| October 20, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The Healthy Markets Association, of which MIAX and MGEX are members, weighed in on the SPIKES situation yesterday with a letter to the SEC. The letter looks at the regulatory and legal morass that created the situation in which the SEC lost a lawsuit to the Cboe over the way it approved the SPIKES futures for trading. The letter is 14 pages long, a good read, but I will get to the good part for you. The SEC (and CFTC) need to do a better job of documenting their actions, and no-actions, as in "no-action letters." The SEC also needs to review all of the work MIAX, MGEX and an affiliate did while SPIKES were taking their first time out to come up with the documentation for a new bullet-proof exemptive order, thus avoiding the Cboe's accusation of the new order being "arbitrary and capricious."
The Financial Times reported, "The London Stock Exchange suffered an outage that curbed trading in hundreds of small-cap shares on Thursday."
The FT also reported, "AI will never threaten humans, says top Meta scientist." The subheading is "Artificial intelligence is still dumber than cats, says pioneer Yann LeCun, so worries over existential risks are 'premature'." Why do I think that Yann LeCun is going to be the first one the AI robots go after?
Of course if we take the FT editorial board's advice, maybe we can avoid provoking a financial crisis that would lead to the rise of AI robots. The story is titled "How to prevent AI from provoking the next financial crisis," with the subtitle "New systems have benefits for markets, but risks to stability must be managed."
Sam Bankman-Fried tried to find a legal justification for diverting billions of dollars of customer funds to his private trading firm Alameda Research, the former FTX international business general counsel testified in court. Can Sun testified in court Thursday that Bankman-Fried asked for "legal justifications" that would explain why the missing customer funds were at Alameda, the Financial Times reported. The next day he quit.
Bloomberg has an editorial today titled "How to Keep the Treasuries Market Functioning" with the subheading "Smooth trading of US government bonds is too important to depend on a handful of banks. Four changes are overdue."
There is a new reason to be cautious when hiring IT workers. According to the FBI, North Korea sent thousands of IT workers to work remotely with companies in St. Louis and other U.S. locations, using false identities, the Associated Press reported. The worst part is that the IT workers sent the money they earned back to North Korea, where it helped to fund North Korea's ballistic missile program.
Bloomberg columnist Mark Gongloff wrote a column on October 18 making the argument that we should eat fewer cheeseburgers or tax them, or at least he outlined the impact that would have on climate change. The title of his column is "Taxing Cheeseburgers Could Help Save the Climate" and the subheadline is "New Zealand is the only country so far to take the leap on a sort of meat tax, placing a methane tax on farms that takes effect in 2025. It shouldn't be the last."
JLN was not the only news organization that shot video at FIA EXPO or that interviewed an Eventus executive. FinanceFeeds Editor-in-Chief Nikolai Isayev interviewed Eventus CEO Travis Schwab for a story titled "FIA Expo 2023: Eventus Ceo Travis Schwab On Trade Surveillance, Crypto Demand Amid Bear Market."
You could soon buy a fraction share of baseball great Mickey Mantle's boyhood home, which is being turned into a museum, for $7 a share, ESPN reports.
Robinhood is looking for a director of risk, derivatives.
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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Thirty exchange CEOs, members of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (UN SSE), in partnership with Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), convened a meeting, "Net Zero Finance: The Role of Financial Service Providers," at the UNCTAD World Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi this week. As part of the discussion of sustainable finance practices, UN SSE announced two ongoing initiatives. First, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the UN SSE launched the third annual Market Monitor on Gender Equality, which ranks markets around the world on the gender balance of listed companies' leadership. Second, the UN SSE formed an academic working group to enhance progress on sustainable development goals (SDGs). The working group comprises 11 founding members from universities in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. North American members are Columbia University, University of Texas Austin and Northwestern University. You can learn more about the event and initiatives on the UN SSE website. ~SAED
Our most read stories yesterday on JLN Options were:
- Bitcoin ETF Rumor Had a Silver Lining and It's Apparent in the Crypto Options Market from CoinDesk.
- Powell Signals Fed to Stay on Hold and Keep Future Hike on Table from Bloomberg.
- Japan to counter FX volatility with intervention, says official from Nikkei Asia. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free and worth a read).
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John Lothian News Launches Futures Discovery, New Video Series Aimed At Young Audience
JohnLothianNews.com
John Lothian News, home of the eponymous news organization founded by John Lothian and home of MarketsWiki and MarketsWiki Education, today launched Futures Discovery, a new video program sponsored by MIAX.
Watch the video »
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A Different Way of Looking At the 1970s Period of High Inflation; Was banking regulation to blame?
Tracy Alloway, Joe Weisenthal, and Aashna Shah - Bloomberg
There remains a lot of anxiety over whether inflation in the US will gather steam all over again. Part of this worry stems from the fact that there were multiple bouts of inflation in the 1970s, which was the last time the US had a serious inflation problem. So to understand whether our current environment bears similar risks to that of the 70s, it's important to understand what actually drove inflation during that period. On this episode, we speak with Itamar Drechsler, a finance professor at Penn's Wharton school. He argues that the banking regulation known as Reg Q impaired the transmission of monetary policy, and resulted in a perverse dynamic via which rate hikes served to impair the supply side of the economy, rather than cool the demand side. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
/jlne.ws/3S7igZR
***** The brake was really the gas pedal?~JJL
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Chicago Wins Fitch Upgrade on Strides Made for Economy, Debt
Shruti Date Singh - Bloomberg
Chicago earned an upgrade from Fitch Ratings Thursday thanks to the city's improving economy and diminishing long-term debt burden.m Fitch boosted the rating of the third-largest US city one notch to BBB+, up from BBB, and now three notches above junk, with a stable outlook. It's the second upgrade for Chicago from the rating company in the last 12 months as the financial picture for the city improves. Less than a year ago, the city also shed its lone junk rating from Moody's Investors Service.
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***** The new mayor gets a win.~JJL
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Will Sam Bankman-Fried take the witness stand? It would be dangerous - but he has little to lose.
Jacob Shamsian, Katie Balevic - Business Insider
Prosecutors are nearly done walloping Sam Bankman-Fried in court. They're scheduled to bring just one or two more witnesses in the case, which is playing out in a federal courtroom in downtown Manhattan. Defense attorneys have said they may not present any witnesses at all. But if they do, there's a good chance Bankman-Fried himself will take the witness stand.
/jlne.ws/3Q4wRmj
****** SBF was willing to get in front of cameras and spin the story, so why not do so under oath and try to persuade the jury that it was all so he could give it all away in the end.~JJL
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La Salle Street revamp threatened by Johnson's plan to declare record $434M TIF surplus, City Council members say; During Wednesday budget hearing, assurances sought from city planners that developers now fronting huge costs for revamp can count on the city to be their partner.
Fran Spielman - Chicago Sun-Times
Mayor Brandon Johnson's plan to use a record tax increment financing surplus threatens to deprive developers of the subsidies they need to transform LaSalle Street office buildings into residential use, downtown City Council members warned Wednesday. Alderpersons Bill Conway (34th) and Brendan Reilly (42nd) sounded the alarm about the future of the city's "LaSalle Street Reimagined" plan during Wednesday's budget hearing.
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****** The mayor is taking from the rich and giving to the poor, or the deficit in this case, so he does not have to raise taxes.~JJL
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Scottish 'Kilts' Will Struggle to Entice Bond Buyers; Scotland says it wants to raise debt in its own name. Investors will be hard to persuade.
Marcus Ashworth - Bloomberg
Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf announced at his Scottish National Party's annual conference in Aberdeen this week that the devolved nation would look to issue its first ever bond before the end of his ruling coalition's term in 2026. The vagueness of the timeline is telling - this will likely prove to be a tough sell.
/jlne.ws/46ZCBVw
****** What a great nickname for the new Scottish bonds. I am somewhat afraid to look under the kilts, though, to see what backs them.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was A New Options Trading Floor Could Be Coming to Miami, from The Wall Street Journal, about MIAX. Second was CME Group's LinkedIn post congratulating Allyson Zoller on winning the Women in Financial Markets (WIFM) Trailblazer Award. Zoller is the senior director of technology controls and compliance for CME Group. Third was Hyde Park is the world's 19th-coolest neighborhood, from Crain's Chicago Business.
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| Lead Stories | US Clearinghouse DTCC Buys Securrency to Deepen Blockchain Push; The purchase is DTCC's first acquisition in a decade; Tech could help Clearinghouse in tokenization projects
Anna Irrera - Bloomberg
Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. agreed to buy startup Securrency Inc, part of the main US stock-market clearinghouse's drive to offer blockchain technology and services for functions like post-trade processing of tokenized assets. DTCC is paying about $50 million for Annapolis, Maryland-based Securrency, said people with knowledge of the matter, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Securrency's technology could allow DTCC to facilitate issuance of securities like exchange-traded funds on blockchain networks, DTCC Chief Executive Officer Frank La Salla said. The deal, which is expected to close in the coming weeks, marks DTCC's first acquisition since 2013 when it took over post-trade processing firm Omgeo.
/jlne.ws/3rPhKW0
US Weighs Leaning on Banks to Curb Hedge Fund Leveraged Trading; Officials floated bigger haircuts for some secured borrowing; Lenders could also have to collect more data on exposures
Lydia Beyoud and Katanga Johnson - Bloomberg
Top US regulators are zeroing in on dangers posed by highly leveraged hedge fund trades, and considering options to rein in risks to the broader financial system. Regulators are especially concerned about the growth of one strategy known as the basis trade, which involves the use of leverage to profit from the price gap between Treasury futures and the underlying cash market. Borrowing in the repurchase market using US Treasuries as collateral has soared in recent years to almost $3 trillion.
/jlne.ws/406sA6k
US steps up crackdown on illicit activity in crypto markets; Treasury aims to inject more transparency into opaque 'crypto mixing' services following Hamas attack on Israel
Scott Chipolina - Financial Times
US authorities are stepping up their clampdown on cryptocurrency markets with new rules on opaque transactions, as pressure grows in Washington to curb links between digital tokens and illicit financing following Hamas's attack on Israel. The Treasury department said late on Thursday it planned to force more transparency on trades that pass through so-called crypto-mixing services, to combat what it called an "acute money laundering and national security risk". Mixers obscure the trail of crypto ownership and payments.
/jlne.ws/491qZmw
Hong Kong's Financial-Sector Feast Turns to Famine; Weak underlying results from the Hong Kong stock exchange's owner are the latest sign of profound damage to the Asian financial center from recent changes in the city and on the mainland
Jacky Wong - The Wall Street Journal
Hong Kong's lackluster stock market epitomizes the challenges that the city is grappling with-China's economic slowdown, which looks increasingly structural, and Beijing's tightened grip on the semiautonomous city. Neither issue looks likely to disappear soon, although China's economy could improve a bit cyclically next year. Weak third-quarter results released Friday by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing 388 0.92%increase; green up pointing triangle-the market's owner and operator-are the latest sign of how entrenched the city's problems have become.
/jlne.ws/3Q7dlpe
Chinese investors' sales of US stocks and bonds hit four-year high; Sales surge coincides with People's Bank of China's efforts to defend renminbi
Hudson Lockett - Financial Times
Chinese investors dumped the most US stocks and bonds in four years in August, adding to speculation that Beijing moved to give itself greater firepower in its defence of the renminbi. About $15bn of the total $21.2bn in net sales came from disposals of US Treasuries, according to data from the US Treasury Department, which captures trades by investors such as the People's Bank of China, mutual funds and private investors. Sales of equities totalled about $5bn - a record for monthly sales of US stocks by Chinese investors - while investors also sold agency bonds.
/jlne.ws/46ZvPPA
SEC Asks Judge to Dismiss Charges Against Ripple Co-Founder, CEO
Sabrina Willmer, Allyson Versprille and Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
The Securities and Exchange Commission asked a federal judge in New York to dismiss its case against crypto company Ripple's co-founder Christian Larsen and Chief Executive Officer Bradley Garlinghouse.
/jlne.ws/46Z9Qb8
The Internet Cheapened News. AI Will Do the Opposite; Tech companies will always fail to contain misinformation on social media. But news organizations can thrive in the 'Age of Unreality' created by the rise of artificial intelligence.
Dave Lee - Bloomberg
About a decade into conversations around the explosion in misinformation online, the problem doesn't seem all that closer to being solved. Maybe it's time to acknowledge tech companies will never be able to eradicate, or even stem the tide, of fake news, data and facts. But that doesn't mean there's no hope. Trusted sources of information can step up.
/jlne.ws/3S72mPa
Amid Israel-Hamas Conflict, U.S. Invokes Patriot Act To Target Crypto
Jason Brett - Forbes
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen used special measures provided to her as a result of 9/11 and the Patriot Act to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would classify virtual currency mixing as a class of transactions of primary money laundering concern. The public will have 90 days to respond once published in the Federal Register to this special measure that would require "domestic financial institutions and domestic financial agencies to implement certain record keeping and reporting requirements relating to transactions involving convertible virtual currency (CVC) mixing."
/jlne.ws/46WQOCn
FTX boss sought 'legal justifications' for diverted billions, court told; Former general counsel testifies in Sam Bankman-Fried trial that crypto exchange had no right to spend customer funds
Joshua Oliver - Financial Times
Sam Bankman-Fried asked FTX's top in-house lawyer for "legal justifications" that would explain how billions in customer funds from his cryptocurrency exchange ended up at his private trading firm Alameda Research in the middle of a last-ditch bid to be rescued by private equity group Apollo, according to testimony in his criminal trial.
/jlne.ws/48YEjrP
How to prevent AI from provoking the next financial crisis; New systems have benefits for markets, but risks to stability must be managed
The editorial board - Financial Times
Amid talk of job cuts due to artificial intelligence, Gary Gensler thinks robots will actually create more work for financial watchdogs. The US Securities and Exchange Commission chair puts the likelihood of an AI-driven financial crisis within a decade as "nearly unavoidable", without regulatory intervention. The immediate risk is more of a new financial crash than a robot takeover.
/jlne.ws/400wDkN
Sam Bankman-Fried sought 'justifications' for missing funds, lawyer testifies
Luc Cohen - Reuters
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX's former top lawyer testified on Thursday that its founder Sam Bankman-Fried asked him to come up with "legal justifications" for why it was missing $7 billion in customer funds four days before the company declared bankruptcy.
/jlne.ws/3rSlDJM
Sam Bankman-Fried replied 'Yep' when FTX's top lawyer told him there was no legal justification for taking customer funds, attorney testified
Katie Balevic - Insider
FTX's corporate attorney testified in court against his former boss, Sam Bankman-Fried, in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, sharing details about the company's bankruptcy in November 2022. Can Sun said he was appalled to learn that Alameda Research, FTX's hedge fund sister company, had special privileges over all other customers on the crypto exchange and that the companies, both owned by Bankman-Fried, had co-mingled funds taken from customers without their consent.
/jlne.ws/46AMzN9
'Oof': Sam Bankman-Fried's Trial Reveals Inside Details of How FTX Died; Prosecutors in the criminal fraud case have built the most intricate account to date of the cryptocurrency exchange's frantic final days.
David Yaffe-Bellany - The New York Times
On the morning of Nov. 6, Nishad Singh, a top executive at the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, sent a message in a group chat with two senior colleagues. Customers were rushing to withdraw funds from the exchange, he wrote. Within the last day, they had tried to move $1.25 billion off the platform, and $120 million in withdrawal requests had come in over the last hour.
/jlne.ws/3FuQVJy
How Sam Bankman-Fried's Defense Might Play Out
Andrew R. Chow - Times
Over the past three weeks, the prosecution in Sam Bankman-Fried's trial has called a series of witnesses and displayed dozens of pieces of evidence to make the case that the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX knowingly took customer money and lied about it publicly. Bankman-Fried has been charged with seven counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. During the trial, three of his closest colleagues delivered stinging testimonies against him, attacking his character and accusing him of directing them to commit crimes.
/jlne.ws/49f8Yl1
SBF Trial Has Big Moments. So Does FTX's Bankruptcy
Jonathan Randles - Bloomberg
Meanwhile, in Delaware ... The eyes of the world are on former FTX executives testifying against Sam Bankman-Fried. The eyes of the failed crypto exchange's customers should, arguably, remain on the company's bankruptcy docket, where recent developments bode well for their repayment prospects.
/jlne.ws/3Q7K7Xt
Sam Bankman-Fried prosecutors want to make sure jurors know effective altruism is no defense for fraud
Leo Schwartz - Fortune
The criminal trial for disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried wrapped up its third week on Thursday, with prosecutors signaling that they will close their case next week. Bankman-Fried's defense attorneys only expect to take a week to present their witnesses, meaning the time for jury deliberation is fast approaching.
/jlne.ws/402ZFAc
Sam Bankman-Fried's Lawyers, DOJ Propose Final Sets of Jury Instructions; The parties to the criminal fraud trial expect to wrap up witness testimony in the coming weeks.
Nikhilesh De - CoinDesk
Judge Lewis Kaplan, the federal judge overseeing the federal criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried, has a decision to make. The U.S. Department of Justice and Bankman-Fried's defense team filed their proposed jury instructions, which they hope Judge Kaplan will adopt after witness testimony wraps up in the coming weeks, early Thursday evening. The judge can adopt either proposal or find a happy medium when he instructs the jury on the laws surrounding the seven charges Bankman-Fried faces.
/jlne.ws/45HDyR7
Fed's Powell Escorted Out of Room After Climate Protesters Interrupt Speech
Jonnelle Marte and Matthew Boesler - Bloomberg
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was escorted out of a room where he was due to give a speech on monetary policy after protesters interrupted the New York event.
/jlne.ws/3FnMiBa
COP28 Countdown Heats Up as Countries Spar Over Loss and Damage Fund; Countries agreed to a loss and damage fund at COP27 in Egypt; Details such as its location and who pays are creating debate
John Ainger - Bloomberg
COP28 is just six weeks away and countries are already trading blows over what is likely to be one of the most contentious issues at this year's UN climate summit in Dubai. After countries reached a major breakthrough to agree in principle to create a fund for the losses and damages caused by climate change at last year's United Nations Conference of the Parties, or COP, in Egypt, a major divide is emerging between developed and developing nations over who should operate it and how it should be filled.
/jlne.ws/45E98iH
Harvard's $51 Billion Fund Beats Yale in Hard Year for Endowments; Returns in venture capital/growth were 'mildly negative'; Among Ivies, the results trail only Columbia's 4.7% gain
Janet Lorin - Bloomberg
Harvard University's endowment earned an investment return of 2.9% during the latest fiscal year, beating rival Yale University and most other Ivy League peers but lagging far behind plain old US stocks. Returns were "mildly negative" in venture capital/growth investments and only slightly positive in private equity, Harvard said in a financial report. The value of the endowment, the largest in US higher education, edged down to $50.7 billion after accounting for outflows to pay for university expenses and inflows from gifts.
/jlne.ws/3tH09ju
Bitcoin Is Not Great for Murder; Also a Silk Road theft, fraud at Genesis and Gemini, AT1 calls and blockchain for DTCC.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
Bitcoin hitman user experience. There are three classic problems that you might encounter if you try to use Bitcoin to pay for goods and services. The first problem is that your Bitcoins might go astray: Bitcoin transactions are irreversible and involve sending money to long complicated addresses, and people are constantly trying to steal them. So if you send someone Bitcoin to pay for something, there will probably be a typo in the address and the person won't get it and you'll have to send it again and your first payment will just be permanently lost.
/jlne.ws/46ZuKr0
Fireside Friday with... Quoniam Asset Management's Tobias Stein; The TRADE sits down with Tobias Stein, head of fixed income and trading at Quoniam Asset Management, to discuss the EU's consolidated tape (CT) plans, unpacking key data considerations, empirical use cases, and what providers of the tape should consider.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
From your perspective, how would you utilise the EU's incoming CT, what would make it most attractive for your operations? I would distinguish between the use cases: pre-trade, at trade, and post-trade. Pre-trade, we would use it for liquidity and price discovery in terms of our portfolio construction process, in the way that we integrate information in terms of credibility and associated cost upfront. Obviously, data from a consolidated tape could enhance the information that we have in terms of these pre-trade judgments on cost and on liquidity, so I think this would be the first use case.
/jlne.ws/3MbgByG
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Zelenskiy says US bipartisan support encourages Ukrainian nation and troops
Reuters
Bipartisan support from the United States is "incredibly encouraging" for Ukraine and its troops, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said following a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden. Biden, who discussed military support for Kyiv with Zelenskiy in Thursday's call, will ask Congress for $100 billion in new spending, including $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel, a source familiar with his plan said.
/jlne.ws/48Yrfmj
Russian e-commerce firm Ozon notifies Nasdaq of delisting intention
Reuters
Russian e-commerce firm Ozon said on Friday it had notified Nasdaq of its intention to delist its American depositary shares (ADSs), ending a near-three association with the U.S. exchange. Ozon, one of Russia's top e-commerce companies, raised nearly $1 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) in late 2020, a debut that sparked a mini-IPO boom for Russian firms.
/jlne.ws/46ZBF3a
Ukraine Targets Russia's Big Guns to Blast a Path Forward; Kyiv's military has honed its systems for finding and destroying Russian artillery. But Russia is also adapting.
Matthew Luxmoore - The Wall Street Journal
At a Ukrainian control room, notifications ping onto a screen as a U.S.-supplied radar locates Russian artillery guns firing on Ukrainian positions. A Ukrainian team plots the coordinates on a tablet map, sharing them online with drone units tasked with confirming targets and gunners tasked with destroying them.
/jlne.ws/3tLZehv
Biden, Ukraine's Zelenskiy discuss further military assistance
Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday discussed Washington's continued military support for Kyiv's drive to evict Russian forces, with the Ukrainian leader expressing thanks for supplying long-range missiles. The two men spoke in advance of Biden's scheduled address on the need to spend billions of dollars in assistance for both Ukraine and Israel.
/jlne.ws/45IR1Ii
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| Israel/Palestine Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Palestine | UN humanitarian office in 'advanced' talks to ensure Gaza aid deliveries
Reuters
The United Nations humanitarian office said on Friday it was in advanced talks with all parties in the conflict between Israel and Hamas to ensure an aid operation into Gaza starts soon. "We are in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation into Gaza starts as quickly as possible and with the right conditions," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
/jlne.ws/3QokH98
Israel Evacuates City Near Lebanon Border as It Hits Scores of Targets in Gaza; Move reveals Israeli concern over a second front opening to the north
Margherita Stancati - The Wall Street Journal
Israel ordered the evacuation of a city close to the Lebanese border, reflecting the Israeli military's growing concern that a second front could open up to the north as it continues its bombing campaign in Gaza, including a strike on a church compound overnight. Israel's Defense Ministry said residents of Kiryat Shmona, a city of some 22,000 people, will be moved to guesthouses provided by the state. The decision, announced Friday, comes as the security situation along the Lebanese-Israeli border deteriorates.
/jlne.ws/406iNNZ
America's Syria Ally Warns Attacks on US Troops May Destabilize Middle East
Tom O'Connor - Newsweek
The Pentagon's primary partner in Syria has warned that attacks against U.S. troops could further destabilize the Middle East as the United States braces for further escalations by Iran-backed groups across the region over the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian factions led by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
/jlne.ws/492rT27
U.S. Forces in Syria, Iraq, Red Sea Come Under Militant Attack; U.S. troops suffered minor injuries, contractor had heart attack and later died
Nancy A. Youssef and Gordon Lubold - The Wall Street Journal
U.S. forces in the Middle East came under attack several times this week, a potential sign of heightened aggression toward the U.S. following Hamas's terrorist attack on southern Israel earlier this month. Such attacks are typically carried out by Iranian-aligned militia groups, but U.S. military officials didn't confirm the perpetrators of this week's attacks.
/jlne.ws/406P7QQ
Son of Hamas leader breaks silence on decision to denounce terror group: 'They don't care' about Palestinians; Mosab Hassan Yousef fled the Middle East and converted to Christianity after spending time behind bars in Israel
Bailee Hill - Fox News
The son of a founding Hamas leader broke his silence on his decision to denounce the terrorist group after he turned on his own family and converted to Christianity when he saw the horrors of the group's reign firsthand. Mosab Hassan Yousef, who spied in favor of the Israelis and sought asylum in the U.S., spoke out on his decision to leave the life of terror behind during "FOX & Friends."
/jlne.ws/3S3hkG9
Hamas Crypto Funding Likely 'Overstated' - Chainalysis; Reports of many millions going to Hamas and other groups are based on faulty analysis, the forensics firm said.
Ben Schiller - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/470Gw4n
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | DTCC Signs Definitive Agreement To Acquire Blockchain-Based Financial Technology Firm Securrency Inc. To Drive Development Of The Digital Post-Trade Infrastructure For The Global Financial Markets; Acquisition will position DTCC to provide global leadership in bridging best-in-class industry practices with advanced digital technology to encourage adoption of digital assets
DTCC
DTCC, the premier market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Securrency Inc. ("Securrency"), a leading developer of institutional-grade, digital asset infrastructure. The acquisition, which is expected to close within the next several weeks, will position DTCC to provide global leadership in bridging best-in-class industry practices with advanced digital technology to encourage acceptance and adoption of digital assets.
/jlne.ws/3FqB8vn
Eurex expands its crypto derivatives suite with Options on FTSE Bitcoin Index Futures; Launch of Options on FTSE Bitcoin Index Futures in USD and EUR, on 23 October 2023; Safe and trusted access to cryptocurrencies on a regulated market with Eurex
Eurex
Eurex was the first exchange in Europe to offer Bitcoin index futures in April 2023. After this successful implementation, Eurex now expands the trusted path to crypto with the launch of Options on FTSE Bitcoin Index Futures. This is another major milestone in Eurex's ambition to offer secure access to cryptocurrencies in a regulated market environment.
/jlne.ws/3tDcsx7
Leaders in Trading 2023: Meet the nominees for... Outstanding Derivatives Exchange; Learn more about the four firms shortlisted for The TRADE's 2023 Editors' Choice Award for Outstanding Derivatives Exchange: including Cboe Europe Derivatives (CEDX), CME Group, Eurex and Euronext.
Editors - The Trade
Next up in our Leaders in Trading 2023 Editors' Choice Awards write up series, we bring you the shortlisted candidates for Outstanding Derivatives Exchange, showcasing exceptional performance in the derivatives exchange space.
/jlne.ws/470LFtd
LSE outage halts trading in hundreds of small-cap stocks; Incident means investors limited to trading shares in FTSE 100 and 250 indices and depositary receipts
Nikou Asgari - Financial Times
The London Stock Exchange suffered an outage that curbed trading in hundreds of small-cap shares on Thursday, a further blow to a market that has suffered from a shortage of new listings and falling trading volumes this year. The group said it was investigating "an incident" in which investors could only trade shares in the FTSE 100 and 250 indices and global depositary receipts, a certificate representing shares in overseas companies.
/jlne.ws/46TUZ1Q
HKEX 2023 Third Quarter Results
HKEX
Quarterly Results For The Nine Months Ended 30 September 2023
/jlne.ws/3tNzukT
Announcing JPXI's Upcoming Proof of Concept Testing for Trading Analysis Data
Japan Exchange Group
JPX Market Innovation & Research, Inc. (JPXI) will conduct an proof of concept (hereafter referred to as "PoC") testing for trading analysis data. In this PoC, JPXI will provide samples of data analyzed and processed by JPXI to help trading participants analyze their own transactions. JPXI will use the feedback from PoC participants to help determine whether this data can be utilized. Based on the results of this PoC, JPXI may consider distributing this data to users in the future.
/jlne.ws/3Q7Rq1l
SGX-ST Listings Disciplinary Committee reprimands Y Ventures Group Ltd., former CFO Chin Ngai Sung and current and former Directors Low Yik Jin, Low Yik Sen, Edward Tiong Yung Suh, Wong Sok Mei, Ng Tiong Gee, Twoon Wai Mun Benjamin
SGX
Public Reprimand: Breaches of Listing Rules. 1. The SGX-ST Listings Disciplinary Committee ("LDC") reprimands Y Ventures Group Ltd. (the "Company") for breaching the following Catalist Rules: (a) Catalist Rule 703(4)(a), read with paragraph 27(a) of Appendix 7A, by releasing its unaudited financial statements for the half year ended 30 June 2018 ("Original HY2018 Results"), which contained material errors and/or omissions and were thus inaccurate and non-factual; (b) Catalist Rule 703(1)(a) by failing to promptly disclose that its Original HY2018 Results were false and misleading, a piece of material information known to the Company which was necessary to avoid the establishment of a false market in the Company's securities; and (c) Catalist Rule 719(1) by failing to have a robust and effective system of internal controls, addressing financial, operational and compliance risks.
/jlne.ws/46GeLhM
2023 AGM - Addresses By Chair And Managing Director And CEO
ASX
Attached are copies of the addresses to be given by the Chair and the Managing Director and CEO at ASX Limited's Annual General Meeting today. Release of market announcement authorised by: Johanna O'Rourke, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary.
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Results Of Annual General Meeting
ASX
The results of ASX Limited's Annual General Meeting held on 19 October 2023 are set out in the attached document. All resolutions put to the AGM were ordinary resolutions and decided by way of poll. While more than 75% of votes cast on Resolution 3 were in favour of the adoption of the 2023 remuneration report, and a 'second strike' for the purposes of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) was avoided, the conditional spill resolution was put to the meeting for prudence. The spill resolution was not effective due to the result of Resolution 3.
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Chata.ai & AI Know Announce New Partnership; Introducing Generative AI for Self-Service Data Analytics to the Chilean Market
Chata.ai
Chata.ai, a Canadian tech company focused on developing conversational artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, announces a new strategic partnership with AI Know, a technology consultant in the Chilean market. AI Know specializes in researching and analyzing worldwide AI solutions, focusing on those with the highest potential for creating value within the market. Through strategic partnerships with global trailblazers like Chata.ai, AI Know streamlines the deployment of these solutions to businesses, all while offering immediate support.
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Chrome's new address bar features automatic typo correction, better autocomplete, and more; Five new features on Google's web browser will not only help you navigate faster, they'll automatically fix your mistakes.
Artie Beaty - Zdnet
If you're a Google Chrome user, you may notice some changes to your browser's address bar. The tech giant announced five new features for Chrome today, each one specifically designed to make browsing a little faster and more efficient.
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Could X's creditors push the social media company into bankruptcy? Elon Musk has a 'spotty reputation' for paying his debts, but experts say the investment banks who funded his $44bn Twitter takeover will cut him some slack
Bevan Hurley - Independent
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Since the completion of his $44bn Twitter takeover one year ago this week, Elon Musk has refused to pay the rent, balked at severance fees for fired executives, and sued the law firm that forced him to complete the buyout. But there's a nine-figure IOU looming that even the world's richest person can't afford to blow off, and could force yet another radical reshaping of the volatile social media platform.
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Business Schools Grapple With How To Teach Artificial Intelligence; MBA programs want to better prepare students for a world undergoing rapid transformation fueled by generative AI.
Jo Constantz - Bloomberg
How are B-schools preparing the next generation of leaders to most effectively use and apply artificial intelligence in business? New and emerging technology, including machine learning, have become a bigger part of business school course lists over the past decade. Data analytics, for instance, is among the most popular specialized B-school degrees today.
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | GSA pitches vendor self-assessment on supply chain cybersecurity
Molly Weisner - Federal Times
The General Services Administration is testing a voluntary questionnaire for vendors to self-certify the authenticity and security of the IT products and services they sell to government agencies. GSA put out a request-for-information on the proposed survey to gather feedback with responses due Nov. 10.
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Republican congressman says labor crunch biggest threat to US cybersecurity
Filip Timotija - The Hill
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) said during a Thursday morning event that labor shortages within the cyber sector present the biggest long-term threat to U.S. cybersecurity. "Workforce - in five years, if we don't fix this workforce problem, that is probably the biggest threat that we have toward ensuring that when it comes to cybersecurity," Garbarino said.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | New York sues Digital Currency Group, Gemini and Genesis over alleged $1.1bn crypto fraud; More than 230,000 investors were lied to over safety of cryptocurrency investments, says lawsuit
Nikou Asgari - Financial Times
The New York attorney-general has sued cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group, the Winklevoss twins' exchange Gemini and collapsed crypto lender Genesis for allegedly defrauding investors of more than $1.1bn. The suit, filed on Thursday, alleged the companies had lied to more than 230,000 investors over the safety of their crypto investments when prices of popular tokens such as bitcoin tumbled sharply last year.
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FTX trial update; As the prosecution winds up the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, what will the defence offer?
Financial Times
Today on the show, FT correspondent Josh Oliver joins us in the New York studio just minutes after leaving the courtroom. Oliver has been covering the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, since it started on October 2. We talk about the procession of former friends testifying against him, the trading firm Alameda, the seven balance sheets and the possibility of SBF taking the stand.
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Rampant scams highlight critical need for greater crypto literacy
Arlone Abello - Forkast
Cryptocurrency-related scams are proliferating at an alarming rate in the Philippines. As cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology surge in popularity, scammers are shamelessly capitalizing on the nation's lack of crypto understanding. Their tools? Questionable coins, misleading non-fungible tokens, and a myriad of other Ponzi schemes disguised as groundbreaking investment strategies. They are targeting and succeeding in duping individuals, particularly those new to the technology.
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Winklevoss-owned crypto firm hit by lawsuit alleging it defrauded investors of $1 billion; New York AG Letitia James also named other companies in the suit.
Lawrence Bonk - Engadget
Gemini Trust Company, a cryptocurrency exchange helmed by the infamous Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, just got hit with a lawsuit alleging that it defrauded investors. The suit was brought forth by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the same AG currently prosecuting former president Donald Trump on sweeping charges of fraud.
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FTX Sent Email to Sculptor, Customers Promising Money Was Safe
Yueqi Yang and Allyson Versprille - Bloomberg
In an email a few months before FTX collapsed, the company falsely promised institutional customers, including hedge fund Sculptor Capital Management, that their assets would be safe in the event of an insolvency, according to a former FTX lawyer who testified at the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried.
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Tether's Frontman Inherits Crypto's $84 Billion Behemoth; Stablecoin firm plans for real-time reserves data from 2024; USDT's circulation has continued to grow during crypto crisis
Emily Nicolle - Bloomberg
Tether Holdings Ltd's Chief Technology Officer Paolo Ardoino is hardly crypto's most well-known public figure. That may change when he takes over the reins of one of the sector's most dominant businesses along with the $84 billion stablecoin it issues.
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Ethereum Co-Founder Vaporized Employee Stock Awards, Lawsuit Says; Early employees say shares are worthless after asset moves; Lawsuit seeks to force Lubin to restore value to employees
Steven Church - Bloomberg
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Miami husband, father, fake crypto bro 'Brody' pulled a $988,000 stock and crypto fraud
David J. Neal - Miami Herald
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Coinbase legal chief discusses terrorism financing with crypto and bitcoin ETFs
CNBC
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Sam Bankman-Fried used $1.2 billion of customer money to buy out Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, witness says. Will CZ pay it back?
Ben Weiss - Fortune
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Crypto Needs to Fend Off Stigma Caused by FTX. Meaningful Regulation Could HelpWhile a PR offensive isn't necessary, adult-supervision is absolutely required.
Sam Blum - Inc.
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | 'No. 1 draft pick for Wall Street': McHenry's rise thrills Washington-wary executives; The hope in the business world is that having Rep. Patrick McHenry at the helm of the House might add some stability as a government shutdown looms next month.
Zachary Warmbrodt and Jasper Goodman - Politico
It's a prospect so enticing that some executives have been afraid to jinx it on the record: Wall Street's most trusted Republican might run the U.S. House. Rep. Patrick McHenry - the temporary speaker who may be tapped to be more than just a caretaker - is one of the House GOP's top liaisons with the business community, thanks to his long-time leadership role at the Financial Services Committee.
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Destroying Crypto Is A Bad Way To Fight Crime
Norbert Michel - Forbes
A few weeks ago, I testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on the implications of the United States launching a central bank digital currency. The hearing was pretty standard, but there was one exchange with Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) that resonates even more now that Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is escalating her crypto crime campaign.
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How to Save Democracy in the Age of AI; In the Exponentially podcast, Yale University professor and political scientist Hélène Landemore explains the virtues of "civic assemblies."
David Rovella - Bloomberg
On this episode of the Bloomberg podcast Exponentially, Azeem Azhar speaks with Yale University professor and political scientist Hélène Landemore, who says that-despite the threat of misinformation and polarization-technology of a sort might help bring about a new golden age for democracy.
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Joe Manchin Slams Sanction Relief for Venezuelan Oil and Gas
Jennifer A. Dlouhy - Bloomberg
Senator Joe Manchin condemned the Biden administration's decision to lift sanctions against Venezuela's oil and gas sector, arguing the US should instead turn to domestic crude production to fill any shortfall.
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Inflation Raging at 130% Is Pushing Argentina Down a Radical Path; Presidential candidate Javier Milei is winning over voters with promises to revive what was once one of the world's wealthiest nations.
Scott Squires and Manuela Tobias - Bloomberg
Leon Romero is all in on Javier Milei, the outsider presidential candidate in Argentina whose radical proposals to revive the economy have made him the favorite heading into this weekend's vote. "I want to bet on something different," Romero, a 23-year-old accounting assistant at a local bakery chain, said recently at a packed campaign rally.
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Russia Suspended From Global Financial Intelligence Group
Alberto Nardelli and Viktoria Dendrinou - Bloomberg
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Pentagon accuses China of accelerating nuclear build-up; New report to Congress finds Beijing on track to exceed previous projections
Demetri Sevastopulo - Financial Times
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Deerfield man allegedly rakes in $90,450 using wife's inside information for stock gains
FOX 32 Digital Staff
A Deerfield man is accused of using insider information obtained from his spouse to purchase options in a biotech company's stock before it was acquired by a large pharmaceutical company, prosecutors said Wednesday. Brian Rubin, 51, is charged with one count of securities fraud.
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SEC Obtains Judgment Against Issuer and CEO for Unregistered Crypto Asset Securities Offering
SEC
On October 18, 2023, the Honorable Charles R. Breyer of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered default judgment against Thor Technologies, Inc. and its CEO and co-founder David Chin for conducting a $2.6 million unregistered offering of crypto asset securities.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Company develops video game to promote financial literacy and entrepreneurship
WXII
The game is called Venture Valley and was created by the Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship. Students at High Point University gave it a test run. The foundation wanted to find a way to teach young people about running a successful business.
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Traders on guard with $2.5 trillion in options set to expire and Wall Street's 'fear gauge' at a 6-month high
Joseph Adinolfi - MarketWatch
Wall Street's fear gauge was testing its highest levels of the year on Thursday just as stock options tied to $2.5 trillion in market value are set to expire and that could portend a bumpy ride ahead for stocks. Asym50 founder Rocky Fishman shared a note with MarketWatch on Thursday where he showed that options with a trillion in notional value linked to single stocks, stock indexes, exchange-traded funds and index futures are all set to expire on Friday. Of the $2.5 trillion, $1.7 trillion worth are tied to the S&P 500 either through futures, the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF SPY, or cash-settled contracts that track the index.
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The VC industry needs to rip up the playbook and start again; The boom is over but Silicon Valley's optimism is masking problems with investor capital and returns
John Thornhill - Financial Times
In these grim times, the world could do with a shot of hope. Right on cue, up pops the irrepressible venture capitalist Marc Andreessen to shout about his latest techno-optimist manifesto. "Give us a real world problem, and we can invent technology that will solve it," the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz wrote this week.
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Corporate CUSIP Request Volumes Surge in September; Municipal Volumes Slow
CUSIP Global Services
CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for September 2023. The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity over the next quarter, found a significant monthly increase in request volume for new corporate identifiers, while municipal volumes declined on a monthly basis.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Banks call for clarity on Britain's investment path to net-zero economy
Huw Jones and Simon Jessop - Reuters
UK Finance issues series of policy recommendations; First major position paper on net-zero transition; Says UK needs a stable policy environment
Britain needs to better track funds going into green investments to assess how much is needed from the private sector and should consider targeted tax changes to encourage sustainable projects, banking industry body UK Finance said. In its first major position paper on the topic, UK Finance also told the country's political parties that more clarity is needed on the path to a net zero economy to help financial markets muster the huge amounts of capital needed.
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Peak Oil Is Here. Well, Maybe; "I think there's a fairly straightforward path to getting rid of about 50% of oil demand," Bloomberg Opinion's David Fickling says on the latest episode of Zero.
Christine Driscoll, Oscar Boyd, and Akshat Rathi - Bloomberg
Since the beginning of industrialization, growth in oil demand has been a close proxy for economic growth. Now, as we transition to clean energy, there's a real prospect of breaking that linkage. But when the link will be broken depends on the rise of clean energy - and, to some degree, it depends on who you ask.
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Top Issuer in $250 Billion ESG Bond Market Faces Trigger Event; Enel looks set to miss a key emissions goal on its SLBs; Investors are bracing for a wave of trigger events ahead
Greg Ritchie - Bloomberg
The market for sustainability-linked bonds, which is worth more than $250 billion, looks set to witness a rare trigger event as its biggest issuer appears on track to miss a key target tied to the debt. Enel SpA, which has close to $11 billion in SLBs that may be affected, is "highly unlikely" to meet an end of 2023 carbon-emissions goal after changes to European energy policy resulted in the delayed phaseout of coal plants, according to the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute. The development would release an estimated $27 million of additional annual interest costs for the Italian energy company, AFII said.
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Australia's 'iron lady' Gina Rinehart takes a big bet on lithium; Mining billionaire's stakebuilding in Liontown has scuppered $4.2bn takeover by Albemarle of the US
Harry Dempsey and Nic Fildes - Financial Times
Gina Rinehart has spent three decades turning the troubled company she inherited from her father into a sprawling business empire with iron ore at its heart, courting climate controversy along the way. Now Australia's richest person has set her sights on lithium, a crucial metal in electric car batteries that will be crucial to the race to cut global emissions.
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EU faces criticism over plans for healthier soil; Green groups say the proposed rules are not tough enough, but farmers fear the contrary
Alice Hancock - Financial Times
You can learn a lot about soil health from watching how a cow defecates. That is the conclusion of Mellany Klompe, a Dutch farmer who, with her husband Jeroen, took the decision in 2013 to switch gradually from conventional farming methods to more sustainable practices. In the Netherlands, injecting manure into the soil is standard practice, Klompe says. "But, looking at nature, you don't see a cow dig a hole, poop, and then close again. The manure needs to be on top of the soil - otherwise, concentrations [of it] are too high."
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South Korea's $733 Billion Fund Says It Overstated Sustainable Assets; NPS says it miscalculated amount of socially responsible funds; Pension fund is under pressure to improve its ESG practices
Heesu Lee - Bloomberg
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Corn Harvests in the Yukon? Study Finds That Climate Change Will Boost Likelihood That Wilderness Gives Way to Agriculture; As new areas become suitable for planting, researchers predict that vast swaths of biodiversity will be at risk, particularly in northern regions and the tropics.
Kiley Price - Inside Climate News
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Research by Public Health Experts Shows 'Damning' Evidence on the Harms of Fracking
Jon Hurdle - Inside Climate News
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The World Has Already Crossed a 'Tipping Point' on Solar Power; Solar is set to overpower fossil fuels as the dominant electricity source globally by 2050, according to a new study. It's also getting cheaper.
Sana Pashankar - Bloomberg
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China's Polluters Take Steps to Meet EU's Carbon Tax Challenge; Steel industry has long drawn international trade scrutiny; Green certificates no longer valid for reducing emissions
Bloomberg News
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Credit Suisse Readies for More Job Cuts, Financial News Says; Risk and compliance roles may be impacted, report says; UBS in process of merging its Swiss rival, cutting workforce
David Scheer and Myriam Balezou - Bloomberg
UBS Group AG is poised to start its next wave of job cuts at Credit Suisse, this time targeting about 10% of support staff, likely in areas such as compliance, risk and marketing, Financial News reported. The Swiss bank informed employees the reductions will start Nov. 6, the publication said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. A UBS spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News.
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Pimco Is Selling Hung Debt It Bought From Banks for a Premium; US firm starts to sell position in Worldline at 10-15% premium; Bond giant snapped up debt last year at deep discounts
Laura Benitez and Irene Garcia Perez - Bloomberg
Pacific Investment Management Co. spent some of last year scooping up debt that banks couldn't sell at knock-down prices. Now it's started to slowly offload some of those positions at double-digit premiums. After scooping up more than EUR1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) of loans backing an acquisition by Apollo Global Management Inc. last year at 85 cents on the euro, Pimco has been selling small blocks in the mid to high 90 cents range, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Deutsche Bank, ING Face New Blow as ECB Mulls Higher Reserves; Most extreme proposal could cut annual revenue by EUR66 billion; ECB's monetary policy, government taxes have cut bank profits
Nicholas Comfort - Bloomberg
European lenders including Deutsche Bank AG and ING Groep NV may suffer yet another setback on their arduous path to winning back investors, this time delivered by the European Central Bank.
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Hedge Fund Founder's Alleged Accomplices Settle Tax Scandal Cases; Six of the defendants settle money-laundering cases in Hamburg; Proceedings against Sanjay Shah and two others will continue
Karin Matussek - Bloomberg
Six men charged alongside hedge-fund founder Sanjay Shah settled their German money-laundering cases over the proceeds of Cum-Ex tax deals in Denmark and Belgium. The defendants agreed to pay between EUR30,000 ($32,000) and EUR100,000 to end the cases against them, a spokeswoman for the Hamburg court said on Friday. Proceedings against three others accused will continue, she added. Among them is Shah, according to people familiar with the case.
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Boris Collardi: 'I don't personify the problems in Swiss banking!'; The former Pictet partner on 'dirty money', his childhood letter to Enzo Ferrari - and what he plans next
Sam Jones - Financial Times
I spot Boris Collardi beaming handsomely, one arm outstretched, on the terrace of Le Creux de Genthod. He is framed by a scene of unnervingly cinematic allure: gingham tablecloths catch the breeze, and motor launches and sailboats bob on Le Léman, the peaks of the Mont Blanc massif in the distance.
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Wealth manager Nutmeg to offer DIY 'thematic' portfolios; First product launch by robo adviser since acquisition by JPMorgan
Arjun Neil Alim - Financial Times
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Mizuho set to merge European banking and securities businesses; Amidst plans for the new EU offering, the bank is continuing with the closure of its offices in Brussels, Dusseldorf, Milan, and Vienna.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Mizuho Financial Group is planning a restructure of its European Union (EU) banking and securities businesses, bringing them together under one umbrella as a Universal Bank, subject to approval from regulators.
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Indeed Honors Top 10 U.S. Companies for Work Well-being
HRO Today
Indeed, a leading jobs and hiring platform with a mission to help people get jobs, has announced the winners of its inaugural Better Work Awards, honoring the top companies for work well-being in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada for 2023.
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CEO Departures Hit Highest Level on Record; For senior executives, the Great Resignation is just getting started.
Jo Constantz - Bloomberg
For most workers, the so-called Great Resignation is over. For CEOs, it's just ramping up. More than 1,400 chief executives have left their positions so far this year through September, according to a report by executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. That's up almost 50% from the same period last year and the highest on record over that period since the firm began tracking in 2002.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Red meat consumption associated with increased type 2 diabetes risk; Replacing red meat with plant-based protein sources may reduce risk of diabetes and provide environmental benefits
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
People who eat just two servings of red meat per week may have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to people who eat fewer servings, and the risk increases with greater consumption, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They also found that replacing red meat with healthy plant-based protein sources, such as nuts and legumes, or modest amounts of dairy foods, was associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
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One in four Americans have had their health data compromised this year; Cyber attacks in the healthcare industry are only getting more common
Faustine Ngila - Quartz
More than a quarter of the US population has had their health data exposed in security breaches this year, with a rise in ransomware attacks and other hacking efforts affecting nearly 87 million patients, according to internet security firm Atlas VPN. Data of more than 45 million patients was compromised in the third quarter of 2023 alone, up from the 37 million patients affected in all of 2022.
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AI chatbots are supposed to improve health care. But research says some are perpetuating racism
Garance Burke and Matt O'Brien - Associated Press via ABC News
As hospitals and health care systems turn to artificial intelligence to help summarize doctors' notes and analyze health records, a new study led by Stanford School of Medicine researchers cautions that popular chatbots are perpetuating racist, debunked medical ideas, prompting concerns that the tools could worsen health disparities for Black patients. Powered by AI models trained on troves of text pulled from the internet, chatbots such as ChatGPT and Google's Bard responded to the researchers' questions with a range of misconceptions and falsehoods about Black patients, sometimes including fabricated, race-based equations, according to the study published Friday in the academic journal Digital Medicine and obtained exclusively by The Associated Press.
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Goldman Sachs wants to train 1,000 employees in 'mental health first aid' by 2024 as Wall Street confronts mental health crisis
Paige McGlauflin and Joseph Abrams - Fortune (paywalled)
Goldman's expansion of mental health services may signal a broader perspective shift on Wall Street.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China megacity to build US$30 billion hi-tech infrastructure cluster by 2026, and investors will be key; Shanghai's internet speeds and cellphone coverage should get a big boost as undertaking includes large-scale upgrades to 5G networks and computing power; Chinese leadership wants to see the digital economy pick up the slack and drive growth, and regional powerhouses such as Shanghai are poised to take the lead
Ji Siqi - South China Morning Post
Shanghai is setting out to construct the world's largest innovative infrastructure cluster - with the most comprehensive components and the strongest services - by the end of 2026, according to details of a new three-year plan released on the government's website on Thursday. The hi-tech endeavour - including 5G networks and amped-up computing power to cultivate a supercharged digital economy - comes as the central government has been putting the onus on computing power, given that its tech war with the US shows no sign of abating.
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Germany Still Trades Russian Gas as Canceling Costs EUR10 Billion; SEFE has picked up two Russian LNG cargoes destined for India; Government faces dilemma over costs versus political rhetoric
Petra Sorge - Bloomberg
Germany is still trading Russian liquefied natural gas, as canceling the contract of a nationalized firm could cost billions of euros - creating a dilemma for Berlin and potentially benefiting Moscow. SEFE GmbH - a former unit of Gazprom PJSC - is shipping Russian LNG under the terms of a legacy contract that existed before Germany took over the company last year. The cargoes, which aren't subject to international sanctions, are bound for India.
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In the World of Oil Sanctions, Venezuela Is No Iran; But the benefits for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the US are clear.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
In late 2022, the US turned a blind eye on Iranian oil sanctions, allowing Tehran to quickly boost production and helping the White House contain energy prices. With Venezuela, the Biden administration has gone much further, formally lifting oil sanctions rather than just overlooking them. But the result in terms of output - and price - won't be the same.
/jlne.ws/3Fo11fx
Where Does Israel Get Its 220,000 Barrels of Oil Every Day?
Julian Lee - Bloomberg
Iran has called for Muslim countries to impose an oil embargo on Israel. The reality is that the oil market is global, giving Israel plenty of scope to overcome such a measure. However, for such a step - were it to be adopted - to have an impact, it would hinge on the participation of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
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Worst-Case War Scenario Could Mean $140 Oil, Says Allianz Trade; Boata places 20% probability on crude-cost surge transpiring; Sovereign risks have also increased in Europe and US, she says
Craig Stirling - Bloomberg
War in the Middle East could cause the oil price to surge to $140 a barrel and bring the world to the brink of a recession, according to Ana Boata, head of economic research at Allianz Trade. Speaking to Kriti Gupta on Bloomberg Television, the Paris-based analyst placed a 20% probability of such an outcome transpiring, with hostilities between Israel and Hamas - designated a terrorist group by the US and the EU - turning into a broad regional conflict that shuts down crude supplies.
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