| March 06, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The FIA released its 2025 derivatives industry survey, conducted by Crisil Coalition Greenwich, that revealed key insights into market sentiment and future trends. A majority of respondents anticipate increased trading activity in 2025, driven primarily by political instability and geopolitical conflict, rather than traditional economic fundamentals. In the U.S., the threat of tariffs and a more business-friendly regulatory environment were highlighted as significant factors influencing trading activity. The survey identified commodities as the asset class with the greatest growth potential, followed by interest rates and credit. Geographically, India and the Middle East were seen as regions with high growth prospects outside of Europe and North America. Walt Lukken, FIA's president and CEO, noted that political uncertainty and global conflicts are reshaping the derivatives markets as participants seek to manage risks.
The survey also explored market structure issues, including the central clearing mandate for U.S. Treasury securities, which many firms view as an opportunity for competition among clearinghouses. Respondents emphasized attributes like cross-margining and margin methodology when selecting clearinghouses. Regarding vertical integration in derivatives markets-where exchanges combine roles with brokers-opinions were mixed, with half viewing it negatively due to potential conflicts of interest. The survey further examined prediction markets, with most respondents dismissing their relevance to conventional futures markets. On technology trends, generative AI emerged as the most impactful innovation for trading and clearing workflows, surpassing tokenization in collateral management. The survey drew responses from more than 260 participants across North America, Europe, and other regions, representing clearing firms, brokers, asset managers, exchanges, and technology providers.
Cboe reported record-breaking trading volumes for February 2025, with U.S. options reaching an all-time high ADV of 18 million contracts across its four exchanges. Key drivers included a record 13.6 million ADV in multiply-listed options and 3.5 million SPX options ADV, the highest on record. February 21 saw multiple single-day records, including 25.7 million total U.S. options contracts and 4.7 million SPX options contracts traded. In futures, the largest-ever IBIG block trade of 2,200 contracts ($309 million notional) occurred on February 27, pushing open interest past $479 million notional. Meanwhile, Cboe BIDS Europe set monthly records, with EUR15.4 billion in total notional traded and EUR771.3 million ADV. Full details are available in Cboe's press release.
The Derivatives Market Institute for Standards (DMIST) released its 2024 annual report, highlighting significant accomplishments aimed at improving operational efficiency and risk reduction in the exchange-traded derivatives industry. Key achievements included the development of the "30-30-30" standard implementation guide, which has led to trade-date allocation completion rates of 95-97%, even during increased market volumes, mitigating systemic risks. DMIST also published the average pricing standard in June 2024, with an implementation guide expected in 2025, enabling brokers and clearinghouses to adopt a global framework for pricing trades efficiently. Additionally, DMIST established a planning/strategy working group to address emerging trends like tokenization and U.S. Treasury clearing while receiving its first proposals from non-members, including standards for position transfers and self-match prevention. These efforts reflect DMIST's commitment to fostering collaboration among brokers, exchanges, clearinghouses, and technology providers to enhance market resilience and operational consistency.
Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) today announced leadership changes in its FX and technology divisions to support its growth strategy. Jean-Philippe Male, previously the CEO and co-founder of BidFX and currently SGX FX president, will assume the role of CEO of SGX FX effective April 1, 2025. Male, credited with driving significant growth in SGX's OTC FX business, will lead efforts to expand SGX FX as a key growth engine for the group. At the same time, Lee Beng Hong, head of wholesale markets and platforms, will step down to pursue new opportunities. Additionally, Thijs Jacobs, group chief technology officer, is stepping down, and Chief Information Officer Tinku Gupta will temporarily assume his responsibilities while a replacement is sought.
The New York Times has a story it describes as "After Trump's Purge, It's Open Season for Fraudsters" that is titled "They Were the Watchdogs." The Times says, "President Trump has sworn to root out corruption within the government, yet one of his first acts as president was to fire over a dozen independent watchdogs who did exactly that. We spoke to seven of them about the abuses they uncovered, what they really think about DOGE and what all this means for the future of American democracy."
BNP Paribas has renewed its partnership with Girls on the Run International for the 2025 BNP Paribas Open through its "Points for Change" campaign. The bank will donate $1 to the nonprofit for every point scored during the tournament, with a portion of the funds supporting local initiatives in the Indian Wells area. Last year's event generated $26,755 for the organization, and the campaign aims to promote education and inclusion through sport. Girls on the Run International, which serves over 173,000 girls across North America, will use the funds to expand its empowerment programs, develop new curricula, and support local programming in the Coachella Valley. The partnership underscores BNP Paribas's commitment to using tennis as a catalyst for positive change and youth development.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: The traders, they are a-changin' - and so must the OMS, ANALYSIS: Experts look to market metrics amid boom in US options volume, Most FCMs see benefits from deregulation, volatility - Acuiti, Robinhood partners with CQG for handling retail futures order routing, Singapore Exchange names former president as FX chief executive and Euronext expands clearing services to crypto exchange-traded products.
Hasbro has announced a new version of Monopoly called Monopoly App Banking, which eliminates paper money and the traditional banker role, replacing them with a mobile app to manage transactions. Players will use their smartphones to handle money and property management, as Hasbro aims to streamline gameplay and appeal to younger audiences. The updated board features modernized properties like Rocket Launch Pad and Moon instead of classics like Boardwalk and Park Place. While the changes promise faster play and reduced opportunities for cheating, critics argue that the removal of physical cash diminishes the educational benefits of teaching math and financial skills. Additionally, concerns have been raised about increased screen time, as the game now requires smartphones for participation. Despite mixed reactions, Hasbro emphasizes that this innovation reflects evolving market preferences while the traditional version remains available for fans of the classic experience.
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:
- February 2025 Monthly Volume Data from OCC.
- Montreal Exchange Announces Options On 10 CIBC Canadian Depositary Receipts from Traders Magazine.
- Commissioner Hester Peirce Announces Crypto Task Force Staff from the SEC. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Reading Your Statement : Futures Discovery Ep. 19
JohnLothianNews.com
Reading Your Statement
Today, we're diving into the intricate world of reading your trading statement, a topic that can shape the flow of your futures trading journey.
Watch the video »
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Elon Musk's AI chatbot says a 'Russian asset' delivered the State of the Union; The chatbot Grok scoured available public data and found a '75-85% likelihood' that Donald Trump more or less works for Vladimir Putin.
EJ Montini - Arizona Central (opinion)
According to the AI chatbot called Grok, which was developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, there is a "75-85% likelihood" that the person who delivered the State of the Union address on Tuesday night is a "Putin-compromised" Russian asset. In describing Grok, by the way, Musk said it is a "maximally truth-seeking AI, even if that truth is sometimes at odds with what is politically-correct." Like, for example, determining that his good buddy Donald Trump, who has given Musk free rein over every aspect of the federal government, is most likely a Russian asset.
/jlne.ws/3Xt9Vlj
***** This is a theme in Washington, where Sen. Jeff Merkly questioned whether President Trump was a Russian asset based on his actions supporting Russia against Ukraine. Also, a U.K. member of Parliament, Graham Stuart, floated the idea a couple of days ago that it is a "possibility" that President Donald Trump "is a Russian asset," in a post on X/Twitter. Grok must be picking up on this content and some of the State of the Union content for its assessment.~JJL
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Nevada Gaming Board Orders Kalshi to Shut Down Sports Contracts
Lydia Beyoud and Ira Boudway - Bloomberg
Nevada's gambling regulator is asking Kalshi Inc. to stop offering derivatives trading on professional and college sports to people in the state by March 14. The state is the first to challenge the rapid rise of sports-based "event contracts" offered by federally-regulated exchanges like Kalshi and Crypto.com, as well as unregulated platforms including Polymarket.
/jlne.ws/4iJNY9Z
***** This effort is likely to fail, given the federal jurisdiction of derivatives trading. The superiority of federal law over state law is called the Supremacy Clause. This principle is established in Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, which declares that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties are the "supreme Law of the Land" and take precedence over any conflicting state laws or state constitutions. Former FIA President John Damgard was key to getting exclusive federal jurisdiction of listed derivatives trading in the Commodity Exchange Act that created the CFTC. However, this gambling issue is not going to go away, and ultimately Kalshi and other firms depending on their CFTC registration for protection will lose it, I predict.~JJL
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Trump to revoke legal status for 240,000 Ukrainians as US steps up deportations
Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke - Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is planning to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, a senior Trump official and three sources familiar with the matter said, potentially putting them on a fast-track to deportation. The move, expected as soon as April, would be a stunning reversal of the welcome Ukrainians received under President Joe Biden's administration.
/jlne.ws/3DlNZBS
****** This is just plain mean spirited and anti-American.~JJL
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Denmark postal service to stop delivering letters
Adrienne Murray and Paul Kirby - BBC
Denmark's state-run postal service, PostNord, is to end all letter deliveries at the end of 2025, citing a 90% decline in letter volumes since the start of the century. The decision brings to an end 400 years of the company's letter service. Denmark's 1,500 post boxes will start to disappear from the start of June.
/jlne.ws/3QN9rTm
***** Time to start collecting Danish stamps?~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top clicked item Wednesday was the Trading Technologies press release, Trading Technologies Promotes Justin Llewellyn-Jones to CEO, Keith Todd to Deputy Chairman. Second was SEC Agrees to Drop Enforcement Suit Against Cumberland DRW, Firm Says, from Coindesk. Third was Trading Technologies appoints Llewellyn-Jones as new chief, from FOW.
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| Lead Stories | FIA releases findings from derivatives industry survey
FIA
FIA today released the findings from a survey of brokers, trading firms, exchanges and other participants in the global derivatives markets. The survey, which was conducted in January by Crisil Coalition Greenwich on behalf of FIA, assessed industry sentiment on the outlook for trading activity at the global level and gathered views on the likely drivers for trading activity going forward. The survey also assessed industry sentiment on several current issues affecting market structure, including competition among clearinghouses in the US Treasury securities market, the growth of prediction markets, and the trend towards vertical integration.
/jlne.ws/3DgtwOP
Donald Trump's crypto embrace is a threat to Wall Street; Stablecoins will increasingly challenge bank deposits as a riskier place for people to park their cash
Hilary Allen - Financial Times
Wall Street has long fretted about the disruptive threat from technology to the business of finance. Now with Donald Trump back in the White House, the prospect is moving closer. As the Trump administration rolls out the red carpet for cryptocurrencies, it is also setting the scene for the rest of Silicon Valley to play a bigger role in finance. Members of Congress are pushing legislation that would establish a regulatory framework for using so-called stablecoins as means of payment. These are digital assets backed by reserves of "safe" assets, designed to hold a constant value per coin of $1.
/jlne.ws/3D8KDlF
Trump's erratic trade policies are baffling businesses, threatening investment and economic growth
Paul Wiseman, Anne D'Innocenzo and Mae Anderson - Associated Press
Marc Rosenberg, founder and CEO of The Edge Desk in Deerfield, Illinois is getting ready to introduce a fancy ergonomic chair designed to reduce customers' back pain and boost their productivity. He figures the most expensive one will sell for more than $1,000. But he can't settle on a price, and he is reluctantly reducing the shipment he's bringing to the United States from China.
/jlne.ws/41JH6Uk
Record Trade in 10-Year Futures Casts Shadow Over Treasury Rally
Edward Bolingbroke - Bloomberg
A huge block trade seen Tuesday in US Treasury futures was the largest of its kind since 2013, and it may serve as a signal that the recent bond market rally is hitting a wall. A single trader appears to have sold 78,000 contracts of benchmark June Treasury 10-year futures on Tuesday morning, London time - equivalent to a $5 million bet on each basis point change in the 10-year yield. Buying and selling in futures markets is anonymous, making it hard to identify the firms involved and the exact details of the transaction. But the time and pricing when the block took place suggests the trader doesn't expect yields to continue to move lower, as they have over the past two months.
/jlne.ws/3FhDH65
Trading Technologies to Provide Connectivity to New Miax Futures Onyx Matching Engine at Launch
Trading Technologies
Trading Technologies International, Inc. (TT), a global capital markets technology platform services provider, announced that it will deliver day-one connectivity to the MIAX Futures Exchange's (MIAX Futures) new matching engine, MIAX Futures Onyx (Onyx), through the TT platform. TT will support trading of MIAX Futures' (formerly Minneapolis Grain Exchange) flagship Minneapolis Hard Red Spring Wheat (Minneapolis HRSW) futures when Onyx launches in the second quarter of 2025. TT will also support trading of new Bloomberg 500 Index futures that MIAX Futures intends to launch in the second half of 2025, pending certain filings with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
/jlne.ws/4ir19MJ
CQG to Provide Order Routing Infrastructure for all Robinhood Futures Trades
CQG
CQG, a leading global provider of high-performance technology solutions for market makers, traders, brokers, commercial hedgers and exchanges, and Robinhood Derivatives LLC ("Robinhood") (NASDAQ: HOOD), announced today that they have partnered to use CQG's professional-grade infrastructure to handle order routing for Robinhood Derivatives' futures customer orders. As of January 31, 2025, Robinhood has 25.5 million funded customers and assets under custody of $204 billion. CQG provides a broad range of technology solutions for financial market participants of all sizes, including many of the largest financial institutions, retail futures brokerage firms, hedge funds and active professional traders, as well as numerous exchanges.
/jlne.ws/43nch92
Why America's farmers are so eagerly seeking an exception to Trump's second round of trade wars
Ben Werschkul - Yahoo Finance
America's farmers are once again at the center of global trade tensions after Donald Trump's implementation of new tariffs was met with countermoves from China and Canada that could raise food prices and impact rural economies. The potential economic pain ahead has led to exception requests from the agriculture sector, with some signs Thursday that the Trump administration could be weighing exemptions for certain agricultural products from new tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
/jlne.ws/43ollKM
New GOP Bill Aims to End 'Debanking' of Crypto Companies and Conservatives; Sen. Tim Scott wants to prohibit regulators from considering so-called reputational risks when evaluating banks' business practices
Dylan Tokar - The Wall Street Journal
The leader of the Senate Banking Committee wants regulators to stop worrying about customers causing reputational damage to banks. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina says that concern is fueling "debanking," where banks allegedly avoid certain businesses. That issue has gained attention thanks to the advocacy of crypto companies and recent remarks by President Trump, who called out Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase for closing conservatives' bank accounts.
/jlne.ws/41uZZZO
London IPO Bankers Advise Patience During Listings Drought
Joe Easton - Bloomberg
UK-focused equity capital market bankers are looking to an ongoing series of reforms to reignite initial public offering activity as London listings see their slowest start to the year since 2023. The city has seen less than $76 million in IPO deal volume in 2025, a fraction of the nearly $2.8 billion recorded at other exchanges in Europe, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The lack of activity continues a yearslong trend of underperformance, which has prompted the government, regulators and the local bourse to pursue a wide-ranging rules revamp to attract new candidates.
/jlne.ws/3QKqq8D
IncomeWise Target Date Strategies to become available on Voya Platform; ABA Retirement Funds Program to become first adopter on the Platform; Solution Demonstrates a Shared Continued Commitment to Helping Improve Participant Outcomes
State Street Global Advisors
State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), today announced that its IncomeWise Target Retirement Strategies will be made available on the Voya Financial recordkeeping platform, marking a major milestone in the expansion of the solution's availability across the industry. This achievement aligns with State Street Global Advisors' commitment to providing participants with innovative and flexible retirement solutions. The ABA Retirement Funds Program (the "ABA Program") will be the first adopter on the Voya Financial recordkeeping platform. Mercer Trust Company LLC serves as the investment fiduciary for the ABA Program. "Working together with Voya is a significant step in making IncomeWise accessible to a broader audience of retirement savers, including plan sponsors and participants within the ABA Program," said Brendan Curran, Head of US Retirement at State Street Global Advisors. "Americans face increasing complexity in retirement planning, and IncomeWise offers a flexible approach to help participants build confidence in their financial futures."
/jlne.ws/3DvqbLH
Orange juice is getting squeezed by competitors, prices and storms; Tropicana's financial troubles are just one sign that orange juice has gone from staple to treat.
Emily Heil - The Washington Post
Orange juice's dominance has been slipping for years. For decades, it was considered an essential "part of a balanced breakfast," and the sunny glassful was an unquestioned staple of morning meals. But consumers' tastes are changing as shoppers look for drinks with less sugar - and with promises of added functions such as boosted hydration, extra vitamins, increased energy or gut health. Orange juice is increasingly competing with beverages with dazzling ingredients and flavors, from elderflower to probiotics, and sales are continuing to decline.
/jlne.ws/3D7fJdr
'My job is basically just eggs now'; There have been heists, Facebook ads and agitated grocery store queues and prices across America continue to rise
Taylor Nicole Rogers - Financial Times
At the Trader Joe's grocery store in west Manhattan, freezing temperatures have failed to stop hoards of people waiting outside for the store to open at 8am. Most are here to snag an increasingly rare and highly in-demand item - a dozen eggs. When the doors open, the rush leaves Daniel, a Trader Joe's employee, scrambling to prevent people pushing one another or snatching up more than the store's limit of a single egg carton per customer. At noon, when a midday egg delivery allows Trader Joe's to restock, the entire scene plays out again.
Are socially distanced chickens laying more affordable eggs?; Pasture-raised hens aren't any more immune to bird flu, and their premium eggs aren't getting cheaper. But these prices have held steady while conventional egg costs explode.
Alexandra Byrne - NBC News
Shoppers used to picking up the cheapest eggs at the grocery store may now be reaching for higher-end cartons. That's because bird flu is turbocharging prices of commercially produced eggs, while farmers of pasture-raised hens - who say their practices make for more humane, sustainable and tasty eggs - have largely held their premium prices steady. Grocery shoppers may be noticing the price gap narrow or even invert, in some cases making specialty eggs cheaper than conventional ones. Nationwide, a dozen eggs sold for $4.95 on average in January, up from $2.52 a year earlier, as avian influenza has wiped out poultry flocks and slammed into domestic egg supplies.
/jlne.ws/43r9XOw
UBS Flags Prospect of EU Defense Unity Lifting Euro as a Reserve
Anya Andrianova - Bloomberg
The euro stands ready to benefit from any reassessment of reserve currencies by the world's central banks as Europe grows more united over the need to fund its own defense, according to analysts at UBS Investment Bank, a unit of UBS Group AG. The currency, which is on its best four-day tear since 2015, has rallied in the wake of a weekend agreement by EU and UK leaders in London to increase military spending, with these gains augmented when Germany announced an unprecedented defense investment.
/jlne.ws/3Do4VYj
Wall Street is turning its back on Elon Musk
Chris Isidore - CNN
Liberals and government employees aren't the only people angry with Elon Musk. Tesla's plunging share price means many investors are angry, too. Shares of Tesla shot up 84% after election day, peaking just before Christmas, as investors anticipated Musk and his car company would be big winners as a result of Donald Trump's second term as president. Musk was Trump's largest financial supporter during the campaign, and has since become the highest-profile member of his administration, by far. In his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE), he has been trying to impose deep cuts in spending that had been previously approved by Congress, laying off thousands of federal workers. But shares tumbled 40% from their peak through Wednesday's close, losing more than a third of their value just since Trump took office and Musk began wielding power. That means it has lost 87% of its post-election bump.
/jlne.ws/3D8xKrP
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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. | Canada Files Formal Complaint to WTO Over U.S. Tariffs; Canada has asked the trade body to address this matter on an urgent basis
Paul Vieira - The Wall Street Journal
Canada formally filed a complaint against the U.S. regarding the 25% tariff on nonenergy imports and 10% levy on U.S.-bound energy products, the World Trade Organization said. Canada has asked the trade body to address this matter on an urgent basis, the WTO added. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday signaled that this was in the offing. The Canadian leader said President Trump had declared a trade war with America's northern neighbor with the intent to "ruin" the Canadian economy.
/jlne.ws/43lmNhb
Trump Weighs Agriculture Carveouts to Canada, Mexico Tariffs
Jenny Leonard and Skylar Woodhouse - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump is considering exempting certain agricultural products from tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico, the latest move by the administration on Wednesday to offer relief to certain sectors from the sweeping new import taxes. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Bloomberg News that "everything is on the table" and she is "hopeful" that the administration could decide on providing relief for the agricultural sector.
/jlne.ws/3F3NU66
Trump's Tariffs Whack Trump Voters; Whatever happened to GOP concern for the working class?
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
President Trump won the Presidency a second time by promising working-class voters he'd lift their real incomes. Which makes it all the more puzzling that he's so intent on imposing tariffs that will punish those same Americans. Tariffs are taxes, and Mr. Trump's latest tariffs are estimated to be about an annual $150 billion tax increase. Taxes are antigrowth. That's the message investors are sending this week since Mr. Trump let his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico take effect. The President also raised his 10% tariff on China by another 10%. Canada and China retaliated, while Mexico is holding off until Sunday.
/jlne.ws/3QKllx4
The Trump Tariff Roller Coaster; He gives a month reprieve to car makers but everyone else loses.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
President Trump gave a one-month tariff reprieve to auto makers on Wednesday, a day after his 25% tax on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect. Everyone else will still pay. Welcome to the Trump tariff thrill ride, where you never know what's going to happen next. Stock prices surged Wednesday after official news of the auto reprieve, which had been signaled by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. GM and Ford shares jumped in particular. This is the second time Mr. Trump has blinked on tariffs, and investors may figure he'll do it again in a month.
/jlne.ws/41qauh0
Ten things you should know about Trump's tariffs but were afraid to ask; No, Mr President, they are not going to make America rich, great or popular
Chris Giles - Financial Times
Donald Trump has followed through on his threats and imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Mexican goods and non-energy products from Canada, 10 per cent tariffs on Canadian energy and a further 10 per cent on Chinese goods. "Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again," the president told Congress on Tuesday evening. "There'll be a little disturbance, but we're OK with that. It won't be much." Such was his confidence that he promised further levies on imports from Europe, South Korea, Brazil and India from next month.
/jlne.ws/4i9K4Y2
Tariff Front-Running Drives Record Canada-US Trade Surplus
Randy Thanthong-Knight - Bloomberg
Canada's exports to the US reached a fresh record on shipments of cars, auto parts and oil, helping the northern nation post its highest-ever trade surplus with the US. The country's merchandise trade surplus with the US widened to C$14.4 billion ($10 billion) in January, from C$12.3 billion in December, Statistics Canada said Thursday. Exports to the US surged 7.5% in January and set a record for a second consecutive month.
/jlne.ws/4kpt3dR
Eugene Fama and David Booth on the Birth of Modern Finance; Inventing the Efficient Market Hypothesis.
Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4bBwBFN
Trade War Puts Sales of 12 Million Tons of US Crops Under Threat
Ilena Peng and Isis Almeida - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/41udxo7
Trump tariffs could be good for some countries, including the UK
Dharshini David, deputy economics editor - BBC News
/jlne.ws/4kunkUc
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| World Conflicts | | News about various conflicts and their military, economic, political and humanitarian impact. | Ukraine Invasion
Former CIA Director Accuses Trump Of 'Extortion' Over Withdrawal Of Intelligence To Ukraine; John Brennan said it could have "devastating consequences" for Kyiv.
Kevin Schofield - The Huffington Post
A former CIA director has accused Donald Trump of "extortion" by stopping the sharing of US intelligence with Ukraine. John Brennan told Times Radio the "absolutely unprecedented" move could have "devastating consequences" for Kyiv. The White House confirmed that it was pausing the sharing of intelligence as part of its attempts to bring Ukraine to the negotiating table to agree a peace deal with Russia. Brennan, who served under six US presidents, said: "I've never seen anything like this in my nearly 35 years of experience ... whereby US intelligence was stopped for a political purpose and to try to coerce a partner like Ukraine to accede to the wishes of an administration.
/jlne.ws/3QMZ55W
Russian strike kills 4 in Ukraine amid US aid, intelligence freeze; President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged "no pause" in pressure on Moscow.
David Brennan - ABC News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there can be "no pause" in pressure on Russia after another night of missile and drone strikes across Ukraine, the latest barrage coming the day after the U.S. confirmed it had stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv. President Donald Trump's decision to pause all U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing has raised concerns that Ukraine's air defenses will become less effective in the days, weeks and months to come.
/jlne.ws/41vUwSi
Kremlin says Rubio's view of Ukraine conflict as a US-Russia proxy war matches that of Putin
Reuters
The Kremlin said on Thursday that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's view that the Ukraine conflict is a proxy war between the United States and Russia is in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin's own assessment. "It's been very clear from the beginning that (U.S. President Donald Trump) views this as a protracted, stalemated conflict," Rubio told Fox News in an interview on Wednesday. "And frankly, it's a proxy war between nuclear powers - the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia - and it needs to come to an end."
/jlne.ws/4i6uTPh
The Simple Explanation for Why Trump Turned Against Ukraine; The president's defenders ignore one possibility: He just likes Putin.
Jonathan Chait - The Atlantic
Donald Trump's highly public schism with Volodymyr Zelensky has yielded the kind of doublethink that is common in personality cults. Those believers who approve of the policy hail the great leader's strategic genius. And those who oppose it cast the blame elsewhere, constructing ever more elaborate accounts of Trump's strategy to avoid acknowledging the obvious: Trump has an affinity for Vladimir Putin.
/jlne.ws/41qEAku
Watching Trump From Ukraine; Zelensky on the U.S. president: 'The problem is, above all, that I don't know why he is doing this. Doesn't he understand that Putin is unreliable?'
Bernard-Henri Levy - The Wall Street Journal
President Volodymyr Zelensky receives me in a secure basement. It's Wednesday, Feb. 26, two days before his White House meeting. How does he feel? "Good. But nothing is decided. I still don't know what President Trump wants or if I will really make this trip." Because he doesn't trust him? Because he doesn't believe in the goodwill of an ally who called him a "dictator"? Mr. Zelensky bursts out laughing. "No. The problem is, above all, that I don't know why he is doing this. Doesn't he understand that Putin is unreliable and that . . ." He hesitates. "At the same time, fortunately, there is the Senate and the House. It's on them. I rely on their bipartisan support, and the overwhelming strong public opinion. Like two years ago, remember? When Congress asked questions, listened to our answers, and ended up unlocking the military aid package we had been waiting on for months."
/jlne.ws/3XtQU28
Europe has no choice but to seize frozen Russian assets; Doing so is the only effective means of saving Ukraine
Philip Gordon - Financial Times
Europe's response to the Trump administration's shocking withdrawal of support for Ukraine has been admirable and may prove historic. Instead of accepting Donald Trump's embrace of Russia's false narrative about the war, remaining silent, or quarrelling among themselves, European leaders have doubled down on support for Kyiv, pledging to boost security assistance and assemble a "coalition of the willing".
/jlne.ws/4ijhSBK
Norway Plans Ukraine Aid Boost That Delivers Fighting Power Fast
Ott Ummelas and Heidi Taksdal Skjeseth - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4he3NV3
Middle East Conflict
Trump Warns Hamas to Release All Hostages or Terrorist Group Is 'Dead'; President's threat comes after White House said it held face-to-face talks with the militant group
Summer Said and Alexander Ward - The Wall Street Journal
President Trump warned Hamas to free the remaining hostages in Gaza after the White House confirmed it had held face-to-face talks with the militant group on a deal to secure their release. "Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you," Trump posted Wednesday on social media. If the group continued to hold hostages, "you are DEAD!"
/jlne.ws/41vwCql
Middle East crisis live: Hamas rejects Trump ultimatum and says it will only free hostages in return for lasting truce; US president had issued ultimatum to group calling for immediate release of hostages; Hamas says Trump threats encourage Israel to back out of Gaza ceasefire
The Guardian
The Hamas militant group on Thursday brushed off US president Donald Trump's latest threat and reiterated that it will only free the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, reports the Associated Press (AP). Hamas accused Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to back out of the ceasefire agreement they reached in January. The agreement calls for negotiations over a second phase in which the hostages would be released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners and detainees, a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
/jlne.ws/3DnkvU7
Arabs Offer Their Plan for a Gaza With Resorts. Trump's Team Says No; The proposal, crafted by Egypt, would keep Palestinians in Gaza, a nonstarter for the administration
Benoit Faucon and Summer Said - The Wall Street Journal
The White House has rejected an Arab plan for rebuilding the Gaza Strip, an early indication of the strength of President Trump's commitment to positions he has staked out on contentious foreign-policy issues. Arab governments have scrambled to come up with a plan after Trump laid out a proposal for the U.S. to take over the territory and redevelop it as an international destination after clearing out its Palestinian residents. The Arab proposal nodded to the president's vision of a "Riviera of the Middle East," calling for the eventual development of beachfront resorts.
/jlne.ws/3Xv11n8
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | The New York Stock Exchange Awarded Highest Honor by the Medal of Honor Foundation
ICE
The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, accepted the Circle of Honor Award from the Medal of Honor Foundation, which together with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, comprise the official society for all living recipients of the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military award for valor.
/jlne.ws/41HIrux
SGX Group Announces Management Changes In FX And Technology
SGX
Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) today announced changes in its FX and Technology management teams, aimed at strengthening its leadership and bolstering its capabilities for continued success and growth. Jean-Philippe Male (JP) will be appointed CEO of SGX FX, effective 1 April 2025. Previously CEO and Co-Founder of BidFX, a leading buyside FX OTC platform business acquired by SGX Group in 2020, JP was promoted to President of SGX FX in mid-2024, and a driving force behind the significant rise of the OTC FX business. In his new role, JP will be responsible for leading the SGX FX management team in expanding its contribution as a growth engine for the Group.
/jlne.ws/4is7APo
Cboe Canada Completes Technology Migration
Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today announced it successfully migrated Cboe Canada's NEO-L, NEO-N, and NEO-D trading books (collectively, the NEO Trading Platform) to Cboe Titanium on March 3. Cboe Titanium is the new name of the technology platform powering Cboe's world-class exchange operations for trading equities, options, and futures across its markets globally.
/jlne.ws/3XtYp9g
ASX Group Monthly Activity Report - February 2025
ASX
In February 2025, total new capital quoted was $33.9 billion, compared to $2.5 billion in the previous corresponding period (pcp). The total quoted market capitalisation of entities de-listed was $1.8 billion compared to $1.8 billion in the pcp.
/jlne.ws/3DkUmVS
Adding Request For Cross Indicator to Trade and Allocation Messages - Effective April 14, 2025
CME Group
Please be advised that CME Clearing is making some technical changes related to Request for Cross (RFC) Trades. FIXML Tag @CrssTyp will be added to Trade and Allocation messages to assist in identifying RFC Trades and Allocations from those trades. The Production Date for this change will be for Trade Date Monday, April 14, 2025.
/jlne.ws/43iRZgZ
BrokerTec Sets New Single-Day Volume Record With Over $1 Trillion Notional Traded
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced that its BrokerTec business reached a new single-day volume record of $1.05 trillion in average daily notional volume (ADNV) traded on March 3. Surpassing the ADNV of $909B for February 2025, this new all-time high was driven by a series of individual product records across the U.S. Treasuries, U.S. and EU Repo, and European Government Bond central limit order book (CLOB), request-for-quote (RFQ), and streaming platforms.
/jlne.ws/41u47cf
Tradeweb Reports February 2025 Total Trading Volume of $50.3 Trillion and Average Daily Volume of $2.49 Trillion
Tradeweb
Tradeweb Markets Inc. (Nasdaq: TW), a leading, global operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities and money markets, today reported total trading volume for the month of February 2025 of $50.3 trillion (tn)[1]. Average daily volume (ADV) for the month was $2.49tn, an increase of 33.1 percent (%) year-over-year (YoY). Excluding the impact of the ICD acquisition, which closed on August 1, 2024, total ADV for the month of February was up 18.2% YoY.
/jlne.ws/4i5yKMs
Borsa Ä°stanbul: Uptick Rule Will Be Applied In The Session Dated 5 March 2025 In The Equity Market
Borsa Istanbul
It has been decided that the up-tick rule in short selling transactions to be valid for one day during the session dated 05/03/2025. Please click for the related Announcement.
/jlne.ws/41rcwgD
EBS Market on CME Globex Notice: March 6, 2025
CME Group
/jlne.ws/3FaLov1
Deutsche Boerse Photography Foundation presents the exhibition "Foam Talent 2024"
Deutsche Boerse Photography Foundation
From 28 March, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation presents the group exhibition "Foam Talent 2024". It comprises artistic positions by 19 emerging artists from 13 countries, providing extraordinary insights into current issues and discourses they are engaging with. In their photographic, film-based and installative works, the artists deliberately challenge traditional approaches and familiar points of view. The exhibition is part of the Foam Talent programme, offering young artists a springboard for their future career while bringing current developments in contemporary photography to the forefront. The Photography Foundation has been supporting the talent programme as one of the main partners since 2017 and acquires works by one of the artists with each edition of the Foam Talent programme.
/jlne.ws/43sTgC7
Straits Times Index (STI) quarterly review
LSEG
FTSE Russell announces that there will be no changes to the constituents of the Straits Times Index (STI), following the March 2025 quarterly review.
/jlne.ws/4hctvsU
The 7th edition of the MCX-IPF COMQUEST 2025 concluded successfully!; Students from over 650 academic institutions across India participated!
MCX
The 7th edition of MCX-IPF COMQUEST 2025, a premier national-level educational quiz on the commodity market for students, successfully concluded with a grand finale, yesterday. Organized by the MCX Investor Protection Fund (MCX-IPF), the competition garnered registrations from over 10,000 students, with female students accounting for 44% of the total. Also, this edition of the MCX-IPF COMQUEST attracted over 650 academic institutions from 30 states and Union Territories, covering 220 cities-a notable increase from the previous edition, which featured 460 institutions across 25 states and Union Territories as well as, 140 cities.
/jlne.ws/4kl1d2t
MarketAxess Announces Trading Volume Statistics for February 2025
Stock Titan
MarketAxess Holdings (Nasdaq: MKTX) reported its February 2025 trading statistics, showing mixed performance across different segments. Total average daily volume (ADV) reached $43.4 billion, up 27% year-over-year and 11% from January 2025.
/jlne.ws/41rqL5d
Moscow Exchange announces results for the full year 2024
Moscow Exchange
Moscow Exchange (MOEX) today announces its financial results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the year ended 31 December 2024.
/jlne.ws/3XtSfpN
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Klarna Set to File for $1 Billion-Plus IPO as Soon as Next Week
Katie Roof and Bailey Lipschultz - Bloomberg
Klarna Bank AB is seeking to raise at least $1 billion in a US initial public offering and is set to file publicly as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter. The Stockholm-based payments business aims to price the IPO in early April, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn't public. Klarna is targeting a valuation of more than $15 billion in the New York Stock Exchange listing, the people said.
/jlne.ws/43nM9uE
Gaming chat platform Discord in early talks with banks about public listing; US group has sought to broaden its appeal to a mass audience
Arash Massoudi and Hannah Murphy and Tabby Kinder - Financial Times
Discord is in early talks with banks about a public listing, according to people familiar with the matter, in a sign of a possible revival in the sluggish US IPO market. Founded in 2015 by video game developer Jason Citron, Discord offers multi-person voice, video and text-based spaces to its 200mn global monthly active users.
/jlne.ws/4i4EFBf
The Hottest AI Companies Right Now Are 'Apps'; Forget LLMs. Silicon Valley investors have a new favorite AI play.
Kate Clark - Bloomberg
Not long ago, Silicon Valley was dismissive of startups like Harvey. While OpenAI developed cutting-edge artificial intelligence models with the potential to shake up almost every industry, Harvey had a more modest goal: building software that makes OpenAI's technology more useful for lawyers. "The market's perception of companies like us ... was that they're GPT wrappers," said Harvey Chief Executive Officer Winston Weinberg, referencing a derisive term used to suggest the repackaging of OpenAI's models. If investors "were going to put money into something," he added, "it needed to be into OpenAI or Anthropic."
/jlne.ws/4i3jqjp
AI Will Soon Dominate Ad Buying, Whether Marketers Like It or Not; Tech giants want marketers to let go of some control and trust their algorithms
Patrick Coffee - The Wall Street Journal
Advertisers are grappling with trade-offs of AI-powered ad planning and buying tools for automating nearly every step in digital ad campaigns. The tools work by asking buyers for parameters for campaigns, such as budget limits and sales goals, then allow algorithms to decide where ads will run, who they target and, in some cases, how ads appear.
/jlne.ws/4i8ini8
AI pioneers who channeled 'hedonistic' machines win computer science's top prize
Matt O'Brien - Associated Press
Teaching machines in the way that animal trainers mold the behavior of dogs or horses has been an important method for developing artificial intelligence and one that was recognized Wednesday with the top computer science award. Two pioneers in the field of reinforcement learning, Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton, are the winners of this year's A.M. Turing Award, the tech world's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
/jlne.ws/3FatVD6
China's New AI Tools Ignite Stock Market Frenzy as Alibaba Soars
Charlotte Yang and Luz Ding - Bloomberg
A spate of new artificial intelligence tools from China sparked frenzied trading in the nation's stock market, propelling an index of technology companies to a multi-year high. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. paced the gains on Thursday after unveiling its latest open-sourced AI model. The platform marked a big leap over the previous version, using just a fraction of the data DeepSeek's R1 employs.
/jlne.ws/3XxSnEK
Singapore Adds Charges Against Men Suspected of Server Fraud
Yuan Gao - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4kvHHA7
FCMs optimistic about second Trump term, but risks remain and investment is key to navigating uncertainty; In association with ION Markets, Acuiti published a whitepaper on how global FCMs expect the second term of President Trump to impact their businesses
ION
/jlne.ws/4kl9B1X
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | 12 Chinese hackers and officials charged by U.S. prosecutors for roles in global cybercrime campaigns
Eric Tucker, Dake Kang and The Associated Press via Fortune
Twelve Chinese nationals - including mercenary hackers, law enforcement officers and employees of a private hacking company - have been charged in connection with global cybercrime campaigns targeting dissidents, news organizations, U.S. agencies and universities, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. A set of criminal cases filed in New York and Washington add new detail to what U.S. officials say is a booming hacking-for-hire ecosystem in China, in which private companies and contractors are paid by the Chinese government to target victims of particular interest to Beijing in an arrangement meant to provide Chinese state security forces cover and deniability.
/jlne.ws/3DxpOQK
Hackers Stole $635,000 in Taylor Swift Ticket Scheme, Queens D.A. Says; Two people stand accused of taking hundreds of tickets from StubHub to redirect them to others who resold them, prosecutors said.
Amanda Holpuch - The New York Times
Two people accused of stealing and reselling more than 900 tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour and other marquee events are facing criminal charges for their role in the scheme, New York prosecutors said. Several people were involved in hacking into the computer system of the online ticket-sales platform StubHub starting in the summer of 2022, the Queens district attorney, Melinda Katz, said in a news release on Monday. They then resold the tickets on the same platform for a profit, which added up to $635,000.
/jlne.ws/4ktXsI0
US congressional panel urges Americans to ditch China-made routers
Michael Martina - Reuters
A U.S. congressional committee on Wednesday urged Americans to remove Chinese-made wireless routers from their homes, including those made by TP-Link, calling them a security threat that opened the door for China to hack U.S. critical infrastructure. The House of Representatives Select Committee on China has pushed the Commerce Department to investigate China's TP-Link Technology Co, which according to research firm IDC is the top seller of WiFi routers internationally by unit volume.
/jlne.ws/4klgL66
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Euronext Expands Clearing Services To Cover Cryptocurrency Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs)
Euronext
Euronext, the leading European market infrastructure, announces the expansion of Euronext Clearing's central counterparty (CCP) services to include cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) listed on its markets. This enhancement, effective on 3 March 2025, marks a significant step in integrating digital assets into the regulated financial ecosystem. The expansion of clearing services is crucial in driving broader adoption of cryptocurrency ETPs within the regulated financial system. With this development, investors will have access to a wider selection of ETPs underlying cryptocurrencies while benefiting from the security, efficiency, and transparency of a regulated marketplace. Euronext Clearing's risk management expertise ensures that market participants can trade confidently while adhering to stringent regulatory requirements.
/jlne.ws/3DlwHof
Dubai's Emirates NBD Launches Crypto Trading Through Digital Arm; Liv Bank's crypto tools will be powered by local firm Aquanow; Standard Chartered's Zodia will provide custody services
Kateryna Kadabashy - Bloomberg
The largest bank in Dubai has partnered with digital-assets firm Aquanow to start offering cryptocurrency services through its digital banking arm. Users of Emirates NBD's digital bank Liv can now buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies through the Liv X app, according to a statement.
/jlne.ws/4hcznTh
A $1.5 Billion Hack: How the Biggest Crypto Heist in History Went Down; The cryptocurrency exchange Bybit lost $1.5 billion to North Korean hackers last month - and it all traced back to an account on a free digital storage service.
David Yaffe-Bellany - The New York Times
On the night of Feb. 21, Ben Zhou, the chief executive of the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, logged on to his computer to approve what appeared to be a routine transaction. His company was moving a large amount of Ether, a popular digital currency, from one account to another. Thirty minutes later, Mr. Zhou got a call from Bybit's chief financial officer. In a trembling voice, the executive told Mr. Zhou that their system had been hacked. "All of the Ethereum is gone," he said.
/jlne.ws/43otuiz
US authorities begin releasing some seized cryptocurrency miners, industry executives say
AJ Vicens and Raphael Satter - Reuters
U.S. authorities have in recent weeks begun releasing seized Chinese-made equipment used for cryptocurrency mining, two industry executives told Reuters. Cryptocurrency miners - basically souped-up computers with advanced chips - compete with one another to solve mathematical puzzles, a process which helps build the blockchains underpinning the cryptocurrency world and earn rewards in the form of new digital currency.
/jlne.ws/4koEAtL
Crypto Czar David Sacks Confirms Selling All Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana Holdings, Denies 'Large Indirect Holdings'
Khyathi Dalal - Benzinga
Addressing speculation from a community note on his post, which suggested he still had a significant indirect position through Bitwise Asset Management, Sacks clarified that he had fully exited his $74,000 position in the Bitwise ETF on Jan. 22. Peter Schiff weighed in, arguing that Sacks could have profited significantly from Trump's election-driven crypto rally. He also questioned whether Sacks' associates-including family, friends, and former colleagues-may have held positions and sold into the recent price surge.
/jlne.ws/4brgRoR
Sanctioned Russian crypto exchange suspends services as Tether blocks wallets
Elena Fabrichnaya and Alexander Marrow - Reuters
Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex on Thursday said stablecoin Tether had blocked digital wallets on its platform holding more than 2.5 billion roubles ($28 million), forcing it to suspend operations days after coming under EU sanctions. The European Union included Garantex in its 16th sanctions package against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine on February 24, accusing the crypto exchange of being closely associated with EU-sanctioned Russian banks and responsible for circumventing EU sanctions.
/jlne.ws/4bxsQRW
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | MAGA Wants to End Capitalism as We Know It; Its goal is to eject the managerial corporation from its central role in the heart of the US economy.
Adrian Wooldridge - Bloomberg
Corporate America is learning the truth of Winston Churchill's warning about the appetite of crocodiles. Trump's tariffs on friendly countries, which were reaffirmed yesterday, will be only the beginning of his assault on the pillars of post-war prosperity. Some of the most influential people in Trump world are determined to go even further and deconstruct the great workhorse of American capitalism: the publicly owned and professionally managed corporation. The managerial corporation emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century when entrepreneurs hired professional managers to boost business efficiency and sold shares to the general public to raise corporate capital. The great historian of the corporation Alfred Chandler argued that the managerial company complemented the invisible hand of the market with the visible hand of management, thereby moving it to the center of the US economy, particularly during the long postwar boom, and providing a global template for countries that wanted to imitate America's economic success.
/jlne.ws/3QNAk9S
Greenland's prime minister says Trump 'must understand' the island is not for sale: 'We don't want to be Americans'
Danica Kirka, Stefanie Dazio and the Associated Press via Fortune
Greenland's prime minister has a message for President Donald Trump: "Greenland is ours." Mute Bourup Egede made the statement on Facebook Wednesday, just hours after Trump declared in his speech to a joint session of Congress that he intends to gain control of Greenland "one way or the other."
/jlne.ws/4bt044G
US plans to fire 80,000 Veterans Affairs workers as part of Trump cuts, sparking backlash
Mike Stone, Tim Reid, David Morgan and Nathan Layne - Reuters
The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to cut more than 80,000 workers from the agency, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, drawing condemnation from military veteran groups and Democrats. The VA's chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, sent a memo to senior agency officials on Tuesday, telling them the goal was to return the agency to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would mean cutting about 82,000 staff.
/jlne.ws/4bqMnDn
Panama leader accuses Trump of lying to Congress over canal
Michael McDonald and Bloomberg via Fortune
Panama's president accused Donald Trump of lying to Congress after the U.S. leader reiterated his intention to take over the Panama Canal. Trump told lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that Panama had broken the agreements it made when it took over the waterway a quarter-century ago.
/jlne.ws/3QKT4Xc
Senators Call for DOJ Probe of X's Advertiser Pressure Campaign; Five Democrats say Elon Musk may violate ethics and extortion rules if X uses threats to get companies back onto its platform
Suzanne Vranica - The Wall Street Journal
Five Democratic senators have asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Elon Musk is leveraging his influence in the Trump administration to bully advertisers into returning to X. The request, from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Adam Schiff and Chris Van Hollen, follows a Wall Street Journal report last month about the social-media platform's pressuring Interpublic Group to spend more on X.
/jlne.ws/4h8zA9P
Trump Agency Pulls 443 Sites Off Market in Real Estate Reversal
Gregory Korte - Bloomberg
The Trump administration has reversed its decision to list nearly 80 million square feet of federal property for possible sale, a setback for President Donald Trump's efforts to quickly shrink the federal government. The General Services Administration said the properties could be listed again soon, but for now it has removed the inventory of "non-core" properties after receiving "an overwhelming amount of interest."
/jlne.ws/3XwC6Qp
Canada's Anti-Musk Pivot Hits Starlink's Second-Biggest Market
Thomas Seal and Danielle Bochove - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4hagJLy
David Cameron joins Jeb Bush's private equity firm; Former UK prime minister takes up part-time, paid advisory role at ex-Florida governor's Finback Investment Partners
Anna Gross and Cynthia O'Murchu and Antoine Gara - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3F7adbg
European Parliament calls for suspension of Hungary's voting rights - media; Volt party MEPs call for Hungary to be stripped of its EU voting rights after repeatedly blocking joint decisions. They will send their plan to EU leaders
Espresso
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Germany's Push to Loosen EU Fiscal Rules Is Gathering Momentum
Jorge Valero and Sanne Wass - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4kpt9SL
India Urged to Counter US Tariffs as 'Street Fight' Looms
Shruti Srivastava - Bloomberg
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Australia's Longest-Serving Board Directors Targeted by Watchdog
Nasteho Said - Bloomberg
Australia's prudential regulator has long-serving board directors in its sights with a proposal to limit their terms to 10 years. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's suggestion was one of several in a discussion paper released Thursday aimed at bolstering governance of the finance, insurance and pension industries. The long tenure of non-executive members can impede the independence of boards, APRA Chair John Lonsdale told a media briefing.
/jlne.ws/3F5pUzE
Participants keeping watchful eye on growing bilateral trading segment in 2025; Almost half of EMEA FIX Trading conference attendees said that the impacts on price formation in public markets as a result of increasing bilateral trading is their greatest regulatory focus for 2025.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
The continued rise of bilateral trading in secondary markets is a concern across markets in both the UK and Europe, according to a panel made up of watchdogs speaking at the EMEA FIX Trading Conference. When asked what their greatest regulatory focus was for 2025 during a live poll, almost half (48%) of those present in the room responded that it was the impacts on price formation in public markets due to increasing bilateral trading.
/jlne.ws/3DhRPMi
An All-American Finance Empire Drew Billions-and a Regulator's Attention; How tropical travel and nights on the town helped First Trust sell funds with high fees.
Emily Graffeo and Max Abelson - Bloomberg
Jim Bowen has a salesman's knack for making a dusty old spiel sound splendid. His hands dance, his eyebrows jump, and his voice, a cigar aficionado's moneyed growl, revs up a gear. The chief executive officer of a quiet but lucrative firm called First Trust, Bowen gets especially worked up by his favorite topic: the nobility of the financial advisers who shepherd America's savings. "They live lives of service, they spend their entire life tending what I have kind of come to call the wealth of others," he said in a 2023 video podcast, the emphasized word popping out like a big dog's bark. "We serve them because they serve the real client."
/jlne.ws/4ku2iVr
Democrat-backing fintech executive arrested for allegedly defrauding investors out of $145 million
Ariel Zilber - NY Post
The Democrat-backing multimillionaire founder of a "climate-friendly banking" startup - whose celebrity investors included Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom and Drake - was arrested by federal authorities this week for allegedly conspiring to defraud investors. Joseph Neal Sanberg, a 45-year-old Orange County, Calif. resident who billed himself as an "anti-poverty advocate," was taken into custody on Monday after he was alleged to have cheated two investor funds out of $145 million, according to federal prosecutors.
/jlne.ws/3DgzizZ
Board Elects New Chair and Discusses Outside Business Activities, TRACE Reporting Timeframes, Technology Initiatives and 2024 Fine Monies
FINRA
FINRA's Board of Governors met on February 25-26. The agenda included electing a new Board Chair, as well as discussions on FINRA's proposed Outside Business Activities rule, TRACE reporting timeframes, ongoing technology initiatives, and the proposed allocation of FINRA's 2024 fine monies.
/jlne.ws/43rfN2a
Updating TRACE Reporting Timeframes
Robert Cook, President and CEO - FINRA
In September 2024, the SEC approved amendments (Amendments) to FINRA's TRACE reporting rules to reduce the current 15-minute timeframe for reporting transactions in relevant fixed income securities.1 For the reasons described below, I have directed FINRA staff to not set an effective date for these Amendments. Instead, in light of questions and concerns that have been raised regarding the Amendments, FINRA staff will work expeditiously on developing and filing with the SEC substantive changes to the Amendments that take into consideration these questions and concerns.
/jlne.ws/42H9pU3
ASIC bans former Kingdom Developments Group director from being involved in financial services for six and a half years
ASIC
ASIC has banned NSW-based property developer Andrew Bodnar from providing financial services, controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business and performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business for six and a half years. Mr Bodnar's ban follows an ASIC investigation into the early 2023 collapse of the Kingdom Developments Group.
/jlne.ws/4isDHP7
ASIC has updated guidance to clarify treatment of student loan commitments by banks and lenders
ASIC
ASIC has updated its regulatory guidance to clarify how the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP), and other student loan commitments, may be considered by banks and lenders assessing whether a consumer can afford to take on new credit. The update to Regulatory Guide 209 Credit licensing: Responsible lending conduct (RG 209) follows a request from the Treasurer for ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to review their guidance for lenders, and subsequent consultation with industry associations and consumer groups.
/jlne.ws/4kpMKlL
Guidebook for Registration of Investment Management Business and Other Financial Instruments Businesses
FSA
Asset managers, who engage in asset management with professional expertise, play very important roles in revitalizing the Japanese capital market and achieving people's stable asset building. For reaching these goals, it is crucial to facilitate the smooth entry of Financial Instruments Business Operators by reducing burdens on their entry into the Japanese financial market. From this viewpoint, "Follow-up on the Growth Strategy" (June 2019 Cabinet decision) proclaims preparation of a guidebook to support registration application for financial industry as one of the growth strategies.
/jlne.ws/3JRBOty
FSA Weekly Review No.626
FSA
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Hong Kong capital markets wrap up 2024 on a high note: SFC Quarterly Report
SFC
A strong asset management sector and enhanced market connectivity amidst improving investor sentiment provided Hong Kong's capital markets with a strong finish to 2024, according to the Securities and Futures Commission's (SFC) Quarterly Report published today. On the asset management front, the exchange-traded fund (ETFs) market made further headway last year, as the average daily turnover for ETFs surged 35% year-on-year to $18.9 billion (US$2.4 billion), accounting for 14% of total stock market turnover (Note 1). They raked in net inflows of $22.8 billion (US$2.9 billion) for the year, while the number of ETFs increased 11% to 194 (Note 2).
/jlne.ws/4iuczPV
SFC warns public of Linkbex for suspected virtual asset-related fraud
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today warns the public of an entity operating under the name of Linkbex for suspected virtual asset-related fraudulent activities (Note 1). Linkbex made false claims of its affiliation with seven SFC licensed corporations in Hong Kong. Investors also reported that their accounts with Linkbex were locked due to purported "anti-money laundering investigation of the SFC".
/jlne.ws/3QLBKkX
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | German Bond Rout Goes Global as Yields Surge in Japan, ANZ; Japan's benchmark 10-year yield hits highest since 2009; ECB expected to cut on Thursday, but path beyond clouded
Mia Glass and Saburo Funabiki - Bloomberg
Japan's government bond yields reached their highest levels in more than a decade and yields in Australia and New Zealand also surged as the rout in German bunds reverberated through global debt markets. The yield on Japan's 10-year note climbed to 1.5%, the highest since 2009, while the 40-year equivalent jumped to a level unseen since its inception in 2007. Government bonds in Australia and New Zealand followed the selloff, with their benchmark 10-year yields both rising about 10 basis points, while Treasuries slid for a third day.
/jlne.ws/3DhpXb8
Europe Is Having the Right Sort of Bond Rout; As Germany gets ready to borrow and spend big, there's little to fear from a selloff that shows Europe is finally helping itself.
Marcus Ashworth - Bloomberg
Euro-area bond yields inevitably leapt like a salmon as Germany unleashed a fiscal bazooka, but compared to previous fixed-income tantrums, it's not the stuff of all-night summits. What's key is what the bond rout isn't: A reaction to fears that one or more countries is coming under financial stress. It's a broad selloff that started in Germany and swept through the rest of the euro zone - and then spread to Asia - almost indiscriminately. It's extraordinary for US yields to be lower when the entire euro yield curve has risen as much as 30 basis points. This is a genuine repricing to accommodate half a trillion euros of unexpected spending.
/jlne.ws/43uN7Wh
S&P Proposes Looser Rules for Membership in Canada Stock Indexes
Stephanie Hughes
S&P Dow Jones Indices is proposing changes to eligibility criteria that would let companies that aren't domiciled in Canada remain part of the S&P/TSX Composite index. The suggested modifications are in response to "observed trends" and market inquiries around its current policy, which requires companies to be legally based in Canada in order to be included in the TSX Composite and other stock gauges, according to a press release.
/jlne.ws/4hXfIrv
Options Traders Pile Into Bearish Bets On Popular ETF
Krystal Hur - The Wall Street Journal
Despite the stock-market rally Wednesday, options traders piled into bets that a popular exchange-traded fund would fall. That extended a frenzied level of activity seen on Tuesday. About 7.9 million put options tied to the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust-known by its ticker SPY- changed hands on Tuesday, the third highest level on record, according to Susquehanna International Group's Chris Murphy.
/jlne.ws/41m6Vs2
US stocks struggle as 'America First' bets backfire; European assets were predicted to suffer under Trump but are now surging
Ian Smith, Harriet Clarfelt and Mari Novik and George Steer
When Donald Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on December 12, the chants of "USA" from the trading floor epitomised the investor exuberance that had greeted the president-elect's victory and powered US stocks to a series of record highs. But just a few months later, investors betting that the new president's America First agenda would boost US equities and the dollar, while hitting the currencies and stocks of its trading partners, have been confounded.
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Rio Tinto Commits to $1.8 Billion Mine Extension in Australia's Pilbara; Rio Tinto said BS1 will have capacity to process 34 million tons of iron ore annually
Stuart Condie - The Wall Street Journal
Iron-ore giant Rio Tinto will invest $1.8 billion to develop a satellite ore-body development in Australia's mineral-rich Pilbara region. The world's second-biggest miner by market value said Thursday that it received all necessary approvals for the Brockman Syncline 1 mine project, about 5 miles north of its existing Brockman 4 project in the West Pilbara. Brockman 4 produced 43 million metric tons of iron ore in 2024, from a total 328.0 million tons across Rio Tinto's operations in the Pilbara.
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Tesla's sales fall 76% in Germany amid Musk's electioneering
Bloomberg, Craig Trudell and Marilen Martin - Fortune
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The 401(k) Has Become America's Rainy-Day Fund; Automatic enrollment is giving more workers savings to tap to avoid foreclosure or pay medical bills
Anne Tergesen - The Wall Street Journal
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | State Street, which commissioned Wall Street's 'Fearless Girl' statue, ends diversity policies
Chris Morris - Fortune
The company behind a popular statue that came to stand for gender diversity in the workplace has seemingly retreated from its previous diversity requirements. State Street, which commissioned the Fearless Girl statue eight years ago, has updated its proxy voting and engagement policy. A year ago, the company said it expected boards of directors on companies it held in its index fund to have at least 30% of those directors be women. An updated policy, released earlier this month, has now done away with that requirement.
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Global warming streak brings extreme weather from cyclones to polar freeze; February records global average temperature rise at 1.59C above pre-industrial levels
Attracta Mooney and Steven Bernard - Financial Times
The world is experiencing a string of intense weather, from the polar vortex in the north to a cyclone near south-east Australia, as the latest data show the global temperatures that contribute to extremes continue to linger near record highs. Scientists had expected the La Niña cooling phenomenon in the Pacific to ease rising temperatures, after the global average reached more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial level in 19 of the past 20 months.
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Trump Tariffs Threaten Climate Progress, Says COP30 Host Brazil
Lou Del Bello - Bloomberg
New US tariffs fueling a global trade war may slow climate progress by draining countries' resources and eroding trust among countries over green goals, said Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva. "Multiple factors are worrisome for climate action, such as wars increasing defense spending, and trade tariffs," which may divert finance away from green goals, Silva told journalists in New Delhi on Thursday. Brazil, which will host the annual UN climate conference known as COP30 this year, faces political challenges amid a global rollback of climate action. Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has dismantled the country's environmental policies and vowed to pull out of the Paris Agreement. Developing nations such as India, the third largest polluter after China and the US, were also dissatisfied with the outcome of last year's climate talks and are unlikely to raise their ambitions.
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EU's New Carbon Market Is Set to Slash CO2 With Soaring Prices for Home Heating; Expanded emissions market will also cover road; transportation
Will Mathis - Bloomberg
A new European Union carbon market for transportation and gas-fired heating is set to send household costs soaring by the end of the decade, according to researcher BloombergNEF. The price of carbon dioxide under the new emissions trading system, set to open in two years' time, may reach EUR149 a metric ton in 2029, BNEF's analysis found. That's more than double the current EU price for emissions from power plants and industry.
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Why Banks Keep Lowering Their Climate Targets; While it's clear right-wing politics has something to do with it, there's an argument that scientific reality does, too.
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
When Morgan Stanley moved the goalposts back on its climate targets in October, members of the industry's biggest climate alliance were caught off guard. The steering group of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) debated if the Wall Street firm-at that time a member of the group-would be allowed to deviate from the founding principle that signatories align portfolios with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C, according to a person familiar with the matter. The group also discussed what the consequences for such a move should be.
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UK Says South Africa Climate Pact to Proceed Without US
Antony Sguazzin - Bloomberg
A $9.3 billion climate deal rich nations struck with South Africa to help it transition to clean forms of energy will forge ahead despite the withdrawal of the US, with other partners remaining committed to it, the UK's climate envoy said. The US had planned to contribute about $1 billion in commercial loans to the Just Energy Transition Partnership, or JETP, which was agreed during President Joe Biden's tenure. Similar deals were struck with Indonesia and Vietnam. France, Germany, the European Union, the UK, the Netherlands and Denmark are part of the South African deal.
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South Africa's Electricity Minister on Edge Over Strained Supply
Paul Burkhardt - Bloomberg
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Nigeria to Boost Transmission Capacity by 1,500 Megawatts by 2026
Ruth Olurounbi - Bloomberg
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China's Fuel Production Cuts Could Undermine Global Oil Demand
Bloomberg News
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Argentina's Shale: Time to Drill, Baby, Drill? While pro-business regulation is helping the country's promising shale basin attract investment, drillers might still proceed cautiously
Jinjoo Lee - The Wall Street Journal
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Investors Risk $2.3 Trillion of Stranded Fossil Fuel Assets
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | US to Name Morgan Stanley Banker to Lead Sovereign Wealth Fund
Joe Deaux and Stephanie Lai - Bloomberg
The Commerce Department is tapping former Morgan Stanley banker Michael Grimes to lead a planned sovereign wealth fund, part of President Donald Trump's effort to give the US a stake in projects he considers critical to national security. Grimes, who left the bank after 30 years to join the new administration, is set to join the Commerce Department to oversee the fund, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing matters that aren't yet public.
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DBS Outgoing CEO Gupta Gets $13 Million in 'Another Banner Year'; Gupta also got special recognition award of S$2.5 million; Bank cites record profits, wealth business, better tech
Chanyaporn Chanjaroen - Bloomberg
DBS Group Holdings Ltd. raised Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta's total remuneration for 2024 by 56%, citing the bank's record profits, standout wealth business and strengthened technology. Gupta received a cash bonus of S$6.6 million, which took his pay package to S$17.6 million ($13.2 million), from S$11.2 million a year ago when he took a pay cut due to digital banking glitches, according to the bank's annual report released on Thursday. On top of this package, the bank's board also granted him a special recognition award of S$2.5 million.
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Trump Says U.S. Banks Can't Do Business in Canada. It's Not That Simple.; President Trump has complained that American banks are restricted from operating in Canada. They can, but are hamstrung.
Rob Copeland - The New York Times
Hours after imposing steep tariffs on Canada, President Trump raised an issue that even the American lenders whose cause he's championing find perplexing: the access, or lack thereof, of U.S. banks to the Canadian market. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, "Canada doesn't allow American Banks to do business in Canada, but their banks flood the American Market." He added sarcastically, "Oh, that seems fair to me, doesn't it?"
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Banks pay customers millions after month's worth of IT outages
Graham Fraser - BBC
Nine major banks and building societies operating in the UK accumulated at least 803 hours - the equivalent of 33 days - of tech outages in the past two years, figures published by a group of MPs show. The Treasury Committee - which has been investigating the impact of banking IT failures - compelled Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide, Santander, NatWest, Danske Bank, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank to provide the data.
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Ray Dalio's 'All Weather' Strategy Enters ETF Land During Turmoil; State Street fund brings famous risk parity approach to masses; Bridgewater warns US stocks are concentrated after record run
Katie Greifeld - Bloomberg
Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio's famous "All Weather" strategy has arrived in the exchange-traded fund market, just as the kind of macro-driven turmoil it seeks to guard against sweeps global assets. The SPDR Bridgewater All Weather ETF begins trading on Thursday under the ticker ALLW, according to a press release. The fund, which charges 0.85% annually, will be managed by State Street Global Advisors and sub-advised by Bridgewater, which will provide a daily model portfolio for the ETF.
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | 'Read this email immediately': CDC calls 180 employees back to work 2 weeks after firing them
Mike Stobbe and The Associated Press via Fortune
The nation's top public health agency is inviting about 180 employees back to work, about two weeks after laying them off. Emails went out Tuesday to some Centers for Disease Control and Prevention probationary employees who got termination notices last month, according to current and former CDC employees.
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Legion Technologies and WorkJam Join Forces to Elevate Frontline Workforce Operations; The new integration combines Legion's AI-powered labor optimization with WorkJam's comprehensive digital workplace platform to unlock efficiency, productivity, and employee engagement
BusinessWire
Legion Technologies, an innovator in workforce management, today announced a strategic partnership with WorkJam, the world's leading digital workplace platform, to advance frontline workforce operations. By integrating WorkJam's Total Workforce Orchestration® platform with Legion's AI-driven labor optimization capabilities, the partnership offers a unified system that empowers businesses to enhance task management, boost operational efficiency, and elevate the employee experience.
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Companies like Spotify and Nvidia are standing by remote and hybrid work despite the latest RTO wave. These are the other companies committed to flexible schedules
Sara Braun - Fortune
Five years after the pandemic forced workers to work from home, many companies are standing by their remote and hybrid work models. The return-to-office battles that began several years ago are still raging, and an issue that once seemed destined to fade quickly has become the workplace question of the decade.
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Managers Can Help Their Gen Z Employees Unlock the Power of Meaningful Work - Here's How
Kelly Kennedy - UConn Today
Finding fulfilling and motivating work is a challenge for many people, but it can be especially difficult for those just starting their careers. And as Generation Z professionals - those born between 1997 and 2012 - increasingly seek personalized career paths, managers are tasked with helping employees find meaning in their roles while also meeting organizational goals.
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As Trump Goes After Universities, Students Are Now on the Chopping Block; Uncertainty about how much money colleges and universities stand to lose has led some schools to reduce the number of doctoral students, in some cases reneging on offers.
Stephanie Saul - The Wall Street Journal
In the early weeks of the Trump administration's push to slash funding that colleges and universities rely on, grants and contracts had been cut and, in a few cases, researchers had been laid off. In recent days, the fiscal pain has come to students. At the University of Pennsylvania, administrators have asked departments in the School of Arts & Sciences, the university's largest school, to cut incoming Ph.D. students. In some cases, that meant reneging on informal offers, according to Wendy Roth, a professor of sociology.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Judge Blocks Trump Administration Cap on Research Costs; Order says changes to National Institutes of Health funding formula would compromise 'human safety and scientific integrity'
Gretchen Tarrant Gulla and Nidhi Subbaraman - The Wall Street Journal
A federal judge on Wednesday extended a freeze on the Trump administration's changes to research funding through the National Institutes of Health, in the latest legal setback for the president's efforts to slash government spending. The preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Massachusetts pauses the administration's proposed 15% rate cap on indirect research costs funded by NIH. It was issued in response to lawsuits filed by multiple groups, including the Association of American Medical Colleges, and 22 state attorneys general who argued that the funding caps would cause irreparable damage to scientific and medical research efforts.
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What Ketamine Does to the Human Brain; Excessive use of the drug can make anyone feel like they rule the world.
Shayla Love - The Atlantic
Last month, during Elon Musk's appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, as he hoisted a chain saw in the air, stumbled over some of his words, and questioned whether there was really gold stored in Fort Knox, people on his social-media platform, X, started posting about ketamine. Musk has said he uses ketamine regularly, so for the past couple of years, public speculation has persisted about how much he takes, whether he's currently high, or how it might affect his behavior. Last year, Musk told CNN's Don Lemon that he has a ketamine prescription and uses the drug roughly every other week to help with depression symptoms.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China Shrinks Its Stock Market Valuation Gap With India as AI, EVs Shine
Savio Shetty - Bloomberg
Good morning, this is Chiranjivi Chakraborty, an equities reporter in Mumbai. Local equities are set to extend gains, riding the bullish wave in Asian markets this morning and the overnight rally in US shares. Back home, traders expect the relief rally to continue for a while, partly fueled by short covering of derivatives positions. The macroeconomic picture does not look great, but the recent correction in share prices have thrown up some good bargains.
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India's Wheat Output Set to Stay Flat, Keeping Stockpiles Tight
Pratik Parija - Bloomberg
India's wheat production is expected to be little changed from a year ago, raising pressure on the government to scrap or cut an import duty to help replenish stockpiles that are at the lowest in more than a decade. Output will likely be 106 million tons this year, according to the median of seven estimates in a Bloomberg survey of wheat processors, which would match the prior season. The forecast is slightly lower than the 110 million tons projected by the Rollers Flour Millers' Federation of India.
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Rio Tinto to Spend $1.8 Billion to Expand Pilbara Iron Ore Hub
Paul-Alain Hunt - Bloomberg
Rio Tinto Group will spend $1.8 billion to expand its Brockman iron ore hub in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, seeking to maintain adequate production levels of the steelmaking material as older mines are depleted. Construction of the Brockman 4 project will begin this year and production will commence in 2027, a year earlier than previously anticipated, Rio said in a filing Thursday. "Securing this project extends the life of the Brockman hub," Rio Iron Ore Chief Executive Simon Trott said in the statement. "Our tranche of new mines will ensure we can continue to supply the globe's ongoing need for iron ore, for decades to come."
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Mali Suspends Artisanal Gold Mining Permits to Foreigners After Deadly Mine Collapse
Diakaridia Dembele and Katarina Hoije - Bloomberg
Mali has stopped issuing permits for small-scale gold mining to foreign nationals after several deadly incidents. Interim President Assimi Goita has "instructed the government to strengthen measures to avoid human and environmental tragedies," Minister of Security and Civil Protection, General Daoud Aly Mohamedinne, said Wednesday.
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Kuwait Stocks Outshine Gulf Peers as Ruler Pushes for Reforms
Omar El Chmouri - Bloomberg
Kuwaiti stocks are outpacing their Gulf peers this year, with banks driving a rally built on optimism that long-delayed economic reforms are gaining traction. The Boursa Kuwait Premier Market has jumped 11% this year, more than four times the pace of gains in neighboring Dubai and twice as much as MSCI Inc.'s emerging markets gauge.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Financial Times chief executive John Ridding steps down after two decades; Media veteran led group through radical shift in business model to digital subscriptions
Daniel Thomas - Financial Times
John Ridding, group chief executive of the Financial Times, will step down after almost 20 years in which he has led the global media group through one of the most turbulent periods of change for the news industry. Taking over in 2006, he oversaw the shift of a publishing business dependent on traditional print revenues to one that generates two-thirds of annual revenues from digital subscriptions and advertising. In a memo to staff on Thursday announcing the move, Ridding said that he was stepping down at a time when the FT's "readership, subscriptions and revenues are at all-time highs", with "exceptional journalism reinforcing our reputation for trust and authority at a crucial time for international news media".
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BNP Paribas Partners with Girls on the Run International at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open
Girls on the Run International
For the second year running, Girls on the Run International, a nonprofit that empowers girls through physical activity, announces the partnership with BNP Paribas, Europe's leading financial institution and the leading global sponsor of tennis, through the bank's "Points for Change" campaign. As part of the program, the bank will donate to Girls on the Run International $1 for every point scored at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. For 2025, proceeds from the points scored at the BNP Paribas Open will also support local work in Indian Wells and surrounding communities, with a portion of the funds going to the Girls on the Run Inland Empire council. The final point total at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open was 26,755, resulting in $26,755 for Girls on the Run. During the entirety of the tennis season, BNP Paribas's Points for Change initiative was approximately 125,000 points, and a point meter is available on the bank's We Are Tennis website to track the points in real time.
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