies issues concerning delivery as follows:
/bit.ly/3rgQFrf
Notice on Investigation and Penalties for Violations of Relevant Rules and Regulations in March 2022
Shanghai Futures Exchange
Shanghai Futures Exchange (hereinafter referred to as "The Exchange") has been on continuous efforts in investigating and penalizing violations of relevant rules and regulations, so as to strengthen the risk management of the futures market, regulate the futures trading activities and protect the legitimate rights and interests of futures market participants. The enforcement against such violations in March 2022 are listed as follows:
/bit.ly/3xng4TN
SGX Group reports market statistics for March 2022
SGX
Derivatives DAV hits two-year high on gains across multiple asset classes
Securities turnover rises as STI becomes Asia-Pacific's strongest performing stock benchmark
Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) today released its market statistics for March 2022. Gains in derivatives volume drove performance for the first three months of 2022. Securities turnover rose as Singapore's stock benchmark returned over 9% for the quarter, the strongest in Asia-Pacific.
/bit.ly/3jqQjtD
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Elon Musk Turns Down Offer to Join Twitter's Board
Sarah Frier, Edwin Chan, and Dana Hull - Bloomberg
Twitter Inc.'s shares slid after Elon Musk decided not to join its board, a stunning twist to a week-long saga that has captivated the tech community and touched off renewed speculation about the company's future. Musk held "many discussions" with Twitter's directors but the entrepreneur ultimately declined their offer of a board seat, Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal tweeted. According to the CEO, Musk informed Twitter of his decision April 9, the same day he was slated to formally join the board.
/jlne.ws/3joEXpR
Wave Labs integrates Glimpse buy-side data into eLiSA credit trading system; eLiSA EMS will have Glimpse data integrated into its liquidity workflow when it is rolled out to clients and the wider market in the second and third quarter, respectively.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Wave Labs has integrated data from buy-side data pooling network Glimpse Markets into its eLiSA credit trading system ahead of its roll out, due to take place this year. The two-way integration will mean that users of the eLiSA (Electronic Liquidity Seeking Application) will be able to leverage Glimpse's European buy-side contributed trades data while also contributing to the network themselves.
jlne.ws/3uvrFyv
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | How to spot 'spear phishing', an insidious cybercrime trend
Karen Cicero - Yahoo Life
Even cybersecurity experts get tricked by spear phishing attempts sometimes, so it pays to cover your bases. True story: At a company I once worked for, employees received an email about an unexpected bonus. In private Slack channels, we wondered whether it was a well-played phishing attempt. Turns out, the bonus was legit, but so was our inclination to question it. Phishing—when cybercriminals pose as legitimate institutions to get info or money from you—is the origin of up to 90 percent of breaches and hacking incidents, says Frank Cilluffo, director of Auburn University's McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security in Alabama.
/jlne.ws/35ShaLV
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Top US Bank Watchdog Warns of Stablecoins' 'Lack of Interoperability'
Jesse Hamilton - Coindesk
The wildly different approaches the crypto industry has taken to designing and hosting stablecoins may be good for innovation but bad for practical and safe usage, argued Michael Hsu, the acting chief of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, at a Georgetown University Law Center event on Friday.
/jlne.ws/3Kq8oE8
Former Citigroup Executives Seek $100 Million for Crypto Hedge Funds
Jenny Surane - Bloomberg
A trio of former Citigroup Inc. executives who left the bank last month have formed Motus Capital Management, a firm that wants to make it easier for high-net-worth individuals to bet on cryptocurrencies. Alex Kriete, Greg Girasole and Frank Cavallo are seeking to raise $100 million for a pair of actively managed hedge funds that will focus on digital assets, the three said in interviews. They are each founding partners of Motus, the Latin term that's the origin of the word "motor."
/jlne.ws/38wyuqN
Copper Hires BofA Team to Build Prime Brokerage Crypto Product; Execs join London crypto custodian to build out new offering; Copper still in talks about registration with U.K. regulator
Emily Nicolle - Bloomberg
Copper Technologies Ltd. hired a team of executives from Bank of America Corp. to run a unit developing infrastructure for prime brokerage platforms, seeking to meet demand from institutional investors and banks for more direct access to cryptocurrencies.
/jlne.ws/37ahh6f
Can crypto fill the gap left by Russian money in the UK? By connecting himself so personally to the concept, the chancellor is taking a big punt himself
Patrick Jenkins - FT
Out with the oligarchs. In with the cryptogarchs. That is certainly how it came across. One minute the UK government, in line with western policy towards Kremlin-linked business figures, was imposing stiff sanctions on the likes of Roman Abramovich and Mikhail Fridman, effectively ending an era of ingratiating such Russian billionaires. The next it was throwing its weight behind "UK Crypto", an effort to "seize the capitalist energy" of the City of London and make the UK a "hospitable place for crypto".
/jlne.ws/3uveRbp
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Putin's War in Ukraine Is a Watershed. Time for America to Get Real.
Charles A. Kupchan - NY Times
During his recent speech in Warsaw, President Biden said that Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power," only to clarify a few days later that he was merely expressing outrage, not announcing a new U.S. policy aimed at toppling Russia's leader. The episode, interpreted by many as a dangerous gaffe, underscored the tension in U.S. foreign policy between idealism and realism.
/jlne.ws/3LT0FyC
How Do We Deal With a Superpower Led by a War Criminal?
Thomas L. Friedman - NY Times
It is hard to believe, but now impossible to deny, that the broad framework that kept much of the world stable and prospering since the end of the Cold War has been seriously fractured by Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. In ways we hadn't fully appreciated, a lot of that framework rested on the West's ability to coexist with Putin as he played "bad boy," testing the limits of the world order but never breaching them at scale.
/jlne.ws/35ZKvUL
Boris Johnson Is Having His Winston Churchill Moment; Where is the prime minister's program of post-Brexit renewal and reform? Local elections on May 5 will test his luck.
Martin Ivens - Bloomberg
Reflected glory is often the best way to come by extra kudos. And so Boris Johnson has been basking in Volodymyr Zelenskiy's praise for his firm stand against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The prime minister has now doubled down on his support. As well he might. The war has saved Johnson's leadership from a sense of downward drift. The question is whether the lull is temporary relief or a return to superhero status for a battered but resilient prime minister.
/jlne.ws/3v6ckU1
EU Urges Countries to Send Ukraine Weapons in Days Not Weeks; Foreign ministers meet on Monday to discuss arms and equipment; Ukrainians are preparing for increased fighting in the east
Alberto Nardelli - Bloomberg
The European Union's top diplomat is urging member states to quickly provide Kyiv with the weapons it has asked for, as Ukraine braces for Russia to step up its campaign in the country's east, according to people familiar with weekend discussions.
/jlne.ws/3E0l1mG
Emmanuel Macron to face Marine Le Pen in French election run-off; President and far-right rival qualify for second round of voting on April 24
Victor Mallet, Leila Abboud and Sarah White - FT
Emmanuel Macron will face far-right rival Marine Le Pen in the second and final stage of the French presidential election on April 24 after they beat the other candidates in the first round of voting on Sunday, according to estimates. With 97 per cent of the votes counted, results showed Macron winning 27.6 per cent and Le Pen 23.4 per cent in the first-round, ahead of the far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon with 22 per cent.
/jlne.ws/3ju38n3
UN Suspends Russia From Human Rights Panel as Dozens Abstain; Ukraine's envoy says voting no is like 'pulling a trigger'; Mexico, Thailand, India among nations seeking a probe instead
David Wainer - Bloomberg
The United Nations General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over its conduct in Ukraine, although dozens of nations abstained despite the Ukrainian ambassador's pleadings to defend "the innocent lives lost" in the two-month war.
/jlne.ws/3Ku2amD
Why Japan Will Struggle to Do Without Russian Energy
Shoko Oda and Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
After reports of alleged war crimes in Ukraine by Russian forces, Japan said it will follow the European Union and Group of Seven countries and ban imports of Russian coal. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the country will secure alternative sources of energy in a speedy manner, although no time frame was given. But shifting away from Russian fuel will be easier said than done for resource-poor Japan.
/jlne.ws/3NZ9eKb
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Federal Court Orders Danish Resident to Pay Over $4.7 Million for Forex Fraud and Misappropriation
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York entered an order and a final judgment against Danish resident Casper Mikkelsen, a/k/a Carsten Nielsen, a/k/a Brian Thomson, a/k/a Thomas Jensen, a/k/a Casper Muller, permanently prohibiting him from trading commodity interests, and ordering him to pay $1,191,286 in restitution and a $3,573,860 penalty, which is triple the profits Mikkelsen made committing this fraud.
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Fee Rate Advisory #1 for Fiscal Year 2022
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that starting on May 14, 2022, the fee rates applicable to most securities transactions will be set at $22.90 per $1 million.
Consequently, each SRO will continue to pay the Commission a rate of $5.10 per million for covered sales occurring on charge dates through May 13, 2022, and a rate of $22.90 per million for covered sales occurring on charge dates on or after May 14, 2022.
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The FSC requires the securities and futures sectors to strengthen protection measures for the senior financial consumers-Financial Supervisory Commission
FSC
According to National Development Council's estimates, Taiwan will enter the super-aged society and the share of the population aged 65 years or over is expected to exceed 20% in 2025. To enhance protection for senior financial consumers, the FSC supervises the Taiwan Securities Association, Securities Investment Trust & Consulting Association, and National Futures Association (the securities associations) to establish self-discipline rules for securities and futures sector companies to incorporate into internal control to exercise due care to protect the elderly from financial abuse.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Big Short Keeps Nickel Market on Edge One Month After Squeeze
Jack Farchy, Alfred Cang and Mark Burton - Bloomberg
The world's main nickel market is broken and no one seems to know how to put it back together. One month since the metals world was brought to its knees by an unprecedented squeeze, the "big short" that sparked the crisis is still mostly in place. Volumes on the London Metal Exchange have all but dried up, and prices are stuck at historically high levels that have become detached from the real world of much of the nickel industry.
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How 'Ukraine Fatigue' Is Taking Over Markets; The attitude seems to be that this war can be safely ignored if it turns into a long grind of attrition. That's a mistake.
John Authers
Ukraine Fatigue
Covid fatigue is now a widespread affliction. The pandemic has been a lead weight on our way of life for more than two years, and unsurprisingly people no longer want to talk about it. Most of us wish to get on with our lives as if the coronavirus has been vanquished, even though we know in our hearts that it hasn't. This is how Google Trends searches for Covid-19 have moved since March 2020, in the U.S. and worldwide:
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Harvard Endowment's Debate Shows PE Funds' China Struggle; New allocations to China PE funds drop to lowest since 2018; China market turmoil, Covid restrictions hurt fundraising
Cathy Chan and Janet Lorin - Bloomberg
China-focused private equity firms are struggling for new cash, hit by increased skepticism among U.S. pension funds and endowments about the growing political and market risks of Asia's largest economy. In a sign of a potential pullback, Harvard University's endowment is considering tapering its investments in China, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing private information. A pension fund for Pennsylvania state employees hasn't committed new cash to Chinese private equity funds in the past 12 months, while Florida's pension system has halted new investments in China as it assesses the risks.
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How the ECB Should Begin to Normalize Monetary Policy; The central bank needs some new tools to navigate the unique challenges that are likely to confront the euro-zone economy.
Lena Komileva - Bloomberg
The war in Ukraine has left Europe facing both greater supply chain disruptions and higher prices for raw material, problems exacerbated by the region's dependency on Russia energy. Against this backdrop, the European Central Bank must find a way to guard against an extended inflation shock and economic slowdown, all the while rolling back support for financial markets in the midst of heightened turbulence in global bond and commodity markets.
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Know a Good Inflation Hedge? Tell Me, Please; Stocks and bonds both do badly at times of high and rising prices, real estate doesn't hold its value, and commodities have already surged. There's not much left.
Matthew Brooker - Bloomberg
The search for havens from the worst inflation in four decades feels like it's about to get a lot more real. The bad news is that the task isn't looking at all easy or straightforward, at least for individual investors whose choices are confined to the standard asset classes and who rely on a traditional 60-40 portfolio mix of equities and bonds to weather the ups and downs of market cycles. If U.S. policy makers follow through on their aggressive tightening rhetoric, we could be in for some testing times.
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'Nowhere to hide' for investors in market turbulence; Quarterly drop in bonds and stocks raises questions on how to balance risk in portfolios
Harriet Agnew and Chris Flood - FT
Fund managers have been tripped up by global stocks and bonds falling in tandem in the first quarter. The FTSE All World stocks index, including dividends, dropped 5.1 per cent in the first three months of the year, reflecting rising benchmark interest rates and the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
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Bank Deposits Could Drop for First Time Since World War II; Analysts have been slashing expectations for bank deposits in recent weeks as Fed rate increases ripple through the industry
David Benoit - FT
U.S. banks have a streak of increasing deposits as a group every year since at least World War II. This year could break it. Over the past two months, bank analysts have slashed their expectations for deposit levels at the biggest banks. The 24 institutions that make up the benchmark KBW Nasdaq Bank Index are now expected to see a 6% decline in deposits this year. Those 24 banks account for nearly 60% of what was $19 trillion in deposits in December, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | BNP to Pay Banker Fired Years After Sexual Harassment Claim; BNP only issued warning at time; axed him after news article; Banker wins $327,000; couldn't be punished twice on same facts
Gaspard Sebag - Bloomberg
BNP Paribas SA must pay a senior banker it fired following a newspaper report he'd demanded sexual favors from a female colleague, a half a decade after the French bank let him off with just a warning and then promoted him. The u-turn to dismiss Aurelien Gressier at the height of the Me Too movement in 2017 came too late and violated French disciplinary rules, the Paris court of appeals said in a judgment last month. Five years earlier, the bank only issued him a warning him when a female colleague complained.
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War Gives Oil Producers Greater Clout at Global Climate Talks; Higher demand for fossil fuels has strengthened their hand
Jess Shankleman, Jennifer A Dlouhy, and Verity Ratcliffe - Bloomberg
Oil producers have always been an easy target at the United Nations' annual climate summits. This year, with Russia's war in Ukraine boosting demand for fossil fuels, they're preparing to fight back. As Western economies desperately seek alternatives to Vladimir Putin's exports, many are working to increase supplies of energy — whether it's clean or not. U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered an unprecedented release of emergency crude, while Poland has signaled it wants to use coal past the European Union's 2050 date to reach net-zero emissions. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson travelled to Saudi Arabia to ask for an increase oil production.
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Dutch Watchdog Rules KLM's 'Carbon Zero' Ad Is Misleading
Diederik Baazil - Bloomberg
The Dutch advertising watchdog ruled that a KLM promotion telling customers they could fly carbon-emission free is misleading. The ad's tag line, "Be a hero, fly CO2 zero," is an absolute claim, the Dutch Advertising Code Committee said in a verdict seen Friday by Bloomberg. As such, the company has the burden of proving the statement and didn't meet that test, the committee said.
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Canadian banks double financing of highly polluting oil sands; Funding comes as financial institutions face growing investor pressure to step up the fight against climate change
Camilla Hodgson - FT
Canada's top banks more than doubled their financing of highly polluting tar sands oil to $16.8bn in 2021, despite signing up to the UN's net zero banking alliance on greenhouse gas emissions. Lenders including Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their financing to the top 30 tar sands producers and six tar sands pipeline companies by almost $9bn in 2021, according to data from the Rainforest Action Network, the activist group that produces an annual comprehensive report of fossil fuel financing.
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Goldman's Failure to Heed 1MDB Red Flags Offers Lessons to Banks
David Voreacos and Patricia Hurtado - Bloomberg
The trial of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Roger Ng depicted a tale of greed and excess that includes bribery, bigamy and billions of dollars in stolen money. It was also a window into the missteps that cost of one of the world's preeminent banks more than $5 billion.
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UBS Lifts Junior Banker Pay for a Second Time to Rival Wall Street
Sally Bakewell - Bloomberg
UBS Group AG increased pay for junior bankers in the U.S. for a second time in less than a year, bringing the Swiss lender in line with Wall Street rivals trying to stem defections amid a race for talent. UBS increased base salaries for first-year analysts to $110,000, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The bank already lifted pay for junior bankers in the U.S. to $100,000 effective from August, Bloomberg News reported last year.
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The widening gap between hedge fund winners and losers; Plus, Russian writedowns, the inverted yield curve's effect on US stocks and Raphael at the UK National Gallery
Harriet Agnew - FT
One thing to start: Sequoia Capital is not an asset manager in the traditional sense, but the group — considered by many to be Silicon Valley's top venture capital firm — is certainly reshaping the landscape for investing. Here's a profile of its new leader Roelof Botha, a choice that shows a shift in the balance of power at the firm that backed Apple, Google and ByteDance.
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Thematic funds triple share of global investments in a decade; Assets under management worldwide exceed $800bn following 'dramatic' growth since onset of pandemic
Steve Johnson - FT
Thematic funds have tripled their share of the global investment market to 2.7 per cent of all equity funds in the past decade, as investors increased bets on trends from artificial intelligence to Generation Z. More than $800bn is now invested worldwide in equity-based thematic funds following "dramatic" growth since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Morningstar. This compares with just $71bn at the end of 2011, equivalent to 0.8 per cent of all equity funds at the time.
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Contrarian fund manager cautions against writing off Russia assets; Kopernik's Dave Iben says Gazprom and Sberbank 'still have a lot of value'
Brooke Masters - FT
In the weeks after the invasion of Ukraine, most big asset managers rushed to write the value of their Russian holdings down to zero. With the stock market closed and sanctions imposed, investors were told to assume that billions of dollars in Russian assets had become essentially worthless.
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Goldman Sachs completes acquisition of NN Investment Partners; The EUR1.7 billion acquisition will increase Goldman Sachs' assets under supervision to approximately $2.8 trillion.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Goldman Sachs has completed the acquisition of Netherlands-headquartered NN Investment Partners from NN Group N.V. for EUR1.7 billion. As part of the acquisition, NN Investment Partners will integrate into Goldman Sachs Asset Management, with over 900 of its employees joining the company. In addition, the Netherlands will become an important location in Goldman Sachs' European business. Goldman Sachs' assets under supervision will increase to approximately $2.8 trillion, reinforcing its position as a top five active asset manager globally.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Shanghai Eases Lockdown for 43% of City's Housing Complexes; City has three classifications to indicate restriction levels; Many residents to stay stuck at home for at least another week
Bloomberg News
Shanghai eased a lockdown for 43% of its housing complexes, a sign the financial hub is tentatively exiting an unprecedented disruption that strained the economy and wrought havoc on residents' daily lives.
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UK health bosses accuse government of 'abandoning interest' in Covid; NHS Confederation urges ministers to rethink strategy as infection rates hit record high
Sarah Neville and Oliver Barnes - FT
Health leaders have called on the UK government to "revamp" its plan for living with Covid in England, accusing Number 10 of having "abandoned any interest" in managing the disease. The strongly worded intervention from the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, comes as clinicians struggle to clear waiting lists that stand at more than 6mn, against a backdrop of record numbers of coronavirus infections.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Indian payments body refuses to acknowledge Coinbase's India launch
Manish Singh - Techcrunch
The National Payments Corporation of India, the governing body that oversees UPI in the country, said in a statement that it is not aware of any cryptocurrency exchange using UPI payments instrument, hours after the global giant Coinbase launched its trading service in the country with UPI support. The voluntary statement from the payments body, a special division of India's central bank, underscores why other crypto exchanges in India have had troubles with supporting UPI on their platforms. Crypto is not illegal in the South Asian market, but the Reserve Bank of India continues to maintain that virtual digital assets need more scrutiny. India's Supreme Court overturned the Reserve Bank of India's ban on crypto over two years ago, but banks, by and large, continue to side with the central bank.
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Seoul's lure as financial centre impeded by heavy-handed regulation, says mayor; Oh Se-hoon wants changes to boost South Korean city's ability to attract businesses exiting Hong Kong
Christian Davies and Song Jung-a in - FT
The mayor of Seoul has admitted that South Korea's reputation for opaque and heavy-handed regulation has hampered the city's ability to lure business and investors quitting Hong Kong. "It is regrettable that companies and financial institutions leaving Hong Kong prefer Singapore as an alternative rather than Seoul," Oh Se-hoon told the Financial Times in an interview.
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Japan's titanium makers expected to gain more US business from Ukraine war; Metal's price forecast to jump by two-thirds as a result of supply chain disruption and Russia sanctions
Jennifer Creery, Eri Sugiura and Hudson Lockett - FT
Traders are betting that Japanese titanium suppliers will capture substantially more of the global market for the metal as President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine forces western companies away from Russian producers.
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Russia fears push Japanese gas importers to seek new suppliers; Sourcing gas from Malaysia, Australia and US could put Japan buyers in competition with Europe
Antoni Slodkowski - FT
Japanese gas companies are preparing plans to source liquefied natural gas from Malaysia, Australia and the US in case of what they fear could be looming disruption of supply from LNG projects that Japan jointly developed with Russia.
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Cocoa's OPEC Could Get Bigger as Nigeria Poised to Join Alliance
Archie Hunter, Tolani Awere, Ekow Dontoh and Irina Anghel - Bloomberg
The cocoa market's OPEC may be about to get bigger, with Nigeria being lined up to join the Living Income Differential system set up by top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana. Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana, which produce about 60% of the world's cocoa, set up the LID system in 2019 to charge the $100 billion chocolate industry a premium to boost the income of some of the poorest growers. Bringing Nigeria on board could strengthen the hand of producers, whose efforts have been undercut by a pandemic surplus that lowered prices.
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Mideast Asset Manager Investcorp Seeks Cash for Blockchain Fund
Matthew Martin - Bloomberg
Investcorp Holdings, the biggest alternative asset manager in the Middle East, started raising money for a new fund aimed at taking stakes in startups developing blockchain technology. The eLydian Lion fund will be based in Abu Dhabi and plans to invest in firms operating blockchain infrastructure, platforms and exchanges, decentralized finance and data analytics, according to a statement. Investcorp didn't comment on how much it planned to raise for the fund.
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Societe Generale to exit Russia and sell Rosbank to Interros Capital; The bank faces a EUR3.1 billion ($3.38 billion) hit from exit of banking and insurance activities.
Jon Watkins - The Trade
Societe Generale has announced it will cease its banking activities in Russia, selling its entire 99.98% stake in Rosbank to Interros Capital. The move will cost Societe Generale a combined EUR3.1 billion ($3.38 billion) according to a statement from the bank.
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Mexican president wins 90% backing in leadership vote he sought
Dave Graham - Reuters
Nine out of ten Mexicans voting on Sunday in an unprecedented recall election engineered by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador backed him to stay in office, underlining his domination of a polarized political agenda.
Both critics and supporters alike had viewed his victory as a foregone conclusion in a ballot that had fed speculation it could open the door to extending presidential term limits, now limited to a single six-year period.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Amazon's Drone Delivery Program Is Hit by Crashes and Safety Concerns; Billions of dollars and a decade later, and Amazon's delivery by drone program still isn't off the ground.
Spencer Soper and Matt Day - Bloomberg
Jeff Bezos went on 60 Minutes in 2013 and pledged to fill the skies with a fleet of delivery drones that could zip parcels to customers' homes in 30 minutes. Asked when this future would arrive, the Amazon.com Inc. founder said he expected drone deliveries to commence in the next five years or thereabouts.
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It's the wine bottles that are really getting expensive
Joy Wiltermuth - MarketWatch
An unsexy option — wine in a box — could gather new steam as inflation and war in Eastern Europe increase prices for everything from wheat W00, 1.76% to oil to the glass bottles used for centuries in winemaking.
With oil prices surging 70% in the past year, cost pressures have been leeching into the energy-intensive process of making glass bottles for wine, resulting at times in dramatically higher prices, according to Rabobank's second-quarter wine outlook.
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