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John Lothian Newsletter
​ July 28, 2023 ​ "Irreverent, but never irrelevant"
 
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff

There is a reason there have been so many stories this month about how hot it is in various locations around the world. Bloomberg reports July is set to become the world's hottest month on record as "first 21 days of the month were the hottest three-week period on record, with July 6 seeing the highest ever global average temperature, according to the European Union's Earth observation agency Copernicus."

There is also a reason my Facebook feed has an ad for a chair hooked up to a cooler full of ice that makes you feel like you are in a swimming pool while sitting in the chair.

I missed reporting this yesterday: The CFTC on July 26 approved final DCO reporting information requirement and three proposals at an open commission meeting.

The first item was "Final Rule: Reporting and Information Requirements for Derivatives Clearing Organizations." The commission unanimously approved a final rule amending certain reporting and information regulations applicable to derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs).

Second was "Proposed Rule: Swap Confirmation Requirements for Swap Execution Facilities." The commission unanimously approved a rule proposal to amend its swap execution facility (SEF) regulations related to uncleared swap confirmations, as well as associated conforming and technical changes.

Third was "Proposed Rule: Amendments to Provisions Common to Registered Entities." The commission approved the proposed rule to amend Part 40 of the commission's regulations. The regulations in Part 40 implement Section 5c(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act and govern how registered entities submit self-certifications, and requests for approval, of their rules, rule amendments, and new products for trading and clearing, as well as the Commission's review and processing of such submissions.

And lastly, "Proposed Rule: Margin Requirements for Uncleared Swaps for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants." The commission approved the proposed rule to amend the margin requirements for uncleared swaps applicable to swap dealers (SDs) and major swap participants (MSPs) for which there is no prudential regulator.

A firm Sk3w has a press release this morning announcing "Sk3w Technologies, Inc. Raises $7M Series A to Help Financial Exchanges Establish and Maintain Fair, Transparent, and Auditable Access to Markets." That is not what is remarkable about this press release. How the first sentence begins is the remarkable part. The sentence begins, "The leading experts in financial exchange access..." Now, I have never heard of Sk3w before, so my BS alarm immediately went off for such an audacious statement, but then when you look at the firms and people that led the funding round - Tower Research Ventures, IMC, and Citadel Securities - and the previous investors, including Optiver, IMC, Jump Trading, Tower Research Ventures, XR Trading and Mr. Tom Joyce, you change your mind. These are some serious players in market access, so my BS meter went back to zero. I guess I need to get to know Sk3w.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler weighed in with his opinion of the nature of the markets and of some of the participants in the crypto markets in an appearance on "Bloomberg Markets." He said the crypto markets are rife with fraud and hucksters. I get the feeling Mr. Gensler was cheated at the local county fair too many times.

Crain's Chicago Business decided it needed to reflect on the lack of success Ken Griffin is having selling his portfolio of Gold Coast condos and what the message was that he was listing them for less than he bought them for. The condo sell off is not going well, Crain's reports.

The Wall Street Journal has a story titled "What Happens When You Stop at One Glass of Wine a Day?" It is an intriguing question, but the simple answer is no one knows. No one has ever stopped at just one glass.

If you missed my video interview with Thom Lant about his trip to Ukraine to deliver humanitarian aid to a charity at a train station in Kyiv and a truck to the front lines in the south and east of Ukraine, I definitely recommend it. It is the story of one of us, a professional from the financial markets ecosystem, raising money to buy humanitarian aid and the truck and then driving it to Ukraine himself so it was delivered into the hands of the people it was intended for. Thom is now a member of my list of industry heroes who have gone above and beyond. He saw a need and he found a way to meet it, far beyond his comfortable life in the U.K.

For the record, I did not have Barbie dolls when I was a kid. That was just a set up for the joke. I did have a G.I. Joe. I had the G.I. Joe astronaut with the space capsule. He even had a real fuzzy beard. And he is buried in the backyard of my childhood home.

Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL

*****

Our most read stories yesterday on JLN Options were:
- Keurig Dr Pepper Sees $1 Million in Bullish Call Options Ahead of Earnings
- Black-Scholes and the mysterious smile
- Thom Lant's Trip to Ukraine and Back With Humanitarian Aid is Just a Beginning ~JB

++++



Vermiculus' Chris Dorougidenis talks about mixing microservice tech with the cloud to make new CSD systems
JohnLothianNews.com

Chris Dorougidenis, project manager and partner with Vermiculus Financial Technology, was interviewed by JLN Correspondent Julie Ros at the recent FIA International Derivatives Week (IDX) in London.

Watch the video »

++++

FedNow, capital kanban and the art of discouraging bank runs; Too fast too usurious
Bryce Elder - Financial Times
Letting people at their money is risky for banks. That's the unsurprising conclusion of a note from Barclays, a bank, which looks the benefits and consequences of friction-free cash transfers. The hook is FedNow, the Federal Reserve's unified realtime payments system, which went live this month. Anyone who needs to know about the mechanics of deposit clearing and settlement probably does already, so we'll keep the explanation brief. All banks keep their own ledgers of depositor account balances. Every payment instruction needs to be checked against ledgers kept by the sender and receiver, as well as against the Fed's master-ledger of bank settlement balances.
/jlne.ws/3Y9tuOI

***** There is one way to stop bank runs. Go back to gold and make people have to carry all their gold with them all the time. For one, you would have to have deep and well reinforced pockets and two, you may not be able to move from all the weight. Maybe banks and fiat currency do have a good purpose. ~JJL

++++

Regulators announce 'Basel III endgame' rules for large US banks; New framework could require the biggest lenders to put aside billions of dollars collectively
Colby Smith and Stephen Gandel - Financial Times
US bank regulators have advanced plans to impose more arduous capital requirements on the country's large lenders, which could require the six biggest institutions to put aside additional tens of billions of dollars collectively for potential losses. Shares of JPMorgan Chase and other big banks initially rallied on Thursday following the news, but then pared their gains after some industry groups said the regulations would be more costly than regulators suggest. The one exception was Citigroup, which closed 0.8 per cent higher.
/jlne.ws/3KdnAGE

****** Regulators have also announced that Jennifer Lawrence will star in "Basel III Endgame."~JJL

++++

Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was This Female Billionaire Thinks the Secret to Women's Wealth Is Poker, from Time Magazine, about Jenny Just. Second was Big traders Virtu and Citadel Securities hit by market slowdown, from the Financial Times. Third was SEC Proposes New Requirements to Address Risks to Investors From Conflicts of Interest Associated With the Use of Predictive Data Analytics by Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers, an SEC press release.

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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.
 
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Lead Stories
New indices rapidly lose ability to outperform, study shows; Research demonstrates that backtesting is a poor indicator of future returns, Morningstar finds
Emma Boyde - Financial Times
Newly constructed indices often flatter to deceive and rapidly lose the bulk of the ability to outperform they demonstrated in backtesting, according to research from Morningstar. Based largely on backtested data, a typical new index outperformed its corresponding Morningstar category index by 1.4 percentage points a year during the five years before any fund started tracking it, the researchers found. But that excess total return declined to just 0.39 percentage points a year over the five years after the fund launched. Risk-adjusted performance followed a similar downward trend.
/jlne.ws/43KHnny

ESG put to the test in a high-inflation world; Prices have proved volatile as regulators probe claims of greenwashing
Alice Ross - Financial Times
After more than a decade on the investment scene, ESG is being put to the test as never before. The past 18 months have exposed the short-term risks of sustainable funds. Many missed out on the oil price surge in 2022, raising questions not only about their short-term performance but also their long-term strategy in a world that might need fossil fuels for longer than people had hoped.
/jlne.ws/3q52K5p

CBDCs Wrongfully Break Down the Separation Between Money and State
Richard Epstein, Max Raskin - CoinDesk
Central banks around the world are accelerating their experiments with issuing digital currency. Whether it's the New York Fed's announcement of a successful proof-of-concept, or the Bank of England's recent completion of the next phase of its digital pound experiment, over 130 countries around the world are toying with issuing central bank digital currency (CBDCs).
/jlne.ws/47bywhy

BNP Paribas to Settle SEC, CFTC Probes Over Use of Banned Messaging Apps; The French bank said it has reached proposed resolutions with the regulators
Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal
BNP Paribas said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are investigating it over its employees' use of messaging applications that broke record-keeping rules. The French bank and its broker-dealer division have reached proposed resolutions with the respective regulators to resolve the probes, BNP Paribas said in its second-quarter earnings report that became public Thursday. The proposed resolutions are subject to approval by the CFTC and SEC, the bank said.
/jlne.ws/3ObzXEe

Big banks will need to hold more capital to guard against risk under new Fed proposal
Ken Sweet - Associated Press
The nation's biggest and most complex banks will need to hold additional capital on their balance sheets under an initial proposal by the Federal Reserve and FDIC, designed to help banks better withstand risks to their businesses that go beyond a recession or financial crisis.
/jlne.ws/47bzHgY

An Exodus of Talent Is Imperiling Goldman's Overhaul; Wave of departures among senior executives could undermine David Solomon's asset-management strategy
AnnaMaria Andriotis - The Wall Street Journal
An exodus of executives from Goldman Sachs's asset-management division threatens to undermine a central pillar of CEO David Solomon's strategy for the Wall Street giant. Julian Salisbury, chief investment officer of asset and wealth management, and Takashi Murata, co-head of private investments in Asia-Pacific, are expected to depart, and others might follow, according to people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/3qchbEH

World Set for Hottest Month Ever as Climate Change Sears Planet; First 21 days of July were hottest 3 weeks ever: Copernicus; Extreme weather is the reality of climate change: WMO chief
Lars Mucklejohn, and Eamon Akil Farhat - Bloomberg
July is set to become the world's hottest month on record, as fossil fuel emissions drive climate change and the increasing intensity of heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere. The first 21 days of the month were the hottest three-week period on record, with July 6 seeing the highest ever global average temperature, according to the European Union's Earth observation agency Copernicus.
/jlne.ws/3Y9htc4

Deutsche Boerse 'cannot afford' to miss out on generative AI; SimCorp deal on schedule
Wei-Shen Wong - Waterstechnology
Big Tech players are betting big on and continuing to develop their large language model (LLM) capabilities, a subset of generative AI. In the capital markets, the initial reaction to the technology and its applicability to the industry was that it is in its "first generation" and requires fine-tuning and reassurance before it can be used in such a highly regulated environment.
/jlne.ws/3KhD1gY

Citi Finds Predecessor Firms Indirectly Profited From Slavery
Jenny Surane - Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. said an independent historical research firm found that predecessor companies of the Wall Street giant likely indirectly profited from the US slave trade. Entities that later became part of New York-based Citigroup likely performed financial transactions or formed business relationships with entities that owned enslaved people or relied on their labor, Citigroup said Thursday in a summary of the research.
/jlne.ws/3Khj5Ld

NatWest saga shows running a bank is more of a high-wire act than ever; The Farage row suggests political intervention will continue until banking governance becomes more muscular
Philip Augar - Financial Times
The financial crisis of 2008 turned banking into a highly political business, guaranteeing the sustained interest of governments and their arm's length bodies. Especially in the UK, where the now discredited light-touch regulation was once an article of faith, the authorities have stepped in whenever they suspect weak governance. This turns running a bank into a high-wire act where the rich rewards for senior executives are accompanied by the risk of very public humiliation.
/jlne.ws/3OaKDTG

NatWest chair to stay as lawyers appointed to probe Nigel Farage row; UK bank has been embroiled in a clash with former Ukip leader over closure of his Coutts account
Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan - Financial Times
NatWest chair Howard Davies has vowed to continue leading the bank, in spite of pressure from shareholders, after appointing a law firm to probe the closure of Nigel Farage's account. The bank has been under intense scrutiny following an inaccurate report that Farage's account at NatWest's Coutts brand was closed for purely commercial reasons. The widening scandal has led to the chief executives of NatWest and Coutts resigning over their handling of the affair.
/jlne.ws/43Ky3jt

Crypto Broker Hidden Road Collaborates With Confidential Exchange Enclave Markets
Ian Allison - CoinDesk
Hidden Road, a cryptocurrency brokerage and credit network for institutions, has entered into a partnership with Enclave Markets, a fully encrypted exchange that allows participants to confidentially trade blocks of digital assets. Front-running of trades is an acute problem in crypto, which features unique issues like maximal extracted value (MEV), where blockchain miners and verifiers can profit from pending transactions. Traders at competing firms may also avoid trading with one another to prevent potential information leakage, hence the need for an anonymous trading environment.
/jlne.ws/3ObztOq

US bank regulators announce sweeping proposals on capital rules
Reuters
U.S. regulators unveiled a sweeping overhaul Thursday that would direct banks to set aside billions more in capital to guard against risk. If fully implemented, the proposal would raise capital requirements for large banks by an aggregate 16% from current levels, with the brunt felt by the largest and most complex firms, regulators said. Here are key quotes about the proposal:
/jlne.ws/44ZscIR

Grayscale Argues SEC Should Approve All Bitcoin ETFs at the Same Time
Andre Beganski - Decrypt
Grayscale argued the Securities and Exchange Commission should approve all spot Bitcoin ETF applications simultaneously, pressing for the measure in several comment letters submitted on Thursday. "The SEC's actions related to bitcoin ETFs should be done in a fair and orderly manner," Grayscale's Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm said in a statement. "As a disclosure-based regulator, the SEC should not pick winners and losers."
/jlne.ws/3q94Vop

JPMorgan, Jeffrey Epstein and 'the favour': extent of ties detailed in new court filings; Bank battles US Virgin Islands lawsuit alleging it facilitated sex trafficking by late financier
Joshua Franklin and Joe Miller - Financial Times
In 2004, Jeffrey Epstein asked his private bankers at JPMorgan Chase for a favour. He wanted to open a bank account and arrange a credit card for a teenager who was said to have come to the US from Slovakia for "modelling work", according to documents filed this week in a New York federal court.
/jlne.ws/3OAOZox

Derivatives and FX trading revenue decline offsets otherwise solid Q2 for Euronext; Exchange reported a Q2 revenue and income of EUR368.1 million, down 1.8% year-on-year, driven by decreased revenues in derivatives and FX trading.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Euronext has reported a 'solid' second quarter driven by growth in non-volume-related business which was offset by declines in trading revenues. The exchange reported a Q2 revenue and income of EUR368.1 million, down slightly by 1.8% compared to Q2 2022.
/jlne.ws/44Ib4XN

The Startup Making It Easier for Young People to Put Money on Sports; PrizePicks says it offers fantasy-sports games, not gambling. Rivals disagree.
Katherine Sayre - The Wall Street Journal
Jackson Smith wanted to bet on sports as soon as he turned 18 and legally became an adult. A basketball fan, Smith was blocked from using DraftKings and FanDuel apps because sports betting isn't legal in his home state of Minnesota. Then he heard about PrizePicks, an app where players put money down on predictions of how individual athletes will perform in games, such as the number of points scored or strikeouts recorded.
/jlne.ws/3OfTljc

The NCAA's Interest in Gambling Is Growing. Its Penalties for Athletes Who Gamble Are Shrinking.
Jared Diamond - The Wall Street Journal
Virginia Tech linebacker Alan Tisdale says he never meant to violate the NCAA's policies on gambling. He used a smartphone app to bet around $400 on the NBA Finals last year, partaking in an activity that has become ubiquitous on college campuses. Tisdale quickly learned that the rules for athletes were severe and unyielding. Even though he self-reported his transgression, he received an initial suspension of nine games.
/jlne.ws/3q9HfQS

Record-Breaking Rains in Chicago Underscore the Urgency of Flood Resiliency Projects, City Officials Say; As the risk of flooding in Northeastern Illinois increases, with millions in federal funds available, investments in water management and nature-based solutions are seen as crucial to protect vulnerable communities.
Aydali Campa - Inside Climate News
This month, the greater Chicago area experienced a downpour that devastated homes on the West Side and in the town of Cicero by the city's Southwest Side, flooding basements with up to three feet of murky water and causing shutdowns of both trains and Interstates. More than 12,000 basement flooding cases were reported to the city from July 2 to July 18, surpassing the total number of basement flooding reports filed in all of 2021 and 2022 combined, according to an analysis of city flood reports by WBEZ; nearly nine inches of rain fell on July 2 alone.
/jlne.ws/451Qlhp

Fireside Friday with... Kepler Cheuvreux's Shiva Subramaniam; Head of credit emerging markets at Kepler Cheuvreux, Shiva Subramaniam, speaks to The TRADE about the attractiveness of emerging markets globally for traders, as well as a look at the lasting impact of geopolitical events on trading strategies.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Are global macro events making emerging markets more appealing to institutional investors?
Despite the ups and downs in the global economy, emerging markets debt has been performing quite well this year. Positive returns have been seen across all segments of this asset class, even with some turbulence in US Treasury yields. But the most interesting part - local debt in these emerging markets has been shining particularly bright. The reason being that the central banks of these emerging economies have been on their toes, quickly responding to inflationary risks. They took action early on, initiating a remarkable series of rate hikes in 2021 that continued until early 2023. This swift action helped them witness falling core inflation over the last five months, giving them a head start in managing this economic challenge compared to the developed world.
/jlne.ws/3rQvP51

Mark Johnson Seeks to Have Conviction Overturned
Colin Lambert - The FullFX
Former HSBC FX trading head Mark Johnson has petitioned the US Eastern District Court of New York to have his conviction for wire fraud set aside "to achieve justice". Johnson was found guilty of wire fraud by a jury in 2017 and lost a subsequent appeal and a submission to have his case heard by the US Supreme Court - he served a two-year sentence, including an extended period in a US jail.
/jlne.ws/3Ob77nh



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Ukraine Invasion
News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact
Ukraine Has Raised $225M in Crypto to Fight Russian Invasion, but Donations Have Stagnated Over the Last Year: Crystal
Anna Baydakova - CoinDesk
Since the beginning of Russia's full scale invasion last year, Ukraine racked up $225 million worth of donations in cryptocurrencies alone, blockchain intelligence firm Crystal Blockchain said in a new report shared exclusively with CoinDesk. This is just a small part of the billions of donations Ukraine has raised in fiat. But the crypto part contributed to purchases of weapons, ammunition, medical equipment and other crucial war supplies.
/jlne.ws/3OwjN9U

On southern front, Ukrainian forces aim to smash through Russian defenses
David L. Stern, Robyn Dixon and Adam Taylor - The Washington Post
Intense fighting raged along Ukraine's front lines Thursday, according to officials in Kyiv, as Ukrainian troops made slow but steady gains in their ongoing counteroffensive to drive a wedge through the Russian-occupied south. To the south of the eastern city of Bakhmut - which fell to Russia in May after months of vicious fighting - Ukraine's deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said Kyiv's forces were "gradually moving forward."
/jlne.ws/3Ou8rDb

Ukrainian counter-offensive breaks through Russian defences in major push
Joe Barnes - The Telegraph
Ukraine launched a "massive" Himars strike on a key Russian-held city in the south of the country as a major thrust in its counter-offensive showed the first signs of success. The long-range missile strike reportedly hit an ammunition dump in the Zaporizhzhia town of Tokmak, a vital logistics hub connecting occupied Crimea to Donbas. Earlier, Ukraine's 47th Mechanised brigade broke through Russian defences to reach the outskirts of Robotyne, a village 12 miles to the north-east. Vladimir Rogov, the head of the Moscow-installed administration in Zaporizhzhia region, said the "massive" Himars strike on Tokmak had hit near the railway station.
/jlne.ws/3qcAWvK

Ukraine Has Raised $225M in Crypto to Fight Russian Invasion, but Donations Have Stagnated Over the Last Year: Crystal
Anna Baydakova - CoinDesk
Since the beginning of Russia's full scale invasion last year, Ukraine racked up $225 million worth of donations in cryptocurrencies alone, blockchain intelligence firm Crystal Blockchain said in a new report shared exclusively with CoinDesk. This is just a small part of the billions of donations Ukraine has raised in fiat. But the crypto part contributed to purchases of weapons, ammunition, medical equipment and other crucial war supplies.
/jlne.ws/3OwjN9U

Great Power Rivalry Looms Over Ukraine Grain Deal; Russia's blockade of Ukraine grains threatens rift with China, Turkey
Jared Malsin and Alistair MacDonald - The Wall Street Journal
Russia's decision to pull out of a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported globally is a high-stakes gamble by President Vladimir Putin that risks diplomatic tensions with two of his country's most influential partners, China and Turkey.
/jlne.ws/456qZie

Europe Vowed to Make Russia Pay for the War. It's Not That Easy; Confiscating Russian state assets frozen by the United States and Europe could breach international law and set a dangerous precedent, experts say.
Monika Pronczuk and Eshe Nelson - The New York Times
/jlne.ws/3OcFx9h








Exchanges, OTC & Clearing
Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities
Emissions insights could cut EU-mandated carbon costs of shipping by 50%; LSEG and Siglar Carbon will enable customers to evaluate lower carbon options for shipping via LSEG's flagship product, Workspace
London Stock Exchange Group
Shipping to be included in EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) from January 2024; Increased costs for owners, charterers and traders that fail to factor in costs of carbon emissions. LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) and Siglar Carbon, a maritime emissions analytics company, have announced an agreement to enable customers to evaluate the different carbon options for cargo programmes via Workspace.
/jlne.ws/3OvWn4r

Euronext announces launch of a share repurchase programme of euro 200 million
Euronext
Euronext, the leading pan-European market infrastructure, today announced a share repurchase programme (the 'Programme') for a maximum amount of euro 200 million. This Programme is enabled by Euronext's strong cash generation capabilities and demonstrates Euronext's rigorous capital allocation strategy. The Programme will not impact the deleveraging path of Euronext, nor its rating.
/jlne.ws/44KccKi

ICE's Global Commodity and Energy Markets Reach Record Open Interest
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced record open interest (OI) across its global commodity and energy futures and options markets. On July 25, 2023, ICE hit record OI of 55.4 million contracts across commodities futures and options, up 14% year-over-year (y/y), with record OI of 50.9 million in energy futures and options, also up 14% y/y.
/jlne.ws/454Mwbo

As expected, Deutsche Boerse again extends the offer period for the public takeover of SimCorp
Deutsche Boerse
Deutsche Boerse AG has extended the offer period for its public offer for the shares of SimCorp A/S until September 19, 2023. The renewed extension was already expected and is based on the pending regulatory approval by the European Commission, which is right on schedule and is expected to be completed in September.
/jlne.ws/44Ll0Qd

ASX releases intra-group conflict management report by external expert
ASX
Today ASX released an expert report prepared by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) on ASX's arrangements to identify and manage conflicts between the commercial interests of ASX Group and the general licence obligations of ASX Clear and ASX Settlement. The report, which focused on the governance of current CHESS and CHESS replacement, made a positive assessment on the overall status of ASX's intra-group conflict management arrangements, and also provided recommendations for further enhancements.
/jlne.ws/46R1Cme

MIAX Options And MIAX Emerald Options - Change To Opening And Intra-Day Quote Width Requirements For Certain Symbols Effective July 28, 2023
MIAX
MIAX Options and MIAX Emerald Options have expanded the maximum valid bid/ask differentials for Market Makers for certain symbols traded on the Exchanges. The expanded bid/ask differentials for the symbols will be in effect beginning Friday, July 28, 2023.
/jlne.ws/3YdwCch

Nasdaq Halt Shows Need for Segregated Digital Asset Custody
Shanny Basar - MarketsMedia
Nasdaq has halted the launch of Nasdaq Digital Assets, which aimed to start with providing custody, which highlights that institutions want custodians in the space who are independent from exchanges according to market participants. Jack McDonald, chief executive of PolySign, which builds blockchain-enabled institutional grade infrastructure for digital assets, told Markets Media that his immediate reaction when Nasdaq announced the launch of a custody business was that this was the opposite of best practice.
/jlne.ws/3rI0u4h

Consolidated financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2023
(Based on IFRS), unaudited
JPX
/jlne.ws/43PYVPc

Overview of Earnings for Q1 FY2023
JPX
/jlne.ws/47cOqIz

End of Acquisition of Own Shares
JPX
(Acquisition of Own Shares based on Provisions of the Articles of Incorporation Pursuant to Article 459, Paragraph 1 of the Companies Act) Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX) previously announced its decision in the Board of Directors meeting held on January 30, 2023 on matters regarding acquisition of own shares pursuant to the provisions of its Articles of Incorporation and Article 459, Paragraph 1 of the Companies Act. JPX hereby announces the status of acquisition as follows.
/jlne.ws/456e9R0

Contracts Rules - Addition Of Zinc Jumbos And Other Administrative Amendments
London Metal Exchanges
Summary 1. This Notice advises Members and other interested parties of amendments to the LME's Special Contract Rules. The changes include: (i) adding jumbos as a deliverable shape for the Special High Grade Zinc Contract; and (ii) a number of minor administrative amendments including to the names of certain metal standards.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa

Publication Of The Newsletter From The Regulatory Division
TMX
The Regulatory Division (the "Division") is publishing its Newsletter for the period of January 1 to June 30, 2023. The Division publishes a semi-annual newsletter to provide general information on its regulatory activities. The Division also uses this opportunity to share best practices in regulatory compliance.
/jlne.ws/3Yfyz8i

Speech by Loh Boon Chye, CEO, SGX Group for Securities Market Opening to commemorate SID and SGX Group 25 years of Championing Good Governance
SGX
Mr Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance; Ms Wong Su-Yen, Chairperson, Singapore Institute of Directors; Ladies and Gentlemen: Good morning and welcome to Singapore Exchange. I'm very pleased to see in the audience today many familiar faces, and importantly, our key stakeholders and partners such as company directors and members of the corporate governance community.
/jlne.ws/47bBnag

TMX Group Limited Increases Dividend to $0.18 per Common Share
TMX Group
The Board of Directors of TMX Group Limited today declared a post stock split dividend of $0.18 on each common share outstanding, an increase of $0.006 or 3% from the previous $0.174. This dividend is payable on August 25, 2023 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 11, 2023.
/jlne.ws/43ITrWA

TMX Group Limited Reports Results for Second Quarter of 2023
TMX Group
TMX Group operates global markets, and builds digital communities and analytic solutions that facilitate the funding, growth and success of businesses, traders and investors. TMX Group's key operations include Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange, The Canadian Depository for Securities, Montréal Exchange, Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation, and Trayport which provide listing markets, trading markets, clearing facilities, depository services, technology solutions, data products and other services to the global financial community.
/jlne.ws/3OxdhPY




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Fintech
A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors
Meta Has a Rare Opportunity to Seize Momentum With Threads; Twitter's turmoil created a hunger for a new text-based app; As hype slows, new features will be key to keeping attention
Alex Barinka - Bloomberg
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms Inc. is incredibly good at making money from other peoples' ideas - see Instagram and Reels. There's every reason to think it can do the same with Threads, the Twitter-like app the social network launched earlier this month. But that's not what Zuckerberg needs from his latest product. Threads could help bring the center of internet culture back to Meta, once again making it a place where things happen first.
/jlne.ws/44WtcwY

AI researchers say they've found 'virtually unlimited' ways to bypass Bard and ChatGPT's safety rules; What is ChatGPT, and should we be afraid of AI chatbots?
Beatrice Nolan - Business Insider
Researchers say they have found potentially unlimited ways to break the safety guardrails on major AI-powered chatbots from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. Large language models like the ones powering ChatGPT, Bard, and Anthropic's Claude are extensively moderated by tech companies. The models are fitted with wide-ranging guardrails to ensure they can't be used for nefarious means, such as instructing users how to make a bomb or writing pages of hate speech.
/jlne.ws/3q7y97e

Why Elon Musk's Plan for a Super App Won't Be Easy in America
Alexa Corse, Meghan Bobrowsky and Peter Rudegeair - The Wall Street Journal
Elon Musk has waxed poetic about turning X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, into an "everything app," capable of handling massive financial operations for users, and this week, he set an ambitious deadline. "In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world," Musk tweeted Monday evening.
/jlne.ws/3Og4Y9Y

Elon Musk's Quixotic Quest to Turn X Into an 'Everything App'
Ryan Mac - The New York Times
Four years ago, a billionaire tech executive leading one of the world's pre-eminent social platforms laid out a vision to transform it into an app that could do it all. In an online manifesto, he wrote that the app would not only be central to written communications but have audio, video, payments, commerce and more.
/jlne.ws/3q4TQVx

Asset Tokenization in Europe Gets a Boost With Securitize's Landmark Tokenized Equity Issuance
Krisztian Sandor - CoinDesk
Asset tokenization firm Securitize has issued the first tokenized equities under the European Union's pilot regime for digital assets, the company announced on Thursday. The tokens issued via the smart contract network Avalanche (AVAX) represent equity in Spanish real estate investment trust Mancipi Partners, supervised under the test environment of Spain's securities regulator (CNMV). Trading with equity tokens on secondary markets will start in September, the firm said.
/jlne.ws/45184FG

CME-Google cloud partnership already yielding new data analytics
Max Bowie - Waterstechnology
/jlne.ws/3q1zooy

Sk3w Technologies, Inc. Raises $7M Series A to Help Financial Exchanges Establish and Maintain Fair, Transparent, and Auditable Access to Markets
Sk3w Technologies, Inc.
/jlne.ws/3qgvFTU



Vermiculus



Cybersecurity
Top stories for cybersecurity
Microsoft Faces Mounting Scrutiny Over China-Linked Email Hack; Leading lawmaker accuses tech company of security negligence that enabled spying campaign
Dustin Volz and Robert McMillan - The Wall Street Journal
Microsoft is attracting renewed scrutiny and accusations of negligent security over a hack that allowed China to spy on top Biden administration officials, as some security researchers say the breach may be worse than initially suspected. The Chinese hack, disclosed earlier this month, compromised the unclassified Microsoft email inboxes of senior State Department officials, including the U.S. ambassador to China, as well as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and others, according to U.S. officials.
/jlne.ws/3QcNJZV

SEC Adopts Cybersecurity Risk Management Strategy Governance Incident Disclosure Rules
McGuireWoods LLP - JDSupra
On March 9, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released proposed rules regarding public companies' reporting of (i) cybersecurity incidents, (ii) policies and procedures for identifying and managing cybersecurity risks and (iii) management and board roles in implementing cybersecurity policies and procedures. On July 26, 2023, the final rules were adopted.
/jlne.ws/3OzrCM4

New Cybersecurity Advisory Warns About Web Application Vulnerabilities
Press Release - NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) has partnered with U.S. and international cyber agencies to release the Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA), "Preventing Web Application Access Control Abuse," warning that vulnerabilities in web applications, including application programming interfaces (APIs), can allow malicious actors to manipulate and access sensitive data.
/jlne.ws/3OggOAW





Cryptocurrencies
Top stories for cryptocurrencies
Proposed law would rein in cryptocurrency world
Samuel French - The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Cryptocurrency calamities and crashes are spurring the efforts of two U.S. senators to try to rein in the cryptocurrency world. Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who first introduced legislation in 2022 on cryptocurrency trading and regulation, have reintroduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act. According to an announcement from the two lawmakers, the legislation is intended to do an assortment of things on behalf of everyone and everything, from cryptocurrency investors to national security to the planet's climate.
/jlne.ws/44KvM9w

Disgraced U.S. Congressman George Santos Involved Crypto in Nigerian Prince-Like Scheme: NYT
Brandy Betz - CoinDesk
George Santos, a first-term member of the House of Representatives, is under indictment for thirteen felonies, including allegedly embezzling contributions from supporters, fraudulently collecting unemployment checks and lying in disclosures to the House. But one of his more bizarre schemes, which involved cryptocurrency, seemed to be inspired by the classic Nigerian prince email scheme, according to a New York Times report.
/jlne.ws/3O9mGvT

Worldcoin Foundation swims against the crypto tide; Plus, an update on Sam Bankman-Fried's evolving charge sheet
Scott Chipolina - Financial Times
You might recall that last month I attended the Financial Times' annual "Next Web" conference in Amsterdam. For an event sitting at the intersection between technology and finance, it was surprising to see fintech enthusiasts renege on crypto. As I reported at the time, most attendees told me digital assets have had their time in the sun, and after being stung by a never-ending series of scandals, heads would inevitably turn away and embrace Silicon Valley's shiny new toy: artificial intelligence.
/jlne.ws/3Ya7Fyk

BlackRock Vows To Democratize Crypto Opportunities
Aditi Ganguly - Benzinga
BlackRock Inc. Co-Founder and CEO Larry Fink wants to "democratize" Bitcoin through a spot trading Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) Fink filed an application for the spot Bitcoin ETF on June 15 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The application was rejected due to concerns regarding market manipulation.
/jlne.ws/451OJ7e

The rise and fall of FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried, the onetime crypto billionaire prosecutors now want jailed after they say he interfered with witnesses in his criminal case
Lakshmi Varanasi, Sarah Jackson, Britney Nguyen, and Sindhu Sundar - Insider
Just months ago, Sam Bankman-Fried was a 30-year-old with a mop of brown hair and enough clout to go by his initials, SBF. He had a cryptocurrency exchange called FTX, a trading firm called Alameda Research, and $15.6 billion to his name, according to estimates from Bloomberg. He had catapulted into one of the biggest names in crypto in a matter of four years and was setting his sights on mainstream finance.
/jlne.ws/43JjqwX

Canada Unveils New Bank Capital Rules for Crypto Holdings
Jack Schickler - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3qgi6nv

He Got Arrested in Russia for a Bitcoin Bribe. Now the Coins Are Moving to Exchanges
Anna Baydakova - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/47106hw

Crypto's Asia Pivot Spurs Market Maker Wintermute to Boost Singapore Base; Wintermute co-founder and some staff to move to city-state; Company conducts its derivatives business from Singapore
Takashi Nakamichi, and Suvashree Ghosh - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3q95RZX

NFTs Suffer Another Blow as New Marketplace Enthusiasm Cools; Sales volume of CryptoPunks is down 50% in the last 30 days; BLUR token is down around 21% in past month amid crypto rally
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3KFCHJd




FTSE



Politics
An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets
What makes empires rise and fall?; From Ancient Rome to China's Huawei, two new titles look to history as a guide for the geopolitical shape of things to come
Linda Colley - Financial Times
The story about the African Union HQ in Addis Ababa broke in 2018. Huawei-supplied IT equipment in this new, glitzy Chinese-funded building was regularly - so it was claimed by anonymous sources in Le Monde - siphoning off confidential data to send to Shanghai. Widely reported in the west and India, furiously denied by China, this unresolved scandal suggests issues and questions that are much broader.
/jlne.ws/3DvTTgf

White House Derailed Negotiation on U.S. House Stablecoin Bill: McHenry
Jack Schickler, Jesse Hamilton - CoinDesk
House lawmakers have failed to reach a bipartisan deal on stablecoins legislation, with Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) blaming White House intransigence for the stalemate while the panel's top Democrat said it was McHenry who shut down the talks. The news comes a day after the finance-focused lawmakers advanced three bills on crypto issues to a vote in the full House of Representatives, the first time they advanced laws fully dedicated to the topic.
/jlne.ws/3Oe9A0d

New Trump Indictment Says He Ordered Mar-a-Lago Camera Footage Deleted
Sadie Gurman and Jan Wolfe - The Wall Street Journal
Donald Trump and his aides sought to have surveillance footage from his Mar-a-Lago club deleted so it couldn't be turned over to a grand jury, special counsel Jack Smith alleged Thursday in new charges related to the former president's retention of classified documents after he left the White House. The new indictment also charges Carlos de Oliveira, a maintenance worker at Trump's South Florida resort, making him the third defendant in the case.
/jlne.ws/3rRBVCk

Trump accused of asking staffer to delete camera footage in Florida classified documents case
Eric Tucker and Zeke Miller - The Associated Press
Former President Donald Trump faced new charges Thursday in a case accusing him of illegally possessing classified documents, with prosecutors alleging that he asked a staffer to delete camera footage at his Florida estate in an effort to obstruct a federal investigation into the records. The new indictment includes extra charges of obstruction and willful retention of national defense information, adding fresh detail to a criminal case issued last month against Trump and a close aide.
/jlne.ws/3q0pNON

As McConnell Tries to Convey Business as Usual, His Future Is in Doubt
Annie Karni and Carl Hulse - The New York Times
It has been decades since there was any real uncertainty at the top of the Republican Party in the Senate. But Senator Mitch McConnell's alarming freeze-up at a news conference on Wednesday at the Capitol, as well as new disclosures about other recent falls, have shaken his colleagues and intensified quiet discussion about how long he can stay in his position as minority leader, and whether change is coming at the top.
/jlne.ws/3OaWhOf

U.K. Move to Digitize Trade Documents Could Rely on Blockchain, Government Says
Camomile Shumba - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3OIrREJ

Brussels plans 'foreign influence' clampdown on lobbying groups; Draft proposals would require NGOs and lawyers to disclose big contracts with non-EU states
Andy Bounds and Laura Dubois - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3q5lAcB

Putin just made the global food crisis even worse
Niamh Cavanagh - Yahoo! News
/jlne.ws/3rJhtTX

China's Push to Expand BRICS Membership Falters
Sudhi Ranjan Sen, S'thembile Cele and Simone Iglesias - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/44IgnWZ



Regulation & Enforcement
Stories about regulation and the law.
Stricter rules for US banks; European Central Bank raises interest rates back to record high
FT Podcast
The European Central Bank has raised interest rates back to their record high, and US bank regulators have advanced plans to impose more arduous capital requirements on the country's large lenders. Plus, the FT's Elaine Moore says the Twitter/X rebrand doesn't make sense, but that's kind of the whole point.
/jlne.ws/3DzaCze

The billionaire charged with insider trading; Joe Lewis, 86, must answer charges in New York for insider trading
FT Podcast
Joe Lewis, 86, is a billionaire. He made his money trading currency, among other things. And he likes to keep a low profile. That could change with his appearance in court this week in New York, responding to insider trading charges. His bail is set at $300mn. Legal correspondent Joe Miller joins Ethan Wu to discuss how not to break the law. Also, we go long medical innovations and short the UK's most respectable bank.
/jlne.ws/3OxZc4Z

Binance Accuses CFTC of Overreach in Motion to Dismiss Complaint
Mattis Meichler - Decrypt
Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, and its CEO, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, have officially requested the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The motion, submitted on July 27, accuses the CFTC of overstepping its regulatory boundaries and engaging in regulatory overreach.
/jlne.ws/3YaqhhU

Cyber breaches cost investors money. How SEC's new rules for companies could benefit all.
Amritpal Kaur Sandhu-Longoria - USA Today
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced new rules yesterday requiring public companies to disclose cybersecurity incidents as soon as four business days. SEC Chair Gary Gensler said the disclosure "may be material to investors" and could benefit them, the companies and markets connecting them. "Currently, many public companies provide cybersecurity disclosure to investors.
/jlne.ws/3KiQYvb

CFTC Approves Final DCO Reporting and Information Requirement and Three Proposals at the Commission Open Meeting
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
The Commission unanimously approved a final rule amending certain reporting and information regulations applicable to derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs). These amendments, among other things, update information requirements associated with commingling customer funds and positions in futures and swaps in the same account, revise certain daily and event-specific reporting requirements in § 39.19(c), and codify in an appendix the fields that a DCO is required to provide on a daily basis under § 39.19(c)(1).
/jlne.ws/44K2ZBK

Statement of Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson in Support of Reporting and Information Requirements for Derivatives Clearing Organizations
CFTC
Today, the Commission considers several amendments to the Part 39 regulations and a delegation provision in Part 140. In January 2020, the Commission amended many of the provisions in Part 39 in order to enhance certain risk management and reporting obligations, clarify the meaning of certain provisions, and streamline registration and reporting.[1] Last November, the Commission considered a proposed rulemaking seeking to update certain Part 39 regulations to reflect developments in risk management. I support the Commission's consideration of these amendments designed to improve derivatives clearing organization (DCO) risk management practices and clarify reporting requirements set out in Part 39.
/jlne.ws/44KN99Z

SEC Charges Florida Resident with Operating $35 Million Ponzi Scheme that Targeted Church Members
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Brent Seaman of Naples, Florida, and various entities he managed for fraudulently raising approximately $35 million from at least 60 investors through an unregistered securities offering. Many of these investors were elderly, retired, and connected to a Naples church where Seaman was an active member.
/jlne.ws/47aYBgG

The Potential Pitfalls of Purported Crypto "Assurance" Work
Paul Munter - SEC
Following the recent waves of scandal and insolvency in the crypto industry, there has been a renewed focus on the firms, including accounting firms, that have been retained by companies in the crypto-asset space-in particular, crypto asset trading platforms. Certain crypto asset trading platforms, with others in the crypto industry, have marketed to investors their retention of third parties, sometimes accounting firms, to perform some sort of review of certain parts of their business, often presented as a purported "audit." As accounting firms increasingly engage in this sort of non-audit work, their clients' marketing and terminology risks misleadingly suggesting that these alternative, non-audit arrangements are at parity with, or even more "precise" than, a financial statement audit. Such suggestions are false. Non-audit arrangements are neither as rigorous nor as comprehensive as a financial statement audit, and may not provide any reasonable assurance to investors.
/jlne.ws/458RTX3

FINRA Correspondence With Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, April-June 2023
FINRA.org
In the interest of transparency and clarity, FINRA is posting the correspondence between FINRA and Next Bridge Hydrocarbons referenced in their July 26, 2023, press release.
/jlne.ws/3YiEVDS

Presentation by the FMA: Scenario analysis in the CRD regime
Financial Markets Authority
Under the new climate-related disclosures regime, all climate-reporting entities are required to carry out and report on scenario analysis as part of disclosure.
Our CRD experts discuss the key concepts of scenario analysis and outline FMA's compliance expectations.
/jlne.ws/3O9p4Tn








Investing & Trading
Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities)
St James's Place shares drop heavily on planned fee reduction
Sally Hickey - Financial Times
St James's Place is to lower fees on a broad range of investment products, denting its forecast profits and prompting the steepest decline in the FTSE 100 company's share price in seven years. The UK's largest wealth manager said alongside interim results on Thursday that changes to its fee structure - driven by regulatory changes - would reduce its net income by £12mn in the second half of the year.
/jlne.ws/3Dw24cn

Saudis Make First Big Global Mining Bet With Vale Metals Stake; PIF-Maaden venture wins race for 10% of base metals unit; Investment firm Engine No. 1 will buy an additional 3% stake
Mariana Durao, and James Attwood - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia has made the first big deal in a push to deploy its vast wealth into the global mining industry, agreeing to buy a stake in Vale SA's base metals unit. Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle, Public Investment Fund, and Saudi Arabian Mining Co., known as Maaden, will purchase a 10% stake in a company created to house Vale's base metal assets, Vale saidThursday.
/jlne.ws/3OctKI3

Bearish traders swarm AMC options as stock conversion plan faces doubts
Saqib Iqbal Ahmed - Reuters
Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc have been hit by a wave of bearish options bets amid uncertainty over the company's stock conversion plan. The one-month moving average of open puts versus call options on AMC hit 1.7-to-1 on Thursday, the most bearish the measure has been in at least four years, Trade Alert data showed. Puts convey the right to sell shares at a fixed price in the future while calls offer the right to buy shares.
/jlne.ws/3YrEes1

Fixed income: gilty pleasures shine as bonds return for investors; Yields have risen, but a high-interest term savings account might be an easier option
Financial Times
Bonds are back in vogue. Interest rate rises mean these securities offer the best returns in a decade. This week's Lex Populi will shed light on why and how new investors can take advantage of this important asset class. Bonds come in all shapes and sizes. But most of them are easily tradeable promises to pay the holder interest or "coupons" for a fixed period after which the borrowed sum - "the principal" - will be repaid.
/jlne.ws/3OdA0iN

The Boring Route to Exciting Stock Returns is Set for a Comeback; The investing factor behind Warren Buffett's success is due for a strong run-or is it?
Spencer Jakab - The Wall Street Journal
Which sounds more enticing, a retirement portfolio known for shooting the lights out during good times or one that does pretty well when bad news hits?
/jlne.ws/3Y9bqnP

$2 Billion Default Followed Warnings to Everyone but Investors; Beneficient executives and board directors headed for the exits over signs of trouble-long before a financial blowup that is now under investigation by the SEC and which could leave nearly 28,000 investors empty-handed
Alexander Gladstone - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/476z6xc




Qontigo




Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance
Stories about environmental, social and governance investing
'Era of global boiling has arrived,' says UN chief as July set to be hottest month on record
Ajit Niranjan - The Guardian
The era of global warming has ended and "the era of global boiling has arrived", the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said after scientists confirmed July was on track to be the world's hottest month on record. "Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning," Guterres said.
/jlne.ws/3QcO92t

Sustainable Switch
Sharon Kimathi - Reuters Digital
Europe is struggling with wildfires and storms this week which have devastated lands and killed people across Italy, Greece and Spain. Large areas of the Mediterranean have been sweltering under an intense summer heat wave causing deadly blazes across the region.
/jlne.ws/3Y8vA1j

Banks and oil firms among those to get extra guidance on sharing net zero plans; The Government has committed to introducing new rules requiring large UK businesses to publicly share their net zero progress.
Rebecca Speare-Cole - Independent
Banking and fossil fuels are among seven sectors which will be given extra guidance on sharing their net zero plans. The Government has committed to introducing new rules requiring large UK businesses to publicly share their net-zero progress.
/jlne.ws/3Owl6FO

The war on ESG isn't moving shareholders
Jordan Wolman - Politico
For all the sound and fury against environmental, social and governance investing, efforts to sway companies away from it aren't making much headway with investors. Fifty-two anti-ESG shareholder resolutions were filed this year, generating a meager 2.4 percent support on average, according to data from Proxy Preview, a collaboration among As You Sow, the Sustainable Investments Institute and Proxy Impact.
/jlne.ws/3QihZTg

'Climate-altered' Pacific could see conflict between tuna fishing and deep-sea mining
Carbon Brief
Climate change may push tuna into a potential hotspot of deep-sea mining interest in the eastern Pacific, new research finds. Countries and companies could soon begin extracting rare metals used in a range of consumer electronics from the seabed floor on an industrial scale - something that has not previously been allowed under international law. A new paper, published in npj Ocean Sustainability, analyses the future potential overlap between key fisheries and deep-sea mining in a region of the Pacific Ocean that has been at the centre of the deep-sea mining debate.
/jlne.ws/3DyN7pL

EV Sales Continue to Soar, But a Surge in Production Could Lead to a Glut for Some Models; Waiting lists may be a thing of the past for many EV models as automakers try to balance supply and demand. One positive outcome: lower sticker prices.
Dan Gearino - Inside Climate News
/jlne.ws/3q5lmlL

Developer of blocked Keystone XL pipeline to spin off oil business; TC Energy to retain North American natural gas infrastructure to meet demand for 'lower-carbon energy'
Myles McCormick - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3Yaqe5A

Lighter, sweeter, cruder, stronger; Oil refiners' work is never over
Alexandra Scaggs - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3q8mlS9

Column: Can Spain & Portugal solve Europe's industrial power cost crisis?
Gavin Maguire - Reuters (commentary)
/jlne.ws/3YdQ5ts

2023 ESG State Legislation Wrap Up
JD Supra
/jlne.ws/3YduEsh

CalPERS CEO on ESG: Our position 'really has not changed' despite political pushback
Akiko Fujita - Yahoo!Finance
/jlne.ws/3QhMdWm








Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds
The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures
Regulators announce 'Basel III endgame' rules for large US banks
Colby Smith and Stephen Gandel - Financial Times
US bank regulators have advanced plans to impose more arduous capital requirements on the country's large lenders, which could require the six biggest institutions to put aside additional tens of billions of dollars collectively for potential losses. Shares of JPMorgan Chase and other big banks initially rallied on Thursday following the news, but then pared their gains after some industry groups said the regulations would be more costly than regulators suggest. The one exception was Citigroup, which closed 0.8 per cent higher.
/jlne.ws/47bOxEg

Three of the UK's largest lenders cut mortgage rates; Changes reflect better than expected June inflation figures and growing competition as demand for home loans falls
Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan - Financial Times
Three of the UK's largest lenders and several smaller players announced cuts to mortgage rates on Thursday after last week's official data showed a better than expected drop in June inflation. The moves by Nationwide, Barclays and TSB followed on from a decision by HSBC, which on Wednesday became the first big home loan provider to cut the cost of about 100 of its products in the wake of the inflation data.
/jlne.ws/3DzUHAK

Some Banks Are Underreporting Uninsured Deposits, FDIC Says
MAck Wilowski - Investopedia
In the wake of this year's banking crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is pressing banks to fix the way they report uninsured deposits, or those that exceed the agency's $250,000 insurance limit. In a statement, the FDIC said that certain banks "are not reporting uninsured deposits in accordance with the Instructions to the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income."
/jlne.ws/43FoQsQ

Citi Finds Predecessor Firms Indirectly Profited From Slavery
Jenny Surane - Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. said an independent historical research firm found that predecessor companies of the Wall Street giant likely indirectly profited from the US slave trade. Entities that later became part of New York-based Citigroup likely performed financial transactions or formed business relationships with entities that owned enslaved people or relied on their labor, Citigroup said Thursday in a summary of the research.
/jlne.ws/3Khj5Ld

Bank Capital Rules Could Hit Wealth Managers Such as Morgan Stanley; Regulators propose raising overall capital requirements for the largest banks
Andrew Ackermam - The Wall Street Journal
U.S. regulators plan to make large banks bolster their financial footing, moves that could have an outsize effect on companies such as American Express and Morgan Stanley that rely on types of fee income targeted by the new rules. Banking regulators on Thursday proposed new rules that could raise overall capital requirements by roughly 20% at the largest banks, officials said.
/jlne.ws/3rRC1tG

Sequoia Capital Slashes Crypto Fund as It Downsizes Amid Startup Crunch; Brand has come under scrutiny following a series of controversial decisions
Berber Jin - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3qcrjNC

Meta Has a Rare Opportunity to Seize Momentum With Threads; Twitter's turmoil created a hunger for a new text-based app; As hype slows, new features will be key to keeping attention
Alex Barinka - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/44WtcwY

Wells Fargo's Gun Policies Probed by Texas in Risk to Muni Work
Amanda Albright, and Danielle Moran - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3Y9fJ2z

The Massive Shift Underway in the US Banking System
Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3rQ1pzW

Nigel Farage Triumphs in Battle With Bankers; NatWest CEO Alison Rose steps down after a fight with the politician-turned-pundit. Are more exits coming?
Sommer Saadi - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/47bUIIK

Goldman, Morgan Stanley Try to Curb Derivatives Losses in Brazil; Wall Street banks provided swaps to companies now struggling; Banks are both creditors of firms including Unigel, Atento
Cristiane Lucchesi - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/43LOZWM

Bill Hwang Seeks Evidence From Banks 'Pivotal' in Archegos Collapse
Bob Van Voris - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/43Tlwus

Banks Are Halting Stock Buybacks Again as New Capital Rules Loom; Stock buybacks plunged for financial companies last year. Executives say they are pausing again.
David Benoit - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3rSmiKA




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Work & Management
Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends.
Top resume tips to stand out in automated screenings and with recruiters
Danielle Abril - The Washington Post
Ever feel like your résumé is disappearing into the abyss after applying for a job? Maybe you applied to several positions and are not hearing back. You're not alone. A rising number of applications spurred by new easy-to-apply online systems is making it hard for some employers to thoroughly review every candidate and send rejection letters.
/jlne.ws/3YejgMM

What Leaders Really Do
John P. Kotter - Harvard Business Review
"What Leaders Really Do," first published in 1990, deepens and extends the insights of the 1977 article. Introducing one of those brand-new ideas that seems obvious once it's expressed, retired Harvard Business School professor John Kotter proposes that management and leadership are different but complementary, and that in a changing world, one cannot function without the other.
/jlne.ws/44WsjEE








Wellness Exchange
An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information
How Fake Science Sells Wellness; Dubious claims in product marketing are everywhere. Don't fall for them.
Rina Raphael - The New York Times
You can't browse a grocery store or pharmacy without being subject to flashy labels that promote health benefits. In the beverage aisle, for example, you might find "prebiotic" sodas that supposedly support "gut health." In the beauty department, you'll see "medical-grade" serums, "probiotic" facial creams and "skin detoxing" treatments. Go to the supplements section for promises of "immunity support," "hormone balance" and "energy enhancement," among other things. Marketers have been using scientific-sounding buzzwords to sell products for centuries. But it's becoming more common, said Timothy Caulfield, a research chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta. Mr. Caulfield coined the term "scienceploitation" to describe how brands borrow language from emerging areas of science to market unproven products.
/jlne.ws/3Oxuby0

An Unwelcome Visitor Returns This Summer. Hint: It's Covid; Hearing about a smattering of Covid cases again? There's a reason
Sumathi Reddy - The Wall Street Journal
Summer is bringing us hot days, vacations-and a Covid bump. If you are surprised to learn that your neighbor, co-worker or kid's best friend just tested positive for Covid-19, don't be. Measures of Covid rates including virus levels in wastewater, ER visits, test positivity and hospital admissions are increasing nationally, according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The good news is that we are starting from very low rates.
/jlne.ws/3OcF7jd








Regions
Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions
Scorching July on pace to be hottest month on record as climate change continues to worsen
Ben Adler - Yahoo! News
Scientists from the United Nations and the European Union announced Thursday that the first three weeks of July were the three hottest weeks on record and that the month was almost certain to be the warmest in recorded history. "Unless an ice age were to appear all of sudden out of nothing, it is basically virtually certain we will break the record for the warmest July on record and the warmest month on record," Carlo Buentempo, director of the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, which partnered with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), told the Associated Press.
/jlne.ws/3rJhes1

US Hedge Funds Unload $700 Million of China ADRs, Morgan Stanley Says
Jacob Gu - Bloomberg
US-based hedge funds are selling into the rally in Chinese stocks, according to Morgan Stanley. The fast-money managers have unloaded roughly $700 million in New York-listed shares of Chinese companies this month, strategists led by Gilbert Wong wrote in a Thursday report, citing the bank's analysis. PDD Holdings Inc., Yum China Holdings Inc. and Vipshop Holdings Ltd. have been among the names sold down the most by long-only managers, the strategists said.
/jlne.ws/3Qazuoq

China Watchdog Asks Brokers for Advice on Boosting Stocks
Bloomberg News
China's markets regulator has consulted securities firms for possible measures to boost stocks amid growing signs Beijing is seeking to restore investor confidence, people familiar with the matter said.
/jlne.ws/47a4Ilr

Egypt announces planned power cuts, measures amid heatwave
Agence France-Presse
Egypt's prime minister announced a number of measures Thursday, including planned power cuts, to cut down on energy consumption as the country and wider region endure a brutal heatwave. Civil servants will work from home one day a week in an attempt to ease the load on local electricity networks, Mostafa Madbouli said in televised remarks, as temperatures surpassing 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) were recorded in parts of the country this week.
/jlne.ws/3KhGEDn

Stakeholders task Nigeria, firms on environmental governance
Environews Nigeria
Some stakeholders on Thursday, July 27, 2023, said that Nigeria and corporates should reshape thoughts and actions and align future investment practices with the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations. The workshop was organised in Lagos by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in collaboration with Financial Centre for Sustainabilities, Lagos. The stakeholders said that the global community had adopted ESG, urging that Nigeria should not be left behind.
/jlne.ws/3Y8uZwB

NYC Sweats Through Hottest Temperature of the Year With Half US Facing Excessive Heat; Half the US swelters under heat advisories and warnings; ConEd expects power demand to hit a 2023 high Thursday
Brian K Sullivan - Bloomberg
New York City and the Northeast are in for their hottest day of the year as oppressive temperatures descend on the eastern and central US, affecting about half the country's population. Thursday's high in New York, where an excessive heat warning is in effect, will reach into the mid- to upper 90s and humidity temperatures will feel closer to 106F (41C), the National Weather Service said.
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Extreme heat is covering more U.S. territory than it has all summer; Over 170 million people are under heat alerts from California to Maine
Ian Livingston - The Washington Post
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New York, LA, Chicago and Houston, the Nation's Four Largest Cities, Are Among Those Hardest Hit by Heat Islands
Aydali Campa - Inside Climate News
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Steve Wynn Agrees to Stay Out of Nevada's Gambling Industry in New Settlement
Katherine Sayre - The Wall Street Journal
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