August 30, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | John Lothian Publisher John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The third episode of "A sceptic's guide to crypto," hosted by the Financial Times columnist Jemima Kelly, is titled "NFT mania." There is a story in Axios about the power of smiling. I wonder what impact smiling could have on your trading. The story says that "smiling during running can make you more efficient and make the run feel more manageable." Did you ever put ketchup on a hot dog? Well, here is a story that can help correct that error from the Huffington Post, titled "Don't Even Think About Putting Ketchup On A Hot Dog." OK, maybe this is a Chicago thing, but it is the right way to eat a hot dog. MSNBC has a story titled "Why people are advised to take iodine tablets in the event of a nuclear disaster," which suggests to me I should add iodine tablets to the first aid kit in my go bag. Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL ***** Lee Hodgkinson, formerly the CEO of OSTC, has left the proprietary trading firm to join Saudi Tadawul Group as its group chief strategy officer, The Trade reports. Hodgkinson previously served at LSE, Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (CSX), SIX, NYSE Euronext, SmartPool Trading, and Euronext.~SR The London Metal Exchange has announced the keynote speakers for its LME Week 2022, beginning Monday, October 24, with the Metals Seminar at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London. The keynote speakers for the seminar will be: CEO address: Nicolas Aguzin, chief executive of HKEX; industry keynote: Inka Guixà, chief executive of La Farga; economic keynote: Sven Smit, senior partner of Capital Economics. The seminar is available both in person and online. You can go here for more information and to register.~SR ++++
MWE SHORT: Simon Puleston Jones - In Pursuit of Happiness JohnLothianNews.com Simon Puleston Jones, CEO of Climate Solutions, gives advice for balancing personal life with career life. Puleston Jones begins his presentation with an acronym for "DREAM", discussing how happiness and achieving your goals is related to Diligence and drive, Relationships and recruitment, Education and ethics, Adjustments and appreciation, and Mistakes and mentors. He stresses that your career should be something you truly enjoying waking up for and how some perks such as fancy cars and large boats can be outweighed by having a family and raising children. Watch the video » ++++ Insight Conversation: Dr. Richard Sandor, American Financial Exchange Ivy Yin - S&P Global Global carbon markets are evolving rapidly as more countries recognize the need to put a price on carbon and market intermediaries develop trading infrastructure from auction platforms to financial products. Richard L. Sandor, chairman and CEO of the American Financial Exchange, was one of the earliest proponents of environmental products. He was named by TIME magazine in 2007 as one of its "Heroes of the Environment" for his work as the "Father of Carbon Trading." Sandor, who was awarded the title of Chevalier dans la Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor) in France in 2013, for his accomplishments in the field of environmental finance and carbon trading, has also been deeply involved in developing the framework of carbon exchanges in China, such as the incubation of Tianjin Climate Exchange, one of China's earliest pilot climate exchanges. /jlne.ws/3R2EKIn ***** Dr. Sandor has an impressive carbon footprint.~JJL ++++ FBI says investors should take precautions before putting money into decentralized finance platforms Igor Bonifacic - Engadget Cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting security flaws in smart contracts to steal cryptocurrency, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In an advisory it published on Monday (via Bleeping Computer), the agency warned investors of a significant uptick in attacks targeting decentralized finance platforms. /jlne.ws/3Ts6NCI ****** So what are these precautions? Stay home, stay off the internet? Read a book?~JJL ++++ NFT.NYC party at the end of the world; Downturn be damned, there are rugs to be pulled Josh Gabert-Doyon - Financial Times Despite a monumental crypto downturn, the mood was joyous at the world's largest NFT conference in June. Smiling JPEG speculators, who had paid $849 (fiat dollars, please) for last-minute registration at NFT.NYC ambled through the tourist-filled streets of Midtown Manhattan and gazed upon the oversized crypto ads that flashed on Times Square billboards, all without a worry in the world. /jlne.ws/3PUpbkw ****** I love a good end of the world party.~JJL ++++ Monday's Top Three Our most clicked item on Monday was our MarketsWiki Education short video, Terry Duffy - My Road and the Industry Challenge, one of the shortened versions of our MWE videos. Second was the list of current job openings at MIAX Exchange. Third was Innovators Pavilion 2017 - Where are they now? Catching up with 10 fintech startups who took part in FIA's 2017 Innovators Pavilion, from FIA MarketVoice. ++++ MarketsWiki Stats 26,993 pages; 240,478 edits MarketsWiki Statistics ++++
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Lead Stories | The Options Market Is Accentuating the Swings in Stocks; Some strategists say a reversal in options trading and hedge fund activity are partly to blame for the market's rising volatility Eric Wallerstein - The Wall Street Journal As stocks rallied over the summer and sank in recent days, a common force exacerbated the moves: the options market. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spooked investors Friday when he vowed the central bank would keep fighting inflation, even at the expense of economic growth. The S&P 500 suffered its biggest one-day loss in more than two months. The market's summer rally, however, began fizzling a week earlier, coinciding with the Aug. 19 expiration of more than $2 trillion in options. Strategists say that left the market vulnerable to a spike in volatility—one that could feed upon itself if options market dynamics take hold. /jlne.ws/3R3kFld Europe's Energy Crisis Is Going to Get Worse. The World Will Bear the Cost Suriya Jayant - Time Until blackouts begin or pump prices make driving actually unaffordable, most people generally think no more often of energy than of air. For this reason, Americans have mostly been sheltered from the energy crisis unfolding urgently and in some cases lethally in countries around the world. In many other places, especially Europe, the escalating situation is impossible to ignore, and it's going to get a lot worse. /jlne.ws/3QUdH1L The Sun Will Keep Shining on Chinese Solar; China's solar firms face some long-term threats from U.S. policy, but look to benefit from global energy crisis and higher U.S. spending Jacky Wong - The Wall Street Journal High energy costs and policy incentives are set to drive up demand for solar panels nearly everywhere. Chinese solar companies, which dominate the industry throughout the value chain, will benefit. China commands a more than 80% market share at all key manufacturing stages for solar panels, according to the International Energy Agency. Rooftop solar, in particular, could become a financially attractive option for many homeowners given skyrocketing electricity prices. Nomura expects global solar installations to grow nearly 50% both this and next year. /jlne.ws/3pTLhZI China Arrests Hundreds in Nation's Biggest-Ever Bank Fraud Probe Bloomberg News China arrested hundreds of people allegedly involved in the nation's largest ever bank fraud and started repaying more victims of the $5.8 billion scandal, in a bid to maintain social stability ahead of this year's twice-a-decade Communist Party congress. Police in Xuchang city of Henan province arrested 234 suspects tied to the scam and made "significant progress" in recovering the stolen money, according to a statement late Monday. Police have said that a criminal gang led by suspect Lv Yi illegally controlled four rural lenders including Yuzhou Xinminsheng Village Bank, offering rates as high as 18% to attract funds that officials say amounted to 40 billion yuan ($5.8 billion). /jlne.ws/3CDBU87 Investors stick to ESG commitments for a greener future; Environmental, social and governance criteria are back on the agenda — despite rising energy prices, climate change and global conflict Sarah Murray - Financial Times For Colorado-based Doug Spencer, the devastating floods that recently hit Yellowstone National Park presented compelling evidence for his conviction that investing with an ESG (environmental, social and governance) lens has never been more important. Like many wealthy investors, Spencer, who is on the park's board, is undeterred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, soaring inflation or oil price spikes. If anything, the turmoil has prompted Spencer, a philanthropist and full-time impact investor, to increase his commitment. /jlne.ws/3R35tEG China throws Europe an energy lifeline with LNG resales; Surplus gas eases Russia's stranglehold but gives Beijing outsize influence Misa Hama - Financial Times Europe's fears of gas shortages heading into winter may have been circumvented, thanks to an unexpected white knight: China. The world's largest buyer of liquefied natural gas is reselling some of its surplus LNG cargoes due to weak energy demand at home. This has provided the spot market with an ample supply that Europe has tapped, despite the higher prices. /jlne.ws/3RnD1ge Morgan Stanley orders internal lawyer to supervise block trading desk; Arrangement underscores more conservative approach amid US government probes into bulk share sales Joshua Franklin and Ortenca Aliaj - Financial Times Morgan Stanley has ordered an internal lawyer to shadow the unit entangled in a federal investigation into block trading, underscoring the gravity of the probe and the steps the lender is taking to beef up supervision. The Wall Street bank has embedded one of its lawyers to sit on its US equity syndicate desk to supervise bankers and answer their legal questions, according to people briefed on the arrangement. /jlne.ws/3TkksLQ A 51-Year-Old Era of Global Economics May Be Dying a Slow Death; Latest crisis will upend half-century of world order: Swiss Re; Broader collaboration, focus on 'real economy' assets ahead Michelle Jamrisko - Bloomberg Swiss Re Chief Economist Jerome Haegeli has been thinking a lot about Aug. 15, 1971, lately. On that day, Haegeli recalls, US President Richard Nixon interrupted an episode of the popular American Western television show "Bonanza" to announce the end of the gold peg, in turn ushering in more than a half-century of globalization, flexible exchange rates, open markets, and a downward push on inflation that triggered rumors of its demise. /jlne.ws/3wGhYxK Fed Plans 2023 Launch of Long-Anticipated Faster Payments System; 'FedNow' would compete with private-sector system that some smaller lenders have been reluctant to use Andrew Ackerman - The Wall Street Journal The Federal Reserve is set to launch a long-awaited faster payments system by next summer, a step that officials say will modernize an outmoded infrastructure and ensure that near-instant payments become widely available. The new system would allow bill payments, paychecks and other common consumer or business transfers to be available quickly and round-the-clock, a change from an existing system that is closed on weekends and can at times take several days before funds become available. Last year, those older rails handled more than 29 billion payments, valued at close to $73 trillion. The Fed system would also compete with another real-time network built and launched by big banks in 2017, which processes a much smaller volume of payments. /jlne.ws/3PTr0OI Russia Confounds the West by Recapturing Its Oil Riches; Moscow is raking in more revenue than ever with the help of new buyers, new traders and the world's seemingly insatiable demand for crude Joe Wallace and Anna Hirtenstein - The Wall Street Journal Russia pumps almost as much oil into the global market as it did before its invasion of Ukraine. With oil prices up, Moscow is also making more money. Demand from some of the world's largest economies has given Russian President Vladimir Putin the upper hand in the energy battle that shadows the war in Ukraine, and has confounded the West's bid to cripple Russia's economy with sanctions. Sales are booming in Russia's export market, the world's largest in crude and refined fuels. And new trade arrangements have given Mr. Putin cover to use natural-gas exports as an economic weapon against Ukraine's European allies. Before the war, Russia supplied Europe with 40% of its gas. It has since throttled flows through the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany and other conduits, driving prices higher and putting pressure on European households and businesses. /jlne.ws/3wBbDUc Nasdaq Board-Diversity Rule Takes Center Stage in Court Battle; Two conservative groups argue exchange's diversity targets for listed companies amount to illegal racial and gender quota Alexander Osipovich - The Wall Street Journal Lawyers for conservative groups argued in federal court Monday that Nasdaq Inc.'s push to set diversity targets for listed companies amounts to an illegal racial and gender quota. Two right-leaning groups sued the Securities and Exchange Commission last year, setting up a battle over the hot-button issue of corporate diversity and how far regulators can go to foster it. The groups sued the SEC because the agency approved Nasdaq's listing rules, acting in its capacity as the stock exchange's regulator. "These rules impose unprecedented demographic quotas and disclosure requirements regarding race, sexual preference and sex on companies valued at over $20 trillion," Peggy Little, a lawyer for the National Center for Public Policy Research, one of the two groups suing the SEC, argued in court. /jlne.ws/3AZ5zYs The growing evidence that Covid-19 is leaving people sicker; The potential impact on heart and brain disease poses challenges to healthcare systems globally Sarah Neville - Financial Times When Dr David Strain encountered a 64-year-old patient on his ward round, the British geriatrician had a bleak epiphany. Less than six months earlier he had treated the man for Covid-19. Now, his deterioration was painful to witness. "He came in with a stroke and really bad delirium, a precursor of dementia," Strain says. "I saw the patient, recognised him [and] recognised the fact that his brain had dramatically aged." /jlne.ws/3TrlJko Landmark US-China audit deal spurs hunt for devils in the details; Two sides have different interpretations of agreement that could prevent delisting of Chinese companies in US Tabby Kinder, Cheng Leng and Hudson Lockett - Financial Times In 2013, after years of negotiations, Beijing yielded to pressure and agreed to let US regulators inspect the audit work of Chinese companies whose securities traded in New York. But the historic breakthrough was shattered when US officials travelled to China to check the audits of a large tech group and were stonewalled by regulators. /jlne.ws/3csUGVl 'Black Swan' Author Taleb Says Colleges Should Bear Student Debt Forgiveness Patrick McHale - Bloomberg Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the author of "The Black Swan," declared on Twitter that the cost of a "student loan debt jubilee should be borne by universities, not taxpayers." The mathematician then went on to take a swipe at the higher education establishment. /jlne.ws/3CCvVk5 SEC, Ripple take XRP lawsuit battle to media as well Timmy Shen - Forkast The ongoing battle between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs over the latter's token XRP is playing out not just in a courtroom but in media channels as well. Stu Alderoty, general counsel of Ripple, wrote on Sunday in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece: "What we need is regulatory clarity for crypto, not the SEC swinging its billy club to protect its turf at the expense of the more than 40 million Americans in the crypto economy." /jlne.ws/3KuPKvs Popular YouTuber flees Thailand after allegedly scamming over 6,000 victims out of $55 million Rebecca Moon - Nextshark A popular Thai YouTuber who claimed to be a successful forex trader has reportedly left the country after it was discovered that she allegedly defrauded over 6,000 victims out of two billion baht (approximately $55 million). Natthamon Khongchak, known as Nutty's Diary on YouTube with a channel boasting over 800,000 subscribers, allegedly fled abroad to Malaysia. Claiming to be a successful forex trader, Natthamon used her platform to lure victims into investing money with the promise of high returns in short periods of time. /jlne.ws/3pSoZb1 Singapore to tighten retail access to cryptocurrencies; Regulator says further measures are required 'to reduce consumer harm' Mercedes Ruehl - Financial Times Singapore's financial regulator has distanced itself from "heavily speculated" cryptocurrencies after a series of scandals this year that damaged the city-state's aspirations to be seen as a safe hub for the volatile asset class. /jlne.ws/3ABZDTP FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Denies Crypto Exchange Is Planning to Acquire Huobi Nelson Wang - CoinDesk FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said in a tweet Monday morning the crypto exchange had no plans to acquire Huobi. Huobi is one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, with a daily trading volume of over $1 billion, according to data from CoinGecko. /jlne.ws/3CHkK9D Most crypto "still junk", JPMorgan's blockchain lead claims Pradipta Mukherjee - Forkast Excluding a few dozen tokens, most cryptocurrencies are bound to "go away," according to Umar Farooq, Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan's blockchain unit. "Most of crypto is still junk," he said at the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Green Shoots seminar on Monday. "The use cases [of most cryptocurrencies] haven't arisen fully and the regulation has not caught up." /jlne.ws/3wIj3Ff Stablecoin Tether Dismisses Wall Street Journal's Claim of Inadequate Reserves Oliver Knight - CoinDesk Stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) has refuted claims made in a Wall Street Journal report in relation to uncertainty over its balance sheet. In an announcement on the company's website, Tether said that U.S. treasury bills have been the premier safe asset for decades in response to WSJ's claim that the company has a "thin cushion of equity." /jlne.ws/3R3ORfO Grayscale, Disclosing SEC Queries, Says Cryptos XLM, ZEC, ZEN May Be Securities CoinDesk Digital asset manager Grayscale Investments has been fielding questions from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the firm's "securities law analysis" of tokens in some of its less-popular crypto trusts. For the first time, Grayscale acknowledged that ZEC, ZEN and XLM "may currently be a security, based on the facts as they exist today." /jlne.ws/3AxwBEK UN says the global food crisis is about affordability, not availability Charmaine Jacob - CNBC Food prices remain stubbornly high as Russia's war in Ukraine drags on, exacerbating existing pressure from supply chain disruptions and climate change. The war has "put a lot of fuel on an already burning fire," said Arif Husain, chief economist at the United Nations World Food Programme. /jlne.ws/3e7rYcK Cryptoverse: Bleeding bitcoin's holding out for a hero Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh - Reuters Who can save bitcoin? The world's biggest cryptocurrency can't seem to catch a break. It finally looked to be regaining strength this month, breaching $25,000 for the first time since its June collapse, only to relapse towards $20,000. A deflating end to August has forced the market to confront the Big Bitcoin Question: where will a real rally come from? /jlne.ws/3AEXQ0i
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Ukraine Invasion | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine launches counter-offensive in south as Russia shells port city Andrea Shalal and Max Hunder - Reuters Ukrainian troops bolstered by stepped-up Western military aid launched a long-awaited counter-offensive to retake territory in the south on Monday as Russian forces shelled residential areas of the Black Sea port city of Mykolaiv. Moscow acknowledged a new offensive had been launched but said it had failed and the Ukrainians had suffered significant casualties. But a Ukrainian barrage of rockets left the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka without water or power, officials at the Russian-appointed local authority told RIA news agency. /jlne.ws/3AZ3njG Ukraine Launches Counteroffensive in South, Leading with Artillery Bombardment; Russia plays down assault but reports by Russian military bloggers suggest that Ukraine made breakthroughs to the northeast of Kherson James Marson - The Wall Street Journal Ukraine launched a military offensive in its south aimed at retaking territory captured by Russia in the early days of the war and firmly seizing the initiative after six months of fighting. Ukrainian officials said the country's forces were going on the attack after artillery struck bridges, ammunition depots and military facilities in occupied territory overnight and Monday morning. /jlne.ws/3R0mRd9 Ukraine War Is Depleting U.S. Ammunition Stockpiles, Sparking Pentagon Concern; The level of one type of combat rounds in storage is 'uncomfortably low,' says a defense official Gordon Lubold, Nancy A. Youssef and Ben Kesling - The Wall Street Journal The war in Ukraine has depleted American stocks of some types of ammunition and the Pentagon has been slow to replenish its arsenal, sparking concerns among U.S. officials that American military readiness could be jeopardized by the shortage. The U.S. has during the past six months supplied Ukraine with 16 U.S. rocket launchers, known as Himars, thousands of guns, drones, missiles and other equipment. Much of that, including ammunition, has come directly from U.S. inventory, depleting stockpiles intended for unexpected threats, defense officials say. /jlne.ws/3Q0hLvW Ukraine has hobbled Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Could it turn the tide of the war?; The fleet and its air wing have been battered by Ukrainian missile and drone attacks, turning the once-feared force into something of an afterthought. Christopher Miller and Paul Mcleary - Politico Russia's Black Sea Fleet was once considered central to Vladimir Putin's attempted conquest of Ukraine. But that fleet and its accompanying air wing have been battered by innovative Ukrainian missile and drone attacks, turning the once-feared force into something of an afterthought in Europe's largest war in seven decades. When Putin launched his all-out invasion of Ukraine in February, the Crimea-based fleet was at the center of the action, launching Kalibr cruise missiles at military and civilian targets deep into the country, blocking access to the country's ports, and threatening an amphibious landing on Odesa. /jlne.ws/3AtY621 Zelenskiy urges Russians to 'go home' as Ukraine presses offensive in south Andrea Shalal and Max Hunder - Reuters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged Russian troops to flee for their lives as his forces launched an offensive near the city of Kherson, saying Ukraine's military were taking back their territory though Russia said the assault had failed. Ukraine's offensive in the south comes after weeks of a stalemate in a war that has killed thousands, displaced millions, destroyed cities and caused a global energy and food crisis amid unprecedented economic sanctions. It has also fuelled worries of a radiation disaster being triggered by shelling near the south Ukraine Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Zelenskiy, in his nightly address late on Monday, vowed that Ukrainian troops would chase the Russian army "to the border". /jlne.ws/3cBwEat Zelenskiy blames Russia as Europe counts cost of gas crisis Nerijus Adomaitis and Christoph Steitz - Reuters Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of economic terrorism on Monday as the cost of Europe's energy crisis spiralled with Germany on the hook for at least 19 billion euros to bail out its biggest importer of Russian gas. A surge in gas prices as top exporter Russia cuts supplies has squeezed German utility company Uniper (UN01.DE), prompting it to seek an extra 4 billion euros ($4 billion) in credit lines from Berlin, on top of a 15 billion euro bailout deal agreed last month. How to respond to the crippling impact of soaring energy costs on business and households is top of the political agenda across the continent as autumn approaches. /jlne.ws/3TrZhr9 Moscow Rich Guys in Flashy Cars Find Wartime Russia No Easy Ride; Men jailed for 15 days after parade of supercars in Moscow; Russia has cracked down domestically amid its war in Ukraine Bloomberg Like many other people in President Vladimir Putin's Russia who've held events in public, a group of wealthy Russians who paraded expensive supercars around the streets of Moscow quickly fell foul of the law. Seven men were ordered to serve 15 days in detention for participating in a "mass gathering of citizens in a public place," the state-run Tass news service reported Monday, citing Moscow's Tagansky court. They were among drivers roughly hauled away by police a day earlier after owners of as many as 170 foreign cars including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Hummers, Bentleys and Rolls-Royce gathered for a "rich and successful" rally on the streets of the Russian capital. /jlne.ws/3R1dMkl Gazprom to cut gas deliveries to France's Engie; Russian group's decision comes after disagreement over contracts Sarah White and David Sheppard - Financial Times Gazprom is set to cut its gas deliveries even more to French utility Engie after a disagreement over contracts, exacerbating the slow pace of flows over recent weeks and prompting further warnings from France that it is braced for the possibility of a total cut to Russian supplies. /jlne.ws/3AXn1wl Woodside profits increase six-fold as demand for non-Russian gas soars; Australian energy producer says Ukraine war and Europe's crunch have shifted global supply chain Nic Fildes - Financial Times The surging price of gas has triggered a six-fold increase in profit at Australia's largest producer Woodside Energy Group, which predicted demand would continue to grow as Europe struggles with reducing its dependence on Russian supplies. /jlne.ws/3TqetoQ Kremlin: only sanctions prevent Nord Stream gas pipeline from working Reuters Nothing stands on the way of Russian gas exports to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline apart from technological problems caused by Western sanctions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, a day before another planned maintenance shutdown. /jlne.ws/3wIjMpX Ukraine lures Russian missiles with decoys of U.S. rocket system John Hudson -The Washington Post Ukraine may be outgunned but in the latest sign it is not yet outfoxed, a fleet of decoys resembling advanced U.S. rocket systems has tricked Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range cruise missiles on dummy targets, according to interviews with senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials and photographs of the replicas reviewed by The Washington Post. The Ukrainian decoys are made out of wood but can be indistinguishable from an artillery battery through the lens of Russian drones, which transmit their locations to naval cruise missile carriers in the Black Sea. /jlne.ws/3e6OdzQ Iran Sends First Shipment of Combat Drones to Russia; Moscow is expected to use the weapons on the Ukrainian battlefield, U.S. officials say Dion Nissenbaum - The Wall Street Journal Iran has shipped its first plane loads of combat drones to Russia, part of a deepening plan between the two countries for Moscow to use the weapons against Ukrainian forces, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Biden administration officials said Russian cargo planes have flown at least two kinds of Iranian drones to Russia that the U.S. expects Moscow to use in Ukraine to carry out missile strikes, surveillance and electronic warfare. /jlne.ws/3AXy4p7
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Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | CME Group Announces Launch of Euro-denominated Bitcoin and Ether Futures CME Group CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today launched Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures. "The launch of these new futures contracts builds on the strong growth and deep liquidity we have seen in our existing U.S. dollar-denominated Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts," said Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity and FX Products, CME Group. "Our new Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures will provide institutional clients, both within and outside the U.S., with more precise and regulated tools to trade and hedge exposure to the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap." /jlne.ws/3CziyRI Andrew Tobin To Join ASX As Chief Financial Officer ASX ASX Limited (ASX) announces that Andrew Tobin has been appointed its next Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mr Tobin will start in the role on Monday, 5 September 2022. Mr Tobin was previously CFO at Challenger Limited for nine years (2012-2021), responsible for numerous operational areas including finance, investor relations, treasury, operations and information technology. He was Deputy CFO prior to that and has also worked at CBA, MLC and KPMG. /bit.ly/3sGw54D Marc Peter Klein to join Deutsche Börse as Chief Compliance Officer Deutsche Börse Marc Peter Klein will join Deutsche Börse as Managing Director Group Compliance on 1 January 2023. He is joining from Deutsche Bank after seven years as Head Business Line AFC Corporate and Investment Bank Germany & EMEA and several years in senior positions in financial institutions in Germany and Luxembourg. Marc Peter Klein studied at the University of Trier and the London Business School and is a qualified and certified lawyer in bank and capital markets law. /bit.ly/3RlMZil OSTC chief departs for Saudi Tadawul Group strategy role; Incoming executive previously served at LSE, Cayman Islands Stock Exchange (CSX), SIX, NYSE Euronext, SmartPool Trading, Euronext and OSTC. Annabel Smith - The Trade The chief executive officer of proprietary trading firm, OSTC, has departed to join the Saudi Tadawul Group, The TRADE can reveal. Lee Hodgkinson has joined the exchange operator as its group chief strategy officer after spending the last four years as chief executive at OSTC. /jlne.ws/3Q8O4cw EEX Press Release - EEX markets remain open; Exchange Council supports open markets and needs for additional financial resources to support trading participants with margining requirements EEX This morning, the European Energy Exchange (EEX) invited the Exchange Council, an exchange body which represents the EEX market participants, to an extraordinary meeting to discuss the situation on the power derivatives market and in particular Germany. The participants debated the price developments over the past week and the significant price increases on Friday, 26 August. On this day, the power future for baseload delivery for the following year (the front year Cal 23), which is the benchmark contract for power in Europe, was settled at a price of 985.00 Euro/MWh. The contract experienced an intraday upward price movement of almost 200 Euro/MWh. EEX's Management Board of the Exchange confirmed that the prices were formed properly and that a temporary stop on the market would therefore not be necessary. The current market situation is constantly checked by the exchange. The Exchange Council agreed to this and gave a clear rejection to stop trading on the EEX. /bit.ly/3dVJ3q2 DGCX collaborates with precious metals solutions firm FinMet to expand DGCX product offering and participation DGCX The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has signed an agreement with FinMet Pte Ltd as it plans to introduce new gold products to its current precious metals product suite. FinMet, a precious metals technology, trading, training and logistics provider, will review with DGCX the physical bullion market to identify opportunities across global markets as part of the agreement. FinMet will support DGCX to present the product structure to onboard banks and new members that are seeking diversity in products for their business needs. /jlne.ws/3cx9NNq Moscow Exchange launches exchange-traded fund trading for gold MOEX On August 30, trading in the exchange-traded mutual investment fund (BPIF) "Raiffeisen-Zoloto" begins on the Moscow Exchange. Trade code - RCGL . The new exchange-traded fund invests in precious metals, primarily gold. The fund's benchmark is the ruble price of gold, which is formed during trading on the precious metals market of the Moscow Exchange (GLDRUB_TOM). /bit.ly/3wCSzVO TFX to list Three-month TONA futures and Three-month TONA futures option contracts TFX Tokyo Financial Exchange Inc. (TFX) announces that it has decided to list "Three-month TONA futures" and "Three-month TONA futures option contracts". Subject to approval by the competent authority for relevant arrangements of the exchange's rules and regulations, TFX plans to list the new products in late March 2023. /jlne.ws/3R2HGET Bursa Malaysia Launches Two New ESG Themed Indices With FTSE Russell Bursa Malaysia Bursa Malaysia Berhad ("Bursa Malaysia" or the "Exchange") today launched two new ESG themed indices under the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Series which are the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Top 100 ESG Low Carbon Select Index (FBM100LC) and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Top 100 ESG Low Carbon Select Shariah Index (FBM100LS). These new indices add to the existing portfolio in the FBM Index Series suite that the Exchange jointly issues with index partner FTSE Russell. These additions expand the Exchange's benchmarking offerings in the ESG, low carbon and climate risk index space to cater to evolving investors' demand. /jlne.ws/3Tq5h3I EGX Chairman Thanks Dr. Mohamed Farid For His Efforts During Chairmanship Of EGX Mondovisione Mr. Rami El Dokkany, newly appointed Executive Chairman of The Egyptian Exchange (EGX), held a meeting with Dr. Mohamed Farid Saleh, Chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), in the presence of the two Vice Chairman of FRA; Mr. Ahmed ElShiekh and Dr. Islam Azam and the Vice Chairman of EGX; Mrs. Hebatallah ElSerafi. /jlne.ws/3wBea0E Computerized Trade Reconstruction ("CTR") Clearing Member Back Office Audit Enforcement Program CME Effective on trade date Tuesday, September 13, 2022, and pending all relevant CFTC regulatory review periods, this Market Regulation Advisory Notice will supersede CME & CBOT Market Regulation Advisory Notice RA0806-3 from March 26, 2008. It is being reissued as a CME-only Advisory Notice in connection with the termination of open outcry trading in all CBOT products. /bit.ly/3pXbXJ6 Equity Index Derivatives: Amendments to the Contract Specifications for FTSE 100 Declared Dividend Index Futures and for Index Total Return Futures Eurex The Management Board of Eurex Deutschland took the following decisions with effect from 5 September 2022: Amendments to the Contract Specifications for Futures Contracts and Options Contracts at Eurex Deutschland ("Contract Specifications") regarding: Introduction of quarterly expiries for FTSE 100 Declared Dividend Index Futures; Deletion of specific requirements for FTSE Index Futures and EURO STOXX® Select Dividend 30 Index Futures with respect to Exchange for Physicals Index (EFP-I) transactions; Adjustment of minimum number of contracts for block trades ("MBTS") and for Trade-at-Market transactions ("TAM") of FTSE 100 Index Total Return Futures and EURO STOXX® Select Dividend 30 Index Total Return Futures. /bit.ly/3R2FTPV ICE Benchmark Administration Consults on Potential Cessation of ICE Swap Rate® based on USD LIBOR® ICE Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced that ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA) has published a consultation on its intention to cease the publication of all ICE Swap Rate®settings based on USD LIBOR®. Following the FCA's announcement on March 5, 2021, regarding the future cessation and loss of representativeness of USD LIBOR, IBA does not expect sufficient (or perhaps any) input data required to calculate USD LIBOR ICE Swap Rate settings (i.e. data based on eligible interest rate swaps referencing USD LIBOR settings) to be available after June 30, 2023. As a result, IBA is consulting on its intention to cease the publication of all USD LIBOR ICE Swap Rate benchmark "runs" (i.e. USD LIBOR Rates 1100, USD LIBOR Spreads 1100 and USD LIBOR 1500) for all tenors immediately after publication on June 30, 2023. The consultation is open for feedback until 5:00pm London time on October 7, 2022. IBA will publish a feedback statement after the feedback period has closed. /bit.ly/3e6SUcX Investment Challenge Inspires Teacher to call for Mandatory Financial Literacy in Schools JSE Financial education for learners in high school should be mandatory at all schools in the country, this is according to Phyllis Walsh, teacher and mentor at Eden College in Durban. Walsh's sentiments are a result of her experience mentoring a team of four learners in the JSE Investment Challenge which teaches learners and students how to trade financial instruments and, in the process, acquire valuable insight into financial markets, investments and how to build investment portfolios. /bit.ly/3Rjmj1B Press Release: NSE Statement NSE Pursuant to NSE Press Release dated August 22, 2022, Nextbillion Technology Private Limited, which carries its business under brand name "Groww", a registered Trading member of NSE, has informed NSE that entity named "Real Trader" operating through Telegram channel named "Groww Stock" and WhatsApp no- 9009115861 is not associated with them in any manner. They have also taken necessary action against the said entity." Investors are requested to take note of the same. /bit.ly/3KuYLEO SIX rolls out triparty collateral management product; Users will be able to delegate their day-to-day operational collateralisation responsibilities to SIX. Chris Lemmon - The Trade Ahead of the roll-out of UMR phase six this week, SIX has launched a new triparty collateral management (TCM) solution to help clients reduce operational risks and costs. Users of the service will be able to delegate their day-to-day operational collateralisation responsibilities to SIX, ensuring the correct amount of margin is being posted and that risks are managed. /jlne.ws/3cqG7lb
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Fintech | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | McKinsey Sees Africa Fintech Sales Surging Eightfold by 2025; Fast-growing population and internet access to drive expansion; About 90% of transactions in Africa are still cash-based Matthew Hill - Bloomberg Africa's financial-technology company revenue may soar to $30.3 billion by 2025 -- eight times higher than in 2020 -- as a growing, young and under-banked population gets more access to internet, McKinsey & Co, said. The anticipated increase is part of a rapid expansion in financial services income that's expected to grow to $230 billion from $150 billion over the same period, the consulting company said in a research report published Tuesday. About two-thirds of Africa's 1.3 billion people don't have a bank account or full access to financial services, and 90% of all transactions on the continent are still cash-based, according to the report. That creates a growth opportunity for fintech companies. /jlne.ws/3Awxdum Musk Tries a New Way Out of Twitter; Also Tether's audit delays, retail execution latency and the Elon Musk private jet tracker. Matt Levine - Bloomberg A month ago, Elon Musk's fight with Twitter Inc. was a merger dispute. Musk signed a merger agreement with Twitter in April, in which he agreed to buy Twitter for about $44 billion. Then the stock market went down, and Musk decided that he didn't want to pay $44 billion for Twitter anymore. And so, like lots of other regretful acquirers before him, he tried to find an excuse to get out of the deal. There is a standard set of ways to do this. The merger agreement is 73 pages long, full of representations and covenants and conditions. You read through the merger agreement, you find some places where you think Twitter has not lived up to its obligations or met its conditions, you send Twitter a letter saying that and terminating the deal, Twitter sues you, and you meet up in Delaware Chancery Court to argue over what the merger agreement requires. /jlne.ws/3AWag52 Silicon Valley's Elite Get Dragged Into Musk-Twitter Trial Kate Conger - The New York Times Jack Dorsey, a founder of Twitter, got a subpoena. So did Marc Andreessen, a prominent venture capitalist. Larry Ellison, Oracle's chairman, and the investors David Sacks and Joe Lonsdale received them, too. They were all summoned to share what they know about the rancorous, knock-down, drag-out tech spectacle of the year: the fight between Twitter and Elon Musk, the world's richest man. Mr. Musk enthusiastically agreed to buy Twitter in April for $44 billion, but has since tried to back out of the blockbuster deal, leading to lawsuits and recriminations. Both sides are set for a showdown in Delaware Chancery Court in October over whether Mr. Musk needs to stick with the acquisition. The torrent of legal demands in the case has forced a who's who of Silicon Valley to lawyer up, creating a heyday for top-tier law firms. /jlne.ws/3ABqZcJ US regulator sues data broker over sale of location information; FTC alleges details from millions of devices could be used to track users to sensitive places such as abortion clinics Patrick McGee - Financial Times The US Federal Trade Commission has sued adtech group Kochava for allegedly selling location data from "hundreds of millions of mobile devices" that could be used to trace individuals' movements, sending a warning shot to other data brokers and the broader digital ads industry. /jlne.ws/3PTXOHm US Lawmakers Seek Answers From Fintech on Buy Now, Pay Later Gun Sales Molly Schuetz and Michael Tobin - Bloomberg A group of 18 US representatives is demanding Credova Financial LLC answer questions about its no-interest financing options for the purchase of guns and ammunition. In a letter Monday to Credova Chief Financial Officer Dusty Wunderlich, the lawmakers said they are expressing their "strong concern" and seeking information about the provision and marketing of buy now, pay later financing for online purchases of firearms and related accessories. /jlne.ws/3CJbDFK You Could Trust Blockchain With the Constitution; Democratizing, community-driven projects are emerging around the technology. Robbie Heeger - The Wall Street Journal The concerns raised by Ken Griffin in "A Billionaire Explains Why He Bought Constitution" (Personal Journal, Aug. 10), particularly regarding the fiduciary responsibilities of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), are misguided. In the lead-up to the auction, as the fiscal sponsor of the ConstitutionDAO project, our organization, Endaoment, prepared specific language and legal provisions in our partnership to ensure the safety and care of the Constitution if our bid was successful. In fact, we ultimately didn't put forward our maximum bid precisely because we took seriously our obligation to have remaining funds available for properly storing and insuring the document before transferring it for display. /jlne.ws/3QTAtqx
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Cybersecurity | Top stories for cybersecurity | FTC sues data broker Kochava over sensitive geolocation data Ashley Gold - Axios The Federal Trade Commission is suing an adtech company for selling geolocation information from mobile devices used to track individuals' movements, the agency announced Monday. The FTC voted 4-1 to authorize the suit in an Idaho federal court against data broker Kochava, Inc., for selling data from hundreds of millions of phones that traced the movements of people around sensitive locations like reproductive health clinics, domestic violence shelters and addiction recovery centers. /jlne.ws/3cwNUOi Italy's Energy Agency Suffered Malware Attack, Halted IT Systems Flavia Rotondi - Bloomberg Italy's energy agency Gestore dei Servizi Energetici SpA suffered a malware attack on Sunday night and Monday morning, according to a statement. GSE's IT systems and websites were shut down to protect the data, the statement said. The agency's role as a gas buyer of last resort for Italy's electricity network hasn't been hampered. /jlne.ws/3ApnKVy Zuckerberg Stresses Skills Other Than Hacking in Rogan Podcast Austin Carr - Bloomberg Mark Zuckerberg—the computer geek, the coder since puberty, the biopic-ized hacker—now identifies as a designer. In a podcast released last week, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg spent nearly three hours in conversation with Joe Rogan. It was an eclectic interview, with Zuckerberg discussing everything from martial arts to the metaverse. The most revealing part, though, may have been Zuck's repeated descriptions (and reminders) of his singular focus on design. "As a product designer..." he told Rogan in one of many similar refrains. /jlne.ws/3RiJJnN New Cybersecurity Regulations Are Coming. Here's How to Prepare. Stuart Madnick - Harvard Business Review Cybersecurity has reached a tipping point. After decades of private-sector organizations more or less being left to deal with cyber incidents on their own, the scale and impact of cyberattacks means that the fallout from these incidents can ripple across societies and borders. /jlne.ws/3Awv81m 'Cyclops Blink' Shows Why the SEC's Proposed Cybersecurity Disclosure Rule Could Undermine the Nation's Cybersecurity Sasha Hondagneu-Messner, Steve McInerney and Alan Charles Raul - Lawfare Blog On March 9, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule intended to enhance and standardize disclosure requirements for cybersecurity risks. Among other things, the rule requires all publicly traded companies to report all "material" cybersecurity incidents within four business days of determining the event's materiality. But shockingly, this notice requirement does not include an exception for active investigations by law enforcement, coordination with intelligence and national security agencies, or compliance with court orders that may restrict the timing of permissible cybersecurity disclosures—nor does it provide an exception where premature disclosure of an incident could cause significant damage to other vulnerable businesses or government entities. In theory, this could mean that a company would be required to disclose a breach before the vulnerability could even be patched. /jlne.ws/3R3iPAP
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Cryptocurrencies | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Why A Lower Carbon Footprint Won't Save Cryptocurrencies Kenneth Rapoza - Forbes Remember when "Ethereum-killer" Polkadot was $25 a coin? I do. That's when I bought it. The proof-of-stake blockchain was light on the energy, something everyone agreed was important, especially after Elon Musk ditched Bitcoin as a currency Tesla would accept for payment because of its carbon footprint. Those computer units mining Bitcoin all do sure burn a lot of electricity. Climate change fears are not what's taken these coins down by more than 50% this year (Polkadot down even more), but the excitement over Ethereum's switch to proof-of-stake from energy intensive (and costly) proof-of-work is probably not going to suddenly turn environmental conscious crypto investors onto these coins. /jlne.ws/3CJbke4 Court Stymies African Bitcoin Adopter's Gold-for-Crypto Offer; Program offered citizenship for $60,000, access to diamonds; CAR first African country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender Baudelaire Mieu and Katarina Hoije - Bloomberg The Central African Republic's hopes of becoming Africa's top cryptocurrency destination were dealt a blow on Monday, when the country's highest court deemed its plan to offer land and mineral resources to investors unconstitutional. The government must cease offering land and citizenship in exchange for investments in the CAR's cryptocurrency, known as Sango Coin, according to the decision by the Constitutional Court in the capital, Bangui. Offering citizenship is unconstitutional "considering that nationality has no market value," the court said. The CAR became the first country in Africa to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in April. /jlne.ws/3TtKFI7 Why Crypto Should Support the American Data Privacy and Protection Act Daniel Kuhn - CoinDesk For as many privacy advancements that are happening in the crypto industry, there's also a growing understanding that true, substantive consumer privacy cannot rely entirely on increasing access to cryptographic tools. There must also be federal action to preempt and criminalize the worst privacy abuses, and a maturing crypto industry should support those efforts - even if it means the anarchists siding with the state. /jlne.ws/3KwL7RI DeFi Platform RedStone Raises Nearly $7M to Improve Connectivity Between Blockchains, Real-World Data Elizabeth Napolitano - CoinDesk DeFi oracle platform RedStone has raised nearly $7 million to develop a faster, cost-efficient cross-chain oracle for decentralized finance protocols. According to a Monday press release, Lemniscap led the seed funding round with support from Coinbase Ventures, Blockchain Capital, Distributed Global, Lattice, Arweave, Bering Waters, Maven11 and SevenX Ventures. RedStone, which currently delivers data feeds to more than 30 blockchains, including Ethereum, Avalanche and Polygon, will use the funds to expedite the rollout of its latest product suite with the aim of improving connectivity between blockchains and real-world data. /jlne.ws/3R38AfF Why Ethiopia has moved from banning crypto to regulating it Faustine Ngila - Quartz In June this year, Ethiopia's central bank issued a statement saying that crypto business in the country is illegal. Less than three months later, the country seems to have reversed this decision, instead requiring cryptocurrency operators to register with the national cybersecurity agency—the Information Network Security Administration (INSA)—within 10 days. /jlne.ws/3AB5wAq Blockchain for Europe Exec on EU Potentially Banning Dollar-Pegged Stablecoins CoinDesk The European Union could potentially ban U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins in 27 countries if the union finalizes the new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) legislation. Blockchain for Europe Secretary General Robert Kopitsch breaks down the legislation. /jlne.ws/3CY92rF Ethereum Merge Is a 'Powerful Force': GSR Trader on Institutional Allocation to ETH CoinDesk The Ethereum Merge now has an official kick-off date. GSR OTC Trader Luke Farrell expects that "a successful merge will ... increase the ability for institutions to allocate to Ethereum." He explains how the upgrade will impact the price of ether and why it's a "powerful force." /jlne.ws/3CIBjlI South Korea Must Reverse Ineffective Ban on Crypto ICOs, Central Bank Says Sandali Handagama - CoinDesk South Korea's landmark crypto regulations will have to institutionalize initial coin offerings (ICO), which are currently banned in the country, the Bank of Korea said in a report published Monday. /jlne.ws/3AA3bG4 Crypto exchange FTX's CEO says no plan to buy China's Huobi Krystal Hu - Reuters FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried said in a tweet on Monday that the crypto exchange has no plans to buy China-based Huobi, which also runs one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. /jlne.ws/3q0mSSg Anticipating the Coming Ethereum Merge; Moving the blockchain from "proof of work" to "proof of stake" could be a game changer, but does not come without concerns. Victoria Vergolina - Bloomberg For crypto enthusiasts, a big change is in the air - and it's not just a change of seasons. It's the phrase on everyone's lips: The Merge. It would be the Ethereum blockchain's most ambitious software upgrade ever, coming after years of delays. This upgrade would represent a fundamental overhaul of how the Ethereum blockchain works, and would - if all goes according to the very ambitious plan - represent a shift away from the energy-intensive approach known as "proof of work." In its place, Ethereum would adopt the "proof of stake" model, which proponents say is significantly more energy efficient and skeptics worry is less secure. /jlne.ws/3wFr5yP Trading volume on top NFT marketplace OpenSea down 99% since May Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez - FORTUNE Has the NFT bubble popped? What was once a red-hot market fueled by FOMO during the crypto bull market of 2021 is now just a trickle, with trading volume on the most popular NFT marketplace, OpenSea, down 99% in just under four months. On May 1, OpenSea processed a record $2.7 billion in NFT transactions, but on Sunday the marketplace recorded just $9.34 million worth, according to data compiled by DappRadar. The company recorded 24,020 users on Sunday, about a third fewer than when it hit its record transaction number in May. /jlne.ws/3QZ4hCg Facebook now supports NFTs; Users can post digital collectibles they own on Instagram as well. Kris Holt - engadget Meta has followed through on its threat promise to bring NFT (non-fungible token) support to Facebook. Users can now post digital collectibles that they have in their digital wallets across Facebook and Instagram. After they connect digital wallets to one app, they'll be able to access NFTs from both of them. The company is making the move a few weeks after it expanded access to Instagram's NFT functions in dozens more countries. It started testing NFTs on Facebook earlier this summer. Meta is moving deeper into NFT territory even though the market for the digital tokens has nosedived in recent months. There are indications that Meta is working on a marketplace where people can buy and sell NFTs, but whether people will actually use it remains to be seen. /jlne.ws/3cq7v2I Why Are Luxury Brands So Bullish on NFTs?; Despite the crypto slump, top luxury players are still open to digital assets. Victoria Vergolina - Bloomberg Nonfungible tokens have become increasingly popular with many luxury brands and remain a powerful draw for some consumers despite the continued crypto winter. High-end retailers Gucci and Tiffany are the latest to jump into the fray with new NFT offerings. Kering SA's Gucci says it will accept ApeCoin as a form of payment in select US stores. LVMH's Tiffany & Co. also announced it's launching what it calls N-F-Tiffs: collectible passes that can be redeemed by owners of CryptoPunk NFTs for a custom jewelry piece. The demand for NFTs has slumped in recent months, so why are these brands so bullish on crypto? Bloomberg journalists Emily Nicolle and Taz Akhtar join Crypto Senior editor Anna Irrera to discuss why luxury brands have embraced NFTs. /jlne.ws/3AZ5lR6 A sceptic's guide to crypto: NFT mania Jemima Kelly - Financial Times In the third episode of the latest season of Tech Tonic, FT columnist and host Jemima Kelly unpacks the craze around non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Blockchain technology gave us NFTs, and NFTs have created a new way for artists to sell digital work. But NFTs have also become a breeding ground for rampant fraud and scams. /jlne.ws/3pVKA2o The artistic value of an NFT; Professor Amy Whitaker looks at the economics, technology, and history of blockchain-based art Art Basel The NFT phenomenon has overtaken public consciousness, both inside and outside of the art market. However, the NFT has much longer roots, much greater sympathies to the history of art, and much more potential to enact seismic shifts in the art market than the recent discourse might reveal. /jlne.ws/3wF01PU The Metaverse Casino That Wasn't Jeff Wilser - CoinDesk I'm at the blackjack table. My dealer is a humanoid frog who wears a bow-tie. He doesn't speak much. The frog deals me a 17 and himself a 16. I stay. The frog deals himself another card. He busts. I win! Immediately after I win the hand, chips fall from the sky like confetti. I "make it rain" by flicking money from my stack. /jlne.ws/3pQSpGx Critics Think the Metaverse Looks Bad. What Do Brands Pouring Money Into It Say? Luxury and fashion companies spent nearly a year establishing metaverse divisions, imagining a richly designed future. Then Mark Zuckerberg unveiled rudimentary early designs. Chavie Lieber - The Wall Street Journal Last week, when Mark Zuckerberg posted an image of his digital avatar inside his company's virtual reality game, Horizon Worlds, the chief executive of Meta Platforms, Inc. faced a swift round of mockery. "Sims 1 had better graphics bruh," one person wrote on Facebook. "This selfie cost Mark Zuckerberg $10,000,000,000," a Twitter user quipped. "Stay in school, kids." /jlne.ws/3CGZIYR
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Politics | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Stop Calling Everything You Disagree With 'Anti-Democratic'; Democracy itself is not to blame for every wrongheaded or misguided decision made by a freely elected government. Tyler Cowen - Bloomberg One of the most disturbing trends in current discourse is the misuse of the term "anti-democratic." It has become a kind of all-purpose insult, used as a cudgel to criticize political and intellectual opponents. Not only is this practice intellectually lazy, but it threatens to distort the meaning and obscure the value of democracy. Of course democracy is not perfect. First, a lot of individual democratic decisions are not very good. (In fact, relative to scientific or technocratic ideals, most democratic decisions are not very good, though I would argue that technocrats cannot be completely trusted, either.) Second, there are periods when some countries might do better as non-democracies, even though democracy is better on average. /jlne.ws/3e7uxLW As Gas Prices Soar, the UK Needs a Real Energy Plan; The next prime minister will have to deliver both short-term relief and longer-term reforms. The Editors - Bloomberg As Russia's war with Ukraine plods on, a pincer movement is advancing toward UK households this winter. The price of natural gas has doubled since April and is about seven times what it was a year ago. High gas prices boost electricity costs, which in turn push up the price for manufacturing inputs, food and pretty much everything else. With demand for energy set to rise for the colder months, the financial pressure on millions of British households could soon prove intolerable. /jlne.ws/3Awucdm EU Plans Emergency Steps, Structural Fixes to Power Market Ewa Krukowska - Bloomberg The European Union is preparing to step into its energy market, intervening in the short term to dampen soaring power costs and eventually seeking to break the link between gas and electricity prices, according to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "We have to develop an instrument which makes sure that the gas price no longer dominates the electricity price," von der Leyen, who heads the EU's executive body, said Monday evening during an appearance in Berlin with Germany Economy Minister Robert Habeck. "We're seeing now with these exorbitantly high gas prices that we must decouple." /jlne.ws/3ctMJiB
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Regulation & Enforcement | Stories about regulation and the law. | Wise fined by Abu Dhabi over anti-money laundering failures; Payment fintech under pressure as economic conditions worsen and chief probed in UK Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan and Emma Dunkley - Financial Times Payments app Wise has been fined $360,000 by United Arab Emirates' financial regulator over failures in its anti-money laundering controls, piling pressure on the fintech just as rising rates and costs threaten the sector. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market, an international financial centre, imposed the fine on Wise Nuqud, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the remittance fintech, over a series of failures in its AML systems. /jlne.ws/3R3nDpE Regulator warns as South Korea investors pile into leveraged ETFs; Three of the of the most popular ETPs with investors were 3x leveraged and inverse overseas vehicles Lisa Kim - Financial Times South Korea's financial regulator has raised concerns over retail investors piling into risky leveraged overseas exchange traded funds in greater numbers as they seek profits in volatile markets. /jlne.ws/3wHJ4oh Auditor Independence and Ethical Responsibilities: Critical Points to Consider When Contemplating an Audit Firm Restructuring Paul Munter - SEC Auditor independence and a culture of professional ethical behavior are critical to an audit firm's ability to fulfill its gatekeeper responsibilities.[2] Accounting firms must keep these responsibilities in mind in all contexts, including when exploring complex business relationships and firm restructurings. In this regard, we have observed audit firms exploring the sale of a portion of their business to an external party while retaining an equity interest or other form of continuing involvement in that business,[3] or divesting all or portions of the accounting firm's consulting practice to a third-party entity.[4] While such contemplated sale and divestiture deals are not new,[5] in the view of OCA staff, complex transactions with investors that are not traditional accounting firms, and have not previously been subject to the same independence and ethical responsibilities, elevate the risk to an auditor's independence with respect to its audit clients. In these complex practice structures and divestitures, it is paramount that the accounting firm fully understands its responsibility for maintaining auditor independence and it discloses such requirements to the non-accounting firm investors involved in the transaction so that the accounting firm can obtain the information necessary to fulfill its responsibilities. /jlne.ws/3Aver6x SEC Adds Defendants and Claims in Microcap Fraud Case SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission filed an amended complaint on August 26, 2022, charging Harmel S. Rayat, Jatinder "Jay" Bhogal, and Jeetenderjit Singh "Jeet" Sidhu, residents of Vancouver, Canada, RenovaCare, Inc., a development stage company headquartered in New York, and Sharon Fleming (a/k/a Sharon Hebgin), a California resident, for their roles in a fraudulent scheme to artificially inflate the price of RenovaCare stock and profit by selling shares. As alleged in the amended complaint, the scheme generated over $7 million in illicit gains. /jlne.ws/3Q2GYWC Federal Court penalises MobiSuper and ZIB Financial for superannuation advice breaches ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments Commission The Federal Court has ordered MobiSuper Pty Limited (MobiSuper) and MobiSuper's financial services licensee, ZIB Financial Pty Limited (ZIB), to pay combined penalties of $250,000 for failures surrounding promotion of the MobiSuper Fund. ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, 'Superannuation is important for the future financial security of Australians. It is essential that consumers, when choosing their super fund, are not misled or given personal advice that is not in their best interests.' /jlne.ws/3wCyjng Takeovers Panel rules a special waiver from the general offer obligation may be granted to Broad Gongga for an involuntary disposal that leads to a change in concert group leader Securities & Futures Commission of Hong Kong The Takeovers and Mergers Panel has ruled that a special waiver from the general offer obligation under the Takeovers Code (Note 1) may be granted to Broad Gongga Investment Pte. Ltd. as a result of foreclosure sales by third-party creditors of Jinke Property Group Company Limited of its interest in Jinke Smart Services Group Co. Ltd. which would lead to Broad Gongga holding more Jinke Smart Services shares than Jinke Property (ie, a seller-forced disposal). /jlne.ws/3pTpIbN
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Investing & Trading | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Neel Kashkari 'Happy' to See the Stock Market's Reaction After Jackson Hole; The Minneapolis Fed president sees the selloff as evidence that the market is taking the central bank's inflation fight seriously. Joe Weisenthal, Tracy Alloway, and Jonnelle Marte - Bloomberg Sharp stock-market losses show investors have got the message that Jerome Powell and his colleagues are serious about tackling inflation, said Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari. "I was actually happy to see how Chair Powell's Jackson Hole speech was received," Kashkari said in an interview with Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast on Monday, reflecting on the steep drop after Powell spoke. "People now understand the seriousness of our commitment to getting inflation back down to 2%." /jlne.ws/3pSIsIn Some Companies Haven't Paid a Dividend Since 2020. They Might Bring It Back as a Slowdown Looms; Boeing, Disney and others have yet to resume shareholder payouts Mark Maurer - The Wall Street Journal Over two years after the pandemic ravaged corporate balance sheets, dozens of companies haven't turned their dividends back on. Some of them are wondering whether now—during an economic slowdown—is the right time to do so. Nearly 190 U.S.-listed companies stopped paying dividends in 2020 to save much-needed cash, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, a data provider. Thirty-nine went back to them that same year, 53 followed suit in 2021, and 23 have done so this year. However, 72 companies, or 38.5%, have yet to reinstate their dividend, including Boeing Co. and Walt Disney Co. /jlne.ws/3TtigSa Wall Street Fears What Higher Rates Will Do to Corporate America Jessica Menton and Farah Elbahrawy - Bloomberg Some of Wall Street's biggest banks expect a lengthy period of higher interest rates to further pressure Corporate America's profit engine, threatening equity gains as companies grapple with elevated financing costs and margin-shredding inflation. While corporate earnings have been better than feared this season, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp. strategists have warned that profit estimates will need to be cut much further before stocks can find a true low. /jlne.ws/3Tv4luX Junk Bond Traders Ought to Check In With Economists; There's a highly unusual disconnect between recession probabilities and US high-yield bond spreads, and it's not sustainable. History favors the economists. Jonathan Levin - Bloomberg Corporate junk bonds in the US are paying investors a paltry premium for the risk of holding them into a looming recession. Either spreads need to widen or the recession clouds need to vanish, but something's got to give. Consider the first possibility, the base case. Junk spreads typically track recession risk closely, and the economic gloom has been mounting consistently for the past nine months. In particular, the median economist in Bloomberg survey data projects a 50% chance of a recession in the next year, and indicators based on the yield curve keep warning of a downturn, too. Yet high-yield spreads are still sitting at 4.52 percentage points over the Treasury curve on an option-adjusted basis, in line with their average over the past decade, according to the Bloomberg US Corporate High Yield index. /jlne.ws/3KyqYdO
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Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Inevitable: Melting Greenland ice sheet will send seas nearly a foot higher, study finds Dinah Voyles Pulver - USA Today Even if the entire world stopped burning fossil fuels today, a new study finds the Greenland ice sheet would still lose enough ice to add nearly a foot to rising sea levels. Melting over the past century has altered the ice sheet's equilibrium, according to the study led by two glaciologists at the National Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. For the ice sheet to correct that imbalance, it will lose an estimated 100 trillion tons of ice, adding at least 10.8 inches to global average sea levels. That's "a very conservative rock-bottom minimum," said Jason Box, a glaciology professor with Denmark's geological survey. /jlne.ws/3AWSPkN The Single-Most Misleading Stat in Renewable Energy; Only a fraction of total energy consumption comes from renewables. Kind of. Maxx Chatsko - The Street No energy source is perfect. Few are as divisive as renewable energy. Arguments against have focused on high costs, low reliability, and the inability to build a grid based on renewable energy. It's easy to disprove these arguments with real-world data. For example, wind and solar offer the lowest-cost electricity, on average, in the United States. Meanwhile, eight different states lean on wind power for at least 20% of their electricity. Texas generates more electricity from wind power alone than 39 states generate total. Include solar, and the Lone Star state generates more electricity from renewables than 42 states generate from all sources combined. /jlne.ws/3Rp8uPv Asian-American private equity professional hits Portfolio Advisers with federal discrimination suit Steve Gelsi - MarketWatch A 15-year veteran of private equity firm Portfolio Advisors LLC has sued her former employer in federal court for allegedly discriminating against her because she's Asian-American. Michelle Lee, former general counsel, investments for Portfolio Advisors who graduated from Yale Law School in 2005, said Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders continue to face injustice in the workplace. The Darien, Conn.-based firm discriminated against her because of her race, sex, religion and national origin, and retaliated when she reported the issue, she said. /jlne.ws/3pS5LlJ The Search for New Talent Has Companies Welcoming Refugees Paul Keegan - Bloomberg In 2017, when Azimullah Zarifi was 18, his family thought it was safe in Kunduz, Afghanistan, to reopen their car dealership, which had drawn the Taliban's ire for serving American and German customers. But after a gunmen opened fire on the shop, Zarifi was hit by five bullets and lost his right leg. Four years later, he was one of the last Afghans to be evacuated during the US military's withdrawal. Zarifi bounced from Qatar to Germany to Texas before ending up in Oshkosh, Wis., where he was hired to work on the production floor of Amcor Plc, a global packaging company. "In my country, there was no work, my life was in danger," says Zarifi, now 23, in halting English. "Lot of things [are] better in this country, and I am happy now." /jlne.ws/3e6XS9f It's Meatless Monday. Maybe Avoid the Salmon.; Labels that claim the pink fish is "sustainably farmed" are usually far from honest. Jessica Karl - Bloomberg Imagine you're a lil tiny baby salmon swimming along, minding your own business and suddenly you get attacked by a vicious swarm of sea lice, which clamp their jaws on your face until you eventually die and land on a pile of salmon feces that is 32 inches tall. This is the fate of around 15% of the global farmed Atlantic salmon population, which suffer from a mortality rate far higher than land-grazing chicken and cows. Demand for the pink fish has skyrocketed in the past decade, and it's now a $20 billion global industry, "Salmon Wars" co-authors Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz recently told Amanda Little. /jlne.ws/3TtKTyX A FAILURE OF ENFORCEMENT; Deforesters are plundering the Amazon. Brazil is letting them get away with it. Terrence McCoy -The Washington Post Daniel Valle sped down Highway 317, closing in on the first targets of the day. He was in a hurry. Deforestation alerts had tripled in recent weeks. Police were warning that armed criminal groups had invaded new territory. Another season of destroying the Amazon rainforest was here, and in this corner, the only check on the looming ecological disaster was this: Valle's small team of inspectors in a dirt-splattered pickup truck. /jlne.ws/3Tu43o8
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Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Morgan Stanley Spotlights Due Diligence in Buyout Slowdown Kamaron Leach - Bloomberg Happy Monday folks. It's Kamaron Leach here in New York. Today in Bloomberg Deals, I interview a key dealmaker at Morgan Stanley for a state of play on private capital, financing, and what it will take to get deals done in a choppy environment right now. We also look at an investor's alternative plan for Zendesk. Plus, the US Open is cashing in. /jlne.ws/3R2z3dj
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Wellness Exchange | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Swiss drugs regulator approves first bivalent Covid-19 booster Miranda Murray - Reuters Swiss drugs regulator Swissmedic said on Monday that it has approved the first bivalent Covid-19 booster vaccine in the country. Moderna's Spikevax vaccine, which contains mRNA against two coronavirus variants, is authorized for anyone 18 years or older, said Swissmedic. /jlne.ws/3AEkMNc U.S. to suspend free COVID-19 test orders next week Ahmed Aboulenein and Mrinalika Roy - Reuters Starting next week, Americans will no longer be able to order free at-home COVID-19 tests from a website set up by the U.S. government due to limited supply arising from a lack of congressional funding. The COVIDTests.gov website, set up during the Omicron variant record surge in cases, helped U.S. households secure COVID-19 tests at no cost. President Joe Biden in January pledged to procure 1 billion free tests for Americans, including 500 million available through the website. However, ordering through the program will be suspended on Sept. 2. /jlne.ws/3PYTzKD Covid Cases Jump by a Third as College Students Return to Classes; Campus openings linked to 37% rise in coronavirus cases; Schools, communities seen failing to coordinate policies Sri Taylor - Bloomberg College campus re-openings in the US led to local increases in Covid-19 cases of more than a third, according to a study that highlights the importance of vaccination as fall classes approach. The increases were greatest among campuses that drew students from areas of the US with high transmission, according to the study published Monday in the online journal PLOS One. Re-openings led to about 11,000 additional cases per day during fall of 2020, according to the survey of almost 1,400 colleges. That translates to a 37% jump in cases compared with the period before campuses reopened. /jlne.ws/3TqNIkd Omicron-targeting COVID boosters expected this week, but experts are worried there may be low uptake Ciara Linnane - MarketWatch The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize new COVID-19 booster shots this week that target the latest versions of the omicron variant but will do so without data from a study showing the shots were safe and worked in humans. /jlne.ws/3R2K0eO China tech hub Shenzhen on alert as new Omicron subvariant surfaces; City reports a clutch of fresh coronavirus cases as it orders subway and restaurant closures Josephine Ma. - South China Morning Post The southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen has closed subway stations, banned restaurant dining and locked down shopping malls to battle a fresh coronavirus outbreak caused by a number of Omicron subvariants. /jlne.ws/3pVOaJz Why Some Americans Are Still Isolating From Covid-19; Risk of long Covid and anxiety are among the reasons some people continue to keep to themselves Julie Wernau - The Wall Street Journal Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are in decline. People are traveling, socializing and returning to workplaces in greater numbers. But a group of people are still keeping mostly to themselves and taking other measures to minimize infection risks. Compromised immune systems and the risks of long Covid are among reasons they say they are maintaining caution. /jlne.ws/3R2U3R4 China Is Battling Its Broadest Covid Outbreak Yet; All provinces reported at least one local case in past 10 days; Daily cases are down but the sweep is doing lasting damage Jinshan Hong - Bloomberg China is battling Covid-19 in every province despite its use of the world's strictest measures to keep the virus out. All 31 mainland provinces recorded at least one local Covid case over the past ten days, reflecting the broadest exposure to the virus since at least February 2021, when national health authorities began disclosing detailed records on where asymptomatic infections were occurring daily. /jlne.ws/3cwOlrO
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Regions | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China Halts Some Meat Imports From US Processor Tyson Foods Jinglu Gu - Bloomberg China has suspended some meat imports from US processing giant Tyson Foods Inc., the country's customs office said on Monday. The halt affects products from a plant owned by Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., the beef and pork subsidiary, for shipments from Aug. 29, after some pig trotters from the producer failed inspection, according to a notice published on the customs website. The US Department of Agriculture confirmed on its website that the Logansport, Indiana, facility was ineligible for exports to China. The move follows Beijing's halt on shipments of meat products from two other US plants in the past month or so, citing the presence of ractopamine, a feed additive used in the US but banned by China. /jlne.ws/3AXTFOi There's One Way to Wean India Off Russian Weapons; Switching to Western platforms is too expensive. Instead the country needs to do the hard work of developing a viable domestic defense industry. Mihir Sharma - Bloomberg The Indian government's unwillingness to condemn Russia forcefully for its invasion of Ukraine seems to have woken up leaders in Washington to a long-simmering problem: how to wean the Indian military off its dependence on Russian arms. According to Bloomberg News, the U.S. government is considering a $500 million defense package for India, to finance the purchase of US weapons systems. While half a billion dollars may seem like a lot of money, it really isn't when compared to the scale of the problem. /jlne.ws/3NrObik Activist Investor's Daughter Wants More Women in Japan Politics; Rei Murakami is launching a program to help aspiring lawmakers; Women make up just 9.7% of lower house of Japan's parliament Ryotaro Nakamaru and Erica Yokoyama - Bloomberg The daughter of Japan's most prominent activist investor is tackling the nation's dearth of female politicians with a scholarship program she hopes will help the country turn around one of the industrialized world's lowest ratios of women in parliament. /jlne.ws/3wFuqxR Cash Is King for South African Banks Planning Digital Transition Adelaide Changole - Bloomberg South African banks see physical money remaining key to their business as almost a third of their customers aren't ready to go cashless, according to a survey. While 86% of people already use digital banking, almost all customers said they still withdraw cash at least once a month to meet various needs, according to the survey conducted by Discovery Bank and Boston Consulting Group. As long as a significant percentage of the population uses cash, the country can't move to a fully cashless system, according to the report. /jlne.ws/3KsLFIp Low Water Levels Disrupt European River Cruises, a Favorite of U.S. Tourists Jenny Gross - The New York Times Mark Farmer's two-week river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest got off to a bad start. For the first four days, there were no luxurious dinners overlooking the Rhine River or views from the top-deck balcony room that he and his wife had booked. In fact, there was no boat at all. He and the other 150 or so passengers were shuttled around the Netherlands and Germany on buses, queuing up in long lines for bathrooms at highway rest stops and cramming into small restaurants. "We were not happy," said Mr. Farmer, a sales manager for a waste and recycling company. He and his wife, who live in Arizona, had booked the August trip, which had cost $18,000 including business-class flights, to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary. /jlne.ws/3R2yvEh Turkey Says Fugitive Crypto CEO Arrested in Albania Over Fraud ByKerim Karakaya - Bloomberg Turkey said Albanian police have arrested Fatih Ozer, the founder and CEO of cryptocurrency trading platform Thodex, who has been sought by Turkish authorities over fraud accusations. /jlne.ws/3Ron8qe Drought, high costs bring U.S. berry giants to Canada's maple syrup land Allison Lampert and Julie Gordon - Reuters A swath of Canada better known for maple syrup is being tested to mass produce berries normally grown in warmer locales, making it the unexpected beneficiary of extreme weather, local demand and rising costs in traditional growing areas like California. Driscoll's and grower-owned Naturipe Farms LLC, two of North America's largest fruit sellers, are both testing commercial production of berries in Ontario and Quebec, executives said. The efforts aim to see if Canada's most populous provinces can be cost-effective regions for larger-scale production of blackberries, raspberries and strawberries despite a colder climate that normally limits berries to a short summer season. The long-term initiative is being driven by strong demand for local berries - it is cheaper to grow and ship within Canada than to sell imported berries - and by water shortages and drought conditions in California and beyond. /jlne.ws/3wElIzA Wheat Harvest Rebounds in Canada to Bolster Shaky World Supplies Jen Skerritt - Bloomberg A turnaround in Canada's wheat crop may help boost world supplies. Output from the world's seventh-largest wheat exporter will rise 55% to 34.6 million metric tons this year as yields improve amid better moisture and more moderate temperatures, Statistics Canada said Monday in a report. That makes 2022 the third best harvest in records dating to 1908, falling just short of 2020's bounty and the record 37.6 million tons gathered in 2013. Last year's Canadian crop was the worst since 2007 after extreme drought in the Canadian Prairies withered plants. /jlne.ws/3KxKc3e Drought Scorches America's Crops: Elements by David Fickling; Corn Steadies as Crop Tour Set to Kick Off and Assess US Fields David Fickling - Bloomberg opinion When the clouds vanish and the sun is blazing, the difference between crops really starts to tell. The most obvious variation is how different farm commodities are responding to the dry weather that has swept the US. Even heat tolerant strains of wheat, soybeans and corn struggle to produce adequate yields in conditions like these, with 39% of the country in the grip of moderate to exceptional drought. /jlne.ws/3Q0DfsE
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