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John Lothian Newsletter
​ June 29, 2023 ​ "Irreverent, but never irrelevant"
 
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff

Now that I am no longer an NFA member, I took some time to reflect on some highlights. Back in 2001, when I was working for The Price Futures Group, an Introducing Broker, I ran for the board of the National Futures Association. The NFA was reducing the size of the board and IBs were going from three to two positions on the board. Since the board membership was normally stagnant and there was going to be a race between the three for the two slots, I thought I would run to make things even more fun. Plus, I wanted to use it as a forum to talk about single stock futures, which none of the other IB reps were doing.

During my petition candidacy, I had lots of fun, including writing a commentary titled "Larry Williams and I, Stunning Similarities." Here is a podcast version of that commentary from 2001.

There is a heat dome over Texas and nearby states bringing record breaking temperatures and heat advisories in 16 states on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Texas was hotter than 99% of the planet during the peak of the heatwave. The only locations as hot or hotter were the Sahara Desert and the Persian Gulf area, Yahoo News reported. Thirteen people have died in Texas and another in Louisiana from the triple-digit temperatures, the Associated Press reported.

Intercontinental Exchange reported today it hit record open interest across its global energy futures and options markets of 50.4 million contracts on Jun 23, 2023, up 11% year-over-year (y/y). Across ICE's global oil markets, open interest is up 13% y/y at 12.2 million, with open interest in Brent futures and options up 14% y/y at 5.1 million. ICE humbly added to their press release that "Brent is used to price over three quarters of the world's internationally traded oil and is the most liquid crude oil futures and options market in the world."

The CFTC's Technology Advisory Committee will meet on July 18 from 12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT at the CFTC's Washington, D.C headquarters. This will be the second meeting of the reconstituted TAC committed under the leadership of sponsor Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero.

The CME Group is looking for a manager of data sales in Singapore. You can see the details for the job HERE.

FIA has published its June 2023 highlights.

Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL

*****

Our most read stories yesterday in JLN Options were: That Free Options Trade Comes With Hidden Costs and Traders Scoop Up Bets on Volatility and Times are changing. So must portfolios. ~JB

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STA's Jim Toes on the cooperative culture of the industry, the power of in-person events, and proposed federal regulation
JohnLothianNews.com

JLN spoke with Jim Toes, president and CEO of the Security Traders Association (STA), at the OIC Conference in Nashville. The head of the grassroots trade organization, which serves individuals in the financial services industry, spoke about the outlook for the industry, the lessons learned from COVID, and the possible impact of proposed federal regulation.

Watch the video »

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Big US banks would lose $541bn in doomsday scenario, predicts Fed; Annual stress tests show lenders with more than enough capital to weather economic catastrophe
Joshua Franklin and Stephen Gandel and Colby Smith - Financial Times
The largest US banks would lose $541bn in a hypothetical doomsday economic scenario but still have more than enough capital to absorb the losses, according to annual stress tests conducted by the Federal Reserve. The passing grades given by the Fed on Wednesday to banks including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs lent support to claims from Wall Street executives and regulators that systemically important banks can withstand heavy losses.
/jlne.ws/44f4veG

****** I think the doom would last more than a day for a $541 billion loss.~JJL

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Steve Cohen's Billions Haven't Fixed the Mets. He's Working On Plan B; The New York Mets owner agrees with fans-the team has been terrible. He's trying to figure out what to do if they don't reverse a disastrous season.
Lindsey Adler - The Wall Street Journal
With the richest owner in baseball bankrolling the most expensive roster in Major League Baseball history, the New York Mets were supposed to be baseball's ultimate win-now team. Instead, they are back to where the Mets always are-anxiously plotting for the future again because the present isn't working out. As owner Steve Cohen himself said Wednesday of the team's vanishing 2023 hopes: "All is not lost yet, but it's getting late."
/jlne.ws/4365ay7

****** You can throw all the money you want at the Mets. They are still the Mets, no matter how much Mets superfan Steve Poser might cheer them on.~JJL

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He raised millions to turn manure into green energy. It was all a load of cow dung
Salvador Hernandez - Los Angeles Times
Ray Brewer claimed he could turn cow manure into green energy, and he took in millions of dollars from investors hoping to cash in. Federal prosecutors say it was all a bunch of, well, cow dung. The Porterville, Calif., man was sentenced Monday to six years and nine months in federal prison for running a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.
/jlne.ws/44ss1oF

****** This is not the first investment to turn to %^&*()!~JJL

++++

Wednesday's Top Three
Our top story Wednesday was Global initiative launched to rate corporate carbon offset claims, from Reuters. Second was Nevada Files to Place Crypto Custodian Prime Trust Into Receivership, from The Wall Street Journal. Third was The Smart Confirm Trading Floor Renaissance is Bringing New Life to the CME Trading Floor, a podcast interview and story from John Lothian in JLN.

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John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals.
 
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John Lothian News Editorial Staff:
 
John Lothian
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Sarah Rudolph
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Jeff Bergstrom
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Patrick Lothian
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Robert Lothian
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Nichole Price
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Sally Duros
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Lead Stories
Wall Street Regulators' New Target: Emojis; The new focus on texting and emojis comes as regulators push financial institutions to better monitor and retain business communications
Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal
Emojis are used to make text messages more vivid and personal, but Wall Street regulators say business-related messages with emojis may pose a problem for financial institutions if the correspondence isn't captured and monitored properly. The head of examinations at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the self-regulator for broker-dealers, has said that one priority for the regulator this year is looking broadly at financial firms' written procedures for supervising off-channel communications, including newer ways of communicating such as the use of emojis to convey subtextual messages.
/jlne.ws/3JBNTG8

Cboe expands to 23-hour trading for select corporate bond futures; Move comes as the exchange launches two new options products based off its investment grade and high yield corporate bond index futures.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Cboe has expanded the trading period for in its high yield and investment grade corporate bond futures to nearly 24-hours per weekday to help investors manage their credit portfolios. Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) launched IBHY and IBIG Futures in 2018 and is now planning to extend trading times to cover a 23-hour time period per weekday - from 6 pm ET on the prior day to 9.30 am ET on the current day - as of Q3 this year.
/jlne.ws/43YLxcq

Coinbase to Ask Court to Dismiss SEC Lawsuit
Patricia Kowsmann - The Wall Street Journal
Coinbase said it would ask a court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that alleges the crypto platform failed to properly register its business. The U.S.'s largest crypto exchange said in court documents filed overnight that the SEC can pursue its claims only if the tokens and staking services it has identified are in fact securities. "They are not. The claims must therefore be dismissed," Coinbase said.
/jlne.ws/44ruHTx

SEC Has No Jurisdiction Over Cryptos on Coinbase's Platform, Exchange Claims in Response to Regulator's Lawsuit
Nikhilesh De - CoinDesk
U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase claimed that digital assets listed on its platform fall outside the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) purview in its first legal response to the regulator's lawsuit. The SEC sued Coinbase at the beginning of June, alleging that a dozen of the cryptocurrencies offered through its wallet or trading platforms were unregistered securities. In its answer, filed early Thursday, Coinbase claimed that these cryptos are not investment contracts and therefore are not securities. It's an argument Coinbase has advanced before in public statements like tweets and blog posts, but Thursday's filing goes into further detail explaining the company's position: cryptos on the exchange's secondary market platform are not part of any arrangements where a promoter is selling an asset tied to a contract, the company claimed, basically spelling out the Supreme Court's Howey case as an example.
/jlne.ws/3XtW6BQ

***** Here is the Fortune version of this story.~JJL

Bank of America nurses $100bn paper loss after big bet in bond market; Sum more than double the cost to other US lenders that channelled flood of deposits to cash
Stephen Gandel - Financial Times
Bank of America is bearing the cost of decisions made three years ago to pump the majority of $670bn in pandemic-era deposit inflows into debt markets at a time when bonds traded at historically high prices and low yields. The moves left BofA, the second-largest US bank by assets, with more than $100bn in paper losses at the end of the first quarter, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The sum far exceeds unrealised bond market losses reported by its largest peers.
/jlne.ws/3JDfDKj

FTX managed to get $400 million in funding after Sam Bankman-Fried and an attorney invented a 'sham' agreement to explain close ties with Alameda, new CEO says
Pete Syme - Business Insider
FTX managed to raise $400 million in funding while showing false documents to investors, according to the crypto exchange's new CEO. John J Ray III made the accusation in a report about the company which was filed with the Delaware Bankruptcy Court on Monday. He said that Sam Bankman-Fried and one of the company's attorneys created "sham agreements" to make improper financial arrangements with Alameda, its sister hedge fund, look legitimate.
/jlne.ws/3COewUx

The only winners on Wall Street seem to be the interns - with some earning nearly $20,000 a month
Dan DeFrancesco - Business Insider
There's lots to be concerned about working on Wall Street these days. Stubbornly high interest rates and an all-but-dead market for initial public offerings and dealmaking have made the post-pandemic boom times seem like a distant memory. Unlike years past, bankers contemplating their year-end bonuses are more worried about how low they will fall versus how high they can rise.
/jlne.ws/3r6yOWz

How about a $19,000-per-month internship this summer? That's what the biggest hedge fund in the world is paying as Wall Street returns to the office
Chloe Berger - Fortune
Chad from Murray Hill works hard for the money, he works hard for the money, so you better treat him right. Or maybe just pay him right. That's certainly the case at Citadel and Citadel Securities, where summer interns are reportedly making about $120 an hour this year, a 25% jump from intern pay last year, Bloomberg's Paulina Cachero reported. That translates to $19,200 a month pre-tax for the typical 40-hour workweek and more than four times what the typical U.S. worker makes a month-$4,400. While these interns will only see that kind of paycheck for the summer months, it's equivalent to a $230,400 annual salary.
/jlne.ws/46v0HYs

Cboe Global Markets Plans to Expand Corporate Bond Index Offering with New Options on Futures and Extended Trading Hours for IBHY and IBIG Futures
Cboe
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today announced that it plans to expand its corporate bond index product suite with two new offerings. New options on Cboe iBoxx iShares $ High Yield Corporate Bond Index futures (futures ticker: IBHY) and Cboe iBoxx iShares $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index futures (futures ticker: IBIG) are planned to be listed for trading on Cboe Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) beginning July 10. CFE also plans to extend trading hours for IBHY and IBIG futures to nearly 24-hours per weekday in the third quarter of 2023.
/jlne.ws/440AsHL

UBS Taps Morgan Stanley's Tom Wipf to Help Lead Credit Suisse Tie-Up
Alexandra Harris - Bloomberg
Tom Wipf, a vice chairman at Morgan Stanley, is departing after almost four decades to join UBS Group AG. He will help lead the bank's effort to integrate Credit Suisse's operations in the Americas, according to company spokeswoman Erica Chase, after the emergency takeover of UBS's Swiss rival. Wipf confirmed the move in an interview on Tuesday while declining to provide further details. A representative for Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
/jlne.ws/3Xs0GRf

Crispin Odey's 561 Million pound Fortune Mostly Trapped Out of Reach
Ben Stupples and Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
Crispin Odey, on paper, is a multi millionaire - commanding a vast wealth built over decades that's unlikely to unravel as fast as his tenure atop Odey Asset Management. There's a catch, though: Much of his roughly 561 million pound ($710 million) fortune remains trapped in funds at the investment firm where he was just sacked after multiple allegations of sexual assault were leveled against him. Odey denies the allegations.
/jlne.ws/3JxfNDe

Powell Warns Regulators 'Must Not Grow Complacent' on Financial Stability
Megan Cassella - Barron's
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is warning global regulators not to take the resilience of the financial system for granted and emphasizing the need to strengthen bank supervision and regulation in the aftermath of a series of bank failures this spring.
/jlne.ws/46rERFg

OPEC Shuts Bloomberg, Reuters and WSJ Out of Oil Conference
Emma Ross-Thomas - Bloomberg
OPEC has canceled accreditation for reporters from three major news organizations to cover a conference in Vienna that will feature the head of BP Plc and the European Union's top energy official.
/jlne.ws/3r5Mwcr

Kremlinology, Oil Traders and the Future of OPEC+; Putin made the cartel stronger - remove him and the Saudis have a problem.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
It was unsurprising that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was among the first foreign leaders to telephone Vladimir Putin this week to check on him after the mutiny that failed. The Saudi royal expressed his "relief at the successful de-escalation" and his "wishes of further security and stability."
/jlne.ws/3CYHUqV

FTX Says a Former Top Lawyer Helped Raid Customer Accounts; Firm files suit against compliance officer and general counsel; Daniel Friedberg accused of enabling fraud at crypto firm
Steven Church - Bloomberg
Bankrupt FTX Trading Ltd. is suing the former top compliance officer to the crypto empire, accusing the lawyer of helping company founder and alleged fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried raid customer funds. Daniel Friedberg allegedly enabled top FTX Group managers to misuse billions of dollars of customer funds, according to the lawsuit filed last night in US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington.
/jlne.ws/443LMD0

FTX-Exec Helped Pay Hush Money To Potential Whistleblowers, Lawsuit Claims; Case Against Former FTX Compliance Chief Seeks To Clawback Compensation
Kyle Torpey - Investopedia
New management at bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has filed a lawsuit against former Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) Daniel Friedberg, alleging he enabled fraud and paid "hush money" to prevent employees and their attorneys from exposing those fraudulent activities.
/jlne.ws/44rwpEr

Ex-FTX lawyer Dan Friedberg was SBF's 'fixer,' paid 'hush money' to whistleblowers: lawsuit
Thomas Barrabi - NY Post
Former FTX "chief regulatory officer" Dan Friedberg allegedly helped to steal billions of dollars in customer funds at the cryptocurrency platform while serving as a personal "fixer" for disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a bombshell lawsuit.
/jlne.ws/3CROUpD

Fidelity Plans to Convert $13 Billion of Its Mutual Funds Into ETFs; Firm will convert six active equity mutual funds into ETFs; Conversion trend approaching $100 billion mark in assets
Katherine Greifeld - Bloomberg
Fidelity Investments is planning to convert six more of its mutual funds into exchange-traded funds, adding to a trend that's marked nearly $100 billion in assets. The Boston-based asset manager will turn the six actively managed mutual funds into ETFs in November, according to a filing Wednesday. Those funds collectively manage assets worth roughly $13 billion.
/jlne.ws/3NRtRtx

Brutal heat wave makes Texas among the hottest places on Earth
Denise Chow - NBC News
Blistering triple-digit temperatures across Texas this week have the state rivaling the hottest locations on the planet, including the Sahara Desert and parts of the Persian Gulf. Texas has for weeks been baking under a severe, early season heat wave that is now spreading into the Lower Mississippi Valley and parts of the Southeast.
/jlne.ws/3NUDB6B

Powell: SVB's failure shows Fed needs to step up oversight of mid-sized banks
Jennifer Schonberger - Yahoo Finance
Federal Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and other regional banks shows the central bank needs to step up oversight of mid-sized banks. "These events suggest a need to strengthen our supervision and regulation of institutions that are the size of Silicon Valley Bank," Powell said in a speech in Madrid at the Bank of Spain's Conference on Financial Stability. "I look forward to evaluating proposals for such changes and implementing them where appropriate."
/jlne.ws/46uHq9w

Pension schemes argue London listing reforms would damage City; Investors complain fundamental rights of shareholders would be threatened by FCA's plans to attract more companies to list in the UK
Chris Flood - Financial Times
Plans by the UK's financial regulator to encourage more companies to list their shares in London have triggered a hostile reception from British pension schemes, which warned on Wednesday that the proposals would damage the City's attractiveness as a global business centre.
/jlne.ws/3XxTbZ5



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Ukraine Invasion
News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact
Putin Moves to Seize Control of Wagner's Global Empire
Benoit Faucon, Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw - The Wall Street Journal
In the hours after Yevgeny Prigozhin's army of ex-convicts and mercenaries halted their advance on Moscow, the Kremlin set out to seize full control of the global empire built by the notorious military entrepreneur. Russia's deputy foreign minister flew to Damascus to personally deliver a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: Wagner Group forces would no longer operate there independently.
/jlne.ws/3NDqV2G

Russia Disarray Creates a Moment of Uncertainty in China; Fast-moving developments in Russia have made real Beijing's worry the Ukraine invasion would destabilize its partner against the West
Jason Douglas, Chun Han Wong and Austin Ramzy - The Wall Street Journal
A short-lived mutiny in Russia has brought into relief Beijing's biggest fear surrounding the invasion of Ukraine: that it risked destabilizing its closest partner against the U.S.-led West. That fear remains even after troops controlled by the Wagner paramilitary group called off a push toward Moscow after earlier seizing control of Russia's southern military headquarters in the city of Rostov.
/jlne.ws/3CUSy29

Ukrainian forces advance 'slowly but surely' at front, official says
Reuters
Ukrainian forces are advancing "slowly but surely" on the front lines in the east and southeast of the country as well as around the longstanding flashpoint of Bakhmut, senior military officials said on Wednesday. Since launching an anticipated counter-offensive this month, nearly 16 months into the war, Ukraine says it has reasserted control over clusters of villages in the southeast.
/jlne.ws/3JBkHz5

Wagner's Prigozhin Planned to Capture Russian Military Leaders; Western intelligence officials say Russian domestic intelligence agency learned of plot in advance
Bojan Pancevski - The Wall Street Journal
Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin planned to capture Russia's military leadership as part of last weekend's mutiny, Western officials said, and he accelerated his plans after the country's domestic intelligence agency became aware of the plot. The plot's premature launch was among the factors that could explain its ultimate failure after 36 hours, when Prigozhin called off an armed march on Moscow that had initially faced little resistance.
/jlne.ws/3JDWnfP

As Russia teetered, the elite trembled, and some private jets left
Guy Faulconbridge, Darya Korsunskaya and Gleb Stolyarov - Reuters
As one of the most brutal mercenary forces marched on Moscow, some among Russia's elite trembled in fear that the world's biggest nuclear power was teetering on the brink of what President Vladimir Putin said could have been a civil war. With Putin facing the biggest public challenge of his 23 years as paramount leader, some private jets sped out of Moscow, according to flight tracking data and one source with knowledge of the matter.
/jlne.ws/3puQ47C

Pro-Russian neo-Nazis' Telegram campaigns raise $5m in crypto - but it's 'significantly harder'
Eric Johansson - DL News
/jlne.ws/44i7Ol6

Russia's Notorious Wagner Group Is Being Disbanded. Here's What That Means for Ukraine
Armani Syed - Time
/jlne.ws/3Pxv0rt

U.K Officials Believe Russia Is Likely Training Combat Dolphins To Aid In Ukraine War
MI News Network
/jlne.ws/3CSp1WF

Mercenary Leader's Deep Connections Complicate Putin's Response; The fate of Sergei Surovikin, a senior Russian general who American officials say knew about Yevgeny V. Prigozhin's rebellion in advance, is unknown.
The New York Times
/jlne.ws/3pAAo2t








Exchanges, OTC & Clearing
Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities
Sustainable Investment Awards 2023
Stock exchange of the year: London Stock Exchange - Environmental Finance
2022 saw the launch by the London Stock Exchange of the world-first Voluntary Carbon Market designation, which enables companies to channel capital into climate change mitigation projects worldwide to help increase the global supply of "high-quality" carbon credits. It allows a fund or an operating company to raise capital from investors, which will be invested into climate change mitigation projects, like reforestation or carbon capture and storage, possibly alongside other climate-aligned assets.
/jlne.ws/444yqq9

Tackling Youth Unemployment through Financial Literacy: A Collective Endeavour
Vuyo Lee - Johannesburg Stock Exchange
As we commemorate Youth Month, it is only fitting for South Africa's spotlight to be firmly focused on the plight of our young people and the sobering challenge of youth unemployment. This pressing issue, compounded by a staggering unemployment rate of over 60% among those aged 15-24, is not only a concern today but casts a long shadow over the socio-economic future of the country.
/jlne.ws/3JAZdSO

Opening doors: how TSX is broadening markets in a changing world
Alex Pugh - MarketsMedia
TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV), Canada's public venture market, is an ecosystem for launching early-stage companies, funding primary growth and providing investors access to unique small cap investment opportunities. In June 2022, TSXV launched Venture Forward, a programme that aims to identify the key challenges and opportunities for such an ecosystem. Best Execution spoke to Tim Babcock, vice president and head of TSXV, on how the initiative has engaged with stakeholders, wider global headwinds and opportunities, and the development of a potentially entirely new exchange for early-stage firms and alternative asset classes.
/jlne.ws/3XsqufO

HKEX Signs Cooperation Agreement With Beijing Stock Exchange
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is pleased to announce it has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE). The MOU reflects both exchanges' commitment to building long-term cooperation in support of cross listings; and sharing insight and expertise to promote the growth of capital markets in both Hong Kong and Beijing.
/jlne.ws/3Xu6RnI

SET Joins Forces With Partners To Present The Role Of Leadership In Transforming ESG Visions Into Actions On June 28
Mondovisione
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and partners jointly organized the 2nd "SET Sustainability Forum: From Sustainability Ambitions...to Action" on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. In the event, executives from leading local and international organizations were invited to share roles of organization leaders in driving sustainable visions into tangible practices. This is aimed at enhancing competitiveness, expanding business growth opportunities amidst the current challenging factors faced by all sectors.
/jlne.ws/46mnuG5

ICE Reaches Record Open Interest Across Global Energy Markets
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced record open interest (OI) across its global energy futures and options markets of 50.4 million contracts on June 23, 2023, up 11% year-over-year (y/y). Across ICE's global oil markets, OI is up 13% y/y at 12.2 million, with OI in Brent futures and options up 14% y/y at 5.1 million. Brent is used to price over three quarters of the world's internationally traded oil and is the most liquid crude oil futures and options market in the world.
/jlne.ws/3NufY3m

ASX Corrects Speculation On CHESS Replacement Solution
ASX
See attached letter to the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services responding to recent speculation that ASX has made a decision regarding the solution and a partner for the replacement of CHESS. ASX confirms that no decision has been taken to determine the solution for the replacement of CHESS from the range of possible technologies and partners being considered.
/jlne.ws/351gPmZ

The MARF registers a new Securitisation Bonds Programme for 200 million euros of Pensium
BME
BME's fixed income market, MARF, has admitted to trading a new EUR 200 million bond issuance programme of the Pensium ESG I Securitisation Fund. The new programme will allow Pensium Direct, the Fund's transferor, to access the fixed income markets in a flexible manner to finance its activity and growth.
/jlne.ws/44GUbMT

Micro WTI Crude Oil Futures Surpass 50 Million Contracts Traded, Now Fifth Most Actively Traded Energy Futures Contract
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced that trading in Micro WTI Crude Oil futures surpassed 50 million contracts on June 28, 2023 making it the fifth most actively traded energy futures contract at CME Group, behind only the benchmark WTI, Henry Hub, RBOB and NY Harbor contracts.
/jlne.ws/3r8848c

Message Regarding the Listing Rules for Actively Managed ETFs
Japan Exchange Group
In relation to the new listing rules for actively managed ETFs released today by Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), we are pleased to inform the attached message from Yamaji Hiromi, CEO of JPX Group.
/jlne.ws/42ZmpkF

Deposito Central de Valores to Digitize Securities, Leveraging Nasdaq Technology
Nasdaq
Depósito Central de Valores, Chile's Central Securities Depository, Expands Capabilities to Support the Registration, Transfer and Settlement of Digitized Securities. Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) and Depósito Central de Valores (DCV) today announced an extension of their technology partnership, which will allow DCV to issue and settle digitized securities. Incorporating this service will differentiate DCV as a first mover in the tokenization of assets whilst providing its clients with one platform, based on a consolidated view and single access point across all asset classes.
/jlne.ws/3NUatfN

News Release
TAIFEX
The Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) has announced the temporarily
increased margin levels of FGF due to its underlying being subject to disposition
measures imposed by securities market. The margins will be effective after the
close of the regular trading session on 2023/06/30 and will be restored to the
current levels after the close of the regular trading session on 2023/07/12.
(Margin levels will be increased from 2023/06/30 to 2023/07/12 and will be
extended accordingly if the securities market is closed on any of the days.)
/jlne.ws/3JzzyK4

TMX Group Limited announces release date for Q2 2023 financial results and analyst conference call
TMX Group
TMX Group Limited will announce its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 in the evening of Thursday, July 27, 2023. An analyst conference call to review the results will be held on Friday, July 28, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. ET.
/jlne.ws/44GX68j

Moscow Exchange starts trading in premium currency options
MOEX
On July 3, 2023, trading in premium options for the currency pairs "US dollar - Russian ruble", "Euro - Russian ruble" and "Chinese yuan - Russian ruble" will begin on the derivatives market of the Moscow Exchange.
/jlne.ws/3CRZJYR




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Fintech
A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors
Bank-fintech partnerships come under closer scrutiny from US bank regulators
Reuters
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency - the top regulating agencies in the United States - have issued final guidelines to help banks manage risks associated with their third-party relationships.
Experts find that the most noteworthy undertone of the guidance is the emphasis that regulators place on relationships between banks and financial-technology (fintech) firms.
/jlne.ws/3JEkhI1

Visa $1 billion buyout of Brazil's Pismo eases fintech M&A slowdown
Reuters
Payments giant Visa Inc (V.N) on Wednesday agreed to acquire Brazilian fintech platform Pismo for $1 billion in cash to expand its footprint in Latin America, a vote of renewed confidence in the region amid a funding slowdown. The Pismo deal is the largest fintech exit in Latin America since Nubank went public in late 2021 and the largest disclosed startup exit so far this year.
/jlne.ws/3Noys5a

Consumer Data Protection: Can the U.S. FinTech Industry Solve the Problem? - Rolling Stone
Cassandra Ingram - Rolling Stone
There have been two main players to date when it comes to consumer data protection, or, rather, the lack thereof. There are companies, largely Big Tech, that want to harvest and sell consumer data, and there's the government which is attempting to regulate it. But there needs to be a third: the consumer. When it comes down to it, we're seeing that action at the regulatory level will not solve consumer data protection issues alone. Consumers must have a seat at the table, especially since the proliferation of technology has led to more harmful data practices. They need a meaningful role and to be invested in the solution so they can influence the outcome.
/jlne.ws/433glaK



Vermiculus



Cybersecurity
Top stories for cybersecurity
Push payment fraud complaints rise; Losses rose to £485mn, despite fall in cases at banks that joined compensation scheme
Rafe Uddin - Financial Times
UK banks which signed up to a scheme to compensate fraud victims have seen complaints decline, according to a report which could offer the industry an opportunity to alter regulators' plans for mandatory compensation. The 10 banks, which include the larger high street names, saw a 10 per cent dip in complaints to regulators last year, down to 5,202, according to the Financial Ombudsman Service. By contrast, other lenders that failed to join the compensation scheme saw a 38 per cent rise in complaints, driving a 17 per cent increase overall.
/jlne.ws/3reg736

Cyware lands $30M to modernize cybersecurity operations
Kyle Wiggers - TechCrunch
Cyware, a startup developing products to help enterprises modernize their security operations, today announced that it raised $30 million in a Series C funding round led by Ten Eleven Ventures. Advent International, Zscaler, Emerald Development Managers, Prelude and Great Road Holdings also participated, bringing Cyware's total raised to $73 million.
/jlne.ws/3Nzh265

Georgia elections official downplays cybersecurity threats despite report
Timothy Pratt - The Guardian
Georgia's top election official is disregarding a recently released report that identifies serious vulnerabilities in Georgia's computerized election system, instead siding with a conflicting report and claiming that scientific findings about cybersecurity threats are no more than conspiracy theories.
/jlne.ws/3Jxeq7y

White House unveils fiscal 2025 cybersecurity investment priorities
Chris Riotta - NextGov
The administration is urging agencies to align their fiscal 2025 budget requests with recent guidance that prioritizes strengthening federal networks and systems against cyber intrusions.
/jlne.ws/46qwaLz





Cryptocurrencies
Top stories for cryptocurrencies
It's A 'Forgone Conclusion' That Ethereum Is A Commodity, Says Joe Lubin
Andrew Throuvalas - Decrypt
Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is waging legal war across the crypto space, Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin isn't breaking a sweat. When asked about regulators potentially treating Ether (ETH) like a security, the Consensys CEO explained during a Tuesday interview with CNBC that the regulatory verdict on Ethereum is already in.
/jlne.ws/3CWTJxO

Why Did Citadel-Backed EDX List Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash?
Mathew Di Salvo - Decrypt
Bitcoin Cash, a spin-off from the oldest digital asset, has struggled to find a market since launching in 2017. But it's been on a roll this month: since the start of June, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is up 98%, jumping from $113 to $224. The slightly obscure digital asset-one of many cryptocurrency "forks"-is following Bitcoin, like many other coins and tokens which have surged in price since the biggest digital asset experienced a run. But BCH is doing by far the best.
/jlne.ws/44q29cL

Coinbase shares are up 35% since the SEC sued the crypto exchange for allegedly selling unregistered securities
Ben Weiss - Fortune
Coinbase shares tumbled approximately 20% in early June following the Securities and Exchange Commission's blockbuster lawsuits against Binance and then Coinbase. But Coinbase stock has bounced back, rising some 35% after dropping to a low of about $51 on the day that the SEC sued the U.S.'s largest crypto exchange. As of Wednesday morning, shares were trading near $70, and the publicly traded company's market capitalization has risen to about $16.4 billion.
/jlne.ws/3NxMe5n

TrueUSD Depegs on Binance.US, Drops to 80 Cents Against Tether
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
The dollar-pegged stablecoin TrueUSD (TUSD) is trading at a discount relative to its compatriot tether (USDT) on Binance.US, the U.S. subsidiary of Binance. At press time, the TUSD/USDT pair traded at 89 cents on Binance.US, having hit a low of 80 cents on Wednesday, data from charting platform TradingView show. On Binance, the pair traded at around $0.9980.
/jlne.ws/440w7Ew

Michael Saylor touts a new massive bitcoin haul as MicroStrategy now 'hodls' $4.6 billion worth of tokens
Phil Rosen - Business Insider
MicroStrategy just added 12,333 bitcoins to its coffers at an average purchase price of $28,136 per token, according to a new regulatory filing. Founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, a prominent bitcoin bull, tweeted the announcement Wednesday, adding that the company now "hodls" - an acronym for "hold on for dear life" - 152,333 bitcoins in total, acquired for roughly $4.52 billion and purchased at an average price of $29,668 per token.
/jlne.ws/3NPOeaH

Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy buys $347 million in Bitcoin following recent upswing
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez - Fortune
/jlne.ws/3r8YCl3

FTX Customers Have Until End-September to Submit Bankruptcy Claims
Sam Reynolds - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/4363BjI

Gary Gensler Failed the U.S. Crypto Industry, and So Has Congress
Paolo Tasca - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3PvpRAk




FTSE



Politics
An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets
Republicans' Anti-Woke, Anti-Vote Crusade Has Crashed Into the Constitution
Charles M. Blow - The New York Times
Before the dust had cleared on the 2020 election, Republicans in statehouses across the country had already regrouped and coalesced around a core crusade - revived and revitalized - that was anti-woke and anti-vote. Having lost control of the presidency and Congress, they funneled their quest for control into voting booths, bathrooms, locker rooms, classrooms and doctors' offices. If they couldn't control the highest rungs of power, they would look to exert control over Americans' lives at the lower rungs. They would come to insert themselves into the most intimate of activities - between voters and ballots, between families and doctors, between teachers and students.
/jlne.ws/3r6Pqxo

Can Anyone Fix California?
Joe Hagan - Vanity Fair
She arrives, queenlike, in a designer Italian overcoat, high collar, and sunglasses, lipstick smile at once warm and fixed. An aide guides her by the elbow, security detail in tow, to the dining room of Pier 23, an old-school San Francisco tavern in the Embarcadero with a stuffed marlin on the wall and a multistory cruise ship idling outside.
/jlne.ws/3CSM4R

Labour seeks to unlock £10bn for investment in green infrastructure; UK opposition party plans to change 'covered bond' rules to include environmental projects
Emma Dunkley and Jim Pickard - Financial Times
A Labour government would seek to unlock at least £10bn a year of extra money from banks and insurers to invest in Britain's clean energy industry, shadow City minister Tulip Siddiq has revealed. Siddiq told the Financial Times that Labour is exploring how to use the covered bond market to channel more money into wind farms, hydrogen and other green infrastructure projects.
/jlne.ws/3r4qS8i

EU rejects US offer to end steel tariff dispute; Brussels and Washington need to find solution by October to avert trade war
Andy Bounds - Financial Times
The EU has rejected a proposed US solution to end tariffs on steel and aluminium, heightening fears of a renewed transatlantic trade dispute. The two sides paused a tariff war over measures imposed by then US president Donald Trump in 2021 but must find a binding deal on a new "green steel" club by October. But the EU believes the US's proposed solution is likely to breach World Trade Organization rules because it discriminates in favour of domestic producers, according to officials with knowledge of the situation.
/jlne.ws/3CPSlNs



Regulation & Enforcement
Stories about regulation and the law.
FCA quizzes platforms on offering Odey funds to retail investors; Watchdog's scrutiny comes after sexual assault allegations against hedge fund's founder
Laura Noonan and Arjun Neil Alim - Financial Times
The UK's top financial regulator is pressing investment platforms including AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and Halifax on their continued offering of funds from Odey Asset Management to retail investors, people familiar with the situation told the Financial Times. A string of funds have already been suspended in the fallout from sexual misconduct allegations against the hedge fund firm's founder, Crispin Odey.
/jlne.ws/4310n0J

Securities Broker Faces Insider-Trading Probe Tied to Morgan Stanley Deals; Prosecutors are examining whether broker traded on unlawfully obtained information about planned M&A
James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey - The Wall Street Journal
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether a securities broker and his associates traded on confidential information illegally obtained from Morgan Stanley about planned mergers and acquisitions, according to people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/3r9YFwT

Federal Court Orders Ohio Man to Pay Over $50 Million for Fraudulent Digital Asset Trading Scheme
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that on June 13, Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a default judgment granting a permanent injunction against Michael Ackerman of Alliance, Ohio. The order bans Ackerman from trading in any CFTC-regulated markets and registering with the CFTC. It also requires him to pay $27 million in restitution to defrauded victims and a $27 million civil monetary penalty in connection with a fraudulent digital asset trading scheme.
/jlne.ws/443vSsv

Ex-Trader Ordered to Pay $54 Million CFTC Fine Over Crypto Fraud
Stacy Elliott - Decrypt
Another alleged crypto fraudster that profited heavily from the 2017 ICO bull mania is now facing the music, a whole 41 months after he was charged by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on February 11, 2020. Previous CFTC cases against financial fraudsters in crypto, such as CabbageTech, Mirror Trading International, or Empowercoin have taken far less time to resolve.
/jlne.ws/3CQvlOn

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero Announces July 18 Technology Advisory Committee Meeting
CFTC
Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero, sponsor of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Technology Advisory Committee (TAC), today announced the TAC will meet July 18, following the TAC's inaugural March 22 meeting. The meeting will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (EDT) at the CFTC's Washington, D.C. headquarters. The public will be able to watch the live meeting via webcast at CFTC.gov
/jlne.ws/3PyaG9u

CFTC Staff Releases Request for Comment on the Impact of Affiliations of Certain CFTC-Regulated Entities
CFTC
Staff of the Divisions of Market Oversight, Clearing and Risk and Market Participants today issued a request for comment to better inform them of potential issues that may arise because of affiliations of CFTC-registered entities with market participants.
/jlne.ws/3Xt2l98

Statement by Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger in Support of the Request for Comment on the Impact of Affiliations Between Certain CFTC-Regulated Entities
CFTC
I am pleased to see the release of the Request for Comment on the Impact of Affiliations Between Certain CFTC-Regulated Entities (Request for Comment). This Request for Comment is an important initial step in addressing concerns within the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) related to common ownership and control of certain regulated entities. I look forward to hearing from the public and stakeholders regarding their concerns, ideas, and suggestions.
/jlne.ws/3pw4HaD

Statement of Commissioner Caroline D. Pham Regarding Request for Comment on the Impact of Affiliations Between Certain CFTC-Regulated Entities
CFTC
Today, CFTC staff issued a Request for Comment on the impact of "affiliations between certain CFTC-Regulated Entities", specifically derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs), designated contract markets (DCMs), swap execution facilities (SEFs), futures commission merchants (FCMs), and other market participants. I encourage all stakeholders to provide comment and address the questions presented. I also appreciate the leadership of my fellow Commissioners in examining these issues.
/jlne.ws/440BXFW

SEC Charges Convicted Fraudster in Real Estate Ponzi Scheme
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Wilson Baston with defrauding numerous investors in a Ponzi scheme, in which he raised millions of dollars through dozens of transactions purportedly to fund real estate investments, but frequently used the money to instead pay off earlier investors and for personal expenses.
/jlne.ws/3CSEcPG

SEC Charges Former Musclepharm Executives with Accounting and Disclosure Fraud
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday filed a settled complaint charging Las Vegas-based nutritional supplement company MusclePharm Corp.'s former Executive Vice President of Sales and Operations, Brian H. Casutto, former Vice President of Sales, Matthew J. Zucco, and former contract Chief Financial Officer, Kevin R. Harris, for engaging in improper revenue recognition practices to achieve revenue growth demanded by its former Chief Executive Officer, Ryan C. Drexler. The SEC also separately charged Drexler with fraud in a litigated complaint for disclosure violations and control failures.
/jlne.ws/3rbZftP

SEC Obtains Emergency Relief to Halt Pre-Ipo Stock Fraud Scheme by Unregistered Broker-Dealer
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it obtained a preliminary injunction, asset freeze, and other emergency relief against Legend Venture Partners LLC, a New York City-based unregistered broker-dealer, in connection with a fraudulent scheme involving the sale of interests in private companies that had the potential for a public offering. Last year, the SEC shut down a similar scheme by StraightPath Venture Partners LLC, for which Legend's principals and many of its sales agents had previously worked.
/jlne.ws/3NQLg4H

FCA outlines concerns about sustainability-linked loans market
FCA
Our work as a regulator has regard to the government's commitment to a net zero economy by 2050. The Chancellor has also asked us to have regard to the government's ambitions for the provision of sustainable finance.
Although we do not regulate this market directly, we want to ensure that the sustainable finance market works well, and that market integrity is maintained.
/jlne.ws/46pCjaT








Investing & Trading
Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities)
Nvidia Warns of Lost Opportunities if U.S. Bans AI Chip Exports to China; New restrictions being weighed by the Biden administration could also heighten tensions between the U.S. and China
Asa Fitch and Yuka Hayashi - The Wall Street Journal
Potential new restrictions on the sale of artificial intelligence semiconductors to China could come with a hefty long-term cost for the American chip industry-and another setback for U.S. relations with Beijing. The potential export controls would prevent Nvidia and other chip makers from shipping chips used to create powerful AI systems to China without first obtaining a license. The consequences could be severe, said Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief financial officer.
/jlne.ws/437dCgt




Qontigo




Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance
Stories about environmental, social and governance investing
The State of World Energy Explained in 4 Charts; New data spotlights high energy demand in developing economies, the booming trade in LNG and the exponential growth of renewables.
Nathaniel Bullard - Bloomberg
Every year for nearly seven decades, oil major BP Plc published its Statistical Review of World Energy, tallying up the world's stocks and flows and combustion of hydrocarbons, as well as power generation data and even prices for metals critical to the energy transition, such as cobalt and lithium. Now the analysis has a new home: the UK-based Energy Institute, a membership organization for professionals in the energy industry, which took over publication from BP.
/jlne.ws/3pt0Xql

The Three Biggest Letters in Carbon Removal Are MRV; Monitoring, reporting and verification are becoming increasingly crucial to ensuring that carbon removal startups are delivering on their promises to clean up the atmosphere.
Michelle Ma - Bloomberg
Last year, a group of Norwegian auditors touched down in a remote corner of Iceland to meet with Climeworks, a Swiss company that built the world's largest plant of its kind. They weren't there just to open the books, but to open machines that were doing what none had done before at this scale: remove carbon directly from the air.
/jlne.ws/3NtpF1T

How heat discrimination divides US cities - right down to the trees; Segregated and poorer areas were designed to be unequal, including the planting that helps cut temperatures
Patti Waldmeir - Financial Times
In the US, one of the most racially divided countries on earth, even heat discriminates. Many non-white, poorer parts of US cities are simply hotter than white neighbourhoods - and that's partly because they were designed to be unequal. In my (mostly white, affluent) neighbourhood near Chicago, the tree canopy is twice that of historically segregated (and still mostly non-white) areas only a few blocks away.
/jlne.ws/3XxsO5j

Funding to Cut Methane Emissions 'Woefully' Short of What's Needed; Curbing the potent gas is a quick climate fix, but global spending on it is only about 10% of the amount required, according to a new analysis.
Jennifer A Dlouhy - Bloomberg
Scores of nations have pledged to slash their methane emissions, recognizing that the gas is a powerful climate pollutant and stifling it is one of the best and fastest ways to slow global warming. But when it comes to financing that work, the world isn't stepping up.
/jlne.ws/3NSjsOt

How will climate change affect the holiday map? For many well-off people, the first tangible effect of rising temperatures will be a shift in vacation destination
Simon Kuper - Financial Times
In 1975, Rudi Carrell, a Dutchman who became a star of German television, had a hit with the song "Wann wird's mal wieder richtig Sommer?" or "When will it really be summer again?" He longed for bygone heatwaves, "when you didn't need the sauna/ when sheep were happy to be shorn":
/jlne.ws/43cvWoE

Wind Turbines That Shake and Break Cost Their Maker Billions
Will Mathis, Wilfried Eckl-Dorna and Rodrigo Orihuela - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/44q2lJ4

U.S. launches $7 billion program to bring solar to low-income households
Valerie Volcovici - Reuters
/jlne.ws/3pqJrD5

Climate Change Can Turn Snow Into Rain, Raising Risks in Mountain Zones; High-altitude regions will get more extreme rain than previously thought, making floods and landslides more likely, a study finds.
Delger Erdenesanaa - The New York Times
/jlne.ws/3NQhCh2

Rainfall Extremes Increasingly Threaten Mountain Regions and Areas Downstream From Them; A new study suggests the threat of flooding rains, landslides and erosion has been underestimated, especially in high-elevation and snow-dominated regions.
Bob Berwyn - Inside Climate News
/jlne.ws/3NyRiGI








Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds
The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures
JPMorgan Subpoenaed Over Diamond Sports Shares Sale
Brendan Coffey and Michael McCann - Sportico
Investment bank JPMorgan Chase has been subpoenaed by attorneys for Diamond Sports Group to provide information around the bank's holdings of preferred shares of the troubled regional sports network-including the bank's well-timed sale of those shares ahead of Diamond's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
/jlne.ws/3qZqasO

How will UBS strip back Credit Suisse's investment bank? Reducing the lossmaking and capital-intensive business to its bones will be no easy task
Owen Walker - Financial Times
In the days after agreeing to rescue Credit Suisse, UBS executives rushed to assure investors they would not let their rival's scandal-plagued investment bank infect their own. With the takeover complete, UBS is now embarking on a project few have succeeded in doing before: stripping the lossmaking and capital-intensive business back to its bare bones.
/jlne.ws/46FLQLd

Podcast: Banks try to avoid ending up like SVB; Sterling suffers biggest one-day fall against the dollar in a month following UK growth fears
Financial Times
Sterling suffers biggest one-day fall against the dollar in a month following UK growth fears, US banks are stepping up the sales of their loan portfolios, and Odey Asset Management continues to spiral after an FT investigation into sexual misconduct allegations at the hedge fund.
/jlne.ws/3r8QQrr

US banks shrug off turmoil to ace Fed's annual health checks
Pete Schroeder - Reuters
Big U.S. banks sailed through the Federal Reserve's annual health check on Wednesday, in a vote of confidence for a sector still recovering from turmoil earlier this year and facing an uncertain economic outlook.
/jlne.ws/3pt1QiF

Mizuho EMEA joins Neptune network as axe dealer for bonds; The move comes as the buy-side are increasingly seeking higher quality data from liquidity providers; Mizuho will distribute axes for investment grade and high yield corporate credit.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Mizuho EMEA has joined the bond dealer community on fixed income data platform, Neptune Networks. Following its addition, the bank will distribute axes for investment grade and high yield corporate credit.
/jlne.ws/3XxxVm6




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Work & Management
Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends.
Want One of India's Best Jobs? You and 1,800 Other Applicants; In some places, educated young people are desperate for steady employment in the world's most populous nation. In others, factory owners struggle to retain workers.
Alex Travelli and Hari Kumar - The New York Times
The grubby lanes of Musallahpur, in the north Indian city of Patna, heave with the foot traffic, banners and vending carts familiar to commercial hubs across India. Here, though, the cacophony is directed toward a single goal: helping young people land a government job. Musallahpur is filled with brick-barn classrooms where 20-somethings crowd themselves and their heavy backpacks to train for standardized employment exams. With nearly 1,800 applicants for every one of the state's top-tier jobs, they know it is the ultimate long shot. But in a country where semi-employed drudgery defines life for hundreds of millions, it is their only hope.
/jlne.ws/444ZV31

Big News Publishers Look to Team Up to Address Impact of AI; New York Times, Wall Street Journal parent News Corp and Dotdash Meredith owner IAC are among companies discussing forming a coalition
Alexandra Bruell - The Wall Street Journal
Several large news and magazine publishers are discussing the formation of a new coalition to address the impact of artificial intelligence on the industry, according to people familiar with the matter. The possibility of such a group has been discussed among executives and lawyers at the New York Times; Wall Street Journal parent News Corp ; Vox Media; Condé Nast parent Advance; Politico and Insider owner Axel Springer; and Dotdash Meredith parent IAC, the people said.
/jlne.ws/3PuVeem








Wellness Exchange
An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information
How Bad Will the Ticks Be This Summer? Thanks to migrating birds and deer vasectomies, new tick species are settling in New York City, as some experts prepare for the worst.
Joseph Goldstein - The New York Times
If you end up becoming one of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers expected to be bitten by a tick this summer, don't be surprised. Some experts are warning that it could be a particularly bad tick season. For decades, the main public health threat from ticks in New York has been Lyme disease, transmitted by the blacklegged tick, often called the "deer tick," which generally picks up the pathogen from rodents. But new tick-borne pathogens - with names like Bourbon and Heartland virus - have been detected in New York State in recent years, and rare tick-borne illnesses like babesiosis are infecting more people year by year.
/jlne.ws/3NzHsEq

Heat Wave: Dangerous High Temperatures Stretch Across the South; A dome of high pressure that has baked parts of the region for more than a week will drive the heat index up to 120 degrees from Missouri to Florida, forecasters say.
The New York Times
The heat wave scorching Texas and other parts of the United States has also brought triple-digit temperatures across Mexico, especially in the country's northern states. The conditions have raised concerns about the possibility of a sharp spike in deaths and illnesses caused by the surging temperatures, as well as the stress being placed on the energy grid.
/jlne.ws/3Xs8jqN








Regions
Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions
Van Eck moves to match BlackRock in Australia ETF price war; The reduced fees will affect a global infrastructure and an international property fund
Julienne Raven Lingat - Financial Times
US-based exchange traded fund provider VanEck has announced huge fee cuts for its Australia-listed global infrastructure and international property ETFs, after BlackRock undercut its rival by rolling out similar low-cost ETFs last month.
/jlne.ws/3NzP5Lc

South-east Asia braced for fires and drought brought on by El Niño; From Indonesia to Vietnam, the weather pattern is set to hit critical crops as well as industrial sector
Erwida Maulia, Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat and Lien Hoang - Financial Times
Sweltering heat spreading through south-east Asia in recent weeks heralds the return of El Niño, with governments across the region bracing to fight water shortages, forest fires and clouds of choking haze as the weather pattern strengthens.
/jlne.ws/433Ncfu

Climate change: China's green power surge offers hope on warming
Matt McGrath & Mark Poynting - BBC News
Wind and solar power are booming in China and may help limit global carbon emissions far faster than expected, according to a new study. Solar panel installations alone are growing at a pace that would increase global capacity by 85% by 2025. The report says the country's green energy targets for 2030 look set to be exceeded five years ahead of schedule. But coal plants are also increasing, partly as backup for all the new wind and solar farms, the authors say.
/jlne.ws/3XDcuQz

Canary Wharf is changing, not dying; Satellite business districts are having to reinvent themselves post-pandemic
The editorial board - Financial Times
When Jacques Attali, the first president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, visited London in 1990 to consider options for its headquarters, urban legend suggests he took one look at the Canary Wharf site favoured by the UK government and issued a decisive "non".
/jlne.ws/3XrWv81

Thames Water in crisis talks over potential 10bn pound black hole; Minister tells Guardian government has 'no grasp' of cost involved in preventing possible collapse
Anna Isaac, Alex Lawson and Jillian Ambrose - The Guardian
The government has "no true grasp on the costs" involved in preventing a collapse of Thames Water, with estimates presented to ministers and regulators suggesting the company could be facing a hole of 10bn pounds in its finances, the Guardian can reveal.
/jlne.ws/46vwRn0

UK to run only one coal-fired power plant this winter; Energy company Drax scraps plan to bring two others out of retirement to help guard against power cuts
Jillian Ambrose - The Guardian
/jlne.ws/3psY7BH

Extreme Heat Is Already Straining the Mexican Power Grid; Climate change is making scorching temperatures more common in the country, which last week surpassed the peak energy demand of 2022.
Gina Jimenez - Inside Climate News
/jlne.ws/432IRcv








Miscellaneous
Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections
Something Was Messing With Earth's Axis. The Answer Has to Do With Us. Scientists knew the planet's centerline could move. But it took a sharp turn sometime around the start of the 2000s.
Raymond Zhong - The New York Times
Around the turn of the millennium, Earth's spin started going off-kilter, and nobody could quite say why. For decades, scientists had been watching the average position of our planet's rotational axis, the imaginary rod around which it turns, gently wander south, away from the geographic North Pole and toward Canada. Suddenly, though, it made a sharp turn and started heading east.
/jlne.ws/44nTebT







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