September 23, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | John Lothian Publisher John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Calling FMX A Soft Launch Is An Understatement New exchange launch parties can be fun and eventful, with moments you will remember. Who in attendance couldn't forget the Eurex US launch party at the historic Rookery Building on LaSalle Street in Chicago, where Rudi Ferscha dramatically entered the party, descending down the beautifully restored double helix staircase. ELX had a launch party of sorts, though it was four months before the actual July 10, 2009 launch. The party was at that year's FIA Boca Raton, FL International Futures Conference in March, at which ELX was a prominent sponsor. It was there that I met Cantor Chairman and CEO Howard Lutnick, my one and only time. The party was held on the lawn outside the conference center and featured a large ice sculpture of ELX's logo. ELX was Lutnick's second bite at the apple to take on CME Group in the U.S. Treasury futures markets after he had failed with the first edition of the Cantor Exchange. See my commentary from July titled "Celebrating Independence and Competition: A Fourth of July Reflection" for a more detailed history of exchange competition in Chicago and Cantor's relationship and various attempts at establishing a successful futures exchange. The ELX ice sculpture did not much like the intense March Boca Raton sun and proceeded to melt rapidly once exposed. Lutnick, sensing perhaps a bad omen, seeing his start-up exchange company's logo ice sculpture liquify before his eyes, became upset at the sight and had the sculpture removed. And alas, there will be no public launch party ahead of tonight's start of trading for the FMX Futures Exchange. There will be no dramatic entrances, no melting ice sculpture and no lamb chops (always a winner), which were another memorable part of the Eurex U.S. launch. FMX confidently launches a new exchange war with the CME Group tonight when its SOFR futures will begin to trade. Many exchanges launch on a Friday, so if there are any bugs to work out they have the weekend to do so. When ELX launched, it started with Treasury futures and added Eurodollars eleven months later. FMX is starting at the short end and will add Treasury futures later. One of the value propositions FMX has promoted is its basis trading opportunities trading FMX futures versus U.S. Treasuries on the matching engine for Fenics UST, both of which are located at the same NY4 data center. In theory that sounds great, since it will mean less latency; however, it is an exclusive club that trades cash versus futures, not an expansive or open one. It will not bring new players to its futures markets. Also, LCH needs to go on a membership expansion campaign if FMX's margin benefits versus its swaps portfolio is going to work, or those firms will need to expand their customer bases. Presently I see just five clearing members in the LCH Ltd.'s LCH Swapclear Listed Rates division; Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P.Morgan Securities LLC, Marex Capital Markets Inc., RBC Capital Markets LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC. Of course, you won't find that information on the FMX website. You won't find much information at all on the FMX website. There is a generic contact form for general inquiries and email addresses for sales, onboarding, operations and compliance. There is also no search on the site. There is no email address for the press on the FMX website, or the CXMarkets.com website, which is related. FMX has a X/Twitter account, with one tweet on January 22, announcing its approval by the CFTC. It has not tweeted since and has just 16 followers and is following no one. Another social media anomaly is Howard Lutnick's LinkedIn account, which he has used to promote FMX, his crypto journey, and his support for former President Trump. Lutnick appears as a third-degree connection to me, which suggests that he either has very few connections, all from outside the financial services industry, or none at all. It's possible he has chosen to have no connections and simply allows people to follow him, of which I am one. Some other CEOs avoid LinkedIn, so his having no connections seems plausible. He currently has 6,303 followers. He has not posted for four days and that last one was about the Fed rate cut. Before that he posted about President Trump's transition and policy from an appearance on CNBC in which he did not mention FMX. To say that this is a soft launch for FMX would be the understatement of the (fill in the blank). To say I have seen better promoted soft launches, better prepared exchanges for a soft launch, would also be an understatement. Here are excerpts from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: Today, multiple exchanges are set to launch 37 new contracts, highlighting a busy trading day. Notable introductions include the FMX Futures Exchange's three-month SOFR future, Eurex's inaugural US credit futures, and Cboe Global Markets' S&P 500 variance future. The head of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has emphasized the urgent need for tangible growth in European capital markets after years of developing a regulatory framework. In India, experts at the FOW Trading India 2024 conference discussed a recent consultation paper aimed at better protecting retail investors in the equity derivatives market. Meanwhile, SGX has announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer from Standard Chartered Bank, following recent management changes. In Europe, the EEX has reported sustained volume growth in its core power market, driven by US high-frequency trading activity. Finally, a CFTC commissioner criticized the excessive focus on the voluntary carbon market, particularly following new guidance on the listing of derivatives contracts. Today marks the 35th wedding anniversary for my wife and me. It was a cold, blustery September day in 1989, fueled by the after-effects of Hurricane Hugo, which made landfall in South Carolina on September 22. The hurricane caused widespread damage across the southeastern states, particularly in South Carolina, North Carolina, and parts of the Caribbean before it weakened. Hugo was one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the East Coast in the late 20th century. Despite this tumultuous beginning, we have enjoyed 35 years of relative calm. Happy anniversary, Cheryl! On Saturday, I am headed to Florida to work on the 1958 mobile home I bought from my brothers after we inherited it from our mother. I have been trying to sell the home, and despite many people looking at it, we have not had any takers. I'm going to Florida to address any issues that might be holding back potential buyers. Ironically, there is a hurricane threatening Mexico's Oaxaca state and Florida's western coast this week, Hurricane John. Don't forget Wednesday is the LaSalle Street fundraiser for the Boy Scouts. It is not too late to make a donation, or if you want to attend, shoot me an email. I have some free tickets. ~JJL Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL ***** FTSE Russell's 8th Annual Sustainable Investment Owner survey analyzing how asset owners around the world perceive, consider and use sustainable investing has found that confidence in the availability of ESG data has grown. Among the survey findings: - 86% of asset owners with AUM of US$10 billion or more say they are implementing sustainable investment considerations as part of their investment strategies. - 90% of asset owners agree that sustainable investment and ESG regulations have helped meet their sustainable investment goals in 2024. - 66% of asset owners implement or are considering implementing sustainable investment considerations through passive strategies. Respondents said their main challenge is aligning portfolios with sustainable investing/climate guidance to meet regulatory requirements. Conducted between March and April 2024, the survey by FTSE Russell asked 303 asset owners with AUM between US$5.3 trillion and US$9.2 trillion about their sustainable investment approaches. View the full report here. ~SAED Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were: - Howard Lutnick's Challenge to CME's Treasury Dominance Turns Political from Bloomberg. - Hedge Fund Two Sigma Is in Settlement Talks With SEC from The Wall Street Journal. - Nvidia's Option Expiry May Allow Renewed Surge, Spotgamma Says from Bloomberg. ~JB Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free). ++++ LaSalle Street Racing to Move Scouts Forward Fundraiser www.tinyurl.com/LaSalle4Scouts On September 25, the Pathway to Adventure Council of the Boy Scouts of America is hosting the LaSalle Street Racing to Move Scouts Forward event at the Chicago Board of Trade Building. This annual tradition, dating back to 1971, brings together professionals from LaSalle Street to support Scouting in our community. The highlight of the evening will be a pinewood derby race. You'll have the opportunity to build your own car or lease one at the event. It's a fantastic way to tap into your competitive spirit while enjoying cocktails and delicious food with colleagues and friends. Your participation will directly benefit Scouting programs that help develop leadership skills and character in our youth. There are various sponsorship levels available to suit your preferences. The event will be held at Ceres, with plans to move outdoors if weather permits. It's a perfect opportunity to network, have fun, and make a difference. Click Here to Register » ++++ The path to global carbon pricing; To tackle climate change, the polluter pays principle needs to spread further and wider The editorial board - Financial Times Economists are rarely ever unanimous. But one matter on which they almost all agree is the need for carbon pricing. Their support is paying off. The principle that polluters should pay is in increasing force around the world. In an interview with the Financial Times last week, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the head of the World Trade Organization, said that globally there were 78 different carbon pricing and taxation mechanisms. They cover close to one-quarter of international emissions, up from just 5 per cent in 2010, according to the World Bank. /jlne.ws/4eBqgdV ****** There needs to be a price and it needs to be paid. Simple enough.~JJL ++++ With Bluesky, the social media echo chamber is back in vogue; The great migration from Elon Musk's X has seen users, especially progressives, retreat into one particular silo Jemima Kelly - Financial Times "There is currently great danger," a man wrote two years ago, "that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society." It may surprise you to learn that the man in question was Elon Musk, who wrote these words when he bought the social media platform formerly known as Twitter back in October 2022, stressing the need for humanity to have a "common digital town square" that was "warm and welcoming to all", not a "free-for-all hellscape". And yet...and yet. /jlne.ws/4ex6osm ****** Hello, Hello, Hello!~JJL ++++ The Russian Bot Army That Conquered Online Poker Kit Chellel - Bloomberg # How a card-playing # Siberian AI outsmarted # the world's brightest # researchers and # raked in millions "Feruell" is near the top of poker's food chain. A professional from Russia, he makes a living gambling anonymously on GGPoker, Americas Cardroom and other sites, sometimes using Darth Vader as his avatar. Fellow sharks and smaller fish with money to lose are his prey. Feruell keeps his emotions in check during games, but he's outspoken in poker forums when he sees something he doesn't like. In 2013 another player caught his eye. Vyacheslav Karpov, aka Performer, was posting lurid tales in a Russian-language chatroom about prostitutes and card tricks he'd learned from "gypsies." To the cerebral Feruell, Karpov's boasting looked ridiculous. Even worse, he was charging young male acolytes for the privilege of receiving his advice, including how to cure anxiety with booze. /jlne.ws/47F0jYI ***** If you ever thought online gambling was a good idea, think again.~JJL ++++ Friday's Top Three Our top story Friday was Howard Lutnick's Challenge to CME's Treasury Dominance Turns Political, from Bloomberg. Second was a Notice of Disciplinary Action from the CME Group against CTC Limited. Third was a tie between a Notice of Disciplinary Action from the CME Group against Mark Arenson and Microsoft AI Needs So Much Power It's Tapping Site of US Nuclear Meltdown, from Bloomberg. ++++
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Lead Stories | Traders, Don't Fall in Love With Your Machines; Finance is rushing to use rapidly evolving AI tools. As the machines get smarter, the risks get weirder. Paul J. Davies - Bloomberg Gary Gensler, chief US securities regulator, enlisted Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix's movie "Her" last week to help explain his worries about the risks of artificial intelligence in finance. Money managers and banks are rushing to adopt a handful of generative AI tools and the failure of one of them could cause mayhem, just like the AI companion played by Johansson left Phoenix's character and many others heartbroken. The problem of critical infrastructure isn't new, but large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT and other modern algorithmic tools present uncertain and novel challenges, including automated price collusion, or breaking rules and lying about it. Predicting or explaining an AI model's actions is often impossible, making things even trickier for users and regulators. /jlne.ws/4dgwbnp BGC's Howard Lutnick takes on CME with interest rate futures debut; Bank of England's credibility under fire from Chicago in battle with New York Jennifer Hughes - Financial Times Billionaire Howard Lutnick will this week make a third assault on CME Group's interest rate futures dominance, with the high stakes at play demonstrated by a lively trade in barbs between the New York-based trader and the Chicago exchange's veteran head, Terry Duffy. Lutnick's BGC Group will debut trading in rate futures on his FMX venue in a direct assault on one of the biggest fortresses in global financial markets: CME's hold on futures on US rates and government debt. /jlne.ws/4djsBsC Nasdaq Private Market Launches Next-Generation, Electronic Secondary Liquidity Platform Nasdaq Private Market Nasdaq Private Market (NPM), a provider of secondary liquidity solutions, has launched the next-generation NPM SecondMarket platform, the first platform to offer this breadth of combined services across each segment of the private market ecosystem including private companies, employees, investors, and intermediaries. "We are proud to officially launch SecondMarket. Our new platform will facilitate wealth creation events for millions of private company employees and investors. This disruptive technology benefits private companies and their employees by making transacting private shares faster, cheaper, easier, and more secure. SecondMarket will help unlock capital in the $3.5 trillion private market to power and accelerate the innovation economy," said Tom Callahan, Chief Executive Officer, Nasdaq Private Market. /jlne.ws/3zwft5H Fidelity and Abrdn join new trade body for investment platforms; Platforms Association aims to represent online financial sites as regulatory scrutiny increases Emma Dunkley - Financial Times Fidelity and Abrdn have joined a new trade association to steer the £800bn investment platform industry through increasing regulatory scrutiny and a UK government overhaul of the Isa market. The Platforms Association aims to represent investment sites ranging from those that sell tax-free Individual Savings Accounts and personal pensions directly to individuals to companies that work with financial advisers. The association, which is also backed by wealth manager Quilter and asset manager Aegon, will be led by Keith Phillips, formerly an executive director at large industry bodies including TheCityUK, the British Bankers' Association and The Investment Association. /jlne.ws/3ztAwG2 SEC Approves Nasdaq to List Options on iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF Michael P. Regan - Bloomberg The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Nasdaq Inc.'s application to list options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, marking the clearing of an important hurdle before derivatives tied to the product can begin trading. The contracts still need to be approved by the Options Clearing Corp. and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission before trading can begin. Other exchanges have also filed applications to list options on the iShares fund and other spot-Bitcoin ETFs. /jlne.ws/4dgy7MH CFTC Approves Final Guidance Regarding the Listing of Voluntary Carbon Credit Derivative Contracts CFTC The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today approved final guidance regarding the listing for trading of voluntary carbon credit derivative contracts. The guidance applies to designated contract markets (DCMs), which are CFTC-regulated derivatives exchanges, and outlines factors for DCMs to consider when addressing certain Core Principle requirements in the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations that are relevant to the listing for trading of voluntary carbon credit derivative contracts. The guidance also outlines factors for consideration when addressing certain requirements under the CFTC's Part 40 Regulations that relate to the submission of new derivative contracts, and contract amendments to the CFTC. /jlne.ws/3zCAdZv America's Ambitious Climate Plan Is Faltering; Global emissions are at records; the shift away from fossil fuels is slowing amid high costs, surging power demand Ed Ballard and Amrith Ramkumar - The Wall Street Journal Climate optimism is fading. Higher costs, pushback from businesses and consumers, and the slow rollout of technology are delaying the transition from fossil fuels. Renewable energy is growing faster than expected. But surging demand for power is sucking up much of that additional capacity and forcing utilities to burn fossil fuels, including coal, for longer than expected. With greenhouse-gas emissions continuing at record levels, scientists expect floods and heat waves to get worse. This year is on track to be the hottest on record. /jlne.ws/47Ej0eJ Electricity That Costs Nothing-or Even Less? It's Happening More and More; A surge in wind and solar power means many businesses and consumers around Europe can get paid for plugging in. The U.S. could be next. Matthew Dalton - The Wall Street Journal For much of the spring and summer, Jeroen van Diesen got paid for using electricity. Sometimes his neighbors came over to power up too, generating even more cash. Van Diesen's situation reflects the strange, new dynamics of electricity that could soon become the norm in many parts of the world: A big increase in wind and solar power has pushed wholesale prices to zero or below for many hours of the year, spurring a sea change in the way people use power-based on whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. /jlne.ws/3BdrA8t Are regulators wrong to think of AT1s as debt? Bank capital bonds face criticism. One answer might be to treat them as 'fixed-income equity' Nathan Tipping - Risk.net The regulatory tide appears to be turning against Additional Tier 1 bonds, a form of regulatory bank capital that was thrust into the spotlight following Credit Suisse's emergency takeover by UBS last year. Earlier this month, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority proposed scrapping AT1s altogether, marking the latest in a series of regulatory statements expressing a dislike for the asset class. /jlne.ws/4ewdw8j US equity markets have never been safer; No trading suspensions, no drama George Steer - Financial Times Here's a chart that tells only half a story: The number of trading suspensions implemented "for the protection of investors" by the US Securities and Exchange Commission has collapsed, according to the regulator's own figures, down from over 100 in 2020 to just a handful in recent years - and one in the past nine and a half months. FTAV would love to tell you the headline for this post is accurate. But the truth is the sharp drop-off coincided with the adoption of amendments to an old investor protection rule that barred broker-dealers from publishing quotations for issuers who hadn't filed their finances accurately and on time. /jlne.ws/3BcyScq World's biggest banks pledge support for nuclear power; Financial institutions including BofA, Morgan Stanley and Goldman back COP28 goal of tripling capacity by 2050 Lee Harris and Malcolm Moore - Financial Times Fourteen of the world's biggest banks and financial institutions are pledging to increase their support for nuclear energy, a move that governments and the industry hope will unlock finance for a new wave of nuclear power plants. At an event on Monday in New York with White House climate policy adviser John Podesta, institutions including Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will say they support a goal first set out at the COP28 climate negotiations last year to triple the world's nuclear energy capacity by 2050. /jlne.ws/3TCfD2l Western nations join forces to break China's grip on critical minerals; Coalition of 14 governments announces financing network for projects to provide raw materials required by tech industry Jamie Smyth and Myles McCormick and Harry Dempsey - Financial Times Western nations are directing their development finance and export credit agencies to work with private industry to support critical minerals projects, in a drive to break China's chokehold over a sector that is essential for high-tech industries. The Minerals Security Partnership, a coalition of 14 nations and the European Commission, will unveil a new financing network at an event in New York on Monday as they try to ramp up international collaboration and pledge financial support for a huge nickel project in Tanzania, backed by mining company BHP. /jlne.ws/4dfF6Wi Looming US ports strike threatens fresh supply chain crisis; Business groups warn of 'devastating impact' on economy if dockworkers walk off the job Taylor Nicole Rogers - Financial Times Businesses are bracing for a strike at three dozen US ports that could upend supply chains and raise prices just weeks before election day. The International Longshoremen's Association says its 25,000 members will walk off the job if the union does not come to a new agreement with the US Maritime Alliance, which represents carriers and marine terminal operators, before their contract expires on September 30. /jlne.ws/4gBupA5 Governance watchdogs take fright as 'zombies' stalk US boardrooms; Directors retaining seats without backing from majority of shareholders prompts concern Patrick Temple-West - Financial Times Darren Walker, the head of the $16bn Ford Foundation, has been one of the world's leading philanthropists for more than a decade. He has rubbed elbows with US presidents and Elton John. He is also a zombie. In August, Walker failed to win a majority of shareholder support for his re-election at apparel company Ralph Lauren, where he has been a board director for four years. He remains on the board. /jlne.ws/3MT6iQ3 Tick sizes, transparency and fee caps: A look at the SEC's rule amendments; Changes are expected to reduce transaction costs and improve market quality for all investors, alongside helping ensure that orders placed reflect the best prices available for all investors. Wesley Bray - The Trade Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to certain rules under Regulation NMS to amend minimum pricing increments and access fee caps, as well as rules to enhance the transparency of better priced orders. The additional minimum pricing increment or 'tick size' will apply to the quoting of certain NMS stocks, while the reduction in access fee caps will be linked to protected quotations of trading centres. /jlne.ws/3ZAVjCq The desk of the future: 'AI conductors' vs the traditional trader? An oxford-style debate on the make-up of the future trader rounded out the TradeTech FX conference in style, wherein a captive audience were forced to question if the future truly is digital. Claudia Preece - The Trade As Alan Martin Lucero, head of FX at Norges Bank Investment Management and Gregory Armon-Jones, managing partner, Armon-Jones Partners debated the role of the future trader, the audience were forced to question if the future truly is digital when it comes to traders' roles. Specifically, the speakers claimed two sides of a coin - either that the traders of the future will speak the language of software engineering first and foremost (Lucero) or that coding skills will be irrelevant as AI solutions will fill that need and traders will go back to the phones (Armon-Jones). /jlne.ws/3ZGom7g
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Ukraine Invasion | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine accuses Russia of seeking to illegally control strategic sea as arbitration hearings open Mike Corder - Associated Press Ukraine on Monday accused Russia of seeking to illegally seize control of the strategically important Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait, as hearings opened in a high-stakes arbitration case between Kyiv and Moscow. The hearings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration are the latest in a string of international legal cases involving Russia and Ukraine linked to Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, even as fighting continues to rage on battlefields in Ukraine. /jlne.ws/4dx6vTX Ukraine accuses Russia of flouting maritime law beside Crimea Stephanie van den Berg - Reuters Ukraine accused Russia at an international court on Monday of flouting sea law by trying to keep the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and annexed Crimea under its sole control. Kyiv began proceedings at the Hague-based intergovernmental Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 after Moscow began building the 19 km (12 mile) Crimea Bridge link to the peninsula it seized from Ukraine two years previously. /jlne.ws/3XR8r50 Ukraine's Zelenskyy visits Pennsylvania ammunition plant to thank workers and ask for more Michael Rubinkam and Tara Copp - Associated Press Under tight security, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday visited a Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country's fight to fend off Russian ground forces. Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Democrat who was among those who met with Zelenskyy at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, said the president had a simple message: "Thank you. And we need more." The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells and has increased production over the past year. Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of them from the U.S. /jlne.ws/4dx6zmF Ukraine Is Now Able To Produce 155mm Artillery Shells And Howitzers Vikram Mittal - Forbes Although modern technology, including drones and electronic warfare, has shaped the Russia-Ukraine war, the outcome will likely depend on which side can sustain its artillery usage. Both countries rely heavily on Soviet doctrine that emphasizes artillery, with Russia firing around 10,000 rounds daily and Ukraine about 2,000. Initially, Ukraine relied on its Soviet-era stockpiles of 152mm artillery and ammunition, supplemented by NATO-provided 155mm systems and shells. Moving forward, Ukraine is in an increasingly stronger position, now having the capability to produce both 155mm howitzers and the corresponding artillery shells. /jlne.ws/4gOhcnZ Ukraine says Russia is planning strikes on nuclear facilities Reuters Ukraine's foreign minister said on Saturday that Russia is planning strikes on Ukrainian nuclear facilities before the winter, and urged the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog and Ukraine's allies to establish permanent monitoring missions at the country's nuclear plants. "According to Ukrainian intelligence, (the) Kremlin is preparing strikes on Ukrainian nuclear energy critical objects ahead of winter," Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X. /jlne.ws/4eyKsgw Military briefing: Russia 'overwhelms' Ukrainian forces on eastern front; Moscow is taking advantage of Kyiv's redeployment into Kursk region Christopher Miller - Financial Times On a recent sweltering afternoon, the screens of the Ukrainian National Guard's 15th Brigade command centre lit up with alarming footage from the eastern front: the radar was showing a dozen highly-destructive Russian glide bombs barrelling towards Ukrainian positions. Another screen displayed hacked feeds from Russian suicide drones zeroing in on Ukrainian tanks. And a third, coming from a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone, was tracking enemy motorcycles and dune buggies headed towards Kyiv's forces. /jlne.ws/4euANr9
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Israel/Hamas Conflict | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Israel's Ultimatum to Hezbollah: Back Off or Go to War; Strategy shift includes escalating attacks aimed at forcing the militant group from the Lebanon-Israel border Carrie Keller-Lynn - The Wall Street Journal With escalating attacks on Hezbollah's rank and file, commanders and infrastructure, Israel is pressing its military and intelligence advantage to give the Lebanese group an implied ultimatum: make a deal to pull back from Israel's northern border, or go to war. Israel is rotating its attention to its border with Lebanon as the Gaza Strip battlefield becomes static, launching an aggressive series of attacks that have devastated Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. This past week's pager and walkie-talkie attacks revealed that Israel has deeply compromised Hezbollah's communication systems, while an airstrike on Beirut that killed much of the leadership of Hezbollah's elite Radwan force showed how Israel's intelligence capabilities continue to expose the group's top operatives. /jlne.ws/4eyRqSE Israeli Strikes on Hezbollah Targets Kill About 100 People; Israel calls on civilians near Hezbollah targets in Lebanon to evacuate Anat Peled and Omar Abdel-Baqui - The Wall Street Journal About 100 people have been killed and 400 wounded in Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanese authorities, in what appeared to be the deadliest day there since October, as the Israeli military intensifies attacks against Hezbollah. The Israeli military launched strikes against more than 300 targets in Lebanon on Monday in what it said was a pre-emptive assault targeting Hezbollah's military infrastructure. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the airstrikes would continue in the near term and told residents of southern Lebanon to stay away from areas that would be targeted but didn't identify those exact locations. /jlne.ws/3TFa7vU Hezbollah hits back with rockets as it declares an 'open-ended battle' with Israel Natalie Melzer and Kareem Chehayeb - Associated Press Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets early Sunday across northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon. A Hezbollah leader declared an "open-ended battle" was underway as both sides appeared to be spiraling closer toward all-out war. The overnight rocket barrage was in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon that have killed dozens, including a veteran Hezbollah commander, and an unprecedented attack targeting the group's communications devices. Air raid sirens across northern Israel sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling into shelters. /jlne.ws/3BfOtYR US warns Israel against full-scale war with Hizbollah; Exchanges of fire between Lebanese militant group and Israel are some of the most fierce since October 7 James Shotter, Raya Jalabi and Felicia Schwartz - Financial Times The US directly warned Israel against opening a full-blown war with Hizbollah on Sunday as the Lebanese militant group and Israeli forces engaged in some of their most fierce exchanges of fire since October 7. In salvos capping a week of spiralling hostilities, Israeli jets mounted some of the heaviest bombing raids in southern Lebanon since the start of the fighting last year, while Hizbollah fired rockets towards the city of Haifa. /jlne.ws/3TFqKYa
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Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | SGX-DC's prefunded resources short of stressed losses 37 days in Q2; Latest round of breaches linked to double-member default lay bare lack of Cover 2 requirement Lorenzo Migliorato - Risk.net SGX-DC, one of the two clearing arms of the Singapore Exchange, recorded 37 days during the second quarter when its default fund was insufficient to cover its estimated largest stress loss caused by a double-member default. In those instances, the central counterparty's (CCP) prefunded default resources fell short of what was required to backstop the simultaneous default of two clearing members and their affiliates under extreme but plausible market conditions. /jlne.ws/4e9XFMT The current situation and the future of the capital markets at the FIAB Annual Meeting BME-X In the presence of the Deputy Minister of Economy, Jose Luis Daza, the annual meeting of the Ibero-American Federation of Stock Exchanges was held on 19th and 20th September at the Sofitel Recoleta Hotel. The meeting was attended by more than 200 people who took advantage of the various presentations that offered a broad overview of the markets, finance and financial markets. /jlne.ws/4deTu0X Eurex to expand into the U.S. dollar Credit Index Futures market Eurex On 23 September Eurex is launching Bloomberg US Corporate Index Futures and Bloomberg US High Yield Very Liquid Index Futures. Eurex becomes the first exchange to offer a global product suite of Credit Index Futures. This will help clients to capitalize on risk management efficiencies across products and reduce capital costs. Eurex is a pioneer in the futurization of traditional OTC traded financial products and is now expanding its global offering for trading and clearing of Credit Index Futures. As of 23 September, Eurex is launching futures on the Bloomberg US Corporate Index and the Bloomberg US High Yield Very Liquid Index and will be the first exchange with a truly global offering of Credit Index Futures. /jlne.ws/47ATUgU DTCC's Alternative Investment Product Reaches New Milestone, With Over 2,500 Unique Clients Leveraging the Service ; DTCC's Alternative Investment Product adoption continues to grow, providing users with standardized transaction and reporting data in support of alternative investment processing lifecycle. DTCC The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced that its Alternative Investment Product (AIP) service has reached a significant milestone, with 2,500 unique clients now leveraging the service. This growth is attributed to clients' enhanced understanding of the value AIP brings to their organization, specifically in the post-trade reporting space. /jlne.ws/4ebBWUV HKEX Announces Establishment of Integrated Fund Platform Task Force HKEX Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is pleased to announce today (Friday) the establishment of the Integrated Fund Platform (IFP) Task Force (Task Force), bringing together key industry stakeholders to support the development of a more efficient, diverse and vibrant fund distribution ecosystem in Hong Kong. /jlne.ws/47yxeOp Nasdaq Expands Digital Bank FinTech Presence in Latin America Nasdaq Nasdaq today announced it has expanded its digital bank financial technology presence in Latin America, having agreed to provide its AxiomSL regulatory reporting solution to Nubank, a leading digital bank with over 100 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. /jlne.ws/3TEfpYl Nasdaq Verafin Announces Targeted Typology Analytics - An Innovative Approach to Fighting Financial Crime; Leading AI-Based Anti-Financial Crime Offering including Elder Financial Abuse and Human Trafficking Analytics Enhanced with New Detection Capabilities for Terrorist Financing and Drug Trafficking Activity Nasdaq Today, Nasdaq Verafin, leading provider of crime fighting technology, announces enhancements to its robust suite of artificial intelligence (AI) based Targeted Typology Analytics, with new detection capabilities for terrorist financing and drug trafficking activity. These destructive crimes are fueling trillions of dollars in illicit flows globally, with 2023 estimates topping $11 billion for terrorist financing and nearly $800 billion connected to drug trafficking, according to Nasdaq Verafin's Global Financial Crime report. Leveraging more than 20 years of deep domain expertise in anti-money laundering (AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) and fraud detection technology, Nasdaq Verafin continues to deliver innovative new approaches to help banks improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their AML/CFT programs and ultimately safeguard the global financial system from the multi-trillion-dollar epidemic of financial crime. /jlne.ws/3TF4DRN An Analysis of Sustainability Reporting Tools for a Resilient Tomorrow SIX Students from the University of St. Gallen and SIX have published a new white paper that focuses on how companies listed on SIX Swiss Exchange can be supported to meaningfully demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices, but also to facilitate the comparison and evaluation of sustainability performance for all stakeholders, including investors, regulators, and the public. /jlne.ws/3zC6pfx Singapore Exchange Targets Dubai Expansion to Follow Hedge Funds; The United Arab Emirates has become a magnet for finance firms; City-state's bourse says it's trading record currency volumes Alice Atkins - Bloomberg Singapore Exchange Ltd. is looking at expanding into Dubai, drawn by the surge of hedge funds that have settled in the United Arab Emirates. An influx of the firm's clients settling in the emirate is strengthening the case for opening a new office, complementing its operations in nine other countries, Lee Beng Hong, head of wholesale markets and platforms at SGX, said in an interview in London. "Given the success we've had in the Middle East, it's the right time for us to grow our presence there," Lee said. "We are actively looking at that." /jlne.ws/4dctKlL SGX RegCo to start incorporating IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards into climate reporting rules SGX Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) has enhanced its sustainability reporting regime and will start incorporating the latest international standards into its sustainability reporting regime following broad support from respondents to a public consultation. Beginning with financial year (FY) 2025, SGX RegCo will require all issuers to start reporting Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Their climate-related disclosures must also start incorporating the climate-related requirements in the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). /jlne.ws/4dfE3Wm SGX Group appoints Daniel Koh as CFO with effect from 1 December SGX Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) today announced the appointment of Mr Daniel Koh as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Designate with effect from 1 October 2024. Mr Daniel Koh will succeed Mr Ng Yao Loong as CFO from 1 December 2024, as Mr Ng transitions to the position of Head of Equities. /jlne.ws/4exeDVf
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Fintech | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Toppling Bloomberg 'needs a nuclear bomb': Can the London Stock Exchange Group dent its dominance? Workspace by LSEG is making a big push to win market share in data but something exceptional will be needed to knock the Bloomberg Terminal off its perch Jeremy Chan - Financial News It is expensive, it looks ancient and you need to memorise archaic keyboard commands to find what you need. The Bloomberg Terminal has generated the same complaints for decades, but it is still the undisputed market leader. Despite the gripes from many people in the financial sector, few on the trading floor would be willing to give up their terminal - largely because Bloomberg's competitors have yet to come up with a viable alternative. /jlne.ws/4gy7vty Amazon Fell Behind in AI. An Alexa Creator Is Leading Its Push to Catch Up; Rohit Prasad is tasked with making the company a stronger rival to the likes of OpenAI, Microsoft and Google Sebastian Herrera - The Wall Street Journal As one of the chief architects of Amazon's Alexa, Rohit Prasad has been at the vanguard of artificial intelligence. Now, he is leading the company's effort to catch up in the AI race. The Seattle company was taken aback by a surge in competitors' AI capabilities. It turned to Prasad to upgrade the technology for its Alexa voice assistant and reboot the company's AI ambitions. Alexa-which is integrated into more than 500 million devices around the world-has been one of the dominant AI assistants, along with Apple's Siri and Google's Assistant. OpenAI released ChatGPT, and the AI race's rules changed. /jlne.ws/4evMFJj It's the Year 2030. What Will Artificial Intelligence Look Like? We asked a range of experts to predict whether, in five years, AI will have lived up to the current hype. Be warned: They don't all agree. Bart Ziegler - The Wall Street Journal Where will artificial intelligence be in 2030? Will it live up to the hype-boosting economies, creating breakthrough medical treatments, simplifying everyday life and increasing our knowledge? Or are such forecasts overly optimistic: Will it fizzle out, or change the world for the worse? What about concerns that AI will eliminate millions of jobs, replace human relationships and challenge society with an onslaught of fake media? /jlne.ws/3B7z1xF As AI Matures, Chip Industry Will Look Beyond GPUs, AMD Chief Says; GPUs will always have a critical role to play in AI computing, but as models mature, there's a growing opportunity for more custom chips Isabelle Bousquette - The Wall Street Journal Future computer chips may be able to help ease the alarming energy demands of generative artificial intelligence, but chip makers say they need something from AI first: a slowdown in the sizzling pace of change. Graphics processing units so far have dominated the bulk of training and running large-scale AI models. The chips, originally built for gaming graphics, offer a unique blend of high performance with the flexibility and programmability required to keep up with today's constantly shifting swirl of AI models. /jlne.ws/4gCz1WC The Joys of Talking to ChatGPT; Among the ways I find it useful: It helps me cure writer's block, prepare for meetings in the car and sightsee. Oh, and hang curtains. Alexandra Samuel - The Wall Street Journal AI has become an incredibly useful part of my work and my personal life. Now I've found a way to make it useful even if I'm away from my keyboard. For a while now, I've been using the voice interface on ChatGPT's mobile app. Just ask it vocally what you want to know, and it replies by speaking. Imagine something like Siri or Alexa, but a whole lot more like talking to a person: The voice is more realistic, and the responses are much more sophisticated. /jlne.ws/4evHER8 Qualcomm approaches Intel to explore potential acquisition GlobalData /jlne.ws/3ZyCZtm Low-Slung Data Centers Look to the Sky; The boxy, hulking design, standard for decades, is being reimagined: Data centers are going taller, at times getting slick facades. 'They can't just be big boxes anymore,' says one expert Belle Lin - The Wall Street Journal /jlne.ws/4gOhA5V
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Cybersecurity | Top stories for cybersecurity | Electronic Warfare Spooks Airlines, Pilots and Air-Safety Officials; Hundreds of daily flights around the world are running into GPS spoofing, a hazard that poses new risks for pilots and passengers Andrew Tangel and Drew FitzGerald | Graphics by Adrienne Tong and Carl Churchill - The Wall Street Journal American Airlines Capt. Dan Carey knew his cockpit equipment was lying to him when an alert began blaring "pull up!" as his Boeing 777 passed over Pakistan in March-at an altitude of 32,000 feet, far above any terrain. The warning stemmed from a kind of electronic warfare that hundreds of civilian pilots encounter each day: GPS spoofing. The alert turned out to be false but illustrated how fake signals that militaries use to ward off drones and missiles are also permeating growing numbers of commercial aircraft, including U.S. airlines' international flights. /jlne.ws/3zkvagq
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Cryptocurrencies | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Binance CEO Invests in Compliance to Move on From Past Mistakes; The cryptocurrency exchange said it spent about $213 million on compliance programs in 2023 Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal Binance has invested heavily in its compliance programs over the past year in hopes it will be a competitive advantage for the cryptocurrency exchange. The company spent about $213 million on compliance programs in 2023, roughly 35% higher than its spending in 2022, Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng said Thursday at an event in Singapore. /jlne.ws/3zkwsrM Bitcoin Worth $63,000 Pulled In $33 Pack Of Trading Cards At GameStop: 'Mind-Boggling' Story Goes Viral, Highlights Crypto Redemption Card Chris Katje - Benzinga With a change in its business practices, GameStop Corporation (NYSE:GME) allows CEO Ryan Cohen the ability to buy and sell stocks and cryptocurrency with the company's cash. While GameStop hasn't added Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) to its balance sheet yet, the company did help one customer turn a small purchase into a full BTC worth over $60,000. /jlne.ws/3ZB6gns
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Politics | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | New report warns of 'near-term major war' while Smerconish says Americans are distracted by the 2024 election CNN CNN's Michael Smerconish discusses how Americans are distracted by salacious headlines about the 2024 presidential election despite a new report from the Commission on the National Defense Strategy that warns about a "near-term major war" the US could face and numerous dangers abroad. /jlne.ws/3ZuDgh2 Say goodbye to free markets - buried by Washington; The Fed cut rates, but the US is still in financial trouble and the government is picking winners and losers Irwin Stelzer - The Times of London (opinion) 'The US economy is in good shape." That simple declarative sentence by Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, had different meanings for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. For Harris, it provided an opportunity for President Biden to claim the administration's economic policies have provided consumers and businesses with " confidence ... immense opportunities". For Donald Trump, it "shows the economy is very bad .... it was a big cut". /jlne.ws/3BgiWGb Trumponomics: the radical plan that would reshape America's economy; In a bid to boost manufacturing, the Republican candidate is promising sweeping tariffs. Critics warn they would cause huge damage and heighten global tensions Colby Smith, Claire Jones and James Politi - Financial Times At a campaign rally in Tucson, Arizona, earlier this month, Donald Trump offered the audience some of his usual campaign bravado. He claimed to have enjoyed a "monumental" win over Kamala Harris in their presidential debate two days earlier and doubled down on his controversial false claims that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating pets. But a significant part of the former president's speech focused on the economy, vowing to end the "mayhem and misery" Americans were experiencing under the administration of Joe Biden. /jlne.ws/3XScCxe Biden Administration Proposes Ban on Chinese, Russian Components in Connected Vehicles; Citing spying concerns, the Commerce Department calls for restrictions on use of software and hardware from U.S. adversaries Alexander Ward - The Wall Street Journal The Commerce Department on Monday proposed banning Chinese and Russian components inside of connected vehicles on U.S. roads, significantly escalating the Biden administration's effort to prevent Washington's top adversaries from spying on Americans. In February, the Commerce Department announced an inquiry into the potential risks Chinese smartcars, software and certain parts, like sensors, posed to the U.S., and sought comment from industry experts about how best to deal with the issue. Monday's action puts forward the department's plan to actually restrict their use, and added Russian hardware and software to the proposed prohibitions. The policy could become official within a few months. /jlne.ws/3zC08R1 Kamala Harris Collects Record Cash Haul at Wall Street Fundraiser AJ McDougall - Daily Beast Vice President Kamala Harris took in her largest financial windfall from a single event at a standing-room-only fundraiser in New York City on Sunday, according to the Associated Press. The Democratic presidential candidate emerged from the Cipriani Wall Street with $27 million more in her war chest, an aide told the wire service. She told reporters on the tarmac later on Sunday that the haul showed "there's a lot of support for our message and what we need to do in terms of moving forward." Harris, who has focused on courting receptive industry heavyweights like Mark Cuban, both outraised and outspent rival Donald Trump last month, according to Friday filings with the Federal Election Commission. Her campaign took in more than $189 million in August-more than quadruple the $44 million raised by the Trump campaign. /jlne.ws/4gAbNjV Harris Makes Undercover Push to Win Over Corporate America; The vice president has campaigned on holding big business accountable but has privately sought advice from CEOs, investors Tarini Parti, Emily Glazer and Maggie Severns - The Wall Street Journal Texas billionaire Mark Cuban only occasionally spoke with President Biden or his aides. But when he thought over the summer that drug-industry middlemen were hiking up the cost of medicines to drive independent pharmacies out of business, he found an eager sounding board in Kamala Harris's presidential campaign. /jlne.ws/3Zwj91R There are no easy answers for US Steel; Nippon's proposed acquisition faces some legitimate pushback Rana Foroohar - Financial Times /jlne.ws/3NgldE9 JD Vance says he's worried about a 'death spiral' in the US bond market. Here's what he's talking about. Matthew Fox - Business Insider /jlne.ws/3TCJWpw Harris Outspends Trump by $5 Million a Day after Donor Surge; Record donations give Harris a three-to-one edge on airwaves; Trump spent more than he raised in August to counter Harris Bill Allison - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/4gtz0o9 Dozens from UK take up Putin's offer to ditch 'woke' West and move to Russia Kieran Kelly - The Telegraph /jlne.ws/3Birlcg Mexico Is Building a $7.5 Billion Trade Route to Compete With Panama Canal The Wall Street Journal /jlne.ws/4gBww7e Risks; Bank recommends selling forint versus euro, targets 410 level; Morgan Stanley cites risks in budget, monetary-policy outlook Andras Gergely and Kerim Karakaya - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/4djuHc9
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Regulation & Enforcement | Stories about regulation and the law. | SEC Blasts Musk for Attending Rocket Launch Over Twitter Deposition Malathi Nayak - Bloomberg The US Securities and Exchange Commission called out Elon Musk over his latest "excuse" to skip questioning in a probe of his 2022 acquisition of Twitter: He was attending a SpaceX rocket launch. The SEC said that on the morning of Sept. 10 when Musk was finally scheduled to complete a deposition in Los Angeles after avoiding previous demands and being ordered by a judge to cooperate, a lawyer for the billionaire informed the agency that he was in Florida. /jlne.ws/3MSV3XN Banker Who Revived EF Hutton Is Embroiled in Federal Fraud Probe; Joseph Rallo was served a search warrant by federal agents; EF Hutton also alleges in lawsuit Rallo stole millions as CEO Chris Dolmetsch and Patricia Hurtado - Bloomberg The man who led the revival of old-school Wall Street name EF Hutton as a leading SPAC investment bank is embroiled in a federal securities fraud probe, according to people familiar with the matter. Joseph Rallo was served a search warrant by federal agents in May as part of a securities and wire fraud investigation led by the US attorney's office in Brooklyn, New York, the people said. The probe was also cited by EF Hutton itself in a lawsuit the firm filed Wednesday accusing Rallo of stealing millions as chief executive officer by falsifying his expense reports. /jlne.ws/3XBhsxN FCA asks banks to report WhatsApp breaches after US watchdog fines; FN reveals the watchdog has asked firms to provide a host of information about how they track encrypted communications Justin Cash - Financial News Banks have been asked to turn over details of staff breaching their policies on encrypted messaging apps as UK regulators probe how the likes of WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram are used in the City. US regulators have fined some of the sector's biggest names including JPMorgan, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs for failing to keep tabs on potential market abuse through so-called 'off-channel' communications, racking up more than $2bn in penalties since investigations began three years ago. /jlne.ws/3XCH2T2 Statement of Support of Chairman Rostin Behnam on the Commission's Final Guidance Regarding the Listing of Voluntary Carbon Credit Derivatives Contracts CFTC The Commission's final guidance for designated contract markets (DCMs or Contract Markets) that list derivatives on voluntary carbon credits (VCCs) as the underlying commodity is a critical step in support of the development of high-integrity voluntary carbon markets (VCMs). For the first time ever, a U.S. financial regulator is issuing regulatory guidance for contract markets that list financial contracts aimed at providing tools to manage risk, promote price discovery, and foster the allocation of capital towards decarbonization efforts. /jlne.ws/3Xx2wR1 Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger on Guidance Regarding the Listing of Voluntary Carbon Credit Derivative Contracts CFTC Today's non-binding guidance[1] to designated contract markets ("DCMs") regarding listing of voluntary carbon credits ("VCCs") derivative contracts is a solution in search of a problem. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission[2] has no shortage of topics that warrant our immediate attention. But instead of addressing those, we are issuing guidance on an emerging class of products that have very little open interest and comprise a miniscule percentage of trading activity on CFTC-regulated DCMs. /jlne.ws/3zyWRSw CFTC Staff Extends Temporary No-Action Letter Regarding Capital and Financial Reporting for Certain Non-U.S. Nonbank Swap Dealers Domiciled in the EU and the UK CFTC The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Market Participants Division (MPD) today announced it issued a temporary no-action letter extending CFTC Staff Letters No. 21-20 and 22-10 to certain nonbank swap dealers (SDs) domiciled in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) that are the subject of pending CFTC reviews for comparability determinations regarding capital and financial reporting requirements. /jlne.ws/4e9XS2D Federal Court Orders New York Man to Pay Over $36 Million for Forex and Digital Asset Fraud; Defendant Admitted to Falsifying Financial Documents, Providing Investors False Account Statements and Diverting Investor Funds for Personal Luxuries CFTC The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced Judge Vince Chhabria of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California entered an order Sept. 19 assessing monetary relief totaling over $36 million against William Koo Ichioka, a New York resident formerly of San Francisco. The order requires Ichioka to pay $31 million in restitution to defrauded victims and a $5 million civil monetary penalty in connection with his fraudulent foreign currency (forex) and digital asset fraud scheme. /jlne.ws/3U2bdSL SEC to Hold Virtual National Compliance Outreach Seminar for Investment Companies and Investment Advisers SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission's Compliance Outreach Program announced today that it will host a virtual national seminar for investment companies and investment advisers on Nov. 7, 2024. This seminar is intended to help Chief Compliance Officers and other senior personnel at investment companies and investment advisory firms enhance their compliance programs for the protection of investors. /jlne.ws/3Zz5c3q Statement on Jury's Verdict in Trial of Michael P. Owens, Dawson L. Davenport, Robert A. Gunton, Andrea J. Lindstrom, and Julie A. Yale Gurbir S. Grewal, Director, Division of Enforcement - SEC Today, after a 10-day trial and just over two hours of deliberation, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found Michael P. Owens, Dawson L. Davenport, Robert A. Gunton, Andrea J. Lindstrom, and Julie A. Yale liable for securities fraud. The jury also determined that Owens, Gunton, and Yale violated the securities registration provisions of the federal securities laws, and that Owens violated the broker-dealer registration provisions of the federal securities laws. /jlne.ws/3XzMsOC SEC Charges Former Harvard Football Player and his Companies with Orchestrating Two Fraudulent Schemes SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission charged former Harvard football player Nicholas A. Palazzo and three of his sports-related companies with defrauding investors through two securities fraud schemes. Through these schemes, the SEC's complaint alleges, Palazzo stole more than $2 million from investors, including Palazzo's former football teammates, a former professional athlete, and others. /jlne.ws/47Elt8Z SEC Charges Phoenix, Arizona-Based Investment Adviser for Conducting Fraudulent "Cherry-Picking" Scheme SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Raymond J. DiMuro, a former principal of Your Source Financial, PLC, a formerly SEC-registered investment adviser based in Phoenix, Arizona, with defrauding clients by conducting a cherry-picking scheme. /jlne.ws/47JG9fZ SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Eighth Defendant in CodeSmart Fraud SEC On September 13, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a final judgment against Abraxas (A.J.) DiScala, enjoining him from violating certain provisions of the federal securities laws and imposing other remedies. /jlne.ws/3XE2rem SEC Charges Former Finance Director at CIRCOR International with Accounting Fraud SEC On September 5, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against Nicholas Bowerman, a former finance director of CIRCOR International Inc., a formerly publicly traded technology manufacturer. The SEC alleges that Bowerman's fraud led to the company making misleading statements to the public about the company's financial performance from 2019 through 2021. /jlne.ws/3MX0kxA ASIC sues south-west Sydney car dealership for alleged unlicensed lending ASIC ASIC has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against Diamond Wheels, Keo Automotive and a former director for allegedly providing unlicensed car loans to consumers, many of whom paid an excessive interest rate. ASIC alleges Lansvale Motor Group (operated by Diamond Wheels Pty Limited) and Keo Automotive Pty Ltd offered unlicensed car loans with principal, interest and other fee payments. In many instances, ASIC is concerned consumers were charged roughly double the amount of interest that could lawfully be charged. /jlne.ws/3TFdCCy Strabens Hall Limited enters administration FCA On 10 September 2024, Umbra Finance Limited placed Strabens Hall Limited (SHL) into administration and appointed Gary Shankland and Robert Ferne, both of Begbies Traynor (London) LLP, as joint administrators. /jlne.ws/4evQ0YR OPBAS finds improvements needed amongst anti-money laundering supervisors FCA In its fifth report, the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) has found that while most Professional Body Supervisors (PBS) are complying with money laundering regulations, how they supervise is still not consistently effective. /jlne.ws/3zwIOwR Senior independent director review into whistleblowing concerns FCA In August 2024, a former employee who left the FCA some years ago made an allegation publicly that, in the course of whistleblowing, their identity was not kept confidential by the chair of the FCA, Ashley Alder. Following the first public allegation, a second former employee of the FCA, who also left some years ago, came forward with a similar allegation as to the handling of their whistleblowing communication to the chair. /jlne.ws/3TA00bJ MAS Directs Qoo10 Pte Ltd to Suspend Provision of Covered Payment Services in Singapore MAS The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced today that it has directed Qoo10 Pte Ltd (Qoo10) to suspend the provision of all payment services covered under the Payment Services Act 2019 (PS Act) (covered payment services) in Singapore from 23 September 2024. /jlne.ws/3zjzRHl Consumer Price Developments in August 2024 MAS This August 2024 report contains an update of the latest consumer price developments in Singapore, prepared by MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry. /jlne.ws/3N1UfzD SFC suspends Wilson Cheung Kin for nine months over sponsor failures SFC The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended Mr Wilson Cheung Kin, a former responsible officer (RO) and director of Ever-Long Securities Company Limited (Ever-Long), for nine months from 17 September 2024 to 16 June 2025 for breaching the SFC's Code of Conduct and Sponsor Guidelines (Notes 1 to 3). /jlne.ws/4eeEBNo SFC bans Dennis Cheng Chung Sing for six months SFC The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has banned Mr Dennis Cheng Chung Sing, a former trader of Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and Goldman Sachs (Asia) Securities Ltd (collectively, Goldman Sachs), from re-entering the industry for six months from 20 September 2024 to 19 March 2025 (Note 1). /jlne.ws/3Bgmybd Updated SEBI Study Reveals 93% of Individual Traders Incurred Losses in Equity F&O between FY22 and FY24; Aggregate Losses Exceed 1.8 Lakh Crores Over Three Years SEBI A new study conducted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has revealed that over 9 out of 10 individual traders in the equity futures and options (F&O) segment continue to incur significant losses. The aggregate losses of individual traders exceeded 1.8 lakh crores over the three-year period between FY22 and FY24.This study follows up on a report published by SEBI in January 2023, which found that 89% of individual equity F&O traders lost money in FY22. With increased participation of individual investors in equity and equity derivatives markets, the current study was undertaken to analyze profit and loss patterns for individual traders in F&O during the three years FY22 to FY24, and for all the categories of investors in F&O during the single year FY24.Key Findings:1.High Loss Rates Among Individual Traders:93% of over 1 crore individual F&O traders incurred average losses of around 2 lakh per trader (inclusive of transaction costs) during the three years from FY22 to FY24.Top 3.5% of loss-makers, approximately 4 lakh traders, faced an average loss of 28 lakh per person over the same period, inclusive of transaction costs. /jlne.ws/3XznLBY Tien-Mu Huang assumes position of Chairman of Central Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), while current CDIC President Ming-Hui Cheng continues as President FSC The Executive Yuan has approved a proposal in a letter dated 23 August 2024 (ref: Yuan-Shou-Ren-Pei Zi No. 1133026244) for Tien-Mu Huang to assume the position of Chairman of Central Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) and for current CDIC President Ming-Hui Cheng to continue serving as President. /jlne.ws/3XU2Pae
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Investing & Trading | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | The Fed Is Flying Blind. Investors Don't Seem to Care; Markets are embracing the spirit of dovishness following the big rate cut this past week James Mackintosh - The Wall Street Journal You can spend a lot of time on Federal Reserve kremlinology, analyzing policymaker statements and forecasts. Or you can ignore what they say, and just look at what they do-as markets decided after the Fed's supersize rate cut on Wednesday. The basic question is whether half-percentage-point cuts are the new normal. Fed policymakers say not: Only one official predicted cuts of more than a quarter point at the two meetings between now and the end of the year. Two, in their "dot plot" forecasts, predicted no more cuts, and the rest said one or two cuts. /jlne.ws/3ZF1ntD Bank investors are now betting 2024 could be the start of another 1995 David Hollerith - Yahoo Finance The start of a new rate-cutting cycle at the Federal Reserve has bank investors hoping for a return to 1995. That was the year the banking industry began one of its best runs in US history following a series of new rate cuts from the Fed and a soft landing engineered by then-central bank chair Alan Greenspan. An index broadly tracking the sector finished 1995 up more than 40%, outperforming the S&P 500 (GSCP). And that outperformance would hold for two more years. /jlne.ws/3MVGqTn They've Got a Plan to Fight Global Warming. It Could Alter the Oceans Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong - The New York Times In a quiet patch of forest in Nova Scotia, a company is building a machine designed to help slow global warming by transforming Earth's rivers and oceans into giant sponges that absorb carbon dioxide from the air. When switched on later this year, the machine will grind up limestone inside a tall green silo and release the powder into the nearby West River Pictou, creating a chalky plume that should dissolve within minutes. /jlne.ws/3BcztLc Solving the Mystery of an Investment That's Too Good to Be True; Chasing the promise of a 17.1% return reveals nonexistent companies, illusory returns and unlicensed salespeople making absurd claims Jason Zweig - The Wall Street Journal Until you try to solve a financial puzzle, you never know how many levels it can have. In a column published Aug. 30, I highlighted a peculiar investment called the Mega High-Yield Term Deposit, which claimed to offer up to a 15% guaranteed annual return for 10 years. With the Federal Reserve's rate cut on investors' minds, high returns have become even more tempting than usual, so I dug in to see if the investment could possibly make sense. It didn't-and what I've learned in the ensuing weeks is even crazier. It's a tale of nonexistent companies, illusory returns and unlicensed salespeople making absurd claims. /jlne.ws/3XS4PiY Wall Street Wants You to Be Manic. Be Focused Instead. Steven M. Sears - Barron's Wall Street wants you to be a short-term event addict. If you are overly focused on daily happenings, you will often be confused, make suboptimal decisions, and likely lose lots of money because you don't understand how to focus upon, much less find, the path that leads to consistent returns. By obsessing over event outcomes-like this week's Federal Reserve interest-rate decision -you are essentially wagering on costly flip-of-the-coin trades. The Street's sophisticated practitioners, though they rarely mention this in public, consider market events to be notoriously hard to predict. But they're all too happy to profit from amateur investors. /jlne.ws/3XPgEqd Europe's Banks Are Takeover Targets. 3 Stocks to Play Now. Craig Mellow - The Wall Street Journal /jlne.ws/4gBmIdb Barito's Plunge Extends to 36% on Ejection From FTSE Index; Shares fall by 20% limit for second day on removal plans; Company will monitor compliance with bourse's free float rules Tassia Sipahutar and Eduard Gismatullin - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/3MUXb17 Rio Tinto Chairman Warns Mining Deals Won't Solve Supply Crisis; Barton says companies need to discover and build more mines; Global M&A has ramped up with metals like copper in focus Paul-Alain Hunt and Stephen Engle - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/4gBGWnq
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Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | The next banking crisis could come from climate change Irina Ivanova - Fortune America's smallest banks face potentially destructive losses from climate-related weather disasters, according to a first-of-its-kind report from a climate change nonprofit. And they're not even aware of the risk. /jlne.ws/3zFCbbw Water levels on the Mississippi River are low. That's raising concerns for Illinois farmers during the harvest. Adriana Perez - Chicago Tribune Water levels in the Lower Mississippi River have dipped unusually low for a third year in a row, restricting how much grain can be transported downstream as harvest season gets underway. If levels keep dropping and barge traffic slows navigation, some Illinois farmers worry that soybean and corn prices will drop too or that they won't be able to get fertilizer from downstream to begin prepping their fields for next year's crops. Concerns are bubbling up among farmers after a good growing season, since those who depend on river transport might be stuck with their product for longer than anticipated. /jlne.ws/3XzW6Rh I Want to Pay Higher Gas Taxes - And You Should Too; The drop in oil prices provides a window of opportunity for governments to raise some much-needed revenue. Javier Blas - Bloomberg I drive a 10-year-old gasoline-fueled car. I need to say that up front because it's important you know that I have skin in the game of my argument. Like every other oil consumer, I'm benefiting from lower prices. Now, it's time to share the windfall - with the government, via higher gasoline taxes. I will happily read your disagreement. But, please, before you email me to question my sanity, hear me out. /jlne.ws/4dl7h66 Thieves Hunting for Copper Are Vandalizing American EV Chargers; Charging companies are catching people on camera cutting cords across entire stations, typically to strip out the copper and sell it for a profit. Kyle Stock and Tope Alake - Bloomberg Rick Wilmer spends most of his work days at the office. But every so often, the chief executive officer of ChargePoint Holdings Inc. will make his way to the company's laboratory in San Jose, California, where he dons safety glasses and wields an array of saws and shears against EV chargers. The goal: to approximate the rash of vandalism sweeping the 65,000 US cords under ChargePoint's care. "It's all over the country," Wilmer says. "The types of stuff we've seen happen is just horrifying in terms of the way they go about it and how frequently it happens." /jlne.ws/3zvjAiA
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Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | UniCredit Raises Commerzbank Holding to Around 21%; The Italian bank had earlier disclosed a 9% stake in its German peer, reviving speculation that it could pursue a tie-up Elena Vardon - The Wall Street Journal UniCredit increased its holding in Commerzbank CBK -0.45%decrease; red down pointing triangle to around 21% through the purchase of additional instruments, the Italian bank said. Earlier this month, UniCredit disclosed a 9% stake in its German peer, reviving speculation that it could pursue a tie-up of the two banks. /jlne.ws/3TDwgL6 Bank of America to open more than 165 new branches by end of 2026 Saeed Azhar - Reuters Bank of America (BAC) plans to open more than 165 U.S. branches by the end of 2026, the lender said on Monday, as it competes with JPMorgan Chase to add locations. Banks have redesigned their branches to emphasize in-person sales of products such as mortgages and investments, instead of routine teller transactions. The shift came as digital banking services proliferated, reducing the need for physical locations. /jlne.ws/3MT0WnV Thai Virtual Bank Race Heats Up as Bidders Outnumber Permits Anuchit Nguyen - Bloomberg Thailand's virtual banking competition is heating up as applications exceeded the number of licenses the central bank's plans to grant. Bank of Thailand received five applications for virtual banking licenses ahead of the Sept. 19 deadline, according to a statement Monday. BOT, which plans to grant no more than three virtual banking licenses, expects to announce the winning bidders by mid-2025, it said. The BOT didn't name the applicants. /jlne.ws/47GvJxB Apollo to Offer Multibillion-Dollar Investment in Intel Liana Baker, Ryan Gould and Ian King - Bloomberg Apollo Global Management Inc. has offered to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Intel Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would be a vote of confidence in the chipmaker's turnaround strategy. The alternative asset manager has indicated in recent days it would be willing to make an equity-like investment of as much as $5 billion in Intel, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Intel executives have been weighing Apollo's proposal, the people said. The size of Apollo's potential investment could change or discussions could fall apart, they said. /jlne.ws/4eAqS39 Man Group Multistrat to Levy Fees Similar to Millennium; Firm's pass-through fees cover compensation, other expenses; The fees will be applied to new capital starting this month Miles Weiss and Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg Man Group Plc is starting to charge clients of its nascent multistrategy hedge fund pass-through fees covering compensation and other expenses, a practice favored by peers such as Millennium Management and Citadel. Man Group, the world's biggest publicly traded hedge fund firm, will charge the pass-through fees on new capital invested in Man Strategies 1783 starting this month, according to a filing. /jlne.ws/3XSUG5P
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Work & Management | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Calls For Federal Employees To Return To Office, Says Empty Buildings 'Bother' Him: 'I Can't Believe...' Navdeep Yadav - Benzinga JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has called for federal employees in Washington, DC, to return to their offices, highlighting the ongoing debate over remote work policies. What Happened: Speaking at The Atlantic Festival, Dimon expressed his frustration with the number of empty buildings in the capital, according to Business Insider on Friday. "By the way, I'd also make Washington, DC, go back to work. I can't believe, when I come down here, the empty buildings. The people who work for you not going to the office," he stated,"That bothers me," he added. Dimon emphasized that he does not allow such flexibility at JPMorgan. /jlne.ws/3Zy3VJI Zoom to Cut Back on Stock-Based Compensation, Joining Salesforce, Workday; Equity awards are 'not sustainable,' CEO Yuan writes in memo; Tech investors and executives concerned about share dilution Brody Ford - Bloomberg Zoom Video Communications Inc. is reducing the practice of paying workers with company stock, joining peers such as Salesforce Inc. and Workday Inc. in limiting their reliance on a common compensation technique in the tech industry. Equity in Zoom has been issued to workers at a rate that is "not sustainable," Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan wrote this week in a note to employees. "We grant a significant amount of shares each year that has led to very high dilution. Put simply, we are granting too much equity and must proactively reduce it." /jlne.ws/4eeDA82 The benefits of a four-day workweek according to a champion of the trend Cathy Bussewitz - Associated Press Finance Companies exploring the option of letting employees work four days a week hope to reduce job burnout and retain talent seeking a better work-life balance, according to the chief executive of an organization that promotes the idea. The trend is gaining traction in Australia and Europe, says Dale Whelehan, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, which coaches companies through the month-long process of shortening their employees' work hours. Japan launched a campaign in August encouraging employers to trim work schedules to four days. /jlne.ws/3BqCB64
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Wellness Exchange | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Do you need another covid shot? Test your coronavirus knowledge. Fenit Nirappil and Lauren Weber - The Washington Post More than four years since the coronavirus ignited a global pandemic, the virus officially named SARS-CoV-2 keeps evolving - and so does our understanding of how it works. Some of our early assumptions are now outdated or turned out to be wrong. Covid is affecting people differently now that nearly everyone has been infected or vaccinated. Hundreds of studies since 2020 offer new answers to questions about how the virus spreads and how effective vaccines are. And yet, common misconceptions about covid - some of which are driven by rampant misinformation - persist. /jlne.ws/3XAIxkH Lightspeed Leads $65 Million Round by India AI Diagnostics Firm Saritha Rai - Bloomberg Indian startup Qure.AI raised $65 million from investors led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and 360 ONE Asset Management, gaining funds to expand and develop its products that use artificial intelligence to help detect diseases. Merck & Co.'s Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and Kae Capital joined the Series D round, along with existing investors including Novo Holdings, Health Quad, and TeamFund, the startup said Monday in a statement. It plans to use the proceeds to expand in the US and other markets, improve its generative AI foundation models and fund acquisitions. /jlne.ws/3BbTu4x Doctors and Health Experts Are Changing Their Minds About Whole Milk and Cheese; Consuming full-fat milk products could help stave off diseases seniors are more prone to, including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Neal Templin - Barron's For more than 40 years, the general medical advice has been to avoid full-fat milk products because they are high in saturated fat, the unhealthy fat associated with red meat. Some studies published in the past decade have found evidence to the contrary. Cheese and yogurt made from whole milk, as well as whole milk itself, may be more beneficial than previously thought. /jlne.ws/3XDTwdb
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Regions | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | BlackRock Deal Showcases Rise of Saudi Wealth Fund's New Star; The PIF's local pivot is boosting the profile of a low-key executive who's now being courted by global firms looking to do deals in the kingdom. Matthew Martin, Dinesh Nair, Nicolas Parasie, and Zainab Fattah - Bloomberg When BlackRock Inc. landed a $5 billion investment pledge from Riyadh in April, pictured smiling alongside Larry Fink and Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al Rumayyan was an executive seen as a rising force within the sovereign investor. That man, Yazeed Al Humied, is one of the fund's two deputy governors and runs its Middle East and North Africa unit. While this was regarded as the less glamorous arm of the PIF for years, the $925 billion fund's growing domestic focus means that Al Humied is now increasingly being courted by the titans of investing. /jlne.ws/3BbTOjL Foreigners' Derivatives Bets Hit Record $116 Billion in India; Indian equities have rebounded 18% from a low in June; Foreigners expected to stay bullish, market watcher says Ashutosh Joshi - Bloomberg With Indian stocks hitting successive records, global funds have pushed up their derivatives wagers to unprecedented levels. By Friday, foreign institutional investors owned 9.7 trillion rupees ($116 billion) of options and futures on equity indexes and single stocks listed on the National Stock Exchange, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That day, they bumped up their bullish bets on index futures, including those tied to the NSE Nifty 50 gauge, to over 500,000 contracts. That's the highest level since 2015. /jlne.ws/4dgXr56 India's finished steel imports from China hit 7-year high in April-August, data shows Neha Arora - Reuters India's finished steel imports from China hit a seven-year high during the first five months of the 2024/25 financial year, provisional government data reviewed by Reuters showed. India's overall finished steel imports also reached a six-year high at 3.7 million metric tons in the April-August period of this year, and the country was a net importer. /jlne.ws/4gDanoT Indian Markets Calm Masks Chaos Beneath With Bets On RBI Rate Cut Chiranjivi Chakraborty and Ashutosh Joshi - Bloomberg Good morning, this is Alex Gabriel Simon, an equities reporter in Mumbai. Nifty futures signal a firm start this morning after the index scaled a new high Friday. Global funds have piled back into local shares with gusto and risk appetite remains unabated. Bulls seem determined to take the Nifty past the 26,000 mark this week. /jlne.ws/3MUdXxd China Steel Mills Are Facing a Wave of Bankruptcies, BI Says Bloomberg China's steel crisis is setting the stage for a wave of bankruptcies and speeding a much-needed consolidation of the industry, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Almost three-quarters of the country's steelmakers suffered losses in the first half and bankruptcy is likely for many of them, Michelle Leung, a senior analyst at BI, said in a note. Xinjiang Ba Yi Iron & Steel Co., Gansu Jiu Steel Group and Anyang Iron & Steel Group Co. face the highest risk, and could be potential acquisition targets, she said. /jlne.ws/3MW0pS3 Czechs Mull Selling Euro Bonds on Local Market in Fourth Quarter Peter Laca - Bloomberg The Czech Republic is considering selling bonds denominated in euros on the domestic market for the first time in more than two years. The Finance Ministry in Prague said on Monday it would gauge investor interest, based on communication with primary dealers, and decide about potential issuance of new euro-denominated notes in the fourth quarter. /jlne.ws/4dcvj37
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Miscellaneous | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Bloomberg's $140 Million Push to Get Lower-Income Students Into Top Colleges Falls Short; A college advising program struggles to reach students, while schools' recruiting efforts have been limited Melissa Korn and Matt Barnum - The Wall Street Journal Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has spent more than $140 million over the past decade to get tens of thousands more talented, lower-income students into top-flight colleges. Those big ambitions have so far fallen short. The bulk of Bloomberg's millions have gone to a remote college-counseling program. Bloomberg Philanthropies, the ex-New York City mayor's charitable arm, also invested in the American Talent Initiative, a group of college presidents that aimed to attract 50,000 more lower-income students to schools with high graduation rates. /jlne.ws/4ezK3Ku Hong Kong Denies Entry to French AP Journalist, Local Media Says Rebecca Choong Wilkins - Bloomberg Hong Kong denied access to a French photojournalist who sought to enter the financial hub as a visitor, according to the local newspaper Mingpao, adding to a string of cases likely to amplify concerns over the city's press freedoms. The refusal this month followed a decision by authorities to reject the same journalist's application for visa renewal earlier this year, Mingpao reported, without citing its sources. /jlne.ws/4djK0Sf
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