| April 14, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Today's lead story tells the demise of the Eurodollar contract, a contract I traded thousands of over my active trading career as a broker and Commodity Trading Advisor. I remember when it first came out while I was at First American Discount Corp and I was trying to figure out with Bill Mallers, Jr. and Bill Mallers, Sr. why a $1 million contract had a tick size of $25. The quarterly aspect of the product was the answer.
The Eurodollar trading program I inherited from Jon Matte's Defender Capital Management Inc. was called Big ED, which was a clever name until a men's performance problem started to monopolize the initials ED. Let's say the popularity of the Big ED name sagged after that, especially as short term interest rates moved zero and volatility became very jumpy.
I discontinued the Eurodollar program in early 2011 as the Big ED program performance was deteriorating and I had employee turnover. I also stopped trading the Maple Sugar program as I attempted to transition my CTA from John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. to John J. Lothian Managed Futures LLC. Unfortunately, before I could get the new company up and running with a new disclosure document, MF Global happened and several of my clients' money was impacted. I never restarted my CTA after that as the news business became too all-encompassing, and with the passage of Dodd-Frank, we started work on MarketsReformWiki.
In the early 2000s, the focus on interest rates moving from the long end to the short end helped the Eurodollars become the biggest open interest futures contract in the world and propelled the Chicago Mercantile Exchange past the Chicago Board of Trade in some metrics. The 30-year Treasury Bond futures had been the most traded contract of the twentieth century. Eurodollars took off in the twenty-first century and with the introduction of the E-Mini S&P propelled the CME to its place as a global leader.
Eurodollars are ending. Long live Eurodollars!
 The NIBA is back in-person with the CTA Connection spring event taking place on April 18 at DePaul University. The NIBA has brought this unique twist on its traditional programming with collaboration of both IB and CTA communities to "further strengthen respective business development efforts and initiatives." You can seen the full conference agenda HERE and register HERE.
The Harvard Crimson has a story titled "Harvard Affiliates Slam Ken Griffin Donation, Citing Support for DeSantis." It appears Mr. Griffin is getting some flack for some of the political views he has taken that are not as inclusive as some in the Harvard community would like. College campuses are a tough crowd to please.
The Wall Street Journal has a short video about the unveiling of the celebratory coins for the coronation of British King Charles III. The collection features the first crowned effigy of Charles on a coin, the Journal reported.
The Trade's "Fireside Friday" story is an interview with CME Group's Michel Everaert, head of EMEA at CME Group "about the impact of market volatility, how best to manage risk exposures, as well as trends expected to develop within the derivative space."
Former JLN staffer Doug Ashburn is moderating a panel for the CAIA Association in North Carolina about "The Democratization of Private Markets" at the Dubois Center, 320 E. 9th Street, Charlotte, NC, on April 20th. You can find out more and register HERE.
Correction: Yesterday we said we interviewed CQG's Ryan Moroney and Kevin Darby. This was hugely incorrect, as it was Pat Kenny, The Most Interesting Man in the World, not Darby (no slacker himself), whom we interviewed.
Bloomberg has a story about the top 25 entry-level jobs for college grads in 2023. The jobs are the most in-demand entry-level jobs, with or without degree requirements, according to Indeed.
Of course, if you want a high paying job in finance, then you will want to read this story from The Wall Street Journal titled "Top Colleges for High-Paying Jobs in Finance." The subheadline is "A new ranking puts MIT at No. 1 and the University of Virginia first among public schools."
If you want to get into the high paying job of management consulting, you will want to go to these schools, The Wall Street Journal reports in a story titled "Top Colleges for High-Paying Jobs in Management Consulting." The subheadline is "Harvard tops the list for private schools, Georgia Tech for public schools."
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Enforcement, New York Regional Office seeks to hire two Securities Compliance Examiners in New York, NY.
A co-founder of Apollo Global Management, Inc. is leading a group of investors in a $6 billion bid for the Washington Commanders NFL football team. Josh Harris retired from Apollo in 2022 and is already an owner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL's New Jersey Devils, and Crystal Palace FC of the English Premier League.
Whenever you go to New York and Broadway, you always see Phantom of the Opera there. Not anymore. It is giving its final performance on Sunday, ending with a record setting 13,981 shows, The New York Times reports in a story titled "The Phandom of the Opera" with the subtitle "As 'The Phantom of the Opera' ends its record-breaking Broadway run on Sunday, its most devoted followers, who call themselves Phans, are mourning."
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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The progress in setting sustainability standards by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will be the highlight of the IFRS Foundation Conference 2023, June 26 - 27, at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London Tower Bridge, 45 Prescot Street, London. It's a hybrid event that can be attended either in person or online. Learn more and register here.~SAED
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ICE Futures US President Jennifer Ilkiw talks with John Lothian News about her career in finance, cash-settled contracts, and what's new
JohnLothianNews.com
Jennifer Ilkiw, president of ICE Futures US, was interviewed by John Lothian News at the FIA International Futures Conference in Boca Raton, FL. about her career, women in finance, and the latest risk management tools.
Watch the video »
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Crashing Dirt Bikes to Chasing Cows: Scott Irwin Releases New Book on Futures Market; In Back to the Futures, agricultural economist Scott Irwin explains why it's essential to understand futures markets, whether you're talking about grain, cattle, or the largest market of them all-crude oil.
Jennifer Shike - Dairyherd.com
Futures markets are a mystery, says Scott Irwin, author of the new book, Back to the Futures, is now available for pre-order and is scheduled to be released on April 19 on Amazon. In Back to the Futures, agricultural economist Scott Irwin explains why it's essential to understand futures markets, whether you're talking about grain, cattle, or the largest market of them all-crude oil.
/jlne.ws/401cR7f
***** Scott Irwin is always a good read, even if he does use the oldest cliche in futures publishing for a title.~JJL
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A beginner's guide to accounting fraud (and how to get away with it); A history in the faking
Leo Perry - Financial Times
I spent most of the last two decades running a hedge fund. I had a bit of a thing for finding accounting anomalies - situations where management was saying one thing but the numbers told a different story. For a long time betting against these companies proved to be really profitable. I doubt many people in my position would say they chose the wrong career. But now that I've worked out how to read accounts, and find it quite easy to spot signs of fraud, I also have some ideas for how we could run a good one of our own. And I'm not so sure there won't be a lot more money in that line of business, if you can call it that.
/jlne.ws/3mE92qH
****** Sorry, I am already on to the advanced guide to fraud. The beginner's guide sounds like something that would have you end up in jail.~JJL
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There Are No Fees at America's Smallest Bank; There's no ATM, no website and constant worries about being "too small to survive."
Reyhan Harmanci - Bloomberg
James A. Sammons may well be the chief executive officer of America's smallest bank. With $3 million in assets, Kentland Federal Savings and Loan is definitely the smallest member of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), a trade organization for small banks. If you Google "smallest bank in America," you'll see stories about a Michigan bank with $700,000 in assets (it got bought in 2007) and a Texas bank with $2 million in deposits (acquired in 2017). 1 Perhaps most definitively, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was able to verify that, yes, Kentland does indeed have the smallest asset base of any federally insured bank in the country.
/jlne.ws/3GJvghR
****** I am not sure why you go to the smallest bank in America, other than you know and trust the banker. And even then, I am not sure that is a good enough reason.~JJL
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The Swiss Bank-Bailout Rebellion; Bank rescues are poking a political bear last awakened in 2008.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
Political turmoil was one consequence of the 2008 global bank panic as voters in many countries rebelled in various ways against politicians they thought had failed to avert a crisis and then spent vast sums of taxpayer money cleaning up the damage. Recent events in Switzerland suggest the latest bailouts won't be more popular. The lower house of the Swiss Parliament this week rebuffed Bern's forced merger last month of UBS and failed rival Credit Suisse. That deal included 109 billion Swiss francs ($120 billion) in liquidity and credit guarantees from Swiss taxpayers.
/jlne.ws/402yVOI
****** There is a rule somewhere that says, "DON'T POKE THE BEAR!"~JJL
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Twitter Is Broken. Thanks, Elon.
Farhad Manjoo - The New York Times
About six months ago, Elon Musk bought your favorite neighborhood bar. Then he fired veteran bouncers and bartenders, tried to stiff the landlord and at least one vendor, and demanded that regulars pay a cover charge. He's frequently struggled to serve his customers, yet he's penalized them for mentioning the competition. He's tamped down the revelry in general, really - a lot of conversation at his watering hole has been drowned out by Musk's own never-ending stage act, which consists mainly of him yelling dad jokes at customers through a bullhorn.
/jlne.ws/3UDCD0j
****** Twitter is not the Twitter of old, that is for sure.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was The Wall Street Journal's The U.S. Cracked a $3.4 Billion Crypto Heist-and Bitcoin's Anonymity. Second was The 14 Best Beach Reads (Even if You're Not at the Beach), also from The Wall Street Journal. Third was Intelligent Investor's CME vs ASX: a cage match with only one winner.
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MarketsWiki Stats
27,290 pages; 244,195 edits
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
Publisher | | | Sarah Rudolph
Editor-in-Chief
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| Lead Stories | The Once-Mighty Eurodollar Futures Contract Will Soon Be No More; Most traders have already migrated to SOFR futures and options; Remaining eurodollar contracts will be converted on Friday
Elizabeth Stanton - Bloomberg
A cornerstone of the US interest-rates market for a generation of traders will mostly cease to exist after Friday. As part of the long-planned transition away from the scandal-plagued London interbank offered rate borrowing benchmarks, derivatives linked to them will also be phased out. That means that eurodollar futures and options - for decades the bread and butter of those wagering on Federal Reserve decisions or hedging moves in short-term interest rates - will soon be gone. Friday is when CME Group Inc., the exchange operator that lists the contracts, will convert those expiring after June to futures or options on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, which have overtaken eurodollars in trading volume. SOFR is a relatively new benchmark that officials favor as a successor to Libor in dollar funding markets.
/jlne.ws/41rxI4z
LSE Group joins battle between exchanges for crypto derivatives; UK group to put futures and options deals through French clearing arm
Nikou Asgari - Financial Times
The London Stock Exchange Group plans to begin clearing crypto derivatives, joining the battle among the world's big exchanges to grab a slice of rising institutional demand to trade digital assets. The UK group will use the Paris arm of its clearing subsidiary, LCH, to manage the risks on bitcoin futures and options traded on GFO-X, a UK regulated marketplace, the company said on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3mBlis0
Investors trapped in Canadian ETFs after trading ban; Emerge Canada funds suspended following failure to file financial statements
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
Investors in a suite of Canadian exchange traded funds face being trapped for an extended period after regulators imposed an "indefinite" trading ban on the funds. Both primary and secondary market trading has been suspended in 11 ETFs after their sponsor, Emerge Canada, failed to file audited financial statements by a March 31 deadline. The "cease trade order" imposed by the Ontario Securities Commission means that both the creation and redemption of shares in the funds has been halted, and that existing investors cannot sell their units to other investors in the secondary market.
/jlne.ws/3zYYTbl
Biggest U.S. Banks Report Bumper Profits Amid Industry Turmoil; JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and PNC Financial comfortably beat expectations for earnings in the first quarter, when the failures of smaller banks sent jitters throughout the sector.
Rob Copeland and Stacy Cowley - New York Times
Despite tenuous times for the banking industry, some of the largest U.S. lenders reported banner first-quarter earnings on Friday that easily exceeded investor expectations. And even as they warned that credit could become more scarce and expensive, they said that the economy was proving resilient so far.
/jlne.ws/3L21Ga9
BNP Paribas appoints Jose Placido as its US unit's CEO
Reuters
BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) said on Thursday it has appointed Jose Placido as chief executive officer of its U.S. operations, effective April 1. Jose will assume the role of CEO of BNP Paribas USA and will oversee all U.S.-business activities while retaining in the role of CIB Americas' executive chief, the Paris-based bank said.
/jlne.ws/43vxhYX
BNP Paribas USA Appoints Jose Placido as CEO and Jean-Yves Fillion as Vice-Chairman; Marianne Thiery appointed as CAO and CCO for BNP Paribas USA and CIB Americas
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas, Europe's leading financial services institution, today announces the appointment of Jose Placido as CEO of BNP Paribas USA and Jean-Yves Fillion to the position of Vice-Chairman of the BNP Paribas USA Board of Directors. Both appointments are effective April 1 and follow the completion of the sale of the group's US retail unit Bank of the West completed on February 1, as well as recognition of Corporate & Institutional Banking ('CIB') now being the primary business line within the US organization.
/jlne.ws/3KE9k90
Former Instinet CEO And Goldman Sachs Executive Ralston Roberts Joins Velocity Clearing As Head Of Global Markets
Business Wire
We are pleased to announce that Ralston Roberts has been named the Head of Global Markets. In his role, Roberts will oversee the firm's trading business and global expansion strategy. Roberts has an extensive track record leading a cross-section of financial and technology businesses. He was previously the Global CEO of Instinet, where he was responsible for the firm's global trading, venues, and software business. Before joining Instinet, Roberts was co-head of EMEA Execution Services at Goldman Sachs.
/jlne.ws/3MEWQRn
StoneX Offers Clients Access to Coinbase Derivatives Exchange Contracts Cleared by Nodal Clear
StoneX Group Inc
StoneX Group Inc (StoneX), Coinbase Derivatives Exchange (CDE) and Nodal Clear jointly announced today that clients of StoneX Financial Inc. now have access to the full suite of CDE contracts cleared by Nodal Clear. "StoneX's retail customers will be able to trade accessible futures contracts tailored to their level of risk, and we plan to make larger contracts available to satisfy growing institutional demand." This includes CDE nano Bitcoin futures (BIT) and nano Ethereum futures (ET) contracts, sized at 1/100th and 1/10th of the underlying commodity, respectively, and provides retail traders access to liquid crypto markets.
/jlne.ws/41acFUm
US Derivatives Regulator Says Binance Intentionally Flouted Rules; CFTC's Behnam says the exchange intentionally shirked rules; Agency chairman speaks about crypto at conference on Thursday
David Pan - Bloomberg
The head of Commodity Futures Trading Commission admonished Binance Holdings Ltd over its compliance with US rules after the derivatives regulator sued the crypto exchange and its chief executive last month for a litany of alleged violations. "These are not unsophisticated individuals," CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam said Thursday at an event hosted by Princeton University. "They are starting large companies and offering futures contracts and derivatives to US customers."
/jlne.ws/4043Ytn
Top Charles Schwab investor sold entire stake amid banking turmoil; GQG Partners offloaded $1.4bn of shares after brokerage was 'caught up' in banking turmoil
Ortenca Aliaj and Antoine Gara and Harriet Agnew - Financial Times
One of Charles Schwab's largest investors sold its entire $1.4bn stake in the brokerage giant during last month's banking turmoil amid fears over paper losses on its bond portfolio following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. GQG Partners, a Florida-based investment firm, had been among Schwab's top 15 shareholders with 1 per cent of the stock, according to Bloomberg data, and was one of the only active managers with such a large position.
/jlne.ws/40osypj
Taming the shadow banks; Policymakers must boost oversight of a risky but key part of the financial system
The editorial board - Financial Times
Regulating the financial sector is a bit like a game of whack-a-mole. Raise oversight in one area, and the risks migrate elsewhere. That is precisely what has happened with non-bank financial intermediaries, an assortment of institutions, often called "shadow banks", that provide a range of investment and funding services but lie outside the scope of bank regulation because they do not take deposits. They have grown rapidly since the global financial crisis, filling the void left by tighter risk controls on commercial banks, rising from 40 to almost 50 per cent of international financial assets. This makes the health of NBFIs vital for financial stability - and the lack of comprehensive oversight of the sector all the more alarming.
/jlne.ws/3obkWZG
Exxon chief's pay jumps 52% after oil boom; Darren Woods joins the list of executives benefiting from a surge in industry profits since start of war in Ukraine
Patrick Temple-West and Justin Jacobs - Financial Times
ExxonMobil paid its chief executive $36mn last year, a 52 per cent increase from 2021 and more than double his 2020 pay after Russia's war with Ukraine led to record profits for oil companies and a windfall for their top executives.
/jlne.ws/3of7kg8
Ex-SPACs Face Hellish Battle to Avoid the Abyss; Keeping the lights on requires some complicated financial contortions.
Chris Bryant - Bloomberg
When Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, the satellite-launch firm joined more than half a dozen businesses that went public during the "Everything Bubble" of 2020-2022 only to run out of money this year. Once, hurrying to join the stock market by merging with a listed special purpose acquisition company seemed like a good way to raise heaps of cash and for insiders to get rich. But SPACs have become a poisoned chalice, above all for the retail investors who went along for the ride.
/jlne.ws/3UIiTZq
Insider Loans Surged Ahead of Turmoil at US Regional Banks; With higher rates looming last year, Western Alliance, SVB and other banks reported a surge in loans to executives, directors and shareholders
Noah Buhayar and Silla Brush - Bloomberg
Not long before the Federal Reserve began lifting interest rates to tamp down inflation, regional banks across the US reported a surge in lending to a group of well-connected people: their own directors, officers and major shareholders. The trend continued through all of last year, reaching almost $10 billion by the end of 2022, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of data submitted to federal regulators. That was 12% more than a year earlier and represented the largest annual jump in lending to insiders, along with their related interests, in at least a decade.
/jlne.ws/3MKVHYA
JPMorgan Says Frank's Javice Moved Millions to a Shell Company; Bank seeks court permission to question her about transfers; Javice is facing fraud charges and lawsuits by JPMorgan, SEC
Bob Van Voris - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Frank founder Charlie Javice transferred millions of dollars to a shell company after the bank discovered it had been defrauded in its acquisition of her college financial planning site. In a court filing in Delaware, where JPMorgan is suing Javice, 31, for fraud, the bank asked a judge for permission to question her under oath and seek evidence about the transfers to Chariot Holdings X LLC. She allegedly set up the Nevada company in September.
/jlne.ws/3KA1E7L
How Silicon Valley Bank's Failure Could Have Spread Far and Wide; New research suggests large parts of the country remain vulnerable to widespread bank failure in the event of a run on deposits.
Jim Tankersley - The New York Times
The federal government's rescue of two failed banks last month has drawn criticism from some lawmakers and investors, who accuse the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve of bailing out wealthy customers in California and New York and sticking bank customers in Middle America with the bill. But new data help explain why government officials declared the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank to be a risk to not just their customers, but also the entire financial system.
/jlne.ws/3zU630q
Twitter Gets Into the Stock Business; Also cargo bribery, AT1 fallout, Bitcoin anonymity, blockchain initiatives and the FDIC watches 'The Wire.'
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
At the height of meme stock mania in early 2021, the WallStreetBets forum on Reddit was adding a million users a day as people flocked to Reddit to discuss their plans to trade GameStop Corp. and other meme stocks. Imagine if Reddit put a button next to each GameStop post saying "buy GME," and if you clicked the button you could buy shares directly through Reddit? (I guess maybe add another button like "YOLO GME options" so you could buy the call options too?) That just seems like it would be good business, and good customer service, each in a loose approximate way. Probably some compliance issues with that button. Probably some customers would be sad if they bought GameStop for $400 with one click after reading an enthusiastic but inaccurate Reddit post. Probably some lawsuits. Still the basic business idea - "the place where people go to enthusiastically discuss stocks should also let them buy those stocks directly" - has an appeal.
/jlne.ws/3mxE9Em
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia Oil Cap Works as Planned With Flows Up, Revenue Down; IEA data show country's March oil exports highest since Covid; Revenue from petroleum exports were down 43% from year earlier
Bloomberg News
Sanctions on Russia appear to be working as intended, with oil exports in March the highest since Covid yet revenue down by nearly half from a year earlier, data from the International Energy Agency show.
/jlne.ws/3UyhhRT
Who Should Help Ukraine? Not the IMF; The Fund's $15.6 billion bailout contravenes 80 years of tradition and reinforces perceptions of bias that have angered developing nations.
Mihir Sharma - Bloomberg
This week's spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are being held amid grumbles from the Global South that are calling into question the postwar global financial architecture. That's a problem for the West. Efforts to help Ukraine are making it worse.
/jlne.ws/41nmgXE
Wagner and Russian Army Cooperate in Fresh Push to Take Bakhmut
Matthew Luxmoore and Ann M. Simmons - The Wall Street Journal
Russia stepped up its campaign to capture Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, pushing Ukrainian forces further from the city center as explosions rocked Russian-occupied Melitopol ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive targeting the south.
/jlne.ws/3oitD4g
Ukraine War Creates Fertile Ground for Fertilizer Sellers; Potash supply disruptions in Belarus and Russia have lifted prospects for producers elsewhere
Jinjoo Lee - The Wall Street Journal
Potash, a potassium-based fertilizer mined from the ground, came into sharp focus last year when prices reached record highs following supply disruptions from Belarus and Russia. Some see it as a key commodity not just for agricultural production but also combating global warming.
/jlne.ws/41q2DhG
Ghosts Past and Present Cross Paths as War Comes to Nuclear Wasteland; Not everyone evacuated when the Chernobyl nuclear plant melted down in 1986. The few who stayed lived through another calamity when Russian troops marched in.
Marc Santora - The New York Times
The world's worst nuclear disaster, unfolding only a few miles away, did not force Halyna Voloshyna, 74, to abandon her home in Chernobyl in 1986. So when marauding Russian soldiers showed up at her door a little over a year ago, she was not about to let them scare her away, either. Instead, during the month that Russian forces occupied this polluted patch of earth known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ms. Voloshyna was such a thorn in their side that they began referring to her as the "furious babushka at the end of the lane."
/jlne.ws/3mH8MqW
In Bakhmut, consumer tech - including plenty of drones - keep Ukraine in the fight
Nabih Bulos - LA Times
The Russian infantrymen slinked back and forth in twos and threes to a house in one of this embattled city's devastated neighborhoods, ferrying ammunition, an automatic grenade launcher and a heavy machine gun ahead of a planned attack.
/jlne.ws/41r0Etn
Russia's commando units gutted by Ukraine war, U.S. leak shows; THE DISCORD LEAKS | Russia's clandestine spetsnaz forces have been put to use alongside the infantry, suffering massive numbers of dead and wounded
Alex Horton - The Washington Post.
The war in Ukraine has gutted Russia's clandestine spetsnaz forces, and it will take Moscow years to rebuild them, according to classified U.S. assessments obtained by The Washington Post.
/jlne.ws/3zZrltO
Ukraine's Allies Fear War Breakthrough May Not Come Before Next Year; Officials lower expectations for Ukrainian offensive in 2023; Gap between rhetoric and deliveries stirs concern in Kyiv
Alberto Nardelli and Marc Champion - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3KAMcZ6
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | FESE: Realising the Capital Markets Union ambition
BME-X
Improving European capital markets requires a holistic look at legislation to ensure they have the lowest cost of capital accompanied with the highest depth of liquidity. The major reforms currently being discussed by the co-legislators are a true opportunity to strengthen capital markets and increase their attractiveness and resilience, which are critical to fostering economic growth in an increasingly volatile and uncertain macro-economic environment.
/jlne.ws/419DHvg
Us Banking Holiday 19 June 2024: Update And Consultation On Related Delivery Arrangements
LME
This Notice seeks the views of Members and other interested parties on the LME's proposed approach to delivery deferral arrangements for open positions on Prompt Date 19 June 2024 and sets out the operational arrangements that will apply should the LME proceed with the proposed approach. Members are asked to ensure that this Notice is shared with affected Clients.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa
SGX RegCo's Statement on GS Holdings Limited's Independent Review Report
Singapore Exchange
Singapore Exchange Regulation ("SGX RegCo") refers to the Company's announcement on 14 April 2023, in relation to findings by independent reviewer, Deloitte & Touche Financial Advisory Services Pte Ltd ("Deloitte" or "Independent Reviewer"). Background: In March 2019, GS Holdings Limited (the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") announced that the Company's subsidiary, Wish Hospitality Holdings Private Limited ("Wish") had entered into a master service agreement (the "MSA") with Henan Jufeel Technology Group Co., Ltd. ("Henan Jufeel"). Pursuant to the MSA, Henan Jufeel would secure for Wish, at least 200 current and future outlets located in various parts of the world within 2 years from the date of the MSA. Wish would provide the branding, operation and procurement (the "BOP") services to each of the outlets.
/jlne.ws/3mCnzDt
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | OpenAI's red team: the experts hired to 'break' ChatGPT; Microsoft-backed company asked an eclectic mix of people to 'adversarially test' GPT-4, its powerful new language model
Madhumita Murgia - Financial Times
After Andrew White was granted access to GPT-4, the new artificial intelligence system that powers the popular ChatGPT chatbot, he used it to suggest an entirely new nerve agent.
/jlne.ws/3UCyMQP
Wirecard boss threatened 'legal steps' against KPMG over special audit; Partner at Big Four firm says Markus Braun invited him skiing as he sought to water down probe
Olaf Storbeck - Financial Times
Markus Braun tried to woo a senior KPMG partner with an invitation to his luxury ski hut and later threatened to sue the Big Four firm as he tried to water down its special audit into Wirecard, a Munich court has heard. Sven-Olaf Leitz, an executive board member of KPMG Germany, told a panel of five judges on Thursday that the former chief executive of the payments group repeatedly lobbied to narrow the scope of the investigation into Wirecard's outsourced operations in Asia.
/jlne.ws/3MOh4s1
Former Head Of Swiss Securities And Exchanges To Head New Fintica AI Ltd Advisory Board - New Body To Include Industry Experts: Thomas Zeeb, Rene Karsenti, Yanming Xiao
Mondovisione
Fintica AI Ltd, a leading provider of next-generation AI for the financial industry, has announced a new Advisory Board made up of experienced financial executives, providing long-term vision and insights to help shape the future of AI for capital markets. The initial appointments include: - Thomas Zeeb, Chairman of the Advisory Board, - Rene Karsenti, Member of the Advisory Board, - Dr. Yanming Xiao, Member of the Advisory Board.
/jlne.ws/41ljNgE
The 5 Biggest Problems With Blockchain Technology Everyone Must Know About
Bernard Marr, Contributor - Forbes
Blockchain technology has undeniably captured the imagination of the tech world and beyond, offering the promise of decentralized, transparent, and tamper-proof systems. From its inception with Bitcoin to the development of smart contracts, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain has been hailed as a groundbreaking innovation with potential applications in numerous industries.
/jlne.ws/3KutkuE
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | AI-created malware sends shockwaves through cybersecurity world
Kurt Knutsson - Fox News
ChatGPT has caused a lot of buzz in the tech world these last few months, and not all the buzz has been great. Now, someone has claimed to have made powerful data-mining malware by using ChatGPT-based prompts in just a few hours. Here's what we know.
/jlne.ws/3MK3Jkq
U.S. launches secure software push with new guidelines
Tim Starks - The Washington Post
Software manufacturers should put an end to default passwords, write in safer programming languages and establish vulnerability disclosure programs for reporting flaws, a collection of U.S. and international government agencies said in new guidelines today. The "principles and approaches" document, which isn't mandatory but lays out the agencies' views on securing software, is the first major step by the Biden administration as part of its push to make software products secure as part of the design process, and to make their default settings secure as well.
/jlne.ws/41jNzlM
Kodi Confirms Data Breach: 400K User Records and Private Messages Stolen
Ravie Lakshmanan - The Hacker News
Open source media player software provider Kodi has confirmed a data breach after threat actors stole the company's MyBB forum database containing user data and private messages.
What's more, the unknown threat actors attempted to sell the data dump comprising 400,635 Kodi users on the now-defunct BreachForums cybercrime marketplace.
/jlne.ws/3KC6YHY
Google Launches New Cybersecurity Initiatives to Strengthen Vulnerability Management
Ravie Lakshmanan - The Hacker News
Google on Thursday outlined a set of initiatives aimed at improving the vulnerability management ecosystem and establishing greater transparency measures around exploitation. "While the notoriety of zero-day vulnerabilities typically makes headlines, risks remain even after they're known and fixed, which is the real story," the company said in an announcement. "Those risks span everything from lag time in OEM adoption, patch testing pain points, end user update issues and more."
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto Firm Zipmex's Buyout Hits Snag as Investor Seeks Haircut; Zipmex's $100 million VC buyout at greater risk of unraveling; Investor proposed for creditors to take as much as 90% haircut
Suvashree Ghosh - Bloomberg
The Thai fund buying struggling crypto exchange Zipmex is seeking to impose a steep haircut on its creditors under a revised buyout proposal. The investor is proposing to pay creditors just 10% to 20% of the amount they are owed, having previously pledged to fully repay them, according to a letter from Zipmex to the Singapore court overseeing its restructuring which was seen by Bloomberg News. The letter doesn't identify the investor.
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Crypto Lender Amber Mulls Potential Sale of Japan Subsidiary; Managing Partner Huang says Amber is weighing Japan options; The crypto lender is emerging from a difficult stretch in 2022
Suvashree Ghosh and Annabelle Droulers - Bloombeerg
Crypto lender Amber Group is weighing options for its Japan unit, including a possible sale, and plans to apply for a Hong Kong license following the city's pivot toward creating a digital-asset hub. The evaluation of the Japan operation is part of a strategic decision to focus more on institutional rather than retail business, Amber's Managing Partner Annabelle Huang said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Friday.
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Hong Kong Banks Are Netting Crypto Customers as City's Push Gains Steam; Lenders in the city are looking to fill a vacuum left by the failures of crypto-friendly U.S. banks
Elaine Yu - The Wall Street Journal
Banks in Hong Kong, including the local unit of a big Chinese state-owned lender, are taking on crypto companies as new customers as the city advances its vision of becoming a digital-assets hub. Banks have opened deposit accounts for crypto businesses that can be used to support their day-to-day operations, such as paying salaries to employees. Some are going as far as providing crypto trade-settlement services that other lenders have steered clear of because of the potential risks involved.
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Ether Options Trading Volume Surpasses Bitcoin As Shanghai Upgrade Drives Demand for Bullish Bets
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
The options market tied to ether (ETH) has seen more activity than bitcoin (BTC) in the past 24 hours, the first such instance of 2023. Major exchanges, including industry leader Deribit, have seen ether options contracts worth $1.23 billion exchange hands in the past 24 hours. That is nearly 60% of the global crypto options activity and 50% more than bitcoin's notional trading volume of $823.7 million, according to Swiss-based data tracking website Laevitas.
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Crypto Donations to Charity Falter on Fuzzy Tax Rules, Value Dips
Michael Bologna - Bloomberg
A tiny button in the middle of the donation webpage for Back Bay Baptist Church encourages patrons to make tax-deductible contributions in cryptocurrency. Hardly anyone has used the button in more than a year.
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Discord Over Russia's War Again Hampers G-20 Finance Chiefs; India issues relatively brief statement after gathering; War in Ukraine called key challenge to global outlook
Eric Martin - Bloomberg
The Group of 20 finance chiefs skipped issuing an agreed-upon statement from their meeting this week in Washington, extending the discord created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. India, which holds the G-20 presidency this year, released a statement Thursday - brief compared with the typical communiques - following the gathering on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund's Spring Meetings.
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Parler Set to Be Shut Down Temporarily by New Owner; Social network popular with conservatives will be sold for an undisclosed amount and overhauled for a relaunch
Sarah E. Needleman - The Wall Street Journal
Parler, a social network that was popularized by supporters of former President Donald Trump, has been sold to a buyer that plans to temporarily shut it down. Parent company Parlement Technologies Inc. said Friday it has agreed to sell Parler to digital media company Starboard, months after an acquisition agreement with rapper Kanye West fell apart. The platform will go offline while Starboard, which recently changed its name from Olympic Media, develops a plan to eventually relaunch a revamped version of the site.
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America must expand its friendship group in the interests of trade; Restricting supply chains to trusted countries is fraught with danger
Gillian Tett - Financial Times (opinion)
Almost exactly a year ago, just before the IMF's spring meeting, Janet Yellen, US Treasury secretary, launched a new buzzword: "friend-shoring". The idea was that in a world of rising US-China tensions (and western hostility to Russia), American companies should move their "supply chains to a large number of trusted countries" - or friends. It initially sounded almost cuddly. After all, who can object to celebrating friendship, particularly if aggressive isolationism is the other option?
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European parliament prepares tough measures over use of artificial intelligence; Proposals include requiring chatbot makers to reveal if they are using copyrighted material
Javier Espinoza and Ian Johnston - Financial Times
The European parliament is preparing tough new measures over the use of artificial intelligence, including forcing chatbot makers to reveal if they use copyrighted material, as the EU edges towards enacting the world's most restrictive regime on the development of AI.
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Brazil's Lula calls for end to dollar trade dominance; Leftist president lends his voice to Beijing's efforts to boost renminbi's role in global commerce
Joe Leahy and Hudson Lockett - Financial Times
Brazil's president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called on developing countries to work towards replacing the US dollar with their own currencies in international trade, lending his voice to Beijing's efforts to end the greenback's dominance of global commerce.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Singapore Bank Group Denies MAS Muzzled Talk on Wealth Inflows
Andrea Tan - Bloomberg
Singapore's Private Banking Industry Group, which includes the city-state's central bank and large lenders, rejected a report that it sought to silence discussions about the origin of wealth inflows into the Southeast Asian nation. "The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has not issued any directive to banks - tacit or otherwise - to avoid discussing the origins of wealth inflows into Singapore," the group said on Friday, referring to an earlier report in the Financial Times.
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Swiss Risky Bank Bond Market Seen in Doldrums Unless Regulations Change; Any rule changes will need to be approved by Swiss regulators; Swiss AT1 bond yields are much higher than European peers
Abhinav Ramnarayan and Tasos Vossos - Bloomberg
Investors are calling for Switzerland to overhaul its rules on Additional Tier 1 bonds, arguing that the market will stay closed unless regulations are brought in line with the rest of Europe. Fund managers like BlueBay Asset Management, which owned some of the AT1 bonds that were wiped out in the Credit Suisse Group AG takeover, say regulators should allow Swiss lenders to alter the terms on future sales.
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CFTC and Bank of England Announce Joint Statement on the Supervision of Cross-border Central Counterparties
CFTC
The Bank of England and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced a further strengthening of their commitment to close cooperation and mutual understandings on the supervision of cross-border central counterparties (CCPs).
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SEC Charges Terraform and CEO Do Kwon with Defrauding Investors in Crypto Schemes
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Singapore-based Terraform Labs PTE Ltd and Do Hyeong Kwon with orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud involving an algorithmic stablecoin and other crypto asset securities.
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MAS has not issued a directive - tacit or otherwise - to banks to keep quiet about the origins of wealth inflows
Monetary Authority of Singapore
The Private Banking Industry Group (PBIG) in Singapore announced today that, contrary to statements made in a 14 April 2023 article in The Financial Times, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has not issued any directive to banks - tacit or otherwise - to avoid discussing the origins of wealth inflows into Singapore.
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Canadian Securities Regulators Propose Changes To Corporate Governance Disclosure Practices And Guideline
Mondovisione
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to corporate governance disclosure rules and policy relating to the director nomination process, board renewal and diversity. They would require disclosure on aspects of diversity beyond the representation of women, while retaining the current disclosure requirements with respect to women. In addition, the CSA is proposing changes to the corporate governance policy that would enhance the existing corporate governance guidelines relating to the director nomination process and introduce guidelines regarding board renewal and diversity.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Millions Gain Access to 401(k)s as More Small Businesses Launch Plans; State mandates and the hot job market prompted the big increase in new retirement plans
Anne Tergesen - The Wall Street Journal
A relatively strong job market, new tax breaks and state mandates are leading more small businesses to offer employees a 401(k) plan. The state mandate boost can be seen in California, Oregon and Illinois. Those three states were among the first to require private-sector employers that don't offer retirement plans to give employees access to state-sponsored programs.
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Saudi-Led Oil Cuts Risk Fueling Inflation and Harming Global Economy, IEA Says; The hole in the global oil market between supply and demand is expected to reach 2 million barrels a day, the Paris-based energy watchdog says
Will Horner - The Wall Street Journal
The oil market will fall into a far larger oil deficit sooner than expected following surprise production cuts from some of OPEC's leading members, the International Energy Agency said Friday. The gaping hole in the global oil market between the availability of crude and rebounding demand will reach 2 million barrels a day by the third quarter of the year, the Paris-based energy watchdog said in a closely followed monthly report.
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Sugar Prices Bubble Up to Highest Since 2012; The surge could lead to costlier sweet foods and drinks
Yusuf Khan - The Wall Street Journal
Sugar prices have shot to their highest level in more than a decade, boosted by disappointing harvests in some of the world's largest producers and strong demand in China. Prices for raw cane-sugar futures traded in New York, the international benchmark, have jumped this year. In recent sessions they traded above 24 cents a pound, reaching the highest since March 2012. Bad weather in India, China and Thailand has hit sugar production in all three countries, just as China's economy has begun to reopen following the end of coronavirus lockdowns.
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Muni Junk Bond King John Miller to Retire; Rising rates, waning investor appetites have left muni funds full of low-yield bonds
Heather Gillers - The Wall Street Journal
Nuveen municipal-bond chief John Miller, who helped transform the Chicago-based investment firm into the nation's top manager of junk-rated state and local debt, will retire June 1. Mr. Miller, 56 years old, distinguished himself as a risk-taker in the sleepy world of municipal bonds. In a market where retirees go to buy stakes in county sewer systems and other safe investments, he helped finance speculative projects such as an alfalfa straw recycling plant and a megamall with an amusement park inside.
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How Silicon Valley Bank's Failure Could Have Spread Far and Wide; New research suggests large parts of the country remain vulnerable to widespread bank failure in the event of a run on deposits.
Jim Tankersley - The New York Times
The federal government's rescue of two failed banks last month has drawn criticism from some lawmakers and investors, who accuse the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve of bailing out wealthy customers in California and New York and sticking bank customers in Middle America with the bill.
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America must expand its friendship group in the interests of trade; Restricting supply chains to trusted countries is fraught with danger
Gillian Tett - Financial Times
Almost exactly a year ago, just before the IMF's spring meeting, Janet Yellen, US Treasury secretary, launched a new buzzword: "friend-shoring". The idea was that in a world of rising US-China tensions (and western hostility to Russia), American companies should move their "supply chains to a large number of trusted countries" - or friends. It initially sounded almost cuddly. After all, who can object to celebrating friendship, particularly if aggressive isolationism is the other option?
/jlne.ws/3UB5vpI
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | G7 climate ministers challenge Japan's energy strategy; Tokyo promotes ammonia as a low-carbon energy source but critics say technology is unproven
Edward White, Kana Inagaki and Attracta Mooney - Financial Times
G7 member states have pushed back on the viability of a central part of Japan's climate strategy, according to an environment ministers' draft communiqué seen by the Financial Times, in a challenge to Tokyo's efforts to shape Asia's transition to cleaner energy. The scrutiny of Japan's climate plans comes ahead of a meeting of G7 environment ministers in Sapporo this weekend, where representatives will attempt to align the world's most advanced economies in the fight against global warming.
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Climate-linked Exec Pay Sends Misleading Signal
Aaran Fronda - ESG Investor
A significant increase in the integration of climate metrics into executive pay schemes suggests a "fundamental disconnect" between performance and pay outcomes, research by the Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC) has found. Of the largest global listed companies employing climate metrics, there was an average vesting level (the proportion of a bonus paid out) of 80%, emphasising the gulf between corporate pay-out culture and the reality of the impacts of climate change on the environment and society, the report noted.
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Heat Pumps Need Better Branding; Three design studios offer fresh visions for what is a truly powerful, clean energy fix.
Olivia Rudgard - Bloomberg
In December a survey in the UK asked 2,500 homeowners whether they would consider getting a heat pump at home in the future. Only 2% said they had one, and 18% said they'd likely make the switch. But 39% of respondents weren't interested, and another third didn't know enough to answer the question. By transferring heat from one place to another rather than generating it through the burning of fossil fuels, heat pumps are more versatile, several times more energy-efficient and more affordable over time than a boiler or an electric heater.
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Glencore's pursuit of Teck sends its careful coal message up in smoke; Miner wants to spin off the business despite previously arguing holding on to it was better
Helen Thomas - Financial Times
The question of coal has dogged the mining sector for the best part of a decade. This highly polluting carbon is generally a distraction or embarrassment as miners position themselves as crucial providers of the metals needed for the energy transition.
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Glencore Envisions a Super-Sized King of Coal; The world's biggest commodity trader sees spinning off a highly profitable mining giant.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
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Clean energy is moving faster than you think; Investment in new large-scale fossil fuel projects is now a risky proposition
Fatih Birol - Financial Times
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Key Iron Ore Port Reopens as Australian Cyclone Moves Inland; Port Hedland resumes operations after check of channel, berths; Cyclone Ilsa made landfall overnight as a category 5 storm
Jason Scott and Ben Sharples - Bloomberg
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | BlackRock profits fall but assets under management hit $9.1tn; Net income fell 19 per cent year on year to $1.1bn in the first quarter
Brooke Masters - Financial Times
BlackRock's assets under management increased to $9.1tn in the first quarter but net income fell 19 per cent year on year, as the world's largest money manager struggled with squeezed margins, subdued markets and lower performance fees.
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****The Wall Street Journal has a similar story here.
MUFG Clients Lost $700 Million in Credit Suisse AT1 Wipeout; Japan's largest banking group to convene meetings of officials; About 1,500 clients lost money on Swiss bank's debt writedown
Takashi Nakamichi, Taiga Uranaka and Nao Sano - Bloomberg
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.'s wealthy clients lost more than $700 million on Credit Suisse Group AG's riskiest bonds purchased through the Japanese bank's brokerage venture with Morgan Stanley, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Black Barclays Bankers Held Back by Racist Attitudes, Court Told; Barclays denies allegations of race discrimination at UK trial; Internal Barclays report flagged racist culture, suit alleges
Upmanyu Trivedi and Katharine Gemmell - Bloomberg
A trio of Black investment bankers at Barclays Plc allege the firm fostered a culture of racism at its London HQ, denying them promotion and making them the target of lazy stereotypes by colleagues. The men, from Cameroonian backgrounds, sued Barclays over similar race discrimination allegations at a joint trial in London. Christian Abanda Bella, who works in the lender's analytics team, said he felt racially stereotyped as the "aggressive Black man" by colleagues when he pushed back on one team project, according to court documents.
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JPMorgan Profit Soars 52% Despite Banking Turmoil; Bank's first-quarter revenue rose to record of $38.35 billion
David Benoit - The Wall Street Journal
JPMorgan Chase & Co. defied a crisis of confidence in the banking business, posting a 52% increase in first-quarter profit and record revenue. The bank posted net income of $12.62 billion, or $4.10 per share, up from $8.28 billion, or $2.63 a share, a year ago. That beat the $3.41 per share expected by analysts, according to FactSet. JPMorgan said revenue rose 25% to $38.35 billion. Analysts had expected $36.13 billion.
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Wells Fargo faces US regulatory heat after Silicon Valley Bank meltdown: source
Lydia Moynihan - NY Post
Wells Fargo is once again in regulators' crosshairs - and it can partly thank the screwups at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York for the fresh attention it's getting, The Post has learned.
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BIS - The Changing Nexus Between Commodity Prices And The Dollar: Causes And Implications
Boris Hofmann, Deniz Igan and Daniel Rees - Mondovisione
Commodity prices and the US dollar have moved in tandem recently, in contrast to their usual statistical pattern of moving in opposite directions. The causes of the change in the relationship are partly temporary, such as the unusual combination of recent shocks, and partly structural, such as the United States' emergence as a net energy exporter. The change in the nexus compounds the stagflationary effects of higher commodity prices for commodity importers, while its implications for commodity exporters are more ambiguous.
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JP Morgan reports strong first quarter results topping expectations despite investment banking and trading decline; The bank saw a 52% increase in net income in comparison with the first quarter of last year, reaching $12.62 billion.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
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Citadel Duo Plan $1.7 Billion Fund Shut to New Clients on Day 1; Jonas Diedrich and Dave Sutton set to start hedge fund in June; The firm is defying a tough capital raising environment
Nishant Kumar
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Truist to End Sales and Trading of MBS, Government-Agency Bonds; North Carolina-based bank to exit the businesses by January; About 80 employees cut, people with knowledge of matter say
Martin Z Braun, Liz McCormick and Max Reyes - Bloomberg
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Biden Administration Nudges Federal Workers Back to the Office; New guidance from Office of Management and Budget indicates some telework will be allowed
Annie Linskey - The Wall Street Journal
The Biden administration urged federal workers to return to their offices in new guidance that gives agencies broad discretion for how to revamp their work environments and leaves room for some continued telework. The policy is aimed at "substantially increasing in-person work," said Jason Miller, the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget in an accompanying blog post.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | You're less likely to get long COVID after a second infection than a first
Rob Stein - NPR
If you've gotten COVID more than once, as many people have, you may be wondering if your risk for suffering the lingering symptoms of long COVID is the same with every new infection. The answer appears to be no. The chances of long COVID - a suite of symptoms including exhaustion and shortness of breath - falls sharply between the first and second infections, according to recent research.
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Nutrition Science's Most Preposterous Result; Studies show a mysterious health benefit to ice cream. Scientists don't want to talk about it.
David Merritt Johns - The Atlantic
Last summer, I got a tip about a curious scientific finding. "I'm sorry, it cracks me up every time I think about this," my tipster said. Back in 2018, a Harvard doctoral student named Andres Ardisson Korat was presenting his research on the relationship between dairy foods and chronic disease to his thesis committee. One of his studies had led him to an unusual conclusion: Among diabetics, eating half a cup of ice cream a day was associated with a lower risk of heart problems. Needless to say, the idea that a dessert loaded with saturated fat and sugar might actually be good for you raised some eyebrows at the nation's most influential department of nutrition.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Japan should learn to love Warren Buffett; The possibility that the veteran financier might play a role in the buyout of Toshiba is an intriguing one
Leo Lewis - Financial Times
For the past three days, brokers, investors and other Tokyo-focused pundits have been engaged in a particularly vigorous bout of "Blind Man's Buffett": a parlour game in which participants attempt to guess what the 92-year-old Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett might be planning to buy, this time in Japan.
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China says it will co-operate on sovereign debt restructurings; Beijing appears to soften stance in fraught negotiations over wave of defaults by developing countries
Joe Leahy and Kana Inagaki - Financial Times
China will co-operate to resolve an impasse over developing countries' sovereign debt restructurings, a senior official said, as Beijing appeared to soften its stance in fraught negotiations over a string of defaults. China's central bank governor Yi Gang on Thursday told G20 finance ministers in Washington that the country was willing to work through the group's so-called Common Framework for sovereign debt restructuring.
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Japan convening panel on digital yen as BOJ pilot scheme gets underway
Reuters
Following the Bank of Japan's launch this month of a pilot programme to test the use of a digital yen, the Ministry of Finance plans to convene a meeting of experts on April 21 to discuss the way forward. The nine experts, who include academics, economists, a lawyer and a consumer group representative, will meet regularly, and compile a report by the end of this year. Central banks around the world have scrambled to develop digital currencies to modernize financial systems and facilitate domestic and cross-border payments.
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Philippines Considers 330,000 Tons of Rice Imports to Boost Stockpiles; Philippines is one of the world's biggest rice importers; Private traders have brought in over 790,000 tons of rice
Manolo Serapio Jr - Bloomberg
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Key Iron Ore Port Reopens as Australian Cyclone Moves Inland; Port Hedland resumes operations after check of channel, berths; Cyclone Ilsa made landfall overnight as a category 5 storm
Jason Scott and Ben Sharples - Bloomberg
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | AI clones teen girl's voice in $1M kidnapping scam: 'I've got your daughter'
Ben Cost - The NY Post
It was a dead "ringer" for her daughter. Artificial intelligence has taken phone scams to a frightening new level. An Arizona mom claims that scammers used AI to clone her daughter's voice so they could demand a $1 million ransom from her as part of a terrifying new voice scheme. "I never doubted for one second it was her," distraught mother Jennifer DeStefano told WKYT while recalling the bone-chilling incident. "That's the freaky part that really got me to my core."
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