| February 10, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
JLN Staff
The SEC dropped some press releases yesterday and a whole bunch of statements from the SEC commissioners about them. The SEC proposed to enhance private fund investor protection by increasing transparency, competition, and efficiency in the $18-trillion marketplace.
The SEC also proposed [https://jlne.ws/3sqDLGK|[cybersecurity risk management rules and amendments]] for registered investment advisers and funds.
And, just to bury the lede, the SEC issued a proposal to reduce the risks in clearance and settlement of securities by shortening the settlement cycle for most broker-dealer transactions from two business days after the trade, or what is known as T+2, down to one business day after the trade date or T+1. Of course the guys in the blockchain world are smiling saying, don't worry, we can take it down even further, even faster.
Another story gaining steam is the Democrats embracing the no stock trading by Congress bill. There is an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal by John Hartley, a doctoral student in economics at Stanford and a research fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, that addresses the issue of insider trading by Congress. The fine for insider trading for Congress is $200? Really? That is like paying a commission or an advisory fee, hardly something that is going to stop them from doing it. I remain in favor of allowing them to trade, but they must post their trades in real-time, automatically. It is easy enough for this to be programmed. Transparency, just like the SEC promotes.
ASX Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dominic Stevens has announced his intention to retire this year. ASX also issued the following press releases: Notification of dividend / distribution. ASX CEO Announces Plan To Retire, Appendix 4D and 2022 Half-Year Financial Statements, 2022 Half-Year Results Presentation and Speaking Notes, 2022 Half-Year Results Presentation Slides,2022 Half-Year Results Market Release ~ (details)
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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John Damgard - The History of Financial Futures
JohnLothianNews.com
Longtime Washington Hand Who Led FIA, Reflects on the Start of CFTC, FIA and NFA as Financial Futures Began
John Damgard spoke in 2019 to John Lothian News for The History of Financial Futures video series, when he was attending the FIA conference in Boca Raton.
John Damgard was a key player in creating the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the 1970s. Many reasons pointed to the need for a regulator with greater capabilities than those of the Department of Agriculture, which had meager resources available for overseeing the agricultural futures of the day.
Watch the video »
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JPMorgan estimates bitcoin's fair value
Suban Abdulla - Yahoo Finance
The valuation comes after bitcoin finally shrugged off weeks of blues earlier this week, breaking the key $40,000 threshold for the first time in almost a month. Photo: Chesnot/Getty Images
For the first time ever, US investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) has attempted to evaluate the world's largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC-USD). The "fair value" of the crypto world's so-called liquid gold is around 12% below its current price. This is based on bitcoin's volatility in comparison with gold, JPMorgan said.
/jlne.ws/3oDfvA5
***** You have been measured and found wanting.~JJL
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'Power of a dictator... but I'm fly like a gator': Hilariously bad raps and quirky pandemic photoshoot by 'Crocodile of Wall Street' as she and her husband are set bail at $8m for 'laundering $4.5B in stolen Bitcoin'; Heather Morgan calls herself 'Crocodile of Wall Street' but also spends time creating low-budget rap videos
Keith Griffith, Lauren Lewis, James Gordon - DailyMail
It appears the self-proclaimed 'Crocodile of Wall Street', Heather Rhiannon Morgan, 31, who was granted $3 million bail on Wednesday, led a second life a hipster New York rapper who performs under the street name Razzlekhan. In a series of cringey videos posted to YouTube, the wannabe performer can be seen walking around Wall Street while reciting lyrics such as: 'I'm many things, a rapper, an economist, a journalist, a writer, a CEO, and a dirty, dirty, dirty dirty h*'.
/jlne.ws/3sCDn8m
*****This is just plain mean. Cringey videos. Low-budget rap videos. Just plain mean.~JJL
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We Asked 11 Sommeliers: Which Wine Do You Wish People Ordered More?
Hannah Holladay - Viepair.com
An extensive wine list can be at once exhilarating and daunting for drinks enthusiasts dining out. It can be easy to fall into the trap of ordering the wine that sounds most familiar or returning to an old favorite. There's a whole world of great wines out there, though, each with its own distinctive features and prime food-pairing options. Sometimes, the wines that sommeliers think should be getting more love are the under-the-radar varietals most customers haven't heard of. Other times, they're classics that have gotten a bad rap.
/jlne.ws/3rF8xfX
***** The expensive ones of course!~JJL
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Want to live longer? Drink up to three cups of coffee each day, scientists say... but make sure it's ground NOT instant!
Emily Craig - Daily Mail
People who drink 0.5 to 3 cups of coffee per day 12% less likely to die early; Moderate coffee drinkers 17% less likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease; Experts said coffee doesn't harm cardiovascular health and may be beneficial
Drinking up to three cups of coffee every day could help you live longer, a decade-long study suggests. Regular drinkers of the hot beverage were up to 12 per cent less likely to die. And they were up to a fifth less likely to get cardiovascular disease or suffer a stroke, results showed.
/jlne.ws/34IQPz4
***** I find dead people drink a lot less coffee.~JJL
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The Fear Index — Sky's new financial thriller is a dizzying rush; This frenetic four-parter starring Josh Hartnett centres on an AI system that can predict fluctuations in the market
Dan Einav - FT
Sky's new thriller mini-series, The Fear Index, follows Dr Alex Hoffman (Josh Hartnett), a maverick computer scientist who has developed an AI system that can anticipate unforeseen fluctuations in the financial market by studying reactions to fear. The pioneering algorithm is guided by his theory that people behave in "predictable ways when they're frightened"; accordingly, it makes projections based on reports in the media that are indicative of, or likely to trigger, global waves of anxiety.
/jlne.ws/33f9i62
***** I see a Cboe advertising campaign coming on.~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Yesterday's most read story was the Financial Times' Mrs (alleged) Bitfinex hack has a fascinating online footprint. Second was from FOW, Todd settles into life at Trading Technologies. Third was Bloomberg Wealth's A $4.5 Billion Crypto Crime Stars an NYC Couple, Stolen Bitcoin and Rap. I wonder when the movie will come out?
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | 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. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
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| Lead Stories | After retail investors' rebellion, the S.E.C. wants a stock market makeover; The agency is proposing to cut in half the time required to complete stock trades.
Emily Flitter - NY Times
The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to shorten the time it takes to complete a stock trade, a change agency officials believe will reduce market risk, according to a proposal announced on Wednesday. Right now, there is a two-day window between when a trade is agreed upon between a buyer and a seller and when the money and the stock in question change hands. The S.E.C. is proposing to cut that time in half, to one day.
/jlne.ws/34Bcnhc
Stock-Trading Ban for Members of Congress Gains Traction; Pelosi says she expects consensus to emerge pretty soon on legislation
Siobhan Hughes - WSJ
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she expected Democrats to reach consensus on restricting stock trading by members of Congress and called for new rules for federal judges, as proposals competed for bipartisan support. "It's complicated, but members will figure it out," she said. "I assume they'll have it pretty soon," the California Democrat said, referring to the House Administration Committee tasked with reviewing the proposals. She also wanted any legislation to also require financial disclosures from the judiciary, including Supreme Court justices. "It has to be governmentwide," she said.
/jlne.ws/3Jhhv91
How the Feds Tracked Down $3.6 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin; U.S. government said couple acted to break up crypto transactions to make them harder to track
Paul Vigna - WSJ
The U.S. government's $3.6 billion bitcoin bust this week appears to reflect its success five years ago in disrupting some operations used by criminals to launder stolen funds. The Justice Department said that it executed a search warrant last week and seized 94,636 bitcoins from the online wallets of two alleged money launderers, Heather Morgan, 31 years old, and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, 34.
/jlne.ws/3Jlq3Mm
FTX Chief Reminds Congress That 95% of Crypto Volume Is Offshore
Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
Says U.S. needs clear crypto oversight rules to be competitive; Urges expanding role for CFTC to include spot crypto oversight
Sam Bankman-Fried, the chief executive officer and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, said 95% of crypto trading volume occurs offshore and urged for greater regulatory clarity to attract businesses to the U.S.
/jlne.ws/3HGRYWl
FinCEN's Corporate Ownership Rules Stir Debate From Banking, Small Business Groups; While anticorruption groups lauded rules proposed to govern a new corporate ownership database, other stakeholders have concerns about the cost of complying
By Dylan Tokar - WSJ
The U.S. Treasury Department is facing a wide range of views on the details of a corporate ownership database, more than a year after the agency was tasked with implementing a law that Congress hopes will help curtail the use of anonymous shell companies. Public comments have rolled in over the past two months on rules proposed by the Treasury for the new database, with financial institutions, small businesses and anticorruption groups taking differing positions on many aspects of the registry, including exactly which companies should be required to submit ownership information, and who qualifies as an owner.
/jlne.ws/3gCJhk1
Hollywood Movie Epic 'Antara' partners with CrossTower on first ever movie NFT Drop on CrossTower's soon to be launched NFT Marketplace
CrossTower
Being the first major Hollywood film funded by NFTs, Antara has the potential to disrupt Hollywood's existing order of financing in modern times. Through this partnership, Antara's drop will be available to CrossTower's users on its upcoming NFT marketplace in March 2022; CrossTower-based buyers will partly own IP rights and revenues of the Hollywood movie Antara, by owning its NFT drops.
Arabian Camels, an NFT community that is making a first-of-its-kind Hollywood movie 'Antara,' today announced its partnership with CrossTower, one of the world's fastest and leading crypto and digital asset exchanges. Antara will be the first-ever decentralised feature film produced by Arabian Camels. Through this partnership, the Antara Movie NFT's drop will be made available to CrossTower's users on its upcoming NFT marketplace starting in March 2022.
/jlne.ws/3GCthJn
SEC seeks to bolster disclosure rules for private equity and hedge funds; Push for greater fee and performance transparency as investors look to alternative assets
Stefania Palma and Eric Platt and Antoine Gara - FT
Wall Street's top regulator is seeking to compel hedge funds and private equity groups to disclose quarterly performance and fees charged to investors, as the agency pushes back against activities it warned were "contrary to the public interest".
/jlne.ws/339Oblz
Chairman Behnam Throws CFTC Hat into Crypto Regulatory Ring
Dan Davis - Katten
"The CFTC is well situated to play an increasingly central role in overseeing the case digital commodity market," said CFTC Chairman Behnam in prepared remarks to the Senate Agriculture Committee today. Chairman Behnam emphasized that the CFTC has enforcement authority of digital asset spot markets and has brought nearly 50 enforcement actions in the space. Chairman Behnam further remarked that "it is important that we find ways to sensibly bring this emerging market within the regulatory fold." The agency is "past the stage where digital assets and decentralized financial technologies are a research project, sandboxing what may come in the future." Instead, digital assets issues "are at the front and center of our thinking at the Commission."
/jlne.ws/3ssl31z
SEC Chair Gary Gensler wants to know more about what hedge funds and private equity are doing
Bob Pisani - CNBC
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has kicked off an ambitious regulatory agenda — and his agency is pushing forward with key measures focused on hedge funds and private equity. The federal agency is meeting on Wednesday to consider three new rules: more disclosure from hedge funds and private equity funds, more disclosure regarding cybersecurity risks and attacks, and shortening the date on which stock transactions must be settled, a fallout from the GameStop saga.
/jlne.ws/3gDJkw8
The Boston Fed names Susan M. Collins as its new president; She will replace Eric S. Rosengren, who retired as the Boston Fed's president last year.
Jeanna Smialek - NY Times
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has selected Susan M. Collins, a University of Michigan economist and administrator, as its new president — making her the first Black woman to lead a regional reserve bank in the Fed system's 108-year history. Ms. Collins, who is a provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the university, will be one of 12 regional reserve bank presidents within the Fed system and will vote on monetary policy in 2022.
/jlne.ws/3BdD8V9
***** Here is the WSJ version of this story.~JJL
In Siberia, a crypto boom made of ingenuity, defiance and DIY; Fuelled by cheap electricity and Chinese hardware, households across the region are furiously mining cryptocurrency as a crackdown looms
Polina Ivanova - FT
Despite the quaint lace curtains and flaking blue paint, the little wooden house in Stolbova is not your average Siberian cottage. It is encircled by motion detectors and 360-degree security cameras. A web of high-power cables slinks on to the grounds from the street. Round the back, hidden behind tall metal fences, two low, barrack-like additions stretch out over land that, in the past, might have been a cabbage patch.
/jlne.ws/3JjFPY4
Gensler's aggressive agenda continues as SEC proposes shortening settlement times in wake of GameStop saga; Critics say he's forcing an unnecessary 'sea change' in financial market oversight
Chris Matthews - MarketWatch
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler has been one of the most active regulators appointed by President Joe Biden, proposing a slew of new regulations at a pace that could make his chairmanship the most significant era of financial reform since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act more than a decade ago.
/jlne.ws/3rBM1oe
Meet Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, the couple arrested over a $4.5 billion crypto money-laundering scheme
By Scott Nover - Quartz
On Feb. 8, the US Justice Department announced that Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein were arrested and charged for conspiracy to launder stolen cryptocurrency worth an estimated $4.5 billion. The married couple allegedly laundered Bitcoin stolen in the 2016 hack of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, in which 119,754 bitcoin worth $72 million were stolen, a fraction of their current value. The breach was the second largest to hit a major exchange, according to Reuters. While the lawsuit does not directly accuse Lichtenstein and Morgan of hacking the exchange themselves, it alleges the couple "conspired to launder the proceeds" of the hack.
/jlne.ws/3rCv2lv
Rogue employee or Goldman scapegoat? Ex-banker's 1MDB corruption trial to kick off
Luc Cohen - Reuters
A former Goldman Sachs (GS.N) banker charged with helping to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund will go on trial in the United States next week, in a case that could shed light on how the bank responded to warnings of corruption.
/jlne.ws/3uFMGXJ
Comments not likely to sway SEC to approve Bitcoin ETF; The SEC has rejected several Bitcoin ETF proposals because of concerns about potential investor harm tied to a crypto market it does not regulate.
Mark Schoeff Jr.- Investmentnews.com
The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking public input on whether to approve an exchange-traded fund based on the spot price of the digital token Bitcoin, but the comments aren't likely to persuade the regulator to approve the product.
/jlne.ws/3gIMvSZ
Message from Officers - FIA Japan Vice Chairman Michael Ross
FIA Japan
FIA Japan has been facing the Covid challenge as an organization. In the past, we held receptions and seminars which allowed members of the industry to gather and network. The benefits have allowed many in the industry to get to know each other. With Covid, FIA Japan turned to the virtual world.
/jlne.ws/3BeAzln
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Wall Street Firms Join Mental Health Program Fighting Stigma
Max Reyes - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG and UBS Group AG are among six financial firms working with a New York-based nonprofit on an initiative to reduce stigma around mental-health challenges in an industry known for its demanding culture. The other firms are CVC Advisors, Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Riverside Co. and Varde Partners. They will all participate in the year-long program with NAMI-NYC, the local affiliate for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nonprofit said Tuesday in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3oFrm0v
Abrupt end to mask mandates reflects a shifting political landscape; As electoral warning signs flash for Democrats and the public yearns for normalcy, Democratic governors are making moves without waiting for the Biden administration to get there first
Fenit Nirappil and Tyler Pager - Washington Post
As the coronavirus pandemic enters its third year, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is acutely aware that his state's residents are increasingly desperate for their old lives, worried about their children's schooling and exasperated by masks and other restrictions.
/jlne.ws/3JobveV
Macron Wanted to Provoke the Unvaccinated. Now They're After Him
Jenny Che - Bloomberg
Police ban "freedom convoy" protests in Paris from Friday; Demonstrators plan to continue on to Brussels on Monday
French President Emmanuel Macron said last month he wanted to "p--- off" the unvaccinated. He appears to have succeeded. Protesters against the country's vaccine mandates aim to use their vehicles to block roads in Paris beginning Friday to show their anger over the restrictions.
/jlne.ws/3sqHEvk
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Canada's TMX Group plans cryptocurrency futures product for institutional investors
Nichola Saminather - Reuters
Canada's largest stock market operator, TMX Group , plans to launch eps
its first cryptocurrency futures product in response to institutional investors' desire to offset the risks of trading in the relatively new asset class, the company's chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday. The group, which had 17 cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange as of Dec. 31, aims to release the product on the Montreal Exchange this year, John McKenzie said in an interview after TMX posted fourth-quarter results on Monday.
/jlne.ws/3GDYYlE
Market Data Fees Effective April 1, 2022; MEMBER EXPERIENCE ON FEBRUARY 9, 2022
MEMX
Today, MEMX unveiled proposed fees for our real-time market data products.
We've provided real-time data at no cost since our launch in September of 2020. We did so because we believe that it is incumbent upon us to deliver meaningful value to our Members before we charge fees for products and services. Our market share is consistently over 4% and our quote performance is on par with, or outperforming many other US exchanges. MEMX is now the 6th largest trading venue for US equities and is the 5th largest exchange by NBBO quote market share. We believe that by any measure, MEMX is delivering value to our exchange members and other market participants.
/jlne.ws/34F7DXH
Australian Ethical launches first ETF
Jamie Williamson - FinancialStandard.com
The active ETF is now available on Cboe Australia, the rebranded Chi-X. The Australian Ethical High Conviction Fund ETF is a portfolio of 25 to 35 ASX300 companies that meet the manager's Ethical Charter. It was listed today on the Cboe Australia exchange, previously known as Chi-X.
/jlne.ws/3GAGdzn
Deutsche Börse achieves all its targets in 2021 despite headwinds
Deutsche Börse
Deutsche Börse AG has published its release on the business figures for Q4/2021 and the FY 2021 preliminary results. Overview of the results: Net revenue increased by 9 per cent to EUR3,510 million in spite of strong cyclical headwinds. EBITDA also rose by 9 per cent to EUR2,043 million. The guidance for 2021 was thus met in every respect. The Group is well on track to achieve its mid-term targets defined in the Compass 2023 strategy. Earnings per share went up by 12 per cent to EUR6.59.
/jlne.ws/3rDMMwN
Grexel to offer new Hydrogen and Biogas registry services in Finland
EEX Group
New energy carriers planned by the Directive on Renewable Energy (RED II) to be live in the G-REX platform, Grexel's registry solution, as of April 2022 Grexel, part of EEX Group, has been appointed by the Finnish TSO Gasgrid to provide combined Hydrogen and Biogas registry services in Finland through their unique platform G-REX. This announcement paves the way for more Hydrogen tracking and completes a series of successes for Grexel: the Helsinki based company recently won the Energy Community tender to provide registry services for eight Eastern countries, confirming its leading position as energy registry provider in Europe.
/jlne.ws/3uzRYnw
Cboe rebrands European block platform as Cboe BIDS Europe; The platform claims to be the fastest-growing block venue in Europe.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
Cboe Global Markets has renamed its European block trading platform, formerly Cboe LIS, to Cboe BIDS Europe. The platform is an indication of interest (IOI) negotiation and execution platform, which allows market participants to trade large blocks of European equities without revealing their IOI to the wider market.
/jlne.ws/3gDYMIA
Euronext Dublin 2022 IPOready programme gets underway
Euronext
Euronext Dublin's fourth edition of IPOready, a strategic financing programme for high-growth companies exploring fundraising options up to and including IPO, launched today with nine companies commencing the six-month long programme. The objective of the programme is to equip participating companies with an in-depth understanding of all sources of finance available to them and determine which is most suited to their needs. On completion, the participating founders and entrepreneurs will have the skillsets required to get their businesses investment ready, refine their pitch for investors and form a valuable network of peers, advisors and investors.
/jlne.ws/3LrGgkX
Euronext announces launch of AEX® ESG Index to meet market's financial community's sustainable investment needs
Euronext
Euronext today announces that it will launch a new ESG Index on Euronext Amsterdam, the AEX® ESG Index. This index will identify the 25 companies that demonstrate the best Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices from the 50 constituents of the AEX® and AMX® indices. The launch of this sustainable index follows the successful launch of the French CAC40® ESG Index and the Italian MIB® ESG Index. In launching this new suite of ESG indices, Euronext is responding to the growing demand for sustainable investment tools from investors and the wider market. The launch of the AEX® ESG Index is scheduled during the course of Q2 2022.
/jlne.ws/3LoYcwf
FIX Gateway 4.4 trading sessions: Extension of the support in the T7 simulation and production environment
Eurex Circular
As previously announced in Eurex circular 081/21, Eurex will decommission the support of the legacy FIX Gateway 4.4 trading sessions prior to the introduction of T7 Release 10.1, which will be launched in the simulation environment on 2 May 2022 and in the production environment on 27 June 2022.
/jlne.ws/34KvAgf
Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange and Montréal Exchange Closed for Family Day
TMX
Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange and Montréal Exchange will be closed on Monday, February 21, 2022 for Family Day.
/jlne.ws/3GEj8f9
ICE Benchmark Administration launches Beta ICE Term SOFR Reference Rates
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced that ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA) has launched an indicative, Beta version of its ICE Term SOFR Reference Rates.
/jlne.ws/3666IjR
NYSE - Introducing Inside Limit Order
NYSE
On Monday, March 7, 2022, NYSE will introduce the Inside Limit Order, as currently offered on the other NYSE Group Exchanges. An Inside Limit Order is a limit order that will trade at the best price obtainable without trading through the NBBO. Further details can be found in the NYSE rule filing.
/jlne.ws/3oDXhyB
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | NinjaTrader Hires John O'Reilly as New Chief Marketing Officer; Fintech industry veteran to accelerate growth initiatives for leading retail futures broker
NinjaTrader
NinjaTrader Group, LLC, a leading provider of software and brokerage services to active traders, today announced John O'Reilly has joined the organization as Chief Marketing Officer. O'Reilly will be responsible for leading NinjaTrader's brand and customer acquisition initiatives to further strengthen their position as the leader in the retail futures industry.
/jlne.ws/3soPJ3E
Securitize Launches New ETH Yield Fund as Onramp for Institutional Investors; New ETH Fund Complements Securitize's Bitcoin, S&P Large Cap Crypto and USD Coin Funds in Providing Institutions Access to Cryptocurrencies and Yield Derived from Lending Strategies
Securitize Capital,
Securitize Capital, the digital asset management platform offering institutional-grade, tokenized funds, today announced the launch of a regulated ETH Yield Fund, as an onramp for investors to access an important blockchain protocol powering the fast-growing DeFi, NFT and Metaverse ecosystems, with the potential for yield derived from its lending.
/jlne.ws/3GD6Gws
Brick closes $8.5M seed to enable open finance across Southeast Asia
Catherine Shu - TechCrunch
Financial apps are proliferating across Southeast Asia, making things like bookkeeping or securing an online loan easier. But this means fintechs need access to large amounts of data that they can use to verify customer identity, creditworthiness or aggregate information from online accounts. Brick wants to simplify the process with a suite of APIs that connects financial apps to "hyper-local" sources of data, including banks, mobile wallets and telecoms.
/jlne.ws/3BaFYdt
Why Compete With Other Fintechs For Customers When You Can Partner With Companies That Have Millions Of Them?
Alison Coleman - Forbes
It's a classic startup story. A young founder has a great idea for a business and gives up a successful corporate job to pursue it, investing his life savings and employing his closest friends. They work around the clock, building incredible tech, putting 100% into sales and marketing, but it doesn't quite work.
/jlne.ws/3uGgFOX
Why London can't muscle in on Arm's listing plans
Cat Rutter Pooley - FT
The UK has been wooing tech companies, lowering standards to increase its attractiveness. With chip company Arm, it may be spurned by one of its own. London shouldn't get too hung up on the rejection.
/jlne.ws/3uCrqC4
Why Some See Web 3.0 as the Future of the Internet; Supporters say Web 3.0 would be more decentralized and Democratic. But can it deliver?
Wall Street Journal
Some see Web 3.0 as the next generation of the internet, a decentralized version of the web based on the blockchain. Here are the key principles behind it, and why skeptics are unconvinced it could scale globally. Illustration: Amber Bragdon
/jlne.ws/3LB7cij
Adaptive Financial Consulting acquires low latency trading specialist Real Logic; The deal merges key open-source capital markets software capabilities, highlighting the growing trend of financial services firms taking control of their own technology from vendors.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
Adaptive Financial Consulting, the specialist global electronic trading consultancy, has acquired Real Logic, a low-latency trading technology development firm, The TRADE can exclusively reveal.
/jlne.ws/3ssYF8k
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Hackers Nabbed $1.3 Billion in Ransom Over 2 Years, a New Report Says
Ilena Peng - Bloomberg
Chainalysis tracked $602 million in payments in last year; U.S. officials have sought to disrupt the reach of cybercrime
Criminals netted $1.3 billion in ransom payments from hacking victims in the past two years, reflecting a massive surge in cybercrime that has prompted a global effort to stop it, according to a new report from Chainalysis Inc. The cryptocurrency-tracking firm said in an analysis published Thursday it observed a huge increase in ransom payments: $602 million in payments in 2021 and $692 million in 2020. The 2021 figure is expected to increase and surpass 2020 as additional information becomes available, according to the report.
/jlne.ws/3swgnYr
New cybersecurity rules are coming for investment funds
Joseph Marks - The Washington Post
The government is inching toward requiring companies to have better cybersecurity after years of letting industry mostly police itself.
Yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission started the process of imposing new rules on investment funds and advisers — requiring them to have basic cyber protections and to alert the SEC within 48 hours if they're hacked. The preliminary rule, which passed on a 3-to-1 vote, will be open for public comment for 60 days before the SEC can make it final.
/jlne.ws/34B9LzU
2021 was a record-breaking year for cybersecurity startups
Carly Page - TechCrunch
2021 may have been a rough year for cybersecurity, but it was a record-breaking year for security startups.
According to new data from Momentum Cyber, a financial advisory firm for the security industry, cybersecurity startups raised a "record-shattering" $29.5 billion in venture capital last year, more than doubling the $12 billion raised in 2020 and outpacing the two previous years combined.
/jlne.ws/3uBBYBr
3 Tips for Facing the Harsh Truths of Cybersecurity in 2022, Part I
Sonya Duffin - Threatpost
Sonya Duffin, ransomware and data-protection expert at Veritas Technologies, shares three steps organizations can take today to reduce cyberattack fallout.
Be forewarned—I'm about to lay down some harsh truths here.
/jlne.ws/3Lsie9d
Three top-of-mind cybersecurity trends in 2022
Swamini Kulkarni - Security Magazine
Advancements in technologies, the adoption of remote working culture and surges in digitization changed the network security infrastructure drastically.
Organizations need protection and resiliency against the significant increase in the volume of attacks on their networks. Government and private organizations are gaining insights about vulnerabilities in their network infrastructure and taking necessary measures to ensure security. This changing security scenario will bring about three trends throughout this year.
/jlne.ws/3oDrYE3
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | China's digital yuan not a backup amid a financial crisis, and there's 'no incentive' to move money
Ralph Jennings - South China Morning Post
China will not be pressured into raising the limit on the amount of money that can be held within its central bank digital currency even in the face of a financial crisis, according to the head of its e-CNY department within the central bank. Use of the yet-to-be launched digital yuan is currently limited to 11 cities plus inside venues used for the ongoing Winter Olympics as part of a pilot programme, which will soon also include Hong Kong.
/jlne.ws/3GFe5LM
'Sexy horror comedy': Bitcoin laundering suspect is also 'raunchy rapper' Razzlekhan; Heather Morgan, arrested on suspicion of laundering cryptocurrency worth billions, has a second life as performer with 'more pizzazz than Genghis Khan'
Martin Farrer and agencies - The Guardian
A woman accused of laundering billions of dollars in stolen cryptocurrency alongside her husband may end up becoming better known for her excruciating music career as a self-styled "raunchy rapper" called Razzlekhan. Heather Morgan was arrested along with her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, in Manhattan on Tuesday over their alleged involvement in laundering bitcoin stolen in a 2016 hack of the virtual currency exchange Bitfinex. They are not accused of involvement in the hack itself but face charges of conspiring to commit money laundering as well as to defraud the United States.
/jlne.ws/3Low7Fz
A Deep Dive Into Crypto's Cure for the Texas Power Grid; Yes, it could raise electricity demand and encourage extra solar and wind power, but there are other ways to do that.
Liam Denning - Bloomberg
Blackouts spring from the occasional void between power supply and demand. The usual fix involves increasing supply (spare generating capacity) or reducing demand (energy efficiency). Bitcoin bulls propose a counterintuitive alternative: more demand.
/jlne.ws/3oAGpJ2
Bill Ackman Calls on New York to Remove Crypto Barriers
Jessica Park - Bloomberg
Bill Ackman on Wednesday called on New York officials to remove barriers in an effort to facilitate crypto innovation in the state. "Lets fix this right away," the billionaire founder of Pershing Square Capital Management said in a tweet reply directed to Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. He was responding to a Twitter user who complained that New York residency was making it hard to open accounts with major crypto exchanges.
/jlne.ws/3uGsd4X
India's Central Bank Chief Says Crypto Is 'Not Even a Tulip'
Rahul Satija - Bloomberg
Das says there is no underlying asset when investing in crypto; RBI preparing groundwork to launch its own digital currency
India's central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das, a long-time opponent of cryptocurrencies, launched another broadside against digital tokens, saying they have no underlying value and are a threat to financial stability. "Investors in cryptocurrency should keep in mind that they are investing at their own risk. They should also keep in mind that the cryptocurrency has no underlying, not even a tulip," the Reserve Bank of India chief said Thursday, referring to the Dutch tulip bulb market bubble in the 17th century.
/jlne.ws/3oGoy38
Binance to Invest $200 Million in News Publisher Forbes
Ben Bartenstein - Bloomberg
Binance Holdings Ltd. is making a strategic investment of $200 million into news publisher Forbes, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg. Forbes agreed to go public last year through a merger with blank-check firm Magnum Opus Acquisition Ltd. The business combination is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, with the company trading under the New York Stock Exchange ticker FRBS. The investment from Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is part of a $400 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) deal.
/jlne.ws/3gzT4rh
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who violated stock-trading rules 132 times last year, says it's 'ridiculous' to ban lawmakers from trading stocks
Oma Seddiq - Business Insider
Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Wednesday rejected proposals to ban members of Congress from trading stocks, calling the idea "ridiculous." "They might as well start sending robots up here," the Alabama Republican told The Independent's Eric Michael Garcia. "You can't do anything." "I think it would really cut back on the amount of people that would want to come up here and serve, I really do," Tuberville added. "We don't need that."
/jlne.ws/34vVjJF
Rep. Porter on Congress stock trading ban: We must earn back public trust
MSNBC
Rep. Katie Porter: "We need to be earning back their trust, and the way to do that is to hold ourselves to a higher standard. And so, we need to simply ban trading stocks by members of Congress."
/jlne.ws/3GCqVu1
Blumenthal Bought Robinhood Shares as He Called for Congress To Investigate GameStop Trading Frenzy; Senator failed to disclose trades within federally mandated window
Chuck Ross - The Washington Free Beacon
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) and his wife bought and sold shares of the stock trading app Robinhood while he called for Congress to investigate a controversial trading practice largely carried out on the platform. Blumenthal disclosed that he and his wife sold between $1,265,000 and $2,550,000 worth of shares of Robinhood in the last quarter of 2021. At the time, Blumenthal joined a chorus of lawmakers in calling for investigations into Robinhood's role in supporting a speculation frenzy involving shares of GameStop. Blumenthal did not probe the matter even though he was well positioned to do so as the chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection.
/jlne.ws/34MLpTE
Cryptocurrency Investors Are Cashing In On A Trump Tax Break Meant To Help The Poor; The Trump tax cuts created "opportunity zones" to help poor communities — but some crypto moguls are using the tax credit for low-impact data operations.
Molly Redden - Huffington Post
The cryptocurrency traders who made huge fortunes last year may be new money, but they face the same question that has bedeviled rich guys for generations: How to avoid paying taxes. As a solution, some are attempting to take advantage of a controversial tax incentive in Republicans' 2017 major tax legislation — specifically, by investing in "opportunity zones," which were sold as a plan to buoy the poorest American neighborhoods but have evolved into a way for wealthy investors to funnel billions in untaxed profits into virtually any venture they choose.
/jlne.ws/35XwDdj
Fed nominees commit to not taking part in finance's revolving door; Three Federal Reserve picks said that they won't work in finance for years if they are confirmed to central bank positions.
Jeanna Smialek - NY Times
Three of President Biden's nominees to the Federal Reserve committed to lawmakers that, if confirmed to their posts, they would not work in financial services for four years after leaving the Fed. The pledge comes amid growing concern about the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street.
/jlne.ws/3oDm6us
No More Insider Trading in Congress; The current penalties are so small that lawmakers hardly take them seriously.
By Jon Hartley - WSJ
Sen. Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) introduced a bill on Feb. 2 to ban members of Congress from buying or selling individual shares of stocks. The move came amidst controversy surrounding stock trades by lawmakers and scandals involving trades made by Federal Reserve regional bank presidents and Federal Reserve Board members. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has eyed similar legislation that would ban lawmakers from trading individual stocks. Even Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while defending her own controversial stock trading, said she would be open to advancing such legislation. "It has to be governmentwide," she told reporters on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/3rDVHhQ
Pelosi says Democrats reviewing proposals to ban lawmaker stock trading and expects action this year
Clare Foran - CNN
Senators faced with scruity over stock sell offs right before market crash 02:16
(CNN)Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated on Wednesday that House Democrats are looking into potential policy proposals to ban lawmaker stock trading and working to find a consensus so they can take action this year.
/jlne.ws/3gB88EP
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | SEC Issues Proposal to Reduce Risks in Clearance and Settlement
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to propose rule changes to reduce risks in the clearance and settlement of securities, including by shortening the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer transactions in securities from two business days after the trade date (T+2) to one business day after the trade date (T+1). The proposed changes are designed to reduce the credit, market, and liquidity risks in securities transactions faced by market participants and U.S. investors.
/jlne.ws/3LnhKRU
Private fund advisers to spell out fees, performance under new U.S. SEC proposals
Katanga Johnson - Reuters
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday will propose heightened regulations meant to scrutinize how private fund advisers charge fees to investors and measure fund performance.
/jlne.ws/3B7qcjw
SEC considering tune up to "market plumbing" after meme stock craze
Emily Peck - Axios
The SEC is considering a proposal, partly a response to the meme stock craze, to reduce the amount of time it takes to clear trades, the agency said in a release this morning. Driving the news: In his remarks today, SEC chair Gary Gensler specifically pointed to last January's meme stock trading mania as a reason for the change. Back then, some traders weren't able to buy stocks at critical times because of issues with clearing trades, he said.
/jlne.ws/3rBdUwu
Why the SEC should approve a spot bitcoin ETF
Jared Blikre - Yahoo Finance
After a 50% drop from its all-time high in November, bitcoin is catching investors' eyes again as it surges 34% off its most recent low. Two Wall Street index and ETF veterans are saying it's a great time for the U.S. to finally approve a spot bitcoin ETF.
/jlne.ws/3rEZhZk
Fund Manager Pleads Guilty in $140 Million Loan Fraud
Bob Van Voris - CFTC
The head of a Florida private equity fund pleaded guilty to charges that he falsified documents and impersonated officers of a university endowment fund to secure $140 million in bank loans.
/jlne.ws/3Jca8zK
Testimony of Chairman Rostin Behnam Regarding "Examining Digital Assets: Risks, Regulation, and Innovation"; U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
CFTC
Good morning Chairwoman Stabenow, Ranking Member Boozman, and members of the Committee. I am honored to appear before you today for the first time as Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). I appreciate the opportunity to share my views on digital assets, and look forward to working with this Committee as we collectively address the many issues related to this emerging technology.
/jlne.ws/3HEAzxH
FINRA Publishes 2022 Report on Exam and Risk Monitoring Program; Includes Initial Findings From Reg BI Exams; Highlights Emerging and Ongoing Regulatory Topics
FINRA
FINRA today published its 2022 Report on FINRA's Examination and Risk Monitoring Program to provide insights from FINRA's oversight programs to FINRA member firms. The 70-page Report covers 21 different topics—including five new subjects—relevant to an evolving securities industry.
/jlne.ws/35Xw43b
SEC Proposes to Enhance Private Fund Investor Protection
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to propose new rules and amendments under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) to enhance the regulation of private fund advisers and to protect private fund investors by increasing transparency, competition, and efficiency in the $18-trillion marketplace.
/jlne.ws/3HFUtIw
SEC Proposes Cybersecurity Risk Management Rules and Amendments for Registered Investment Advisers and Funds
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to propose rules related to cybersecurity risk management for registered investment advisers, and registered investment companies and business development companies (funds), as well as amendments to certain rules that govern investment adviser and fund disclosures.
/jlne.ws/3sqDLGK
Governors and Heads of Supervision unanimously reaffirm commitment to implementing Basel III framework; reappoint Pablo Hernández de Cos as Chair of the Basel Committee
BIS
The Basel Committee's oversight body reiterates its commitment to implementing all aspects of the Basel III framework; Reappoints Pablo Hernández de Cos as Chair of the Basel Committee for a second term; Begins the process for selecting the Chair of the Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision to succeed François Villeroy de Galhau;
The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, has today reaffirmed its commitment to implementing all aspects of the Basel III framework. The initial Basel III reforms have played a central role in ensuring that the banking system has thus far remained operationally and financially resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unlike the experience of the Great Financial Crisis, banks have remained resilient and continued to lend to creditworthy households and businesses.
/jlne.ws/3GFonLN
SIFMA Statement on SEC Proposal to Accelerate the Settlement Cycle
SIFMA
SIFMA today issued the following statement from president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. on the SEC's proposal to accelerate the settlement cycle: "SIFMA, along with our industry partners the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), are leading the effort to accelerate the U.S. securities settlement cycle from trade date plus 2 days (T+2) to trade date plus one day (T+1), which will improve market resiliency by further reducing risk that exists while a trade is being finalized, benefit investors by shortening the execution time frame between buying or selling their securities, and reduce the level of margin market participants must post to offset the settlement risk. We welcome the proposal today from the SEC supporting this acceleration of the settlement cycle and look forward to reviewing and commenting as the industry continues its work to follow our roadmap to T+1. Our roadmap strives for mid-year 2024 and as we follow the road map the date will become more clear. Importantly, the industry and its regulators need to take the time to get it right and avoid unnecessary disruptions."
/jlne.ws/3sp6Xha
Managed investment schemes operator ordered into liquidation
ASIC
The Federal Court has ordered PE Capital Funds Management Ltd into liquidation after finding that the firm breached the law by operating managed investment schemes without an AFS licence and by engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct.
/jlne.ws/3oAM9T6
SEC Charges Six U.S. Citizens in Connection with Overseas Boiler-Room Schemes
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against six U.S. nationals allegedly involved in operating and laundering money for overseas boiler rooms that bilked more than 140 victims of more than $8 million. The SEC alleges that Michael D'Urso ("D'Urso), Daniel T. Wellcome Jr., Alyssa D'Urso, Antonella Chiaramonte, and Jay Garnock of Long Island, New York, laundered more than $8 million for several boiler rooms located overseas, including one operated out of Thailand by U.S. citizen Robert Lenard Booth.
/jlne.ws/3GEZgZC
ESMA finds high level of divergence in disclosure of ESG factors in credit ratings
ESMA
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's securities markets regulator, today publishes an article assessing the implementation of ESMA's Guidelines on the disclosure of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in credit rating agency (CRA) press releases. ESMA finds that the overall level of disclosures has increased since the introduction of the Guidelines, but that a high level of divergence across CRAs means there is still room for further improvement.
/jlne.ws/3oDN7hs
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | News Startups Are Struggling to Find Investors. What's at Stake.
Judd Olanoff - Barron's
"Some investors are scared of media startups," Nathaniel Schachter said. The founder of news startup MTTR was speaking at a January Zoom gathering of 15 budding media entrepreneurs. They're all early-stage. Some have customers. Some have a vision on paper. What they have in common is that they're exploring how to make the news work better for democracy. And they're struggling to raise the money they need.
/jlne.ws/3sqzGCq
Another tech bubble about to burst? (Yes, and this one could be even worse...)
Diana R. Baechle, PhD - Qontigo
Another tech bubble may be about to burst, triggering a US recession. There are multiple similarities between the current tech bubble and the dot-com bubble. This time, however, the Fed cannot leverage interest-rate cuts to put the brakes on a market decline, due to the current record-high inflation combined with low interest rates.
/jlne.ws/3JhT8rJ
Dollar beta and stock returns
Valentino Bruno, Ilhyock Shim and Hyun Song Shin - BIS Working Papers
Operating through changes in market participants' risk capacity, the financial channel of exchange rates demonstrates how domestic financial conditions respond to exchange rate movements. We investigate whether stock market returns in emerging market economies (EMEs) reflect the financial channel of exchange rates. If so, we also consider if the broad dollar index has attributes of a cross-sectional asset pricing factor in EME stock markets, just as the broad dollar index serves as an indicator of the financial channel of exchange rate in other contexts.
/jlne.ws/3oDl8yh
The Bond Market Can Finally Do Its Job Again; Its behavior is supposed to warn about inflation but the function was smothered by a decade of QE bond buying
Marcus Ashworth - Bloomberg
Calm has broken out in the bond market, but the respite is likely to be brief. It's a question of when — not if — the 2% bound will be breached on the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield. That's directly correlated to last week's revisions to the non-farm payroll series; it shows the pandemic recovery has been both smooth and strong. If growth is more robust, inflation will be, too. This rise in yields is a global trend, forcing central bank thinking to shapeshift.
/jlne.ws/34umnsA
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Crop-Trader Bunge Sees Lasting Boom in Global Drive for Biofuels
Tarso Veloso Ribeiro and Michael Hirtzer - Bloomberg
Bunge Ltd. says a surge in biofuel demand that helped propel the world's largest oilseed crusher to record profits is only going to accelerate in coming years. By the end of 2024, capacity to produce renewable diesel will increase roughly fivefold, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That's a boon for companies like Bunge that produce oils made from soybeans and canola, used to make the biofuel.
/jlne.ws/35RuVdo
AllianceBernstein brings $4bn sustainable global equity fund to the UK; Climate, health and empowerment
James Baxter-Derrington - InvestmentWeek
AllianceBernstein has launched a sustainable global equity OEIC, bringing its $4bn SICAV to UK investors, Investment Week can reveal. ES AllianceBernstein Sustainable Global Equity bolsters the firm's OEIC range, bringing the total number of funds in the $1bn suite to six.
/jlne.ws/3oE5EtS
Venture Capital Is Flowing to Climate Software and Hardware; The climate crisis needs analysis tools as well as scientific breakthroughs.
Nathaniel Bullard - Bloomberg
Two weeks ago I broke down the sectors and trends behind 2021's three quarters of a trillion dollars of energy transition investment. Renewable energy was the leading sector, followed by electrified transport, taking in a total of more than $600 billion dollars. Most of that money flows to the financing of assets that will last decades (in the case of electric cars) or many decades (in the case of power generators).
/jlne.ws/34piSE1
ESG Funds Managing $1 Trillion Are Stripped of Sustainable Tag by Morningstar
Frances Schwartzkopff and Saijel Kishan - Bloomberg
Over 1,200 funds no longer merit ESG label, analysis finds; Move feeds into fears fund industry is rife with greenwashing
ESG funds representing roughly $1 trillion in assets aren't delivering on their stated environmental, social or governance goals, according to one of the main researchers tracking the market.
/jlne.ws/3Lp16kY
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | IHS Markit and BNP Paribas Securities Services Expand Collaboration for Uncleared Margin Rules
IHS Markit
BNP Paribas Securities Services, a leading global custodian offering a full end-to-end solution for Regulatory Initial Margin (IM) with IM Calculation, Exposure Management and IM Segregation in Triparty, has added IHS Markit as an initial margin calculation source to its existing service for clients that are in-scope for uncleared margin rules in derivatives markets. The expanded collaboration complements the valuations services that IHS Markit has provided BNP Paribas Securities Services since 2012.
/jlne.ws/3Lp5ro0
Credit Suisse Gives Special Award to Cushion Steep Bonus Cut
Marion Halftermeyer - Bloomberg
One-time stock award given to most managing directors; Regular bonus pool was slashed 32% after annual net loss
Credit Suisse Group AG gave its senior bankers an additional long-term award to try to cushion the blow of a 32% cut to its regular bonus pool. The special stock award will be given to most managing directors and directors and will depend on the bank delivering on its plans over the next three years. The one-off amounted to almost 500 million Swiss francs ($540 million), and including that award the decline in overall incentive pay was about 15% from the total for 2020.
/jlne.ws/3gzNrZY
Apollo under scrutiny over lingering ties to Leon Black; Former boss remains top shareholder in investment group as he feuds with co-founder
Sujeet Indap and Mark Vandevelde - FT
For most of his years as Apollo Global Management chief executive, Leon Black worked from a sprawling Manhattan office that offered breathtaking views of Central Park. But last week an Apollo lawyer told regulators in Nevada that if Black ever wanted to return to the investment company's space on 57th Street, he would first have to line up with other visitors and register with building security.
/jlne.ws/3spbBf6
Brookfield considers spinning off its asset management business; Unit could be valued at more than $75bn in one of biggest ever Wall Street listings
Antoine Gara - FT
Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world's largest alternative investment groups, is weighing a spin-off of its asset management business into a separate public company that one analyst said could be valued at more than $75bn. The manoeuvre would simplify the structure of the sprawling Toronto-based company, separating the division that manages $364bn in fee-bearing assets across real estate, infrastructure, renewable energy, credit and private equity on behalf of institutional investors from Brookfield's $50bn of directly-owned net assets.
/jlne.ws/3JcEstY
Credit Suisse sinks to $2bn fourth-quarter loss; Swiss lender says 2022 will be a year of transition after high-profile scandals
Owen Walker - FT
Credit Suisse has capped one of the most tumultuous periods in its 166-year history by slumping to a SFr2bn ($2.2bn) fourth-quarter loss. The loss, which includes a provision to cover legal settlements and an impairment charge, underlines the challenge facing Switzerland's second-largest bank as it tries to recover from a series of scandals.
/jlne.ws/34xx3a3
Barclays' Morzaria steps back as LIBOR working group chair as final phase of transition begins
The Bank of England confirmed that CCP conversion during December last year saw in excess of £13 trillion LIBOR-referencing contracts converted to SONIA ahead of the LIBOR cessation date.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
The group finance director of Barclays has stepped away from his role as chair of the industry-led LIBOR Working Group as the final phase of the transition away from the benchmark begins.
/jlne.ws/3svVSLp
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Retail-Trading Boom in India Stays Strong as Foreigners Flee
Ashutosh Joshi - Bloomberg
India's retail investors opened a record amount of new accounts last year, even as an exodus of foreign investors began to weigh on the multi-year rally in the nation's stocks.
/jlne.ws/3gwTX3G
Rich List: King of Thailand
Bradley Hope - Project Brazen
In Bangkok these days anger over the Thai king's use of state wealth for personal reasons is at boiling point. In a country where criticism of King Maha Vajiralongkorn can get you locked up, people refer to him as "Super V" in whispered conversations to avoid problems.
/jlne.ws/3HI5adI
'A New Era for Money': Green Paper Outlines a Digital Future for the Pound
Project New Era
New paper advocates for closer public-private collaboration to advance exploration of a digital currency in the UK, before a real-world pilot of 'digital pound' (dSterling)
Project New Era, a ground-breaking initiative in the UK led by The Payments Association
(formerly The Emerging Payments Association (EPA)),paywith.glass and other private industry stakeholders, supported byBoston Consulting Group (BCG) as its consulting partner, today announces the publication of the Green Paper report 'A New Era for Money'. The paper advocates for a first of its kind collaboration between central banks, regulators, commercial banks and other financial institutions (FIs) towards the exploration of a retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the UK. The Green Paper will be followed by real-world pilots to address open design questions and mitigate risks. The pilots will generate working data and feedback that central banks and policymakers can use to inform open design questions and enable relevant authorities to make policy decisions.
/jlne.ws/3stGGyt
Britain must boost its technological-financial complex; The question of where Arm is refloated is critical if the UK is to become a magnet for tech companies
John Thornhill - FT
Not long ago, the British chip designer Arm was trumpeting the benefits of being owned by a private company, SoftBank, led by a visionary founder, Masayoshi Son. Freed from the quarterly reporting distractions of a publicly listed company, Arm's management could focus on long-term strategy. "Under SoftBank we have a higher degree of freedom to invest," Rene Haas, then Arm's head of IP products group, told me in an interview in 2018. "Frankly, it's been great."
/jlne.ws/3gDWFEE
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Morningstar mulls move from Block 37 to Marshall Field building; A Morningstar HQ move would complete one of the most closely watched Chicago office searches since the COVID pandemic began.
Danny Ecker - Crain's Chicago Business
Morningstar is poised to leave behind its longtime Loop headquarters for a new main office downtown, a move that would complete one of the city's biggest new office leases since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where the investment research firm lands is still to be determined, though people familiar with the company's search said it is closely eyeing as much as 250,000 square feet at the redeveloped upper floors of the Marshall Field building in the Loop, just steps from its current home at 22 W. Washington St.
/jlne.ws/3sx7fCM
Boy Scouts Win Over Key Abuse-Survivors Group on Bankruptcy Plan; Lawyers of the official committee, representing 82,200 individual claimants, will now recommend they accept the youth group's offer
Becky Yerak and Andrew Scurria. - WSJ
The Boy Scouts of America won backing for a landmark sex-abuse compensation plan from the official committee representing 82,200 individual claimants, further solidifying support for ending the largest bankruptcy case ever filed over childhood abuse. The proposed deal with the survivors' committee, among the harshest critics of the Boy Scouts since it filed for chapter 11 two years ago, comes as the youth organization nears a trial scheduled for later this month on a bankruptcy-exit plan that includes roughly $2.7 billion for abuse victims.
/jlne.ws/3rGCLiL
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