| February 10, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Michael Bloomberg has an editorial titled "The World Bank Must Take Bolder Action on Climate."
Besides Scouts BSA having a birthday on February 8, so did Nasdaq, as Tal Cohen, president of market platforms at Nasdaq, reminded us on LInkedIn. Nasdaq began operations on February 8, 1971 as the world's first electronic stock market.
Eurex has introduced Micro DAX® Options, and Dr. Randolf Roth is prominently featured in a Deutsche Boerse/Eurex video discussing the positive advancements of the Micro product suite since its launch.
Yesterday the SGX-NZX Butter and Milk Fat set daily volume records, up 35 percent on butter with 4464 lots traded and up 50 percent on milk fat with 1800 lots traded. Nick Garden, head of derivatives at NZX Limited described the records as "udder-ly impressive."
Alice Pocklington has joined Trading Technologies as executive vice president of Asia Pacific. Previously, she was with KRM22 as a business development manager.
Lee McCormack has started a new position as senior manager, partner at Duco
The Trade's Fireside Friday chat is with VoxSmart's Oliver Blower "about the recent Whatsapp scandal, the problem with unofficial communication channels, and how firms can handle the complexities of compliance around this thorny subject."
BOX Exchange LLC is looking for a legal intern in Boston, MA. Details are available HERE.
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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Russell 2000 Index Quarterly Chartbook January 2023
The Russell 2000 Index Quarterly Chartbook provides an overview of the performance of US small-cap equities in 12 data exhibits. Drill down to get the intel you value most. Explore now: http://ow.ly/5lBF50MFPhZ
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FIA-SIFMA flash poll measures derivatives markets sentiment; Responses point to optimism about business outlook, pessimism on regulatory environment
Jeff Reeves - FIA
FIA and SIFMA's Asset Management Group conducted a joint poll of their members during January to capture buyside and sellside views on liquidity, regulation, margin, blockchain and other topics relevant to derivatives markets. The poll garnered more than 100 responses from a curated list of asset managers and brokers actively engaged in the trading and clearing of futures, options and swaps.
/jlne.ws/3Inljbr
****** It is hard not to be optimistic when looking at the ever-present smile on Walt Lukken's face that accompanied the poll.~JJL
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ION brings clients back online after ransomware attack - source
Harry Robertson - Reuters
ION, the financial trading services group hit by a ransomware attack last week, started to bring clients back on to its cleared derivatives platform overnight, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Hacking group Lockbit claimed responsibility for an attack on a section of ION last week, which disrupted customers that include some of the world's biggest banks, brokerages and hedge funds.
/jlne.ws/3JLEZXv
***** It has been kind of quiet since the ransom was allegedly paid.~JJL
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Bard is going to destroy online search; Sure, Google's answer to ChatGPT will save you time. But it'll also lie to you.
Adam Rogers - Insider
This week Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, announced that his company's internet search engine - the way the vast majority of humans interact with a near-total corpus of human knowledge - is about to change. Enter a query, and you'll get more than pages and pages of links, along with a few suggested answers. Now you'll get an assist from artificial intelligence.
/jlne.ws/3YBP79k
****** A good bard is also a good liar. It has always been the case.~JJL
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Satoshi-Era Bitcoin Address Moves $9.6 Million in BTC After 11 Years
Andrew Throuvalas - Decrypt
An ancient BTC address that has not transacted in over a decade came back to life on Wednesday-and the profits are something to behold. Since October 1 2012, address 1MMXRA held 412.12 BTC accumulated across four transactions, altogether worth just $8 at the time. No coins went in or out of that wallet until February 8, when all but a sliver was emptied from the wallet at $23,000 apiece.
/jlne.ws/3lpeH30
***** Not a bad trade, but I never would have paid $8 for bitcoin back in 2012.~JJL
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After 'Crypto Bowl,' Super Bowl LVII Will Be a Crypto Bust; No national commercial from a cryptocurrency company will air during the Kansas City Chiefs-Philadelphia Eagles matchup Sunday, Fox says
Joseph Pisani - The Wall Street Journal
The "Crypto Bowl" was short-lived. There won't be any national ads from cryptocurrency companies during Super Bowl LVII, according to a spokesman for Fox, which is airing the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. That's a reversal from a year ago, when crypto companies splurged on star-studded ads during the game, earning it the nickname "Crypto Bowl." "We did have that category blow up on us," Mark Evans, head of ad sales for Fox Sports, said about the crypto industry during a call with reporters last week
/jlne.ws/3Yj8ioP
****** It is a good thing the media companies did not have to give back the money to the crypto firms for the Super Bowl ads. Or did some of them have to?~JJL
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Why chatbots are bound to spout bullsh*t; Some of what they say is true, but only as a byproduct of learning to seem believable
Tim Harford - Financial Times
Much has changed since 1986, when the Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt published an essay in an obscure journal, Raritan, titled "On Bullsh*t". Yet the essay, later republished as a slim bestseller, remains unnervingly relevant.
/jlne.ws/3HPG0v0
***** If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullsh*t! H/T to W.C. Fields.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday by far was 'Sam? Are you there?!' The bizarre and brutal final hours of FTX, from the Financial Times. Second was the Brand Finance consultancy's list of the 10 most valuable exchange brands. Third was Deutsche Borse enters 10-year partnership with Google Cloud to accelerate innovation, from The Trade.
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MarketsWiki Stats
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MarketsWiki Statistics
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
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| Lead Stories | SEC Intensifies Crypto Enforcement With Exchange Settlement; Digital asset platform Kraken agrees to discontinue its U.S. staking program
Paul Kiernan - The Wall Street Journal
The Securities and Exchange Commission escalated its enforcement campaign against the cryptocurrency industry Thursday with a settlement that could imperil a lucrative activity for other major crypto firms. On Thursday, Payward Inc.'s Kraken platform agreed to stop offering so-called crypto staking services in the U.S. and pay $30 million in penalties to the SEC. Staking allows investors to earn a yield by temporarily handing their crypto tokens over to either an intermediary or a cryptocurrency network.
/jlne.ws/3xiRmTb
Banks should abandon their blockchain fantasies; Efforts from the likes of JPMorgan, Blackrock, and Goldman Sachs to focus on crypto's underlying technology are little more than marketing theatre
Stephen Diehl - Financial News
In the wake of the crypto meltdown of last year, most of the industry's chatter has shifted towards discussion of the blockchain technology underpinning bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, rather than the financial instruments themselves. Crypto marketing exhibits a predictable shift during bear markets towards the humdrum of payments and enterprise applications, replacing the speculative euphoria of the bull market. During this more sober period an opportunity presents itself to look closely into the claims made about this technology.
/jlne.ws/3lsDVNP
FTX, Celsius Bankruptcies With Billions on Line Push Judges Into Legal Void
Steven Church - Bloomberg
As the cryptocurrency mania raged, Congress took a hands-off approach, keeping the fast-growing industry in legal limbo as it spawned startups and drew billions of dollars from investors. That's left it to the courts to deal with the wreckage. The bankruptcies of FTX Group, Celsius Network and Genesis Global are promising to turn judges into after-the-fact rulemakers for an anarchic industry whose pioneers saw it as a way to keep money beyond government reach.
/jlne.ws/3jG7mfb
Extending a successful product suite: Eurex Micro-DAX Options now available
Eurex
Eurex introduced the Micro-Futures Product Suite in April 2019 to cater to investors' demand for smaller-sized futures. Since then, over 10 million contracts have been traded by 90 active members. In particular, the Eurex Micro-DAX® Futures developed positively, with volume increasing 150% YoY to over 30,000 contracts traded daily in 2022. The strong volume and liquidity increase reflects the market demand for micro derivatives.
/jlne.ws/3DTvxgQ
Trafigura Tells Its Banks They Aren't Exposed to Nickel Fraud
Jack Farchy - Bloomberg
Trafigura Group is briefing lenders that none of its banks have direct exposure to the nickel deals at the center of what the commodity trader is calling a systematic fraud perpetrated against it. Trafigura has recorded a $577 million impairment after discovering that metal cargoes it bought didn't contain the nickel they were supposed to, and has begun legal action against the companies involved, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3IeZlar
Crypto Classification Seeks to Make Industry More Welcoming to TradFi Participants
Jamie Crawley - CoinDesk
Cryptocurrency data provider CoinGecko and 21.co, the parent firm of investment product provider 21Shares, are rolling out a classification system for crypto assets, the latest in a growing number of efforts to map the taxonomy of the industry and make it more accessible for participants in traditional finance (TradFi).
/jlne.ws/3IbJWaQ
How to Avoid the Death of DeFi in the Wake of FTX
Brent Xu - CoinDesk
Decentralized finance (or DeFi) is characterized by speed, autonomy and transparency unmatched by legacy banking institutions. The financial crises of the past half-century, brought about by opacity, obfuscation, inefficiency and excessive human meddling, clearly justify these innovations. Yet, as evident by numerous crypto scandals in the last year - most notably the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange - the industry hasn't been able to lean into DeFi's inherent advantages. While decentralized trustless technology is revolutionary, we watched as the industry was being run by centralized organizations like FTX, which are far more susceptible to fraud at the hands of corrupt leadership.
/jlne.ws/3EktiUf
The mystery of the shapeshifting crypto-VC profit; A mistake from a fund that lists Bill Ackman among its backers
Stephen Foley - Financial Times
Keeping track of crypto is hard. This appears to be true for amateurs mislaying their Bitcoin wallet keys, Bahamas-based billionaires with $8bn spreadsheet oopsies, and everyone in between. Take, for example, crypto venture capitalist Yida Gao, who set up an independent shop in 2021 after gigs with New Enterprise Associates and Struck Capital. He pulled in $200mn near the top of the market from investors, including hedge funders like Bill Ackman and Alan Howard.
/jlne.ws/3Ie4Vd3
Barclays probed by UK regulator over anti-money laundering systems; FCA review is latest problem for lender that has struggled with compliance missteps in recent years
Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan and Stephen Morris - Financial Times
Barclays is being probed by the UK financial regulator for suspected persistent failings in its compliance and anti-money laundering systems, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Financial Conduct Authority issued a notice last spring requiring an independent review of the lender's systems to prevent and detect financial crime after becoming concerned about the amount of know-your-customer and AML incidents, the people said.
/jlne.ws/3DYKw9o
How steep is your curve? We're living in a world of fools, breaking us down, when they all should let R* be higher by 150-200bp
Bryce Elder and Alexandra Scaggs - Financial Times
It's a long time since we've been so inverted. The explanation might not be what you think. Conventional wisdom says yield curve inversion is a harbinger of recession - time is supposed to have value, so paying more to borrow for shorter periods makes very little sense. And as we type, the US 2-year yield has climbed to its highest level relative to the 10-year since the 1980s. Shorter-dated Treasury yields are nearly 87 basis points above longer-dated notes.
/jlne.ws/3loU1rV
How the Wealthy Save Billions in Taxes by Skirting a Century-Old Law
Paul Kiel and Jeff Ernsthausen - Propublica
Congress outlawed tax deductions on "wash sales" in 1921, but Goldman Sachs and others have helped billionaires like Steve Ballmer see huge tax savings by selling stocks for a loss and then replacing them with nearly identical investments. At first glance, July 24, 2015, seems to have been a brutal trading day for Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO. He dumped hundreds of stocks, losing at least $28 million.
/jlne.ws/3DXAJAx
Crypto Exchange Kraken Ends Staking Program in $30 Million SEC Settlement
Austin Weinstein, David Pan and Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
Kraken will pay $30 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it broke the agency's rules with its cryptoasset staking products and will discontinue them in the US as part of the agreement with the regulator. The SEC on Thursday alleged that the firm's staking service was an illegal sale of securities. The settlement with Kraken could have a sweeping impact on the industry because major crypto exchanges including those run by Coinbase Global Inc. and Binance Holdings Ltd. have waded into the products to diversify revenues.
/jlne.ws/3DWrpNh
***** Here is the Financial Times version of this story.~JJL
SEC Hits Kraken With $30 Million Fine, Orders Crypto Exchange to Halt Staking in US
Mathew Di Salvo - Decrypt
The SEC today hit San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken with a $30 million fine for violating securities laws. In a Thursday announcement, the regulatory body announced the firm had failed to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program. Kraken-which consists of Payward Ventures, Inc. and Payward Trading Ltd.-agreed to halt its staking service for U.S. clients but did not admit or deny the allegations in the SEC's complaint.
/jlne.ws/3HOOSkn
Gary Gensler hits Kraken with $30 million settlement, prompting outcry of 'regulation by enforcement'
Leo Schwartz - Fortune
On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had reached a settlement with Kraken, the California-based cryptocurrency exchange, related to a staking feature offered to the company's customers. Kraken agreed to pay a fine of $30 million and end the product. After SEC Chair Gary Gensler threatened crypto companies that "the runway is getting shorter" for firms to register with his agency, the latest action increases his influence over the industry by penalizing Kraken, one of the largest global crypto firms. The move will also likely further accusations that Gensler is taking an approach of "regulation by enforcement," rather than creating new rules to govern the crypto ecosystem.
/jlne.ws/3DWPMKD
Coinbase CEO Warns of 'Staking' Crackdown. The Stock Is Tumbling.
Jack Denton - Barron's
The CEO of Coinbase Global warned the Securities and Exchange Commission might be considering cracking down on a process called staking. Any potential move would be bad for the cryptocurrency broker's business and likely hurt Ether, the largest crypto after Bitcoin. Coinbase stock was tumbling on the news. Staking refers to a process that both underpins blockchain networks and offers investors a way to earn yield on their crypto holdings.
/jlne.ws/40In0Ht
How the Coinbase Insider Trading Case Will Change Crypto
Andre Beganski - Decrypt
Former Coinbase employee Ishan Wahi pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud Tuesday in connection to an insider-trading scheme at the exchange. But while the Department of Justice got its desired verdict, Wahi still faces charges brought against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). And its potential consequences extend far beyond just him. The same day federal prosecutors filed criminal charges related to wire fraud last July against Wahi, his brother Nikhil, and their friend Sameer Ramani, the SEC piled on with civil charges and accused the three of violating securities laws as well.
/jlne.ws/3YDPoZh
Commodity Trader Trafigura Faces $577 Million Loss After Uncovering Nickel Fraud; Trader discovered nickel cargoes that didn't contain nickel; Nickel and cobalt head Socrates Economou is leaving company
Archie Hunter and Jack Farchy - Bloomberg
Commodity trader Trafigura Group is facing more than half a billion dollars in losses after discovering metal cargoes it bought didn't contain the nickel they were supposed to. Trafigura has spent the past two months uncovering what it believes is a systematic fraud against it. It has started legal action against Indian businessman Prateek Gupta and several companies connected to him including TMT Metals and subsidiaries of UD Trading Group, Trafigura said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3DWoUuf
How a Good Retirement Risks Becoming Just for the Privileged; Popular discontent with the idea of having to work for longer is building as state pensions feel the strain.
Amy Bainbridge, Ainsley Thomson and Alice Kantor - Bloomberg
It's the slowest moving financial crisis of our time. Public finances are buckling as retirement promises made to previous generations collide with the realities of an aging population. State pension costs in developed economies, often already the biggest single area of government expenditure, are projected to soar and leave scant room for other spending priorities. Back in 1980, pensions consumed about 5.5% of GDP, and by 2040 that could top 10%, according to the best available data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
/jlne.ws/3If4mjl
Corporate America is struggling to adapt to Gen Z; This age cohort's obsession with customised experiences poses significant challenges for companies
Gillian Tett - Financial Times
In recent months, the payments company Visa has quietly started to offer customers a new feature: a digital tool that lets them cap spending in a personalised way, for example by restricting the bill at coffee bars to a preset limit each week. Nothing odd about that, you might think. With inflation undermining household budgets, and credit card debt at record highs in countries such as the US, consumers have reasons to restrict themselves.
/jlne.ws/3jRCSqj
Federal Reserve Unveils Wall Street Bank Stress-Test Plans; Exercise to include hypothetical recession, real-estate shocks; Central bank to begin its assessment by the end of March
Katanga Johnson - Bloomberg
Wall Street's largest banks will face a hypothetical scenario of a severe global recession with heightened stress in both commercial and residential real estate markets as part of a Federal Reserve exercise to test firms' ability to withstand crises. The central bank will examine the ability of the 23 biggest US lenders to weather crisis conditions without degrading their capital to dangerous levels.
/jlne.ws/3lseMCW
FTX founder keeps talking, ignoring typical legal strategy
Ken Sweet - Chicago Tribune
For federal prosecutors, Sam Bankman-Fried could be the gift that keeps on giving. After the November collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he founded in 2019, Bankman-Fried unexpectedly gave a series of interviews intended to present his version of events. He was indicted in December and charged with perpetrating one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history - and he's still talking, either in person or on the internet.
/jlne.ws/3Ymf5xJ
Lazard's family legacy is gone, the Rothschilds fight on; Two European banking dynasties show the struggle to reconcile family control and growth
Anne-Sylvaine Chassany - Financial Times
One European banking dynasty vanishes. Another tries to avoid the same fate. It has been a momentous week in Paris for the Lazard and Rothschild families. The death, in June last year, of Lazard scion Michel David-Weill has led to a palace coup at Eurazeo, once part of the complex cascade of holding companies that controlled the investment bank for the family. Eurazeo chief Virginie Morgon, a former Lazard banker and a protégée of David-Weill, was sacked after a power struggle among shareholders.
/jlne.ws/3YjaP2j
Adani hires US legal powerhouse Wachtell in short-seller battle; Indian conglomerate taps lawyers known for fierce activism defence in fight against Hindenburg's claims
James Fontanella-Khan and Ortenca Aliaj and Arash Massoudi and Stephen Morris - Financial Times
Gautam Adani has hired one of Wall Street's fiercest activism defence law firms to fight back against claims made by short seller Hindenburg Research, as the Indian billionaire battles to reassure investors about the financial health of his business empire.
/jlne.ws/3JY7iCe
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia begins major offensive in eastern Ukraine, Luhansk governor claims
Luke Harding - The Guardian
Russia has launched a major offensive in eastern Ukraine and is trying to break through defences near the town of Kreminna, the governor for the Luhansk region said on Thursday. Serhiy Haidai told Ukrainian TV that Russian troops had gone on the attack and were trying to advance westwards across a winter landscape of snow and forests. There had been "maximum escalation" and a big increase in shooting and shelling, he said.
/jlne.ws/3Xk8O4u
Tanks Aren't Arriving in Ukraine Despite Promises From European Allies; A reluctant Berlin is Kyiv's biggest tank provider
Bojan Pancevski - The Wall Street Journal
For months, Germany withstood international pressure to allow neighbors to supply Ukraine with German-made tanks. Yet since Berlin finally yielded last month, only one country in Europe has agreed to dispatch a sizeable contingent. European allies' reluctance to make good on earlier signals despite intense lobbying from Berlin in recent days is raising doubt that enough tanks can arrive in Ukraine in time for an expected Russian offensive.
/jlne.ws/3S3t7lT
Russia to Cut Oil Output in Retaliation for West's Sanctions
Bloomberg News
Russia said it will cut oil output by 500,000 barrels a day next month, following through on a threat to retaliate against western sanctions and sending oil prices sharply higher. The output reduction, which is the equivalent of about 5% of January output, has been hinted at repeatedly by the Kremlin since the European Union and G-7 began discussing capping the price of Russian exports. The move threatens renewed turmoil in an oil market that has otherwise taken in its stride the EU bans on most seaborne imports of Russian oil.
/jlne.ws/3jUcigh
Russia to cut oil output in response to price cap by west; Reduction of 500,000 barrels a day aims to help 'restore market relations', says deputy PM
Anastasia Stognei and David Sheppard
Russia will cut oil production from next month in response to the price cap imposed by western nations, the country's top energy official said, in the first sign Moscow is moving to weaponise oil supplies after slashing natural gas exports to Europe last year. The cut of 500,000 barrels a day, the equivalent of about 5 per cent of Russia's production or 0.5 per cent of world supply, will help "restore market relations", Alexander Novak said in a statement on Friday.
/jlne.ws/3IblxSL
Putin has 'lost the energy war', top trader claims as he ends bets on high gas price; Pierre Andurand says Europe has weaned itself off Russian natural gas and is unlikely to return to it
Laurence Fletcher and David Sheppard - Financial Times
Russian president Vladimir Putin has "lost the energy war" and the worst of the European gas and power crisis has passed, according to Pierre Andurand, one of the world's top-performing traders in the sector. Andurand, whose energy focused hedge funds have enjoyed three bumper years of returns during the coronavirus pandemic, said he had closed out all his positions in natural gas markets because last year's price surge to record levels was unlikely to be repeated, with Europe learning rapidly to live without Russian gas.
/jlne.ws/3HPDEMG
Russia launches fresh missile bombardment on Ukraine; One projectile crosses neighbouring Moldovan airspace, highlighting risks of conflict spilling over
Ben Hall in London and Roman Olearchyk - Financial Times
Russia launched another mass missile attack against Ukrainian targets on Friday, hitting electricity infrastructure across the country and causing explosions in Kyiv. One of its missiles crossed into the airspace of neighbouring Moldova, highlighting the risk of the conflict spilling over.
/jlne.ws/3HMuK2x
Romania says a Russian missile didn't enter its airspace, countering a Ukrainian claim; Ukraine's top military commander had earlier said that two Russian missiles crossed into the airspace of Moldova and Romania before entering Ukraine
Marc Santora and Monika Pronczuk - The New York Times
The defense ministry of Romania, a NATO member, said on Friday that a Russian missile had come within 22 miles of its border but that it did not cross into the country's territory, countering a claim made by the Ukrainian military.
/jlne.ws/3RLIQ8V
EU Urged to Make Banks Report Size of Frozen Russian Assets
Alberto Nardelli - Bloomberg
The European Union should consider requiring banks to report details on the value of frozen Russian central bank assets if it wants to use sanctioned funds to help pay for Ukraine's reconstruction, according to the bloc's lawyers. The EU's legal service said the bloc's laws would permit it to invest the frozen assets and use the proceeds to help Kyiv, but officials must first get a handle on the scale of central bank and other sanctioned state-backed assets that have been immobilized, according to a document shared this week with member states as leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Brussels.
/jlne.ws/3YEn4pJ
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | LME Says Russian Metal Levels Have Risen, But Within Expectation
Jack Farchy - Bloomberg
The London Metal Exchange published data showing that Russian metal has been flowing into its network of warehouses in recent months, but said that the increase was in line with its expectations and that consumers were still accepting it. The data, showing that metal from Russia now accounts for 94% of live copper inventories, 41% of aluminum and 16% of nickel, are likely to stoke a debate that has been going on for months over whether the LME should be allowing Russian metal to trade on its exchange.
/jlne.ws/40NtKE3
Euronext delays commitment of traders report until further notice
Reuters
Euronext said its commodities commitment of traders report, which it had delayed on Wednesday until Feb. 10 at the latest due to technical issues, was delayed until further notice. The exchange operator said on its website a problem with a third-party software provider prevented some market participants from reporting their daily positions for Feb. 3. It did not name the software provider.
/jlne.ws/3xcPzix
CME Has Record ADV in 'Age of Uncertainty'
Shanny Basar - Markets Media
CME Group reported a 19% increase in average daily volume in 2022 to a record 23.3 million contracts, which the derivatives exchange operator said was due to global market participants navigating economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Terry Duffy, chairman and chief executive of CME Group, said on the earnings call on 8 February: "Our 2022 performance was driven by new records in financial products, options on futures, and volume from outside the United States."
/jlne.ws/3XlKM99
Exchange operator CME's profit tops views in volatile quarter
Anirban Chakroborti and John McCrank - Reuters
CME Group Inc on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter profits above Wall Street expectations, as global pricing pressures, rising interest rates and recessionary fears drove greater use of the futures exchange operator's risk hedging tools. Red-hot inflation, paired with the U.S. Federal Reserve's hawkish monetary policy, roiled markets in the quarter, helping boost CME's average daily volume (ADV) nearly 6% to 21.8 million contracts in the three months ended Dec. 31.
/jlne.ws/40MpK6I
LSEG capital markets leadership structure revealed with two new senior equities and trading appointments; New organisation of LSEG's capital markets business is designed to reflect its refocused lines of business and asset classes; follows departure of Scott Bradley and Dr Robert Barnes.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has promoted from within for two new senior equities and trading roles as it continues to overhaul its leadership, The TRADE can reveal. Lida Eslami, LSEG's former head of business development for exchange traded products and its international order book, has been appointed head of equities and ETP sales and relationship management. She is reporting into Sally Francis-Cole, head of global FX sales and equities trading sales.
/jlne.ws/3HRgsO1
We had the biggest year in the history of our company, says CME Group's Terry Duffy
CNBC Television - YouTube
CME Group CEO Terry Duffy joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss the company's latest earnings beat, how the company is bracing for future Fed rate hikes and the massive uptake in options.
/jlne.ws/3IdcgcM
CCP12 Welcomes Kase As An Observer Member
CCP12
The Global Association of Central Counterparties - welcomes Kazakhstan Stock Exchange JSC as a CCP12 Observer Member. At the monthly CCP12 Executive Committee Meeting in January 2023, the Executive Committee accepted Kazakhstan Stock Exchange JSC ("KASE") as an Observer Member of CCP12. KASE is a fully integrated exchange offering listing, trading, clearing and settlement services.
/jlne.ws/3XntV63
Country Of Origin Stock Data
London Metal Exchange
Summary; 1. The LME notifies the market of the first publication of its new monthly report showing per-country origin of LME stocks. Additionally, given the current focus on Russian metal and the LME's 2022 discussion paper, the LME provides an updated assessment of the current stocks and flows of Russian metal on-warrant. The LME notes that - as anticipated in the 2022 discussion paper - the proportions of Russian stocks have risen. However, across the LME's main contracts, these levels remain at or below their historical highs. Furthermore, the LME's conclusion (based on market feedback) that Russian metal continues to be consumed is supported by data on the outflow of Russian metal from LME warehouses. The LME will, as previously stated, continue to monitor the market carefully, and will also continue to respond to all relevant government sanctions and tariffs.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa
Cboe Global Markets Declares First-Quarter 2023 Dividend
Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of global market infrastructure and tradable products, today announced its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.50 per share of common stock for the first quarter of 2023. The first-quarter 2023 dividend is payable on March 15, 2023, to stockholders of record as of February 28, 2023.
/jlne.ws/3Yp8brG
EuroGroup Laminations lists on Euronext Milan and joins the Euronext Tech Leaders segment
Euronext
First listing of 2023 on Euronext Milan; EuroGroup Laminations is the fifth listing on the Euronext Tech Leaders segment since its launch in June 2022, bringing the total number of Euronext Tech Leaders to 112; Fourth listing on Euronext in 2023. Total placement volume of the offering equal to EUR423 million
Milan - 10 February 2023 - Borsa Italiana, part of the Euronext Group, today congratulates EuroGroup Laminations on its listing on Euronext Milan.
/jlne.ws/3x92hPz
Nasdaq Announces End of Month Open Short Interest Positions in Nasdaq Stocks as of Settlement Date January 31, 2023
Nasdaq
At the end of the settlement date of January 31, 2023, short interest in 3,463 Nasdaq Global MarketSM securities totaled 9,983,462,569 shares compared with 10,244,491,640 shares in 3,460 Global Market issues reported for the prior settlement date of January 13, 2023. The end of January short interest represents 2.70 days average daily Nasdaq Global Market share volume for the reporting period, compared with 2.92 days for the prior reporting period.
/jlne.ws/3xdp3Wr
NYSE Group Consolidated Short Interest Report
Intercontinental Exchange
NYSE today reported short interest as of the close of business on the settlement date of January 31, 2023.
/jlne.ws/3lshgS9
SGX RegCo directs Lorenzo International Limited to be delisted
Singapore Exchange Regulation
Singapore Exchange Regulation ("SGX RegCo") refers to Lorenzo International Limited's ("the Company") announcements of 13 August 2019 and 11 December 2020 on the proposed disposal of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Lorenzo Furniture (Kunshan) Co., Ltd ("Lorenzo Kunshan").
/jlne.ws/3YHLNJK
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Elon Musk Finally Broke Twitter; Musk's chaotic rule of the site finally brought it to its knees on Wednesday night in an outage that disabled tweeting, retweeting, and following.
Jordan Pearson - VICE
On Wednesday night, a number of Twitter's core features stopped working for many users, including tweeting, retweeting, following, and direct messages. When attempting any of these actions, users were presented with an error message informing them that they had reached their daily limit. The platform remained online, but in de facto read-only mode. Some famous users were affected, such as Steve Martin, who tweeted out his own error message, and Motherboard's own account was prevented from tweeting and retweeting.
/jlne.ws/3IcZ5Zh
BGC Partners to Present at the 24th Annual Credit Suisse Financial Services Forum on February 14, 2023
BGC Partners
BGC Partners, Inc. (Nasdaq: BGCP) ("BGC"), a leading global brokerage and financial technology company, today announced that its Chairman and CEO, Howard W. Lutnick, is scheduled to present at the Credit Suisse Financial Services Forum at 3:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. A live webcast of the event will be made available at http://ir.bgcpartners.com. A replay of the event will also be made available at the same site and for six-months, beginning February 14, 2023. Statements made during the webcast may include forward-looking statements about BGC.
/jlne.ws/3JXKDWC
Crypto Payments Firm MoonPay and NFT Marketplace LooksRare Ink Partnership
Cam Thompson - CoinDesk
Web3 payments firm MoonPay is teaming up with non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace LooksRare to allow traders to easily purchase cryptocurrency and NFTs on the platform, the companies said Thursday. MoonPay's infrastructure aims to help onboard LooksRare customers to Web3 and will offer a suite of products to facilitate efficient transactions. Its "NFT Checkout" allows collectors to purchase NFTs with a debit or credit card without first purchasing cryptocurrency. It will also let MoonPay users purchase LOOKS, the marketplace's native token.
/jlne.ws/3xirCq1
MarketAxess to Increase Automation with Adaptive Auto-X
Shanny Basar - MarketsMedia
MarketAxess is aiming to initially launch Adaptive Auto-X in the first half of this year to provide clients with algorithmic workflows and allow them to make best use of the firm's various liquidity pools. Chris Concannon, president and chief operating officer at MarketAxess, laid out plans for Adaptive Auto-X on the 2022 full-year earnings call on 25 January for the firm which operates a fixed income electronic trading platform and provides market data and post-trade services.
/jlne.ws/40N6966
China pulls back from global subsea cable project as US tensions mount; Telecoms groups withdrew investment in Sea-Me-We 6, which will transmit data between Asia and western Europe
Anna Gross and Alexandra Heal - Financial Times
China has cut its participation in an internet cable project to link Asia with Europe, as tensions grow between Washington and Beijing over control of the physical infrastructure that transmits the world's online traffic. Two of China's biggest telecoms groups, China Telecom and China Mobile, withdrew their combined investment of roughly 20 per cent from the subsea cable project last year after a US company was selected to build the line over Hengtong Marine, the country's biggest provider in the sector, according to three people briefed on the decision.
/jlne.ws/3YGQPGE
DeFi Giant MakerDAO Integrates Blockchain Data Provider Chainlink for DAI Stablecoin
Krisztian Sandor - CoinDesk
MakerDAO, one of the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, successfully onboarded blockchain data provider Chainlink's smart contract automation into its Keeper system that maintains the stability of Maker's DAI stablecoin, Chainlink Labs said Thursday. Chainlink Automation will run specific tasks, including price updates, liquidity balancing for the DAI Direct Deposit Module (D3M) and debt ceiling upgrades for assets held as collateral, according to the press release.
/jlne.ws/3XlYp8g
Payments Specialist Joins TNS to Lead UK and Ireland Business
Transaction Network Services
Transaction Network Services (TNS) has announced the appointment of payments industry specialist Matthew Thomas to the role of Managing Director, UK and Ireland for its Payments Market business. Matthew brings more than 20 years' experience to TNS, through his time with Cardtronics, DC Payments and NCR, among others. He was most recently Chief Technology Officer, International, at Cardtronics, where he was responsible for leading its technology teams across all the company's international markets. Matthew also spent time as Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand for DC Payments.
/jlne.ws/3DVr3X7
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman to Retire; The company hasn't chosen a successor to Mr. Schulman, who will retire in December
Peter Rudegeair - The Wall Street Journal
PayPal Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Dan Schulman said he would retire from the company at the end of 2023, ending a nine-year run atop the payments giant. PayPal's board hasn't yet chosen a successor. Mr. Schulman said he would help with the leadership transition and remain on the board.
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Cybersecurity Risk Dashboards: Extreme Liability
Forrester - Forbes
Over the last 12 months, "risk dashboards" became all the rage in cybersecurity, with varied titles such as "risk index," "security baseline," "security posture," and "risk posture." These dashboards appear in a vendor's user interface and purport to help security programs improve. Some even offer coveted "benchmark data" that leaders can share with boards and executives. A more accurate name for these displays, designed to make cybersecurity teams feel insecure, would be: upsell dashboards.
/jlne.ws/3HRIgC0
AI Cyber Solutions Positioning To Better Secure Web3
Lawrence Wintermeyer - Forbes
The past year was tough for crypto markets with the Terra Luna meltdown, the FTX bankruptcy, a string of high-profile insolvencies, and a surfeit of hacking-related incidents. A recent report from Immunefi, the bug bounty and security platform, revealed the crypto industry incurred losses of $3.9 billion in 2022 due to various hacking, fraud, and scam-related incidents.
/jlne.ws/3YGkO1q
A Hacker's Mind - how the elites exploit the system; Forget the lonely teens in hoodies, says security expert Bruce Schneier - it's the rich and powerful who undermine the rules
Becky Hogge - Financial Times
What does the computer world have to teach us about designing for resilience in other domains? Quite a lot, argues Bruce Schneier, in a new book that sees the security expert turn his gaze to the increasingly vulnerable financial, legal and political systems that underpin society.
/jlne.ws/3HKm1xI
Ransomware attack on ION Trading shows markets' vulnerability to hackers
Carter Pape - American Banker
In a rare case of a ransomware attack bringing down a segment of the financial services industry, a major derivatives software provider fell victim to a Russia-linked ransomware group last week, and its trading systems only came back online after the threat actor said the company paid the ransom. Ransomware group LockBit's attack against ION Group's Cleared Derivatives division affected global markets, prompting statements from the Futures Industry Association, a trade organization for futures, options and centrally cleared derivatives markets, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the U.S.
/jlne.ws/3JWLuXh
ION Reboards Clients after Ransomware Attack: Report; The ransomware attack started on January 31st, ION disclosed recently.; The hack was claimed by LockBit, a ransomware gang with ties to Russia.
Solomon Oladipupo - Finance Magnates
ION, the electronic trading solutions provider recently hit by a ransomware attack, overnight started readmitting its clients to its cleared derivatives platform, a source told Reuters on Tuesday. The revelation comes one week after ION admitted that the platform was targeted. The firm described the attack as "a cybersecurity event."
/jlne.ws/3jI1KB5
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | U.S. judge extends FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's bail restrictions
Luc Cohen - Reuters
A U.S. judge on Thursday extended a ban on FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried's ability to contact employees of companies he once controlled and use encrypted messaging technology while out on bail awaiting trial on fraud charges. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Feb. 1 had temporarily barred Bankman-Fried from contacting any current or former employees of FTX or Alameda Research, his hedge fund, after prosecutors raised concerns that the 30-year-old former billionaire may be trying to tamper with witnesses.
/jlne.ws/3DUJMBW
'I've read all the spy novels': Judge and Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers spar over his use of messaging apps
Leo Schwartz - Fortune
On Thursday morning, Sam Bankman-Fried arrived at the Moynihan Courthouse in lower Manhattan with his two lawyers in tow, ready to defend his right to communicate through messaging applications while under house arrest. The disgraced FTX founder's use of electronics has proved contentious throughout his criminal trial, which began in December after the U.S. Department of Justice charged him with eight counts related to the collapse of the crypto exchange, including wire fraud and campaign finance regulation violations.
/jlne.ws/40NrfBF
Judge Questions Sam Bankman-Fried's Access to Messaging Apps
Corinne Ramey and James Fanelli - The Wall Street Journal
A federal judge on Thursday questioned whether proposed restrictions on Sam Bankman-Fried's ability to communicate were tough enough, grilling lawyers about the details of the messaging applications the FTX founder has been using. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan held a hearing after federal prosecutors recently requested the judge limit Mr. Bankman-Fried, who is facing fraud charges, from accessing encrypted messaging apps after they said he contacted a potential witness in the case.
/jlne.ws/3x9nDw2
Kraken Agreed to Shutter US Crypto-Staking Operations to Settle SEC Charges: Source
Nikhilesh De - CoinDesk
Kraken has agreed to shut its cryptocurrency-staking operations to settle charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to an industry source briefed on the matter. The SEC voted on the settlement during a closed-door commissioner meeting on Thursday afternoon, and an announcement may come later in the day, the industry person told CoinDesk.
/jlne.ws/3JVop7u
EminiFX CEO Eddy Alexandre Set to Plead Guilty to Role in Alleged $59M Ponzi Scheme
Cheyenne Ligon - CoinDesk
The CEO of cryptocurrency and forex trading platform EminiFX is now expected to plead guilty for his role in an alleged fraud that federal prosecutors say duped investors out of $59 million. Eddy Alexandre, 51, of Valley Stream, N.Y., was arrested in May 2022 and charged with wire fraud and commodities fraud, to which he initially pleaded not guilty. Court records show that Alexandre will change his plea in a new hearing set for Friday afternoon. Inner City Press first reported the news.
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Crypto exchange Kraken ends staking programme and pays $30mn in SEC case; Settlement with regulator comes as industry fears a broader crackdown on the practice
Scott Chipolina and Stefania Palma - Financial Times
Crypto exchange Kraken will discontinue its crypto staking programme and pay $30mn in a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as the regulator expands its crackdown on digital assets. The settlement resolves claims from the SEC that Kraken - one of the best-known exchanges in the crypto industry - failed to register the offer and sale of its crypto asset programme.
/jlne.ws/3YlHXq6
Coinbase Drops Most Since July as SEC Cracks Down on Crypto Staking; Coinbase says staking product continues to be available; The largest US exchange's shares fell 14%, the most since July
David Pan and Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
Coinbase Global Inc.'s shares fell the most in more than six months after rival Kraken was forced to stop providing an investment service also offered by the largest US cryptocurrency exchange. Kraken will pay $30 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it broke US rules with its crypto staking products and will discontinue them in the US as part of the agreement with the regulator. The SEC alleged that Kraken's staking service was an illegal sale of securities.
/jlne.ws/3Ymoeq7
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Citi Dropped from Texas $3.4 Billion Muni Deal on Gun Policy; State AG said the bank 'discriminates' against gun industry; Bank spokesperson declined to comment on the removal
Danielle Moran - Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. has been dropped from the group of banks poised to handle the biggest-ever municipal-bond transaction from Texas after the state's attorney general's office determined the firm "discriminates" against the firearms industry, barring it from underwriting most government borrowings in the state. The Texas Natural Gas Securitization Finance Corp. board met on Thursday and took action to "reconstitute" the syndicate on the $3.4 billion deal, according to Lee Deviney, executive director of the Texas Public Finance Authority, the state agency overseeing the borrowing.
/jlne.ws/3YcqUql
U.S. Sanctions Nine Companies for Moving Iranian Oil Products; The sanctioned entities, including some based in Malaysia and Singapore, allegedly worked with a previously sanctioned Hong Kong broker
Richard Vanderford - The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned nine companies for allegedly helping move Iranian petroleum products and petrochemicals valued at hundreds of millions of dollars to buyers in Asia via a previously sanctioned Hong Kong company. Three companies in Malaysia and Singapore are among those facing sanctions, Treasury said Thursday. The companies were allegedly involved in the sale and shipment of products on behalf of Triliance Petrochemical Co., a Hong Kong-based broker that was added to the sanctions list in 2020.
/jlne.ws/3RNdMFI
U.S. Agencies Seek Tougher Rules, Internal Probes on Stock Trading by Federal Officials
Rebecca Ballhaus and Brody Mullins - The Wall Street Journal
Several federal agencies are looking to tighten their ethics rules, while others have directed their internal watchdogs to investigate suspicious investing by officials, as lawmakers continue to press for tougher trading restrictions across the federal government. The efforts follow a Wall Street Journal series that identified a sweeping pattern of financial conflicts across the executive branch, including finding that more than 2,600 officials invested in companies overseen by their agencies.
/jlne.ws/3JVl88c
Chinese Balloon Carried Antennas, Other Equipment to Gather Intelligence, U.S. Says
Vivian Salama and Michael R. Gordon - The Wall Street Journal
The Chinese balloon that crossed the U.S. carried antennas and sensors for collecting intelligence and communications, Biden administration officials said, laying out the most detailed evidence to date about China's surveillance program. The new information was described Thursday by a range of officials from the Pentagon, State Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation as the administration prepared to take unspecified action against companies and entities linked to the Chinese balloon program that the U.S. says has spied on more than 40 countries across five continents.
/jlne.ws/3XlWhgI
Federal Workers Have Been Home for Too Long; Partisan gridlock may be getting in the way of a reasonable hybrid-work compromise in Washington.
Justin Fox - Bloomberg
The Stopping Home Office Work's Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP, get it?) Act of 2023 passed the Republican-majority US House of Representatives on a close-to-party-line vote last week. It now heads to the Democratic-majority Senate where it will almost certainly die. That's too bad, writes Julianna Goldman. True, the legislation's requirement that federal agencies go back to end-of-2019 "telework policies, practices, and levels" within 30 days of its passage is unrealistic in the new age of hybrid work unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Jesus 'Chuy' García congressional campaign says it will return Bankman-Fried money to investors
John Byrne - Chicago Tribune
Mayoral candidate Jesús "Chuy" García's congressional campaign says it will cut a check for $2,900 to repay clients of a collapsed cryptocurrency exchange the same amount of money the disgraced former head of the business contributed to García's reelection war chest. The news came as lawyers representing former clients of the FTX exchange said earlier this week they would try to get back the tens of millions of dollars indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried lavished on political candidates across the U.S.
/jlne.ws/3xvnpjf
Bank Safe Raided, Lawmaker Arrested in EU Parliament Graft Case
Marc Tarabella - Bloomberg
Belgian investigators carried out further searches on Friday morning linked to the high-profile Qatar bribery scandal that rocked the European Parliament in December. The first search targeted a bank safe in the city of Liege in the east of Belgium belonging to lawmaker Marc Tarabella, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Several offices of the town hall of Anthisnes in the province of Liege were also searched.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | ESMA warns of high risks amid fragile markets, despite a "remarkably stable" H2; The regulator's first Trends, Risks and Vulnerabilities (TRV) report of 2023 warns that high levels of uncertainty and fragile market liquidity are limiting the resilience of the financial system against further external shocks.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
The first TRV report of 2023 from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has warned of high risks due to fragile financial markets this year; although it also notes the second half of 2022 was characterised by "remarkably stable" financial markets, with economic sentiment becoming more positive in early 2023.
/jlne.ws/3Ifp6Y2
BlackRock 22-year alumnus joins Northern Trust to head up asset management; Incoming executive served in various roles at BlackRock including as its co-head of fundamental equities.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Northern Trust has tapped a 22-year BlackRock alumnus to become the new president of its asset management division. Daniel Gamba joins Northern Trust Asset Management (NTAM) as president and will report to chief executive officer Michael O-Grady.
/jlne.ws/3jLnH1V
Will the SEC Convince a Court It's Right to Label These Tokens as Securities?
Jesse Hamilton - CoinDesk
Lawyers have challenged a potentially consequential move from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to build a list of crypto tokens it considers unregistered securities. Nine tokens - most of which traded at Coinbase (COIN) - were featured by the regulator in an insider-trading case against a former manager at the company.
/jlne.ws/3JTeGP6
SEC Intensifies Crypto Enforcement With Exchange Settlement; Digital asset platform Kraken agrees to discontinue its U.S. staking program
Paul Kiernan - The Wall Street Journal
The Securities and Exchange Commission escalated its enforcement campaign against the cryptocurrency industry Thursday with a settlement that could imperil a lucrative activity for other major crypto firms. On Thursday, Payward Inc.'s Kraken platform agreed to stop offering so-called crypto staking services in the U.S. and pay $30 million in penalties to the SEC. Staking allows investors to earn a yield by temporarily handing their crypto tokens over to either an intermediary or a cryptocurrency network.
/jlne.ws/3YHulF9
Kraken to Discontinue Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Staking-As-A-Service Program and Pay $30 Million to Settle SEC Charges
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Payward Ventures, Inc. and Payward Trading Ltd., both commonly known as Kraken, with failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program, whereby investors transfer crypto assets to Kraken for staking in exchange for advertised annual investment returns of as much as 21 percent. To settle the SEC's charges, the two Kraken entities agreed to immediately cease offering or selling securities through crypto asset staking services or staking programs and pay $30 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.
/jlne.ws/40IUkOt
Kraken Down: Statement on SEC v. Payward Ventures, Inc., et al.
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce - SEC
Today, the SEC shut down Kraken's staking program and counted it as a win for investors. I disagree and therefore dissent. Kraken operated a service through which its customers could offer their tokens up for staking. The customers earned returns, and the company earned a fee. The Commission argues that this staking program should have been registered with the SEC as a securities offering. Whether one agrees with that analysis or not, the more fundamental question is whether SEC registration would have been possible. In the current climate, crypto-related offerings are not making it through the SEC's registration pipeline. An offering like the staking service at issue here raises a host of complicated questions, including whether the staking program as a whole would be registered or whether each token's staking program would be separately registered, what the important disclosures would be, and what the accounting implications would be for Kraken.
/jlne.ws/3JW4Com
SEC Obtains Final Judgments Against Two Defendants in CodeSmart Fraud
SEC
On February 8, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered final judgments against Craig Josephberg and Ira Shapiro, enjoining them from violating certain provisions of the federal securities law and imposing other remedies.
/jlne.ws/3xhIrBq
ASIC calls for improved material business risk disclosure in annual reports
Australian Securities & Investments Commission
ASIC reminds company directors to ensure material business risks are adequately disclosed in annual reports, to better inform shareholders and prospective investors. ASIC's ongoing financial reporting surveillance program and subsequent inquiries of a selection of 2022 annual reports has led to a further four listed entities disclosing material business risks.
/jlne.ws/3DZgEd4
Archax partners with ScribeStar to digitalise issuance and admission processes for its FCA regulated digital securities exchange
Archax
Archax, the first FCA regulated digital securities exchange broker and custodian, today announced a partnership with ScribeStar, the leading digital capital markets documentation and compliance platform, to create a fully digital issuance and admissions experience for companies accessing the Archax markets.
/jlne.ws/3DWBlGh
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Why This Fabled Economist Still Favors Index Funds Over Stockpickers
Lauren Foster - Barron's
Burton G. Malkiel is fond of saying that, as a boy growing up in Boston, he knew the price of General Motors' stock as well as he knew Ted Williams' batting average. The Princeton University economist was just 10 when he started thumbing through the newspaper to reach the stock tables. "I was fascinated with the numbers that appeared on the stock pages from day to day," says Malkiel, now 90. "I was curious about how the share prices had changed, why they had changed, and whether there were any interesting patterns in the numbers."
/jlne.ws/3IefMUk
Robinhood Needs More Arrows to Fire; Company is shrinking share count and slashing core expenses, but finding new revenue sources is critical
Telis Demos - The Wall Street Journal
Robinhood Markets is emulating its users and buying some stock: Its own. Now it needs customers to get back in the game, too. Robinhood said it aims to buy back all or most of the stake in itself that was bought by Emergent Fidelity Technologies, a vehicle used by Sam Bankman-Fried to acquire the shares last year.
/jlne.ws/3JTthtJ
The prop trading house expanding in Asia
Alex McMurray - eFinancialCareers
Flow Traders just released their Q4 earnings and things are looking pretty good for the Amsterdam based prop trading firm. In 2022, its net trading income was up 20% from the total in 2021. Flow traders' expansion in Asia helped drive the increase in the final quarter. In Europe, the value of the products it traded rose only 1% between Q3 and Q4. In the US, they fell 8%. But in Asia they were up 13%.
/jlne.ws/3RVl7mQ
Liquidity Is Still the Most Important Factor for FX Algos Users
Thought Leadership - Finance Magnates
A Coalition Greenwich 2021 Market Structure & Trading Technology Study revealed that 'Liquidity searching' algorithms (algos) were the most popular type of algos among clients using algorithms. Roughly 69% of respondents pointed to this type of algo being the most popular and often used form. It should not be a surprise that this type of algo is the most popular.
/jlne.ws/3RPo0oX
Adani-Hindenburg: Now For Those Money Laundering Allegations
Andy Mukherjee - Bloomberg
Accusations of stock-market manipulation by the Adani Group, strenuously denied by the conglomerate, have shone the spotlight on a festering global problem loosely estimated to amount to between 2% to 5% of the world's output: Money-laundering. Obscure funds based in Cyprus and Mauritius, one of whom is linked to an intermediary that's also alleged to have played a role in the $4.5 billion 1MDB looting from taxpayers in Malaysia, may be funneling someone else's money into Adani stocks, the short seller Hindenburg Research has alleged.
/jlne.ws/3JSiq3n
Singaporeans Flock to Foreign Currency to Lock In Top Interest Rates; Foreign currency deposits rose 13% year-on-year in Dec.; US dollar placements seeing the strongest forex inflows
Natalie Ching Mun Choy and Marcus Wong - Bloomberg
Singaporeans are increasingly turning to foreign currency investments to take advantage of the strong local currency and protect their cash from inflation. Their investment tool of choice is the humble foreign currency fixed deposit. The product is seeing a surge in popularity in the city-state as banks try to attract investor cash by offering bumper interest rates of as high as 5%, which compares with about 3% to 4% on a normal fixed term deposit.
/jlne.ws/3JYWJ1A
Trafigura faces hit of up to $577mn over alleged nickel fraud; Commodities trader discovers shipments it had purchased did not contain the metal
Harry Dempsey and David Sheppard - Financial Times
Trafigura has alleged it has been the victim of a "systematic fraud" and faces a writedown in excess of half a billion dollars after discovering shipments of nickel that it purchased failed to contain the metal. The commodity trader said in a statement on Thursday that it had recently discovered the alleged fraud and had begun legal action against a group of companies "connected to and apparently controlled" by Dubai-based metals trader Prateek Gupta, including TMT Metals and companies owned by UD Trading Group.
/jlne.ws/3HPrBPp
Swiss Trader Trafigura Hit by Suspected Nickel Fraud, Says It Could Lose $577 Million
Joe Wallace - The Wall Street Journal
Trafigura Group thought it was buying containers full of nickel. What showed up wasn't nickel at all, the giant commodities trader said, describing itself as the victim of a "systematic fraud" that could cost it more than half a billion dollars. The potential loss is a black eye for closely held Trafigura, which has expanded aggressively over the past decade to become a huge, and highly profitable, player in global commodity markets. Like other trading houses and miners, Trafigura has raced to tap into growing demand for nickel, which is vital in producing batteries for electric vehicles.
/jlne.ws/3lkyzEt
Death, Finances and How Many of Us Get Our Money Needs Wrong; Financial planning tends to overlook longevity, a factor that can far exceed life expectancy
Josh Zumbrun - The Wall Street Journal
Here are two numbers that people ought to know but often don't: how many more years they are likely to live and the probability of living much, much longer. The good news is that many Americans live a lot longer than they expect. The bad news is that this often leads to financial regret as they realize, sometimes too late, they might have claimed Social Security too early, passed up the opportunity to buy annuities or long-term-care insurance, or simply undersaved for all those added years of retirement.
/jlne.ws/3x9cICG
FOMO Options Bets Sweep Market During Stock Rally; Activity tied to Apple, Meta Platforms and Tesla shares has touched some of the highest levels in history recently
Eric Wallerstein and Gunjan Banerji - The Wall Street Journal
Options traders are riding this year's stock-market rally en masse, favoring bets on technology stocks to capture quick gains. More than 40 million call-option contracts changed hands in a single day in early February-the highest level on record and nearly topping 2022's daily average volume for puts and calls combined. That propelled overall activity above 68 million contracts, also a record, according to Cboe Global Markets data.
/jlne.ws/3IbszH0
ExxonMobil boosts energy trading ambitions to compete against peers; New division will be aimed at 'driving commercial intensity' for US oil and gas company
Justin Jacobs - Financial Times
ExxonMobil is planning a renewed push into energy trading to take on rivals such as Shell and BP that have long leaned on buying and selling commodities to buoy profits. The US oil supermajor is establishing a new business line called Global Trading that will pull together the company's "expertise from across the company in global crude, products and feedstocks, natural gas, power and freight trading", it said in a memo to employees seen by the Financial Times.
/jlne.ws/3leWwNl
Guess who's back, back again; A renewed cross-generational retail party
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
American retail investors and traders are back after a brutal 2022, and seem to be embracing the Fed-pivot-soft-landing narrative. From JPMorgan overnight: - Both the older and the younger cohorts of retail investors added risk YTD.
/jlne.ws/3DX6NEG
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | What climate law? Voters clueless about Biden's top achievement; The president is hitting the road to get the message out on the Inflation Reduction Act, an effort that may be crucial to his hopes for 2024.
Zack Colman - Politico
President Joe Biden and his team are fanning out across the country to tout the climate-change-fighting, job-creating, money-saving benefits coming from Democrats' landmark Inflation Reduction Act. The problem? Most Americans have probably heard more about Republican complaints that Biden is coming for their gas stoves.
/jlne.ws/3ltuxcQ
Exxon Retreats From Major Climate Effort to Make Biofuels From Algae; Renewable fuels made from algae was the company's most heavily publicized climate solution.
Ben Elgin and Kevin Crowley - Bloomberg
After advertising its efforts to produce environmentally friendly fuels from algae for over a decade, Exxon Mobil Corp. is now quietly walking away from its most heavily publicized climate solution. Exxon has slashed its support for Viridos Inc., a biotech company based in La Jolla, California, that operated as the oil giant's key technical partner since it began its algae push in 2009. With Exxon funding drying up and difficulty finding other backers, the biotech firm laid off 60% of its staff on Dec. 27, according to Viridos executives. The biotech company said it is still moving forward with algae research.
/jlne.ws/3xa7jLF
Janet Yellen steps up pressure for World Bank overhaul as it lags behind on climate finance; US Treasury secretary calls on leadership to reform the global financial institution 'quickly'
Aime Williams - Financial Times
US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has stepped up pressure on the leadership of the World Bank by urging it to "quickly" put in place reforms to free up more money to address climate change among other global challenges. The US is the largest shareholder in the international finance institution that provides funding for developing countries and has pushed for an overhaul along with several other major shareholders including Germany.
/jlne.ws/3DX3kFM
Reboot: It's not down to diverse team members to encourage inclusivity
Natalie Kenway - ESG Clarity
State Street's Hannah Smith shares the challenges and opportunities in her career so far; Financial firms need to be cognisant of relying on the diverse members of their teams to encourage inclusive practices, said Hannah Smith head of Nordics at SPDR ETFs, part of State Street, in this latest Reboot video.
/jlne.ws/3HSHBQv
BP's shift leaves a bigger question on credibility than climate; Retreat on commitments is also a pivot born out of higher oil price forecasts
Helen Thomas - Financial Times
The energy transition was always going to be a dirty business. BP this week rowed back from its 2020 climate commitments, including the headline pledge to cut production by 40 per cent by 2030. Given that those promises were three years ago dubbed "cynical" by Friends of the Earth, the oil and gas major may rather have proved the environmental campaigners' point. BP couched its move in terms of a changed world following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The balance of the energy trilemma - about finding energy security, affordability and sustainability - has shifted.
/jlne.ws/40NxO6Y
BlackRock's sustainable investing chief to join Jeff Bezos' climate philanthropy
Christine Williamson - Pensions & Investments
Paul Bodnar, managing director and global head of BlackRock's $500 billion sustainable investments platform, is leaving the firm to join the $10 billion charitable Bezos Earth Fund in April. Mr. Bodnar's title and responsibilities at the Bezos fund were not immediately available, a spokeswoman for the Bezos fund said.
/jlne.ws/3RQOer6
Energy Dept. Will Lend $2 Billion to a Battery Component Maker; The loan will help accelerate Redwood Materials' plans to produce components for electric car batteries from new and recycled sources.
Niraj Chokshi - New York Times
The Energy Department on Thursday announced a $2 billion loan to help a Nevada company step up production of critical components of electric vehicle batteries. The company, Redwood Materials, plans to use the loan to expand a manufacturing campus near Reno, Nev., where it makes some of the components from new and recycled sources. The company was founded by J.B. Straubel, a former top Tesla executive, and has partnerships with Panasonic, Ford Motor, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.
/jlne.ws/40NLIGg
How Nepal Regenerated Its Forests
NASA Earth Observatory
In the 1970s, Nepal was facing an environmental crisis. Forests in Nepal's hillsides were being degraded due to livestock grazing and fuelwood harvesting, which led to increased flooding and landslides. Without large-scale reforestation programs, a 1979 World Bank report warned, forests in the country's hills would be largely gone by 1990.
/jlne.ws/3HRlxpz
The Challenges and Opportunities of ESG Data in Securitization and Reporting
Staff Report - Apex Group via TabbForum
ESG is becoming increasingly prominent across the financial markets, including in the securitization space. However, there is currently no straightforward solution on how to apply ESG to securitizations. This article is based on Apex Group's latest European Capital Markets webinar, co-hosted with NPL Markets. Apex's Andy Pitts-Tucker and Cornelia Wallner joined a panel of financial industry experts to discuss the current challenges and opportunities of collecting, reporting and analysing ESG Data in securitizations. According to the Climate Bonds Initiative, securitizations so far only account for a tiny fraction of the sustainable debt market. The Institute of International Finance's Sustainable Debt Monitor shows the ESG debt universe is growing rapidly, reaching near $4.5tr in Q3 2022. However, the securitization market remains at a nascent stage in its evolution.
/jlne.ws/3K5MAjw
Exclusive: Hyundai in talks with U.S. Labor Department over Alabama child labor
Joshua Schneyer, Mica Rosenberg and Kristina Cooke - Reuters
Hyundai Motor Co said it is in talks with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve concerns about child workers in its U.S. supply chain, and the company is taking corrective actions after a Reuters investigation found children as young as 12 working in hazard-laden Alabama factories linked to the automotive giant. In a statement late Tuesday, Hyundai told Reuters it has held a series of discussions with the Labor Department, which has been investigating a Hyundai subsidiary in Alabama and other parts suppliers to the automaker, and its sister brand Kia Corp, for potential child labor violations.
/jlne.ws/3xfWho9
Institutional investors back Shell board lawsuit over climate risk; ClientEarth files novel UK case to hold directors accountable; UK, Swedish, Danish, Belgian and French funds support lawsuit; Claim alleges Shell board mismanaging climate risk, breaches law
Kirstin Ridley - Reuters
A group of European institutional investors is backing a novel London lawsuit against energy giant Shell's (SHEL.L) board over alleged climate mismanagement in a case that could have far-reaching implications for how companies tackle emissions. ClientEarth, an environmental law charity turned activist Shell investor, said it had filed a High Court claim on Wednesday, alleging Shell's 11 directors have failed to manage the "material and foreseeable" risks posed to the company by climate change - and that they are breaking company law.
/jlne.ws/3RNqEeS
Nine global banks invest $45 mln in carbon credit platform
Reuters
Nine global banks have invested a total of $45 million in a new platform to help scale up transactions of voluntary carbon credits and make it easier for their customers to participate in the market. Demand for carbon offsets, generated through projects such as tree planting or using cleaner cooking fuel, is expected to soar as companies seek to use the credits to help meet net-zero emissions goals.
/jlne.ws/3DY47Gz
World's Largest Zinc Smelter Sees Opportunity in US Energy Bill; Korea Zinc may also raise stake in Kemco venture: Choi; IRA law incentivizes sourcing of minerals from Australia, US
Stephen Engle, Heejin Kim and Heesu Lee - Bloomberg
The world's largest zinc smelter is betting on electric car batteries and clean energy to help decarbonize its fossil fuel-driven metals refining business and hopes US President Joe Biden's landmark climate bill will create opportunities rather than obstacles. Korea Zinc Co., a Seoul-based company that processes many of the Earth's major metals, is seeking to diversify into electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy sources, in addition to holding onto its almost half-a-century-old zinc refining roots, with the ambition of turning net zero by 2050.
/jlne.ws/3YDqGIv
Climate Groups Want Canada to Omit Blue Hydrogen From Subsidies; Government is finalizing new tax credit for energy industry; Trudeau under pressure to keep up with US on green incentives
Brian Platt - Bloomberg
A coalition of climate groups and academics is asking Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to exclude projects derived from fossil fuels from the Canadian government's hydrogen production tax incentive. It's the latest example of environmentalists clashing with some parts of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's climate agenda.
/jlne.ws/3DW45iH
Nordic Wind Power Surges to Record in Relief From Energy Crisis; Wind generation exceeded 24 gigawatts on Tuesday evening; Technology is essential as European industries electrify
Lars Paulsson - Bloomberg
Power output from thousands of wind turbines in the Nordic region rose to a record, damping soaring winter bills for millions of homes. Wind generation exceeded 24 gigawatts on Tuesday evening, beating the previous record set in November, according to data from European grid group Entsoe. The gusty weather is expected to remain for a few days, although at slightly lower levels, according to a Bloomberg model.
/jlne.ws/3lpf1yW
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Credit Suisse Announces Next Milestone For CS First Boston Carveout With Klein Deal, CEO Says '2024 Should Be Profitable'
Vandana Singh - Benzinga
Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) has agreed to buy Michael Klein's investment banking boutique for the purchase price is $175 million, with the full consideration valued at $210 million, to take over The Klein Group. The seller will receive equity in CS First Boston as a convertible note.
/jlne.ws/40LnH2x
JPMorgan Sees Promise in 'Deposit Tokens' Issued by Banks
Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
A potential new form of digital money - deposit tokens issued by banks on blockchain - may become more widely used than stablecoins, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. study found. Commercial banks can play a key role in digital money by issuing the tokens, according to the study co-published with consulting firm Oliver Wyman. The tokens represent the same deposit claims as balances held at a bank, but are recorded on a blockchain and can be used for cross-border payments or on decentralized-finance platforms.
/jlne.ws/3loiddZ
BNP, Barclays Among Banks in Crosshairs Over New Oil, Gas Loans; Investors also ratchet up pressure on SocGen, Deutsche Bank and Credit Agricole over fossil-fuel financing.
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
Investors with $1.5 trillion have called on Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA and three other major European banks to halt the direct financing of new oil and gas fields by the end of this year. Aegon Asset Management and Candriam are among 30 money managers to urge the banks, which also include Credit Agricole SA, Deutsche Bank AG and Societe Generale SA, to cease financing activities that "may jeopardize the global path to net-zero," according to a statement on Friday.
/jlne.ws/40InTzN
Vanguard's One-of-a-Kind Fund Design Is About to Get Some Competition; Mutual fund issuer PGIA has filed to replicate Vanguard model; Patent has protected Bogle-founded firm's structure since 2001
Emily Graffeo and Sam Potter - Bloomberg
The one-of-a-kind fund structure that helped turn Vanguard Group into the second-largest ETF manager in the world may be about to get a lot less unique. A multi-boutique asset manager has this week filed for permission to create ETFs as a share class of its US mutual funds, aiming to replicate a blueprint that Vanguard has used exclusively for more than two decades.
/jlne.ws/3jRDwnJ
Adani Rout Hits $120 Billion as MSCI Move Raises Outflow Concern
Ishika Mookerjee and Abhishek Vishnoi - Bloomberg
Adani Group stocks capped another week of losses as a review by MSCI Inc. spurred concern about passive outflows from shares already reeling from the rout triggered by US short seller Hindenburg Research's scathing report.
/jlne.ws/3HOQdaT
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Are we racing toward AI catastrophe?
Kelsey Piper - Vox
"The race starts today, and we're going to move and move fast," Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said at the company's ChatGPT launch event on Tuesday. That word - "race" - has been thrown around a lot lately in the AI world. Google and Baidu are racing to compete with OpenAI and Microsoft's ChatGPT as a key part of search, while Meta is racing not to be left in the dust.
/jlne.ws/3lktyM5
These Managers Have Real Skill - Not Just Luck; Essentia Analytics' second ranking seeks to solve one of the industry's central conundrums.
Julie Segal - Institutional Investor
There are a few new faces in the industry's first ranking of equity portfolio managers, which analyzes returns based on investment decisions - and separates out the role of luck. Inigo Mijangos and Joseph Idaszak, managers of the Brookfield Global Renewables & Sustainable Infrastructure fund, are new to the top spot in the ranking, which debuted in September 2022.
/jlne.ws/3XfTfKZ
Yahoo to Lay Off 20% of Workforce; The company's advertising group will be reduced by half by the end of the year
Talal Ansari - The Wall Street Journal
Yahoo Inc. will lay off 20% of its workforce by the end of the year, with nearly 1,000 positions being eliminated this week, the company said Thursday. The company is overhauling and shrinking its advertising tech unit, and is the latest in a string of tech companies conducting layoffs in response to concerns about slowing economic growth, rising interest rates and high inflation.
/jlne.ws/3HS2yen
News Corp Expects to Cut Its Head Count 5% This Year; Media company cites effects of inflation and higher interest rates on businesses
Alexandra Bruell - The Wall Street Journal
News Corp said it expects to reduce head count 5% this year amid economic challenges, as the media company reported lower quarterly revenue despite continued growth at Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones & Co. The New York-based media company, which owns the Journal, HarperCollins Publishers and news organizations in the U.K. and Australia, said revenue fell 7.2% to $2.52 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31. Net profit declined 71% to $67 million, or 12 cents a share, from $235 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier.
/jlne.ws/3JXGd1R
The 'Great Resignation' is now the 'Great Regret': 80% of job hoppers wish they hadn't quit their old roles, with Gen Z the most regretful
Eleanor Pringle - Fortune
It seemed like such a good idea at the time. And yet for those who handed in their notice during the so-called 'Great Resignation' of 2021, many have seen little benefit for the upheaval. Now dubbed the 'Great Regret', analysis carried out by payroll and HR experts Paychex found that 80% of people who quit their roles in search of greener pastures regretted the move.
/jlne.ws/3JZpqeY
The workforce needs more women. But childcare costs remain a stubborn barrier.
Sheryl Estrada - Fortune
The post-pandemic talent crunch is challenging and isn't ending anytime soon. Increasing the participation of women in the workforce is one of the key solutions to this challenge, but barriers remain. In the U.S., equality in the participation rate between women and men would add almost eight million employees to the workforce, according to a new report released on Thursday by global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR). However, the cost of childcare in the U.S. "is currently a major headwind that will likely require a major overhaul," the report on macroeconomic trends finds.
/jlne.ws/3YjQ4TP
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Singapore relaxes COVID travel curbs, mask rules further
Chen Lin - Reuters
Singapore will drop a requirement for travellers who are not fully vaccinated to show COVID test results or purchase coronavirus travel insurance from Feb 13, the government's virus taskforce said on Thursday. Masks will also not be required to be worn on public transport, the health ministry said in a statement, as authorities lowered the disease outbreak response level to "green" from "yellow", indicating COVID-19 is not threatening.
/jlne.ws/3XhnUaR
Bird flu infects Colorado mountain lion, black bear and skunk, all now dead; The highly pathogenic avian influenza has killed thousands of wild birds and has now infected more Colorado wildlife
Conrad Swanson - The Denver Post
Three animals in Colorado, each of them now dead, tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza that's sweeping across the country, state wildlife officials said in a release. The H5N1 variant of the bird flu is ravaging bird populations across the world. Mammals, including humans, can also catch it. State Parks and Wildlife officials first confirmed this strain of the bird flu among wild geese in northeast Colorado last March, agency spokesman Travis Duncan said in a release. Now they've confirmed three cases of the virus in mammals, which showed signs of neurologic symptoms, general weakness and organ damage before their deaths.
/jlne.ws/3DX9bee
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Japan expected to name Kazuo Ueda as next central bank head; Successor to Haruhiko Kuroda at Bank of Japan set to oversee pivot from ultra-loose monetary policy
Kana Inagaki, Leo Lewis and Hudson Lockett - Financial Times
Japan's prime minister Fumio Kishida is likely to nominate as the next central bank governor Kazuo Ueda, a respected monetary policy expert who has previously warned against an early exit from Japan's ultra-loose stance. Two people with knowledge of the discussions said the government was expected to nominate the 71-year-old former Bank of Japan board member and professor at Kyoritsu Women's University next week.
/jlne.ws/3JTXE3p
City of London to produce review of financial services reforms; Governing body to focus on changes to tech and innovation in effort to stay competitive with global rivals
Daniel Thomas - Financial Times
The City of London Corporation has embarked on a sweeping review of regulations for financial services in the UK as it seeks to boost the Square Mile's competitiveness. The governing authority for London's financial centre will push for further regulatory reforms in financial and professional services, focusing on tech and innovation, sustainable finance and ensuring that the City is competitive with global rivals, such as New York.
/jlne.ws/3xh5In2
West Loop office landlord hit with foreclosure lawsuit
Danny Ecker - Crain's Chicago Business
The owner of a vintage office building near Willis Tower has joined the crowd of downtown landlords facing foreclosure as demand for workspace in the city remains sluggish. A venture affiliated with Chicago-based Marc Realty defaulted on its $16.5 million loan tied to the 10-story office building at 216 W. Jackson Blvd., according to a foreclosure complaint filed Jan. 26 in Cook County Circuit Court.
/jlne.ws/3YCk515
Illinois Gaming Board approves initial steps for temporary casino at Medinah Temple
Dan Petrella - Chicago Tribune
State gambling regulators on Thursday signed off on the initial steps toward the opening of a long-debated Chicago casino, voting in favor of licenses for Medinah Temple to serve as the home of a temporary gambling hall that developer Bally's hopes to open by June. Whether Bally's ambitious timeline can be met remains uncertain, as the Illinois Gaming Board still is required to investigate and approve everyone involved in the project, from top investors to subcontractors working on the construction.
/jlne.ws/3YmL6ps
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | A Greenwich Estate With Ties to Bridgewater's Ray Dalio Hits Market for $150 Million; The waterfront property, which last sold in 2014, features an island and orchard.
Sophie Alexander - Bloomberg
A sprawling Greenwich, Connecticut, estate with ties to hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio has hit the market for $150 million. Copper Beech Farm, a more than 50 acres (20 hectares) property with an eight-bedroom main house, would rank among the most expensive homes in the US if it's sold at the current asking price. The estate last sold in 2014 for $120 million.
/jlne.ws/3JX4B3y
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