| February 26, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The FTX bankruptcy is turning out to have a surprisingly positive outcome for most customers and creditors, despite the astronomical costs involved, Bloomberg reported. While the bankruptcy fees have ballooned to nearly $1 billion, making it one of the most expensive Chapter 11 cases in U.S. history, customers are poised to receive 118% of what they were owed. This rare outcome in bankruptcy proceedings is largely due to the efforts of lawyers and financial advisers who have tracked down billions in scattered digital assets and cash.
The high costs stem from FTX's lack of proper recordkeeping and corporate controls, which necessitated extensive work to untangle the company's finances. Despite these challenges, the recovery efforts have been remarkably successful, with hedge funds that bought discounted customer claims set to profit significantly.
While Sam Bankman-Fried is in prison for his role in FTX's collapse, the bankruptcy process has managed to salvage value for creditors. The case highlights both the complexities of crypto-related bankruptcies and the potential for recovery when skilled professionals are involved, even in seemingly dire situations.
The FTX case, costing nearly double that of all other high-profile crypto bankruptcies combined, underscores the increasing costs of legal and professional services in complex Chapter 11 proceedings. However, the extraordinary recovery rate for creditors suggests that in this instance, the high fees may have been justified by the results achieved.
After 23 years of distinguished federal service, CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero announced she will retire upon the confirmation of her successor, Brian Quintenz. Throughout her career, which included roles at the SEC and as special inspector general for TARP, Goldsmith Romero has been a trailblazer in financial regulation and oversight. As the first AANHPI lawyer and LGBTQIA+ individual to serve as a CFTC commissioner, she prioritized market resilience, combating fraud, and addressing emerging technologies like AI and blockchain. Her tenure saw the drafting of the CFTC's first proposed rule on cyber resilience and the creation of influential reports on decentralized finance and responsible AI. Goldsmith Romero's legacy includes significant contributions to investor protection, market integrity, and the promotion of responsible innovation in the rapidly evolving financial landscape.
The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump escalated his efforts against former special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday, signing a directive to revoke security clearances for lawyers at Covington & Burling, a Washington law firm that aided Smith during investigations into Trump. The order also instructed federal agencies to cancel any government work with the firm, though it remains unclear if Covington currently holds such contracts. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump framed the move as part of his broader push against those involved in past investigations into him, even offering to send the pen he used to sign the memo to Smith. The decision follows a disclosure that Covington provided Smith with $140,000 worth of pro bono legal assistance before he stepped down as special counsel.
The move has drawn criticism, with attorney Mark Zaid calling it "vindictive and petty," arguing that revoking security clearances of private lawyers because of their representation of certain clients is an unprecedented attack on the legal system. Covington defended its decision to represent Smith, emphasizing its long history of providing legal counsel in government investigations. Meanwhile, Trump's administration has signaled its continued focus on Smith, with Attorney General Pam Bondi's Weaponization Working Group pledging to scrutinize him further. Additionally, Ed Martin, the Trump-appointed interim U.S. attorney for D.C., warned Smith and Covington to "save your receipts," reinforcing the administration's intent to keep them in its sights. Smith, who previously oversaw two criminal cases against Trump-both dismissed following Trump's re-election-remains a central figure in Trump's ongoing campaign against his legal adversaries.
On March 11, 2025, Adrienne A. Harris, New York's Superintendent of Financial Services, will outline her vision for financial services regulation at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. As part of the Brookings Center on Regulation and Markets Series on Financial Markets and Regulation, Harris will discuss her department's latest policies on digital assets, crypto, affordable banking access, payments, and insurance. The conversation, moderated by Brookings Senior Fellow Aaron Klein, will be open to both in-person and online attendees, with virtual participants able to submit questions via email or social media. This event marks the third installment in an ongoing series on the future of financial regulation. You can register to attend in person with this link or registration to attend online with this link.
Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is scheduled to participate in an international regulator panel at the International Futures Industry Conference 2025
Fortune reports that "The latest update to the Tap Water Database, from the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG), reveals that 324 contaminants were found in drinking water systems across the country, with almost all systems having some amount of detectable contaminants in its water. That's according to safety data collected between 2021 and 2023 by EWG from nearly 50,000 water systems in every state (except New Hampshire, which did not provide its data)."
Someone in the U.K. does not like Elon Musk and his politics and has mocked him in a huge advert, displayed at Pollard Row in Bethnal Green, The Standard reported.
Donald Trump, like everyone, is welcome to his opinion. However, after Apple's shareholders voted down an outside proposal to end DEI efforts and Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple would make some adjustments to those efforts, Trump went on his social network Truth Social to tell the company how to run its business. That is just wrong. Period.
It looks like the American Dream just got a shiny new price tag. Trump's "gold card" visa scheme is basically a VIP pass for the ultra-rich to skip the immigration line. For a cool $5 million, you too can buy your way into the Land of the Free (and home of the cowardly)! Who needs huddled masses yearning to breathe free when you can have oligarchs yearning to park their cash? And don't worry about those pesky background checks - as long as you're "very nice people" (wink, wink), you're in! Because nothing says "Make America Great Again" like selling citizenship to the highest bidder while deporting everyone else. Welcome to the USA: now with expedited service for the 1%.
I have more to share about my great grandfather's story. It appears that Timothy Rogers, who was born on May 22, 1756 in New London, CT and died in 1834 in Pickering, Ontario, Canada, was a Tory. It looks like he headed to Canada during the American Revolution with others who were loyal to the English crown. However, his son, John Wilde Rogers, who was born on February 19, 1819 in Ontario, Canada, died in Salem, Oregon. Thus, he immigrated to the U.S as did his son, David Timothy Rogers, who was born in Ontario and died in Letitia Springs, Georgia. Sometime during his lifetime between 1843 and 1902, the Rogers family, of which I am descended, moved back to the U.S.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: Tariff uncertainty set to fuel market volatility - experts, Deutsche questions compliance burden of active account reforms, ANALYSIS: Eurex chiefs discuss role of exchange in uncertain markets, HKEX welcomes Hong Kong budget to boost capital markets, US regulator extends Treasury central clearing deadlines by one year ANALYSIS: Flurry of China tech derivatives activity post-DeepSeek launch - Saxo.
Caroline Kadleck Costello is starting a new position as senior director, CD&S Buy Side at CME Group. She was previously a director of CD&S Buy Side and has worked at Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank
Katherine Patrick is starting a new position as executive director, client technology management and communications at CME Group. She has been with the CME Group for 21 years and was previously a senior director for client technology management. She started at the CME in 2004 as a communications specialist.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- A market-making model for an options portfolio from Risk.net.
- The Impact of Dispersion on Market Expectations and Volatility from Cboe.
- Wall Street Gamblers Get Crushed as Leveraged ETF Losses Hit 40% from Bloomberg. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Two Wisconsin Bartenders Walked Into a Futures Exchange and Both Built Illustrious Careers in the Industry
ONE IS BEING INDUCTED INTO THE FIA HALL OF FAME IN MARCH; THE OTHER SHOULD BE INDUCTED SOON
A former bartender from Fontana, Wisconsin, who once served me 25-cent Old Style beers in a glass or $2 pitchers at Chuck's Lakeshore Inn in Fontana, Wisconsin, has had an illustrious career in the futures industry and will be formally inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame in March: Terry Duffy, CME Group chairman and CEO.
Another former bartender from that same Wisconsin bar, who worked alongside Duffy, has also had an illustrious career in the futures industry. He recently returned from Nairobi, where he attended the Association of Futures Markets' annual meeting. His name is Pat Kenny, and he serves as chairman of the AFM and senior vice president of CQG for client relations. He is also the village president of Fontana, Wisconsin, the home of that same bar where he and Duffy slung beers together and pitched quarters into the tip bowl for sport. You might also know him as 'The Most Interesting Man in the World,' a title I bestowed upon him after we both attended the AFM general meeting in Budapest in 2012. Read the article
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America's Most Shameful Vote Ever at the U.N.
Bret Stephens - The New York Times
In the spring of 2007, I interviewed Vaclav Havel on a bench in the garden of Prague's Czernin Palace. The playwright and former Czech president discussed his shifting views on the war in Iraq, the role of art in unfree states, the dangers of political obsession and indifference - and his yearning, 11 years after he had quit smoking, for a cigarette. We also spoke about the importance of truth, particularly in matters of international diplomacy. "I think we can talk to every ruler but first of all it is necessary to tell the truth," Havel said. Turning to Vladimir Putin - or "Ras-Putin," as he called him - he added: "With me, he gets more and more suspicious. We have to tell him plainly what we think of his behavior."
/jlne.ws/3XjQ6wy
****** Look for people to start displaying the flag of the United States upside down as a form of protest. Traditionally, an upside down flag is a symbol of distress or extreme danger to life or property. However, a modern interpretation is that the upside down flag has become a form of political expression and protest.~JJL
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The US is now the enemy of the west; Washington has decided to abandon both Ukraine and its postwar role in the world
Martin Wolf - Financial Times
"Freedom and independence are today in jeopardy the world over. If the forces of conquest are not successfully resisted and defeated there will be no freedom, no independence and no opportunity for freedom for any nation." Thus did Franklin Delano Roosevelt commemorate the first anniversary of the Atlantic Charter, which had been agreed between him and Winston Churchill on August 14 1941. Half a century later, with the fall of the Soviet Union, it was at least reasonable to hope that these ideals might be realised across much of the globe. That was not to be. Today, not only are autocracies increasingly confident. The US is moving to their side. That is the lesson of the last two weeks. Freedom is not in as much danger as it was in 1942. Yet the dangers are very real.
/jlne.ws/3EPExXC
****** The U.S. may be the enemy of the west, but its citizens are not, especially those wearing the flag on their lapel upside down.~JJL
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White House Moves to Pick the Pool Reporters Who Cover Trump; In announcing plans to hand-select the reporters who can ask the president questions at many events, the White House is breaking decades of precedent.
Michael M. Grynbaum - The New York Times
The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would start handpicking which media outlets were allowed to participate in the presidential press pool, the small, rotating group of reporters who relay the president's day-to-day activities to the public. The change breaks decades of precedent. It allows the White House to assert more control over which journalists can witness his activities up-close and ask him questions.
/jlne.ws/3CUdvOs
***** The First Amendment as it relates to covering The White House has died. ~JJL
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Gabbard Says More Than 100 Intelligence Officers Fired for Chat Messages; The chats had been set up to discuss sensitive security matters. But a group of employees used it for discussions that contained sexual themes, intelligence officials said this week.
Julian E. Barnes - The New York Times
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said on Tuesday that more than 100 intelligence officers from 15 agencies had been fired for sexually explicit discussions on a government chat tool. The chat program was administered by the National Security Agency and intended for discussions of sensitive security matters. But a group of employees used it for discussions that contained sexual themes, intelligence officials said this week. The chats also included explicit discussion of gender transition surgery, officials said.
/jlne.ws/41dbpB7
****** Discussions of sexual themes is code for Gabbard ridding the agency of LGBTQIA individuals.~JJL
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Tuesday's Top Three
Our top read story on Tuesday was A Sad Day for the U.S. at the U.N., subtitled "The land of the free votes with Russia on a Ukraine war resolution," an opinion piece from the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal. Second was INTERVIEW: FDIC Employee Fired-Now She Can't Work Anywhere, a podcast from the Spoken Reality channel on YouTube. Third was a picture of a canvas print of the passenger list of the Mayflower advertised on Fine Art America, to illustrate John Lothian's ninth great-grandfather, Thomas Rogers, coming to North America on the Mayflower along with his son Joseph.
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| Lead Stories | CFTC Offers New Incentives for Companies to Report Their Own Wrongdoing; The derivatives market regulator clarifies criteria and credit it will give to companies that voluntarily report misconduct
Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it would give companies that voluntarily report potential misconduct more lenient penalties under a new enforcement advisory. In a memo published on Tuesday, the derivatives market regulator issued new guidelines clarifying how it would give credit to a company that reports its own potential misconduct, cooperates with an agency investigation and addresses a reported issue. A company that voluntarily reports potential wrongdoing and fully cooperates can receive a discount from the CFTC cutting the cost of a penalty to less than half the initially calculated amount in some cases.
/jlne.ws/3DkKX0q
Egg Prices Are Soaring. Bird Flu May Not Be the Only Culprit; The nation's biggest egg producer has seen rising revenues and profits. Now some Democrats are calling for an investigation into pricing practices in the industry.
Danielle Kaye and Julie Creswell - The New York Times
The calls, texts and emails start coming in before 6 in the morning: restaurants, bakeries and others desperate to find eggs. Brian Moscogiuri is an egg broker. A vice president for the wholesale company Eggs Unlimited, he works the phone in his home office in Toms River, N.J., until late into the evening, trying to connect hopeful buyers with farms that have eggs to spare. But as avian influenza has led to egg shortages and record wholesale prices - an average of more than $8 a dozen, up from $2.25 last fall - Mr. Moscogiuri's job has been less making matches and more providing therapy, he said.
/jlne.ws/41vmRt7
21 Civil Servants Who Worked With Musk's Government Reform Team Resign; White House names acting administrator of DOGE; unnamed employees said it presents security risks
Ken Thomas and Natalie Andrews - The Wall Street Journal
Twenty-one federal employees who had been working with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency resigned, writing in a letter that they wouldn't offer their expertise to overhaul the government if it meant undermining essential services. "We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans' sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services," the former employees wrote on Tuesday in a letter addressed to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. "We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE's actions."
/jlne.ws/4hRoKX6
Expanding market hours: key considerations and the NYSE's approach
Jon Herrick - NYSE
With SEC approval, the NYSE is one step closer to longer trading hours. Earlier this month, the SEC approved the filing on an accelerated basis to extend trading hours on NYSE Arca, our fully electronic equities exchange, from 16 hours a day to 22 hours a day, five days a week. While this approval represents a positive step towards implementing our proposal, we must first align with the SIP committee, which consists of exchange groups, FINRA and industry advisors. This group manages the consolidated data feeds for the U.S. equity industry, and in our proposal, we committed to extending NYSE Arca's trading hours only when the SIP data feeds are available for these same hours. Below we outline our reasoning for extending our hours to 22 hours in an effort to help the broader industry better understand the intricacies of extended-hours trading.
/jlne.ws/3XkhhHM
Robinhood CEO Tenev Says Financial Regulation Good for the Firm
Georgia Hall - Bloomberg
Robinhood Markets Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev said that his firm, which has been probed by US financial regulators over its cryptocurrency operations, benefits from government oversight. "I think customers want to know that their assets are safe and that someone is watching over the companies that are providing financial services to them and holding them accountable," Tenev said in a Bloomberg Television interview Tuesday. "I actually think regulation is good for our business, not just good for customers, and we know how to operate in a highly regulated arena."
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Donald Trump announces US 'gold card' visa scheme; Wealthy foreigners will be able buy 'route to citizenship' for $5mn, president says
James Politi - Financial Times
Donald Trump has said the US will sell "gold cards" costing $5mn each in exchange for permanent residency to attract wealthy foreigners to America. The US president made the announcement while speaking to reporters in the White House on Tuesday afternoon, saying the scheme would grant "green card privileges plus" and a "route to citizenship" for those who bought the card.
/jlne.ws/4gXjTlF
White House to choose which reporters get close access to Donald Trump; Decision strips power from news organisations and upends decades-old precedent
James Politi - Financial Times
The White House has said it will select the journalists allowed to have the closest access to Donald Trump, stripping that choice from a body of reporters that for decades has decided who participates in the "pool" that covers US presidents. The move was announced by Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, during a briefing on Tuesday in which she said her team would "determine who gets to enjoy the very privileged and limited access in spaces such as Air Force One and the Oval Office".
/jlne.ws/4h2ds0K
Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE
Brian Slodysko and Bryon Tau - Associated Press
More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to "dismantle critical public services." "We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations," the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. "However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments." The employees also warned that many of those enlisted by Musk to help him slash the size of the federal government under President Donald Trump's administration were political ideologues who did not have the necessary skills or experience for the task ahead of them.
/jlne.ws/3ERJrUh
****Here is coverage of this from Rolling Stone.
Why the Project 2025 guy is suddenly advocating for a fintech accused of deceiving customers
Allison Morrow - CNN
It's taken just a few weeks in office, but the Trump administration's apparent vision for economic populism is coming into focus: a blueprint for mass layoffs, creeping inflation, and a dissolution of consumer safeguards reviled by many wealthy Republican donors and politicians. On Monday, Russell Vought, the Project 2025 co-author and newly confirmed head of the White House budget office, lamented the "weaponization" of consumer protection while endorsing a lending platform that has faced a litany of lawsuits that claimed the company preyed on and lied to people seeking short-term, interest-free loans.
/jlne.ws/41xrcwc
Why American Businesses Aren't Raring to Get Back Into Russia; The White House promised "incredible opportunities" if Moscow ended the war in Ukraine. But Russia's economy is struggling and the business environment is unpredictable.
Patricia Cohen - The New York Times
The Trump administration is sending a startling message to corporate America: After three years as an international pariah, Russia could once again be open for business. President Trump is pressuring Ukraine to accept a deal to end the war. And Marco Rubio, his secretary of state, told a delegation from Moscow in Riyadh last week that the United States and Russia could pursue "potentially historic economic partnerships" and "incredible opportunities," if Moscow ended its war.
/jlne.ws/4i9kKBv
The Job Is Service But the Goal Is Monetization; Also Elon Musk's SEC case and wearables data for insurance.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
People are worried about the basis trade
One model is that some trades want to be done with a lot of leverage. Here's one:
I buy a $1 million Treasury bond.
I sell you a $1 million Treasury futures contract, promising to deliver my bond to you in a year at a fixed price.1
My risk, in this trade, is very low. If the value of the Treasury bond goes up or down, it doesn't matter to me: I've promised to deliver it to you at a fixed price in a year, and you've promised to buy it from me at a fixed price in a year. I no longer have any real exposure to the price.2 Maybe I have some credit risk to you - what if you don't pay me in a year? - but in practice this is very small, because we do this trade on an exchange with a clearinghouse that requires us to post daily margin, so there should always be enough money for you to pay me for my bond.
/jlne.ws/4h0Fz0u
FXPA Elects New Leadership, Sets Strategic Agenda for 2025
Foreign Exchange Professionals Association
The Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA) has elected its 2025 leadership team, reaffirming its commitment to advocating for fairness, transparency, and efficiency in the institutional foreign exchange (FX) market. The annual elections, held on February 19, bring together key industry leaders who will shape the FXPA's strategic direction in the year ahead.
/jlne.ws/4gWqAVh
Moynihan Blames Over-Regulation, Not Politics, for Customers Losing Bank Access
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
Over-regulation of lenders is the main driver of customers being shut out of the US banking system, and not political bias, according to Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan. "We bank everybody. The real question was about over-regulation frankly," the CEO said Tuesday at the Economic Club of Washington, DC.
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Clearwater Analytics Addresses the Rise of Alternative Assets with Key Leadership Appointment; Appoints Industry Veteran Yuriy Shterk as Global Head of Alternatives
Clearwater Analytics
Clearwater Analytics (NYSE: CWAN), a leading worldwide provider of SaaS-based investment management, accounting, reporting, and analytics solutions, has added Yuriy Shterk as Global Head of Alternatives. He will lead Clearwater's global alternatives team, focusing on providing a best-in-class, front-to-back platform for clients expanding their alternative assets portfolios. This addition to the leadership team directly responds to the need for innovative strategies in alternative investments, furthering the Company's commitment to facilitating client growth in private markets and derivatives.
/jlne.ws/3QFPDRz
Trump's 'America First Investment Policy' could threaten hundreds of Chinese companies listed in the U.S.
Nicholas Gordon - Fortune
President Donald Trump is threatening to reignite a dispute that could put hundreds of Chinese companies, together worth over $1 trillion, at risk of getting booted from U.S. exchanges. On Friday, the Trump administration unveiled what it called its America First Investment Policy, a series of measures meant to constrain China's tech development and funnel that money back to the U.S.
/jlne.ws/3XizVji
FTX's $950 Million Bankruptcy Fees Among Costliest Since Lehman; Lack of records, corporate controls sent adviser fees higher; Most creditors poised to get back 118% of what they were owed
Jonathan Randles - Bloomberg
The cost of FTX's bankruptcy is approaching $1 billion, cementing the implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto enterprise as one of costliest Chapter 11 cases in US history. Nearly $948 million was paid to more than a dozen firms hired to work on the bankruptcy through Jan. 2, and more than $952 million in fees have been approved by the court, records show.
/jlne.ws/4igajf2
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| Trade War and Tariffs | | A roundup of today's trade war and tariff news and the global economic ripple effects shaping markets, industries, and investment strategies. | US orders probe into copper dumping, opening door to new tariffs; White House signals it will expedite measures despite investor concerns over how threats of levies will affect the economy
Myles McCormick - Financial Times
Donald Trump has ordered a probe into copper dumping in the US, laying the groundwork for imports of the metal to be hit with tariffs as the president expands the ambit of his protectionist drive. Trump on Tuesday directed the Department of Commerce to open an investigation into copper imports on national security grounds. If the probe finds evidence of dumping it would allow his administration to take retaliatory measures, including imposing tariffs or quotas.
/jlne.ws/41yVpLn
Trump to Consider Copper Tariffs
Gavin Bade - The Wall Street Journal
The Commerce Department will investigate imposing tariffs on global copper imports to the U.S., White House officials said Tuesday, the first step toward likely levying duties on the metal. Commerce will open the investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which covers national security threats, and consider not just raw copper, but scrap copper and copper products.
/jlne.ws/4biFlAw
Alcoa warns Trump's aluminum tariff could cost 100,000 US jobs
Reuters
Aluminum producer Alcoa said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to impose a tariff on aluminum imports could cost about 100,000 U.S. jobs and would itself not be enough to entice it to boost production in the country. Trump earlier this month said he would impose a flat 25% tariff on aluminum imports "without exceptions or exemptions" in a bid to lift U.S. production of the metal used to make automobiles, cans and other products.
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| World Conflicts | | News about various conflicts and their military, economic, political and humanitarian impact. | Ukraine Invasion
Trump's Ukraine Mineral Deal Is Seen as 'Protection Racket' Diplomacy; The United States wants to be paid in exchange for helping the country fend off an invader.
Amanda Taub - The New York Times
Ukraine is nearing a deal to hand over a portion of its revenues from natural resources to the United States, under heavy pressure from the Trump administration. The agreement, in its current form, would not include any explicit security guarantees to deter Russian aggression. The White House has argued that the mere existence of American economic interests should be sufficient for Ukraine, which is facing a harsh reality: The United States wants to be paid in exchange for helping the country fend off an invader.
/jlne.ws/3QATdfZ
Ukraine agrees minerals deal with US; Kyiv hopes agreement on jointly exploring resources will improve relations with Trump administration
Christopher Miller, Alec Russell and Gideon Rachman - Financial Times
Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for a long-term US security commitment. Ukrainian officials said Kyiv was ready to sign the agreement on jointly developing its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue from the deal.
/jlne.ws/3XcHAiP
Trump's Trumpy Ukraine Gambit; The U.S. has one president at a time but its basic interests tend to endure.
Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. - The Wall Street Journal (opinion)
Let's not be squirrels who find the same nut over and over and are surprised each time. Donald Trump's latest outburst represents, by my count, the third round of Mr. Trump popping off at Ukraine's President Zelensky, perhaps for no reason deeper than Mr. Zelensky's spurning of a Trump proffer on minerals. Mr. Trump's all-purpose strategy when frustrated is tit-for-tat. It fills his need to dominate the news constantly while he fumbles around for a laurel to award himself in place of the one that got away. Where press disingenuousness bleeds into dishonesty is treating his every ad lib as if it carries the same weight as the carefully scripted and planned statements of an Obama or Bush. A Trump blather blaming Ukraine for not negotiating segued into something he didn't clearly mean, yet now his team must mumblingly agree Ukraine started the war.
/jlne.ws/3QxeGXf
The Peril Donald Trump Poses to Ukraine; Some analysts hoped that Trump might end the war; they are stunned that the U.S. has now "changed sides."
Keith Gessen - The New Yorker
In the summer of 2023, while the second Ukrainian counter-offensive was still under way, I spoke to Alexander Bick, a Biden Administration official who had helped lead planning at the National Security Council on the eve of the Russian invasion. When we talked, American strategy in Ukraine was looking very good. In the run-up to the war, the U.S. had convinced skeptical Europeans that American intelligence about an imminent Russian invasion was legitimate, rallied the Europeans to mount a united response, creatively made intelligence available to prepare the American public for the coming fight, and eventually persuaded the Ukrainians themselves that Vladimir Putin wasn't bluffing.
/jlne.ws/4k8NsDX
Middle East Conflict
Israel's Central Bank Advises Allocation of $841 Million War Aid; Funds to be set aside by country's lenders to pay for benefits; Israel's conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah have slowed economy
Galit Altstein - Bloomberg
Israel's central bank is advising lenders to put aside as much as 3 billion shekels ($841 billion) over the next two years, to be spent on benefits for citizens struggling with the economic outcomes of war.
/jlne.ws/41eCwfk
Trump faces Truth Social backlash over AI video of Gaza with topless Netanyahu and bearded bellydancers
Oliver Holmes and Paul Owen - The Guardian
Donald Trump is facing a backlash on his Truth Social platform after sharing an AI-created video of him sipping cocktails with a topless Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza, in a future imagining of the Palestinian territory devastated by Israel's war. The video presented a computer-generated vision of Trump's property development plan for Gaza, under which he said he wants to "clean out" the population of about 2 million people. Named the "Riviera of the Middle East" plan, the proposal has been criticised as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing. Footage shows the strip transformed into a Dubai-style resort with skyscrapers and luxury yachts. Children play on the beach as money rains down and bearded bellydancers gyrate on the sand.
/jlne.ws/4idaFD0
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Australian regulator urges stock exchange to speed up IPO process
Scott Murdoch - Reuters
Australia's securities regulator has urged the nation's stock exchange operator to be more proactive in making it easier and faster for companies to list to revive a flat-lining IPO market. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), in a discussion paper published on Wednesday, said a decline in the number of listed companies on the Australian Securities Exchange was negative for capital markets.
/jlne.ws/3D7s557
CME Group Announces First Trades of Options on Bitcoin Friday Futures
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced its new financially settled options on Bitcoin Friday futures are now available for trading. The first trade, a block, took place on Sunday, February 23, and was executed between Cumberland DRW and Galaxy and cleared by Marex.
/jlne.ws/3D6ujBL
Abaxx Singapore and ZEMA Global Data Announce Market Data Partnership
Abaxx
Abaxx Technologies Inc. (NEO:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd. ("Abaxx Singapore"), the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, "Abaxx Exchange" and "Abaxx Clearing"), and producer of the SmarterMarkets Podcast, today announced that Abaxx Singapore has formed a partnership with ZEMA Global Data Corporation ("ZEMA"), a leading provider of enterprise data and analytics for the commodity and energy sectors. The collaboration integrates Abaxx Exchange market data into ZEMA's platform, delivering seamless access to verified trade data and price references for market participants.
/jlne.ws/41vzXH2
ASX welcomes ASIC discussion paper
ASX
ASX welcomes the discussion paper and public consultation announced by ASIC today on the dynamics between public and private markets in Australia.
/jlne.ws/4ihW8pN
HKEX Welcomes Listing Of New Flagship ETF
HKEX via Mondovisione
HKE welcomed the listing of the Invesco QQQ Trust, the world's largest Nasdaq-100 Index ETF. HKEX Head of Equities Product Development, Brian Roberts, said: "We are delighted to welcome today's listing of the Invesco QQQ ETF on HKEX, the first listing of this flagship ETF outside North America, marking a significant milestone for our market. This development not only underscores HKEX's position as Asia's premier ETF marketplace, but also reinforces Hong Kong's role as a leading international financial hub."
/jlne.ws/4hZsVAg
First Initial Access Document on BME Scaleup from BETTER CONSULTANTS
BME-X
The Market Coordination and Incorporations Committee considers that BETTER CONSULTANTS will meet the requirements to join BME Scaleup. It is the third company to register an Initial Access Document to the growth markets of BME so far this year. The Board of Directors of the company, has taken as a reference for the start of trading of the shares a price of EUR4 per share, which implies a total valuation of the company of EUR8.17 million.
/jlne.ws/4i6AfcS
The role of Central Counterparties in a DLT environment
Eurex
The digital transformation of the financial industry is now a reality. Emerging technologies offer opportunities for innovation and efficiency but require a suitable legal and regulatory framework. There is ongoing debate about the roles of financial market infrastructures like Central Counterparties (CCPs) and whether new and existing market entrants can provide complementary alternatives. Eurex Clearing and Linklaters discuss in a whitepaper a smooth transition to a digital ecosystem from a practical perspective by focusing on topics related to clearing and settlement that are essential for this transition including the role of CCPs. We present our view on the implications and benefits of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) with a focus on key aspects such as instant settlement and efficiency of netting in a clearing environment.
/jlne.ws/43cU5iy
FTSE UK Index Series - Indicative Quarterly Review Changes March 2025
LSEG
FTSE Russell, the global index provider, advises of the following indicative changes to the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, based on data as of Friday 21st February 2025.
/jlne.ws/4h6LEso
Nasdaq CFO Sarah Youngwood to Present at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference
Nasdaq
/jlne.ws/41uTgjM
Nasdaq, Inc. Announces Pricing of Cash Tender Offers and Acceptance of $218 Million Outstanding Debt Securities
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) ("Nasdaq" or the "Company") announced today the consideration payable in connection with its previously announced offers to purchase for cash up to an aggregate principal amount of $218,053,000 (the "Aggregate Notes Cap") (reflecting an $18,053,000 increase from the previously announced cap of $200,000,000) of its outstanding Notes, comprised of (i) up to $41,360,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2028 Notes Cap") of the Company's 5.350% Senior Notes due 2028 (the "2028 Notes"), (ii) up to $57,583,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2034 Notes Cap") of the Company's 5.550% Senior Notes due 2034 (the "2034 Notes") and (iii) up to $119,110,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2052 Notes Cap") of the Company's 3.950% Senior Notes due 2052 (the "2052 Notes"), for a total aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, of approximately $197 million.
/jlne.ws/4bjGszY
Post-trade Providers Take Charge of Settlement Discipline
SIX
Sparked by regulation and pending T+1 deadlines, settlement discipline is a strategic priority for the post-trade industry, as Jesus Benito, Head of Domestic Custody and TR Operations, SIX, explains.
/jlne.ws/41jToRR
TMX Group and Clearstream Announce Bank of Canada to Utilize the Canadian Collateral Management Service
TMX
TMX Group Limited (TMX Group) and Clearstream Banking S.A. (Clearstream), the international central securities depository of Deutsche Börse Group, are pleased with the Bank of Canada's decision to utilize the Canadian Collateral Management Service (CCMS). Developed by TMX Group and Clearstream, the CCMS facilitates the optimization and collateralization of securities finance activities throughout the Canadian market. The CCMS provides exclusive domestic tri-party repo capabilities to increase repo market liquidity.
/jlne.ws/41xaD3r
Japan Exchange Group: Candidates For Directors And Executive Officers, Etc.
JPX via Mondovisione
Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX) hereby announces that it has decided on candidates for directors, executive officers, and other senior managers effective from April 1, 2025 as follows.
/jlne.ws/4idR9X5
The Quants Are Coming: An Exclusive Interview With Robert Blackwell Jr. About His New Firm, Quant16
Moderleader.io
If you've been in tech and in Chicago, chances are you've run into Robert Blackwell, Jr. Those who know him know he's not just a hard-working serial entrepreneur but also a huge lover of math and algorithms. I had the great opportunity to talk to Robert about his new firm Quant16, formerly known as EKI-Digital, and their message to the world: The Quants Are Coming. Using algorithms and analytics, Quant16 helps companies find efficiencies in areas such as tech vendor spending, changing how financial opportunities are identified, predicted, and optimized, aiming to deliver more outcomes faster and for less money.
/jlne.ws/4bgXpuO
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | UK fintech ClearScore secures £30m growth capital investment from HSBC
Tyler Pathe - FinTech Futures
The ClearScore Group, a London-headquartered fintech providing credit scoring and credit report services for consumers, has secured a £30 million growth capital investment from HSBC Innovation Banking UK. ClearScore lands £30m from HSBC Innovation Banking UK The funding will enable ClearScore to "expand the range [of] products we can offer our users and the channels through which we can reach them", according to group CFO Brian Cole.
/jlne.ws/3D8i7jU
Major Asia bank to cut 4,000 roles as AI replaces humans
Peter Hoskins - BBC News
Singapore's biggest bank, DBS, says it expects to cut about 4,000 roles over the next three years as artificial intelligence (AI) takes on more work currently done by humans. The move will affect temporary and contract staff, a bank spokesperson said, with the reduction in the workforce coming from "natural attrition" as projects are completed.
/jlne.ws/3EVdURe
Nvidia's AI Boom Brings Riches to Partners Like Dell, at a Cost; Server computer makers have lower margins and less control; Dell's $5 billion xAI megadeal has very low profitability
Brody Ford - Bloomberg
When Dell Technologies Inc. completes a $5 billion deal to supply servers to Elon Musk's xAI startup, it will mark an immense win for the 40-year-old computer seller. But the proposal, tentatively agreed to recently, comes with a detail all too common for server makers in the AI era: a narrow margin of profitability. The plan to supply xAI with AI-optimized servers is expected to yield gross margins only in the mid-single-digits percentage, according to people familiar with the deal.
/jlne.ws/3ESxWvv
DeepSeek Slashes Off-Peak Prices to Balance Out AI Demand
Bloomberg News
DeepSeek is offering discounts of up to 75% during off-peak hours to reduce spikes in demand for its application programming interface. Starting Wednesday, accessing the DeepSeek V3 model will cost half its usual price from 12:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Beijing time, while the R1 model that underpins the company's eponymous chatbot will be reduced in price by three quarters. The move comes as the Hangzhou-based artificial intelligence startup grapples with runaway interest and demand from users and developers adopting its technology. Competitors from Tencent Holdings Ltd. to Perplexity AI have started using DeepSeek's models, joining state entities across China, including departments in the Hong Kong government.
/jlne.ws/3DknCMp
Amazon Banking on Robotics Savings Amid Increased AI Spending
PYMNTS
Amazon is aiming to derive savings from its robotics investment as it ups AI spending. As the Financial Times (FT) reported Wednesday (Feb. 26), the tech giant is expected to spend $35 billion on its retail network - which includes robotics-powered warehouses - to drive efficiencies and improve delivery speeds amid rising competition from the likes of Temu. Although most of the $100 billion the company will spend this year will go to artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, roughly a quarter will be earmarked for automation in Amazon's eCommerce business, the report added, citing analyst estimates.
/jlne.ws/3ETMqeK
Quantum Computing Is Finally Here. But What Is It? Problems that would confound a conventional computer can take a quantum machine just minutes to solve. So will we all be using quantum computers some day?
Isabella Ward and Amy Thomson - Bloomberg
Four decades ago, physicists were theorizing that the mind-bending mechanics of quantum physics could be harnessed to make a new kind of computer that's exponentially more powerful than conventional machines. A series of breakthroughs has now brought "quantum utility" closer to reality. A race is on to develop machines that are accurate enough to faithfully model the behavior of complex real-world phenomena and deliver a leap forward in fields as varied as drug development, financial modeling and artificial intelligence.
/jlne.ws/3DbQs1v
The AI Data-Center Boom Is a Job-Creation Bust; Tech and political leaders tout them as an employment bonanza, but data centers need very few workers in very large spaces
Tom Dotan - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3QzumsV
Meta in talks for $200 billion AI data center project, The Information reports
Reuters
/jlne.ws/4ihWfBJ
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | A Disney Worker Downloaded an AI Tool. It Led to a Hack That Ruined His Life.; Matthew Van Andel's experience reveals the threat that opportunistic hackers pose to companies and individuals
Robert McMillan - The Wall Street Journal
The stranger messaging Matthew Van Andel online last July knew a lot about him-including details about his lunch with co-workers at Disney from a few days earlier. His mind raced; he knew no one outside Disney would have access to that information. How did the person messaging him on chat forum Discord know what he had said in a private workplace Slack channel? "I have gained access to certain sensitive information related to your personal and professional life," another Discord message said. Van Andel realized he had been hacked.
/jlne.ws/3F5sntK
Hackers Are Using Fake GitHub Code to Steal Your Bitcoin: Kaspersky; The attack starts with seemingly legitimate GitHub projects - like making Telegram bots for managing bitcoin wallets or tools for computer games.
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
The GitHub code you use to build a trendy application or patch existing bugs might just be used to steal your bitcoin (BTC) or other crypto holdings, according to a Kaspersky report. GitHub is popular tool among developers of all types, but even more so among crypto-focused projects, where a simple application may generate millions of dollars in revenue.
/jlne.ws/3QAP5wl
Three Password Cracking Techniques and How to Defend Against Them
The Hacker News
Passwords are rarely appreciated until a security breach occurs; suffice to say, the importance of a strong password becomes clear only when faced with the consequences of a weak one. However, most end users are unaware of just how vulnerable their passwords are to the most common password-cracking methods. The following are the three common techniques for cracking passwords and how to defend against them.
/jlne.ws/3XmIhGv
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | North Korean hackers steal record $1.5 billion in single crypto hack, security firm says
Sean Lyngaas - CNN
North Korean hackers have stolen $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency in a single heist, making it the largest crypto hack on record, security experts told CNN. The hack hit Bybit, which describes itself as the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, with over 40 million users. In a matter of minutes on Friday, the hackers stole a significant portion of North Korea's reported annual gross domestic product. And over the weekend, the hackers were already laundering about $160 million of the stolen loot through a series of accounts connected to North Korean operatives, according to crypto-tracing firm TRM Labs. In a single hack, the North Koreans have nearly doubled what they stole in crypto last year, the firm said.
/jlne.ws/4kdJDNE
U.S. Law Enforcement Seizes $31M in Crypto For Uranium Finance Hack
Cheyenne Ligon - CoinDesk
U.S. authorities have seized about $31 million in crypto tied to the 2021 hack of Uranium Finance, according to a Monday X post from the Southern District of New York (SDNY). According to the post, the seizure was the result of a joint effort between SDNY and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Diego. A spokesperson for SDNY did not return CoinDesk's request for comment before press time, and no further details about the seizure or any related investigation were immediately available.
/jlne.ws/41huJNH
Crypto Greed Index Flashes 'Extreme Fear' as Market Drops 10%
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
Crypto traders are feeling the jitters today. The widely-watched Crypto Fear and Greed Index, a market indicator that uses social media posts, volatility, trends and prices to gauge trader sentiment, dropped to a five-month low of 25 in its latest update. That's a big fall from yesterday's figure of 49, landing it in the "extreme fear" zone, coming as overall market capitalization fell 10% in the past 24 hours as bitcoin and major tokens such as Solana (SOL) and xrp (XRP) fell more than 14%.
/jlne.ws/41xfAsT
Sam Bankman-Fried's first post from prison isn't even good
Amanda Silberling - TechCrunch
As disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried serves the early days of his 25-year prison sentence, the crypto wunderkind-turned-criminal made his first public post on X in over two years. Bankman-Fried's thread on X responds to Elon Musk's recent ultimatum to federal employees: respond to his email with five bullet points of recent accomplishments, or resign. Musk seems to have been merely trolling millions of government employees, but SBF broke his public silence to comment on the messy situation.
/jlne.ws/4h1r2Sf
MicroStrategy Shares Have Been Cut in Half
Jonathan Weil - The Wall Street Journal
MicroStrategy hit a new milestone this morning. Its shares were down more than 50% from their all-time, intraday high in November. In Wall Street lingo, that would qualify as a crash. Led by its charismatic executive chairman, Michael Saylor, the bitcoin-buying machine has been hurt by a decline in the price of the cryptocurrency, which recently fell below $87,000.
/jlne.ws/41dbZ1T
U.S. Bitcoin ETFs See Record Daily Outflow of Over $930M as Carry Trades Lose Shine to The 10-Year Treasury Note; Investors pulled out funds from bitcoin and ether spot ETFs Tuesday as dwindling basis in the CME futures dented the appeal of carry trades.
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
Tuesday was a rough day for the crypto market, as bitcoin (BTC) fell to three-month lows below $87,000, dragging the broader market down. More importantly, investors withdrew funds from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) at an unprecedented rate. The 11 spot ETFs registered a cumulative net outflow of $937.78 million, the most significant single-day redemption since the funds began trading in January 2024, according to data tracked by SoSoValue.
/jlne.ws/4i0hEiX
Bitcoin speculators send $7B to exchanges at a loss in BTC price crash; Bitcoin short-term holders entered panic mode as they crossed into aggregate loss thanks to a sub-$90,000 BTC price.
William Suberg - CoinTelegraph
/jlne.ws/4ifxWnJ
'A setback for Bitcoin': South Dakota Bitcoin reserve bill fails to advance
Sabrina Toppa - The Street
/jlne.ws/41dAA6J
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Judge Overturns Trump Order Blocking Refugee Admissions; Lawsuit argued president overstepped his authority in shutting down resettlement program
Mariah Timms and Michelle Hackman - The Wall Street Journal
A federal judge in Seattle ordered the Trump administration to restart the refugee-admissions program that legally resettles people from across the globe, which the president had ordered shut down on his first day in office. U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead issued the injunction Tuesday. The judge, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, hasn't yet issued a written ruling, and the injunction will remain in place for now while the legal case continues.
/jlne.ws/3CYa2ym
Trump Proposes $5 Million 'Gold Card' That Would Grant U.S. Residency; President would end existing program offering green cards to people who invest in America
Tarini Parti and Annie Linskey - The Wall Street Journal
President Trump said Tuesday that he would allow wealthy individuals to pay $5 million for a "gold card" that would grant them permanent U.S. residency, ending an existing program that offers green cards to people who invest in the country. "Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card, they'll be wealthy and they'll be successful, and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people," Trump said in the Oval Office. "We think it's going to be extremely successful."
/jlne.ws/43cD9Zj
Tech titans stand with Donald Trump to kill off activism in Silicon Valley; Fearful employees have done little to protest against the rightward shift of leaders such as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg
Hannah Murphy, Stephen Morris and Michael Acton - Financial Times
Mark Zuckerberg marched at San Francisco's gay pride parade more than a decade ago, waving from a float topped by a rainbow flag and stamping the arms of those in the crowd with a picture of the company's "like" symbol. Following the re-election of Donald Trump this year, the Meta chief has called for more "masculine energy" in the workplace, while eliminating some safeguards against hate speech across his apps.
/jlne.ws/4gVGBL3
What 15 Americans Think About Elon Musk's Role in U.S. Government; Americans across the country are deeply split over Mr. Musk, with some welcoming his cuts to government and others outraged at what they see as an abuse of power.
Mimi Dwyer, Jonathan J. Higuera, Sean Keenan, Daniel McGraw, Brenda Moore, Dan Parks, Dan Simmons, Rhianwen Watkins, Kevin Williams, Joel Wolfram and Verónica Zaragovia - The New York Times
With surprising speed and the support of President Trump, the billionaire Elon Musk and the employees of his newly created cost-cutting outfit have laid off thousands of federal workers, gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development, and put on hold dozens of health research efforts. Many of those swift changes to the federal bureaucracy are being challenged in court. And over the weekend some Republican members of Congress faced angry constituents during visits to their districts.
/jlne.ws/3QxPBv8
DOGE Quietly Deletes the 5 Biggest Spending Cuts It Celebrated Last Week; The cuts, highlighted on an earlier version of the "wall of receipts" posted by Elon Musk's team, contained mistakes that vastly inflated the amount of money saved.
David A. Fahrenthold, Aatish Bhatia, Margot Sanger-Katz. Emily Badger, Ethan Singer and Josh Katz - The New York Times
Last week, Elon Musk's government cost-slashing initiative, which he calls the Department of Government Efficiency, posted an online "wall of receipts," celebrating how much it had saved by canceling federal contracts. Now the organization, which is also known as the U.S. DOGE Service, has deleted all of the five biggest "savings" on that original list, after The New York Times and other media outlets pointed out they were riddled with errors.
/jlne.ws/41iZfa9
This Theory Is Behind Trump's Power Grab
Cass R. Sunstein - The New York Times
In his opening weeks back in office, President Trump is asserting power in a way that pushes hard on, and sometimes past, the boundaries of executive authority. One of the most important of those boundaries involves his relationship with independent regulatory agencies. Mr. Trump is the first president since the 1930s to assert control over many of them, and this assertion of power will almost certainly be tested in the Supreme Court.
/jlne.ws/41jbX8A
White House reveals who DOGE acting administrator is
Kaitlan Collins and Tierney Sneed - CNN
/jlne.ws/3EWxkoM
Trump's $5 million 'gold card' visa unlikely to attract wealthy investors, advisers say
Scott Murdoch - Reuters
/jlne.ws/4i9Fid7
Donald Trump To Be Put On $250 Bill Under Republican Proposal
Martha McHardy - Newsweek
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Judge tells Trump administration it has less than 2 days to resume USAID funding
Frank Langfitt - NPR
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Don't Cry for the CFPB, Elizabeth Warren; The Senator is angry that she is losing control of her pet regulator, but she should blame her own design.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
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White House official pushes to axe Canada from Five Eyes intelligence group; Peter Navarro wants to increase pressure on country that Donald Trump has threatened to annex
Demetri Sevastopulo and Ilya Gridneff - Financial Times
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Rejecting Trump's Call to Annex Their Nation, Canadians Rally Around the Flag; While Canadians are not generally known for flag waving, President Trump's threats have led to a surge in flag sales and buffed up the national symbol's image.
Ian Austen - The New York Times
/jlne.ws/3Di3hav
'Everything has changed': UK embarks on biggest arms drive since cold war; Decision to plunder the development budget brings end to era of Britain as an 'aid superpower'
George Parker and Lucy Fisher - Financial Times
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Rachel Reeves' private share trading plan criticised by executives; Venture capitalists question who would use system designed to arrest slide of UK capital markets
Alexandra Heal, Martin Arnold and Ivan Levingston - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4bkyy9l
Europe Scrambles to Rearm, Sort Of; Britain and Germany finally admit the low state of their militaries.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/41As8ju
Russia offers own rare-minerals deal to U.S., including deposits in occupied Ukraine
Paul Godfrey - United Press International
/jlne.ws/4i9XS4a
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | SEC Drops Investigation Into DeFi Firm Uniswap Labs
Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
Regulators are dropping a federal investigation into Uniswap Labs, creator of the world's largest decentralized crypto exchange, the company said on Tuesday. The move is the latest example of a switch from hard-line enforcement against the crypto market to softer treatment under the Trump administration. The Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation into Uniswap and doesn't plan to move forward with any enforcement actions, The Wall Street Journal earlier reported.
/jlne.ws/4iffmMz
ECB Seeks to Speed Up Bank Capital Model Approvals, Maijoor Says
Laura Noonan and Nicholas Comfort - Bloomberg
A top European Central Bank official said the watchdog is working to speed up its assessments of lenders' calculations of their financial strength, a step that may improve strained relations with the industry. The ECB is expanding the range of changes banks can make to internal models without going through the full rigors of the regulator's approval process, Steven Maijoor, a member of the watchdog's Supervisory Board, said in an interview in Amsterdam.
/jlne.ws/4ij53Hv
CFTC Releases Enforcement Advisory on Self-Reporting, Cooperation, and Remediation
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of Enforcement today issued an advisory on how the Division will evaluate a company's or individual's self-reporting, cooperation, and remediation when recommending enforcement actions to the Commission and establishes the factors the Division will consider. This marks the first time the Division will use a matrix to determine the appropriate mitigation credit to apply. The advisory provides fair notice to the public and guidance that is designed to ensure due process in the Division's investigations and enforcement actions. "Today, the CFTC is finally making the improvements that I have long proposed are necessary to ensure lawful enforcement, and also implements the Administration's Executive Order," said Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham. "From the beginning, I have encouraged firms to self-report to proactively take ownership, ensure accountability, and prevent future violations. By making the CFTC's expectations for self-reporting, cooperation, and remediation more clear-including a first-ever matrix for mitigation credit-this advisory creates meaningful incentives for firms to come forward and get cases resolved faster with reasonable penalties.
/jlne.ws/3DaSmzx
SEC Extends Compliance Dates and Provides Temporary Exemption for Rule Related to Clearing of U.S. Treasury Securities
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today extended the compliance dates for Rule 17ad-22(e)(18)(iv)(A) and (B) under the Securities Exchange Act by one year to Dec. 31, 2026, for eligible cash market transactions, and June 30, 2027, for eligible repo market transactions. Under the rule, a covered clearing agency that provides central counterparty services for U.S. Treasury securities must establish, implement, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures reasonably designed to require that every direct participant of the covered clearing agency submit for clearance and settlement all eligible secondary market transactions in U.S. Treasury securities to which it is a counterparty. The rule also requires a covered clearing agency to identify and monitor its direct participants' submissions of transactions for clearing, including how the covered clearing agency would address a failure to submit transactions.
/jlne.ws/4beZQ13
Remarks to the Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee
Mark T. Uyeda, Acting Chairman - SEC
Good morning. Welcome to the first meeting for the Committee in 2025. I expect that this year will be a busy and exciting one for this Committee as I have asked the Commission staff to explore ways to improve capital-raising opportunities for entrepreneurs and to empower retail investment in private companies.[1] These topics are at the heart of this Committee's expertise, and I hope that you will have opportunities to share your views with the staff, the Commission, and the public.
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Hurdles: Remarks before the Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce - SEC
Thank you, Erica. Thank you to the Committee for your continued work and to today's panelists for presenting today. I recently read Olympian Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's book, which inspired me to re-watch several of her races.[1] She set the world record in the 400 meter hurdles but did so with such ease that the hurdles almost seem like a non-event to the viewer. Her book made clear, however, that gliding over hurdles at breakneck speed requires not only a lot of natural talent but also hard work, persistence, tough lessons, and pain.
/jlne.ws/4kfhF48
ASIC cancels Australian credit licences of Tracie Lee Hanson and William James Lawrence
ASIC
ASIC has cancelled the Australian credit licences of Queensland-based credit licensees Tracie Lee Hanson and William James Lawrence. Ms Hanson failed to lodge three annual compliance certificates, had been expelled from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority due to non-payment of fees, and failed to pay industry funding levies owed to ASIC for three years. Her credit licence cancellation took effect on 4 October 2024.
/jlne.ws/41wcjKr
Advancing Australia's regulatory roadmap for public and private capital markets
ASIC
ASIC has announced its preliminary views on the opportunities and risks emerging from shifts in public and private capital markets and called for feedback and debate on key questions as part of a discussion paper launched today.
/jlne.ws/4igb6g0
Helping markets thrive and managing systemic risk: the FCA's approach to non-bank leverage
FCA
Speech by Sarah Pritchard, executive director of consumers, competition and international, at the Investment Association Roundtable.
/jlne.ws/41yhbim
Civil Penalty Actions Taken Against Five Individuals for False and Unauthorised Trading
MAS
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed civil penalties against four individuals, Mr Aw Yong Leon Heng, Mr Neo Say Hwee, Mr Chang Bing Quan Daryl, Mr Cheng Jia Hong, and a trading representative Mr Tan Keng Cheng, for abetting Mr Lim Tiong Hian[1] in false trading and the related unauthorised use of trading accounts under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA). These enforcement actions are a result of a joint investigation conducted by MAS and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force, following a referral from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.
/jlne.ws/4h18QIq
SFC supports government budget measures
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) welcomes the measures proposed by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, in the government's 2025-2026 budget to further enhance Hong Kong's competitive edge as an international financial centre.
/jlne.ws/4gSJNqQ
Sebi proposes fresh steps to tighten derivative market rules
Reuters via The Economic Times
India's markets regulator has proposed lowering position limits for equity stock derivatives and tightening rules for index derivatives, in a bid to further reduce the build-up of risk in these markets. The new proposals follow changes announced in October, where the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) raised the entry barrier for trading in derivatives and made it more costly to trade to protect retail investors. The fresh proposals come against the backdrop of concerns that volatility from the futures and options market is spilling over into the broader stock market, which has slipped sharply after hitting record highs in September 2024.
/jlne.ws/4bjno4H
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Social Security Announces Expedited Retroactive Payments and Higher Monthly Benefits for Millions - Actions Support the Social Security Fairness Act
Social Security Administration
Today, the Social Security Administration announced it is immediately beginning to pay retroactive benefits and will increase monthly benefit payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). These provisions reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits for over 3.2 million people who receive a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security (a "non-covered pension") because they did not pay Social Security taxes.
/jlne.ws/3DavJey
Wall Street Gamblers Get Crushed as Leveraged ETF Losses Hit 40%
Denitsa Tsekova and Isabelle Lee - Bloomberg
They were all the rage on the way up: high-risk, high-return exchange-traded funds, minted in bulk by Wall Street product managers in the euphoria of the post-election bull market. Now these speculative products are dealing their owners a gut punch after a series of disappointing economic reports and anxiety over US trade policy have put a brake on risk tolerance across the markets.
/jlne.ws/41jpHAt
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Three Half-Truths Don't Refute One Big Climate Lie; Energy Secretary Chris Wright is test-driving an insidious form of climate denialism.
Mark Gongloff - Bloomberg
If the most believable lies have a caramel filling of truth at the center, then today's climate-change denialism might be the most insidious yet. Unlike Original Formula denialists, the new ones will admit that, sure, climate change is happening. But they'll find subtle ways to dismiss its importance. These people may seem more reasonable, but their goal is still the same: discouraging us from doing anything to solve the problem. In an interview last week with Fox Business, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright - who has admitted that climate change is real - said, "There's pluses to global warming as well as negatives." The former fracking executive then rattled off some half-truths and distortions that, while maybe not as unscientific as straight-up denialism, are no less dangerous.
/jlne.ws/3D8gCSO
Apple shareholders reject ban on diversity programs
Curtis Bunn - NBC News
Shareholders of Apple voted Tuesday against dismantling its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, rebuffing a conservative think tank's recommendation. The vote at the company's annual meeting was highly anticipated, as many major companies have dissolved their diversity programs in the wake of President Donald Trump's executive orders forcing federal government agencies to abolish DEI programs.
/jlne.ws/3XmA05p
India's renewables sector falling far short of needed investment surge; Clean energy financing lags behind $68bn needed annually to hit ambitious climate targets, report warns
Andres Schipani and Krishn Kaushik - Financial Times
India's renewable sector must boost investments and access foreign financing if the world's most populous country is to meet its target to more than double non-fossil fuel sources of power by the end of the decade, experts, officials and industry figures have warned. India, which is the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to the International Energy Agency, received total green energy investment of just over $13bn last year.
/jlne.ws/4bdDa1f
Greenpeace risks bankruptcy at US pipeline trial
Max Matza - BBC News
Greenpeace has said that a lawsuit brought by an energy company over the Dakota Access Pipeline could wipe it out. The Texas-based company, Energy Transfer, alleges protest tactics by Greenpeace delayed the project, which began transporting oil in 2017 after President Donald Trump backed in his first term. Protests against the pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation drew thousands, but Greenpeace says it did not lead them and the lawsuit threatens free speech. The organisation "could face financial ruin, ending over 50 years of environmental activism" if it loses, it also says.
/jlne.ws/41uXgkf
Trump's EPA Plots Single Strike Against US Climate Change Rules
Ari Natter and Jennifer A. Dlouhy - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump's top environmental regulator is recommending the US government scrap its formal conclusion that greenhouse gases endanger the public, a move that would sweep away the legal foundation for regulations limiting planet-warming pollution from power plants, automobiles and oil wells. In private recommendations to Trump, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has urged a rewrite of the so-called endangerment finding, setting the stage for a potentially sweeping attack on federal climate regulations. The recommendations were described by people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the assessment isn't public.
/jlne.ws/4bjYeTD
Banks Warn of Hidden Credit Risk as EU Curtails ESG Disclosures
Frances Schwartzkopff - Bloomberg
The European Banking Federation is warning that the sheer scale of a proposed rollback of the bloc's ESG rules will make it harder for lenders to analyze credit risk. Banks in Europe have been waiting for years for their clients to start providing hundreds of data points under new ESG reporting rules. But as the European Union now looks set to dramatically water down planned regulations, banks fear they'll be left without the necessary tools to conduct proper credit risk analyses, according to the EBF, whose members include BNP Paribas SA, UniCredit SpA and Deutsche Bank AG.
/jlne.ws/3XknFP7
China must reduce steelmaking capacity by 15% over next 5 years to meet green targets
China coal-based blast furnace (BF) capacity must fall by at least 200 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) by 2025, said the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air
Yujie Xue - South China Morning Post
/jlne.ws/4iir3SW
BP to Focus More on Oil and Gas in Strategy 'Reset'
Stanley Reed Reporting from London - The New York Times
/jlne.ws/3XkoHdX
German Power Prices Jump to Highest Ever for This Time of Year; Lowering energy costs was key issue in last weekend's election; Low output from wind farms helped push up electricity prices
Eamon Farhat - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/41wcPIn
Why Trump's fix for gas prices won't work
Ella Nilsen and Amy O'Kruk - CNN
/jlne.ws/43wr8hJ
Trump Wants Canada's Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Built 'Now'
Jennifer A. Dlouhy - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/41dlqhU
US and Iraq Talk About 'Quickly' Resuming Key Oil Pipeline
Khalid Al Ansary and Salma El Wardany - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4i0nroH
BlackRock, a Diversity Pioneer, Distances Itself From DEI; World's largest asset manager drops diversity, equity and inclusion references from annual report
Jack Pitcher - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/4kbVpIh
Bank of America Scraps Diversity Goals in Latest Wall Street DEI Retreat
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4bezMmL
Trump Pressures Apple to End DEI After Investors Reject Measure; Investors turned down outside proposal to scrap DEI efforts; Trump escalates campaign against diversity hiring practices
Hadriana Lowenkron - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4h4EIeZ
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Nextalia Said to Explore Sale of Italian Wealth Firm Firstance
Pamela Barbaglia - Bloomberg
Private equity firm Nextalia is exploring options for Italian wealth tech firm Firstance including a possible sale, according to people familiar with the matter. The Milan-based buyout firm is working with Rothschild & Co. to gauge interest in the business, which provides insurance brokerage services to institutional and high net worth clients, the people said. Firstance could be valued at about EUR250 million ($263 million) in a transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
/jlne.ws/4kcm7Ax
Wall Street Bankers Race to Grab Slice of $5 Billion CATL Deal
Julia Fioretti, Dave Sebastian, Pei Li and Dong Cao - Bloomberg
A lack of recent multibillion dollar deals made the race for a role on CATL's Hong Kong listing even more competitive, despite low fees for bankers and a US blacklisting hanging over the world's biggest battery maker. Top banking brass such as HSBC Holdings Plc Chairman Mark Tucker pitched directly to the Chinese company, full name Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., while others shelved deals they were working on to focus instead on landing CATL, which is expected to raise more than $5 billion in Hong Kong.
/jlne.ws/41HRdZT
NatWest Plans SRT Tied to Almost £1 Billion of Leverage Loans; Size about £90 million; bank marketed similar deal last year; Bank is also selling pound-denominated Additional Tier 1 bond
Esteban Duarte and Laura Noonan - Bloomberg
NatWest Group Plc is working on a significant risk transfer linked to a portfolio of leveraged loans, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The size of the reference portfolio is almost £1 billion ($1.3 billion), said the people, who asked not to be identified because the potential transaction is private. The size of the SRT is around £90 million, they added.
/jlne.ws/4hVJbSB
HSBC Names Asia Country, Banking Heads in CEO's Major Revamp; Bank is streamlining business under new CEO Georges Elhedery; Some commercial, global banking staff lost out on roles
Denise Wee - Bloomberg
HSBC Holdings Plc gave country heads in some smaller Asian markets additional responsibilities as the lender streamlines and removes management layers. Peter Kim was appointed head of banking on top of his chief executive officer role in Korea, effective March 1, while Tim Evans will fill the same double role in Vietnam, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. A spokesman for the bank confirmed the content of the memo.
/jlne.ws/41flVb9
Lead Edge Capital Opens London Office, Plots Europe Expansion; Firm has backed companies including Spotify, Delivery Hero; Partner Brian Lobdell has relocated to oversee new office
Gillian Tan - Bloomberg
Growth equity firm Lead Edge Capital opened its first office outside the US in an effort to enhance its presence in Europe. The office is in London's tony Mayfair neighborhood and is led by Brian Lobdell, a partner at the firm who has relocated to the UK. Lead Edge, which invests in the software, technology-enabled and internet sectors, aims to develop relationships with prospective portfolio companies, provide more "hands-on" support to its new and existing companies, and strengthen its network of investors in the region, Lobdell said in an interview.
/jlne.ws/4hfesPv
The stakes for bankers in the 2025 tax fight
Claire Williams - American Banker
/jlne.ws/3XkbSAu
Blackstone Raises $5.6 Billion for Latest Energy Transition Fund
David Carnevali - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4i77b5a
JPMorgan to convert $7bn in mutual funds to ETFs; Conversions underscore manager's increasing focus on exchange traded funds
Sean Teehan - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/41eFhgG
Vanguard: can it keep playing disruptor? The asset manager plans to shake up financial services
Financial Times Behind the Money Podcast
/jlne.ws/41wcDc1
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | How to grow your career once you're at a company you like
Judith Humphrey - Fast Company
If you are career-minded, you may think applying for a loftier position in another company is the best route. In fact half of millennials expect to leave their current company within a year. But it's not always the right move. Advancing in your present company may be a smarter move. You already know the culture and the people. If you enjoy them, who is to say that you'd find something better elsewhere? Also, some companies reward loyalty. And why would you want to compete with hundreds of applicants in a chaotic job market? If you are staying, hone your strategy. Follow these five steps to boost your likelihood of advancing.
/jlne.ws/4ihXNvx
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Sen. Grassley Opens Inquiry Into UnitedHealth's Medicare Billing Practices; The Iowa Republican's letter to the company cites findings from a series of Wall Street Journal articles
Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews - The Wall Street Journal
Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent UnitedHealth Group Chief Executive Andrew Witty a letter demanding detailed information on the company's Medicare billing practices Monday. The letter-which cited findings from a series of Wall Street Journal articles published over the past year-said "the apparent fraud, waste, and abuse at issue is simply unacceptable and harms not only Medicare beneficiaries, but also the American taxpayer."
/jlne.ws/4bgANuo
People in industrialised societies sleep better, research finds; Study challenges notion of sleeplessness epidemic but says technology disrupts biological rhythms
Michael Peel - Financial Times
People in high-tech societies enjoy longer and better-quality sleep than those in non-industrialised environments, but suffer more potentially damaging disruption to natural biological rhythms, research has found. The findings challenge the idea that technology dependence is causing an epidemic of sleep deprivation, but support the thesis that factors such as lack of sunlight and the use of blue-light-emitting screens may have harmful effects. The study is part of an expanding effort to understand how aspects of restlessness in urban life might contribute to fatigue, depressive disorders and physical conditions such as obesity and cancers. It suggests the story might be less straightforward than the "sleeplessness epidemic" that some researchers have indicated is a consequence of 21st-century conditions.
/jlne.ws/41uu7FU
As Texas measles outbreak grows, parents are choosing to vaccinate kids
Erika Edwards - NBC News
As the measles outbreak in Texas keeps spreading, parents who previously chose not to vaccinate their children are now lining up to get their kids the shots needed to protect them from the serious illness. "People are more and more nervous" as they watch the highly contagious virus spread in their communities, mostly among children, said Katherine Wells, director of public health for Lubbock's health department. "We've vaccinated multiple kids that have never been vaccinated before, some from families that didn't believe in vaccines." About half of the approximately 100 doses of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) given at the health department last week were to kids who were unvaccinated, Wells said.
/jlne.ws/3D7inQd
Oops! Trump Accidentally Fired FDA Medical Device Reviewers
Ryan Grenoble - Huffpost
Turns out people want to know their pacemaker won't accidentally kill them. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is scrambling to rehire some of the roughly 700 employees who were laid off en masse by the Trump administration earlier this month, with a particular emphasis on the more than 220 people in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
/jlne.ws/3XhR5gM
The truth about American drinking water: Report shows widespread presence of hazardous chemicals
Beth Greenfield - Fortune
Your tap water might not be safe to drink, according to new data. Between the ongoing controversy around fluoridated water and the recent discovery of a chemical in our water systems that may or may not be toxic, the safety of American drinking water is murky, to say the least. And today, with a new report revealing that tap water is delivering harmful chemicals like PFAS ("forever chemicals"), heavy metals, and radioactive substances to millions of Americans-often at levels far beyond what scientists consider safe-it got even murkier.
/jlne.ws/43iOLdv
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Hong Kong's Stock Connect must upgrade to lure more foreign investors, industry body says
South China Morning Post
Foreign investors could become more confident about equity markets in Hong Kong and mainland China if enhancements were made to the Stock Connect programme, a financial industry group said, amid a rally driven by hopes for a policy shift from Beijing and enthusiasm about innovation in the technology sector. Lyndon Chao, managing director of the equities and post trade division at the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA), said last week that changes to the 10-year-old trading channel would improve liquidity and give global investors more confidence about stocks in Hong Kong and on the mainland.
/jlne.ws/4ieJkQV
China Brokers CICC and Galaxy Deny Report They Are Set to Merge
Bloomberg News
China International Capital Corp. and China Galaxy Securities Co. denied a media report that they plan a merger to form the nation's third-largest broker by assets. Reuters, citing five unidentified sources, reported that both brokers have secured backing from Chinese authorities and seek a merger via a share swap to be announced in coming weeks. Both Chinese brokers issued statements on Wednesday evening saying their state-owned controlling shareholder, Central Huijin Investment Ltd., has no plan to combine the two firms.
/jlne.ws/3EWsB6v
Indonesia, Home to Giant Gold Mine, Launches Bullion Banking
Eddie Spence and Grace Sihombing - Bloomberg
Indonesia has launched its first bullion banks in a bid to draw tons of privately held gold into the financial system of Southeast Asia's largest economy. The region's largest gold producer on Wednesday inaugurated gold banking services at state-owned PT Bank Syariah Indonesia and pawn broker PT Pegadaian, a unit of state-run banking giant PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, with officials saying more licenses could follow.
/jlne.ws/4k8Tap8
China to Inject at Least $55 Billion of Fresh Capital Into Several Big Banks
Bloomberg
China plans to start re-capitalizing three of its biggest banks in coming months, according to people familiar with the matter, following through on a broad stimulus package unveiled last year to shore up the struggling economy. Authorities are looking to inject at least 400 billion yuan ($55 billion) of fresh capital into the first batch of Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., Bank of Communications Co. and Postal Savings Bank of China Co., said the people, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The plan, which could be completed as soon as the end of June, is subject to change and the amount for each bank is still being finalized, said the people. China's banking regulator first flagged its plan to replenish core tier-1 capital at the six top state lenders in September, without elaborating. The Ministry of Finance later said that it will issue special sovereign bonds to fund the injections, which will strengthen the capability of banks to fend off risks and spur lending.
/jlne.ws/4beuRCd
Producers braced for glut of palm oil after Indonesia curbs exports; Clampdown on exports of used cooking oil squeezes demand from European energy suppliers
Susannah Savage - Financial Times
Traders are bracing for a glut of Indonesian palm oil after a clampdown on illicit exports by the world's largest producer squeezes demand from European energy and transport suppliers. The commodity is widely used in everything from chocolate bars to shampoo and biofuels but has come under increasing scrutiny from governments concerned its production requires large tracts of rainforest to be destroyed.
/jlne.ws/3XlDG7p
What Apple pulling Advanced Data Protection means for you
Liv McMahon - Reuters
Apple has made headlines by pulling its most advanced data security tool for UK customers. It is removing Advanced Data Protection (ADP) after the Home Office asked for the right to be able to access data which it is applied to - something even Apple itself cannot currently do. Rather than comply with that request, on Friday the tech giant said it would halt new UK sign-ups to the tool and remove existing user access at a later date. The move has prompted criticism of the UK government's actions - but also confusion about what protections remain for UK Apple customers.
/jlne.ws/4iyCbez
Iran's Uranium Stocks Have Surged Since Trump's Return to Office
Jonathan Tirone - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3EUj1RH
Kenya Offers Investors 10.5% Yield to Swap to Longer-Dated Debt; Initial price indications for 2036 note are around 10.5% area; Kenya is swapping its 2027 notes that have a 7% coupon
David Herbling and Colin Keatinge - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3XhAud0
DR Congo stops cobalt exports in attempt to halt sliding prices; World's top producer of metal used in electric vehicle batteries moves to counteract 'overabundance of supply'
Leslie Hook and Tom Wilson - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4kcpVlj
After trade dispute, Mexico officially bans the planting of GM corn
Adriana Barrera - Reuters
/jlne.ws/4kcUbN1
Nippon Steel Sticks With US Steel Takeover After Investment Call
Shoko Oda - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4blStoG
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Wolters Kluwer's Longtime Chief Executive McKinstry to Retire
Sarah Jacob - Bloomberg
Wolters Kluwer NV said its Chief Executive Officer Nancy McKinstry, who has led the Dutch information services company for more than two decades, will retire next year. The company intends to appoint Stacey Caywood as McKinstry's successor in February 2026, according to a statement on Wednesday. The supervisory board will nominate Caywood, who currently heads the firm's healthcare solutions and was responsible for transforming the legal and regulatory division, to the board in May.
/jlne.ws/3D9h0Aw
Christianity's Decline in U.S. Appears to Have Halted, Major Study Shows; Young people contributed to the shift. "If you're a young white male these days and you think of yourself as conservative, then being religious is a part of that."
Ruth Graham - The New York Times
For decades, social scientists, demographers and Christians themselves have told a familiar story about the state of Christianity in the United States: The country was rapidly secularizing. The Christian population was shrinking, on its way to becoming a minority religion. America may have been some years behind Europe in the process, but its pews were emptying steadily and inexorably. Now, that narrative may be changing.
/jlne.ws/43eA2Ai
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