| December 23, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
It is minus nine degrees Fahrenheit in Elmhurst this morning, dropping from 33 degrees yesterday at its high. The winds are blowing about 24 miles per hour. Similar negative temperatures and winds are in New York and Boston, recorded in this Bloomberg story. Boston is forecast to get 65 mile per hour winds today, New York 48 mph, and Portland, Maine, could reach 70 miles per hour. Needless to say, only go outside if you must and then wrap up and be careful. And for you people in Florida, I know, I know.
As expected, Sam Bankman-Fried was released on bond, a $250 million bond. According to Bloomberg, the $250 million bond is one of the largest in history.
The word of the day is "Zeitenwende," from a story by Andreas Kluth titled "This Is the Dawning of the Age of Zeitenwende." It was Germany's official "Word of the Year for 2022." It means something like "turning point" or "revolution."
Merryn Somerset Webb of Bloomberg is very optimistic about the power of reading influencing 2023. Merryn penned a piece titled, "These Books Will Restore Financial Common Sense in 2023; After every bubble, we need to relearn the basics. Here is some essential reading this holiday."
You know those quadcopters that have been so popular during the last few Christmases? Well a Chinese car company has made a car-quadcopter, a $140,000 flying car. It is a gull-winged two-seater made by a company called Aeroht founded by a high-school dropout.
The Financial Times reports that China estimates 250 million people have caught Covid-19 in the past 20 days. That is beyond an epidemic. The Chinese healthcare system is overwhelmed, the FT says in another story.
There will be no John Lothian Newsletter on Monday, which is the official holiday for Christmas, since Christmas falls on Sunday.
The JLN team wishes you all a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays.
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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MWE SHORT: Dave Johnson - Past, Present and Futures
JohnLothianNews.com
In the early 70s, the idea of listed options was presented to the New York Stock Exchange. When the exchange declined, the idea was brought over to Chicago. Dave Johnson, Director at Penson Worldwide, discusses the history of the futures industry, beginning with the opening of the CBOE. Johnson remembers regulatory issues the fledgling futures exchange encountered, as well as a financial crisis the industry overcame.
Watch the video »
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FTX founder released to parents on $250m bail
BBC News
Former FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried will face home detention while awaiting trial in the US on charges that he defrauded customers and investors of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange. A US judge said the 30-year-old former billionaire could be released to his parents on a $250m bond. At the hearing, Mr Bankman-Fried did not admit or deny guilt.
/jlne.ws/3GfHWNy
***** As predicted, back in his old room, of sorts.~JJL
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Trading firm adds two floors to Loop office
Danny Ecker - Crain's Chicago Business
A proprietary trading firm is bulking up its office footprint in the Loop, belying a broader downtown space-shedding trend and securing a meaningful win for its landlord. Chicago Trading has signed on to expand its workspace by more than 46,000 in the 40-story office tower at 425 S. Financial Place, according to a statement from the building's owner, Los Angeles-based CIM Group. CTC inked a lease for the building's seventh and eighth floors, adding to its existing office on the three floors below.
/jlne.ws/3HXw0Bl
***** A vote of confidence for the financial district from CTC. Things are looking up for CTC and the financial district with this move.~JJL
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Credit Suisse Files Criminal Complaint Against Zurich Blog Over Reader Comments; Swiss bank ups ante with criminal complaint after civil suit; Blog is controversial but well-read in Zurich banking circles
Hugo Miller and Myriam Balezou - Bloomberg
Credit Suisse Group AG has filed a criminal complaint against a Zurich financial blog, ratcheting up a legal attack begun this week over readers' comments attached to a series of stories it ran about the Swiss bank earlier this year. The complaint, which the blog Inside Paradeplatz confirmed on Friday, follows a 265-page civil lawsuit filed over comments that the bank said were harshly critical of it and some of its executives, in particular new chief executive officer Ulrich Koerner.
/jlne.ws/3YJy06e
****** I hate to see this kind of thing. Banks are supposed to have thick walls. I would hope they had thick skins too.~JJL
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Frozen Iguanas Falling From Trees Becoming Florida's Christmas Tradition
Pandora Dewan - Newsweek
During this week's Arctic blast, the forecast for Florida is cold... with a chance of falling iguanas.
But fear not, the scaly skydivers are not dead-they are just cold.
/jlne.ws/3WFTBuB
****** Nothing worse than reptiles dropping from the skies.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was the CFTC press release, CFTC Charges Alameda CEO and Alameda and FTX Co-Founder with Fraud in Action Against Sam Bankman-Fried and his Companies. Second was Sam Bankman-Fried leaves Bahamas for the US from the Financial Times. And, in a brief departure from SBF news, third was Bloomberg's The UK Produced a Record Amount of Wind Power in 2022, Easing Gas Crisis.
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MarketsWiki Stats
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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
Publisher | | | Sarah Rudolph
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| Lead Stories | London Stock Exchange Stakes Its Future on Data; Microsoft Tech to Boost London Stock Exchange's Quest for Data Dominance; Deal strengthens challenge to Bloomberg's financial-data business, analysts say
Josh Mitchell - The Wall Street Journal
The London Stock Exchange Group PLC has staked its future on financial data. A new deal with Microsoft Corp. means it poses a bigger threat to industry leader Bloomberg LP, analysts say. LSEG said last week it would spend $2.8 billion over the next decade on Microsoft products, mainly the latter's cloud service. As part of the deal, Microsoft will take a 4% equity stake in LSEG, buying stock from some of the company's major existing shareholders.
/jlne.ws/3PLFTEk
The Computers Driving the Oil Market Get Fresh Scrutiny; After a year of wild swings, traders are studying trend-following funds
Bob Henderson - The Wall Street Journal
It has been a tough year for oil traders. Even the computers haven't been able to get it right consistently. Wall Street is closely tracking firms that use trend-following algorithms to trade oil futures, which profited mightily from betting on higher prices as crude climbed to more than $120 per barrel this spring. But with oil falling bumpily since June, the trend-followers have waffled between bullish and bearish wagers and given some of those profits back.
/jlne.ws/3WH7VTy
China Estimates Covid Surge Is Infecting 37 Million People a Day; Minutes from top health body meeting show scale of hit so far; Virus unleashed in China after three years of keeping it out
Bloomberg News
Nearly 37 million people in China may have been infected with Covid-19 on a single day this week, according to estimates from the government's top health authority, making the country's outbreak by far the world's largest.
/jlne.ws/3Vn2gkq
High Court tosses out case by LME traders for disclosures on nickel debacle; Hedge fund AQR and other market participants were seeking more information on exchange's decision to cancel trades
Harry Dempsey - Financial Times
A London court has dismissed a case by hedge fund AQR Capital Management and other market participants against the London Metal Exchange, relieving the bourse from a request to disclose further information about its March decision to cancel billions dollars worth of nickel trades.
/jlne.ws/3hLaq8L
China's Soaring Covid Cases Push Economic Activity Off A Cliff; Traffic congestion slumped in major cities as people stay home; There are fewer flights and fewer people are taking the subway
Bloomberg
China's soaring Covid infections are keeping people home and causing a slump in travel and economic activity, according to the latest high-frequency data. Following the recent abrupt end to Covid Zero controls, more cities have been hit by an exit wave of infections in the past week, leading to crowded hospitals and queues at funeral parlors. That's keeping people in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere from going out despite workers in some places being told to return to work even if sick.
/jlne.ws/3BVQAOV
Winter Storm Walloping the US Threatens to Disrupt LNG Exports; Cold weather may affect waterways to key LNG export plants; Arctic front across most of US to continue for several days
Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
A winter storm battering huge swaths of the US threatens to temporarily disrupt exports of liquefied natural gas from the Gulf Coast, exacerbating the global fuel crunch. The arctic front, expected to continue for several days, is triggering warnings and advisories stretching from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico. The US is a major LNG exporter and a key supplier to Europe, which means port disruptions could have a global impact.
/jlne.ws/3POrxTy
SBF, Bitcoin and the Power of Ponzi Thinking
Chris Nagi - Bloomberg
Less than a year ago when this newsletter began, it was observed that explaining the motion of digital-currency markets is hard. "If you've tried, you know," went the lament. "There is no cohesive rationale to day-to-day moves in crypto." So it was interesting when a paper recently popped up purporting to have figured this out.
/jlne.ws/3GdNvMx
Banks Open Data-Protection Vault to Other Financial Businesses; Sheltered Harbor offers a way to restore crucial files lost in hacker attacks.
Andrew Martin - Bloomberg
A group of banks has adopted the idea of a vault for the age of the cyberattack, building a tool to encrypt and lock away the most critical customer-account data at the end of each workday. Now they're expanding it to other financial businesses. Participants in Sheltered Harbor store key information in a vault that's separated from the institution's infrastructure. They also must devise a plan to restore operations and services as quickly as possible in the event of a cyberattack or other crippling event. That includes designating a restoration platform-which could be another financial institution or a service provider-that can recover data from the vault and quickly provide services to customers.
/jlne.ws/3PMpsYr
The Federal Reserve Doesn't Care About Your Misery; Maybe you've noticed, but supporting stock and bond markets is definitely not the central bank's top priority.
Michael P. Regan - Bloomberg
Attempting to quantify a human emotion is a tricky endeavor, whether the effort is focused on an individual or an entire society. But one 1960s economist's effort to attach some numbers to the notion of national misery resonates especially loudly today, at the end of a truly miserable year for most rank-and-file investors.
/jlne.ws/3GbSA8f
FTX and Alameda executives plead guilty to fraud
The Washington Post
Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Dec. 21 that Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, two former colleagues of Sam Bankman-Fried, pleaded guilty to federal criminal fraud charges.
/jlne.ws/3jrHLpu
Caroline Ellison Plea Agreement: $250,000 Bail, Surrender of Travel Documents, Forfeiture of Assets
Sam Reynolds - CoinDesk
Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison will not be allowed to leave the continental United States, and must forfeit any proceeds derived from the commission of the offenses she has been charged with, according to a recently unsealed plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York. She will also need to pay restitution of an amount determined by the court. The plea agreement was first obtained by New York's Inner City Press, a publication that covers court proceedings in the city's federal court.
/jlne.ws/3VeHJ1H
Explainer-How did Bankman-Fried secure $250 million bail?
Jack Queen - Reuters
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried clinched a bail deal on Thursday that would see him released on a $250 million bond secured against his parents' property with restrictions on his movement. Here is an explainer on how his deal stacks up and how bail works.
/jlne.ws/3WG7ysE
Latest SEC Lawsuit Shows Crypto's Troubles Might Not Be Contained To FTX
Joe Light - Barron's
If crypto industry executives hoped the legal fallout from FTX's demise would be limited to that exchange, they just got a wake-up call. Late Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against former FTX and Alameda Research executives Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison. The pair agreed to settlements with the agency, pending court approval. They also pleaded guilty to fraud in a related Department of Justice action. The SEC's charges included claims that the pair schemed to defraud investors in FTX and that Ellison manipulated the price of FTT, a token issued by FTX.
/jlne.ws/3hL10Kr
FTX opposes BlockFi's claim to Bankman-Fried's Robinhood shares
Dietrich Knauth - Reuters
Collapsed crypto exchange FTX on Thursday asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge to stop crypto lender BlockFi from laying claim to more than $440 million worth of Robinhood stock purchased by indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. BlockFi had filed a lawsuit on Nov. 28 demanding the turnover of 56 million Robinhood shares that were allegedly pledged as collateral for BlockFi's loans to the FTX-affiliated crypto hedge fund Alameda Research.
/jlne.ws/3FTBqL8
FTX Seeks Referee for Fight Over $440 Million Robinhood Stake
Jeremy Hill and Steven Church - Bloomberg
FTX Group asked an American bankruptcy judge to intervene in a multinational fight over more than $440 million of Robinhood Markets Inc. shares tied to Alameda Research, Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto trading house.
/jlne.ws/3BWn7o1
Scott Minerd, Guggenheim Partners' Investment Chief, Dies at Age 63; An early member of the firm, he helped shape its growth from a startup to the manager of more than $218 billion in assets
Charley Grant and James R. Hagerty - The Wall Street Journal
Scott Minerd, an outspoken and influential fund manager who was chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners, died Wednesday of a heart attack. Mr. Minerd, 63 years old and a committed weightlifter known to bench press more than 400 pounds, died during his daily workout, the firm said. Mr. Minerd joined Guggenheim shortly after the firm was founded in 1998.
/jlne.ws/3GbP1in
Guggenheim's Minerd Was a Wall Street Outsider Who Made It His Home; Minerd remembered for his quirkiness, love of bodybuilding; His benchmark bond fund beat peers for most of the past decade
Sonali Basak and John Gittelsohn - Bloomberg
Nothing about Scott Minerd was typical Wall Street. There was his upbringing: a humble son of an insurance salesman in Pennsylvania's coal-mining region. There was the fact that the Guggenheim Partners chief investment officer was openly gay, a rarity for a top executive in the industry. And, of course, there was the bodybuilding - no other bond king could come close to bench-pressing 495 pounds 20 times over, as he did in his prime.
/jlne.ws/3PW0QMY
These Books Will Restore Financial Common Sense in 2023; After every bubble, we need to relearn the basics. Here is some essential reading this holiday.
Merryn Somerset Webb - Bloomberg
What is a share price? It sounds like a stupid question - the answer to which is "the amount of money the market is prepared to pay for a share in a company on any one day." But that's not enough of an answer. You must then ask why anyone would ever pay anything for a share. Sure, it represents ownership of a tiny fraction of a company. But then what? What can you do with the theoretical ownership of a few bricks, a tiny bit of goodwill, an itsy bit of an app or a few pipettes of pharmaceutical product? Absolutely nothing of course.
/jlne.ws/3vjr6qN
JPMorgan Says Globalization's Demise Is Major Theme for 2023; Supply chains, industrial policy, energy and defense will continue to feel the market impact, strategist Jared Gross says.
Michael P. Regan and Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
The decades-long trend of globalization has come to an end and the fracturing of geopolitics will have huge implications for capital markets and investing in 2023, according to strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Jared Gross, head of institutional portfolio strategy at JPMorgan Asset Management, joined the What Goes Up podcast to discuss how everything from supply chains to industrial policy, energy and defense will feel the impact.
/jlne.ws/3GcCrPY
UK to outperform as an investment location next year, according to fund managers; The UK will be the top investment region for 2023, according to a survey from the Association of Investment Companies, with mid-cap equities predicted to be the best-performing asset.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
The UK will be the best-performing region in 2023, according to a survey of its members conducted by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) last month. Released in December, the results suggest a more optimistic outlook than may formerly have been expected, especially for the domestic UK view. A quarter (25%) of investment managers believe that the UK will be the strongest region for equities next year, while around a fifth (19%) tap the US as the top performer.
/jlne.ws/3jrQMz1
How China Downgraded Covid From 'Devil' Virus to a Common Cold; The Communist Party's propaganda machine has rapidly shifted gears on Covid messaging
Bloomberg
All the way through the pandemic, China's propaganda machine delivered a simple but powerful message: the country would not give up its fight to eradicate Covid. Yet when President Xi Jinping's government abruptly abandoned its zero-tolerance policy toward the virus this month, that machine - comprising everyone from officials to medical experts and state media commentators - had to quickly change gears.
/jlne.ws/3FQpYQt
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Putin says Russia wants end to war in Ukraine
Reuters
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this would inevitably involve a diplomatic solution. Putin made the comments a day after U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the White House and promised him continued and unwavering U.S. support.
/jlne.ws/3vdaJMM
The Brutal Alternate World in Which the U.S. Abandoned Ukraine; Ukrainian resistance and American support prevented a wide range of horrors.
Anne Applebaum - The Atlantic
On the shortest day of the year, after 10 months of war, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, finally left his country and came to Washington to thank Americans for their support. He went to the White House, where he appeared at a press conference. He went to Congress, where he handed a Ukrainian flag, signed by the defenders of Bakhmut, to the vice president and House speaker. He congratulated all of us on our first, joint American-Ukrainian victory: "We defeated Russia in the battle for minds of the world."
/jlne.ws/3FSAmqQ
Russia Vows to Target Patriot Defense System the US Will Supply to Ukraine; US-Ukraine talks ignore Russia's concerns, Peskov said; Russian army will achieve its goals in Ukraine, Kremlin said
Bloomberg News
The Kremlin criticized the outcome of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's visit to Washington and warned that Russia would continue to target weaponry supplied to Ukraine by the US and its allies. Moscow followed Zelenskiy's meeting with President Joe Biden and speech to the US Congress and saw no sign of a "willingness to listen to Russia's concerns," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call Thursday, in answer to a question on the visit.
/jlne.ws/3vcB7Gl
Russian politician files legal challenge over Putin's reference to Ukraine "war"
Mark Trevelyan - Reuters
A St Petersburg politician has asked prosecutors to investigate Russian President Vladimir Putin for using the word "war" to describe the conflict in Ukraine, accusing the Kremlin chief of breaking his own law.
/jlne.ws/3hUzvhk
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Fireside Friday with... Aquis Exchange's Sakeena Lalljee; The TRADE catches up with Sakeena Lalljee, director, business development at Aquis Exchange, to discuss the exchange's move into dark trading, the fragmented nature of European markets and efforts to diversify and attract market participants.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Aquis Exchange recently launched a dark pool into Europe. What drew the decision to enter this space? Having focused on lit for the first few years of our existence, we considered it to be a good time for us to add dark trading to our offering - it's something that we had considered for a while. In the last few years, there's been so much going on with Brexit and Mifid II, so this year was the ideal time, giving us the chance to enter that space. Feedback from pretty much all of our stakeholders was that dark functionality is still very important to them. A significant step to providing that was assuming the activities of UBS MTF, which took place in April this year.
/jlne.ws/3hGYvc8
Hedge funds AQR and others case against LME dismissed - judge
Reuters Staff
A British judge on Friday dismissed a case against the London Metal Exchange brought by hedge fund AQR Capital Management and others that demanded phone call transcripts and meeting notes about the exchange's decision in March to cancel nickel trades. Justice Adrian Beltrami said in his ruling that even if there was, on the part of the LME a "good arguable case of wrongdoing," the judge considered "the merits of the case as weak."
/jlne.ws/3jkC5h3
Unscheduled change in the SDAX
Deutsche Boerse
STOXX Ltd., the global index provider of Qontigo, has announced an extraordinary change in the index composition of the SDAX. Uniper SE is deleted from the SDAX because the free float has fallen below ten percent in connection with a takeover. According to the rules of the " Guide to the DAX Equity Indices ", Chapter 5.1.2, the company no longer meets the basic criteria for remaining in the index (free float of at least ten percent).
/jlne.ws/3G9xQxV
Temporary suspension of FEX contracts
FEX
The Board of Directors of FEX Global have today determined to suspend trading for all futures and options products referencing the FEX ICX 62 Iron Ore (AUD) (Argus) benchmark and the FEX JCC Asia Crude (Argus) benchmark. As previously communicated, FEX has an agreement with MySteel Index Company to provide FEX Global with an Iron Ore index. A suspension of existing FEX Iron Ore products at this time is the first step in changing index providers as we await final regulatory approval for this move.
/jlne.ws/3GaBkz9
Amendments To The List Of Fees Of Bourse De Montréal Inc.
TMX
Bourse de Montreal Inc. hereby announces the following amendments to its List of Fees effective January 1st, 2023. The new List of Fees capturing the amendments is attached for information purposes.
/jlne.ws/3BZzKP7
Delisting of Securities of PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Zovio Inc.; Fast Radius, Inc.; and Kismet Acquisition Three Corp. from The Nasdaq Stock Market
Nasdaq
The Nasdaq Stock Market announced today that it will delist the common stock of PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s common stock was suspended on November 3, 2022, and has not traded on Nasdaq since that time.
/jlne.ws/3VlKT3q
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Goldman Offers More Services Through Apple as It Revamps Consumer-Banking Approach
AnnaMaria Andriotis - The Wall Street Journal
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has scaled back plans to bank the masses. On its own, at least. For years, Apple Inc. has been asking big U.S. banks to allow their customers to view deposit-account balances on its digital wallet, according to people familiar with the matter. The banks largely have declined, the people said, wary of ceding the customer experience to Apple and becoming simply the financial plumbing behind the scenes. But Goldman has been happy to oblige.
/jlne.ws/3PNuvYq
Musk's Frequent Twitter Polls Are at Risk of Bot Manipulation; New research shows votes can be easily purchased during Twitter polls
Davey Alba - Bloomberg
New Twitter Inc. owner Elon Musk has outsourced several controversial decisions - like whether to reinstate former US President Donald Trump's account, and if he should leave the Twitter CEO job - to public polling on the network, saying he intends to follow the will of the people. But the results of such surveys can be easily gamed by bots, according to new research.
/jlne.ws/3WyRfO2
AT&T, BlackRock To Form Joint Venture Expanding Fiber-Optic Network
Reinhardt Krause - Investor's Business Daily
AT&T (T) and BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, have agreed to form a joint venture that will expand fiber-optic network and broadband services outside the telecom company's current wireline footprint. AT&T stock edged up on the news.
/jlne.ws/3jnYM40
AT&T, BlackRock to form commercial fiber-optic platform
Reuters
Wireless carrier AT&T Inc and fund manager BlackRock Inc are forming a joint venture to operate a fiber-optic platform in the United States, the companies said on Friday. The venture, Gigapower LLC, plans to deploy its network to an initial 1.5 million customer locations outside of AT&T's traditional 21-state wireline service presence, they said.
/jlne.ws/3PNzZSW
Metaverse-First Blockchain Lamina1 Launches Rolling Fund for Web3 Builders
Rosie Perper - CoinDesk
Lamina1, the metaverse-focused layer 1 blockchain dreamed up by science-fiction author Neal Stephenson and blockchain expert Peter Vessenes, is launching the Lamina1 Ecosystem Fund (L1EF) to provide Web3 builders with a capital-raising tool for their open metaverse ventures and to offer investors a chance to get in on projects at the ground level. Led by Vessenes, the company said in a press release its first-of-its-kind publicly accessible ecosystem fund "is designed to provide broad economic access to global accredited investors looking to support the next era of the internet."
/jlne.ws/3PL3o0h
How New I.R.S. Rules Could Affect Venmo, Etsy and Cash App Users
Alan Rappeport - The New York Times
This year, Dennis Turbeville, a woodworker in Washington, used the mobile payment service Venmo to sell his wares, collect payments on a rental property and split personal expenses with family and friends. He carefully tracks income for his business, Austen Morris Custom Furniture, with QuickBooks software and works with an accountant to make sure everything he owes to the federal government is paid correctly.
/jlne.ws/3vaV6Fp
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Ransomware Payouts Declined in 2022: Crystal Blockchain
Anna Baydakova - CoinDesk
Known cryptocurrency payments to ransomware hackers "totaled a mere $16 million, compared to nearly $74 million USD in 2021," blockchain intelligence firm Crystal Blockchain says. This may be surprising given the fact that the number of ransomware attacks has increased since 2021, according to cybersecurity researchers. This year, the notorious Conti ransomware gang, known for terrorizing U.S. hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, ceased operations, but new groups are constantly emerging.
/jlne.ws/3BWn0ZD
Biden Signs Post-Quantum Cybersecurity Guidelines Into Law
Karen Spiegelman - DarkReading
On Dec. 21, the US government's plan for transitioning to post-quantum cryptography became law, committing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to scope out compliance with the recent NIST guidelines.
/jlne.ws/3v9QoI6
2022 Cybersecurity Statistics You Should Know About
Christian Wiens - Security Boulevard
This year, the MixMode team covered a multitude of cybersecurity topics and insights across the industry including government and municipality news, advancements in artificial intelligence, product and solution evaluations, trends in cyberattacks, and more. In total, we delivered over 50 articles packed full of cyber stats that revealed need-to-know information for any cybersecurity professional. The data not only helps our clients and colleagues be informed but also sheds light on both today and future challenges that we are facing together in this industry.
/jlne.ws/3hLu2tn
Corporate Tech Leaders Untangle Their Cybersecurity Roles
Belle Lin - WSJ
Information technology and cybersecurity chiefs grew closer than ever in 2022, a dynamic allowing for more comprehensive threat mitigation, but raising new questions over responsibilities. Many executives now say that as their roles around cyber appear to converge, they are working to sort out the dividing lines between their shared security and IT responsibilities.
/jlne.ws/3hQTqxW
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Bankman-Fried Released on $250 Million Bond in FTX Case
Ava Benny-Morrison and Chris Dolmetsch - Bloomberg
Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bail package after making his first US court appearance to face fraud charges over the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded. Shackled and wearing a blue suit, an unshaven Bankman-Fried appeared Thursday before a magistrate judge for the bail hearing in Manhattan federal court. He did not enter a plea, which will take place later before the judge presiding over his case. His next appearance is scheduled for Jan. 3.
/jlne.ws/3jffbrm
Here Are Some of the Allegations Against Ellison, Wang
Joanna Ossinger and Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
US authorities have alleged that fallen crypto titan Sam Bankman-Fried defrauded investors in his FTX empire, stealing billions of dollars over years for his own benefit. Now, top Bankman-Fried associates Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, are accused of helping him. They've pleaded guilty to federal criminal fraud charges and are cooperating with prosecutors.
/jlne.ws/3WlJlIi
FTX's Blockfolio Stake Was Paid for Mostly in FTT: Bloomberg
Jamie Crawley - CoinDesk
Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX used its own token, FTT, to fund the $84 million purchase of a majority stake in trading platform Blockfolio in 2020, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Around 94% of the amount was in the token invented by FTX, according to the report, which cited financial documents. The deal gave FTX a 52% stake in the trading platform.
/jlne.ws/3hNvWcU
FTX could pay over $2,100 per hour for bankruptcy lawyers
Dietrich Knauth and Andrew Goudsward - Reuters
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge for permission to pay its top restructuring lawyers as much as $2,165 per hour, an unusually high rate for a company that cannot afford to repay all of its debts. FTX declared bankruptcy on Nov. 11, collapsing amid a wave of customer withdrawals. Federal prosecutors have charged founder Sam Bankman-Fried with stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer assets to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, and two of his former associates have already pleaded guilty. Bankman-Fried is scheduled to be arraigned in New York on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3YKQwv5
Coinbase plunges 86% in 2022, amid FTX-inspired slump. But one analyst says 'you have to have a multiyear time frame.'
Mark DeCambre - MarketWatch
Hello there and seasons greetings! This is Mark DeCambre, Editor in Chief at MarketWatch. The hottest story in crypto land remains FTX, even as we hurtle toward 2023. It is a fast-evolving situation. Sam Bankman-Fried has been undefined from the Bahamas and the co-conspirators are starting to emerge. We'll get you up to speed on those developments and much more in the latest installment of DL before Christmas.
/jlne.ws/3hNpG50
Bankman-Fried to be released on $250 million bond, live with parents
Tory Newmyer and Shayna Jacobs - The Washington Post
Disgraced former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was granted release from law enforcement custody on Thursday after agreeing in his first U.S. court appearance to post a $250 million bond and remain confined to his parents' home in Palo Alto, Calif. The former chief executive of collapsed crypto exchange FTX is due back in Manhattan federal court on Jan. 3, where he may be asked to enter a plea to the eight criminal counts he is facing. Bankman-Fried declined to comment after the proceedings, as did his lawyers and parents, Joe Bankman and Susan Fried, both of whom are prominent professors at Stanford Law School.
/jlne.ws/3Wipjyr
New FTX Charges Against Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang Show U.S. Is Going After Deputies Too
Vicky Ge Huang and Hannah Miao - The Wall Street Journal
The guilty plea on fraud charges by two associates of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried paves the way for U.S. authorities to hold more of his deputies responsible for the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse. Caroline Ellison, who ran FTX's sister trading firm Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, FTX's former chief technology officer, both pleaded guilty this week to criminal offenses similar to those Mr. Bankman-Fried was charged with and are cooperating with federal investigators.
/jlne.ws/3hOmuWA
FTX Case May Bring SEC One Step Closer To Banning Crypto Exchanges
Sander Lutz - Decrypt
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears to be compiling legal ammunition to take on the beating heart of the global crypto economy: centralized crypto exchanges. And the agency's unfolding case against FTX reveals arguments that could further that strategy.
/jlne.ws/3jrzAJL
SBF's $250 Million Bail Is One of the Largest in US History. It Doesn't Mean He Has That Much
Chris Dolmetsch - Bloomberg
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail package is one of the largest in US history, but it doesn't mean he actually has to put up that kind of money. At Bankman-Fried's bail hearing on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan, both the prosecution and defense agreed that the former billionaire's assets have "diminished significantly." Bankman-Fried has said he may have only $100,000.
/jlne.ws/3jr39Lv
FTX Seeks Referee for Fight Over $440 Million Robinhood Stake; BlockFi, Bankman-Fried have tried to take control of shares; The 56 million shares probably belong to FTX, lawyers say
Jeremy Hill and Steven Church - Bloomberg
FTX Group asked an American bankruptcy judge to intervene in a multinational fight over more than $440 million of Robinhood Markets Inc. shares tied to Alameda Research, Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto trading house. Crypto lender BlockFi Inc. and an individual FTX creditor have tried to get their hands on the shares via separate court proceedings in New Jersey and Antigua, FTX lawyers said in court papers Thursday. Both parties claim they're entitled to the stock - some 56 million shares in total - in order to recover on debts.
/jlne.ws/3joAdUy
FTX Friends Flip on SBF; Also AMC's APE-collapsing plans.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
Of course there will be several FTX movies, and maybe the most cinematic scene in the whole story is the meeting that Caroline Ellison, the chief executive officer of Alameda Research, FTX's affiliated trading firm, held to tell her employees that they'd been stealing FTX customer money. Imagine! Imagine coming into the company all-hands meeting at the lucrative trading firm you work at, in the Bahamas, far away from your friends and family and competitors, in a slightly cult-like environment where your every need is catered to out of the firm's enormous profits.
/jlne.ws/3BVR2g5
California Regulator Orders Halt to MyConstant's Crypto Lending Services
Will McCurdy - Decrypt
California financial regulators have ordered online crypto loans platform MyConstant to desist from offering some of its crypto-related products in the state. The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) blocked the platform from conducting the sale of securities in the state, including its flagship lending platform and its interest-bearing accounts.
/jlne.ws/3Vmab1E
Craig Wright Signals He's Given Up Convincing Courts He Invented Bitcoin
Frederick Munawa - CoinDesk
Australian computer scientist Craig Wright may be ratcheting down a multi-year effort to convince courts that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Wright first caused an uproar in the Bitcoin community with a 2016 blog post in which he claimed - with questionable evidence - to be Bitcoin's inventor.
/jlne.ws/3VpqYRb
OKX Unveils 2nd Proof-of-Reserves Report, Promises Monthly Publication
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
Cryptocurrency exchange OKX published a second proof of reserves (PoR) report, adding features that allow users to verify that the second-largest platform by trading volume has sufficient assets to handle customer withdrawals.
/jlne.ws/3GeFJlB
Bitcoin Protocol Development Steadily Progressing Despite Only 40-60 Monthly Active Developers: NYDIG
Frederick Munawa - CoinDesk
In a world where giants of the conventional financial system including Visa, Mastercard and PayPal employ tens of thousands of employees, Bitcoin continues to be run by a tight ship of just a few dozen active developers.
/jlne.ws/3FXytcK
Checkout.com's crypto bet: how Europe's most valuable start-up lost its crown; The company's fiercely competitive chief has a tough fight ahead if he wants to regain past glories
Ivan Levingston and Tim Bradshaw - Financial Times
Guillaume Pousaz used to run Europe's most valuable start-up. But this year, and after a gamble on crypto backfired, the 41-year-old chief executive had to watch Checkout.com's valuation come tumbling down. A fierce competitor, from his days as a youth snowboarder to this October's Iron Man contest in Utah, Pousaz must now fight if he wants his company to regain its crown.
/jlne.ws/3YI6jea
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Fleeing China's Covid lockdowns for the US - through a Central American jungle
Mengyu Dong - BBC News
China may be easing some of its severe anti-Covid restrictions but its draconian pandemic policies have driven many citizens to seek a better future elsewhere - whatever the risks in getting there. Three days into their trek through a Central American rainforest, some 9,300 miles (15,000 kilometres) away from home, the Sun family threw away their camping gear to lighten the load, thinking they would be out by nightfall. Instead, they were stranded in the jungle by heavy rain.
/jlne.ws/3Vjc27l
Putin oversees launch of Siberian gas field feeding pipeline to China
Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over the launch of a major new Siberian gas field on Wednesday to help drive a planned surge in supply to China. The Kovykta gas field will feed into the Power of Siberia pipeline carrying Russian gas to China. With recoverable reserves of 1.8 trillion cubic metres, it is the largest in eastern Russia. The launch is part of Russia's strategy to shift gas exports to the east as the European Union cuts reliance on Russian energy in response to the war in Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3vaB4uT
Xi reaffirms China's governing principle for Hong Kong
Kanis Leung - Associated Press
Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed Beijing's commitment to follow the "one country, two systems" governing principle for Hong Kong on Friday, saying it is the "best arrangement" to maintain the city's prosperity and stability. The principle promises the former British colony the right to retain its own political, social and financial institutions for 50 years after returning to China's rule in 1997. But critics say it is becoming increasingly threadbare, especially after Beijing imposed the 2020 National Security Law, which jailed or silenced many dissidents.
/jlne.ws/3WkjzEl
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Brazil's President Signs Crypto Regulations Into Law
Rodrigo Tolotti - CoinDesk
Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday approved a crypto regulation bill recently passed by that country's Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The new law establishes a crime of fraud involving virtual assets, with a penalty of between four and six years in jail plus a fine. It also creates a "virtual service provider" license, which is to be requested by digital asset companies, including exchanges and trading intermediaries.
/jlne.ws/3hLdHoq
Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison cooperation 'gives prosecutors real insight' into FTX: Former prosecutor
Yahoo Finance
Ian McGinley, Akin Gump Partner and Former SDNY Co-Chief of the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, joins Yahoo Finance Live to examine how Sam Bankman-Fried may be expected to testify following plea deal agreements from other FTX defendants.
/jlne.ws/3vfDAA2
FTX Asks Judge for Help in Fight Over Robinhood Shares Worth About $450M
Nick Baker - CoinDesk
FTX sought a U.S. bankruptcy court's help amid a battle over ownership of about $450 million worth of stock in Robinhood Markets (HOOD), according to a filing Thursday. At issue are about 56 million shares of the brokerage owned by Emergent Fidelity Technologies Ltd., a corporate entity organized in Antigua and Barbuda and 90% controlled by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, according to the filing.
/jlne.ws/3jkvT8N
Man convicted of running unlicensed bitcoin exchange biz
Associated Press
A New Hampshire man was convicted Thursday of running an unlicensed bitcoin exchange business and laundering over $10 million in proceeds of romance scams and other internet frauds following a two-week federal trial. Prosecutors said Ian Freeman "created a business that catered to fraudsters" by failing to register his business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as required by law, disabling 'know your customer' features on bitcoin kiosks, and ensuring bitcoin customers didn't tell him what they did with their bitcoin.
/jlne.ws/3GekdgN
SEC Announces Departure of Dan Berkovitz; Megan Barbero Named General Counsel
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that General Counsel Dan Berkovitz will depart the agency, effective Jan. 31, 2023. Megan Barbero, currently SEC Principal Deputy General Counsel, will be appointed General Counsel, effective upon Mr. Berkovitz's departure.
/jlne.ws/3YJipnl
SEC Obtains Judgment Against Individual in Multi-Million Dollar Securities Offering Fraud
SEC
On December 21, 2022, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a final judgment against Paul Hess ordering him to pay approximately $840,000 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and penalties.
/jlne.ws/3jjyZtD
SEC Obtains Permanent Injunction Against Owner and Manager of Registered Investment Adviser After Successful Trial and Appeal
SEC
On December 20, 2022 an Illinois federal court enjoined Randall Goulding, owner and managing member of The Nutmeg Group LLC (Nutmeg), a registered investment adviser, from engaging in a number of investment-related activities. Specifically, the court enjoined Randall Goulding from buying, selling or trading securities on behalf of an investment adviser or pooled investment vehicle; managing securities investments for, or providing investment advice to, any person or entity, other than himself and immediate relatives, for compensation; and providing consulting, valuation, compliance or other investment-related services to an investment adviser or pooled investment vehicle.
/jlne.ws/3WmlOHc
'FinTwit' influencers face charges in $150m scheme
Livia Albeck-Ripka - Financial Review
On Twitter, the men touted themselves as financial sages in a community known to fans as FinTwit. Two launched a Discord server, Atlas Trading, amassing more than 230,000 members who avidly followed their stock tips. They appeared on podcasts that soared in popularity with the bull market, and showed off luxury cars on Instagram. But it all came crashing down December 14, after the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice accused the eight men of running a modern version of a "pump and dump" stock scheme that bilked investors out of more than $US100 million ($150 million). The alleged fraud scheme was outlined in court documents filed and unsealed in recent days.
/jlne.ws/3hHl0xD
Hidden Road Secures Digital Asset Firm Registration from the UK's FCA
Hidden Road
Hidden Road, the global credit network for institutional investors, today announced that its UK entity, Hidden Road Partners CIV UK Limited, has been granted registration as a digital asset firm in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Hidden Road is the only prime broker with both an FCA investment firm license and an FCA digital asset firm registration. This enables Hidden Road to uniquely offer products in spot and derivatives of both FX and digital assets.
/jlne.ws/3Wlm5tW
German regulator rebukes Standard Chartered over European operations; BaFin orders bank to hold more capital against risks from organisational flaws
Olaf Storbeck - Financial Times
Standard Chartered's European business has serious organisational flaws and must hold extra capital because of the risk this causes, Germany's financial watchdog BaFin said on Thursday. BaFin's public rebuke of Standard Chartered Bank AG is its second within three months. In October, it criticised the bank after a special audit uncovered that its internal organisation did not meet legal requirements.
/jlne.ws/3YON1DR
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | What another record in options trading volume says about the stock market
Joseph Adinolfi - MarketWatch
The CBOE equity put-call ratio, which is a reflection of options trading volume, surged to its latest record high of the year, reflecting traders' growing reliance on options during a volatile year, market strategists said. The gauge is a measure of trading volume in options tied to individual stocks and exchange-traded funds, as Callie Cox, an equity strategist at eToro, explained. "Nevertheless, [people] were trading a LOT of equity puts yesterday. Put volume on single stocks and ETF was 2.1 million, the most on record," Cox added in a tweet. Readers can find Cox's entire thread below.
/jlne.ws/3PVMtbl
Bankrupt Crypto Miner Soars in Move Reminiscent of Hertz; Core Scientific shares surged by a record 73% on Thursday; Stock is still one of worst performers so far this year
Matt Turner and David Pan - Bloomberg
Core Scientific Inc. surged by a record 73% on Thursday just a day after the Bitcoin miner became the latest cryptocurrency company to file for bankruptcy. It's a move reminiscent of the one seen in Revlon Inc. earlier this year after its own Chapter 11 filing. Retail traders caused similarly confusing spikes of other bankrupt companies in mid-2020 including Hertz Global Holdings Inc. and JCPenney.
/jlne.ws/3VjehaL
These Were the Best Trades in 2022; Buying energy has been a winning bet for two years running; Value firms on pace for best year since 2000 versus growth
Elena Popina - Bloomberg
In a year when soaring inflation and sinking growth rocked corporate boardrooms and Wall Street trading floors, some nooks of the stock market gave investors shelter to hide out. What worked in most of 2022 essentially was a long-inflation trade: A bet that the dollar and Treasury yields would rise on the Federal Reserve's most aggressive policy tightening in four decades, while the biggest winners of a low-rate environment - tech companies - would fall.
/jlne.ws/3WlCm1M
Equity funds record largest ever weekly outflows -BofA
Lucy Raitano - Reuters
Investors shed stocks at the highest weekly rate ever in the week to Wednesday, selling a net $41.9 billion of equities, according to a report from BofA Global Research on Friday that attributed the sell-off to tax-related purposes.
/jlne.ws/3jslI2c
FTX US auditor Armanino defends work for failed crypto exchange; Accounting firm gave clean bill of health to financial statements from Sam Bankman-Fried's US business
Stephen Foley - Financial Times
The auditor of FTX's bankrupt US exchange business said it stood by its work for Sam Bankman-Fried and was proud of having provided services for a cryptocurrency industry that needed to improve trust and transparency, but it would ditch its digital assets practice by the end of next month.
/jlne.ws/3YODcGi
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Crop Prices Set for Third Week of Gains as US Freeze Threatens; Supply issues have been hitting crops from wheat to sugar; Sugar rose to more than five-year high on sustained demand
Aine Quinn and Samuel Gebre - Bloomberg
Agricultural commodity prices, including wheat, corn and sugar, rose as crops were hit by unfavorable weather. Record-low temperatures in the US are endangering livestock and rail lines in the latest blow to American food supplies. Frigid cold on the Plains is raising the threat of so-called winterkill for wheat crops, already under stress because of a prolonged drought. Dry weather and rising temperatures will return in Argentina on Sunday, further stressing soy and corn fields.
/jlne.ws/3YM3XuY
Climate Change, Actually, Is All Around in the Movies; From silly action flicks to serious documentaries, here are 13 films worth watching where climate change is a main character.
Laura Millan Lombrana - Bloomberg
There's never a bad time to watch a movie focused on the future of the planet. And as 2022 draws to a close - friends and family gathering together - you may find yourself looking for a film everyone can agree on that isn't another showing of Elf or Die Hard (yes, it's a holiday film). The Bloomberg Green team has got you covered. From all-time classics and silly action flicks to serious documentaries and science fiction, you might be surprised by the number of films in which climate change has a major part. Here's a list of 13 to consider.
/jlne.ws/3ViWqAQ
Extraordinary close-up images show insects as you've never seen them before
Nell Lewis - CNN
The petrol-blue wings of a swallowtail butterfly, soft fur of a giant Patagonian bumblebee, and oil-painted smudges of a ladybug are some of the details captured by British photographer Levon Biss in a new book that documents insect decline. Released on 22 November, "Extinct & Endangered: Insects in Peril'' is a collaboration between Biss and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). It features photographs of 40 insect species that are either vulnerable, threatened or already extinct.
/jlne.ws/3VfgsMB
Is It Time for Companies to Focus on a Just Transition?
Leon Kaye - Triple Pundit
Will a movement to a just transition become important within the corporate sustainability lexicon in 2023? For many community-focused organizations, such a shift is a must if sustainable development will be fair and equitable for all. It hasn't been the most memorable year for the ESG (environmental, social and governance) movement. After several years of outperforming market indices like the S&P 500, many of the largest ESG funds took a huge tumble during 2022. Granted, markets are cyclical. It's not clear yet whether some of the blowback going on will fade away or only accelerate in the coming months.
/jlne.ws/3jrFyua
Timeline: Half a century of oil spills in Nigeria's Ogoniland; Since oil was discovered in commercial quantities in Nigeria in 1958, thousands of oil spill incidents have happened.
Ekpali Saint - Al Jazeera
In the oil-rich Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria, the people are worried about the health and environmental impacts of the crude oil spills that have been happening since oil was discovered there in 1958. The epicentre of this has been Ogoniland, 261 communities spread over nearly 1,000sq km (385sq miles).
/jlne.ws/3vcAVa9
Gates-Backed Venture Plans to Build $760 Million Battery Plant; Manufacturing facility to be located in Weirton, West Virginia; Construction expected next year, with manufacturing in 2024
Brian Eckhouse and Mark Bergen - Bloomberg
Form Energy Inc., an energy-storage company backed by Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Ventures, is planning a $760 million factory in West Virginia, the latest plant announced in the aftermath of President Joe Biden's landmark climate law. After years of depending on foreign imports for its clean-energy supplies, the US is on the verge of a revival in domestic cleantech manufacturing. A key product: energy storage for the country's grids and electric vehicles. The support of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin was critical to the passage of the climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act.
/jlne.ws/3Wqg7b9
Next Steps for the Bioeconomy: 5 Sustainable and Unusual Materials to Watch in 2023
Tina Casey - Triple Pundit
The bioeconomy of the future is beginning to take shape, and it is emerging in many different directions. Replacing petrochemicals with plant-based material is still a leading concern. Researchers are also taking advantage of new tools and methodologies to deploy a wider range of renewable materials, and to use those materials in ways that create new efficiencies. Here are five to follow in 2023.
/jlne.ws/3jsmPPr
Physically Fit? How financial institutions can better disclose climate-related physical risks in line with the recommendations of the TCFD
UNEPFI
Physical impacts from climate change such as heat waves, storms, droughts, or sea level rises are already being felt across the globe and will continue to intensify. Financial institutions are exposed to physical climate risks through various transmission channels, which can affect their financial stability. However, financial institutions have tended to focus their climate-related financial risk disclosures on transition risks such as policy, legal, technology, and market changes, with less granular assessment of the potentially significant and severe direct impacts of climate change. This report assesses the current state of physical climate-related risk disclosures and provides high-level guidance for financial institutions reporting on physical risks in line with the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
/jlne.ws/3Vefosg
Army Corps of Engineers Withdraws Approval of Plans to Dredge a Superfund Site on the Texas Gulf Coast for Oil Tanker Traffic; The reversal follows a challenge by Earthjustice and community groups alleging flaws in the Corps' environmental review of Matagorda and Lavaca Bays.
Autumn Jones and Dylan Baddour - Inside Climate News
The Army Corps of Engineers has reversed its decision to dredge the Matagorda Bay Ship Channel through a federal Superfund site on the Texas coast midway between Galveston and Corpus Christi. The withdrawal of the Army's 2020 ruling, announced in a court filing last week, follows a legal challenge this year by Earthjustice, an environmental nonprofit, and a coalition of community leaders.
/jlne.ws/3FTkVyP
Managing global risks: six lessons on enterprise risk management from over 250 companies
Andy Beanland - WBCSD Insights
Global risks are increasingly sustainability-related risks. There is a growing spotlight on sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Just last week, the Global Risk Report 2022 from the World Economic Forum listed the consequences of climate inaction, nature loss, and erosion of societal cohesion as the most severe risks on a global scale over the next 10 years. To tackle these risks, the report calls for a "whole-of-society" response, engaging different sectors to lead individual actions towards an end goal that benefits long-term well-being and prosperity.
/jlne.ws/3vezsAg
ESG: predictions for sustainability in 2023
John Still - ExchangeWire
While conversations around ESG have increased in recent months, discourse around whether ad tech truly recognises its responsibility to address its impact on the environment remains without consensus. So, what will advance the ESG cause in 2023? In our latest predictions piece, a panel of experts looks at what the next 12 months has in store. Expect a better measurement system.
/jlne.ws/3Vk4z82
UK: Time To Standardise Documentation For Sustainability-linked Derivatives?
Norton Rose Fulbright
In recent years, derivatives transactions linked to environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets have become increasingly popular. Although it is a nascent market, derivative products will play an essential role in funding ESG investment opportunities and managing the risks associated with such investments. In April 2022, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) began a survey of market participants on the current forms and use of sustainability-linked derivatives (SLDs) by them (the ISDA SLD Survey). This briefing summaries what SLDs are, the findings of the ISDA SLD Survey and potential future initiatives to standardise documentation for SLDs.
/jlne.ws/3Gbiw3L
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Citi appoints new co-heads of emerging markets division in EMEA
Reuters
Citigroup Inc (C.N) on Thursday named Hamza Girach and Rizwan Shaikh as co-heads of emerging markets at its banking, capital markets and advisory division in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Girach and Shaikh have been with the bank for roughly two decades. Girach was part of the team that covered Saudi Aramco's (2222.SE) record initial public offering in 2019. The Wall Street giant also appointed Miguel Azevedo as chairman of emerging markets EMEA investment banking, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
/jlne.ws/3YIVbO2
Bonus cuts and job losses: Goldman's painful new year; President John Waldron tells the FT that recession fears are forcing the bank's hand
Joshua Franklin and James Fontanella-Khan - Financial Times
Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon has done little to stir any festive cheer at the investment bank's headquarters in lower Manhattan. The mood soured this month as word leaked out that Goldman was preparing to cut almost 4,000 employees and considering slashing bonuses for investment bankers by at least 40 per cent.
/jlne.ws/3VmgvGq
Vanguard on track to lead US ETF sales in 2022; Rival iShares, however, was bestselling manager in November
Joe Morris - Financial Times
iShares bested Vanguard in US exchange trade fund flows last month, but Vanguard remains on pace to finish the year on top. iShares took in $19.9bn in net flows in November, lifted by an $11.6bn haul for its stock ETFs, new data from Morningstar show.
/jlne.ws/3Vq5W4V
The hidden costs of investing in US equity ETFs; Experts point out that it is not all about the fees. There are also currency, trading costs, spreads and tax considerations
Emma Boyde - Financial Times
Checking your investments too often can be a good way to end up out of pocket. This wisdom, gained from behavioural finance experiments showing that too much information leads to "myopic loss aversion", could lead investors to believe they should just "set it and forget it". However, experts insist you should know what you own, and even if you want to retain the same exposure, you should check to see if there is now a cheaper way of doing so.
/jlne.ws/3WdcjKh
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Why mask mandates aren't coming back even though covid is
Fenit Nirappil, Henry Rogers, Vanessa Kjeldsen and Samantha Aguilar - The Washington Post
Nearly every adult ICU bed in Oregon is occupied, driven by an uptick in respiratory viruses. Portland-area hospitals are operating at a "crisis" level for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. The dire picture has prompted state health officials to implore people to slap their masks on, once again, to protect against a triple threat of covid, flu and RSV as people travel and gather indoors this holiday season.
/jlne.ws/3WBOT0X
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Tencent-Backed Online Broker Futu Plans Hong Kong Listing
Matthew Thomas - The Wall Street Journal
Futu, a Hong Kong-based online broker that is listed in the U.S., is planning to make its shares available to investors back home. Futu's trading platforms include Futubull and the U.S.-focused Moomoo. It was founded by a former Tencent employee, and counts the Chinese technology giant as a sizable shareholder.
/jlne.ws/3WWSdUL
Tencent Billionaire Goes on a Tirade as Cracks Appear in Empire
Zheping Huang and Pei Li - Bloomberg
Many multinational CEOs like to close out the year with a message of congratulations. Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s billionaire co-founder Pony Ma delivered a no-holds-barred rant about slacking, oblivious and even corrupt employees.
/jlne.ws/3WmLQKh
Europe's Energy Crunch
Bloomberg
The rising cost of gas and electricity is stressing household energy bills, threatening businesses productivity and testing government policy. This winter follow Europe's energy emergency with key updates from Bloomberg News.
/jlne.ws/3OZeRsL
When Tyson asked workers to relocate from Chicago to Arkansas, almost all said no: report
Crain's Chicago Business
As it closes three offices to consolidate corporate operations in Arkansas, Tyson Foods is losing hundreds of employees-including almost all its Chicago staff, sources tell The Wall Street Journal. When the meat giant offered to relocate employees, more than 90% of Chicago workers declined, the Journal reports. Tyson announced in October it would be moving Chicago's 500 corporate jobs to its world headquarters in Arkansas.
/jlne.ws/3WE21mh
A massive winter storm is sweeping across the U.S., making holiday travel dangerous
Becky Sullivan - NPR
On a day when millions of Americans were expected to be traveling for the winter holidays, a massive cold weather system marched across most of the contiguous United States, bringing record-breaking cold, gusty winds and dangerous precipitation to states from Montana to Alabama. The National Weather Service estimated that much of the nation's 330 million residents were under some sort of winter weather alert on Thursday - a who's who of winter maladies from blizzards, snow squalls and ice storms to high winds, wind chill and hard freezes.
/jlne.ws/3BYncaR
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | FTX: Financier Ackman Says Things Aren't Looking "Good" For Bankman-Fried; The legendary investor has no sympathy for the fallen founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, whom he compares to Bernie Madoff.
Luc Olinga - The Street
One by one, Sam Bankman-Fried is losing the few influential business figures, who gave him the benefit of the doubt earlier. He has just completely lost the sympathy of Bill Ackman, the founder and CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square.
/jlne.ws/3FOtVW0
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