| December 05, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a record $17.1 billion in monetary relief for fiscal year 2024 in its Fiscal Year 2024 Enforcement Results Report released yesterday. This includes $2.6 billion in civil monetary penalties and $14.5 billion in disgorgement and restitution. The CFTC brought 58 new actions in FY 2024, including cases involving digital asset commodities, fraud in voluntary carbon credit markets, and market manipulation. The agency also continued to litigate pending actions, resulting in significant victories and recoveries.
The CFTC has been active in the digital asset space, securing record-breaking sanctions in cases against FTX, Binance, and Voyager. Other significant actions include charges against individuals involved in romance scams and Ponzi schemes.
The CFTC has taken enforcement actions against several companies for fraudulent activities. CQC Impact Investors LLC and its former COO were charged with falsely reporting data to obtain more carbon credits. Trafigura Trading LLC was charged with trading on misappropriated nonpublic information and manipulating fuel oil benchmarks. TotalEnergies Trading SA was found to have manipulated the market for EBOB-linked futures contracts. These actions show the CFTC's commitment to fighting misconduct in the markets.
The CFTC took several enforcement actions in FY 2024. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC was fined $200 million for failing to supervise its business, leading to the failure to capture billions of orders. The Toronto Dominion Bank was fined $4 million for lack of oversight and failure to supervise its electronic communications system. Multiple financial institutions were fined over $1.23 billion for using unapproved communication methods. The Bank of New York Mellon was fined $5 million for failing to correctly report swap transactions and supervise its swap dealer business. BGC Derivatives Markets LP and GFI Swaps Exchange LLC were fined $750,000 and $550,000 respectively for reporting and publication failures. Barclays Bank PLC was fined $4 million for failing to correctly or timely report over five million swap transactions. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was fined $1.25 million for repeatedly failing to timely report various types of data for its swaps transactions.
The CFTC has taken several enforcement actions to protect consumers from fraud and abuse in the commodity and derivatives markets. These actions include charges against individuals and entities involved in Ponzi schemes, fraudulent online platforms, and unregistered commodity trading advisors, as well as settlements with firms for failing to have adequate policies and procedures in place.
The CFTC has taken enforcement actions against companies and individuals for illegally using confidential information. These cases include Trafigura Trading LLC for manipulating a fuel oil benchmark, Freepoint Commodities LLC for obtaining nonpublic information, and an associated person of an IB for misappropriating client information.
The CFTC is actively investigating and prosecuting trade practice violations that can impact market integrity. Several companies and individuals have faced charges and penalties for violations such as spoofing, wash trades, fictitious trades, and exceeding position limits. Examples include Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc., Aspire Commodities LLC, Raizen Energia SA, Vitol Inc., and Taishin Securities Co., Ltd.
Former ICE executive, Bakkt CEO and Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler has finally received her nod for a role in the new Trump Administration to head the Small Business Administration, The New York Times reported. Loeffler, who I thought would be nominated to head the Ag Department and was rumored to be headed that way, has been a top donor and big MAGA supporter of the President-elect.
R.J. O'Brien has appointed John Robbins, a 25-year financial services compliance veteran as its new global chief compliance officer. I am not familiar with John, but I am with his relative Christopher.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: European Energy Exchange hits new volume record up 50% in November, Eurex, HKEX latest to report strong November for trading volume, US equity options markets report strong November for trading, ANALYSIS: LSEG eyes Asia for next stage of foreign exchange growth, ANALYSIS: CME's Chinese spodumene futures provide 'international benchmark' and Garbage In, Garbage Out: The imperative for accurate data in an AI-driven world.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Miami International Holdings Reports Trading Results for November 2024; Multi-listed Options Market Share Up 9.3% with Record Volume across Multiple Options and Equities Exchanges from MIAX.
- Cryptocurrency Trading Is Now Bigger Than Stocks in South Korea from Bloomberg.
- Short-Squeeze Risk Rises for French Stocks as Barnier Faces Vote from Bloomberg. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Don Morton, My Second Client as a Full-service Broker, Has Passed Away at Age 89
JohnLothianNews.com
His Highly Complex Bond Option Position Helped Get Me Fired From First American, But It Was Not His Fault
Don Morton, the second futures brokerage account I ever opened as a full-service futures broker, passed away on Monday, December 2, 2024, at the age of 89. Don was a brilliant options trader who served as the executive director of the Tennessee Legislature's Fiscal Review Committee. He was also a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War and a certified public accountant.
Read more »
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Former Prosecutor Shares Insights at FIA EXPO Event on CFTC's Future Enforcement Approach
JohnLothianNews.com
Renato Mariotti, a former prosecutor and defense attorney, collaborated with Eventus to host a gathering of industry participants and legal experts at the W Hotel in the financial district on the Monday of FIA's EXPO in Chicago. Later in the week, John Lothian News spoke with the Paul Hastings attorney at FIA EXPO to hear his insights on the event, the topics discussed, and the perspectives shared.
Watch »
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Eventus CEO Travis Schwab Highlights Data Governance and AI as Key Trends in Trade Surveillance
JohnLothianNews.com
Trade surveillance firms are grappling with two major trends: data governance and artificial intelligence adoption, according to Travis Schwab, CEO of Eventus, a leading trade surveillance firm. In a video interview with John Lothian News at FIA's EXPO 2024 in Chicago last week, Schwab emphasized the critical importance of complete data sets in surveillance systems, noting that regulators have imposed severe penalties for deficiencies.
Watch »
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Crypto-Rich Russian Networks Moving Oligarch Billions Shut Down by UK; NCA uncovers laundromat offering to swap cash for crypto; Networks moved funds for organized crime, tycoons, oligarchs
Jonathan Browning - Bloomberg
UK police said they have shut down Russian networks that were moving billions of dollars for oligarchs, street gangs and spies by swapping cash for cryptocurrency across Europe, the Middle East and South America. Officers at the National Crime Agency unveiled a complex laundromat that they said was capable of supporting almost any crime. "Crypto-rich" networks operated as illicit clearing houses, collecting cash in one country and making the equivalent value available in another, they said Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/4ggQ9QW
****** What was the influence of the billions of dollars of oligarch money being laundered from east to west through the nascent crypto markets in their development and ultimate success? There was a lot of flow there and there continues to be.~JJL
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Switzerland Flunks Its Study of Commodity Speculators; An industry that operates in the shadows stays in the shadows.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
The Swiss federal government had a simple request from its lawmakers: Write a report about the impact of speculation on agricultural-commodity markets. Government mandarins had the time: more than two years. Crucially, they had the access, too. Switzerland is home to the global commodity trading industry. But rather than shedding light on the topic, the anonymous authors delivered 28 pages that read like an all-nighter effort by a first-year college student - or even something spat out by ChatGPT when asked to "write a report on commodity speculation in the dull manner of the Swiss Federal Council. Don't conduct any original research; ignore any criticism of the industry; and above all, do not name names."
/jlne.ws/41eiX8u
***** This is what happens when you use the Secret Language Model of ChatGPT to write your report.~JJL
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Google Introduces A.I. Agent That Aces 15-Day Weather Forecasts; GenCast, from the company's DeepMind division, outperformed the world's best predictions of deadly storms as well as everyday weather.
William J. Broad - The New York Times
In the 1960s, weather scientists found that the chaotic nature of Earth's atmosphere would put a limit on how far into the future their forecasts might peer. Two weeks seemed to be the limit. Still, by the early 2000s, the great difficulty of the undertaking kept reliable forecasts restricted to about a week. Now, a new artificial intelligence tool from DeepMind, a Google company in London that develops A.I. applications, has smashed through the old barriers and achieved what its makers call unmatched skill and speed in devising 15-day weather forecasts. They report in the journal Nature on Wednesday that their new model can, among other things, outperform the world's best forecasts meant to track deadly storms and save lives.
/jlne.ws/3ODVFS1
***** Well heck, what am I going to complain about now?~JJL
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GivingTuesday estimates $3.6 billion was donated to nonprofits this year, up $500 million from 2023
Thalia Beaty and the Associated Press via Fortune
U.S. donors gave $3.6 billion on Tuesday, an increase from the past two years, according to estimates from the nonprofit GivingTuesday.
/jlne.ws/3ZnER6B
***** Good work, people!~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top story Wednesday was Risk.net's Lifetime achievement award: Don Wilson. Second was a tie between Introduction to the LME and hedging, from the London Metal Exchange, and Bob Pisani's column, Art Cashin, New York Stock Exchange fixture for decades, dies at age 83, from CNBC. Third was ANALYSIS: Deutsche Boerse wants to be world's largest power market, from FOW.
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| Lead Stories | UK uncovers vast crypto laundering scheme for gangsters and Russian spies; Multibillion-dollar ring across London, Moscow and Dubai connected cash-rich criminals with sanctions evaders
Miles Johnson and Suzi Ring - Financial Times
A UK-led operation has uncovered a multibillion-dollar money laundering scheme run out of London, Moscow and Dubai that enabled Russian spies and European drug traffickers to evade sanctions using cryptocurrency. The UK's National Crime Agency said on Wednesday that its "Operation Destabilise" investigation centred on two companies - Smart and TGR - that acted as a financial hub for cash-rich global criminals and sanctioned individuals relying on cryptocurrency outside the banking system.
/jlne.ws/3CXDZOy
Trump Picks Paul Atkins to Run SEC; Former SEC commissioner is expected to ease oversight, including on cryptocurrency firms
Dave Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday picked conservative lawyer Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, choosing a regulatory skeptic who will be expected to cut red tape and rein in the agency's enforcement division. Atkins, well known in Congress and on Wall Street, served as a Republican member of the SEC during the Bush administration, when he sometimes opposed regulations he argued were unnecessarily burdensome. If confirmed as the next SEC chair, Atkins isn't expected to dismantle core investor protections, but is likely to re-examine or revise much of what the agency did during the Biden administration.
/jlne.ws/4f4DeAq
Bitcoin Soars Past $100,000 on Trump's Pro-Crypto Pick for SEC; President-elect chose crypto proponent Atkins for SEC chief; Digital asset had jabbed at the six-figure mark for two weeks
Sunil Jagtiani and Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
President-elect Donald Trump's pick of a crypto proponent to be the next head of the US securities regulator lifted Bitcoin to $100,000 for the first time as traders warmed to the prospect of relaxed regulations. The digital asset rose as much as 6.1% to $103,801 on Thursday. The crypto market overall has jumped by roughly $1.3 trillion since Trump's election victory on Nov. 5 on a platform that includes a tight embrace of the crypto sector. Trump selected Paul Atkins to replace outgoing Securities & Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who cracked down on digital assets after a 2022 market rout exposed fraudulent practices and sparked costly blowups.
/jlne.ws/4ip4CvV
******Here is the story from The New York Times.
CFTC Releases FY 2024 Enforcement Results; Obtains Record-Setting $17.1 Billion in Monetary Relief, Sanctions
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced record monetary relief of over $17.1 billion for fiscal year 2024. With the resolution of digital asset cases that resulted in the agency's largest recovery ever, this record amount included $2.6 billion in civil monetary penalties and $14.5 billion in disgorgement and restitution. In FY 2024, the agency brought 58 new actions including precedent-setting digital asset commodities cases, its first actions addressing fraud in voluntary carbon credit markets, complex manipulation cases in various markets, and significant compliance cases - including its largest compliance case ever. The CFTC also continued to vigorously litigate pending actions, resulting in significant litigation victories and recoveries.
/jlne.ws/3Bfwhib
She Was a Russian Socialite and Influencer. Cops Say She's a Crypto Laundering Kingpin
Matt Burgess - Wired
In July 2016, Ekaterina Zhdanova's star was rising. The glamorous socialite and entrepreneur, who had opened a series of hotels and leisure businesses across Moscow, was splashed across the cover of N Style, a Russian fashion and culture magazine. "I dreamed of business since childhood," she explained in the now inaccessible interview, as she described her ambitions and love for Russia. She partied with famous Russian TV and pop stars, and posed with expensive watches over the coming years-a world apart from her upbringing in a Siberian town. But Zhdanova had a secret, and the first cracks were beginning to show.
/jlne.ws/4gfSKKU
UK dismantles massive money laundering operations tied to Russian oligarchs and cybercriminals
Associated Press
British authorities have dismantled two massive money laundering operations linked to Russia that were used by oligarchs, organized crime groups, cybercriminals and drug dealers, the National Crime Agency said Wednesday. The international sting, known as Operation Destabilize, seized 20 million pounds ($25.4 million) in cash and cryptocurrency and arrested 84 suspects. It was revealed on the same day the U.S. announced new sanctions against several people at the top of the money laundering networks. "For the first time, we have been able to map out a link between Russian elites, crypto-rich cybercriminals and drug gangs on the streets of the U.K.," said Rob Jones, NCA director general of operations. "We have identified and acted against the Russians pulling the strings at the very top, removing the air of legitimacy that enabled them to weave illicit funds into our economy."
/jlne.ws/49lXo7P
Robinhood Is Coming to Asia in 2025
Paige Smith - Bloomberg
Robinhood Markets Inc. will expand into Asia next year, with its local headquarters to be in Singapore, Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev said. "We plan to be serving customers across Asia soon," Tenev said Wednesday at the firm's investor day in New York. The global expansion announcement comes on the heels of the Menlo Park, California-based company entering the UK this year, offering some though not all of its trademark services to those customers.
/jlne.ws/4gh1Wyx
Robinhood's Hot New Tech Bet: The Desktop Computer; Upstart online brokerage is aiming to be top destination for serious traders who prefer to click around on their big screens
Telis Demos - Bloomberg
To go forward, Robinhood Markets says it must go backward. In its early days, a decade ago at this point, the online brokerage began making headway into the crowded business of stock and options trading partly by making it easy to do so via mobile devices. That helped it become a pathway into investing for many younger people, though it also drove some of the criticism of its service as a "gamification" of the industry. But at Robinhood's first-ever investor day on Wednesday, speaking now as a $35 billion market cap company, the onetime upstart said it believes it must go back to what might seem like an older technology-the computer desktop-as a pillar of its growth over the next few years. That is because the company is aiming to become the No. 1 platform for serious retail traders, or what it terms active traders.
/jlne.ws/4gnanbY
Billionaire Gerko's XTX Pours Millions Into AI for Mathematicians; $9 million fund will sponsor AI tools for mathematicians; AI for Math Fund aims to give them an edge enjoyed by coders
Anna Irrera and Justina Lee - Bloomberg
Billionaire Alex Gerko's quantitative-trading firm XTX Markets has donated $9.2 million to a new fund that aims to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence by mathematicians. The ultimate goal of the AI for Math Fund is to build a digital assistant, or copilot, to help math specialists, just as these tools have aided coders, said Tom Kalil, CEO of Washington D.C.-based Renaissance Philanthropy, which is partnering with XTX to launch the fund.
/jlne.ws/3VlUASs
Wall Street's Go-Go Era Builds With Levered Stock-Crypto Gambit
Isabelle Lee and Lu Wang - Bloomberg
It's the latest high-octane offering from Wall Street's rapidly growing line-up of risky ETF filings: Leveraged products that amp up exposures to large-cap stocks and crypto in one fell swoop - giving traders a way to double down on two of this year's best-performing assets. Florida-based Volatility Shares filed last week to launch a series of exchange-traded funds that seek to layer equity investments on top of digital tokens. The pitch is that by going all-in on derivatives, investors can get a $100 bet on US shares along with $100 of crypto exposure, for just a $100 outlay in total.
/jlne.ws/3OCRA0m
UBS stunned by mafia analogy at whistleblower pressure trial
Bloomberg via Fortune
A representative of UBS Group AG said he was "stunned" that witnesses referred to the bank as a mafia-like organization as the French branch stands accused in Paris of harassing its former whistleblowing staffer.
/jlne.ws/4ggZDvu
Italy's Banks Are Headed for a Showdown With a Blockbuster Cast; Two conflicting plans have thrown Italian finance into turmoil; Standoff involves multiple actors, could ripple across Europe
Sonia Sirletti and Julia Janicki - Bloomberg
Italy has emerged as a hotbed of European bank consolidation as multiple deals are set to transform the country's finance industry, with knock-on effects across Germany, France and beyond. UniCredit SpA's surprise bid for Banco BPM SpA came just weeks after the smaller rival embarked on a takeover attempt of its own, offering to buy asset manager Anima Holding SpA and taking a large stake in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA from the government.
/jlne.ws/3D0M3y4
How Citi Lost $17 Million on Massive Australia Block Trade; CIC stake sale of Goodman Group left Citigroup holding stock; US bank has taken hit of A$27 million on A$1.9 billion trade
Julia Fioretti, Harry Brumpton, and Georgina McKay - Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. undercut rivals this week to win the biggest block trade in Australia in seven years, only to see the deal unravel and leave the US bank with unsold stock on its books. The firm outbid other rivals on a block trade in property firm Goodman Group by China Investment Corp. with a discount of between 1.4% to 1.5% below Tuesday's closing price, according to people familiar with the matter. At least four other banks invited to pitch by CIC to offload the stake had teased a 3.5% to 4% discount, the people said, asking not to be named as they weren't authorized to speak publicly.
/jlne.ws/4f6r2zp
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Money launderer for Russian spies won deal to help defend Ukraine power plant; Sanctioned 'entrepreneur' awarded sensitive state contract to provide parts for Dnipro hydroelectric station damaged by Russian missiles
Miles Johnson and Christopher Miller - Financial Times
A London-based businessman won a Ukrainian state contract to help defend a key power plant from Russian attacks while secretly helping Moscow's intelligence services to launder money and evade sanctions, according to investigators and procurement records. Andrejs Bradens, a Latvian national living in London and self-described "international entrepreneur", also worked with companies that helped Moscow procure sanctioned electronics during its invasion of Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3ZtKssi
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russian ship fired at German helicopter as North Korean troops kept from combat
Arpan Rai, Jabed Ahmed, Steffie Banatvala - The Independent
Thousands of North Korean soldiers stationed at checkpoints in Russia's embattled Kursk Oblast are being kept away from direct combat, Ukraine's military-run National Resistance Center reported. Between 10,000 and 12,000 dispatched troops are being used as a "second echelon" as ties deepen between Russia and North Korea, the Center said.
/jlne.ws/3VskDaO
Ukraine Opens Talks With Trump Team on Halting War With Russia; Top Zelensky aide arrives in Washington amid uncertainty about president-elect's intentions
Brett Forrest, Vivian Salama and Lara Seligman - The Wall Street Journal
Ukrainian officials are holding high-level talks with the incoming Trump administration, seeking to narrow wide differences on achieving a settlement of Kyiv's war with Russia even before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. A top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Wednesday with Keith Kellogg, Trump's choice as special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, and Mike Waltz, the incoming national-security adviser, according to a Trump transition official and several people familiar with the discussions.
/jlne.ws/49EQvyV
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Syrian Forces Are Pulling Out of Hama as Rebels Press Assault; Capturing Hama would leave only one major city, Homs, in government hands on the road from rebel-held northern Syria to Damascus
Jared Malsin - The Wall Street Journal
The Syrian government said it was pulling military forces from the city of Hama, a major strategic and symbolic prize, following fierce fighting with rebels who launched a dramatic assault last week and seized large swaths of territory. The rebels said earlier on Thursday that they had entered the city. Forces and warplanes loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russian air power, were fighting with the opposition in the countryside around Hama, the government's state-controlled news agency SANA said Thursday morning.
/jlne.ws/3OEmIN5
Israel's war in Gaza amounts to genocide, Amnesty International report finds; Human rights group says Israel 'brazenly, continuously and with total impunity ... unleashed hell' on strip's 2.3m population
The Guardian
A report from Amnesty International alleges that Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip constitutes the crime of genocide under international law, the first such determination by a major human rights organisation in the 14-month-old conflict.
/jlne.ws/4f2Uw0U
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Vienna Stock Exchange: Stock Market Taboo 2024: "AI Bubble" Caused Irritation
Mondovisione
The Austrian capital and financial market community has decided: The stock market taboo word of 2024 is "AI bubble". The hype surrounding companies and stocks that are particularly associated with the technological change surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) continued unabated in 2024. However, the rapid price and value developments of tech companies that are particularly in the spotlight due to AI developments are also fueling debate. Investors, analysts and academics are equally concerned about whether the trend could ultimately end in a burst AI bubble.
/jlne.ws/4inzmO4
Whitepaper: SOFR Dynamics Are Not What You Wished
Marco Macchiavelli, Professor of Finance - AFX
SOFR dynamics are heavily influenced by regulatory window-dressing incentives at month-ends and by Treasury net issuance; none of these factors are related to bank funding risk, which is what a LIBOR replacement should capture; AMERIBOR, a credit-sensitive reference rate, is not contaminated by either month end or Treasury net issuance dynamics; with ever-increasing federal budget deficits, the growth in Treasury net issuance may induce unnecessary volatility in SOFR that is unrelated to bank funding risk.
/jlne.ws/3DakthK
ASX Group Monthly Activity Report - November 2024
ASX
/jlne.ws/3ZlEo4T
Cboe Global Markets Reports Trading Volume for November 2024
Cboe
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today reported November monthly trading volume statistics across its global business lines. The data sheet "Cboe Global Markets Monthly Volume & RPC/Net Revenue Capture Report" contains an overview of certain November trading statistics and market share by business segment, volume in select index products, and RPC/net capture, which is reported on a one-month lag, across business lines.
/jlne.ws/3ZmNkHl
CME Group Announces $2.1B Annual Variable Dividend and $3B Share Repurchase Program
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, announced that its Board of Directors approved two initiatives to return capital to shareholders. The Board declared the company's 2024 annual variable dividend, amounting to $5.80 per share. The dividend is payable January 16, 2025, to shareholders of record on December 27, 2024, and totals approximately $2.1 billion. In addition, the Board authorized a share repurchase program of up to $3 billion of CME Group Class A common stock, subject to market conditions.
/jlne.ws/49qi2DN
EEX Press Release - EEX Group Monthly Volumes - November 2024; 12/05/2024 Monthly Volume Report, Monthly Volume Report
EEX
EEX Group reports its November monthly volumes with the following highlights: The EEX Group Global Power markets achieved a monthly traded volume of 1,205 TWh, marking a +34% Year-on-Year growth.
/jlne.ws/3ZpuRtu
November 2024 figures at Eurex
Eurex
Eurex, Europe's leading derivatives exchange and - with Eurex Clearing - one of the leading central counterparties globally, reported a 6 percent increase in total trading volume for November, reaching 177.6 million contracts, up from 167.5 million contracts in the same month last year. The growth was primarily driven by interest rate derivatives, which rose by 8 percent from 77.4 million to 83.7 million contracts. Equity derivatives also experienced strong growth, climbing 40 percent to 32 million contracts. However, index derivatives saw an 11 percent decline, falling from 67.1 to 59.7 million traded contracts.
/jlne.ws/4gfJypK
SIX Expands Its Multicurrency Swaps Offering to Provide an Attractive Alternative to IRS Clearing in the EU
SIX
In light of the EMIR 3.0 Active Account requirement announced by the European Commission, whereby market participants are required to open active accounts at a European CCP for the clearing of EUR denominated Interest Rate Swap (IRS) trades, SIX (through the Spanish CCP, BME Clearing) is extending its offering to encompass the support multi-currency swaps* .
/jlne.ws/3Vonwtd
Straits Times Index (STI) Quarterly Review December 2024
LSEG
FTSE Russell announces that there will be no changes to the constituents of the Straits Times Index (STI), following the December 2024 quarterly review.
/jlne.ws/3ZpOMbI
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI December 2024 semi-annual review
LSEG
FTSE Russell announces that there will be Two changes to the constituents of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, following the semi-annual review of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Series today.
/jlne.ws/3OE23IX
Nodal Exchange achieves year-to-date record volume in all markets
Nodal
Nodal Exchange announced new year-to-date record volume across power, natural gas and environmental futures as of end of November 2024. In power, Nodal achieved record traded power futures volume of 2.797 billion MWh from January to November 2024, up 9% from the same period in 2023. Nodal continues to be the market leader in North American power futures having the majority share of the open interest with 1.405 billion MWh at the end of November. The open interest represents over $129 billion of notional value (both sides). Nodal Exchange saw a 193% increase in natural gas futures traded volume from January to November 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, reaching a record high of 857 million MMBtu traded.
/jlne.ws/41lxE9Y
TAIFEX Received CFTC's Commission Certification for the FTSE TWSE Taiwan Mid-Cap 100 Index Futures
TAIFEX
TAIPEI, December 5, 2024 -The Taiwan Futures Exchange's (TAIFEX) FTSE TWSE Taiwan Mid-Cap 100 Index Futures (ticker symbol: M1F), set to launch on December 9, 2024, has received Commission Certification from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). With this approval, the product can now be offered and sold to U.S. persons.
/jlne.ws/41kwHhT
Tradeweb Reports November 2024 Total Trading Volume of $48.8 Trillion and Average Daily Volume of $2.35 Trillion
Tradeweb Markets
Tradeweb Markets Inc. (Nasdaq: TW), a leading, global operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities and money markets, today reported total trading volume for the month of November 2024 of $48.8 trillion (tn)[1]. Average daily volume (ADV) for the month was $2.35tn, an increase of 30.5 percent (%) year-over-year (YoY). Excluding the impact of the ICD acquisition, which closed on August 1, 2024, total ADV for the month of November was up 14.9% YoY.
/jlne.ws/3D0I1FY
BMLL Wins 'Best Data Visualisation Provider' For BMLL Vantage At The Data Management Insight Awards Europe 2024
Mondovisione
We are delighted to announce that BMLL has won 'Best Data Visualisation Provider' at A-Team's Data Management Insight Awards Europe 2024. These awards recognise established solution vendors and innovative newcomers providing leading data management solutions, services and consultancy to European capital markets participants. BMLL was awarded "Best Data Visualisation Provider" for BMLL Vantage, a powerful market microstructure visualisation tool, that brings exceptional granular insight to all market participants by providing over 500 metrics derived from BMLL Level 3 Data, covering EMEA, the Americas and APAC Equity and ETF venues.
/jlne.ws/49moThK
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | FDIC Looks to Direct Monitoring of Fintech Companies After Synapse Collapse; System meant to identify problems before they affect banks; Collapse of Synapse left customers unable to access deposits
Emily Mason - Bloomberg
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has started to directly monitor financial-technology companies that partner with banks across the US, according to people familiar with the regulator's supervisory operations. The fintech monitoring system will help FDIC examiners anticipate potential vulnerabilities before they become a problem for banks, according to the people, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
/jlne.ws/3ZHSa27
ACERA Taps Clearwater Analytics to Transform Data Validation and Simplify Total Plan Reporting
Clearwater Analytics
Clearwater Analytics (NYSE: CWAN), a leading worldwide provider of investment management, accounting, reporting, and analytics solutions, has been chosen by the Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association (ACERA) to provide data validation, shadow book of record accounting, and total plan reporting across its entire investment portfolio, including its alternative assets. Public pension funds have significantly increased their allocation to alternative assets, now comprising over 35% of their investment portfolios. This complex data must be gathered and collated from multiple sources. ACERA will leverage the Clearwater platform with embedded Generative AI capabilities to automatically aggregate and validate data across multiple sources and formats and identify and escalate data anomalies or failures.
/jlne.ws/4in93r6
Exclusive: Fintech unicorn Stash laid off 40% of its workforce after CEO left
Leo Schwartz and Jessica Mathews - Fortune
Stash positions itself as an "investing app for beginners" with a subscription model that provides users with financial advice and manages auto-investing services. On Oct. 8, fintech unicorn Stash announced that its cofounders, who started the company in 2015 and had their roles reduced last year, were returning to helm the company they had started.
/jlne.ws/3VnEgk6
OpenAI Partners With Anduril to Build AI for Anti-Drone Systems; The deal marks the ChatGPT maker's biggest push yet into the defense sector.
Lizette Chapman and Shirin Ghaffary - Bloomberg
OpenAI is partnering with Anduril Industries Inc. to incorporate its artificial intelligence technology into the weapons maker's anti-drone systems, marking the AI developer's most significant push yet into the defense sector. Anduril will lean on OpenAI's technology to better detect and respond to unmanned "aerial threats," largely drones, which have become a central part of modern warfare, the two companies said Wednesday. OpenAI will also use Anduril data to train its software for these defense systems.
/jlne.ws/49lPuvb
Nvidia to build AI research, data centres in Vietnam with govt
Reuters
Nvidia (NVDA) and the Vietnamese government will jointly set up an AI research and development centre and an AI data centre in the Southeast Asian country under an agreement signed on Thursday. Nvidia also said it has acquired healthcare startup VinBrain, a unit of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, but didn't provide the value of the deal.
/jlne.ws/3BgtLsc
Sundar Pichai Hits Back at Criticism of Company's A.I. Leadership
Nico Grant - The New York Times
Sundar Pichai, Google's chief executive, projected a rosy image of his company's leadership in artificial intelligence, rejecting criticism from rivals and downplaying antitrust fights that could force the technology giant to split itself up. Mr. Pichai said at The New York Times's DealBook Summit that Google's popular search engine would "change profoundly" in the next year, despite his expectation that the pace of A.I. development would slow in 2025.
/jlne.ws/3VpBHOm
The future of AI agents: highly lucrative but surprisingly boring; Big companies are trumpeting the value of consumer-facing personal digital helpers to make our lives easier
John Thornhill - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3Vr3mid
Elon Musk plans to expand Colossus AI supercomputer tenfold; Facility in Memphis expected to incorporate more than 1mn GPUs as billionaire's xAI aims to catch up with rivals
Stephen Morris and Tabby Kinder - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/41jyAva
The UC Berkeley Project That Is the AI Industry's Obsession; Ranking AI is tricky, so two students developed a way to make the best bots battle
Miles Kruppa - The Wall Street Journal
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Germany's cybersecurity and infrastructure under attack by Russia, chancellor says; Attacks "also come from China from time to time," Olaf Scholz told lawmakers in parliament.
Nette Nostlinger - Politico
Cybersecurity and infrastructure in Germany are under "severe threat" by foreign adversaries such as Russia and China, said Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Bundestag on Wednesday. "As we all know, the main causes of attacks of this kind that affect our cybersecurity come from Russia," Scholz said in the Bundestag. "And of course, they also come from China from time to time. And that should not be concealed."
/jlne.ws/4fjXVJ7
How CISOs Are Spending Their New Budgets
Crunchbase News
In 2023, the outlook for cybersecurity companies seemed dire. Across-the-board, it seemed like the golden heyday where chief information security officers got more money every time they turned around had come to an end, with a third of CISOs reporting their budgets had dropped, and another fifth having frozen budgets, meaning only committed money would be spent.
/jlne.ws/3Vp4frE
Gmail Takeover Hack Attack-Google Warns You Have Just 7 Days To Act
Davey Winder - Forbes
Although I'm pretty sure that a number of the people who contact me claiming that they have been locked out of their Gmail account by a hacker and want my help to get back in are, actually, trying to hack someone else's Gmail account, that doesn't mean everyone who asks for help is a scammer. You only have to look at the online Gmail support forums, both official and unofficial, to realize that people fall victim to hack attacks all the time and suddenly find their online lives turned upside down without access to their email. A common thread among these pleas for help is that an attacker, having compromised the account, has changed passwords, phone numbers and even passkeys to prevent the genuine account holder from regaining access. I went directly to Google to ask if there's anything that users can do to get their Gmail accounts back under their own control, and, as it turns out, there's a lot more than you might imagine.
/jlne.ws/3VqaU4R
How to make sure texts and calls are encrypted after the FBI's security warning about Chinese hackers
Kevin Collier - NBC News
Federal officials warned Tuesday that a massive Chinese hacking operation against American telecommunications companies hasn't yet been fully expelled and that the best way to hide communications from Beijing's spies is to use encryption. Encryption is a technology that scrambles a message and requires a "key" to be able to see or hear it. Different app makers and platforms have used the technology in various forms for more than a decade so governments and hackers that intercept them as they pass through telecommunications infrastructure will see only gibberish.
/jlne.ws/3ZkHfLw
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto is getting the SEC boss it wanted in Paul Atkins
David Hollerith - Yahoo Finance
President-elect Donald Trump's pick to run the SEC, Paul Atkins, is the boss the crypto industry wanted. Wall Street may like him, too. For years now, Atkins has made it clear he favors clearer regulations of cryptocurrencies that don't stifle innovation or impose unnecessary oversight. He also has criticized the Dodd-Frank legislation that was enacted after the 2008 financial crisis to rein in the biggest US banks.
/jlne.ws/3OEVWnt
Crypto Trading Volume Surged to $10 Trillion for the First Time in November; Combined spot and derivatives volume doubled, CCData says; Trump's election victory triggered a 'risk-on' rally
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
Crypto trading volume climbed to an all-time high in November, with more than $10 trillion of digital assets changing hands for the first time on centralized spot and derivatives exchanges. The combined volume doubled last month, according to data compiled by CCData. Crypto markets surged amid optimism for a friendlier regulatory environment for the industry under the newly elected Trump administration, with market bellwether Bitcoin jumping 38% and setting a record high of almost $100,000.
/jlne.ws/3Vp0ouG
Hodlers: an apology; A mea culpa to mark a BTC milestone
Bryce Elder - Financial Times
Regular readers of FT Alphaville may have formed the impression that its current and former writers are united in scepticism about crypto in general and bitcoin in particular. This is correct. FTAV posts between June 2011 and today may have communicated the idea that bitcoin is a negative-sum game being played on a protocol that's very clever and hypothetically useful as a unit of account, but is chronically inefficient as a conventional means of exchange and is compromised as a store of value. Our posts may also have promoted the idea that the price of a bitcoin is an arbitrary hype gauge that's disconnected from any utility the token may have, because it's trivial to duplicate the utility provided by said token, so any intrinsic worth comes from the sunk costs of infrastructure alongside intangibles like regulatory acquiescence, interconnectedness with mainstream financial systems it was once sold as being the antidote to, and the souvenir attraction of "being the first".
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Hedge Funds Make MicroStrategy Wall Street's Hottest Trade
Yiqin Shen - Bloomberg
To sate his multibillion dollar rampant appetite for Bitcoin, Michael Saylor has tapped demand from retail investors transfixed by MicroStrategy Inc.'s more than 500% rally this year. He's also benefited from hedge funds who care far less where the stock trades. Calamos Advisors LLC co-Chief Investment Officer Eli Pars has been among the buyers for more than $6 billion of convertible notes sold by MicroStrategy this year to finance the purchase of his ever-expanding cryptocurrency hoard. Like many other managers, Pars uses the notes in market-neutral arbitrage bets that exploit the surging volatility of the underlying asset.
/jlne.ws/3ZlkwPd
Bitcoin Traders Shrug at $2.8 Billion Mt. Gox Transfer
Vince Dioquino - DeCrypt
A wallet associated with Mt. Gox transferred 27,871 Bitcoin worth $2.8 billion amid Bitcoin's breakthrough above $100,000, late Wednesday evening. It was a show of unprecedented resilience for traders in the face of large-scale transfers, which have historically triggered volatility. The transfer, tracked by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, directed 27,871 Bitcoin to an unmarked address.
/jlne.ws/3ZjMvip
Memecoins will go away once we stop paying attention to them; Regulation has failed. It's time to try indifference
Bryce Elder - Financial Times
FT stories don't tend to involve Moo Deng and Hawk Tuah Girl. The only one that does is this morning's sixth most-read on FT.com: Cryptocurrencies representing a euthanised grey squirrel, a Thai pygmy hippopotamus and a cartoon dog have exploded in value since last month's US presidential election, as Donald Trump's victory triggers a surge in speculation in so-called memecoins.
/jlne.ws/3VqNBYm
The NFT Is Dead. Long Live the NFT?; The giddy craze for nonfungible tokens brought the crypto crowd to art auctions. Now, long after the bubble burst, some still believe.
Steven Kurutz - The New York Times
/jlne.ws/4g14S2A
The Guy Who Bought (and Ate) That Banana Art Is Actually a Dangerous Criminal; On the surface, it's a funny curiosity of a story. But Justin Sun's involvement takes this into something far more insidious.
Nitish Pahwa - Slate
/jlne.ws/49vlZY8
Don't get too excited, Bitcoin is still worthless; Widespread adoption of this 'cryptoasset' would be its very downfall
James Baxter-Derrington - The Telegraph
/jlne.ws/3VlzyU7
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump Picks Atkins, Ex-SEC Commissioner, to Succeed Gensler; Atkins is a proponent of cryptocurrency, fintech companies; SEC will play leading role implementing Trump's crypto policy
Lydia Beyoud and Nicola M. White - Bloomberg
Paul Atkins, a veteran financial regulator and a fixture in Washington's conservative financial circles, is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead and possibly overhaul the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump picked Atkins to replace outgoing Chair Gary Gensler, according to a statement posted on Truth Social. Gensler has said he plans to depart on Jan. 20.
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Trump Selects Kelly Loeffler, a Top Donor, to Head the Small Business Administration; During a brief stint as a senator from Georgia, she became a fervent supporter of the president-elect's agenda near the end of his first term.
Madeleine Ngo and Chris Cameron - The New York Times
President-elect Donald J. Trump chose Kelly Loeffler, a top donor to Mr. Trump's 2024 campaign and a former Georgia senator, to head the Small Business Administration. "Kelly will bring her experience in business and Washington to reduce red tape, and unleash opportunity for our Small Businesses to grow, innovate, and thrive," Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. "She will focus on ensuring that SBA is accountable to Taxpayers by cracking down on waste, fraud, and regulatory overreach."
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Trump Picks Ex-Congressman Who Hawked Tax Credits to Lead I.R.S.; Billy Long served six terms as a representative from Missouri. Since then, he has helped businesses claim a pandemic-era tax credit that has been riddled with fraud and cost the government billions more than anticipated.
Andrew Duehren - The New York Times
President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that he would nominate Billy Long, a former Missouri congressman, to lead the Internal Revenue Service, effectively pledging to fire the tax collector's current leader, a Biden appointee. Mr. Long, after losing a Senate primary in 2022, has hawked a pandemic-era tax credit that has been riddled by fraud and cost the government billions more than expected. Lawmakers have tried to shut down the tax credit, and the I.R.S. temporarily stopped processing claims, among other measures, to root out false applications for the tax break.
/jlne.ws/4ipMUIX
Kash Patel once said he would 'come after' journalists. It now hangs over his FBI candidacy.
Natasha Korecki and Sahil Kapur - NBC News
Since Donald Trump announced Kash Patel as his pick for FBI director, a 2023 podcast interview he did with fellow Trump loyalist Steve Bannon has circulated far and wide. In the recording last year, Patel asserted how he would handle reporters if he were put in power. "We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections," Patel said then. "Whether it's criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out."
/jlne.ws/4ikYTHs
Tucker Carlson Interviews Russian Foreign Minister on War in Ukraine
Bloomberg News
Media personality Tucker Carlson, an influential ally of President-elect Donald Trump, said he'd interviewed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, amid speculation over the incoming US administration's plans to rapidly end the war in Ukraine. Carlson said he'd met Lavrov to learn whether Trump's election would "mean an end to this war," in a video posted on the X social-media platform. He said he also wanted to know if Russia and the US are "headed toward an unprecedented conflict" after President Joe Biden's outgoing administration allowed Ukraine to use American long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
/jlne.ws/3VqwZzZ
France's Macron seeks new prime minister as Barnier resigns
Dominique Vidalon and Lucien Libert - Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron met allies and parliament leaders on Thursday as he sought to swiftly appoint a new prime minister to replace Michel Barnier, who officially resigned a day after opposition lawmakers voted to topple his government. Barnier, a veteran conservative whom Macron appointed prime minister barely three months ago, became the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history after he failed to find enough support for a budget aimed at taming a wide deficit.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Operation Destabilise: NCA disrupts $multi-billion Russian money laundering networks with links to, drugs, ransomware and espionage, resulting in 84 arrests
National Crime Agency- UK
An international NCA-led investigation - Operation Destabilise - has exposed and disrupted Russian money laundering networks supporting serious and organised crime around the world: spanning from the streets of the UK, to the Middle East, Russia, and South America. Investigators have identified two Russian-speaking networks collaborating at the heart of the criminal enterprise; Smart and TGR. Operation Destabilise is being revealed today as the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announces sanctions against the Russian-speaking men and women at the head of these networks, as well as four businesses linked to TGR.
/jlne.ws/3Vl2b3G
FinCEN Joins Agencies in Issuing A Statement on Elder Financial Exploitation
FinCEN
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has joined five federal financial regulatory agencies and state financial regulators in issuing a statement today to provide supervised institutions with examples of risk management and other practices that may be effective in combatting elder financial exploitation. Older adults who experience financial exploitation can lose their life savings and financial security and face other harm. A FinCEN Financial Trend Analysis of Bank Secrecy Act reports over a one-year period ending in June 2023 found that about $27 billion in reported suspicious activity was linked to elder financial exploitation.
/jlne.ws/3D0PRzp
Large payments did not raise 'red flags', says Trafigura finance chief; Commodity trader had robust compliance checks, Pierre Lorinet tells Swiss court in bribery trial
Sam Jones - Financial Times
Large, loosely-explained payments to a third-party intermediary hired to facilitate business in Africa did not raise "red flags" at Trafigura, its chief financial officer told a Swiss court trying the commodity trader for bribery on Thursday. Pierre Lorinet, who is not a defendant in the case, appeared as a witness on behalf of Trafigura, which Swiss prosecutors accuse of having inadequate controls in place to stop serious acts of corruption.
/jlne.ws/4gmclJm
City minister warns FCA on 'name and shame' plans; Tulip Siddiq says UK financial watchdog should consider rowing back further on its proposals for company scrutiny
Martin Arnold - Financial Times
City minister Tulip Siddiq has signalled the UK financial watchdog needs to do more to address industry fears about its plan to name more of the companies it investigates even after limiting the proposals. The Financial Conduct Authority last week presented watered down proposals to identify more companies that are under investigation before it has made a decision on whether any wrongdoing has occurred.
/jlne.ws/3OIBcLC
SEC Drops Probe Into Gotham Over Report on Grifols' Accounts; Watchdog says it won't pursue enforcement action in letter; Grifols previously rejected deceptive accounting allegations
Clara Hernanz Lizarraga - Bloomberg
The US dropped its investigation into General Industrial Partners LLP, the parent company of Gotham City Research, which accused drug maker Grifols SA of deceptive accounting earlier this year. The Securities and Exchange Commission "concluded the investigation" and does not "intend to recommend an enforcement action" against the hedge fund, according to a letter dated November 6 seen by Bloomberg.
/jlne.ws/3ZgGIKq
ASIC puts insurers on notice for blind spots in complaints handling
ASIC
Insurers are failing to identify one in six customer complaints, effectively denying those Australians critical protections available through the Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) regime, an ASIC review has found. ASIC's review of the IDR practices of 11 general insurers highlighted shortcomings in several areas, including the failure to identify complaints and systemic issues, as well as inadequate communications to customers.
/jlne.ws/4gi8FIG
FSA Weekly Review No.614
FSA
What's New on the FSA Website; Week of November 22, 2024 - November 28, 2024
/jlne.ws/41jZhQn
MAS and ABS Announce Launch of Electronic Deferred Payment Solutions in Mid-2025 and Extension of Deadline for Cessation of Corporate Cheques
MAS
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) today announced that two new payments solutions will be launched in mid-2025 to support the transition to e-payments for both corporate and retail cheque users[1]. These solutions will complement Singapore's existing suite of e-payment modes, including PayNow, FAST, GIRO and MEPS+. To allow corporates sufficient time to adopt these new solutions, MAS and ABS have also announced a one-year extension of the deadline to cease processing of corporate cheques.
/jlne.ws/3CZ0iUd
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | This financial planning tool could dent the racial wealth gap
Janna Herron - Yahoo Finance
Something as simple as writing a will could help close the racial wealth gap. As it stands now, Black families are less likely to take this crucial estate planning step than white households. A will helps to preserve wealth - especially the home - as it's transferred from one generation to the next, rather than go through the state's process of designating heirs. Overall, the racial wealth gap could be reduced by 10% over three generations if Black households wrote wills at the same rate as white ones, according to a recent study.
/jlne.ws/3D07U8R
A $105 Trillion Inheritance Windfall Is On the Way for US Heirs; Rising stock markets and home prices have helped many older Americans amass large estates, but the share of people who inherit money has remained small
Daniel Neligh, Maria Clara Cobo, and Andre Tartar - Bloomberg
The largest intergenerational wealth transfer in US history is about to take place - though the vast majority of Americans are unlikely to inherit much money at all. About $105 trillion is projected to be passed down from older generations over the next quarter century, according to research firm Cerulli Associates, an amount roughly equal to global gross domestic product in 2023. Rising stock markets and home prices, as well as inflation, have fattened the estates that members of the baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964, are expected to leave their heirs. The latest inheritance projection by Cerulli is 45% higher than the 25-year forecast the firm made only three years ago. US gifts and inheritances are expected to total $2.5 trillion next year alone.
/jlne.ws/4f2kBx1
Nouriel Roubini's Vision for a New Safe Haven Asset; Building a better bond.
Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal - Bloomberg
For years, investors have relied on the classic 60/40 portfolio of stocks and bonds. The idea behind this was simple: bonds tend to go up when stocks go down, so the two things should act as a natural hedge. But when inflation spiked in 2022 and 2023, the 60/40 portfolio performed terribly and bonds failed to act as a safety cushion. In this episode, we speak with Nouriel Roubini, chief economist and portfolio manager of the new Atlas America Fund, an ETF that is trying to create a new type of safe asset that can withstand big risks, including stagflation, deficits, and de-dollarization. We also talk about the outlook for the US economy in 2025, and the big risks that the chairman and CEO of Roubini Macro Associates sees on the horizon.
/jlne.ws/3OGqchX
After Trump's Second Win, a Different Kind of Bond Market. It's a Problem for Some Investors.
Karishma Vanjani - Barron's
Investors betting on a repeat of the 2016 bond market after President-elect Donald Trump's recent victory have been getting a hard wake-up call: Not everything follows the same script. Since the election, the stock market has soared, with the S&P 500 SPX -0.02% marking eight all-time highs and the mighty U.S. dollar DXY -0.47% maintaining its strength with a 2.8% rise. Investors who recall the 2016 rally in the dollar and stocks after Trump's first win must feel nostalgic. Back then, they could park their money in long-term bonds and feel confident of being rewarded with a juicy yield.
/jlne.ws/4fZiZ8O
BMO Capital and OptimX Markets partner to deliver flow in European markets; BMO will now provide various trading opportunities tailored to their institutional client base through OptimX.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Liquidity management service provider OptimX Markets has partnered with BMO Capital Markets to bring the firm's institutional algorithmic trading flow to institutional buy-side trading desks in European markets. BMO will now offer a range of trading opportunities tailored to their institutional client base through OptimX. "BMO has been at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge trading technology to its global clients," said Peter MxStay, head of OptimX EMEA.
/jlne.ws/3BnjTN6
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | A Winter Weather Puzzle Is Raising the Risk of Meteoric Energy Inflation; Natural gas, wheat and other commodities are poised for a rollercoaster ride on geopolitical tensions and shifting forecasts for cold.
Brian K Sullivan and Mary Hui - Bloomberg
A winter forecasting enigma is poised to send prices for energy and food on a bumpy ride in the next few months, with commodities from natural gas to wheat at risk of breakneck gains against a backdrop of geopolitical turmoil. Earlier in the year, meteorologists expected this December, January and February to be dominated by the La Nina climate pattern, which influences the world's weather in specific ways. But La Nina has yet to arrive, and if it does, it will probably be weak. That makes the outlook for the northern hemisphere's winter much more uncertain.
/jlne.ws/3VnJBYG
Only China can now lead the world on climate; As far as global environmental concerns go, the US has an irretrievably split personality
Adam Tooze - Financial Times
Remember January 2021? Joe Biden came into office loudly proclaiming: "America is back!" Antony Blinken, as secretary of state, was fond of remarking that "like it or not, the world does not organise itself". The claim to US leadership extended across the board: to trade and defence, tech and climate. Given its huge per capita emissions, the idea that the US could really be a leader on decarbonisation stretched credulity. But the new mood in Washington was welcome. Now, less than four years later, the Republicans rule the roost. On defence and trade policy there will be continuities from Biden to Donald Trump. But on climate, the US is once more halfway out the door.
/jlne.ws/3Bgc0Jk
North Carolina Town Sues Duke Energy Over Climate Change; Carrboro accused Duke, one the nation's largest utility companies, of ignoring data about climate change while increasing use of fossil fuels.
Ivan Penn and Karen Zraick - The New York Times
A North Carolina town filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing Duke Energy, one of the nation's largest utility companies, of deceiving the public about climate change and contributing to the warming of the planet. The mayor and City Council of Carrboro, a town next to Chapel Hill, said in its lawsuit in North Carolina Superior Court that Duke Energy had known for decades that its operations contributed to the climate crisis but failed to curb its emissions of greenhouse gases. Instead, the lawsuit argues, the company increased its use of fossil fuels, often in disadvantaged communities.
/jlne.ws/3D0aonH
How climate risks are driving up insurance premiums around the US - visualized; 'Tight correlation' between premium rises and counties deemed most at risk from climate crisis, experts say
Oliver Milman - The Guardian
Concern over the climate crisis may evaporate in the White House from January, but its financial costs are now starkly apparent to Americans in the form of soaring home insurance premiums - with those in the riskiest areas for floods, storms and wildfires suffering the steepest rises of all. A mounting toll of severe hurricanes, floods, fires and other extreme events has caused average premiums to leap since 2020, with parts of the US most prone to disasters bearing the brunt. A climate crisis is starting to stir an insurance crisis.
/jlne.ws/4glPPAw
Janus Henderson Manager Says Trump Era May Be Good Time for Green Bets; Time is right 'if history is any guide,' fund manager says; Clean-energy stocks have seen a deep selloff in recent years
Lisa Pham - Bloomberg
The presidency of Donald Trump may end up being a uniquely good time to add green investments, according to Hamish Chamberlayne, head of global sustainable equities and a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors. "While market sentiment is negative and there are understandable expectations for a slowdown in sustainability-related investment themes, we believe, if history is any guide, we could actually be approaching a compelling time to invest," Chamberlayne said in an article published on the Janus Henderson website.
/jlne.ws/3OGoBbX
Meta buys credits from four big US solar projects
Reuters
Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) announced a deal on Thursday to buy the green credits from four large U.S. solar energy projects that will help the Facebook owner meet its clean electricity goals as its power needs surge. The agreement is the latest in a string of announcements Meta has made this year aimed at meeting the energy needs of its power-hungry data centers without harming the climate. The company has previously announced deals with several large solar projects, a geothermal startup, and is seeking proposals from nuclear power developers.
/jlne.ws/3CWE1Gy
UK Looks for More Investors as Sizewell C Funding Talks Drag On; Government is in talks with funds for equity in the project; Nuclear power is critical to UK energy and climate goals
Will Mathis, Priscila Azevedo Rocha, and Aaron Kirchfeld - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3VlV8I0
Shell and Norway's Equinor plan to form U.K.'s largest oil and gas venture
Astrid Vellguth - AFP via Fortune
/jlne.ws/4ggCUQa
Abu Dhabi's Adnoc Signs 15-Year LNG Supply Deal With Petronas
Rakteem Katakey - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4ixxtyq
How the world's biggest offshore wind company was blown off course; Denmark's Ørsted was once seen as a model for how oil and gas giants could go green. Its recent troubles suggest that things may not be so easy
Rachel Millard - Financial Times
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | R.J. O'Brien Appoints 25-Year Industry Veteran John Robbins to New Role of Global Chief Compliance Officer
R.J. O'Brien & Associates
Chicago-based R.J. O'Brien & Associates (RJO), the oldest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the United States, today announced the appointment of John Robbins, CFA, a 25-year financial services compliance veteran, to the new role of Global Chief Compliance Officer (CCO). The move comes amid continued international growth across regions, products, asset classes and regulatory jurisdictions. Based in New York, Robbins reports to Melissa Zierk, RJO Managing Director, General Counsel. Those reporting to Robbins include Christopher Bove, CCO of RJO, the U.S. futures commission merchant; Tracy Hetherington, CCO, EMEA; and Aaron Nessel, CCO for the firm's broker-dealer affiliate.
(Via email)
Citizens 'Won by Losing' First Republic to JPMorgan, CEO Says; Bank hired First Republic talent to expand its wealth business;
Competition for new assets is fierce as firms make investmentsKatherine Doherty and Yizhu Wang - Bloomberg
Citizens Financial Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Bruce Van Saun said his company's unsuccessful fight with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to acquire First Republic Bank was the best outcome for the lender's private bank and wealth-management operations. "We might have won by losing," Van Saun said in an interview Wednesday in New York. Undesirable assets held by First Republic, including leases, bank branches and billions of dollars in mortgages, are "probably easier to absorb and deal with at JPMorgan than would have been for us."
/jlne.ws/3OE32c0
New 'anti-woke' ETF makes Starbucks its first target; Azoria Partners will hold event at Donald Trump's Florida resort on Thursday
Amelia Pollard and James Fontanella-Khan - Financial Times
A new fund aiming to punish "woke" companies will make Starbucks its first target, as politically motivated investors move to capitalise on Donald Trump's election. The actively managed fund, which Azoria Partners expects to launch early next year, will exclude S&P 500 companies that incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion considerations into their hiring processes.
/jlne.ws/3OGrglX
Societe Generale makes three new appointments to global markets team
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Societe Generale has made three new appointments to its Global Markets Activities team in a bid to enhance its fixed income and equities offerings. Francisco Oliveira has been appointed co-head of global markets activities and head of fixed income and currencies, succeeding Sylvain Cartier. He joins from BNP Paribas and his move is effective as of 6 January 2025, reporting to Anne-Christine Champion and Alexandre Fleury, co-heads of global banking and investor solutions (GBIS). He was most recently co-head of global macro and global credit. In his new role London-based Oliveira will work alongside Hatem Mustapha, co-head of global markets activities and head of equities and equity derivatives.
/jlne.ws/3Dai1rw
Morgan Stanley joins LCH's CDSClear as part of US credit derivatives clearing expansion; LCH said the move will enable Morgan Stanley's clients to benefit from margin offsets and operational efficiencies by accessing a broader range of cleared credit default swaps (CDS) products.
Editors - The Trade
Morgan Stanley has become the latest major sell-side firm to join LCH's CDSClear service as a US futures commission merchant (FCM). "We are thrilled to be joining LCH CDSClear's FCM member base for US participants," said Jason Swankoski, global head of strategy and product, derivatives clearing, at Morgan Stanley & Co in a statement on Wednesday. "We look forward to this collaboration as we continue to invest in our services and expand our product offering."
/jlne.ws/3OIGIhi
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | He Was Going to Save Intel. He Destroyed $150 Billion of Value Instead; Pat Gelsinger was one of the chip pioneer's true believers. After his rescue strategy failed, the board lost confidence in him. How does this iconic American company survive?
Asa Fitch and Ben Cohen - The Wall Street Journal
When he was in vocational school, a teenage computer geek named Pat Gelsinger interviewed for a job that would define the trajectory of his entire life. There were 12 candidates who had applied for an entry-level technician position based in Silicon Valley. He was the 12th interview. But when an engineering manager from one of America's most innovative companies sized up Gelsinger, he was impressed by the farm boy from Pennsylvania who had never been on a plane before-and decided that he belonged at Intel.
/jlne.ws/3OEmlSH
Government Jobs at This Agency Pay $248,000. Here's Where Federal Workers Make the Most Money.
Anita Hamilton - Barron's
A lesser-known agency with fewer than a thousand employees is at the top of the federal pay scale. Workers at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates futures, options, and other derivatives, have a median pay just shy of $248,000, according to the latest data from the Office of Personnel Management-more than twice what a typical federal worker earns.
/jlne.ws/3Bnizd6
The Necktie Is Making an Office Comeback; A new generation is tweaking the power tie by making it rebellious or feminine
Callum Borchers - The Wall Street Journal
The boss wears a hoodie. The intern wears a necktie. For those who spent years, even decades, with silk knots around their necks, the business-casual movement has been a breath of fresh air, literally. But for those professionals never subjected to stuffy dress codes, transitioning from college campuses to nearly-as-informal workplaces can feel like missing a rite of passage. Some 20-somethings are embracing the necktie to project gravitas and show personality with a pattern or pop of color. Women are getting in on the tie renaissance, too, saying it helps command a room.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Lead in gasoline tied to over 150 million excess cases of mental health disorders, study suggests
Elizabeth Chuck - NBC news
Exposure to lead in gasoline during childhood resulted in many millions of excess cases of psychiatric disorders over the last 75 years, a new study estimates. Lead was banned from automobile fuel in 1996. The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, looked at its lasting impact in the U.S. by analyzing childhood blood lead levels from 1940 to 2015. According to the findings, the national population experienced an estimated 151 million excess mental health disorders attributable to exposure to lead from car exhaust during children's early development.
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Just one alcoholic drink a day can increase your risk of cancer. But most Americans don't know the dangers, new survey says
Lindsey Leake - Fortune
'Tis the season of twinkling lights, travel, traditions-and increased alcohol consumption. Whatever your faith, or lack thereof, your winter holiday season likely involves office parties, family gatherings, and friendly celebrations. This "most wonderful time of the year" is when some people are more likely to drink beyond their limits, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). While the immediate dangers of alcohol, such as blackouts and impaired driving, are well-known, the substance's ties to cancer apparently aren't. Most Americans (60%) are unaware that drinking alcohol increases their risk of cancer, per a new survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at the University of Pennsylvania.
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How the Messy Process of Milking Cows Can Spread Bird Flu
Emily Anthes - The New York Times
After bird flu hit the nation's dairy farms, it spread with alarming speed. Since March, the virus has infected more than 700 herds in 15 states. It has also infected at least 58 people, nearly all of them farm workers. In recent months, cases in cows and humans have mounted especially rapidly in California, now the epicenter of the outbreak. Initially, experts worried that the virus might be spreading through tiny, airborne droplets that cows exhaled. But data strongly suggests that the virus, known as H5N1, has spread primarily through milk. It replicates quickly in the udders of infected cows, which produce milk with sky-high levels of the pathogen. Droplets of milk can splash into dairy workers' faces, while milk-splattered equipment and vehicles can transport the virus from cow to cow.
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The truth about maximising efficiency; As our immune systems demonstrate, we need built-in redundancies to function during crisis
Guru Madhavan - Financial Times
The difference between medicine and poison lies in the dose. This truth speaks directly to government reform. As Washington prepares to launch an efficiency crusade, we must remember that efficiency, wrongly dosed, can sicken the very system it means to improve. This principle extends beyond metaphor. Just as our bodies maintain seemingly inefficient back-up systems (like two kidneys), and financial systems keep seemingly inefficient capital reserves, governments need built-in redundancies and safety margins to function effectively during crises.
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How your breakfast could lead to Alzheimer's-like symptoms that last months; Two herbicides detected in up to 98% of American children
Maiya Focht - Daily Mail
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | 2 new e-payment methods launching in mid-2025 as Singapore phases out corporate cheques
Claire Huang - Asia One
Users of cheques will have two new electronic payment methods from mid-2025 as part of Singapore's move to gradually phase out corporate cheques. The two methods will allow deferred payments or post-dated transactions - a key feature of cheques. A post-dated cheque is one that is written with a future date indicated on it and used by businesses in payments.
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Lone Star Joins Firms Opening Up in Abu Dhabi's Finance Hub
Matthew Martin - Bloomberg
Lone Star Funds is set to open an office in Abu Dhabi, becoming the latest global asset manager to use the emirate as a hub for expansion in the Middle East. The firm, which has capital commitments of $95 billion, has received in principle approval to establish an office in the emirate's financial center, according to a statement.
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BC Securities Commission Debuts Updated Investment Caution List To Protect British Columbians
Mondovisione
The BC Securities Commission (BCSC) has launched an updated Investment Caution List (ICL) as part of its intensified efforts to protect the public and combat the escalating threat of online investment fraud. The list, which is constantly being updated, warns British Columbians about companies and individuals that may pose a risk to the public and that may be located in B.C. or accept B.C. residents as customers. Names are added to the list when they display one or more of the following characteristics: They are not registered to provide investment services or investment opportunities; They are promoting investments that show signs of fraud; They impersonate legitimate, authorized firms, or use names similar to such firms.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | The Bizarre Rule Change That Could Alter Baseball Forever; The 'Golden At-Bat' aims to put the best hitters in the biggest situations. Would the major leagues dare to try it?
Jason Gay - The Wall Street Journal
Imagine a future World Series game: bottom of the ninth, Dodgers down by one, two outs, superstar Shohei Ohtani at the plate. After a 12-pitch battle, Ohtani hits a towering shot to right which lands in the sold-out bleachers. Pandemonium. Game tied. Ohtani rounds the bases, points skyward, crosses home plate, and then...steps right back into the batter's box, to hit again.
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