| January 31, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The Environmental Markets Association is holding a "State of the Markets" webinar today at 4:00 p.m. ET. The moderator is former JLN editor-in-chief Jim Kharouf, now of IncubEx, and the panelists are Roman Kramarchuk of S&P Global Platts and Jennifer McIsaac of ClearBlue Markets.
Things are looking up at Exegy, which just announced record-breaking fourth quarter 2022 sales and two new executive positions. Enyx Co-founder and CEO Arnaud Derasse is now Exegy's chief product officer, and Larry Waldman joins Exegy as senior vice president for customer success.
Eric McNulty is starting a new position as chief financial officer at NinjaTrader Group, LLC.
Sterling Trading Tech announced it appointed Keith Cacciola as its chief customer officer. Before joining STT, Cacciola was a vice president of account management at Eventus.
The London Metal Exchange is hiring for its sustainability team. The position is "sustainability analyst" and it is located in London. Details are HERE.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is looking for a "Supervisory Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist (Associate Director)" in Washington, D.C.
Dan Nunez Cohen is joining Crypto.com as vice president of policy and regulatory affairs.
Former Hockey great Bobby Hull has died. He was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, among other teams. He was also an ambassador for the Blackhawks for many years, and so many people from this industry have had their picture taken with him. The pictures are being displayed on social media today honoring his passing.
The IFM is hosting a virtual course, Derivatives Markets Go Green: ESG, Emissions Trading & More on February 23 and 24, 2023, at 09:00 AM CST, and then again May 2 and 3. Sponsored by the Institute for Financial Markets, the course provides foundational information about ESG markets, government and investor expectations, and what factors are driving growth and product innovation. It will also show how these unique types of derivatives can be used to manage the financial risks related to ESG. You can learn more and register here. ~SAED
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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Gedon Hertshten - Open Outcry Traders History Project, Part One
JohnLothianNews.com
John Lothian News talked to Gedon Hertshten, the founder of G.H. Financials, for our Open Outcry Traders History Project. This is part one of a two-part video conversation with Hertshten.
Watch the video »
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JPMorgan reviews oversight of traders amid boom in financial markets - sources
Stefania Spezzati - Reuters
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is working with KPMG to improve how the U.S. bank supervises its traders, sources with knowledge of the review told Reuters, as Wall Street wrestles with how to spot potential wrongdoing during a securities trading boom. KPMG is reviewing JPMorgan's oversight of traders across the bank's markets division globally, the people said. The bank's revenues from buying and selling of bonds, currencies and stocks, rose to $29 billion in 2022, the largest among the top five U.S. banks and a near record high.
/jlne.ws/3kULhd1
****** How often does JP Morgan review their oversight of their traders?~JJL
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Have economists misunderstood inflation?
The Economist
Imagine it is late 2024. Inflation in the rich world has fallen from its peak but stayed stubbornly high. At around 4%, it is well above the level at which most central banks are comfortable. Governments, weighed down by vast debts, must use precious revenues to pay interest on the debt, which itself is growing because of high interest rates. The energy transition and rising state spending owing to ageing populations add to the fiscal largesse. Raising taxes is politically fraught, so more money is printed. Inflation stays high and governments' credibility worsens. Central bankers are scratching their heads, wondering how their powerful weapon-the interest rate-has failed so thoroughly.
/jlne.ws/3JsPgYg
****** The economists probably tried to buy a used car in the last year.~JJL
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Former Allianz Fund Manager Accuses Firm and Its Lawyers of Double-Crossing Him; Gregoire Tournant in his motion to dismiss says the lawyers who were engaged to represent him in a fraud investigation switched sides to become government informants
Dylan Tokar - The Wall Street Journal
A former Allianz SE fund manager who was blamed for losses the firm suffered during a market meltdown sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic has accused federal prosecutors of committing ethical breaches by turning his own lawyers against him. Gregoire Tournant, who was a chief investment officer for one of Allianz's U.S. investing divisions, said prosecutors encouraged lawyers that were acting both for the firm and for him personally to later switch sides and use his privileged communications to help build a false narrative against him.
/jlne.ws/3l0Yele
****** Get your own lawyer. Rule number one. Your employer and you are not the same and have different interests. And watch out for the triple cross.~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our most-read story Monday was Bloomberg's Regulator Says FTX's LedgerX Auction Shows Need for More CFTC Clout on Acquisitions. Second was the Financial Times' Prosecutors ask court to ban Sam Bankman-Fried from contacting FTX colleagues. Third (only third??) was Superhuman Algorithms Could 'Kill Everyone' in Due Time, Researchers Warn, from Popular Mechanics.
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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 | Ex-Citi Analyst Who Exposed Libor Takes Aim at Its Successor; Scott Peng says limits on term SOFR use are skewing market; Issue likely to worsen unless changes are made, Peng warns
William Shaw and Alex Harris - Bloomberg
Over a decade ago, Scott Peng was one of the earliest voices to call out the scandal-ridden London interbank offered rate. Now, he's sounding the alarm over its successor. Peng says guidelines designed to limit who can use derivatives tied to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate are inadvertently heaping risk onto banks' balance sheets, echoing warnings from TD Securities and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Left unchecked, he says, it could pose a significant risk to the smooth functioning of financial markets.
/jlne.ws/3HLCPW8
FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Sought Leniency From Foreign Regulators, Says Justice Department; Founder tried to transfer assets, hoped to regain control of crypto exchange, prosecutors allege in filing
James Fanelli and Vicky Ge Huang - Financial Times
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried attempted to stall bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. in November in order to transfer assets from his crypto exchange to foreign regulators, the Justice Department alleged in a filing Monday. Mr. Bankman-Fried hoped foreign regulators would treat him leniently and eventually allow him to regain control of FTX, according to federal prosecutors. FTX's lawyers wanted to secure the assets for bankruptcy at the time he was trying to move the money, the prosecutors said.
/jlne.ws/3kURUfc
Record fines in 2022 as regulators crack down; Financial regulators around the world stepped up their sanctions last year, according to the latest data from SteelEye's inaugural Fine Tracker, as enforcement actions gain both pace and profile.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
As financial markets remain in a state of flux, financial regulation is scrambling to adapt to the changing circumstances - with regulators on both sides of the pond in the process of evaluating and upgrading their frameworks. At the same time, there is a strong message being sent that compliance violations will no longer be allowed to fly under the radar, with a series of high-profile fines and penalties hitting the headlines in recent years.
/jlne.ws/3Hphdh0
Adani Group Saga Is Credibility Test for India's Markets, Institutions; How New Delhi reacts will greatly affect foreign investors' perception of the country's attractiveness
Megha Mandavia - The Wall Street Journal
The sprawling conglomerate built by Gautam Adani is under attack by short seller Hindenburg Research, which successfully deflated electric-vehicle maker Nikola Motors in 2020. At stake is both Mr. Adani's empire and, potentially, India's own ambitions to position itself as a credible alternative to China-as a manufacturing giant and a must-have part of an emerging-markets portfolio. U.S.-based Hindenburg Research, which last week said it held short positions in Adani Group through its U.S.-traded debt and offshore derivatives, has accused the conglomerate of accounting fraud and stock manipulation through opaque offshore entities. Adani Group denies the allegations and says the short seller is trying to smear its reputation and derail a public stock offering. Shares of the group's companies have plunged since Hindenburg's report, wiping out nearly $64 billion in market value. Hindenburg's report comes amid a $2.5 billion secondary share sale by Adani Enterprises that closes on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3RmsN0Z
Hong Kong Seeks to Revive Crypto Sector Wrecked by FTX Debacle
Joanna Ossinger and Suvashree Ghosh - Bloomberg
Hong Kong is sticking with a plan to become Asia's digital-asset capital despite the industry's tarnished reputation, a stance drawing tentative interest from bruised crypto firms looking for paths to recovery. The city claims it will learn the lessons of a $2 trillion crypto market rout and a spate of global bankruptcies like the collapse of the FTX exchange to create a fresh regulatory framework that can protect investors and encourage growth.
/jlne.ws/3XP6Nhz
LSEG appoints new Turquoise chief to replace Dr Robert Barnes; New global chief executive officer and head of equities trading commercial proposition originally joined LSEG's MTF in 2019.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
The London Stock Exchange Group's (LSEG) Turquoise has selected a new global chief executive officer following the departure of Dr Robert Barnes at the end of last year, The TRADE can reveal. Adam Wood has been appointed global chief executive officer and head of equities trading commercial proposition, reporting to LSEG's chief executive officer Julia Hoggett, according to an internal memo seen by The TRADE.
/jlne.ws/3JsBrJi
SEC official says FTX failure shows need for private placement reform; Caroline Crenshaw seeks greater disclosure for equity offerings made outside public markets
Stefania Palma - Financial Times
A US financial regulator has urged better disclosures for investors who buy company stock through private placements, citing the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX as an example of the dangers of opaque offerings. Private placements are sales of equity outside of public markets. US rules largely limit offerings to so-called accredited investors who are thought to have the financial resources and savvy to assess deals that come with less information than public issues. Caroline Crenshaw, a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said in a speech on Monday that an exemption from extensive disclosure that was carved out for smaller businesses had come to be used by larger companies including "unicorns", or private issuers valued at more than $1bn.
/jlne.ws/3kQzcW1
Bitcoin Suisse Chairman Says EU Won't Ban Crypto, But It May Seek to Contain It
Fran Velasquez - CoinDesk
Building a firewall that separates crypto from the traditional financial system may be the best approach to keep the digital asset industry alive in the European Union, Luzius Meisser, chairman of crypto firm Bitcoin Suisse, told CoinDesk TV's "All About Bitcoin" on Monday. Meisser said the "containment" strategy, which is one of four strategies the Zug, Switzerland-based firm has outlined, could be beneficial to crypto and the traditional finance marketplace. He said containing crypto is what EU lawmakers are on track to pursue.
/jlne.ws/3wJt8RY
BlockFi Approved to Set up Auction for Crypto Mining Business
Steven Church and Amelia Pollard - Bloomberg
BlockFi Inc. won bankruptcy court approval to set up an auction for the crypto lender's digital coin mining business. The company wants to get bids in as quickly as possible to take advantage of current market conditions, BlockFi lawyer Francis Petrie said during a video court hearing Monday morning. The company has already gotten some initial bids for various assets and expects more, Petrie told US Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan.
/jlne.ws/3XREZcG
Gautam Adani pulls off $2.4bn share sale despite short seller report; Indian billionaire's flagship company secures backing for the offering
John Reed, Hudson Lockett and Richard Milne - Financial Times
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has succeeded with his $2.4bn equity sale by securing bids to cover all shares on offer despite a short seller report targeting his industrial empire. The equity sale, intended to widen the shareholder base of Adani Enterprises, became a test of investor faith after short seller Hindenburg Research released a report last week alleging that Adani Group, the conglomerate's parent company, had engaged in stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
/jlne.ws/3DtqIKT
The Last Look...
Colin Lambert - The FullFX
Does FX have a transparency problem, or rather, is one looming? I was talking to someone last week who has a good insight into what the authorities are thinking and the point was made that if volumes on the CLOBs continues to deteriorate, those authorities would be concerned at the impact on market transparency.
/jlne.ws/3wFK2AS
Elon Musk pushes forward with Twitter payments vision; Company has started applying for US state licences in bid for fresh revenues beyond advertising
Hannah Murphy - Financial Times
Twitter has begun applying for regulatory licences across the US and designing the software required to introduce payments across the social media platform, as Elon Musk searches for new revenues to turn round the business. Esther Crawford, a fast-rising lieutenant to Musk inside Twitter, has started to map out the architecture needed to facilitate payments on the platform with a small team, said two people familiar with the company's plans.
/jlne.ws/40kv9Bx
FTX sues Voyager Digital to claw back $446 million in 2022 loan payments
Dietrich Knauth - Reuters
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX sued crypto lender Voyager Digital on Monday, seeking to claw back $445.8 million in loan repayments that FTX made before collapsing into bankruptcy in November 2022. FTX and Voyager both filed for bankruptcy amid a 2022 collapse in cryptocurrency markets, but Voyager's bankruptcy preceded FTX's filing by four months.
/jlne.ws/3HKEM5t
UK Crypto Exchange Archax Launches FCA-Regulated Custody Service
Ian Allison - CoinDesk
U.K.-regulated cryptocurrency exchange Archax has launched a digital asset custody service with the blessing of regulators, as institutional crypto players button up their operations and try to rebuild trust in the sector. The London-based Archax and its new custody business are among the few offerings to have cleared the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) high bar for firms dealing in digital assets. All assets held in custody will be entirely segregated and "solvency-remote" from the exchange, said Archax, meaning that if the trading business did go bust, custodied assets would not be included in any bankruptcy proceedings.
/jlne.ws/3HoWwSk
Former Janus Henderson analyst among those charged by FCA for insider dealing; The regulator has started criminal proceedings against five people for conspiracy to commit insider dealing and money laundering between 2019 and 2021.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
The FCA has accused five people of manipulating a derivative product (contracts for difference) in order to bet against the value of numerous companies, generating an estimated profit of around £1.5 million. Former Janus Henderson analyst Redinal Korfuzi allegedly used confidential inside information to enable "timely and profitable trading" in 49 companies through accounts held by co-conspirators Oerta Korfuzi, Iva Spahie, Rogeria de Aquino and Dema Almeziad.
/jlne.ws/3kPBAw9
UBS Attracts Wealthy Clients to Help Lift Profit; Switzerland's largest bank by assets attracted new customer money in the quarter, while a rival was weakened
Margot Patrick - The Wall Street Journal
UBS Group AG said wealth clients added new assets at the bank in the fourth quarter, helping it post a better-than-expected net profit. Chief Executive Ralph Hamers said it was among banks benefiting from outflows at rival Credit Suisse Group AG, including in Asia. He said Credit Suisse's woes weren't the main driver of inflows.
/jlne.ws/3WPDxpF
UBS's net profit for 2022 reaches $7.6 billion despite sharp declines in investment banking; The bank reported a more positive performance than many of its peers, driven in part by a significant reduction in operating expenses.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
UBS has released its Q4 2022 earnings, reporting a more positive outcome than some of its peers, with net profit for the full year amounting to $7.6 billion. Although UBS saw total revenues decrease by 8%, to $8 billion compared to $8.7 billion in Q4 2021, a reduction in operating expenses by 13% allowed net profit to increase from $1.4 billion in Q4 2021, to $1.7 billion in Q4 2022.
/jlne.ws/3wKnxL2
EU Prepares to Offer Clean Tech Tax Breaks to Compete With U.S. Green Subsidy Push; Brussels to outline how it could loosen government-aid rules to help countries compete for investment
Kim Mackrael - The Wall Street Journal
The European Union wants to make it easier for governments to dole out tax breaks and other aid to clean-tech companies, part of a push to counter U.S. subsidies that officials worry will draw investment away from Europe. The European Commission, the bloc's executive body, is set to release a proposal on Wednesday outlining how the EU might relax bloc-wide rules that limit how member countries can subsidize businesses. The plan will also look to set aside money to help European governments with limited fiscal firepower compete for investment.
/jlne.ws/3kMyo4q
The house that helped secure Sam Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail package reportedly sits on land his parents leased from Stanford
Sindhu Sundar - Business Insider
When Sam Bankman-Fried's parents helped him get released through a $250 million bail package, it raised questions about how their family home could secure the astronomical sum. It turns out now that the five-bedroom residence is also on land that his parents, who are Stanford University professors, leased from their employer, according to a Los Angeles Times report. That could add limitations to any possible sale of the house and to determinations about its value, the report said.
/jlne.ws/3DuBf8J
Celsius bankruptcy examiner expected to report on Ponzi allegations
Dietrich Knauth - Reuters
A court-ordered examiner is expected to release a report on Monday addressing whether bankrupt crypto firm Celsius Network operated as a Ponzi scheme, which could add to the pressure on founder Alex Mashinsky, who is already facing fraud allegations. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, who is overseeing the crypto lending platform's Chapter 11 case, appointed former prosecutor Shoba Pillay as an independent examiner in September, tasking her with investigating Celsius customers' allegations that the company operated as a Ponzi scheme and reporting on the company's handling of cryptocurrency deposits.
/jlne.ws/40h30LJ
Crypto firm Grayscale hit with another lawsuit alleging 'unfair' and 'deceptive acts'
Anushree Dave - MarketWatch
Crypto investment firm Osprey Funds LLC has filed a lawsuit against crypto firm Grayscale Investments, claiming that it has misled investors through unfair and deceptive acts in the asset management industry. More specifically, it claims Grayscale knew the application to convert GBTC to an ETF was never going to be approved by regulators. The lawsuit, which was filed on Jan. 30 in Connecticut Superior Court, comes after Osprey's founder and chief executive Greg King wrote an open letter to Barry Silbert, CEO of Digital Currency Group, which is the parent company of Grayscale Investments.
/jlne.ws/3RjuJau
What we must learn from FTX so that history does not repeat itself
Chen Zhuling - Forkast
The aftermath of FTX's collapse is significant. In terms of scale, the contagion from the event alone has a much larger impact than that of Terra, Mt. Gox, or any of the string of recent high-profile insolvencies plaguing the cryptoverse. To draw a comparison from the world of traditional finance - given FTX's former status as the one-time second-largest crypto exchange globally - it would be as if JPMorgan announced tomorrow that they are going out of business.
/jlne.ws/3WSdkXR
Chinese broker exposed by FT investigation into North Korea oil trade arrested; South Korean authorities detain shipping agent amid fears of flight risk after activities revealed
Christian Davies and Song Jung-a and Polina Ivanova - Financial Times
A Chinese oil broker whose activities were exposed by a Financial Times investigation has been arrested in South Korea on suspicion of organising illegal transfers of diesel to North Korea. The broker is suspected of arranging more than 35 transfers amounting to 18,000 tonnes of diesel, in deals valued by the South Korean coastguard at Won18bn ($14.6mn).
/jlne.ws/3HjS2N2
The TRADE Close Roundtable: Episode 1 - Drivers of growth; Watch the first video instalment: in which we introduce our panellists and explore the key drivers of growth for rising volumes at the Close.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Earlier this month, The TRADE brought together participants across venues and the buy- and sell-side to examine the ongoing migration of trading volumes to the Close Auction. In the first of four episodes, senior reporter Annabel Smith introduces our panellists and unpacks the key drivers of migrating volumes including the growing passive segment and algorithms pegged to the Close, as well as the global landscape.
/jlne.ws/3kXRWDf
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine - Croatian president
Reuters
Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, will never again be part of Ukraine, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said on Monday in remarks detailing his objection to Zagreb providing military aid to Kyiv. In December, Croatian lawmakers rejected a proposal that the country join a European Union mission in support of the Ukrainian military, reflecting deep divisions between Milanovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
/jlne.ws/3WL9Ki0
How arming Ukraine is stretching the US defence industry; Detailed supply chain mapping of two weapons that changed the war reveals a complex web of companies under significant strain as the industry returns to a wartime footing
Steff Chavez, Alexandra Heal, Ian Bott, Sam Joiner, Sam Learner, Irene de la Torre Arenas and Veronika Samborska - Financial Times
One can be carried on a shoulder. The other is 16 tonnes of fortified steel on monstrous wheels. Together, the weapons have helped change the course of the war in Ukraine, empowering the defending army to first withstand the invading Russian forces, and then push them back.
/jlne.ws/3HJs86A
Goldman Sachs transferred privately held Russian assets to former employees; Western banks are exiting the country following the invasion of Ukraine
Joshua Franklin and Max Seddon - Financial Times
Goldman Sachs agreed a deal last year to transfer a portion of its privately held Russian investments to two of the bank's former employees, part of the Wall Street firm's efforts to wind down its operations in the country in the wake of Moscow's war with Ukraine. Goldman has transferred its ownership stakes in Russian recruitment firm HeadHunter and Cian, a property listing website, to Maxim Klimov and Anton Schreider, according to a person familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/3jjCbpG
France open to sending fighter jets to Ukraine; President Emmanuel Macron says 'nothing is excluded' after US rules out supplying F-16s
Leila Abboud, Henry Foy and Ben Hall - Financial Times
France has signalled openness to sending fighter jets to Ukraine as western countries weigh the next steps in military assistance to help Kyiv resist Russian attacks. "By definition, nothing is excluded," President Emmanuel Macron said at a press conference in The Hague on Monday, adding that he had not received a request for jets from Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3Jv5nos
Joe Biden rules out US sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine; Blow to Kyiv's push for combat aircraft comes after US and Germany agree to supply tanks
Felicia Schwartz - Financial Times
US president Joe Biden has ruled out sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, delivering a blow to Kyiv's push to secure the combat aircraft just a week after Washington and Berlin agreed to supply it with tanks. Asked by reporters on Monday whether the US would provide F-16 jets to Ukraine, Biden simply responded: "No." The decision by the US and Germany to provide main battle tanks to Kyiv has reignited discussions about whether western countries will send F-16 jets, which Ukrainian officials have said will help maintain a crucial advantage in the skies.
/jlne.ws/3WS2jW8
Putin's War in Ukraine Pushes Ex-Soviet States Toward New Allies; The Kremlin ruler's efforts to restore Russian dominance over its neighbors seem further away than ever as nations build ties with rival powers.
Bloomberg News
Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine partly to assert Russia's regional dominance once and for all. Nearly a year on, the Russian president has achieved the opposite - and not just in Kyiv. Officials from ex-Soviet states in central Asia and the Caucasus say the war has prompted their governments to look for ways to reduce dependence on Moscow by turning to rival powers including Turkey, the European Union and Middle East countries. All spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing the Kremlin.
/jlne.ws/3Rs1p1F
Ukraine Desperately Needed Tanks. Now It Needs Planes.; Infantry is still the "queen of the battlefield," but modern warfare demands both mechanized forces and air support.
James Stavridis - Bloomberg
Over the past week, a number of countries have made commitments to provide advanced tanks and armored personnel carriers to the Ukrainian military. How will the Ukrainians take advantage of their windfall in armored combat power? And why is the image of tanks on European battlefields so evocative? In the coming months, the Ukrainians will be receiving a force of what are known as main battle tanks: extremely capable, modern, well-maintained and lethal. The initial pledges include German-made Leopard 2 tanks from perhaps a dozen nations, most importantly Germany and Poland; the formidable M1-A1 Abrams from the US; and Challenger 2 tanks from the UK. The French have promised Leclerc armored personnel carriers, and the US will send Bradley fighting vehicles and high-speed armored Strykers. Other European nations, from Spain to Sweden, are promising additional armored vehicles.
/jlne.ws/3wGyflJ
Norway Fund Says Russia Exit Held Up by Sanctions on Its Bank
Ott Ummelas - Bloomberg
Norway's $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund is barred from proceeding with the planned divestment of its $292 million of worth of Russian holdings as the custodian bank is under sanctions. "The concrete and practical problem is that the custodian bank that we use is under sanctions, and can't assist us with settlement of transactions, and neither with voting on shares" in Russian companies, Trond Grande, deputy chief executive officer, told reporters at a news conference in Oslo on Tuesday. "So therefore the situation is deadlocked. There is no way we can either sell or buy or vote on these shares."
/jlne.ws/3DsyLrg
Russia Sidesteps Western Punishments, With Help From Friends; A surge in trade by Russia's neighbors and allies hints at one reason its economy remains so resilient after sweeping sanctions.
Ana Swanson - The New York Times
A strange thing happened with smartphones in Armenia last summer. Shipments from other parts of the world into the tiny former Soviet republic began to balloon to more than 10 times the value of phone imports in previous months. At the same time, Armenia recorded an explosion in its exports of smartphones to a beleaguered ally: Russia. The trend, which was repeated for washing machines, computer chips and other products in a handful of other Asian countries last year, provides evidence of some of the new lifelines that are keeping the Russian economy afloat. Recent data show surges in trade for some of Russia's neighbors and allies, suggesting that countries like Turkey, China, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are stepping in to provide Russia with many of the products that Western countries have tried to cut off as punishment for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3kXWyJy
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | CME Group to Launch E-mini Russell 2000 Tuesday and Thursday Weekly Options on February 27
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced it will expand its suite of weekly options expiries for its E-mini Russell 2000 futures with the launch of Tuesday and Thursday weekly options on February 27, pending regulatory review. These new weekly options contracts will complement the existing Monday, Wednesday and Friday Weeklies, as well as End-of-Month and Quarterly options on Russell 2000 futures.
/jlne.ws/3XUrSaK
Nasdaq Named to 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. today announced its inclusion in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) for the third consecutive year. The GEI is a modified market capitalization-weighted index that tracks the performance of public companies committed to transparency in gender-data reporting. Nasdaq is one of 484 companies across 45 countries and regions to be named to the 2023 index. "Nasdaq is proud to be included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the third consecutive year," said Laura Agharkar, Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Culture, Nasdaq. "We are deeply committed to advancing equality and continuously building on our culture of inclusivity at Nasdaq. Driven by our core purpose to advance economic progress for all, we continue to push for increased data transparency and reporting and creating a community where all are welcome and empowered to succeed."
/jlne.ws/3WS7uW4
Last Trading Day for Carbon Credit Market Demonstration
JPX
Since September 22, 2022, Tokyo Stock Exchange has been conducting the Carbon Credit Market Demonstration, which is a trial trading as part of the "Technical Demonstration Project for Carbon Credit Market" commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Japan Exchange Group is pleased to announce that today, January 31, 2023, was the last trading day of the demonstration. A research report on the demonstration will be prepared in the future. The total trading volume during the period was 148,933 tons of CO2, with 183 companies participating in the J-credit market as demonstration participants. In addition, several initiatives were implemented, including selling government-owned credits on the market starting on November 16 and changing the trading category (*1) on January 4. The volume traded by credit category is shown below.
/jlne.ws/408BqQK
3 Questions To Laurent Pulinckx; "Green and digital transitions as priorities"
Paperjam + Delano Business Club
As part of the "10 × 6 Leading CIOs' challenges", organized by the Paperjam + Delano Business Club, on Wednesday January 25, Laurent Pulinckx, Member of the Executive Committee and CIO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, shares what inspires him. How are you responding to the main IT challenges of 2023? Laurent Pulinckx. - "Given the importance of IT for a society like the Stock Exchange today, and considering the increase in the number of cyberattacks and the 'professionalization' of ransom demands, I think that we must above all put in place a stable and resilient cybersecurity infrastructure. It is essential to ensure that all employees and collaborators are trained and able to identify, report and contain possible cyberattacks. The objective is that we can anticipate the damage, and not wait and see it too late.
/jlne.ws/3jm7BMc
Evaluating dividends in an uncertain environment; Bloomberg and Eurex jointly hosted the European Dividends Summit 2023
Eurex
At the joint event, industry experts such as Bloomberg's Michael Maxwell, Marc Moehrle, Equity Portfolio Manager, Deutsche Asset Management, Akilesh Eswaran, Managing Director at the Royal Bank of Canada and Stuart Heath, Director, Equity & Index Product Design at Eurex presented and discussed the outlook for European dividends, hedging dividend exposure and extracting risk premise as well as product updates from Eurex. Also among the experts was Paul Beck, Executive Director, Equity & Index Sales, Eurex. We asked him about his views on the current market situation and his outlook for the new year.
/jlne.ws/3kXNZOV
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Eventus introduces Validus AML (VAML), new end-to-end anti-money laundering solution to help exchanges, institutions combat financial crime
Eventus
Eventus, a leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, today announced the broad introduction of Validus AML (VAML), a new end-to-end anti-money laundering (AML) platform aimed at helping firms in both the traditional finance and digital asset space combat financial crime. The new cloud-based Validus AML (VAML) offering uniquely combines a signals-based approach to behavior detection, rules-based logic and advanced data analytics to deliver a comprehensive solution producing significant efficiencies and adaptability for a changing regulatory landscape.
/jlne.ws/3YcerTe
Twitter makes first $300mn interest payment after Musk buyout; Social media company makes instalment to group of seven lenders as concerns over financial health have mounted
Eric Platt, James Fontanella-Khan and Tabby Kinder - Financial Times
Twitter has made its first $300mn interest payment on the $13bn of debt that Elon Musk used to buy the social media platform, according to people briefed on the matter. The company settled the quarterly interest payment on Friday with a group of seven lenders led by Morgan Stanley, the people said. The looming bill had been closely watched as the first big test of Musk's financial stewardship of Twitter and as concerns about its financial health have mounted.
/jlne.ws/3jjahds
The EU Is About to Take a Bigger Stick to Big Tech; A new auditing regime should make harder to give Meta, Google and Amazon an easy ride on data protection.
Parmy Olson. - Bloomberg
It's well established that the European Union has some of the strictest privacy laws in the world, threatening fines of up to 4% of a company's annual turnover. A lesser-known fact, and one which large tech firms would like to keep quiet, is that the EU hasn't enforced those rules very strictly.
/jlne.ws/3RjBdWS
Elon Musk is trying to build a Twitter payments system - and crypto may be part of it: report
Frances Yue - MarketWatch
Twitter is reportedly pushing forward its efforts to introduce payments across the social media platform. In Elon Musk's vision, the system would use fiat currencies at first, but may add crypto functionality later, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The social media giant has been applying regulatory licenses and devising the software it needed to enable payments through the site, according to the report. Musk expects the payment system to be built so that crypto functionality could potentially be added at a later point, the report said, citing anonymous sources.
/jlne.ws/40kreoj
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Anne Neuberger discusses work to protect critical infrastructure
Tim Starks - The Washington Post
The Biden White House is pressing ahead on a broad effort to protect critical infrastructure from hacks by coordinating with federal agencies, collaborating with international allies and pushing mandates on industry sectors.
/jlne.ws/3Rmi9Hq
The Effect of Cybersecurity Layoffs on Cybersecurity Recruitment
Kevin Townsend - SecurityWeek
On Friday, January 20, 2023, Google announced it would lay off 12,000 employees. Amazon and Microsoft have laid off a combined 28,000 people; Twitter has reportedly lost 5,200 people; Meta (Facebook, etcetera) is laying off 11,000... This is just the tech giants, and almost all the staff looking for new positions are, by definition, tech-savvy - and some will be cybersecurity professionals.
/jlne.ws/3WTiZNb
UK cybersecurity firm Darktrace's shares dive as short sellers circle
Mark Sweney - The Guardian
The value of Darktrace has plummeted to a record low after the emergence of two new short sellers betting against its business, as the British cybersecurity firm is hit by a new wave of criticism of its sales, marketing and accounting practices.
/jlne.ws/3WQ9ZZc
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | BlockFi Wins Bankruptcy Court Approval to Auction Mining Assets
Mrinalini Krishna - Investopedia
BlockFi, the crypto lender that declared bankruptcy after the failure of FTX, won approval from a New Jersey bankruptcy court to start auctioning its cryptocurrency mining assets--and says it has suitors seeking to buy all or part of the company. The firm said in a filing earlier this month that it had approached 106 potential buyers to sell a part or all of its business. According to BlockFi's petition, it aims to receive buyer bids by Feb. 20 and complete the auction a week later. The company will then file the motion of sale for any deal it reaches before the court by March 1.
/jlne.ws/3HoTPA6
Defunct Crypto Lender BlockFi Granted Approval to Sell Assets
Will McCurdy - Decrypt
Defunct crypto lender BlockFi has earned court approval to sell its remaining assets. BlockFi, which let users earn interest on their deposited cryptocurrencies, fell into bankruptcy in late November 2022 due to its connection with FTX, which had previously extended the firm several lines of credit.
/jlne.ws/3HmH5dr
FTX Sister Firm Alameda Hits Bankrupt Voyager Digital With $446M Lawsuit
Andrew Asmakov - Decrypt
Trading firm Alameda Research has filed a new lawsuit seeking to recover about $445.8 million from the bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital. Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder and CEO of FTX, also co-founded the trading firm in 2017. A day before FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, it emerged that the crypto exchange had lent customer funds to help prop up Alameda Research.
/jlne.ws/3HlqVB1
Alameda Seeks to Recover $446M in Crypto Paid to Voyager After Lender's Bankruptcy
Nikhilesh De - CoinDesk
Defunct crypto trading firm Alameda Research - one arm of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's former empire - wants to regain around $446 million transferred to bankrupt lender Voyager Digital prior to Alameda's own bankruptcy filing, a new lawsuit says.
/jlne.ws/3HJaxeX
Ordinals Launches NFTs on Bitcoin, Unsurprisingly Sparking Controversy
Jason Nelson - Decrypt
When it comes to digital collectibles, most enthusiasts think of Ethereum, Solana, or Polygon-deservedly, as proof-of-stake blockchains have cornered the NFT marketplace. But digital collectibles using the Bitcoin blockchain have existed since 2014, and several projects have made it their continuing mission to bring NFTs to the first and biggest cryptocurrency.
/jlne.ws/3XUldgK
Crypto Trading Firm Cumberland Can Trade Crypto With Canadian Dollars
Sage D. Young - CoinDesk
Clients of Cumberland DRW - a prominent liquidity provider in digital assets - can now trade crypto denominated in Canadian dollars. This new capability, said Cumberland in a Twitter post, will reduce friction and simplify the transaction process for its trusted large institutional customers.
/jlne.ws/3HJszOa
FTX Seeks to Dismiss Turkish Entities From Bankruptcy Case
Andrew Asmakov - Decrypt
The imploded cryptocurrency exchange FTX wants the Delaware bankruptcy court to expel its Turkish units from the bankruptcy case, arguing that U.S. court orders "do not have legal or practical effect" in Turkey.
/jlne.ws/3JKT1bZ
Osprey Funds Accuses Grayscale of 'Unfair' Practices in Lawsuit
Alys Key - Decrypt
Digital asset manager Osprey Funds has filed a suit in a U.S. court against Grayscale Investments, operator of the world's largest Bitcoin trust, claiming that the firm misrepresented the likelihood that the trust could ever become an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
/jlne.ws/3kY76bH
Artists Weigh In on the Battle Over NFT Creator Royalties
Megan DeMatteo - CoinDesk
In June 2021, during my first-ever interview with a prominent non-fungible token (NFT) collector, I learned about a Web3 silver bullet. As a freshly self-employed writer who left a salaried media job to pursue a freelance career, scarcity was on my mind.
/jlne.ws/3Y3h7Te
Coinbase Exec Says Institutional Investors Still Into Crypto Post-FTX
Fran Velasquez - CoinDesk
Institutional investors appear to have a steadfast interest in crypto, David Duong, head of institutional research at crypto exchange Coinbase, told CoinDesk TV's "First Mover" on Monday.
/jlne.ws/3HMl5u5
Coinbase Wallet Adds Safety Features Following High-Profile NFT Scams
Kate Irwin - Decrypt
Coinbase says it is improving the safety and user experience of its Wallet app. The crypto firm announced a number of new features on Monday aimed at improving blockchain transparency and security for Wallet users, adding transaction previews, token approval alerts, a blocklist of flagged dApps, and an a spam token management feature that automatically hides maliciously airdropped assets.
/jlne.ws/3kU5vU4
Dungeons & Dragons Reverses Course on NFT Ban Amid Backlash
André Beganski - Decrypt
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) publisher Wizards of the Coast capitulated to fans and content creators Friday, announcing that it won't move forward with proposed changes to a game license that would have clamped down on derivative NFT projects in the process. Earlier this month, the Hasbro-owned company provoked widespread ire from the tabletop gaming community after it moved to modify a legal framework that has allowed people to produce content compatible with D&D for over 20 years. That included things like D&D-inspired live play shows and podcasts, as well as graphic novels and other media.
/jlne.ws/40iVK1O
Premier League backs Sorare's NFT fantasy football game despite crypto crash; League agrees multimillion-pound licensing deal with start-up that offers trading in digital player cards
Tim Bradshaw and Samuel Agini - Financial Times
The English Premier League has struck a multimillion-pound deal with Sorare, the blockchain-based fantasy sports game, as the world's most popular football league bets that trading in digital collectibles will survive beyond the current crypto slump. Paris-based Sorare - which is backed by star players including Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi - announced a four-year licensing contract with the Premier League on Monday. Users will be able to collect and trade digital cards representing players from all 20 English top-tier teams and use them in its fantasy football game.
/jlne.ws/3WQeN0H
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Crypto meltdown sparks legal battle over assets
Sam Sutton - Politico
The epic implosion of digital exchange FTX is sparking a torrent of lawsuits and legal threats among crypto financiers scrambling to salvage what they can from the wreckage. Small investors stand little chance of being made whole. The meltdown is giving momentum to efforts in Congress and by federal regulators to create new rules and clamp down on businesses whose practices contributed to massive losses over the last year. Top lawmakers like Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) are exploring legislation to safeguard consumers.
/jlne.ws/3JpxbKD
White House Tough Stance on Crypto Urges Roadblocks for Traditional Finance Firms
Carleton English - Barron's
Cryptocurrencies were dealt a blow last week after the White House called on Congress to do more to regulate the nascent and volatile market. Many have clamored for more regulation in the digital assets space following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in November and the subsequent bankruptcies of lenders Genesis Global Capital and BlockFi. Among the measures suggested by the White House were increasing the transparency and disclosure requirements for crypto companies so customers are better aware of the risks.
/jlne.ws/3RjASn3
Binance offshore exchange tapped same Washington lobbyists as US affiliate; Disclosures point to linkages between two entities that say they are operationally independent
Scott Chipolina - Financial Times
The world's largest crypto exchange Binance used the same lobbyists to pitch Washington lawmakers as its US affiliate, an arrangement that points to linkages between the two trading platforms that claim to operate separately. Binance has insisted its US operation is independent from the wider group, which has been subject to a barrage of regulatory censures around the world. The offshore exchange, which has no formal headquarters and lets retail traders bet on crypto markets using complex financial products, says it does not serve US customers.
/jlne.ws/3Y8Bbn5
Passive owners, active lobbyists? It's not what you pay, it's what you own
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
Our colleague Brooke Masters' weekend report that BlackRock has jacked up how much it spends on lobbying was both intriguing and unsurprising, given how Fink + Friends have increasingly found themselves in the political crosshairs. BlackRock still spends less than rivals Invesco and Fidelity, and asset managers actually spend a lot less on lobbying than many other industries. But perhaps they can count on some indirect but potentially powerful "force multipliers" - the growing horde of companies they own big stakes in?
/jlne.ws/3x1CDfD
Brexit Is Costing the UK £100 Billion a Year in Lost Output; Bloomberg Economics report marks third anniversary of split; Business investment is weaker, labor shortages more acute
Andrew Atkinson - Bloomberg
Brexit is costing the UK economy £100 billion a year ($124 billion), with the effects spanning everything from business investment to the ability of companies to hire workers. An analysis by Bloomberg Economics three years after Britain left the European Union paints a bleak picture of the damage done by the way the split has been implemented by the Conservative government. Economists Ana Andrade and Dan Hanson reckon the economy is 4% smaller than it might have been, with business investment lagging significantly and the shortfall in EU workers widening.
/jlne.ws/3WPC0jp
Climate climb-downs fail to damage Germany's Greens; Pragmatism paints a paler shade of Green
The Economist
Imagine being a Green party in a crisis-hit government. Which news image would you dread more: footage of monster mechanical claws tearing up lush fields to expand a coal mine, or of a riot squad dragging away Greta Thunberg, the impish, Swedish-born patron saint of climate-change activism? Little more than a year into their stint in a three-party national government, Germany's Greens found both of these public-relations disasters spooling relentlessly across millions of televisions. The events took place in mid-January near the tiny hamlet of Lutzerath in North Rhine-Westphalia. In what environmentalist groups had billed as a last stand, thousands of demonstrators braved freezing drizzle to protest against the expansion of an open-cast lignite mine, a city-sized gash of beige in a sea of green. After several days of muddy scuffles against a science-fiction backdrop of giant diggers, police bodily removed the last protesters, including Ms Thunberg.
/jlne.ws/3Y6NJff
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | SEC Proposes Updates to Ethics Rules Governing Securities Trading by Personnel
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed amendments to its ethics rules to strengthen and modernize its ethics compliance program. The amendments would add new requirements and prohibitions to the program, which already includes some of the most stringent ethics requirements in the executive branch for all agency employees, their spouses, and minor children.
/jlne.ws/3Yt32yD
Big "Issues" in the Small Business Safe Harbor: Remarks at the 50th Annual Securities Regulation Institute
Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw - SEC
Thank you Thomas [Kim] for that lovely introduction and I'm very pleased to be here at the Securities Regulation Institute giving the Alan B. Levenson Keynote Address. Director Levenson was the consummate public servant who left an enduring mark on the Division of Corporation Finance, and the Commission more generally. I'm happy to say that his legacy of combating corporate corruption and promoting integrity in our markets lives on today.
/jlne.ws/3Jy9f8d
SFAT affirms SFC decision to fine Cardinalasia Consulting Limited $1.5 million and imposes a heavier suspension on its responsible officer for failures in managing private funds
Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined Cardinalasia Consulting Limited (CCL) $1.5 million over its failures in acting as a principal investment adviser to five private funds between August 2014 and October 2017 after the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal (SFAT) upheld the SFC's disciplinary action against it (Notes 1 to 5).
The licence of CCL's responsible officer, Mr Edward Lee Shiu Lun, has also been suspended for nine months from 27 January 2023 to 26 October 2023 - two months more than the SFC had proposed. Lee was primarily responsible for providing investment management and advisory services to the five CCL-advised private funds during the material time (Note 6).
/jlne.ws/3kVVMMU
FCA reappoints Chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service for a second term
FCA
Richard Lloyd OBE, Interim Chair of the FCA, said: 'I congratulate Zahida on her reappointment and I look forward to continuing to work with her. The Financial Ombudsman Service fulfils an essential role in ensuring fair outcomes for consumers and financial services firms, and the extensive transformation programme initiated in her first term as Chair will stand the service in good stead for the future.'
/jlne.ws/3XSEn6D
FMA appoints Sharon Thompson to new executive leadership team
Financial Markets Authority
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko has appointed Sharon Thompson to its newly formed enterprise leadership team as Executive Director - Transformation and Operational Delivery.
Ms Thompson has extensive, senior leadership experience in both the New Zealand public sector and financial services industry. She joins the FMA from Inland Revenue - Te Tari Taake, where she was Deputy Commissioner for the Customer and Compliance Services (Individuals) group. She led the IRD's large, customer-facing teams through the organisation's multi-year business transformation, including digital technology, business process, capability uplift, structural and culture change.
/jlne.ws/3JtMrqa
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | ExxonMobil posts record $55bn profit; Results show scale of windfall from high oil prices following Ukraine war
Justin Jacobs - Financial Times
ExxonMobil raked in a record profit of $55.7bn last year, underscoring the windfall for Big Oil after Russia's invasion of Ukraine despite a fourth-quarter slowdown as fossil fuel prices retreated from recent heights. The Texas-based oil supermajor ended the year with a $12.75bn fourth-quarter profit, missing Wall Street expectations of $13.7bn, according to analyst estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ.
/jlne.ws/3jj2kox
'Colossal' central bank buying drives gold demand to decade high; Fallout from US sanctions on Russia helped fuel 18 per cent leap in purchases last year
Harry Dempsey - Financial Times
Demand for gold surged to its highest in more than a decade in 2022, fuelled by "colossal" central bank purchases that underscored the safe haven asset's appeal during times of geopolitical upheaval. Annual gold demand increased 18 per cent last year to 4,741 tonnes, the largest amount since 2011, driven by a 55-year high in central bank purchases, according to the World Gold Council, an industry-backed group.
/jlne.ws/3wEUE34
BlackRock pushes to attract more retail investors to ETFs; World's largest asset manager offers new ETFs savings plans with neobroker Bux
Chris Flood - Financial Times
BlackRock has joined forces with the neobroker Bux to offer low-cost savings plans that use exchange traded funds in a push by the world's largest asset manager to encourage more retail investors across Europe to adopt ETFs. Investors will be able to build investment portfolios of up to 10 BlackRock iShares ETFs in a so-called savings plan that will cost a flat fee of just EUR1 per month on the Bux platform. Investors will be able to make portfolio trades that can adjust the allocations across all of the ETFs they hold for a Euro 1 commission fee and the minimum required investment has been set at just Euro 10 per month to appeal to younger savers.
/jlne.ws/3HK5FGz
Push into illiquid assets exposes UK pension savers to higher fees; Government presses ahead with plans to funnel scheme funds into infrastructure and start-ups
Josephine Cumbo - Financial Times
The UK government will relax rules shielding tens of millions of UK retirement savers from high charges as it aims to channel billions of pounds of pension fund cash into longer-term investments such as start-ups and infrastructure. The government on Monday confirmed plans to exempt performance fees from an annual 0.75 per cent cap on annual charges that can be levied on auto-enrolled pension savers. The cap has long been seen by the industry as a barrier for many "defined contribution" pension schemes to investing in less-liquid assets, whose managers typically charge performance-related fees.
/jlne.ws/3WPEBtY
Bitcoin Beating US Government Bonds Is a Whole Vibe Shift in Markets; The cryptocurrency is outperforming a wide variety of bond ETFs.
Tracy Alloway - Bloomberg
Want to see what's different in markets so far in 2023? Look no further than the performance of Bitcoin versus bonds. The cryptocurrency has surged almost 40% so far this year thanks to a general return of risk appetite and the expectation that the Federal Reserve will hit the pause button on hiking interest rates. Of course, those same factors have sparked a rally in bonds - but not enough to offset historic losses incurred last year.
/jlne.ws/3XUltw4
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Oatly Launches Climate Footprint Labels in the US; The first climate labels will appear on the company's strawberry, peach, plain and mixed berry dairy-free yogurts, called Oatgurts.
Zahra Hirji - Bloomberg
Oatly Group AB will this month debut climate footprint labels on four of its plant-based yogurts, known as Oatgurts, in the US, and plans to update the labeling on 12 additional products sold nationwide over the next two years. Starting on Tuesday, climate details for these 16 Oatly products will also be available online. "We're in the business of driving an impact to the food system through converting consumers from dairy products to their Oatly equivalents," says Julie Kunen, Oatly's sustainability director for North America. "We do this by trying to make them as delicious as possible. We also want people to be aware that those are sustainable choices."
/jlne.ws/3HLaBuO
Can board games teach us about the climate crisis? Game creators say yes; Board games might be the best learning device to think creatively about impending climate disaster
Zoe Dutton - The Guardian
Europe is planting trees to offset its emissions but is swiftly hit with massive wildfires. The United States is investing in mining operations abroad to wean off its dependence on fossil fuels but harbors concerns about trading with an abusive government. Meanwhile, a coalition of countries from the global south must decide whether to accept construction loans from China or the United States. These are not conversations at another high-profile global summit, but rather scenarios envisioned by the board game Daybreak, which hits shelves this spring. Four players - the United States, China, Europe and the "Majority World", encompassing the global south - cooperate to reach zero emissions before hitting 2 degrees of warming or putting too many communities in crisis.
/jlne.ws/3XS6Adx
Companies Take Action on Diversity and Inclusion in Bloomberg's 2023 Gender-Equality Index
Bloomberg via Cision
Today, Bloomberg announced that 484 companies are included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI). The GEI serves as a touchstone for companies seeking to track their progress in gender inclusion and how the implementation of diversity policies shape company performance. Over 600 companies participated in the Gender Reporting Framework and disclosed their gender-related data, resulting in an 11% increase year-over-year.
/jlne.ws/3DtnZBi
Natural Gas Prices Crashing Amid Warmest January In 15 Years-Here's How Bad Bear Market Could Get
Jonathan Ponciano - Forbes
Natural gas prices extended a months-long decline on Monday-falling to the lowest level in nearly two years as analysts expect the unseasonably warm winter could continue to depress the market for natural gas in the coming weeks, ultimately keeping prices below recent highs for at least another year. KEY FACTS; U.S. natural gas prices fell 5% to less than $2.70 Monday morning-pushing losses more than 72% below an August high of roughly $9.70 and at one point hitting what would be the lowest closing price since April 2021.
/jlne.ws/3XSsddK
America needs a new environmentalism; Preventing clean-energy infrastructure from being built is no way to save the planet
The Economist
Winter is windy season in Wyoming. On a particularly gusty day, those brave enough to travel on the i-80 highway will find that their fingers curl in a death grip around the steering wheel as winds buffet the car. The side of the road becomes a graveyard for lorries that have been blown over. Yet the same terrifying gusts make Carbon County, of all places, an ideal site for a wind farm. PacifiCorp, the biggest utility in the American West and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway's energy arm, operates a suite of wind farms in the county. Philip Anschutz, a billionaire who made his fortune from fossil fuels, wants to turn his Wyoming ranch into a sea of turbines.
/jlne.ws/3XSnZmo
Micromobility and transit pave the way to net zero; Public transit, micromobility and mode-shifting are key to reducing transport emissions.
Vartan Badalian - GreenBiz
The road to decarbonizing transport is looking more promising. Shifting transportation away from cars toward public transport and micromobility options across the world's cities must roughly double in this decade to align with the Paris Agreement. And between 40 to 80 percent of global miles traveled in cities must be from walking, cycling or public transit, according to the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. Businesses, governments and individuals are starting to take this road. Large company fleets, such as IKEA's, are leading the way, driven partially by the mandates of climate-forward cities. Paris and London, for example, are pushing companies to accelerate decarbonization through zero- and ultra-low emission zones as well as congestion pricing for delivery services. New York City last year announced a request for delivery-making businesses and freight operators to help kick off a pilot in July to develop "efficient, sustainable and economically feasible" distribution micro-hubs. Doing so would accelerate cargo bike deliveries, which more than doubled in nine early months of the coronavirus pandemic, between May 2020 and January 2021.
/jlne.ws/3kSfg5c
Chalmers' essay upends Friedman's thesis; The treasurer is proposing a model of capitalism underpinned by social values that are being increasingly demanded of governments and business by the community.
Graeme Samuel - Financial Review Contributor
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has written a deeply insightful essay in The Monthly. For those interested (or indeed concerned) at the policy implications of the philosophy discussed by Chalmers, I would urge them to read the essay carefully and with an open mind, uncluttered by the commentaries of the past few days. It would be easy to dismiss Chalmers' discussion of capitalism as a reversion to an economic model long since discarded. But that would reflect a very superficial reading of its content, and a myopic view of evolving community attitudes, doubtless influenced by an ideological predisposition or bias.
/jlne.ws/3DsMrmo
This Billion-Dollar Startup Wants to Bring Back the Dodo; Colossal Biosciences is adding the famously dead bird to a de-extinction agenda that already includes the woolly mammoth
Josh Saul and Sarah McBride - Bloomberg
A biotechnology startup that promises to resurrect woolly mammoths is now the first "de-extinction unicorn," with a valuation said to be over a billion dollars before bringing back a single lost species. Colossal Biosciences, the Dallas-based startup, is making public a new round of investment this week that will help fund its effort to bring back perhaps the most famously extinct animal of them all: the dodo. Reintroducing mammoths to Alaska or dodos to Mauritius sounds unrealistic, even silly, and has drawn skepticism from paleo-geneticists and other experts who worry that the effects of de-extinction would be unpredictable. Yet Colossal has continued to draw support from investors, including celebrities, and on Tuesday announced another $150 million for a total of $225 million since 2021. A person familiar with the company said with the latest round the startup is valued at about $1.5 billion.
/jlne.ws/3kXKjN7
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Norway's $1.3tn oil fund bounces back after worst year since 2008; Sovereign wealth fund has gained 5% so far this year but chief executive warns of 'uncertain' 2023
Richard Milne - Financial Times
Norway's $1.3tn oil fund has staged a recovery in the first month of 2023 after its worst year since the global financial crisis, underscoring the strong rally in global markets in the opening month of 2023. The world's biggest sovereign wealth fund has gained 5 per cent so far in 2023, chief executive Nicolai Tangen told a press conference on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3jpOlgB
UBS profits rise after Credit Suisse client defections; Bank benefits after billions pulled from wealth management accounts at Swiss rival
Owen Walker - Financial Times
UBS enjoyed a 23 per cent rise in pre-tax profits in the final quarter as it benefited from clients switching from rival Credit Suisse. The Swiss bank on Tuesday reported $1.7bn of net profit in the final three months of 2022, comfortably ahead of analyst estimates of $1.3bn, bringing the group's profit for the year to $7.6bn.
/jlne.ws/3wIBedu
UBS Announces $5 Billion Buyback as Rate Tailwind Lifts Results; Zurich-based lender reported net income of $1.65 billion; Revenue falls at investment bank, cost-income ratio rises
Myriam Balezou and Marion Halftermeyer - Bloomberg
UBS Group AG reported fourth-quarter profit that beat expectations and announced plans to repurchase more than $5 billion of shares this year, as rising interest rates helped offset a slump in trading revenue and wealth-management fees. The Zurich-based bank reported net income of $1.65 billion on Tuesday, aided by a 35% surge in interest income at the wealth management unit, the margin that the company makes on loans. Divisional results elsewhere mixed however, with the investment bank under-performing US peers and revenues down in asset management.
/jlne.ws/3wG5BBm
Ark Invest teams up with Swedish broker to launch local fund; The fund will be run by Ark in line with its flagship ETF ARKK, which lost about 65% last year, but jumped 30% in January
Alf Wilkinson, - Financial Times
Swedish broker Avanza has launched a fund for local investors managed by Ark Investment Management, the firm founded by star US manager Cathie Wood. Avanza Disruptive Innovation by Ark Invest is an actively managed fund that invests in between 30 and 80 companies, primarily in the US, that are leaders in the segments of artificial intelligence, DNA sequencing, robotics, energy storage and blockchain technology.
/jlne.ws/40ehJHp
UBS, UniCredit Pledge $12 Billion Bonanza for Shareholders as Rates Drive Profit; Firms kick off earnings season with gains in lending income; But regulators want banks to be cautious in returning capital
Steven Arons - Bloomberg
Europe's largest banks kicked off earnings season with pledges to return more than $12 billion to shareholders, following an interest rate bonanza that's bolstering lenders from Milan to Stockholm. UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers on Tuesday vowed to return more than $6.7 billion to shareholders this year, after income from lending to wealthy clients surged in the fourth quarter. His counterpart at UniCredit Spa, Andrea Orcel, promised to distribute EUR5.25 billion ($5.67 billion). Both linked the payouts, a combination of buybacks and dividends, to rising interest rates.
/jlne.ws/3JtOryG
TD Strikes Deal With Canada Immigration Site as Newcomers Surge
Kevin Orland - Bloomberg
Toronto-Dominion Bank struck a deal to provide financial content for the immigrant-geared CanadaVisa website, part of its bid to win a greater share of the new Canadians who are an increasingly important source of growth for the country's big lenders. Under the exclusive partnership, Toronto-Dominion will provide articles and other financial-services material on a routine basis for the website, which has 2.4 million monthly users and almost 900,000 forum members, the Toronto-based bank said Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3Dv4198
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Apple violated work rules according to US labour watchdog; Board finds sufficient evidence to support claims of harassment and suppression of worker organising
Patrick McGee - Financial Times
Apple has been found to have broken labour laws on multiple occasions following a year-and-a-half investigation stemming from former employees' complaints. The National Labor Relations Board said there was sufficient evidence to support charges against the technology company after two employees accused it of workplace harassment and suppression of labour organising.
/jlne.ws/3jnEsjt
Apple Executives Violated Worker Rights, Labor Officials Say; Officials say Apple's rules 'restrain or coerce' employees; Former employee claimed that Tim Cook email broke federal law
Josh Eidelson - Bloomberg
Comments by Apple Inc. executives and policies imposed on employees have been deemed illegal by US National Labor Relations Board prosecutors, who say they violate workers' rights. The NLRB general counsel's office has determined that "various work rules, handbook rules, and confidentiality rules" imposed by the tech giant "tend to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees" from exercising their rights to collective action, spokesperson Kayla Blado said Monday.
/jlne.ws/3l0lxvS
8,000 Layoffs Don't Exactly Scream Family Values; In firing tens of thousands of workers, Silicon Valley is proving that such a utopia never existed and it's long past time to lose that tired trope.
Beth Kowitt - Bloomberg
In Silicon Valley, that magical and mystical utopia where tech CEOs and entrepreneurs describe their companies as one big happy family, the biggest family man of them all has always been Marc Benioff. To the Salesforce Inc. chief executive officer, the cloud-based software enterprise company he co-founded isn't just a company but what he calls Ohana - a Hawaiian word meaning family and support system. Its massive annual Dreamforce event that takes over San Francisco isn't a conference but a family reunion. Even earnings calls and investor days - where Benioff has been known to wax poetic on everything from dolphins returning to the Venice canals during the pandemic to his Ukrainian ancestry - can feel a little bit like dad presiding over a family dinner.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Pandemic Nears 'Transition' Point-But It's Still A Global Health Emergency, WHO Warns
Ty Roush - Forbes
The Covid-19 pandemic will remain a global health emergency despite reaching a "transition point," the World Health Organization said Monday, suggesting higher immunity levels will soon result in fewer virus-related deaths as the U.S. continues to average more than 500 per week. KEY FACTS; Covid-19 remains a "dangerous infectious disease with the capacity to cause substantial damage to health and health systems," the global health agency said Monday, adding "there is little doubt" the virus will remain despite mitigating factors.
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Covid-19 is a leading cause of death for children in the US, despite relatively low mortality rate Deidre McPhillips - CNN
Covid-19 has become the eighth most common cause of death among children in the United States, according to a study published Monday. Children are significantly less likely to die from Covid-19 than any other age group - less than 1% of all deaths since the start of the pandemic have been among those younger than 18, according to federal data. Covid-19 has been the third leading cause of death in the broader population. But it's rare for children to die for any reason, the researchers wrote, so the burden of Covid-19 is best understood in the context of other pediatric deaths.
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U.S. to end COVID-19 emergency declarations on May 11
Reuters
President Joe Biden's administration on Monday said it will end COVID-19 emergency declarations on May 11, nearly three years after the United States imposed sweeping pandemic measures to curb the spread of the illness. The COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) were put in place in 2020 by then-President Donald Trump. Biden has repeatedly extended the measures, which allow millions of Americans to receive free tests, vaccines and treatments.
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The 4 best diets for healthy aging that experts say will keep your brain sharp and your body healthy
Jodi Helmer - Fortune
You can't change the number of candles on your birthday cake but you can change how you feel and function as you get older-no injections, serums, or surgeries required. In fact, the latest science shows at the secret to healthy aging isn't found in a medicine cabinet or medical clinic; it's in the kitchen. "Diet is a key determinant of healthy aging," says Dr. Frank Hu, professor and chair of Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "It can influence risk of major chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, which are leading causes of death."
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Bill Ackman says banks involved in the Adani Group's $2.5 billion share sale face 'too much liability exposure' and should do more due diligence
Zahra Tayeb - Business Insider
Billionaire Bill Ackman has warned that the banks involved in the Adani Group's share sale have too much liability exposure and should carry out a complete due dilligence. In a Sunday tweet, Ackman said: "I don't see how the bankers for the @AdaniOnline equity offering can allow it to close without doing due diligence on the issues identified in the @HindenburgRes report."
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Billionaire Gautam Adani Calls on India for Help to Save His Empire; Adani and his companies are facing accusations of fraud from a New York short-seller, threatening the group's shares and his fortune.
Luc Olinga - The Street
Billionaire Gautam Adani is under siege. Since Jan. 24 Asia's richest man has faced serious allegations of fraud, money laundering and price manipulation that threaten to take away much of his fortune. Indeed, the New York investment firm Hindenburg Research has launched an offensive against one of the largest Indian conglomerates.
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UK expected to be only major economy to shrink in 2023 - IMF
BBC News
The UK economy will shrink and perform worse than other advanced economies, including Russia, as the cost of living continues to hit households, the International Monetary Fund has said. The IMF said the economy will contract by 0.6% in 2023, rather than grow slightly as previously predicted. However, the IMF also said that it thinks the UK is now "on the right track". Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the UK outperformed many forecasts last year. But shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the figures showed the UK "lagging behind our peers".
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European de-equitisation comes of age; Well done everyone, trebles all round
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
For the first time in at least 20 years, European companies are buying back their shares at a faster clip than even US companies, according to Bernstein. Welcome to the big leagues. Last year, Europe-based companies announced that they would repurchase shares worth about $350bn, up from $218bn. That amounts to a record 2.4 per cent of their total stock market capitalisation.
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Free-Range Egg Supply at Risk as UK Poultry Kept Indoors While Bird-Flu Rages; Flu cases fall from peak but risk of infection remains high; Outbreak has been remarkable, Chief Veterinary Officer says
Megan Durisin - Bloomberg
UK chickens and hens will stay indoors until the country's worst-ever bird flu outbreak abates further. While risk levels are reviewed weekly, housing orders in place since November in England may not lift until spring, when wild birds that carry the virus migrate elsewhere, Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said Tuesday. That means free-range eggs - which typically account for more than half of supply - could soon be off the shelves.
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Gold as Inflationary Hedge Makes Turkey World's Biggest Buyer; Demand increased from Turkey's central bank and households
Kerim Karakaya and Beril Akman - Bloomberg
Turkey was the biggest buyer of gold among central banks last year, with households also rushing to buy the commodity to shield from geopolitical uncertainty and rampant inflation. The central bank's gold reserves were at the highest level on record, the World Gold Council said in a report Tuesday. The official figure was 542 tonnes, up by 148 tonnes.
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A 40-Year-Old Woman Is Now Richer Than Any Man in Greek Shipping; Maria Angelicoussis is worth more than $5 billion after taking over her father's company in the traditionally male-dominated shipping industry.
Devon Pendleton and Benjamin Stupples - Bloomberg
In Greece, a country where shipping is king, the industry's wealthiest figure is a woman. Maria Angelicoussis, 40, heads Angelicoussis Shipping Group, one of the biggest closely held shipowners in the world. She inherited the company, now in its third generation, from her father John, who died in 2021 at age 72. A surge in freight rates triggered by a confluence of pandemic factors sent ship valuations soaring over the past two years.
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