| December 14, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
If the pictures are correct, Sam Bankman-Fried was not in his normal uniform of baggy cargo pants, t-shirt and running shoes when he was arrested in Panama. Instead, he was dressed in a white shirt and navy blazer, according to the picture from The Wall Street Journal.
SBF was denied bail, so he is going to be sitting in a sweaty detention center until his extradition plight to the U.S. is resolved. Reportedly, his mother laughed in the courtroom when he was described as a "fugitive." The crimes SBF is accused of started at the very beginning, not at the end as SBF has tried to imply.
Also, echoing a scene from the television show "Breaking Bad," it emerged that multi-billion firm FTX was using Quickbooks for its accounting software. Note to self: when JJLCO becomes a multi-billion dollar firm, upgrade the accounting software provider.
The New York Times has an article saying it is time to wear a mask again, noting the "tripledemic" of flu, RSV and COVID. The head of the CDC says you don't need to wait for the CDC to recommend wearing a mask. Currently, mask wearing is based on a county by county recommendation in the U.S. There have already been 7300 flu deaths this flu season, which have been between 12,000 and 52,000 in recent years. The flu season normally peaks in January and February.
New Zealand has banned cigarette sales to anyone born after 2008 in an effort to eliminate most smoking by 2025, The New York Times reported.
Wendy Chan is starting a new position as director, North America at The Realization Group. Chan was previously global head of marketing for Vela.
Yesterday I interviewed GH Financials founder Gedon Hertshten for the Open Outcry Traders History Project and JLN intern Alex Teng came along to help me. As I was telling Alex who Gedon was on our way to the interview, it emerged that Alex's father used to work for Gedon's brother-in-law, Ray Cahnman, as a floor runner and trader. Small world.
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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MCSI has released ESG and Climate Trends to Watch for 2023. The report examines how trends could play out in climate change risk, biodiversity loss, social inequalities and regulation as we enter 2023 with conditions that include a war in Europe, inflation, roiled energy markets, political uncertainty and a stream of climate-induced disasters. How could these events and the ongoing debate about ESG shape the investment environment for companies? You can download the full report here. You can also register for a free webinar on the report given by MCSI Experts on Jan. 26, 2023 here. ~SAED
Today, Wednesday, Dec. 14, is Finance Day at the 15th Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal (COP15). Follow hashtags #FinanceDayCOP15 #COP15 on social media to track business events and news.~SAED
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MWE SHORT: Boris Ilyevsky - Growing Up with Options
JohnLothianNews.com
When Boris Ilyevsky joined the fledgling International Securities Exchange back in 1999, he had no idea what it would entail. He quickly learned that starting out at a startup meant wearing a number of hats - customer service, business development, technology and more. Sixteen years later, he is still with ISE, and in many ways the exchange still embraces the startup mentality. In this MarketsWiki Education talk, he takes us through the ins and outs of a startup and the Golden Rule of customer service. He also reminds us that, unless one is working at Pizza Hut, one should never answer the customer service line with the greeting "Pizza Hut."
Watch the video »
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Citadel founder Ken Griffin sues US tax agency over leak of records; 'IRS employees deliberately stole' returns, hedge fund tycoon alleges in complaint
Ortenca Aliaj and Madison Darbyshire - Financial Times
Billionaire investor Kenneth Griffin has sued the Internal Revenue Service and US Treasury department over the leak of his tax records to non-profit media group ProPublica last year. In a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida, the hedge fund tycoon alleges IRS employees were able to "misappropriate" confidential tax information and leak it to ProPublica because of a lack of safeguards at the government agency. He is seeking $1,000 in damages for each unauthorised tax return disclosure, the maximum allowed.
/jlne.ws/3WypOUP
****** Ken likes transparency, but not this much transparency towards him. Understandable.~JJL
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How to Do Fraud at a Futures Exchange; Futures, risk, fraud, securities fraud and Wirefraud.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
Here is how you run a futures exchange: You offer some bets on some propositions, say, whether Bitcoin will go up or down. Some people come and take the long side of the bet (betting that Bitcoin will go up) and others take the short side (betting that it will go down). In a sense, they are betting against each other, but they never meet and are not betting against each other directly. Instead, you - the exchange - are on the other side of all of their bets. You pay out the winners and collect from the losers. They all take your credit, not each other's. The point of the exchange is to be a trustworthy central counterparty for all the bets.
/jlne.ws/3YjK91z
****** Matt, you have a wonderful mind. You should have gone into crime.~JJL
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Twelve Days of Hacking: Cyber crooks geared up for holidays
Michael D. Moore - Fort Worth Business Press
Pre-holiday warning: Hackers want more than your data - they crave your cash! People who have worked hard for years to become successful - you or people you know - will have their lives ruined by cybercriminals this holiday season. Life savings and businesses' capital will be stolen online, turning twelve drummers drumming and eleven pipers piping into twelve hackers hacking and eleven thieves a-thieving. It's the season of sharing but thieves want to take that "sharing" way too far. There are cyberterrorists that hope you are so excited about taking time off for Christmas that you'll let your guard down.
/jlne.ws/3uMVRUP
****** Don't let your guard down at Christmas and don't accept just any ole cryptocurrency in your wallet.~JJL
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Mattress Company Serta Simmons Prepares to File for Bankruptcy Protection; Mattress company has been in confidential talks with creditors; Bedding demand seen declining as consumers cut spending
Rachel Butt - Bloomberg
Serta Simmons Bedding is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as January, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The closely held mattress manufacturer has been in confidential talks with its creditors over a restructuring plan, which may involve giving control to certain first-lien lenders, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.
/jlne.ws/3HwoVYx
****** Management is likely sleeping on this before making the reveal. Or maybe they are losing sleep over this and can't make a decision. Either way, it's good to not be in bed with them. Looks like they've made their bed and soon they'll have to sleep in it. I am sure they can spring back to profitability. ~JLN Staff
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Tuesday's Top Three
Our top story on Tuesday was the Exclusive Transcript: The Full Testimony Bankman-Fried Planned To Give To Congress, from Forbes. Second was FTX founder charged in scheme to defraud crypto investors, from Yahoo!News. Third was a tie between SBF charged with "orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud" and FTX collapse shakes up Chicago crypto market, where its US trading platform was going to be the next big thing, from the Chicago Tribune.
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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 | Sam Bankman-Fried charged in one of 'biggest financial frauds' in US history; Indictment brings eight criminal counts against crypto entrepreneur arrested in the Bahamas
Stefania Palma, Joshua Chaffin and Joshua Oliver and Kadhim Shubber - Financial Times
Sam Bankman-Fried has been accused of engineering "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history" as US prosecutors filed criminal charges against the founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. In an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, the US Department of Justice charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts including conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers and lenders, money laundering and violations of campaign finance laws. Bankman-Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday, faces years in prison if convicted.
/jlne.ws/3uLIkNr
Traders warn LME nickel benchmark disconnected from global market; Metal pricing hit as thin volumes and higher financing costs force investors to sidelines
Harry Dempsey - Financial Times
Traders are warning that thin volumes and erratic trading have disconnected the price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange from the rest of the global market. The metal fell 3.8 per cent on Tuesday to $28,250 after rising as high as $33,575 a tonne last week, with the spike underscoring the severity of traders' nine-month retreat from the LME.
/jlne.ws/3FsIzBV
FTX Fraud Suits Offer Blueprint for Pursuing Offshore Crypto Exchanges; CFTC's complaint draws on leeway in legislation passed after financial crisis
Dave Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
FTX was one of the largest overseas crypto exchanges, based on a Caribbean island with a friendly regulatory regime, and arguably beyond the reach of U.S. rules that govern how trading firms deal with investors and consumers. The lawsuits filed Tuesday show how U.S. regulators have found a way to police global crypto conduct they don't closely regulate. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged, for instance, that Bahamas-based FTX affected the price of commodities sold in the U.S. That gave the CFTC authority to file a civil fraud lawsuit against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his companies.
/jlne.ws/3HAJqmE
FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Charged With Criminal Fraud, Conspiracy; Charges are latest twist in saga that has rattled world of cryptocurrencies
Corinne Ramey, James Fanelli, Dave Michaels, Alexander Saeedy and Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried oversaw one of the biggest financial frauds in American history, a top federal prosecutor said in charging that the former chief executive stole billions of dollars from the crypto exchange's customers while misleading investors and lenders.
/jlne.ws/3hjJ1dW
SEC alleges $100 million stock manipulation scheme via social media
Steve Goldstein - MarketWatch
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against eight individuals who allegedly earned $100 million via stock manipulation. Charges were filed against social-media users including Edward Constantin, whose Twitter account @MrZachMorris has more than 550,000 followers, and who is the co-founder of Atlas Trading. According to the SEC, the group published false and misleading information in online stock-trading forums, podcasts and Twitter accounts. The SEC said the eight sometimes discussed their plans over Discord voice chats which they thought were private but were being recorded.
/jlne.ws/3Pyg6zq
FTX's predictable failings show the need for crypto regulation; The risks inherent in digital assets may be unique but the ways that the industry can lose customer money are not
Thomas Vartanian - Financial Times
The writer is a former regulator, lawyer, executive director of the Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center and author of 200 Years of American Financial Panics The most remarkable thing about the collapse of FTX and the arrest and charging of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried is how unremarkable it is. Despite the many crypto bells and whistles that have mesmerised investors and holders around the world, FTX looks like just another story of corporate misbehaviour. And ironically, many cryptocurrency holders who cherished its decentralised nature and freedom from government intervention will eventually be pleading for regulation.
/jlne.ws/3uNa18A
China's zero-Covid retreat sparks wealth management product sell-off; Vicious circle as fund managers are forced to sell holdings to satisfy wave of redemptions
Sun Yu - Financial Times
Beijing's retreat from its zero-Covid policy is causing chaos in the country's Rmb29tn ($4.1tn) market for wealth management products, with some fund managers having to freeze withdrawals or sell down their holdings as they struggle to cope with a rush of redemptions by investors.
/jlne.ws/3WbTPt8
Bankman-Fried's Bid for Bail Denied by Bahamas Judge; Judge says Tuesday that Bankman-Fried poses a flight risk; He faces February hearing for possible extradition to the US
Katanga Johnson - Bloomberg
Sam Bankman-Fried was denied bail by a judge in the Bahamas on Tuesday, leaving the disgraced co-founder of crypto giant FTX behind bars. During his first court appearance since being arrested on Monday, Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt said that Bankman-Fried posed too big of a flight risk to be released. His attorney had proposed that his client pay $250,000 cash and wear an ankle bracelet to be allowed to leave his cell.
/jlne.ws/3Yp95VF
FTX CEO says company engaged in 'old fashioned embezzlement' under SBF
Alexis Keenan - Yahoo Finance
FTX's bankruptcy-era CEO, John J. Ray III, appointed to shepherd the collapsed crypto exchange through Chapter 11 reorganization, testified on Tuesday that the company's founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, made multiple misstatements about his companies' financials.
/jlne.ws/3Hy162v
With Founder Facing Charges, New CEO Says FTX Embezzled Customer Cash
Jesse Hamilton - CoinDesk
John Ray III, FTX's replacement CEO now steering the company through bankruptcy, told lawmakers on Tuesday that misdeeds inside the crypto giant weren't like the sophisticated, highly orchestrated crimes he encountered when taking apart Enron two decades ago. "This is really old-fashioned embezzlement," he said in testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. "This is just taking money from customers and using it for your own purpose. Not sophisticated at all."
/jlne.ws/3hqtV6m
Bankman-Fried charged in one of 'biggest financial frauds' in US history
Stefania Palma, Joshua Chaffin, Joshua Oliver and Kadhim Shubber - Financial Times
Sam Bankman-Fried has been accused of engineering "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history" as US prosecutors filed criminal charges against the founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. In an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, the US Department of Justice charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts including conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers and lenders, money laundering and violations of campaign finance laws. Bankman-Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday, faces years in prison if convicted.
/jlne.ws/3hns2an
'Fraud in shorts and T-shirts': the case against the FTX founder; Sam Bankman-Fried's arrest in the Bahamas exposes money transfers before collapse of crypto empire
Joshua Chaffin - Financial Times
The wheels of American justice do not turn nearly so fast as the cryptocurrency markets. But in the last 48 hours they caught up to Sam Bankman-Fried, the boy king of the shattered FTX empire who now stands accused of perpetrating one of the largest financial frauds in US history. A series of overlapping events unfolding in the Bahamas, Washington and Manhattan left 30-year-old Bankman-Fried in police custody, while offering fresh insights into how one of the digital token market's dominant trading platforms suddenly collapsed into bankruptcy a month ago with $8bn in customer funds missing.
/jlne.ws/3VY960T
FTX Used Imaginary Money to Get Real Money; Incredibly, this was not a recipe for long-term success.
Mark Gongloff - Bloomberg
Hey, did you know there was a financial crisis happening? Unless you are a crypto bro, it might have escaped you, because it's primarily impacting dudes who were telling everybody to "Have fun staying poor" just six months ago. Our thoughts and prayers are with their repossessed Lambos at this difficult time. To be sure, some real money has vanished in the crypto gyre, which widened a little more with the arrest of FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried in the Bahamas. (You know you're in trouble when even the Bahamas says "That's enough, pal.")
/jlne.ws/3j3pkXY
FTX's Systems Gave Alameda Trades a Secret Speed Edge, CFTC Says
Joanna Ossinger and Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
Sam Bankman-Fried's trading house Alameda Research had a secret speed advantage when executing orders on his now-collapsed FTX crypto exchange, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
/jlne.ws/3PyepSA
Sam Bankman-Fried's other big con was perfectly legal
Zachary M. Seward - Quartz
FTX's best trick was making and losing money at the same time: It made money literally, by minting its own cryptocurrency, and then used the now-worthless token to raise real funds. It put the real money toward facilitating trades of less-real money, which generated profits whether crypto values went up or down. It raised still more cash from venture-capital firms on the premise of an 11-figure valuation that has now gone to zero. And it used funds flowing in from customers to finance risky bets, simultaneously losing the money and making profits off the trades. "Dollars are fungible with each other," Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX, said recently to explain how money wired to company accounts could b used for more than one purpose. "And so it's not like there's this $1 bill over here that you can trace through from start to finish."
/jlne.ws/3UZl3SG
SBF's $5 billion FTX 'spending binge' and 4 other things the new CEO has discovered since taking over the crypto exchange
Zahra Tayeb - CoinDesk
FTX's new CEO John J. Ray plans to reveal five ways the bankrupt crypto exchange handled its money, at Tuesday's US House Financial Services Committee hearing. In his testimony, Ray, who oversaw bankruptcy proceedings at energy firm Enron, highlights several "unacceptable management practices" at FTX, including a $5 billion "spending binge" and the commingling of the exchange's assets with those of its sister company, Alameda Research.
/jlne.ws/3uS7muu
Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX staff allegedly had 'Wirefraud' chat group
Ed Pilkington - The Guardian
Sam Bankman-Fried and other members of the inner circle of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX allegedly formed a chat group on the encrypted platform Signal under the name "Wirefraud". The Australian Financial Review reported that the Wirefraud chat group was used to send end-to-end encrypted information about FTX and its hedge fund, Alameda Research, in the run-up to the implosion of the exchange. According to the newspaper, members of the secret group included Bankman-Fried, his FTX partners Zixiao "Gary" Wang and Nishad Singh, and the CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison.
/jlne.ws/3WlIQ0x
$1.6B FTX International Customers Group Hires Law Firm to Create Official Bankruptcy Committee
Ian Allison - CoinDesk
A growing group of non-U.S. customers of FTX.com, which currently counts up to around $1.6 billion in lost funds, has lawyered up and is looking to create an official customer committee in order to protect their rights of ownership over their assets on the exchange. The non-U.S. FTX customers, led by Eversheds Sutherland attorneys Sarah Paul and Erin Broderick, had already formed the first FTX ad hoc group. As an official committee it would be granted additional consultation and approval rights within the Chapter 11 case, including being entitled to payment of professional fees by the bankruptcy estates.
/jlne.ws/3hnA3wb
Day of Reckoning for FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried
Bloomberg
It was a day of reckoning for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. He is charged with eight criminal counts, including conspiracy and wire fraud, for allegedly misusing billions of dollars in customers' funds before the spectacular collapse of his cryptocurrency empire. The disgraced former tech star was supposed to be at a congressional hearing, but instead was arrested in the Bahamas.
/jlne.ws/3Fosygt
U.S. lab hits fusion milestone raising hopes for clean power
Timothy Gardner - Reuters
U.S. scientists on Tuesday revealed a breakthrough on fusion energy that could one day help curb climate change if companies can scale up the technology to a commercial level in the coming decades. Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California on Dec. 5 for the first time briefly achieved a net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers, the U.S. Energy Department said. The scientists focused a laser on a target of fuel to fuse two light atoms into a denser one, releasing the energy.
/jlne.ws/3V4QlrG
Will Courts Prevent Investors From Holding Managers Accountable?; In Lee v. Fisher, the 9th Circuit is weighing whether The Gap, Inc. can be sued by a shareholder who says the retailer lied about its diversity metrics.
Noah Feldman - Bloomberg
What if corporations could opt out of being sued by their shareholders? That's the issue facing the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which on Dec. 12 gathered en banc to consider whether an earlier decision made by a subset of its judges was correct. The case, Lee v. Fisher, started with a shareholder derivative suit against The Gap, Inc. A shareholder derivative suit is conventionally defined as one brought by a shareholder against senior management and directors on behalf of the company, with damages to be paid to the company. Brought under federal law - specifically, section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act - the suit alleges that the Gap lied in its proxy statements about its level of workplace diversity.
/jlne.ws/3j2wFHu
Why Hong Kong Is Pushing for Its Own Central Bank Digital Currency
Emily Jin - CoinDesk
With Hong Kong likely to issue its electronic Hong Kong Dollar (e-HKD), this month, U.S. policymakers need to anticipate what a successful issuance of Hong Kong's digital fiat means for the existing global financial order. An examination of why Hong Kong may want its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), its fintech development strategy and its diminishing political openness leaves plenty of room for U.S. national security concerns.
/jlne.ws/3Yq7RsY
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Kremlin: U.S. Patriot systems in Ukraine would be legitimate target
Reuters
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that U.S. Patriot missile defence systems would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes against Ukraine, should the United States authorise them to be delivered to support Kyiv.
/jlne.ws/3UQCXHq
Ukraine's Secret Weapon Is Ordinary People Spying on Russian Forces; Locals helped Ukraine target troops occupying Kherson, highlighting one of Kyiv's advantages in the war
Matthew Luxmoore - The Wall Street Journal
During Russia's occupation of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, a large electronics store served Russian forces as a field hospital, barracks and storehouse for food. One morning last summer, Ukrainian forces struck the store, completely destroying it. It was one of numerous attacks that day on Russian-controlled territory deep inside the Kherson region.
/jlne.ws/3hnHR0X
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | ICE Announces a Unique Wealth Management Platform Integration with BNY Mellon
Pershing ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, and BNY Mellon | Pershing, a leading provider of clearing and custody solutions, announced today that the web-based version of the ICE Connect wealth management platform has been integrated into BNY Mellon | Pershing's clearing and custody platform NetX360+®. Davenport & Company, one of the oldest, employee-owned financial services firms in the U.S., is the first client to migrate over 250 advisors to the new integrated solution.
/jlne.ws/3BBuH7o
CME Group Announces 2023 Annual Meeting Date
CME Group
CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME), the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced it will conduct its 2023 annual meeting of shareholders at 10:00 a.m. Central Time on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Additional information will be provided in the company's proxy statement.
/jlne.ws/3hqlKa5
Marginal gains: buy side gets set for cross-product margining
Eurex
First published on Risk.net December 2022. Faced with higher margin and funding costs, more buy-side firms are looking to optimise margin requirements across their fixed income portfolios. Here Lee Bartholomew, global head of FIC product design at Eurex, and Per Haga, global head of prime derivatives services product at Barclays Corporate & Investment Bank, discuss the opportunity for cross-product margining (CPM) to drive cost savings and efficiencies and how buy-side clients can maximise value from the process.
/jlne.ws/3uO2jej
Finuslugi platform is the winner of the Runet Prize 2022
MOEX
The personal finance platform Finuslugi of the Moscow Exchange received the Runet Prize in the category "Economics and Business" for the development of a mobile application. Finuslugi for the second year in a row become the winner of the Runet Prize.
/jlne.ws/3hmOiRY
Caution for Investors
NSE
It has been brought to the notice of the Exchange that person named "Jay Prakash" operating through mobile number "9321677629", is collecting funds from the public and providing assured/guaranteed returns on investment. He is also offering to handle trading account of investor by asking investors to share their user ID and password. Investors are cautioned and advised not to subscribe to any such scheme/ product offered by any person offering indicative/assured/guaranteed returns in the stock market as the same is prohibited by law.
/jlne.ws/3YoSnWo
These ESG ETFs Could Bounce Back in 2023
Todd Shriber - Nasdaq
After a multi-year run of success, environmental, social and governance (ESG) exchange traded funds fell on hard times in 2022 and there are several factors explaining that weakness. For starters, many ESG ETFs - particularly the older, large-cap funds in the category - are chock full of growth, which are being punished by rising interest rates. Second, it's not just that growth stocks and funds are faltering. The added drag on ESG ETFs is that many asset allocators are rotating out of those assets into value strategies.
/jlne.ws/3UYOEMj
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Fennel Financials turns to Eventus for trade surveillance on new ESG-focused equity investing platform
Eventus
Eventus, a leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, and Fennel Financials LLC, which just launched an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-focused platform offering retail investors access to tools to better engage with companies, today announced that Fennel has chosen to deploy the Eventus Validus platform for all of its trade surveillance activities. Fennel will also be using the platform's anti-money laundering (AML) capabilities.
/jlne.ws/3FvVqmS
Societe Generale joins Spectrum Markets as market maker; The bank will act as a liquidity provider for the pan-European derivatives marketplace, in the latest move towards attracting retail investor flow.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
Spectrum Markets, a pan-European trading venue for securitised derivatives, today welcomes Societe Generale as its newest member, significantly increasing the available range of instruments for investors in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Spain.
/jlne.ws/3HABody
Berenberg slashes headcount in London office; The job cuts follow earlier US layoffs, as well as a summer round of cuts in the London office, as investment banks tighten their belts.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
Berenberg cut over 50 jobs in its London office on Tuesday, The TRADE can confirm. The layoffs follow an initial round of cuts in its London office over the summer, as well as two rounds of New York reductions which have seen its US headcount streamline by around 50%.
/jlne.ws/3HBb3vT
Appital brings ICAP trader on board as part of ambitious expansion plans; New appointment brings over 30 years' experience to the firm, having previously served at ICAP, Liquidnet, Bloomberg Tradebook and Instinet.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Bookbuilding platform Appital has appointed Matthew Jefford as head of liquidity solutions. As part of the role, Jefford will help accelerate Appital's growth strategy, with a focus on deepening platform liquidity for asset managers alongside aiding the firm with bringing innovation and automation to equity markets.
/jlne.ws/3FtC1mB
Blockchains Founder Lists Two Lake Tahoe Homes for Combined $45 Million; The larger property can be purchased individually for $39.995 million, while the smaller home is asking $7.995 million
Libertina Brandt - The Wall Street Journal
Jeffrey Berns, founder of the technology company Blockchains, has listed two of his Lake Tahoe properties for a total of $45 million. The properties sit next to each other along the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, in Glenbrook, Nev. The larger property is listed individually for $39.995 million, while the smaller home is asking $7.995 million. The listing comes after Mr. Berns and his wife, Mary Berns, bought a new Tahoe property in Incline Village for $47.5 million, which he said is closer to their daughter's school.
/jlne.ws/3WhCS0t
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | How The Anonymous Hacker Group Wages Cyber Warfare
Cydney Contreras - Oxygen True Crime
While some people choose to protest through marches or sit-ins, a select group of computer hackers use their talents to wage cyberattacks as part of the collective known as Anonymous. The origins of this group are murky, but they've made a name for themselves over the years by targeting high-profile institutions, including the Church of Scientology, the CIA and the Russian government, as a form of hacktivism. Their usual form of online warfare is a distributed denial of service attack, known as DDoS, when a server is overwhelmed by an increase in traffic, according to Cloudflare. Unable to accommodate the influx of users, the server often becomes slow or crashes, resulting in a denial of service.
/jlne.ws/3VW1OLn
The Cybersecurity Industry Doesn't Have a Stress Problem - It Has a Leadership Problem
Tyler Farrar - Dark Reading
Around the world, employees have been experiencing extreme stress due to the ongoing pandemic, business disruption, and the faster pace of work. This is a mental state and lived reality that cybersecurity staffers experience day in and day out. When new hires start work on Day 1, they know what they are signing up for. Most organizations today face an unrelenting fusillade due to the accelerated pace of digital transformation. New threat patterns are emerging, credential compromise is raging, and cybercriminals are cooperating on strategies.
/jlne.ws/3PqEBye
Board Blindspots: What Boards Need To Prioritize When It Comes To Cybersecurity
Wendi Whitmore - Forbes
In the last 12 months, I've met with many boards of directors (BODs) to discuss cybersecurity strategies. Having responded to some of the largest security incidents during my career, I've found that while awareness is growing, cybersecurity still isn't always top-of-mind unless an organization has suffered a major breach.
/jlne.ws/3hr92rG
2022 In Review: An Eventful Cybersecurity Year
Emil Sayegh - Forbes
Let's not mince words: 2022 has been a rough and tumble year across the world when it comes to cybersecurity. It kicked off with Russia's cyber-attacks on the Ukraine and escalated into a full-on kinetic war between the two countries. Many watched in horror as continuous new debacles and emerging threats unfolded throughout the year, Many of us in the cybersecurity profession were called to new challenges, doing battle deep in the trenches to proactively prevent the next big event. Let's take a look back at the biggest cyberattacks, threats, and data breaches to rock the world in 2022.
/jlne.ws/3hteHxl
Batten Down The IT Hatches: Weathering An Unstable Economy With Resilient Cybersecurity
Sonali Shah - Forbes
There is no rest for IT and cybersecurity teams. When the pandemic hit, they scrambled to set up remote workspaces, with many companies accelerating their move to the cloud. These changes led to a widening of the attack surface, but with little time to address new security concerns. Then came Log4Shell and global conflict. In March 2022, President Biden asked U.S. companies to prepare for cyberattacks.
/jlne.ws/3VVFEIR
EU Advances Its Data-Flow Deal After U.S. Makes Surveillance Changes; Brussels gives tentative approval as part of pending deal to allow companies to transfer European data across the Atlantic
Sam Schechner and Kim Mackrael - The Wall Street Journal
The European Union took a significant step toward completing a deal with the U.S. that would allow personal information about Europeans to be stored legally on U.S. soil, reducing the threat of regulatory action against thousands of companies that routinely transmit such information.
/jlne.ws/3YqgeVu
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Judge Approves Sale of Self-Custody Platform to Galaxy Digital in Celsius Bankruptcy
Nelson Wang - CoinDesk
Judge Martin Glenn has approved the sale of crypto self-custody platform GK8 to Galaxy Digital as part of the bankruptcy proceedings of crypto lender Celsius Network, according to a court order issued on Tuesday. Mike Novogratz's crypto-focused financial services firm had won the auction for GK8 earlier in the month.
/jlne.ws/3W9SJhO
The FUD Behind the Crypto Collapse; Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance's Changpeng Zhao were ostensible partners before Zhao helped blow the whistle on Bankman-Fried's failures. The bad feelings go back for years.
Max Chafkin - Bloomberg
Committed crypto investors have long had a ready response to people who criticize digital currencies: They're spreading "FUD"-an acronym that stands for "fear, uncertainty and doubt." The idea behind it is that anyone who expresses skepticism of crypto must be doing so for competitive reasons. This is nonsense for the most part, though it may be the kind of nonsense that's useful for crypto stalwarts. Digital currency critics, in general, aren't promoting rival tokens or shorting Bitcoin. Sincere believers, who say they're in it for the long run, shouldn't care about short-term price swings.
/jlne.ws/3V0auPk
After Bankman-Fried's arrest, Washington seeks answers - and distance; The FTX founder had been a darling in the capital until his sudden downfall
Tony Romm and Isaac Stanley-Becker - The Washington Post
The sudden arrest of disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried ensnarled Washington on Tuesday, as Democrats and Republicans began to sort through the political wreckage - and looked to distance themselves from one of their chief benefactors in the 2022 election. For years, Bankman-Fried had been a darling in the eyes of the nation's political class: The crypto mogul had maintained a visible presence in the halls of the Capitol, a generous campaign checkbook and a close relationship with the regulators who oversaw his company.
/jlne.ws/3Wcr2W1
What Did SBF and FTX Lose in Real Money?; That's a question the SEC will have to deal with as they prosecute Bankman-Fried and his moribund enterprise.
Paul J. Davies - Bloomberg
Now that Samuel Bankman-Fried has been detained in the Bahamas, US authorities are preparing to finally put the question that everyone's been trying to ask the chief executive of collapsed crypto exchange FTX: "Where's the money, Sam?" But there's another mystery that faces the Securities and Exchange Commission, which charged Bankman-Fried with fraud on Tuesday: How much real money was ever involved?
/jlne.ws/3Yzlart
Five things we know about the collapse of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried
Lauren Aratani - The Guardian
It has been another crazy 48 hours in the collapse of FTX, once the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. On Monday, the company's now-infamous founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested in the Bahamas, a day before he was set to give testimony before Congress. On Tuesday US authorities issued damning charges that the 30-year-old former billionaire ran a "house of cards" and was behind "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history".
/jlne.ws/3hnrIbI
FTX Investors Unlikely to Get Their Money Back: Animoca Brands
Bloomberg
Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands Corp., one of the biggest blockchain investors in Asia, discusses the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder of digital-asset exchange FTX, and the implications for the wider market. Siu speaks with David Ingles, Yvonne Man and Annabelle Droulers on "Bloomberg Markets: China Open."
/jlne.ws/3HIQ22m
Crypto's Binance Seeks to Reassure Over Reserves, Says Debt Free; Company reiterates its position that user assets fully backed; CEO Zhao says situation stabilizing as deposits come back in
Suvashree Ghosh and Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
Binance Holdings Ltd., the world's largest crypto exchange, sought to counter concerns about outflows by reiterating its position that user assets are underpinned by reserves while also flagging an absence of debt. Responding to questions about the recent outflows and worries over transparency, a spokesperson said by email: "People deposit and withdraw assets everyday for a variety of different reasons. User assets at Binance are all backed 1:1 and Binance's capital structure is debt free."
/jlne.ws/3WcrRhz
Exclusive: How a secret software change allowed FTX to use client money
Angus Berwick, John Shiffman and Koh Gui Qing - Reuters
In mid-2020, FTX's chief engineer made a secret change to the cryptocurrency exchange's software. He tweaked the code to exempt Alameda Research, a hedge fund owned by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, from a feature on the trading platform that would have automatically sold off Alameda's assets if it was losing too much borrowed money.
/jlne.ws/3FotEc5
SBF charged with "orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud"; The adventures of "fiat@ftx"
Financial Times
Aaaaand there it is. The US Securities and Exchange has levelled the first formal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, and the watchdog doesn't mince its words. FT Alphaville's bold emphasis in the painfully stark charge sheet below, and some our comments further down. HT to Kadhim Shubber for the document. Don't forget that criminal charges are also expected to be unsealed later today (RIP the conspiracy theories that predicted that SBF's political donations would shield him from prosecution).
/jlne.ws/3HDOw1B
Binance Customer Withdrawals Exceed $3 Billion in 24 Hours
Kate Irwin - Decrypt
Behemoth crypto exchange Binance has seen massive withdrawals in the past week and-on Tuesday-the highest amount of one-day withdrawals since June, Nansen data has revealed.
/jlne.ws/3uPXl0L
Crypto Market's Near-Apocalypse in 2022 Turns Zombie Tokens Into Dead Coins
Jocelyn Yang - CoinDesk
When the decentralized marketplace Storeum debuted its own freshly minted cryptocurrency in July 2019, the STO token soon grabbed traders' attention: The STO price jumped from a few cents to an all-time high around $35 for a few days in March 2020 before quickly settling back to less than $1.
/jlne.ws/3YkQhXw
FTX's Bahamas Liquidators Seek to Exclude Over $200M Worth of Luxury Properties From Liquidation
Jack Schickler - CoinDesk
The Bahamas liquidators are seeking to exclude over $200 million worth of luxury properties in the country from the estate of FTX, as the failed crypto exchange seeks to wind up and repay creditors in the U.S., court documents filed on Monday revealed.
/jlne.ws/3uN1mD6
Binance boss CZ reportedly warns the coming months will be 'bumpy' for the crypto exchange, as it unfreezes USDC withdrawals
Zahra Tayeb - Business Insider
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao warned staff of difficult times ahead as the crypto exchange weathers scrutiny over its reserves. In a company memo sent to employees seen by Bloomberg, Zhao, commonly known as "CZ" said the crypto industry is experiencing a "historic moment" in the wake of FTX's shocking collapse, but reassured staff that Binance "will survive any crypto winter."
/jlne.ws/3HvymaC
Japan Lawmaker Chides Crypto Watchdog Over FTT Coin Approval; Crypto association's approval of FTT listing was conditional; FTX mess shouldn't stop Japan's easing crypto stance: lawmaker
Takashi Nakamichi and Nao Sano - Bloomberg
A Japanese lawmaker urged more clarity on cryptocurrency regulation after an industry watchdog didn't tell consumers about potential red flags around FTX's native coin when it approved the token for a local listing this year. "It will become more and more important to ensure transparency for consumers when there are any matters that require attention on tokens," Akihisa Shiozaki, a lawmaker with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said in an interview. Still, FTX's meltdown shouldn't cause Japan to reverse course in relaxing coin-listing rules, according to Shiozaki, who helped to design the nation's crypto policy.
/jlne.ws/3FQgvtw
Binance suffers $1bn outflow in one day as crypto jitters spread; Chief executive of world's largest crypto exchange tries to reassure investors following collapse of FTX
Joshua Oliver and Scott Chipolina - Financial Times
Investors have pulled more than $1bn from Binance as the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange fights against a crisis of confidence in digital tokens and fears it will also be drawn into US investigations. Changpeng Zhao, chief executive of Binance, said the exchange had experienced $1.14bn in net withdrawals on Tuesday as users continued to remove their assets from his marketplace. Net withdrawals over seven days had topped $3.6bn, according to an analysis conducted by blockchain research group Nansen.
/jlne.ws/3j4in9r
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News
New York Daily News
Sam Bankman-Fried, the frumpy 30-year-old cryptocurrency maven who bamboozled investors big and small with a recalcitrant genius routine as he allegedly siphoned billions from his crypto exchange FTX and hedge fund Alameda Research, was set to testify yesterday at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the mess and its aftermath.
/jlne.ws/3Hy4WZt
How Crypto Can Repair Its Reputation in Washington
Kristin Smith - CoinDesk
You don't have to be a close observer of the crypto industry to recognize an uncomfortable truth: Crypto's reputation in Washington, D.C., is damaged. While the industry has developed enduring relationships with a growing group of bipartisan lawmakers over the past several years, recent market turmoil and the ongoing saga of the collapse of FTX International taint the broader industry.
/jlne.ws/3FN0weT
FTX CEO's bewilderment that company used QuickBooks for its accounting echoes a scene in 'Breaking Bad'
Lakshmi Varanasi - Business Insider
The brightest minds of the world have long debated the question: Does life imitate art or does art imitate life? On Tuesday morning, FTX's recently appointed CEO John J. Ray III may have provided a clue. Ray testified before the House Committee on Financial Services with the goal of uncovering exactly what went wrong at the now-bankrupt crypto exchange.
/jlne.ws/3Wecc0A
MarketWatch First Take; FTX fallout continues with Bankman-Fried arrest. But where is former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison?
James Rogers - MarketWatch
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is squarely in the spotlight following his arrest in the Bahamas, but attention is also focused on the whereabouts of Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, the hedge fund closely affiliated with FTX.
/jlne.ws/3Bznwww
BlackRock Is Becoming the Republican Bogeyman for ESG; Ron DeSantis labels the asset manager "woke," while activist investors question the urgency of the Wall Street giant's ESG campaign.
Tim Quinson - Bloomberg
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is making it clear that he either doesn't like BlackRock Inc. or thinks pillorying the Wall Street giant as "woke" is good politics with 2024 approaching. The Republican's administration is pulling $2 billion from the world's largest investment firm and is pushing managers who run the state's pension funds to withdraw their holdings-some $13 billion. Why? Mainly because of the New York-based company's loudly professed ties to environmental, social and governance investment principles.
/jlne.ws/3V5H5DG
Elizabeth Warren unveils bipartisan bill to crack down on crypto money laundering
Matt Egan - CNN
As federal prosecutors seek to imprison former crypto darling Sam Bankman-Fried, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is attempting to push through Congress a bipartisan crackdown on money laundering in the crypto industry. The Massachusetts Democrat is teaming up with Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas to introduce new legislation on Wednesday that would seek to close loopholes in the financial system that pose national security risks by allowing digital assets to be used for money laundering, Warren's office told CNN.
/jlne.ws/3FPfvpM
Bank of England warns Sunak over City deregulation drive; Bailey insists on need for vigilance as BoE set to stress test non-bank financial markets
Laura Noonan - Financial Times
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned Rishi Sunak's government against going too far with its flagship programme to free the City from post-crisis regulations, insisting that the rules remain essential more than a decade after the crash.
/jlne.ws/3VXok6x
Pro-Crypto EU Lawmaker Eva Kaili Set to Lose Vice-Presidency Amid Corruption Probe
Jack Schickler - CoinDesk
European Union lawmaker Eva Kaili, who has taken an active role in efforts to regulate crypto in the 27-nation bloc, could be stripped of her job as a vice president of the European Parliament after RTBF reported she was among four people charged in Belgium as part of a corruption probe linked to lobbying by Qatar.
/jlne.ws/3FQvm7f
The supply chain that keeps tech flowing to Russia
Steve Stecklow, David Gauthier-Villars and Maurice Tamman - Reuters
In March this year, a new firm appeared in Turkey's corporate registry. Azu International Ltd Sti described itself as a wholesale trader of IT products, and a week later began shipping U.S. computer parts to Russia. Business was brisk, Russian customs records show. The United States and the EU had recently restricted sales of sensitive technology to Russia because of its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, and many Western tech companies had suspended all dealings with Moscow.
/jlne.ws/3HBWhFu
Hong Kong Strives to Prove It Can Still Be 'Asia's World City'; As Covid recedes, the city faces life as a changed metropolis; Communist Party officials are watching closely what happens
Denise Wee and Kari Soo Lindberg - Bloomberg
The beer is flowing again at Hong Kong's Happy Valley Racecourse. Music pumps from clubs in the neon-streaked Lan Kwai Fong district. Even the Sevens - the annual rugby extravaganza that's captured this city's hyperkinetic lifestyle for decades - is back, finally. After more than two years under Beijing's stringent pandemic rules, Hong Kong wants to prove that it can still be "Asia's World City." The Hang Seng Index has found a footing after losing roughly half its value. Dealmakers say business is looking up at last.
/jlne.ws/3BBbW3T
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Hong Kong markets watchdog warns of cryptocurrency platform risks
Peter Hoskins - BBC
A woman wearing a mask stands next to a bus stop covered with Cryptocurrency electronic cash Bitcoin advertisement in Hong Kong.
A woman wearing a mask stands next to a bus stop covered with Cryptocurrency electronic cash Bitcoin advertisement in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong's financial markets watchdog has issued a warning over the risks of online platforms for cryptocurrency and other digital asset deposits. "Investors are urged to be wary of the potential high risks" associated with so-called "virtual asset arrangements," the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3FQhN7R
SEC's Hester Peirce Has Seen 'No Real Movement' on SEC Crypto Regulation Since She Joined in 2018
Stacy Elliott - Decrypt
If the focus of the crypto industry is still on trading crypto assets, it's a sign that the industry hasn't lived up to its potential, according to Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce often feels she's "on an island by myself" within the SEC. "I view these things differently than some of my colleagues have viewed them."
/jlne.ws/3Bzc587
Australia to Launch Crypto Licensing Regime to 'Modernize' Financial System
Alys Key - Decrypt
Australia will introduce a new framework for regulating crypto firms next year as part of wider plans to modernize the country's financial system. In a statement, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said "regulatory architecture" had not kept pace with changes in the market, "including the advent of new digital products and services."
/jlne.ws/3Pqw5zf
CFTC Must Serve Ooki DAO Founders: California Judge
Alys Key - Decrypt
A California judge has ruled that the two founders behind Ooki DAO can be served in a regulator's lawsuit against the project. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) back in September. But by implicating the entire group of pseudonymous token-holders in the protocol, the action faced potential problems in identifying a real defendant who could make their case in court.
/jlne.ws/3Bw5efu
Crypto exchange FTX fights Bahamas demand for data access
Dietrich Knauth - Reuters
Lawyers for the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX will square off in court on Wednesday to fight a demand for internal records from an insolvent affiliate based in the Bahamas as the two wrestle over scraps of the once high-flying business.
/jlne.ws/3VZbYdY
The head of the legal system in the Bahamas said the US will 'likely' ask for Sam Bankman-Fried's extradition
Beatrice Nolan - Business Insider
US authorities are "likely" to request the extradition of Sam Bankman-Fried, the Bahamas attorney general, Sen. Ryan Pinder KC, said in a statement shared online on Monday, shortly after the FTX cofounder's arrest. The disgraced crypto founder was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday based on a "sealed indictment" from US authorities, the US Attorney's Office Southern District of New York said on social media. Bankman-Fried is also facing separate charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
/jlne.ws/3FtRnHD
Prosecutors give a stark warning to other crypto platforms in the wake of the SBF indictment and call it 'one of the biggest financial frauds in American history'
Tristan Bove - Fortune
A day after authorities arrested disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, prosecutors have a big warning for crypto platforms: Comply with the government, or risk legal action. The criminal charges against Bankman-Fried were unveiled Tuesday morning by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. The FTX founder and former CEO was hit with eight counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., and money laundering. Bankman-Fried has also been accused of violating campaign finance laws by making illegal contributions under aliases, and the Justice Department has demanded he forfeit his assets.
/jlne.ws/3hnpqJC
Here Are The Wildest Parts From Bankman-Fried's SEC Allegations; Customer assets were diverted from the start, SEC says; Funds used for investment, real estate and political donations
Emily Nicolle - Bloomberg
US authorities have alleged that fallen crypto maven Sam Bankman-Fried defrauded investors in his FTX empire, stealing billions of dollars as part of a "massive, years-long fraud" for his own benefit. Civil charges, filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, claimed that Bankman-Fried had been engaged in a scheme to deceive investors in FTX and his companies since at least May 2019, and that the process only ended last month when he lost his position as chief executive officer as part of FTX filing for bankruptcy.
/jlne.ws/3FjPTzO
SEC Charges Danske Bank with Fraud for Misleading Investors about Its Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Failures in Estonia
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against Danske Bank, a multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denmark, for misleading investors about its anti-money laundering (AML) compliance program in its Estonian branch and failing to disclose the risks posed by the program's significant deficiencies. Danske Bank agreed to pay $413 million to settle the SEC's charges.
/jlne.ws/3uN7TO8
SEC Charges Brokerage Firm with Anti-Money Laundering Violations
SEC
On December 12, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged J.H. Darbie & Co., Inc., a New York City-based brokerage firm, with failing to report suspicious activity related to transactions in tens of billions of shares of low-priced securities - or "penny stocks" - that were traded in over-the-counter markets.
/jlne.ws/3FpfTdb
MAS issues Prohibition Orders against Mr Selvarajulu S/O Subramaniam for cheating
Monetary Authority of Singapore
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued 8-year prohibition orders (POs) against Mr Selvarajulu S/O Subramaniam, a former representative of The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited (Great Eastern). The POs were issued following his conviction in the State Courts for cheating offences.
/jlne.ws/3ByUflz
FMA files market manipulation case against Kok Ding Cheng for trading of Rua shares
Financial Markets Authority
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko has filed High Court civil proceedings against Kok Ding Cheng, an experienced retail investor based in Auckland, for alleged market manipulation of NZX-listed shares of Rua Bioscience Limited (RUA).
/jlne.ws/3BApL2J
Benjamin Heath Cooper sentenced for conspiring to manipulate Quantum shares
ASIC
Benjamin Heath Cooper, of Brighton-Le-Sands, NSW, has been sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment, to be released immediately after paying $6000 and undertaking to be of good behaviour for two years, for his role in conspiring to manipulate the share price of mining exploration company Quantum Resources Limited.
/jlne.ws/3Fw8jgK
Former Perth financial adviser imprisoned for superannuation fraud
ASIC
On 13 December 2022, former financial adviser Rahul Goel was sentenced in the Perth District Court for dishonestly obtaining over $35,000 from his clients' superannuation accounts.
Mr Goel was sentenced to three years in prison, to be released after 18 months upon entering a $5000 recognisance to be of good behaviour for two years.
/jlne.ws/3FPb0LS
Czech proposals signal Mifid U-turn as 10% DVC is re-tabled in return for relaxation on systematic internalisers; EU member states now have the opportunity to remain silent or vocally oppose the proposals until 2 pm CET today.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
The Czech Presidency has signalled a massive U-turn on dark trading as part of its proposed Mifid II amendments, with a new compromise tabled on Monday following a working group meeting last week.
/jlne.ws/3Wkmlsv
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Vietnam Moves to Shore Up Bond Market to Ease Credit Crunch
Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen - Bloomberg
Vietnam's leaders are taking urgent steps to avert a potential financial crisis as companies struggle to tap funding sources and risk defaulting on bond payments in the next two years. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordered the finance ministry to submit measures to secure the financial market and investors' rights before December 20, according to a statement on the cabinet's website. The ministry, meanwhile, is proposing a decree revision that would allow companies to extend corporate bond maturities as much as 2 years if approved by bondholders representing more than 65% of total outstanding bonds of a company, Thanh Nien newspaper reported.
/jlne.ws/3UXxZsz
How to pay executives in the age of stakeholder capitalism; Soaring executive pay is prompting resistance from those who believe business should play a role in shaping a fairer, more equitable society
Sarah Murray - Financial Times
On a web page setting out its views on everything from privacy to climate change, Amazon, the ecommerce company, states that diversity, equity and inclusion "are good for business - and more fundamentally, they're simply right". Such arguments are commonplace at large companies, yet there is one area where business leaders' commitment to equity is less clear.
/jlne.ws/3BzmG2W
Quants Are Headed for Best Year in Decades as Fed Stokes Volatility; Investors count on market fluctuations to extend banner run after lull
Eric Wallerstein - The Wall Street Journal
A cadre of quant investment strategies that benefit during times of tumult are on pace for their best year since at least 2000-and those funds are counting on markets remaining volatile to extend their banner run.
/jlne.ws/3hreoTO
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Arctic Report Card: Update for 2022; The warming Arctic reveals shifting seasons, widespread disturbances, and the value of diverse observations
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Shifting seasons and climate-driven disturbances, such as wildfires, extreme weather, and unusual wildlife mortality events, are becoming increasingly difficult to assess within the context of what has been previously considered normal.
/jlne.ws/3hoNpbk
Giant Methane Leak Tops List of Worst US Climate Disasters in 2022; The 13-day release from an Equitrans storage well effectively erased the emissions gains from about half the EVs sold in the US last year
Aaron Clark - Bloomberg
While diplomats in Sharm El-Sheikh were hammering out a historic agreement last month to help developing nations cope with the crippling consequences of a warmer planet, one of the biggest US climate disasters in recent years was unfolding in a rural corner of Pennsylvania. A leak from a 1 5/8-inch (4.1 centimeter) vent on a natural gas storage well operated by Equitrans Midstream Corp. was discovered on Nov. 6 and lasted for 13 days, allowing more than 1 billion cubic feet to escape.
/jlne.ws/3WeMIQB
HSBC to stop new oil and gas project funding after backlash; Bank reacts to criticism of climate change policies with symbolic step to cut ties to fossil fuel development
Kenza Bryan and Emma Dunkley - Financial Times
HSBC will cut direct financing and advisory ties to new oil and gasfields or metallurgical coal projects, after coming under fierce criticism over its climate change policies from shareholders and environmental activists. The symbolic step to limit its direct exposure to the most polluting fossil fuels does not restrict its financing of energy companies with expansion plans, but it could place some pressure on competitors to follow suit.
/jlne.ws/3uQLq2K
Maryland's Largest County Just Banned Gas Appliances in Most New Buildings-But Not Without Some Concessions; Environmental advocates and officials are feeling bittersweet about the landmark legislation, which was amended to push back the transition by three years.
Aman Azhar - Inside Climate News
December 2, 2022
Montgomery County, Maryland, home to more than a million residents, passed landmark legislation this week requiring new residential and commercial buildings to be all-electric-barring some exceptions-starting 2027. While advocates celebrated the significance of the legislation, it came with an asterisk. Passed unanimously by the county council on Tuesday, the amended "Comprehensive Building Decarbonization" legislation-or Bill 13-22-requires the county executive to issue all-electric building standards for many newly constructed buildings within the jurisdiction by Dec. 31, 2026.
/jlne.ws/3Hzv4TA
CFOs should watch these 3 ESG trends going into 2023
Sheryl Estrada - Fortune
"We've been following the fact that over the last few years attention to climate and ESG has really shifted in a lot of organizations. So it's not just the [corporate social responsibility] people or the sustainability people or even the investor relations people-it's the finance people." That's what Meggin Thwing Eastman, managing director and global ESG editorial director at MSCI, told me. MSCI is a provider of investment decision support tools, such as ESG (environment, social, and corporate governance) and climate products for the global investment community. I sat down with Eastman to discuss the company's annual "ESG and Climate Trends to Watch" report.
/jlne.ws/3BXuTOD
Potential Recession, Cyber and ESG Concerns Top 2023 D&O Risk Trends, According to New Allianz Report
BusinessWire
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) highlights macroeconomic risks such as inflation and insolvency and their impact on Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance; Cyber and ESG-related risks are driving an increasing number of lawsuits and litigation against companies and their boards; US remains a securities class action hotspot, despite downward trend in new filings; D&O insurance market seeing a favorable shift for buyers, but inflation and current risk environment indicate the potential for more frequent and severe losses. Poor financial performance or even insolvency amid economic uncertainty and the prospect of a global recession, a lack of robust cyber security and governance processes, or an inadequate or non-compliant response to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are among the key risk trends in the Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance space, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).
/jlne.ws/3Pqz8Yd
The EBA Publishes Its Roadmap On Sustainable Finance
Mondo Visione
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its roadmap outlining the objectives and timeline for delivering mandates and tasks in the area of sustainable finance and environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks. The roadmap explains the EBA's sequenced and comprehensive approach over the next three years to integrate ESG risks considerations in the banking framework and support the EU's efforts to achieve them.
/jlne.ws/3UXYjT9
The Energy Department Hails a Breakthrough in Fusion Energy, Achieving a Net Energy Gain With Livermore's Vast Laser Array; The project's director said the lab is "a few decades of research" away from a commercial power plant. Climate scientists, meanwhile, expressed interest but said the breakthrough must not deter the world's ongoing quest to counter global warming.
Marianne Lavelle - Inside Climate News
By training 192 lasers onto a capsule the size of a peppercorn, U.S. government scientists last week were able to ignite fusion with a net energy gain-a long-sought milestone in the quest for a carbon-free energy future.But emphasis was on the word "future," as the team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California on Tuesday announced the breakthrough in replicating the energy that powers the sun.
/jlne.ws/3HCD6ey
Vanguard self-report of greenwashing led to smaller fine, experts say; Asset manager owned up to breach of Australian regulations days before pulling out of net zero alliance
Ernest Chan - Financial Times
Vanguard's Australian unit self-reported its own regulatory breach that led to three greenwashing infringement notices issued by the securities watchdog last week. The pre-emptive move by the US asset manager likely led to a much smaller fine, experts say, while the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is using the infringement to send a clear message to the industry on its enforcement priorities, which may include further greenwashing infringement notices this year.
/jlne.ws/3VXJx06
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Danske Bank Pleads Guilty to US Fraud, Will Forfeit $2 Billion; Plea ends probe into money laundering in bank's Estonia branch; Danish bank admitted to serving suspicious customers
Chris Dolmetsch and Christian Wienberg - Bloomberg
Danske Bank A/S admitted to fraud and will forfeit $2 billion to end a long-running US probe into money laundering at its Estonia branch, helping draw a line under the worst scandal in the bank's recent history. The Danish lender pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to commit bank fraud and admitted providing banking services to suspicious customers - including in Russia - through its Estonian branch, despite knowing of the money laundering risks, the US Justice Department said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3WypvcD
Exclusive: Musk's banks to book Twitter loan losses, avoid big hits
Lananh Nguyen, Saeed Azhar and Shankar Ramakrishnan - Reuters
Some of the banks that lent Elon Musk $13 billion to buy Twitter are preparing to book losses on the loans this quarter, but they are likely to do so in a way that it does not become a major drag on their earnings, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Banks typically sell such loans to investors at the time of the deal. But Twitter's lenders, led by Morgan Stanley , could face billions of dollars in losses if they tried to do so now, as investors shy away from buying risky debt during a period of economic uncertainty, market participants said. In addition, Twitter has seen advertisers flee amid worries about Musk's approach to policing tweets, hitting revenues and its ability to pay the interest on the debt.
/jlne.ws/3VYqItB
Carlyle to miss deadline for $22bn fund as investors cool on private equity; US buyout group has asked for an extension until the end of August
Tabby Kinder and Kaye Wiggins - Financial Times
Carlyle is struggling to raise the $22bn it had targeted for what it hopes will be its largest fund, as it grapples with a succession crisis and a market downturn. The US buyout group has asked investors for an extension until the end of August, three people with knowledge of the matter said, after saying it expected to miss its target to raise $22bn by March 2023.
/jlne.ws/3uMQuoK
End of 'fantasy' stock market brings relief and pressure for short sellers; Hedge funds are enjoying the end of the bull market but making profitable bets is unlikely to get easier
Laurence Fletcher - Financial Times
Short sellers have had plenty to be grateful for in 2022 - falling stocks, the abrupt end of easy money and a historic energy crisis. The combination has catapulted short-selling hedge funds, which profit from a fall in the price of a stock, centre stage, ending the largely barren run they endured in the more than decade-long bull market.
/jlne.ws/3VPxdPr
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Hidden Fentanyl Is Driving a Fatal New Phase in US Opioid Epidemic; Florida's Volusia County is racing to treat addiction while battling a wave of overdoses caused by tainted street drugs
Emma Court - Bloomberg
The rise of fentanyl has brought on the most dangerous phase yet in the US's decades-long opioid epidemic, causing a surge in overdose deaths and crippling efforts to end a devastating addiction crisis. Covid-19 helped pave the way for fentanyl's ascent. Driven into boredom and isolation by the pandemic, many Americans turned to illegal drugs - and in 2020 and 2021, more people than ever were killed by fentanyl.
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CDC says long Covid has contributed to thousands of U.S. deaths; The agency's report comes as Congress is considering whether to fund research and treatment.
Krista Mahr - Politico
More than 3,500 Americans have died due, at least in part, to long Covid, according to new data from the CDC. The agency's findings underscore the potential severity of a condition that continues to impact millions but is still poorly understood and - in some cases - dismissed entirely. The new analysis, published early Wednesday by the CDC's Center for National Health Statistics, found that 3,544 death certificates between January 2020 and June 2022 listed Covid-19 as a cause of death in addition to citing such terms as "chronic Covid" or "long haul Covid."
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It's Time to Wear a Mask Again, Health Experts Say; A high-quality, well-fitting mask is your best protection against infection from the coronavirus, influenza and R.S.V.
Dana G. Smith - The New York Times
Masks are back, and, this time, they're not just for Covid-19. A "tripledemic" of the coronavirus, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, known as R.S.V., sweeping through the United States has prompted several cities and counties, including New York City and Los Angeles County, to encourage people to wear a mask in indoor public spaces once again.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Singapore's Canary Wharf Is Running Out of Office Space; The Asian financial center has begun its quest for a new business district. But will tenants agree to leave the buzzing Marina Bay and move next to a tranquil lake?
Andy Mukherjee - Bloomberg
The small island-state of Singapore wants to spread itself out more evenly by blurring the boundaries between where people go to work and where they live, shop and dine. That can't happen as long as most large offices want to crowd into the central business district. A new round in this decades-long tug-of-war is about to begin with billions of dollars of real-estate investment at stake. In the first half of next year, the government will offer the biggest land parcel it has sold since 2016 for office construction.
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Peru Copper Mines Face Transport Delays as Protests Spread; Cerro Verde hit by supply and shipment holdups, Freeport says; Protests triggered by impeachment of former President Castillo
James Attwood - Bloomberg
Protests against the ouster of President Pedro Castillo are starting to disrupt the movement of staff and supplies at Cerro Verde and other copper mines in Peru, the No. 2 supplier of the metal. While on-site operations at mines have been unaffected by roadblocks and airport and rail shutdowns, off-site logistics have encountered some delays. Cerro Verde, near the southwestern city of Arequipa, is experiencing holdups in transport of people, supplies and product, owner Freeport-McMoRan Inc. said in an email late Monday.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Sam Bankman-Fried's parents were at his hearing in the Bahamas, and his mother laughed during the proceedings, report says
Sindhu Sundar - Business Insider
Sam Bankman-Fried's parents reportedly attended their son's hearing in the Bahamas after his arrest. Bankman-Fried is facing extradition to the US, where prosecutors have unveiled criminal charges. His mother "laughed several times" when he was called a "fugitive," CoinDesk reported. Sam Bankman-Fried appeared at a hearing in the Bahamas on Tuesday with his parents in attendance, according to multiple reports, including from The New York Times and the cryptocurrency site CoinDesk.
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