| January 17, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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New Non-Price Oriented Risks to Manage: Covid and Cancer
By John J. Lothian, John Lothian News
This newsletter is all about managing non-price oriented risks. I used to have a lot of trading related risks when I was an online futures broker and actively managing money as a Commodity Trading Advisor. Today I have different kinds of non-price oriented risks to manage, ones that would fall into our Wellness Exchange section: COVID-19 and cancer.
I tested positive for the virus on Friday and in December learned I have prostate cancer.
The COVID-19 case is mild as I am double vaxxed and boosted. The prostate cancer is localized and small, but aggressive. I began treatment on Saturday for the cancer diagnosis.
To read the rest of this commentary, go HERE.
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
It is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S. today, with banks and NYSE and Nasdaq markets closed for the holiday. Here is the CME Group schedule. Here is a story from Fortune about what is open.
Lord Paul Myners, who was City minister in the U.K. Treasury under Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, appointed to the position as the financial crisis of 2007-08 unfolded, has died at the age of 73. He was appointed to the House of Lords in 2008 as a Labour peer. Myners also served as chair of Guardian Media Group.
If you think a lot of people seem to be getting hired in cryptoland, you may be right. According to a story in The Block, LinkedIn reported a 400% increase in the number of crypto-related job ads in 2021.
The pandemic has been good to the 10 richest men in the world, according to Oxfam, with their wealth collectively doubling since March 2020, the BBC reported. At the same time, lower incomes for the world's poorest contributed to the death of 21,000 people each day, Oxfam's report said. The report used the Forbes list of the world's 10 richest men: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault and family, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Ballmer and Warren Buffet. Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty. For what it is worth, Oxfam also reported that India's richest doubled their wealth during the pandemic as well.
The New York Times has a story titled "Davos without Davos." For the second straight year the World Economic forum canceled its annual meeting in the Alpine resort town of Davos, Switzerland because of the pandemic. I think this story was written because someone bought a plane ticket and had hotel reservations and wanted to use them anyway.
Conor Weber, a director and assistant general counsel at the CME Group, is the latest to give to the JLN MarketsWiki Education GoFundMe campaign. Conor joined the CME from Bank of America and was previously at Intercontinental Exchange. Thank you to Conor and all who have given and all who have yet to give. Support our efforts to preserve industry history and educate the next generation of industry professionals and market participants by supporting our GoFundMe campaign.
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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Coinbase Purchases FairX; NinjaTrader Acquires Tradovate; UBS Faces Legal Battles - THE SPREAD - January 14, 2022
JohnLothianNews.com
"Alex Perry's Optionstopia" takes a look at this week's options news highlights: Coinbase Purchases FairX; NinjaTrader Acquires Tradovate; UBS Faces Legal Battles
Futures exchanges as "hot commodities" is the theme of "John's Take"
Tom Jarck of MIAX explains "VSPIKES"
Watch the video »
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'Trading is gambling, no doubt about it' - how cryptocurrency dealing fuels addiction; Fears rise over how unregulated trading and promotion of crypto assets are creating a new generation of addicts
Rob Davies - The Guardian
Steven has lost more bitcoin than most people will ever own. Raised on the remote Shetland archipelago, he left school at 13 to become a trawlerman before moving into construction, eventually earning £85,000 a year digging tunnels for Crossrail. Despite his self-made success, compulsive cryptocurrency trading, alcohol and drug use took over his life. mIn the fog of multiple addictions, he lost the "addresses" of between five and 10 bitcoins, rendering his digital buried treasure - worth up to £300,000 today - impossible to retrieve.
/bit.ly/3A4o9Mu
***** This is a serious issue. I expect we will see more about this aspect of cryptocurrency trading.~JJL
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Ken Griffin, financial prodigy turned industry giant; Citadel Securities deal is latest in string of successes for controversial hedge funder
Robin Wigglesworth - FT
Nearly four decades ago, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel profiled three precocious members of the Boca Raton Community High School's computer club. While their classmates were shooting hoops, the "disc-drive driven trio" were prepping for a problem-solving competition with other Palm Beach geeks later that month.
/on.ft.com/34WMkB7
***** Ken is the anti-Elon Musk. Musk sold all his real estate. Ken keeps buying more. I will bet Ken can throw a better party.~JJL
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Afghanistan's currency crisis leaves millions at risk of starvation; Afghani has fallen almost 25% against the dollar since the Taliban seized power in August
Benjamin Parkin and Tommy Stubbington - FT
Afghanistan's currency has plummeted about a quarter since the Taliban seized power, exacerbating an economic crisis that has left millions of people in the import-dependent country facing starvation. The afghani has fallen to 105 per dollar from about 80 before the hardline Islamist group's August victory, making it among the world's worst-performing currencies over the past six months. It is second only to Turkey, where the lira has been battered by Recep Erdogan's unorthodox economic policies.
/on.ft.com/34WMhVX
****** The question is how will the world respond?~JJL
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Crypto Enthusiasts Meet Their Match: Angry Gamers; Game publishers are offering NFTs, but skeptical gamers smell a moneymaking scheme and are fighting back.
Mike Isaac and Kellen Browning - NY Times
For years, Christian Lantz has played S.T.A.L.K.E.R., a first-person shooter game set in a post-apocalyptic Ukraine that became a cult hit for its immersive role playing. So when the 18-year-old high schooler heard a sequel was coming this year, he knew he had to buy it.
/nyti.ms/33tSAjf
***** The only thing worse than a gamer is an angry gamer. ~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top story Friday was Inc.'s The Scientific Reason It's So Hard to Make Friends as an Adult (and What to Do About It), which was also our top story Thursday. Second was Billionaire trader Paul Tudor Jones rings the bubble alarm, warns the Fed could tank the economy, and predicts pandemic winners will struggle, from Business Insider via Yahoo News. And third was Cboe Europe, EuroCCP partner with Freetrade to give UK retail investors commission-free access to pan-European markets, from The Trade News.
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MarketsWiki Stats
26,691 pages; 237,096 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
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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
Editor-in-Chief
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| Lead Stories | London Stock Exchange Proposes Special Listings for Private Companies; It would be the first exchange with a hybrid model in which private companies periodically access public markets in days-long trading windows
Anna Hirtenstein - WSJ
The London Stock Exchange LSEG 0.03% Group is seeking to blur the line between public and private companies, part of a plan to attract fast-growing technology firms to list in the U.K. in the wake of Brexit. The LSE has proposed the creation of a special market for private companies to trade their shares publicly on the exchange on certain days, according to a person familiar with the matter and proposals from the LSE to its regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the U.K. Treasury, seen by The Wall Street Journal.
/on.wsj.com/3IampUJ
Day Traders as 'Dumb Money'? The Pros Are Now Paying Attention; Last year, an army of day traders turned markets upside down. This year, professional fund managers are finding that they had better keep tabs.
Caitlin McCabe - WSJ
Last year, amateur investors took financial markets by storm. This year, Wall Street professionals are watching them closely. Fund managers who might have once derided small-time day traders as "dumb money" are scouring social-media posts for clues about where the herd might veer next. Some 85% of hedge funds and 42% of asset managers are now tracking retail-trading message boards, according to a survey by Bloomberg Intelligence. JPMorgan Chase & Co. in September introduced a new data product that includes information on which securities individual investors are likely buying and selling, as well as which sectors and stocks are being talked about on social media. About 50 clients, including some of the largest asset and quant managers, are testing the product, the bank says. JPMorgan equity traders are also using it to help manage their own risk.
/on.wsj.com/33Lsmc4
Lord Paul Myners, former City minister, dies aged 73; Assisted in Gordon Brown's billion-pound bailout for UK banks in wake of financial crisis
Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe and Laurence Fletcher - FT
Former Labour minister and City grandee, Lord Paul Myners has died at the age of 73, his family have confirmed. In a statement first published in the Guardian newspaper, his family said that Myners died in the early hours of Sunday morning.
/on.ft.com/3tvzDrd
Credit Suisse Picks Swiss Insider as Chairman in Emergency Fix
Nicholas Comfort and Marion Halftermeyer - Bloomberg
Lehmann takes over as chairman following Horta-Osorio exit; Swiss bank struggling to stabilize after 2021 scandals
Credit Suisse Group AG turned to a Swiss candidate for the second time in two years for a top role at the bank, as it struggles to repair its reputation after a series of trading and personnel scandals.
/bloom.bg/3GRntwN
António Horta-Osório resigns as Credit Suisse chair over Covid breaches; Axel Lehmann drafted in after ex-Lloyds chief says violations compromised his ability to lead the bank
Owen Walker - FT
António Horta-Osório has resigned as chair of Credit Suisse after repeated breaches of coronavirus quarantine rules dealt a fatal blow to his promise to restore the reputation of the scandal-hit bank.
/on.ft.com/3GF6Dkk
Credit Suisse Chairman to Leave After Breaking Covid-19 Travel Rules; Board had investigated António Horta-Osório's personal use of corporate aircraft and breach of quarantine rules
Emily Glazer, Margot Patrick - WSJ
Credit Suisse Group AG CS 0.38% Chairman António Horta-Osório is leaving the global bank following a board investigation into his travel and personal conduct, according to people familiar with the bank.
/on.wsj.com/34Y1rdA
Singapore Asks Crypto Firms Not to Market Services to Public
Chanyaporn Chanjaroen - Bloomberg
Guideline applies to broad array of crypto companies; Crypto firms should only advertise on own websites and apps
Singapore's financial regulator told companies in the cryptocurrency industry to refrain from advertising their services to the public, in line with the city-state's desire to curb retail speculation in volatile digital assets.
/bloom.bg/3fDiseV
Bitcoin Widow Jennifer Robertson's sorrow over hurt caused by missing millions
Charlie Mitchell - The Times
When Gerald Cotten, a Canadian cryptocurrency entrepreneur, died suddenly in India in 2018, it was not only his furious clients, whose digital passwords he took to the grave, that were left in the lurch. With C$215 million (£125.3 million) owed to 76,000 customers, Jennifer Robertson, the QuadrigaCX founder's widow, was left to pick up the pieces. Four years on, she has spoken out for the first time. "I want the people that Gerry hurt to know that I'm hurt, too. I know they were very hurt, and I know I can't make it better. I wish I could," she told The Globe and Mail.
/bit.ly/3FAzG7v
Factbox: Spies, lies and chairman's exit: Credit Suisse's scandals
Reuters
Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio has resigned after flouting COVID-19 quarantine rules, the bank said on Monday, raising questions over the embattled lender's new strategy as it tries to recover from a string of scandals.
/reut.rs/3Ibra0j
A Moment of Reckoning on Financial Literacy
Charlie Wells - Bloomberg
We are living in a new era of investing. Meme stocks, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, SPACs and even ETFs have over the past few months attracted tens of millions of new traders, drawn in with a mix of stimulus money, easy brokerage apps and pandemic-era boredom. Those traders are passionate, sometimes very young, often belong to devoted online communities and in some cases have been very financially fortunate. That doesn't mean they're financially literate. Experts have warned since the beginning of the latest retail mania that many new entrants are conflating investing with speculating.
/bloom.bg/3GGNPBl
London Bankers, Your Jobs and Bonuses Look Safe — For Now; New finance jobs created elsewhere in Europe, rather than transfers from London, threaten to erode the City's status.
Mark Gilbert - Bloomberg
Britain's decision to leave the European Union has imperiled the City's status as the region's financial center. So far, the loss of jobs has been more of a dribble than an exodus. But the current hiatus masks a longer-term threat, as firms choosing where to house new positions expand elsewhere.
/bloom.bg/3FAfcM6
These Are the World's Top Hedge Funds for 2021
Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
Citadel, D.E. Shaw follow in ranking of most-profitable firms; Industry produced a total of $176 billion in gains last year
Billionaire Chris Hohn's TCI Fund Management made $9.5 billion for clients last year, leading some of the world's biggest hedge funds who collectively produced record gains.
/bloom.bg/34NjdzY
Citadel and TCI drive top 20 hedge fund managers to bumper $65bn gains; Group's biggest rise in more than a decade comes despite patchy year for the sector
Laurence Fletcher and Jyoti Mann - FT
Large profits at Ken Griffin's Citadel and Sir Christopher Hohn's TCI helped the 20 best-performing hedge fund managers of all time to their biggest gains in more than a decade last year, although returns for the overall industry failed to keep pace with the rally in global stock markets.
/on.ft.com/3rj2axq
Pioneering a hybrid organisational structure; Christoph Hock, head of multi-asset trading at Union Investment, sits down with Annabel Smith to discuss the European asset manager's new hybrid structure, regulatory divergence post-Brexit, the role of the trader in sustainability, and the token economy.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Union Investment is in many regards a pioneer. At the forefront of several recent market initiatives, the firm has acted as a benchmark for the European institutional buy-side on sentiment around cryptocurrencies, multi-asset trading, regulation, sustainable trading and now a hybrid organisational structure focused on what the ship's captain, Christoph Hock, refers to as best-in-class-execution.
/bit.ly/33F14Uv
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | 'No jab no job': companies face legal wrangles over Covid vaccine policies; Global tangle of labour laws and government stances complicate return to the workplace
Kate Beioley - FT
US employment lawyer Scott Cruz's phone has been ringing off the hook in recent weeks as clients scramble to put in place obligatory "vaccine or test" policies for all workers. He has been fielding very different calls since Thursday, when the Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden's federal mandate and handed control back to companies and states to decide their own Covid-19 inoculation regimes.
/on.ft.com/3I7NsA4
The Virus Has Changed. Maybe We Should, Too; Our defenses against Covid-19 and variants like omicron have improved dramatically since the beginning of the pandemic. Let's live accordingly.
Brooke Sample - Bloomberg
Say Goodbye to Self-Isolating, WFH Mandates, Mass Testing — Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli
The balance of power between human and virus is shifting. Better armed against a lesser enemy, our species no longer needs to hide in a bunker waiting for a viral wave to pass. That means it's time for our Covid response to change.
/bloom.bg/3IantIb
The C.D.C.'s New Challenge? Grappling With Imperfect Science; The Omicron coronavirus variant is moving much faster than researchers can, worsening a longstanding problem: The agency must make tough decisions with scant data.
Apoorva Mandavilli - NY Times
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was long revered for its methodical and meticulous scientific approach. Agencies in other nations modeled themselves after the world's most highly regarded public health authority, even adopting the name.
/nyti.ms/3qzTcwH
Omicron Reaches China's Political, Financial and Tech Hubs
Bloomberg News
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong all have local omicron cases; Flareups are occurring in key cities at a critical time
Omicron has breached the political, financial and technology centers of China for the first time, putting pressure on the country's response to the more transmissible variant as it awaits the Winter Olympics starting in less than three weeks.
/bloom.bg/3qywRzl
Fauci Says It's Too Soon to Say Omicron Heralds End of Pandemic
Andy Hoffman and Corinne Gretler - Bloomberg
Can't play 'whack-a-mole' for variant specific vaccines: Fauci; Fauci bemoans 'push-back' against basic public health measures
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top medical adviser to the U.S. president, said it's too soon to say whether the omicron variant will herald a shift in the Covid-19 pandemic to endemic. "It's an open question as to whether or not omicron is going to be the live virus vaccination everyone is hoping for because we have so much variability with new variants emerging," Fauci said Monday at the World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda online conference.
/bloom.bg/3rj1vMs
-- }Europe Is in No Rush to Administer Second Booster Shots - Bloomberg
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | LCH achieves record clearing volumes in 2021
LCH
LCH services continued to support transition to risk-free rates with conversion of over $35 trillion of notional; LCH SwapAgent registered over 10,000 trades in 2021, a five fold increase; ForexClear and FXall partnership expanded FX traders' workflows for OTC trades; Record clearing volumes reported across LCH services
LCH, part of LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) today announced record clearing volumes for 2021, having expanded its services and built new connectivity. Following LSEG's acquisition of Refinitiv, ForexClear partnered with FXall, to streamline FX traders' access to clearing for FX OTC trades. LCH also reinforced its commitment to Asia by including Singapore dollar denominated cash and government securities as accepted collateral and extended SwapClear's operating hours to better serve the region.
/bit.ly/3KiU6FD
NYSE Pillar Options Migration: January 19th Disaster Recovery Connectivity Test
NYSE
On Wednesday, January 19, 2022, NYSE Arca Options will make available its NYSE Pillar Disaster Recovery environment for connectivity testing from 7:30 to 9:30 PM ET. Limited connectivity support will be available for Exchange Participants during the test. Please contact [email protected] with any questions or issues and the team will respond within 24 hours.
/bit.ly/3rqeiN5
Results of "Availability of English Disclosure Information by Listed Companies" Survey for FY2021
JPX
Since 2019, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE) has been conducting surveys on the availability of English disclosure information by listed companies and providing a list of the results through its website to a wide range of people including overseas investors. By doing this, TSE aims to understand the situation with regards to listed company English disclosure and promote it further, thereby enhancing convenience for overseas investors and allowing them to make appropriate investment decisions based on information disclosed by listed companies.
/bit.ly/3GDD4zQ
-- Performance Bond Requirements - Energy Margin - Effective January 18, 2022 - CME
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | JPMorgan plots 'astonishing' $12bn tech spend to beat fintechs; Big increase in investment will hurt profitability, raising fears for rival bank earnings in 2022
Joshua Franklin and Imani Moise -FT
JPMorgan Chase, the largest lender on Wall Street, said it plans to dramatically increase spending on technology and talent to fortify its competitive position, stirring investor worries about US bank earnings in 2022. As it reported record profits last year, JPMorgan stunned analysts with a forecast that expenses would increase by 8 per cent this year to around $77bn, meaning it would probably miss a key profitability target in 2022, and possibly in 2023.
/on.ft.com/3I9YZ1N
College Dropout Builds $19 Billion Fortune After Nixing Banking
Benjamin Stupples - Bloomberg
Guillaume Pousaz's Checkout.com now valued at $40 billion; Online-payments firm raised $1 billion in latest funding round
Guillaume Pousaz studied economics in college in his native Switzerland with hopes of becoming an investment banker. Then his father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, leading him to drop out in his final year of studies in 2005 and later go to work for a payments-processing firm in the U.S.
/bloom.bg/3A6rdru
IBM Launches New Cloud, AI Services in Bid to Modernize Business
Jackie Davalos - Bloomberg
Think Conference highlights IBM's pivot to hybrid cloud, AI; Watson Orchestrate tool capitalizes on rise of chat bots
International Business Machines Corp. is rolling out a new product that will help businesses automate tasks, capitalizing on the rise of chat bots and virtual assistants during the pandemic and taking another step in its pivot toward cloud services and artificial intelligence.
/bloom.bg/3tDDJgS
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Singapore c.bank considers action against OCBC for phishing scam
Reuters
Singapore's central bank said on Monday it will consider supervisory action against the country's second-biggest lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) (OCBC.SI), after hundreds of its customers were hit by a phishing scam last month.
/reut.rs/3FAbUbI
The race towards renewable energy is creating new cybersecurity risks
Danny Palmer - ZDNet
The renewable energy industry is becoming more important as countries attempt to move away from fossil fuels, but the continued growth of the sector must be managed with cybersecurity in mind, or there's the danger that vulnerabilities in everything from power plants down to smart meters could leave energy providers and their customers open to risk.
/zd.net/352Uat7
10 cognitive biases that can derail cybersecurity programs
Steve Durbin - Security Magazine
Cybercrime will cost the global economy $10 trillion annually by 2025. Even though security spending is at an all-time high, the majority of security leaders still lack confidence in cybersecurity investments. This is because most security breaches aren't a consequence of inadequate security controls but are a direct result of human failure.
/bit.ly/3Kj4Y6d
Even the most experienced cyber professionals agree: We can't prevent all breaches
Justin Fier - Security Magazine
The reality of cybersecurity is that it is not a solvable problem. We cannot stop determined attackers from getting into systems. They're too sophisticated and digital infrastructure is only becoming more complex. What we can do, however, is take necessary steps to minimize risk and disruption once attackers inevitably get inside. The sooner security leaders can accept that reality, the better.
/bit.ly/3rtibAK
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Cryptocurrency ads reach record levels on London transport; Exclusive: Mayor urged to implement promised ban on gambling adverts on TfL - and to extend it to crypto companies
Rob Davies - The Guardian
Cryptocurrency firms bombarded Londoners with a record number of adverts on public transport during 2021, fuelling calls for a ban to prevent people being lured into risky investments. The surge in adverts for crypto assets, which are unregulated in the UK, has prompted concerns about the risk of addiction and financial harm, particularly given the wild volatility in the price of digital currencies such as bitcoin, which reached record highs last year before crashing again.
/bit.ly/3I9fCdT
Why GameFi Is Crypto's Hot New Thing (and What Is It?)
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
One of the hottest things in the cryptocurrency world right now is GameFi. Its name reflects the combination of the old-fashioned thrill of winning prizes with new crypto developments in what's known as DeFi. GameFi players can trade, lend or rent out their winnings or or even borrow against them. You can't do that with the stuffed kitty you scored at the county fair. As its popularity soars, there's a debate over whether GameFi will remake gaming or just separate the credulous from their money. Reports of people borrowing to play raise the prospect of GameFi democratizing crypto opportunities -- or becoming a form of digital sharecropping.
/bloom.bg/3rkNT3n
Bitcoin's Dominance of Crypto Payments Is Starting to Erode
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
BitPay data show rising use of stablecoins, Ether, Doge; Transaction volumes related to luxury goods surged 31% in 2021
Consumers and businesses are increasingly starting to use digital tokens other than Bitcoin for purchases, according to BitPay Inc., one of the biggest crypto payments processors in the world. Last year, Bitcoin's use at merchants that use BitPay dropped to about 65% of processed payments, down from 92% in 2020, the company told Bloomberg. Ether purchases accounted for 15% of the total, stablecoins were 13% and new coins added to BitPay in 2021 -- Dogecoin, Shiba Inu and Litecoin -- accounted for 3%.
/bloom.bg/3nyyDyF
NFT Investors Owe Billions in Taxes and IRS Sets Sights on Evaders
Allyson Versprille - Bloomberg
Nonfungible token market exploded to $44 billion last year; Uncle Sam is keen to collect, but the tax rules aren't clear
It's one of the hottest corners of crypto -- and now the U.S. government wants its share of the profits. Investors and creators of nonfungible tokens -- a market that has ballooned to $44 billion, Chainalysis data show, and attracted fans from Justin Bieber to Melania Trump -- face billions of dollars in taxes and rates as high as 37%, according to tax experts. Internal Revenue Service officials who deal with tax evaders say they are gearing up for a crackdown.
/bloom.bg/3zZELF3
Coinbase Buy Increases Competition in Crypto Derivatives
Shanny Basar - MarketsMedia
Coinbase, the listed US cryptocurrency exchange, is acquiring regulated derivatives platform FairX following acquisitions last year by other venues in order to launch crypto derivatives. FairX is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a designated contract market.
/bit.ly/3A3nxqC
FTX Hires Lightspeed's Amy Wu to Lead New $2 Billion Crypto Fund
Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
Amy Wu has left Lightspeed Venture Partners for crypto-exchange FTX, where she will lead a newly launched $2 billion venture capital fund. The fund, known as FTX Ventures, will focus on investing in projects that are operating in Web3, what some consider a new internet ecosystem. Wu, a well-known venture capitalist who spent three years with Lightspeed, will lead the fund but also gaming, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial initiatives for FTX. The new role was attractive because it offers opportunities to work on both the operational and investing sides of the business, she said.
/yhoo.it/33ulI9P
FTX launches $2 billion Ventures fund, hires former Lightspeed Partner Amy Wu; FTX hires former Lightspeed Partner and Discovery, Inc executive Amy Wu to lead FTX ventures, M&A, and commercial initiatives; FTX Ventures launches with $2 billion in AUM; The Fund's focus is investing in top teams building in web3, across social, gaming, fintech, software, and healthcare
FTX Trading Ltd.
FTX Trading Limited ("FTX"), today announced the launch of FTX Ventures ("the Fund"), a $2 billion venture capital fund focused on backing the world's best teams building in the digital asset ecosystem. FTX Ventures' core mission is to advance global blockchain and web3 adoption, with a broad investment mandate across social, gaming, fintech, software, and healthcare. The Fund will invest in multi-stage companies and projects, providing flexible funding and strategic support from FTX and its network of global partners.
/prn.to/31ZJzOd
Jack Dorsey's Block commits to build an 'open' bitcoin mining ecosystem
Michael McSweeney - The Block
Block, the payments-focused company formerly known as Square, is officially throwing its hat into the bitcoin mining game. Dorsey initially teased such a move last fall, highlighting a possible bid "based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide." Now, statements from Block executives as well as recent job postings offer more specifics on what that venture will look like.
/bit.ly/3FAKtyk
Spain announces new rules for influencer crypto posts
Lucy Harley-Mckeown - The Block
Spanish regulators are pushing to control the way cryptocurrencies are marketed, with new restrictions on influencers' promotions. The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), the government agency responsible for the financial regulation of the securities markets in Spain, issued a release on Monday defining the new rules.
/bit.ly/352NWcJ
Demand for metaverse-related jobs rises as digital economy thrives; New skills, roles and titles are being developed as part of efforts to reimagine the future
Alvin R. Cabral - N Business
The metaverse - the new digital space that allows those in it to communicate and move using three-dimensional avatars or digital representations - is slowly registering a growth in demand for jobs in a sign of its imminent integration with the future digital economy. "We are at a very early stage. We are starting to see new skills being developed, new job roles and new titles. Part of this is reimagining the future like we have never seen before," Kate Barker, a strategic adviser and future of work expert at the UAE Ministry of Interior, said at the Intersec 2022 conference at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Sunday.
/bit.ly/33KxBbC
Binance Ties Up With Bangkok Billionaire on Thai Crypto Exchange
Ben Bartenstein - Bloomberg
Binance Holdings Ltd. reached an agreement with Thai billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi's Gulf Energy Development PCL to study a digital asset exchange in the Southeast Asian nation.
/bloom.bg/3Km6Z1x
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Boris Johnson and His Agenda Are Now Lame Ducks; The prime minister's power seeps away with each partygate revelation and those who used to fear him cease to cower.
Adrian Wooldridge - Bloomberg
In Shakespeare's cycle of plays on Henry IV and Henry V, the dissolute Prince Hal eventually transforms himself into a heroic patriot king. Since becoming leader of the Conservative Party in May 2019, the dissolute Bo Jo — a man who was sacked from his first job in journalism for making up a quote and who only recently acknowledged how many children he has (six) — has struggled to transform himself into a statesman only to fail at the last moment. Boris Johnson put on smart suits but his hair was always in a mess. He delivered grave speeches but couldn't resist making off-color jokes (for example, describing the drive to increase the supply of ventilators as "operation last gasp"). It is only fitting, therefore, that his political career may be terminated by "partygate."
/bloom.bg/3KkV2sY
German Envoy Signals Pipeline May Be Targeted If Russia Invades
Arne Delfs and Volodymyr Verbyany - Bloomberg
Baerbock says Nord Stream 2 could be included among measures; German coalition has been divided over controversial gas link
Germany's top diplomat signaled that Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government may take action on the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline should Russia invade Ukraine.
/bloom.bg/3rsKcZd
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | Paul Myners, U.K. Minister and City of London Titan, Dies at 73
Harry Wilson - Bloomberg
Myners joined U.K. Treasury at height of financial crisis; Also had senior roles at multitude of City of London firms
Paul Myners, the City of London grandee who helped oversee Gordon Brown's response to the financial crisis, has died. He was 73. Myners died on Sunday, according to a statement by Edelman UK, where he served as chairman. "With great sadness we announce the loss of our beloved father Lord Paul Myners," his five children said in a statement. "He passed away peacefully in the early hours of this morning at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital."
/bloom.bg/3A4LZaY
Biden's Wall Street Watchdog to Have Agenda That Shakes Industry
Robert Schmidt and Jesse Hamilton - Bloomberg
Sarah Bloom Raskin would help lead crypto, climate-change push; She's expected to face resistance from Senate Republicans
Sarah Bloom Raskin's nomination as the Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision puts a final -- and decidedly progressive -- stamp on the Biden administration's Wall Street oversight team. A Duke University law professor and Washington insider who has previously held high-level jobs at the Treasury and the Fed, Raskin was pushed by liberal Democrats as a champion of tighter regulation for the biggest banks. She is also poised to lead efforts on developing financial regulatory policies for cryptocurrencies and fighting climate change, a top priority of the White House.
/bloom.bg/3K6uko1
Ex-Banker 'Twisted' Whistle-Blower Role to Seek $10 Million
Gaspard Sebag - Bloomberg
Natixis lawyers ask Paris judges to throw out labor suit; Banker says he faced reprisals after blew whistle on a trade
Natixis SA asked French judges to toss a $10 million lawsuit from an ex-employee after saying he twisted his whistle-blower status to try to squeeze extra cash out of the bank.
/bloom.bg/3KgxXaR
FCA aims to use criminal powers in anti-money laundering probes; Move would follow conviction and £264m fine for NatWest for failing to comply with regulations
Jane Croft and Laura Noonan - FT
The UK's financial regulator is exploring using criminal powers that led to a landmark conviction of NatWest in two other anti-money laundering investigations. The Financial Conduct Authority told the Financial Times there were two criminal probes in about 40 active cases where regulators were investigating financial services companies or individuals for failing to check where customers' money came from.
/on.ft.com/3Fz0CEr
Hedge funds oppose SEC's reform plans after GameStop debacle; Regulator's 'misguided' securities lending proposals risk fuelling volatility, say managers
Chris Flood and Harriet Agnew - FT
Hedge fund managers fear the painful losses they suffered in the meme stock trading frenzy of January 2021 will be repeated if US regulators press ahead with reforms to securities lending, one of the most opaque practices in financial markets. Melvin Capital, Light Street and White Square all lost heavily when their bets against meme stocks, such as the struggling video game retailer GameStop, were pulverised by retail investors who swap trading ideas on bulletin boards such as Reddit's r/wallstreetbets.
/on.ft.com/33rLrjB
Warning: Self-managed super funds and crypto investments
ASIC
ASIC has noticed an increase in marketing recommending Australians switch from retail and industry superannuation funds to self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) so they can invest in a 'high return' portfolio; SMSF trustees are being targeted to invest in crypto-assets (or cryptocurrencies)
/bit.ly/3fx4fQN
fileX transition from Basic Auth to OAuth 2.0 Deadline Extension
FINRA
The deadline for transitioning from Basic Auth to OAuth 2.0 for fileX APIs has now been extended to Feb 28, 2022. The transition from Basic Auth to OAuth 2.0 method for authentication is necessary because Basic Auth is a less secure authentication mechanism, which could potentially expose long-lasting credentials. OAuth 2.0 replaces these long-lasting credentials with limited life span tokens, resulting in an improved security and control of FINRA applications.
/bit.ly/3nnwcib
Testimony Before the Senate Special Committee on Aging
FINRA
Gerri Walsh, FINRA's Senior Vice President of Investor Education and President of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, testified in front of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.
/bit.ly/3tHPFyr
FINRA System Status Page
FINRA
The FINRA.org website includes a "System Status" page that reports current system conditions for FINRA-based products and applications. FINRA will continue to deliver direct emails and post technical notices regarding ADF, ORF, TRACE and TRAQS products; additionally, the System Status page will provide a general view of the current status of all FINRA systems.
/bit.ly/3nqGq1u
Statement from Nikhil Rathi on Lord Myners
UK FCA
Following news of the death of Lord Myners, Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the FCA, issued the following statement on the organisation's behalf: 'I am saddened to hear about the death of Lord Myners. I had the privilege to work closely with Paul during the financial crisis and saw at first hand his ability to quickly grasp the enormity of the situation and navigate the whole system towards decisive solutions. He always expressed his views frankly and in my most recent discussions with him he continued to be motivated by the need to ensure the integrity of the financial system. I always appreciated his support and I offer my sincere condolences to his family.'
/bit.ly/33JxUn3
Stewardship Code : 321 institutional investors have signed up to the Principles for Responsible Institutional Investors as of December 31, 2021
Japan FSA
The Council of Experts Concerning the Japanese Version of the Stewardship Code (Chairman: Professor Hiroyuki Kansaku, University of Tokyo Graduate Schools for Law and Politics) published the Principles for Institutional Investors (Japan's Stewardship Code, hereinafter referred to as "the Code") on February 26, 2014. The Council of Experts on the Stewardship Code (Chairman: Professor Hiroyuki Kansaku) revised the Code on May 29, 2017(Finalization of the Japan's Stewardship Code (Revised version)(May 29, 2017)). Also, the Council of Experts on the Stewardship Code (FY2019) (Chairman: Professor Hiroyuki Kansaku) revised the Code on March 24, 2020(Finalization of the Japan's Stewardship Code (Second revised version)(March 24, 2020)).
/bit.ly/3sZMi1E
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | How new money is changing venture capital in Chicago; As VC firms proliferate here, more funding options emerge for startups, while competition among investors intensifies.
Katherine Davis - Crain's Chicago Business
A rising generation of early-stage startup investors in Chicago have proven they're here to stay by raising additional funds, which is boosting competition among local venture-capital firms in a red-hot startup market. The number of active Chicago VC firms has grown to 89, up from 77 in 2020 and 15 in 2010, according to PitchBook. Several early-stage firms launched in the past decade, including Starting Line, M25, Listen Ventures, Chingona Ventures and Sandalphon Capital, are now lining up investors for second and third funds, according to U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filings and interviews with fund managers.
/bit.ly/3fG88Dj
Ex-Goldman Sachs partner's burnout recovery lesson
Sarah Butcher - eFinancialCareers.com
Are you bored with your job? Has the fire gone from your belly? Could you conceivably be happier doing something entirely different instead? This need not be the end of your finance career. Last week, a former Goldman Sachs partner who was burned out aged 50, added several billion dollars more to his net worth aged 62.
/bit.ly/3A6XBdp
MSCI to decide on Israeli involvement in European index
I24
'This is a game-changer, and if it happens, it will be amazing news for the Israeli market' International indices company MSCI in February will publish its decision on whether to include Israel in its leading European stock indices which, if approved, would give the Jewish state's capital market a significant push forward.
/bit.ly/3A6MjGe
You Can Buy The Largest Diamond Ever Auctioned—A 555 Carat Black Gem—With Crypto (Photos)
Carlie Porterfield - Fortune
TOPLINE A rare 555.55 carat diamond will be the largest to ever appear at auction when it hits the market in February, part of a special single-lot sale that will accept cryptocurrency for the record-breaking jewel.
/bit.ly/33L6hu9
Note to Zuckerberg: META Stock Ticker Will Soon Be Available
Kurt Wagner and Katherine Greifeld - Bloomberg
Meta Platforms Inc., which changed its name from Facebook Inc. late last year but hasn't yet adopted a new stock symbol, could soon have the perfect ticker: META.
/bloom.bg/3rt3f5K
Billionaire Louis-Dreyfus Gets $457 Million From Trading Giant
Benjamin Stupples and Jack Farchy - Bloomberg
Russian-born heiress sold 45% of Louis Dreyfus Co. to ADQ; Trading house has profited from increased volatility, prices
Just over a year ago, Margarita Louis-Dreyfus's financial outlook looked grim. The Russian-born heiress was trying to sell a stake in Louis Dreyfus Co., one of the world's biggest agricultural commodity trading houses, after she borrowed more than $1 billion from Credit Suisse Group AG to buy out family members. More than $400 million of debt was coming due by the end of 2020.
/bloom.bg/3Idqzve
Everyone Back Into the European Bond Market Pool