| December 13, 2018 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
JLN Staff
The FIA released it's worldwide exchange-traded derivatives volumes for November. You can download a spreadsheet file with in-depth breakdowns of the volumes and open interest here. In sum, on a YTD 2018 vs. YTD 2017 basis every region's volumes are up. Aggregate futures and options volumes on every asset class are also up, with the exception of non-precious metals and the nebulous "other" category.~SD
Apparently, the CFTC web site's comments section related to their request for information about Ethereum may not have been uploaded yet, in case you tried to leave them a comment. The person I spoke with at the commission said members of the public should be able to do so by the 17th at the latest - otherwise, you can always use snail mail, if you don't mind using such an outdated technology.~MR
There's a notable blog post from Michael Bodson, the CEO of DTCC, about his organization's Day of Understanding in the Exchanges and Clearing section today. DTCC does not stand alone, but it is a strong voice for having difficult conversations in the workplace. ~JK
Registration is now open for the 37th Annual Options Industry Conference, May 1-3, 2019, at the Trump National Doral Miami, sponsored this year by MIAX. Go here to register and for more information. Registration is also open for FIA Boca 2019, March 12 - 14 2019 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. Go here for more info.~SR
The manager of US Bank in the Rookery building has a new job within US Bank. Latacha Knox is now officer-assistant relationship manager, where she is working in commercial real estate. She was instrumental in getting US Bank to participate in the Trading Tech 300 merit badge workshop program. US Bank has run the personal management merit badge.~JJL
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Statement of Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo on the Passing of Robert Cox
CFTC
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo issued the following statement on the passing of Robert T. Cox, vice president in the financial markets group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago:
bit.ly/2rAiU4Y
***** Very kind of the chairman to honor Bob with a statement.~JJL
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Eurex Exchange appoints Wolfgang Eholzer as Chief Technology Officer
Eurex
Eurex Exchange extends its board by appointing Wolfgang Eholzer as Chief Technology Officer as of January 2019. In the new position, he will focus on IT strategy and on Eurex's trading system T7.
bit.ly/2rBFUjX
***** Should not the Eurex chief technology officer spell his name eHolzer? Just asking.~JJL
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Another big Chicago trading name exits; One-time U.S. Senate candidate Blair Hull quietly folded his Ketchum trading business earlier this year and moved back to California.
Lynne Marek - Crain's Chicago Business
The one-time U.S. Senate candidate said he decided to get out of the business in June because fees for essential services, like market data and exchange connections, have climbed so much that his proprietary trading firm wasn't as profitable as it used to be. "The potential for proprietary trading isn't what it was 30 years ago," he said in an interview, claiming that profits have shifted from firms like his to the exchanges, which charge fees for their services.
bit.ly/2rBjD5E
***** For months John Lothian News knew that Blair Hull was winding down his operations. After all, they are just down the hall from us and share the same restroom. However, we did not want to break this story. It would break in time and it did. It was an honor to share a floor with Blair Hull and his team. It was a privilege to get to know him and we even did some work for them. Best of luck to all who move forward with Hull trading DNA.~JJL
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U.S. CFOs Overwhelmingly Expect a Recession Within Two Years
Sho Chandra - Bloomberg
U.S. chief financial officers expect a recession as soon as next year, adding to signs that the outlook is souring among businesses and consumers amid a trade war and volatile financial markets.
While about 49 percent of respondents see an economic downturn by the end of 2019, 82 percent expect that a recession will have begun by the end of 2020, the Duke University/CFO Global Business Outlook fourth-quarter survey showed Wednesday.
/goo.gl/z3kHio
****** Bean counters. What do they know?~JJL
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Boy Scouts of America Considers Bankruptcy Filing Amid Sex-Abuse Lawsuits; Nonprofit has hired law firm Sidley Austin for assistance in a possible chapter 11 bankruptcy filing
Katy Stech Ferek - WSJ
The Boy Scouts of America is considering filing for bankruptcy protection as it faces dwindling membership and escalating legal costs related to lawsuits over how it handled allegations of sex abuse.
/on.wsj.com/2ryRYCp
****** Many of the cases being resolved started before I was even a Scout as a boy. Like many other organizations facing similar history and legal risks, sometimes you need to start over. There are so many good things happening in Scouting, it is a shame. But this is just a potential stopping point; the journey continues. Today the youth protection rules are stricter than ever, with two-deep leadership necessary for any and all gatherings and gender appropriate leadership too.~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top read story was The Atlantic's in-depth and insightful piece about the stripping down of the IRS by Congress, in Rich People Are Getting Away With Not Paying Their Taxes. If you haven't read it, you should. This hated agency may be the key to the US's future. Second was the obituary for long-time industry veteran Bob Cox, who recently passed away. Third was the Cboe Global Markets announcement about its hires and promotion of Arianne Criqui, Rob Hocking and Matthew McFarland
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MarketsWiki Stats
137,311,458 pages viewed; 23,347 pages; 215,837 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
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| Lead Stories | U.S. Treasury Market's Evolution Likely to Bring More Price Transparency
Matthew Leising - Bloomberg
The debt market is evolving, new report says; Treasury officials pushing for changes to increase transparency
The U.S. Treasury market's walls may be coming down. While U.S. debt has long traded in one of two ways -- banks buying and selling among themselves, or sales to customers -- that distinction is eroding, with the inclusion of proprietary trading firms in the bank-only segment and increased adoption of streaming prices, according to new research by Greenwich Associates analyst Kevin McPartland. The likely impact: a clearer picture of where prices stand at any given moment.
/bloom.bg/2rAOGyE
CME leads winners from the return of market volatility
Michael Mackenzie - FT
Global equities are bouncing on hopes for some progress on US-Sino trade, and the latest mood swing highlights a major divergence we have seen this year between asset managers and the trading venues that comprise the plumbing of the financial system.
/on.ft.com/2rAjqQs
Ranks of Crypto Users Swelled in 2018 Even as Bitcoin Tumbled
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
University of Cambridge center releases benchmarking study; Number of cryptocurrency accounts also rose, research shows
It turns out that cryptocurrency enthusiasts were committed well beyond the HODL rallying call that urged them to hold on during this year's digital-asset market collapse.
/bloom.bg/2rB9czg
Morgan Stanley to Shut Down Moscow Equities and FX Desks
Jake Rudnitsky - Bloomberg
About 40 employees will be affected by the desk closures; Lender joins Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse in Russia cutbacks
Morgan Stanley is shutting down its equities and currency sales and trading desks in Moscow, becoming the latest foreign bank to reduce its presence in Russia, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
/bloom.bg/2ry1JAO
Hedge-Fund Closures Hit $3 Trillion Market as Veterans Surrender
Nishant Kumar and Suzy Waite - Bloomberg
Philippe Jabre's decision to return capital from three of his hedge funds rocked the industry this week. But closures have been a key theme of 2018.
/bloom.bg/2rBB31X
Exclusive: China makes first major buy of U.S. soybeans since Trump-Xi meet
Karl Plume - Reuters
China on Wednesday bought at least 500,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans in its first major purchase of the oilseed since U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping struck a trade war truce earlier this month, traders said.
/goo.gl/wQqPw6
Theresa May Survives No-Confidence Vote Amid Battle Over Brexit
Bill Chappell and Colin Dwyer - NPR
The British prime minister survived a no-confidence vote called by members of her own Conservative Party, scoring a critical victory Wednesday in the bruising political battles over Brexit. With the win, May will retain leadership of the Tories  but face the same struggle to cobble together support for the trade deal she negotiated with the European Union.
/n.pr/2Er849H
Bitcoin Investors Lied to Themselves to Justify Mania's Prices; The cryptocurrency boom found value where there wasn't any.
Matthew A. Winkler - Bloomberg
Every crypto enthusiast had a method for justifying Bitcoin's ever-climbing price in 2017. They badly needed one: Bitcoins don't pay interest like bonds or generate profits like companies, so it takes some mental gymnastics to come up with a valuation measure. For example, some say its price should be based on the value of the transactions moving through the network.
/bloom.bg/2rBkgMy
Major German Stock Exchange to Launch Crypto Trading Platform
Yogita Khatri - Coindesk
Germany's second-largest stock exchange, Boerse Stuttgart Group, is set to launch a cryptocurrency trading platform in the first half of 2019.
bit.ly/2rIjvBH
Banks Get Kinder, Gentler Treatment Under Trump; Regulators are asking examiners to adopt less aggressive tone when flagging risky practices
Trump administration officials hope to reshape relationship with banks.
Lalita Clozel - WSJ
After years of acrimony, the nation's top banking regulators are seeking a detente with the firms they oversee.
/on.wsj.com/2rz1jKo
Another Hedge Fund Veteran Is Quitting a Brutal Market
Sofia Horta e Costa and Bei Hu - Bloomberg
Founder says market is becoming more difficult to anticipate; An estimated 174 hedge funds were liquidated in third quarter
Philippe Jabre is returning money to investors after an "especially challenging" year, adding to the swelling list of hedge-fund veterans giving up on an industry where money-making opportunities have dwindled.
/bloom.bg/2ryxQAk
Cryptocurrency Startup AriseBank to Pay $2.3 Million to Settle Fraud Accusations; Company claimed to have raised over $600 million before SEC lawsuit; in reality it took in about $4.25 million
Dave Michaels - WSJ
One of the first startups sued by U.S. regulators over its initial coin offering will pay $2.3 million after being accused of scamming investors through claims such as building a cryptocurrency bank.
/on.wsj.com/2UBrQ7r
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | DTCC Offers One-Stop Solution for Securities Financing Transactions Reporting
DTCC
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced that it has partnered with Xceptor, the leader in data-centric intelligent automation software, to enable clients to leverage Xceptor's data transformation capabilities within DTCC's Global Trade Repository (GTR) for Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR). The partnership will significantly lessen firms' operational burden by enabling them to enrich, normalize and validate data before submitting it to a trade repository. Firms will be able to enrich reporting with both internal and external reference data, manage exceptions leveraging native workflows, and benefit from real-time gap analysis and testing.
/goo.gl/M3FS82
We Can Talk About That
Mike Bodson - President and CEO at DTCC
There's an unwritten code we've all learned over the years to avoid talking about certain topics at work - such as politics, religion, race, gender and sexual orientation, among others - because they're considered too controversial, difficult or uncomfortable.
bit.ly/2rIkTUV
Exchange Council Welcomes The Expansion Of EEX Power Derivatives Portfolio
Mondovisione
On Thursday 6th December, the Exchange Council of the European Energy Exchange (EEX) held its final meeting of 2018 in Vienna, chaired by Dr Michael Redanz, Managing Director of EWE Trading GmbH. In the course of the meeting, the Exchange Council addressed a number of topics including the expansion of the power derivatives portfolio, pre-trade transparency obligations and the Clean Energy Package's proposal on cross border electricity trading and its effect on bidding zone configuration.
/goo.gl/VMVCQu
Intercontinental Exchange Announces Launch of Marine Fuel Contracts in advance of IMO 2020
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, announced plans to launch new Marine Fuel 0.5% futures contracts in advance of the implementation of the 0.5% sulphur cap by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2020. The new contracts are expected to launch on February 4, 2019, subject to completion of relevant regulatory processes.
bit.ly/2rBihb4
Citi Hong Kong's head of securities services joins HKEX; Cindy Chen will oversee the post-trade business development team, as well as the blockchain project HKEX is working on with Digital Asset.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has hired the former head of securities services at Citi Hong Kong to head up its post-trade business development.
bit.ly/2rvenRc
HKEX Appoints Head of Post-Trade Business Development
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is pleased to announce that Cindy Chen today (Thursday) joins the company as Head of Post-Trade Business Development, Clearing. She will report to Joint Chief Operating Officer and Head of Clearing, Calvin Tai.
bit.ly/2rzUf07
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | AccessFintech Secures $17.5 Million In Series A Funding Round With Investment From Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs And J.P. Morgan
Press Release
AccessFintech, the financial technology firm that operates the Global Exceptions Network for exception resolution and risk management, announced today that it has closed a series A funding round and secured $17.5 million investment from Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
bit.ly/2QRJSDd
Are we nearing the end of Hadoop and big data?
Alejandra Morales, Belatrix - bobsguide
A few weeks ago, two giants of the big data Hadoop era, Cloudera and Hortonworks, announced they would be merging. The announcement claimed it would be a "merger of equals." It is fascinating to see these two groundbreaking pioneers coming together.
/goo.gl/eUrfHS
IHS Markit Expands Alternative Data Analytics by Launching Predictive Automotive Signals; 32 automotive stock selection and strategy signals automatically deliver investing insight from proprietary sales, production and market share data
IHS Markit (Nasdaq
IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, expanded its alternative data offering for asset managers with the launch of new stock selection and strategy signals covering the automotive sector.
/on.mktw.net/2rBA95z
Motive Partners takes majority stake in Finantix
Finextra
Private equity firm Motive Partners has acquired a majority stake in Finantix, which provides a bundled set of components and software development tools for financial firms beginning their digital transform journeys.
bit.ly/2rBJGJS
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | A Ripple Executive Made A Worrying Warning Over Crypto Adoption
Billy Bambrough - Forbes
Ripple, and its XRP digital token, have weathered the recent bitcoin and cryptocurrency storm better than many others, bolstered by XRP's huge gains earlier in the year. But ripple, a common name for XRP, has still struggled amidst an almost year-long crypto rout that has wiped more than $700 billion from the total cryptocurrency market capitalization over the course of 2018Âdespite a raft of banks and financial services companies signing up to Ripple.
bit.ly/2BcM6Ds
A Year After the Crypto Bubble Burst, Will Bitcoin Ever Recover?; Everybody had crypto dreams. What did they think they were buying?
Tracy Alloway - Bloomberg
Bitcoin was worth $3,300 on Dec. 11. That's amazing, considering that cryptocurrency was created out of nothing 10 years ago. But it's also depressing to many, because a year ago, Bitcoin's value hit almost $20,000 in what could prove one of the most dramatic economic bubbles in world history.
/bloom.bg/2rBIB4M
'What Is Bitcoin?' Topped Google's 2018 What Asked Trending List
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
Bitcoin's mesmerizing rise and fall in the past year has left investors and regulators asking what just happened? Many are also asking an even more fundamental question: 'What is Bitcoin?' In fact, that was the most searched definition in the U.S. and U.K. in 2018, according to Google Trends.
/bloom.bg/2PyCLuH
Cryptocurrency Startup AriseBank to Pay $2.3 Million to Settle Fraud Accusations
Dave Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTONÂOne of the first startups sued by U.S. regulators over its initial coin offering will pay $2.3 million after being accused of scamming investors through claims such as building a cryptocurrency bank. AriseBank and its founders, Jared Rice and Stanley Ford, sold their virtual coin at the height of the cryptocurrency bubble in late 2017 and early 2018.
/on.wsj.com/2UBrQ7r
Swiss Regulators Give Go-Ahead for First Cryptocurrency ETP
Landon Manning - Nasdaq
Regulators from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) have recently given a company permission to list an exchange-traded product (ETP) that will track cryptocurrencies on the main Swiss stock exchange.
bit.ly/2Qx1vJ5
The Dutch central bank are exploring regulation for cryptocurrency companies
Ken Chigbo - FX Street
The Netherlands are exploring regulation for companies within the cryptocurrency industry. They are keen to tackle and prevent money laundering and alleged terrorist financing. Digital currency organizations will need to gain an operating license from country's central bank.
bit.ly/2Pzp0fl
Japanese Lawmaker Proposes 4 Changes to Ease Crypto Tax Burden
Yogita Khatri - Coindesk
A Japanese lawmaker has proposed a number of changes to the current taxation regime in order to ease the burden for cryptocurrency users and encourage adoption of cryptocurrencies in the country. In a meeting held earlier this month, Takeshi Fujimaki, a representative of the third-largest opposition political party Nippon Ishin, said that the country's tax system should not "crush the future" of digital currencies and blockchain technology, and recommended four amendments "to promote the wider [spread] of virtual currency into society."
bit.ly/2ruPLYU
Bitcoin Will Be Worthless Until You Can Pay Your Taxes With It; For the cryptocurrency to have real staying power, it'll need help from the IRS.
Mark Cudmore - Bloomberg
When faced with the charge that cryptocurrencies have no inherent value, believers often counter that paper money doesn't either. Such a defense is intuitive, but it's wrong. Fiat currencies, as they're known, are "backed" by the government that issues them. That means, in practice, that you need them to pay your taxes. As long as a country is functioningÂthat is, as long as it's collecting taxes and spending the proceeds on such things as police, schools, and highwaysÂits money has value.
/bloom.bg/2rxqxsJ
Fidelity is backing a crypto lending startup that's looking to launch a crypto credit card
Frank Chaparro - The Block Crypto
A string of Wall Street's most active crypto traders are getting behind BlockFi, a New York crypto lending firm, as it eyes new opportunities for financial firms and retail alike.
bit.ly/2rzS1Oj
Stablecoin project Basis is shutting down and returning the majority of capital raised to investors
Frank Chaparro - The Block Crypto
Basis, one of the most well-known stablecoin projects, is shutting down and returning the majority of capital raised to investors.
bit.ly/2rB6zxg
Paxos Standard Crosses $5B In Transactions In First 3 Months
Press Release
The first regulated stablecoin marks 3 months with record-breaking growth and global adoption
NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Paxos® announced today that its Paxos Standard token (PAX) has been used for over $5 billion worth of transactions in its first three months since launch. Paxos Standard has become the second most widely traded stablecoin with three times the 24-hour trading volume of its next closest competitor.
/goo.gl/fYb1FH
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Michael Cohen Sentenced to 3 Years After Implicating Trump in Hush-Money Scandal
Benjamin Weiser and William K. Rashbaum - NY Times
Michael D. Cohen, a former lawyer for President Trump, was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday after denouncing Mr. Trump and explaining that "I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds."
/nyti.ms/2rxURUb
Metaphorical Washington 'swamp' overrun by actual vermin
Ashraf Khalil - AP News
Andre Pittman and Gregory Cornes are on a mission to rid Washington of opportunistic vermin.
But their target isn't corrupt officials or shady political fixers; it's Rattus Norvegicus, the common Norway Rat.
/goo.gl/bxo4QQ
The Trump tax cuts are putting America in a hole
Rick Newman - Yahoo Finance
Tax cuts and a slowing economy will erode America's fiscal strength during the next decade, according to a new report from Moody's Investor Service, the bond-rating agency. At some point, Moody's might cut the nation's top-tier credit rating.
/yhoo.it/2rxFx9Q
House Passes Farm Bill, Sends It to President Trump's Desk for Signature; Five-year $867 billion bill funds farm subsidies, crop insurance, food stamps
Andrew Duehren - WSJ
The House of Representatives passed a five-year farm bill Wednesday, sending the critical agriculture package to President Trump's desk after the Senate overwhelmingly passed the legislation earlier this week.
/on.wsj.com/2rzj38L
FBI Says Chinese Espionage Poses 'Most Severe' Threat to American Security; The agency's disclosures to Senate come ahead of expected charges against hackers linked to Chinese government; China suspected in Marriott hack
Dustin Volz and Aruna Viswanatha - WSJ
Chinese corporate espionage has metastasized into a critical national and economic security threat, top federal investigative officials told U.S. senators on Wednesday, issuing stark warnings that Beijing is exploiting American technology to develop its own economy.
/on.wsj.com/2ryK5gb
It's a not-so-happy 1st birthday for bitcoin futures
Aaron Hankin - MarketWatch
Subdued volume and a steep selloff have marked a turbulent first year for bitcoin futures trading
/on.mktw.net/2rInY7r
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | Proposed Rule Change to Make Technical Revisions and One Minor Correction to the Supplemental Statement of Income Required to be Filed Pursuant to FINRA Rule 4524 (Supplemental FOCUS Information)
FINRA
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. ("FINRA") is filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" or "Commission") a proposed rule change to make technical revisions and one minor correction to the Supplemental Statement of Income ("SSOI") required to be filed pursuant to FINRA Rule 4524 (Supplemental FOCUS Information). The technical revisions would conform the SSOI with amendments to SEC Form X-17A-5 (the "FOCUS Report") that the SEC has adopted.
bit.ly/2Gco0hP
Executives Settle ICO Scam Charges
SEC
Two former executives behind an allegedly fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) that was stopped by the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year have been ordered in federal court to pay nearly $2.7 million and prohibited from serving as officers or directors of public companies or participating in future offerings of digital securities.
bit.ly/2Gf0iBF
Three Developers Settle Charges of Fraudulent EB-5 Offering
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that three Houston-area developers have agreed to settle charges that they misused investor funds raised from 90 Chinese investors under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program on unrelated projects.
bit.ly/2Gfs7K6
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | ECB Stimulus's Mixed Legacy: Economic Success, Political Fiasco
Tom Fairless and Brian Blackstone - The Wall Street Journal
The European Central Bank is nearing a landmark decision to wind down its $3 trillion bond-buying program, closing a chapter on a policy the U.S. used to help restore its growth but one that had mixed results in Europe.
/goo.gl/aougbH
Why free investments aren't free
Arielle O'Shea - MarketWatch
There's a new trend in investing: free. You can now trade stocks, own index funds and even get portfolio management with no fee.
/on.mktw.net/2rzSCj1
ECB Stimulus's Mixed Legacy: Economic Success, Political Fiasco
Tom Fairless and Brian Blackstone - WSJ
The European Central Bank is nearing a landmark decision to wind down its $3 trillion bond-buying program, closing a chapter on a policy the U.S. used to help restore its growth but one that had mixed results in Europe.
/on.wsj.com/2zY86lI
Former Fed Chairman Blasts McKinsey and Hedge-Fund Billionaires
Mary Childs - Barron's
Over his 91 years, Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, has been asked to fix basically everything. If humans made a mess with money, there's a good chance that Volcker helped clean it up.
bit.ly/2rwrWje
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Stockbroker M&A Activity Brings Unintended Costs
Daniel Carpenter, Meritsoft - TABB Forum
Nearly a year on from MiFID II, nobody across the City is feeling the pinch more than UK stockbrokers. After years of bundling investment research in with fees charged for executing trades, rules forcing brokers to split the two are starting to take their toll. As so often is the way, with asset managers reviewing and reducing analyst research, it leaves the Davids battling against the Goliaths of the stockbroker world for a seat at the investment research table and a slice of the budget.
/goo.gl/7qNk8o
Shares in Troubled Asset Manager GAM Plunge as It Revamps Its Business; Swiss money manager has been fighting on multiple fronts since the suspension of a star bond manager in the summer
Philip Georgiadis - WSJ
Shares in GAM Holding AG GMHLY 3.86% fell nearly 30% on Thursday as the crisis-hit Swiss money manager forecast a huge loss, scrapped its dividend and unveiled job losses.
/on.wsj.com/2ryMeZh
BGC Brokers' Capitalab Launches Combined Options and CME Cleared Swaps Compression
LONDON, Dec. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Capitalab, a division of BGC Brokers LP, an entity within BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP) group of companies today announced the execution of Capitalab's first compression cycle of OTC Interest Rate products cleared by CME Clearing.
/goo.gl/arh3y8
INTL FCStone Acquires NY Broker Dealer GMP Securities
Finance Magnates
INTL FCStone Inc. (NASDAQ:INTL) has reached an agreement to acquire GMP Securities LLC, a New York-headquartered institutional fixed income boutique specializing in emerging market debt, bonds, and asset-backed securities.
bit.ly/2GcymOw
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Norway raises countercyclical bank buffer
Reuters
Norway will increase its countercyclical capital buffer requirement for banks to 2.5 percent from 2.0 percent, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday, while adding the new requirement must be met by the end of 2019.
/reut.rs/2rxqBst
China's flawed futures contract pushes oil trade to record high in 2018
Henning Gloystein - Reuters
Shanghai's new yuan-denominated derivatives contract is set to propel global crude oil futures trading volumes to a record high in 2018, eating into the market share of the two most active crude contracts, Brent and WTI.
/reut.rs/2ryxn12
Investors Can't Agree Whether to Stick With Australian Stocks
Ruth Carson and Abhishek Vishnoi - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Asset is trimming exposure to Australian equities; Aberdeen prefers shares over bonds on improved return outlook
Investors are at odds on whether it's a good time to stick with Australian stocks. Aberdeen Standard Investments is betting on the nation's equities to outperform bonds in the coming years despite rising volatility. JPMorgan Asset Management is less convinced.
/bloom.bg/2rybijd
Chris Hohn and investor group step up $1.6bn Indian battle; Hedge fund boss part of group seeking to recover investments in property developer
Javier Espinoza - FT
Investors including hedge fund boss Christopher Hohn have called for the ousting of managers at an Indian property developer with links to US president Donald Trump, as they step up efforts to recover $1.6bn of investments.
/on.ft.com/2ryAIgA
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| Brexit | | Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union | No Quick End to the Brexit Saga; Options markets point to the fate of Brexit being decided dangerously close to the Mar. 29 deadline
Jon Sindreu - WSJ
Chances of the Brexit saga coming to an early end are fading fast. Investors should resign themselves to the prospect of an unpredictable last-minute showdown.
/on.wsj.com/2rAiwn2
Theresa May Survives Leadership Test, but Brexit Path Unclear; Conservative lawmakers back U.K. prime minister as party leader, but victory leaves doubts over her future and over Brexit
Max Colchester and Jason Douglas - WSJ
British Prime Minister Theresa May beat back a leadership challenge, subduing a damaging rebellion within her party but leaving her politically wounded and the route to Brexit muddier than ever.
/on.wsj.com/2rBsTHa
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Arctic Report Card Documents 'Cascading Effects' Of Warming Ocean Temperatures
Samantha Raphelson - NPR
The Arctic has experienced the "most unprecedented transition in history" in terms of warming temperatures and melting ice, and those changes may be the cause of extreme weather around the globe, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 2018 Arctic Report Card.
/n.pr/2ryTULb
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