First Read

Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff

Last week the White House and the Departments of Justice and Treasury issued a number of papers about digital assets. Here are some of those papers:

Department of Justice:
– The Role Of Law Enforcement In Detecting, Investigating, And Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related To Digital Assets
– Justice Department Announces Report on Digital Assets and Launches Nationwide Network

White House
– FACT SHEET: White House Releases First-Ever Comprehensive Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets

Department of Treasury
– The Future of Money and Payments
– Crypto-Assets: Implications for Consumers, Investors, and Businesses
– Action Plan to Address Illicit Financing Risks of Digital Assets

Edward J. Bedore, a former member of the Chicago Board of Trade who also served as budget director for the City of Chicago under Richard J. Daley and Michael Bilandic, treasurer of Chicago Transit Authority, and chief financial officer for the City of Chicago under Richard M. Daley passed away at the age of 84. I remember Bedore as a wheat broker when I was a runner on the CBOT trading floor in 1981.

I recall Bedore from when I worked in the offices of Mayor Richard M. Daley. He was a legendary influence from the reign of the father, Mayor Richard J. Daley.~SAED

J. Christopher Giancarlo, senior counsel and co-chair of the Willkie Digital Works practice, has been named among the “Most Popular Cryptocurrency Lawyers of 2022” by CoinsCapture, a leading cryptocurrency market data provider. Giancarlo was ranked third on the list of the industry’s foremost cryptocurrency lawyers.

On Friday, September 16, employees of the National Futures Association participated in the American Heart Association Heart Walk and raised $4,295.00 for the charity.

Tradier’s Lex Luthringshausen interviewed Shelly Brown of MIAX for Options Brew TV in an episode titled “OBTV-MIAX-What Options Do You Have When It Comes to Volatility?”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has a podcast/videocast titled “The Exchange” that includes discussions about women’s financial literacy. This episode is “What is the Financial Literacy Gap? Conversations on Women’s Financial Literacy.”

Does your firm have an interest in hosting an event in the Metaverse? Do you need some help in doing this? I would consider reaching out to Get Real XR; of their 50-plus sales calls in the last month, 90% have been inquiries about Metaverse events. Schedule your free event consultation HERE.

On Thursday, I will start my outpatient physical therapy sessions. I will have two sessions a week, mostly at 2 p.m. Thursday is my first one. I can’t wait for them to start kicking my butt.

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

*****

ICE, Gitterman Asset Management and FINTECH.TV announced they are hosting a “Climate & Capital Conference” to discuss the role of finance in managing climate-related risk and opportunity. The conference will take place on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at the New York Stock Exchange, coinciding with New York City’s Climate Week. The event will bring together industry leaders from the investment, business, and climate communities to discuss strategies to align capital with climate commitments, ways to engage with corporate issuers on decarbonization strategies, and present solutions to measure and manage climate risk and uncover opportunities. You can go here to register.~SR

Coming together: ESG and the future of the finance function is Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET. It’s part of the Executive Series at Climate Week NYC. You can sign up for the live stream and learn more about the Executive Series and topics including climate finance, investment, employment opportunities, and green economic recovery at the Climate Week NYC official events program.~SAED

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MWE SHORT: Pat Kenny – Trust and Transitions
JohnLothianNews.com

In this video from MarketsWiki Education’s World of Opportunity event in Chicago, Pat Kenny, senior vice president with CQG, talks about a number of key traits needed to succeed in any workforce. As a trader in the pits of the Chicago Board of Trade in the early ’80s when word was the only bond, Kenny learned about the importance of honesty and good judgment. He also stresses the importance of nonverbal communication. Making solid eye contact and sitting up straight are two qualities he believes are lost on the generation coming into the workforce.

Watch the video »

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Queen’s State Funeral Draws Global Leaders as UK Mourns Longest-Standing Monarch; US President Biden, Japan’s Emperor Naruhito among dignitaries; Funeral follows lying-in-state that drew thousands to London
Emily Ashton and Libby Cherry – Bloomberg
The evocative bugle call of the “Last Post” echoed around a hushed Westminster Abbey as Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral drew to a close — a poignant mark of remembrance and gratitude for the UK’s longest-serving monarch. After four extraordinary days in which hundreds of thousands of people queued for miles to pay tribute to the Queen at her lying-in-state in London’s Westminster Hall, Monday’s funeral was the final public moment for a woman who dutifully reigned over her country for 70 years.
/jlne.ws/3r7iC4l

***** I came downstairs this morning to find my wife perched on the couch watching the Queen’s funeral procession.~JJL

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U.K. Regulator Takes Aim at FTX
Geoffrey Smith – Investing.com
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority fired an opening salvo against crypto exchange FTX, issuing a public warning to consumers that it has no license to do business in the country. “We believe this firm may be providing financial services or products in the U.K. without our authorization,” the FCA said in a short statement on its website, adding that: “You will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), so you are unlikely to get your money back if things go wrong.”
/jlne.ws/3Uge6hf

****** It will be interesting to see how FTX handles this negative story and apparent strategic misstep.~JJL

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Late Merc leader Jack Sandner’s Lake Bluff estate sells; The trading executive’s 7.7-acre estate was offered in two pieces at a combined $5.7 million but wound up selling as one property at $4 million.
Dennis Rodkin – Crain’s Chicago Business
The secluded lakefront home of the late Jack Sandner, who led the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in the 1980s and 1990s, sold. Carole Sandner, widow of the trading executive, sold the nine-bedroom home on about 7.2 acres in Lake Bluff for $4 million. According to Sandner’s listing agent, Cory Green of Compass, the estate’s 388 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline includes a helicopter landing pad and a par-3 golf hole, both of which “need some TLC.” There’s also a boat dock. The house is almost 14,200 square feet, combining a grand 1930 mansion with a long, finger-shaped section, stretching toward the blufftop, that the Sandners added.
/jlne.ws/3ds9UdB

****** The late Jack Sandner trying for some Ken Griffin-like news.~JJL

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LME faces backlash from metal brokers for opening during Queen’s funeral; Row marks latest controversy for the 145-year-old exchange
Harry Dempsey – Financial Times
The London Metal Exchange has infuriated some members with its decision to remain open during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, further inflaming tensions between the market and its users. Metal brokers and clients have reacted furiously to the 145-year-old exchange’s ruling to open its electronic market but close its famous pit on Monday. It means that many traders will work as usual instead of being able to pay their respects to the deceased monarch. Trading on the London Stock Exchange, in comparison, will be closed for the bank holiday.
/jlne.ws/3f0qEsR

****** LME showing a “tin ear.”~JJL

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Friday’s Top Three
Our top story Friday was Treasury urges SEC, CFTC crack down on crypto industry in wide-ranging new reports, from Yahoo! Finance. Second was the jobs page for the Digital Dollar Project, which has a couple of open positions. Third was The Search for Intelligent Life Is About to Get a Lot More Interesting, from The New York Times.

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MarketsWiki Stats
27,010 pages; 240,773 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics

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Lead Stories

Cboe to Further Expand S&P 500 Index Options Suite with New and Additional Daily Expirations
Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of global market infrastructure and tradable products, today announced the continued expansion of its S&P 500 Index® (SPX) options suite with additional expirations for SPX Weeklys Tuesday and Thursday options, beginning September 19 and September 28, respectively. Total volume in SPX Tuesday and Thursday options have surpassed 44 million contracts[1] since their launch in second-quarter 2022, reflecting strong customer interest and trading activity. The additional expirations for SPX Tuesday and Thursday options will align with the number of expirations currently available for SPX Monday and Wednesday options, and meet growing customer demand for Cboe’s SPX offerings.
/jlne.ws/3BtKggA

‘Our rules have to evolve’: The crypto industry is trapped in regulatory purgatory
Leo Schwartz – Fortune
Many in the crypto industry have been calling for clear guidance from government regulators, especially as new sectors like DeFi evolve and high-profile companies like Celsius collapse. “As markets have evolved, our rules have to evolve as well,” said U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, speaking about his approach to financial regulation before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Thursday. While Gensler’s remarks to the Senate seemed to signal for modernization, he’s maintained that existing rules are sufficient for crypto, especially when it comes to whether the vast majority of the nearly 10,000 available tokens are securities.
/jlne.ws/3S1TVlG

The $24 Trillion Treasury Market Needs More Than Just Clearing; Making the Federal Reserve the “dealer of last resort” would help ensure smooth trading during times of extreme stress.
Paul J. Davies – Bloomberg
The $24 trillion US Treasury market has gotten too big for even the “Masters of the Universe.” As the Federal Reserve reverses its bond purchase program and more government securities flood back into the hands of dealers, banks, investors and traders, the chances of extreme, unhealthy volatility are rising. We’re at the moment that regulators and market participants have been fearing, which is that there will be more episodes like in March 2020 and September 2019 when parts of the market seized up and prices went haywire. This matters because the Treasury market is considered the most important of all as the foundation for financial assets priced in dollars the world over.
/jlne.ws/3SeWIrf

The lawless world of crypto scams; Fraudsters took advantage of the hype during the pandemic to prey on individuals — exposing a gaping hole in consumer protections
Joshua Oliver – Financial Times
Lili was celebrating her birthday when she realised she had been scammed. The 52-year-old Londoner was enjoying high tea with her daughter, who works at a hedge fund, when talk turned to a vexing financial problem. Lili, not her real name, had started trading cryptocurrencies in March 2021, under the guidance of friends she had met online.
/jlne.ws/3BuVYYa

UK financial watchdog issues warning against crypto exchange FTX; FCA says group led by Sam Bankman-Fried is ‘targeting’ consumers without authorisation
Joshua Oliver – Financial Times
The UK’s financial regulator has warned consumers against dealing with FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange run by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, in the latest clash between British authorities and offshore digital asset companies. The Financial Conduct Authority said the Bahamas-based exchange appeared to be offering products and services in the UK without its authorisation, according to a statement on the regulator’s website.
/jlne.ws/3BSmHj1

Crypto Exchange FTX Not Authorized in UK, Financial Watchdog Warns
Sandali Handagama – CoinDesk
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX is not authorized to provide services to customers in the U.K., according to the country’s financial watchdog. “We believe this firm may be providing financial services or products in the U.K. without our authorization,” the Financial Conduct Authority said in an official notice on Friday. The multi-billion dollar crypto trading platform owned by entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has risen to prominence in the last few months, particularly because of its role in attempting to bail out large crypto firms that crashed during the market downturn earlier this year. FTX is now marked as an “unauthorized firm” in the FCA’s registry for financial services.
/jlne.ws/3qQKUQ8

Securities lending reg reforms could hike European buy-side trading costs by EUR40 billion, report finds; Credit Benchmark found cost of capital for banks could rise fivefold when undertaking securities financing activity with pension and mutual funds.
Annabel Smith – The Trade
Trading costs for the European buy-side could be set to hike up by up to EUR40 billion due to new securities lending regulation, a report by Credit Benchmark has found. Incoming Basel regulation due to come into play in 2025 is expected to see high quality credits that have no external rating jump in risk weight to 100%. The rise will result in a dramatic increase in capital requirements.
/jlne.ws/3RTcRmo

Justice Department Forms National Network of Prosecutors Focused on Crypto Crime; New effort is part of trend toward putting more resources to target illegal activities involving digital currencies
Dustin Volz – The Wall Street Journal
The Justice Department has tapped more than 150 federal prosecutors across the country to bolster law enforcement’s efforts to combat the rise in crime linked to the use of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, officials said. The Digital Asset Coordinators Network is intended to designate subject-matter experts in U.S. attorneys’ offices on the complex technical and legal complications posed by cryptocurrency cases, the officials said. The Biden administration is announcing the new effort Friday alongside the release of a broader set of frameworks from other agencies concerning regulatory approaches to developing the digital currency ecosystem.
/jlne.ws/3xycPZc

Food Supply Disruption Is Another Front for Russian Falsehoods; As the war in Ukraine has put pressure on the global markets for food, Russia has spread conspiracy theories that blame the West.
Jeremy W. Peters – The New York Times
When the Dutch government announced plans in June to reduce certain greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 70 percent, farmers erupted in protest, saying the move would in effect, force them out of business. They clogged traffic on highways with their tractors, dumped manure in the streets and set bales of hay on fire. The demonstrations were covered extensively by the conservative news media in the United States, with outlets like Breitbart and Fox News describing how the farmers were staging their own versions of this year’s “freedom convoys” of Canadian truckers who were opposed to mandates for coronavirus vaccines and other Covid-19 policies.
/jlne.ws/3Si7BID

‘Crippling’ Energy Bills Force Europe’s Factories to Go Dark; Manufacturers are furloughing workers and shutting down lines because they can’t pay the gas and electric charges.
Liz Alderman – The New York Times
The furnace, heated to 1,500 degrees Celsius, was glowing red. Workers at the Arc International glass factory loaded it with sand that slowly pooled into a molten mass. Nearby on the factory floor, machines transformed the shapeless liquid with a blast of hot air into thousands of delicate wine glasses, destined for sale to restaurants and homes worldwide. Nicholas Hodler, the chief executive, surveyed the assembly line, shimmering blue with natural gas flames. For years, Arc had been powered by cheap energy that helped turn the company into the world’s largest producer of glass tableware — and a vital employer in this working-class region of northern France.
/jlne.ws/3DANnWt

EGX Acknowledges Dr. Mohamed Farid’s Efforts for the Development of the Egyptian Capital Market
FEAS
EGX represented by its chairman, Mr. Rami ElDokkany, and Vice Chairman, Mrs. Heba El-Serafi, board members and EGX staff, participated in a celebration held for the acknowledgement of Dr. Mohamed Farid, Chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), and former Executive Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) for his efforts and achievements during the past 5 years for the development of the Egyptian Capital Market. To thank him for his efforts in developing the work in EGX during his presidency of the Egyptian Exchange throughout the last five years as well as honoring Mr. Ahmed El-Sheikh, the current Vice Chairman of FRA and former Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange.
/jlne.ws/3RWFbnN

Philanthropy, the Billionaires’ Way; Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s decision to give away billions to fight climate change was made possible by an increasingly popular tax maneuver.
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Vivian Giang, Stephen Gandel, Bernhard Warner, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni – The New York Times
The move by the Chouinard family to give away Patagonia, the $3 billion outdoor apparel company founded in the 1970s by Yvon Chouinard, to a special trust and a nonprofit grabbed headlines because it felt like a very un-billionaire-like way to fight climate change. But tax experts have homed in on parallels between the green-minded Chouinard family and Barre Seid, the Republican billionaire who gifted $1.6 billion from the sale of his company to a conservative political action group. In each case, the donors appear to have avoided huge federal estate and gift taxes. “From what I’ve seen, they’re doing the same thing,” Ray Madoff, a professor specializing in tax law at Boston College Law School, told DealBook. “The only difference is the politics.”
/jlne.ws/3QSpD3o

Top Grower Brazil’s Coffee Supplies Have Never Been Lower; Country’s record-low inventory highlights global woes; ‘Brazil may just barely have enough to serve demand’
Dayanne Martins Sousa, Marvin G Perez, and Tatiana Freitas – Bloomberg
For a look at just how short the world has become on coffee supplies, consider this: Stockpiles in Brazil, the biggest producer globally, are headed for a record low. Inventories in the South American nation may dip to just 7 million bags by March, according to Silas Brasileiro, president of the National Coffee Council. A more comfortable level is between 9 million and 12 million bags weighing 60 kilograms, analysts say.
/jlne.ws/3BtkTvl

UK Regulator Issues Warning on Crypto Exchange FTX to Consumers
Emily Nicolle – Bloomberg
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority published a warning to consumers about Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX, saying it isn’t authorized by the regulator to offer financial services or products in the country. The regulator said on Friday on its website that Bahamas-based FTX “is targeting people in the UK,” adding that investors are “unlikely to get your money back if things go wrong” since they won’t be protected by the country’s ombudsman service and compensation scheme.
/jlne.ws/3BpX3k0

Electric Vehicles Took Off. Car Makers Weren’t Ready; More buyers are lining up for EVs, catching car companies flat-footed and triggering a race for more batteries, factories and materials
Mike Colias – The Wall Street Journal
Auto makers racing to turn out electric vehicles have generated long wait lists. Now they must try not to disappoint customers like Louie Figueroa. Mr. Figueroa put down a $100 refundable deposit on an F-150 Lightning soon after Ford Motor Co. unveiled the electric pickup in May 2021, eager to use it for his construction job. But there is a long backlog, and it isn’t clear when he’ll be able to actually order one. “Now I’m thinking, ‘Can I afford to keep waiting for this?’ ” said Mr. Figueroa, who lives near San Bernardino, Calif. A few years ago, auto executives weren’t sure there would be enough buyers for plug-in electric models. Now, they worry they can’t build them fast enough, while they intensify a multibillion-dollar rush to accelerate timelines and bring factories online.
/jlne.ws/3QXqijQ

Whisky Boom Stresses Remote Scottish Island; Islay’s famous Scotch is expanding fast, but residents say the growth is unsustainable
Trefor Moss – The Wall Street Journal
Inhabitants of this remote Scottish island say its celebrated whisky industry is getting too big as new distilleries open and existing ones expand, placing its communities under strain. While many locals cherish Islay’s historic distilleries and value the jobs they provide, some warn that expansion risks turning the picturesque island into a corporate whisky factory where younger residents can’t afford to buy houses and local businesses can’t hire staff. “They’re carrying on a tradition that is well-loved in Scotland of creating great whisky,” resident Jim MacCalman, whose family has been on Islay since the 17th century, said of the distillers. “But they’re making decisions based on the bottom line, not based on what the community needs.”
/jlne.ws/3Sg5tBu

Business Class for $20,000 Means Staff Fly Coach or Not at All; Companies are rethinking travel because of sky-high airfares; Airlines are reliant on business-class passengers for profits
Angus Whitley and Danny Lee – Bloomberg
Flying business class has always been beyond the means of most fliers. Now even companies can’t afford fares that have soared as the world tries to reconnect in the wake of Covid. A return business-class flight on the longest routes, between New York and Sydney, for example, can cost more than $20,000, about double the price from pre-pandemic days. “Demand is clearly outstripping supply,” said Nick Vournakis, executive vice president at corporate travel management firm CWT. “At some point, corporates are going to say enough is enough.”
/jlne.ws/3SbqfSC

BitConnect Promoter Gets 38 Months in $2.4 Billion Ponzi Scam; Glenn Arcaro pleaded guilty to fraud on 4,500 people worldwide; Founder Satish Kumbhani vanished from native India, SEC says
David Voreacos – Bloomberg
The top North American promoter of the BitConnect cryptocurrency investment platform was sentenced to 38 months in prison for running a $2.4 billion Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 4,500 people from 95 countries. Glenn Arcaro, 45, was sentenced Friday in federal court in San Diego, where he pleaded guilty in September 2021. Arcaro admitted he fraudulently marketed BitConnect’s proprietary coin offering and digital currency exchange as a lucrative investment. He touted BitConnect’s phony “Trading Bot” and “Volatility Software” as guaranteed ways to make money on the volatility of cryptocurrency exchange markets.
/jlne.ws/3QSU8pN

Meme-Stock Traders Embrace Avaya Despite Wall Street Fears; Online traders follow activist investor ‘The King’ and drive big gains in the company’s shares, which had fallen to 65 cents
Matt Wirz – The Wall Street Journal
Individual investors are backing a new underdog, Avaya Holdings Corp., pumping up the software company’s downtrodden stock by about 200% over the past month and confounding Wall Street professionals. Avaya’s fans include day traders who congregate on Reddit and Twitter forums, and a 35-year-old software entrepreneur who has snapped up a 15% stake. They are facing off against a group of large fund managers such as Apollo Global Management Inc. and Ares Management Corp. that could benefit if the company seeks bankruptcy-court protection.
/jlne.ws/3DB44kz

Ukraine Invasion

Frustrated and Snubbed, Putin is Running Out of Options; Facing setbacks on the battlefield and the diplomatic stage, the Russian president is being pressed to call for nationwide mobilization. It’s already too late.
Clara Ferreira Marques – Bloomberg
It’s been a bad few weeks for Vladimir Putin. First, a significant strategic defeat in Ukraine, after a stunning counteroffensive that dealt a blow to the Kremlin’s ambitions in the east. Then, what was supposed to be a gathering of likeminded leaders in Uzbekistan mostly served to remind him of his weakened status, as the Russian president was given short shrift by China and then chided by India. Meanwhile, in a neighborhood where Moscow is supposedly security guarantor, there has been fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and clashes continue on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
/jlne.ws/3DvAzRo

Ukraine Officials Press Case of Russian War Crimes; Prosecutor’s office says more than 400 bodies found at one site in liberated Kharkiv region
Stephen Kalin and Ian Lovett – The Wall Street Journal
Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces of a growing list of war crimes in liberated parts of the Kharkiv region, as they continued to exhume bodies from a mass burial site discovered in Izyum and said they had found what they described as torture chambers in the area. Roman Kasjanenko, from the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office, said more than 30 bodies had been removed from the burial site so far, including at least one of a child, out of a total of more than 400. Investigators hesitated to assign causes of death for the people buried here but have said some bodies showed traces of torture.
/jlne.ws/3BqGULd

Ukraine Latest: Ban on Russian Tourists Starts in Some EU States
Bloomberg
A travel ban forbidding Russian tourists from entering Poland and the three Baltic states took effect, restricting one of Russians’ main avenues to travel to the European Union in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal sought UK support for war-crimes investigations against Russia during a trip to London for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
/jlne.ws/3BrjjKn

Vladimir Putin’s Energy War With Europe Seems to Falter; Russia curbed natural-gas supplies to undermine European support for Ukraine, but the economic strategy is struggling
Stephen Fidler – The Wall Street Journal
Vladimir Putin’s economic campaign to force European governments to abandon support for Ukraine by sharply curbing their natural-gas supplies looks to be faltering as gas prices fall, Russian government finances deteriorate and the continent sets plans to ease the pressure on households and businesses. Russia’s long-term success in the economic fight with Europe is seen as critical by both sides in deciding the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine. But signs that Mr. Putin’s economic strategy is struggling are coinciding with serious reverses on the battlefield as Ukrainian forces regain swaths of Russian-occupied territory and as the Russian president has been forced to acknowledge the concerns of the Chinese and Indian leaders about the invasion.
/jlne.ws/3dmAoNI

Ukraine War Shows the US Military Isn’t Ready for War With China; Providing Kyiv with weapons has depleted the Pentagon’s munitions alarmingly, and defending Taiwan would be far more costly.
Hal Brands – Bloomberg
“Fools learn by experience,” the very quotable German chancellor Otto von Bismarck once remarked. “Wise men learn from other people’s experience.” It is always better to glean hard lessons from someone else’s war than from one’s own. Today, the US needs to take a vital lesson from the war in Ukraine — as well as from its own experience, generations ago, in World War II. If America wants to win a potential great-power war with China a few years from now, it had better start rearming far more seriously before the shooting starts.
/jlne.ws/3UoGqOy

As US IPO Market Languishes, Listings Head East to Booming China; Asia IPOs account for record percentage of global volumes; US share of worldwide IPOs drops to 14% as deals vanish
Julia Fioretti, Filipe Pacheco, and Pei Li – Bloomberg
The epicenter of global initial public offering activity has shifted east to China as waves of volatility and slumping stock markets have sent virtually all sizable listings in the US into limbo. Stock listings in Asia have raised $104 billion this year, accounting for a record 68% of global volume, data compiled by Bloomberg show. By contrast, US IPOs represent just 14% of the $153 billion fetched globally, the lowest ever for what has traditionally been the busiest listings market in the world.
/jlne.ws/3BQ59DS

Putin says Russia’s not responsible for the EU’s energy crisis — it just needs to ‘push the button’ on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to get more natural gas
Huileng Tan – Insider
Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Russian responsibility for Europe’s energy crisis and said the EU can simply turn on the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline if it wants more natural gas from his country. “The bottom line is, if you have an urge, if it’s so hard for you, just lift the sanctions on Nord Stream 2, which is 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year, just push the button and everything will get going,” said Putin after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan on Friday, per Reuters.
/jlne.ws/3dpqQkV

EU seeks emergency powers to prevent supply chain crisis; Proposed rules aim to ease pressures caused by events such as Ukraine war
Javier Espinoza – Financial Times
Brussels is seeking emergency powers to force member states to stockpile key products and break contracts during a crisis such as the war in Ukraine or the coronavirus pandemic, according to plans revealed by the European Commission on Monday. The legislation, which intends to facilitate public procurement of critical goods and services, would deter the world’s leading exporters, such as China, from initiating similar measures without first informing the commission.
/jlne.ws/3qMYa8m

Zelensky Meets With BlackRock Chief to Discuss Reconstruction Fund
Jason Karaian – The New York Times
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine met with Laurence D. Fink, the head of BlackRock, the world’s largest manager of assets, to discuss how to attract investment in the country’s war-ravaged economy. In a videoconference, the two discussed how BlackRock, which oversees $8.5 trillion invested all over the world, could provide “pro bono advice to the Ukrainian government on setting up a reconstruction fund in support of the recovery of the Ukrainian economy,” according to a statement released on Monday by Mr. Zelensky’s office. (The call was held last Thursday.) The fund would be arranged for “both public and private investors to participate in reconstructing and rejuvenating the market economy in Ukraine,” the statement said.
/jlne.ws/3qLhenI

Exchanges, OTC and Clearing

ICE, Gitterman Asset Management and FINTECH.TV Host Climate & Capital Conference to Discuss the Role of Finance in Managing Climate-related Risk and Opportunity
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, and operator of the world’s most liquid environmental markets, announced that it will co-host the Climate & Capital Conference with Gitterman Asset Management and FINTECH.TV on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at the NYSE, coinciding with New York City’s Climate Week. The event will bring together industry leaders across the investment, business, and climate communities to discuss pertinent topics including strategies to align capital with climate commitments, ways to engage with corporate issuers on decarbonization strategies, and present solutions to measure and manage climate risk and uncover opportunities.
/jlne.ws/3LtyYgL

SGX Cares scores for beneficiaries with fun-filled return of Bull Charge Charity Futsal
SGX
Charity Futsal, last held in 2019, brings together corporate leaders, Singapore ex-internationals and entertainment artistes for a good cause; SGX Cares aims to raise more than $2 million for beneficiaries this year as registrations for grand finale Charity Run ramp up. The SGX Cares community scored another goal for beneficiaries today with the return of the Bull Charge Charity Futsal tournament, as registrations for the grand finale Charity Run ramped up.
/jlne.ws/3LELQRz

Bursa’s overall ESG score of 73 above average
Borneo Post Online
Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s (Bursa) overall environmental social and governance (ESG) score is 73, which makes its ESG rating above average, analysts opine. To note, the research arm of Maybank Investment Bank Bhd’s (Maybank IB Research) qualitative assessment considered the efforts or achievements by Bursa on selected key parameters relating to the three pillars of ESG, while its quantitative assessment considered the internal set-up within Bursa in fulfilling its ESG/sustainability targets/aspirations.
/jlne.ws/3DAQkX7

UN SSE, IFC support Amman Stock Exchange’s leadership on climate-related disclosures
SSE
The UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) held a joint event with the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) to initiate the development of local guidance on climate-related disclosures. The ASE will be the first exchange in the region and the 5th globally to develop climate-specific reporting guidance that builds on global standards and best practices.
/jlne.ws/3Dx89qd

Funeral Of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – Market Update
London Stock Exchange Group
London Stock Exchange Group is deeply saddened at the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We send our sympathies and condolences to His Majesty The King and the Royal Family. Financial markets continue to operate during the mourning period, however the day of Her Majesty’s funeral, 19 September, 2022, will be a UK bank holiday. This will have an impact on the following services…
/jlne.ws/3xyR4rT

CME says aluminium futures average daily volumes have surged in Q3
Reuters
Futures exchange operator CME Group Inc (CME.O) on Friday said average daily volumes in aluminium futures have surged 359% in the third quarter to date from the first quarter, hitting a single-day record of 6,709 contracts on Sept. 14. All of the top 25 aluminium futures volume days have occurred since April, with nearly 150 new accounts trading since May, the CME said in a statement. Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange hit a record high of $4,073.50 a tonne in early March on supply scarcity due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But prices have fallen by more than 40% since after.
/jlne.ws/3QOcOqD

CME Group Announces Launch of Event Contracts for Trading Global Benchmark Products
CME Group
CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, today announced the launch of event contracts. “We continue to see increasing demand from retail investors looking for less-complex ways to gain exposure to and participate in CME Group benchmark products – some of the world’s most widely quoted futures markets,” said Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity and FX Products at CME Group. “Our event contracts will provide market users with innovative, lower-cost ways to trade across oil, gold, equity indices and foreign currencies.”
/jlne.ws/3RVC4N4

CME Group FX Futures and Options Reach New Volume and Open Interest Records
CME Group
CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, today announced its foreign exchange futures and options reached a new single-day volume record of 3 million contracts on Sept. 14, 2022. This was the first time CME Group FX futures and options traded more than 3 million contracts in a single day and was 7% higher than the previous record of 2.8 million contracts set on Dec. 3, 2020.
/jlne.ws/3qIvuNX

CME Group Announces Record Volume as Participation in Aluminum Futures Accelerates
CME Group
CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, today announced that Aluminum Futures average daily volume is up 359% in Q3 to-date from Q1, reaching a record single-day volume of 6,709 contracts on Wednesday, September 14, 2022. “We have seen an increase in demand from aluminum participants to enhance liquidity and create a more robust alternative market,” said Jin Chang, Managing Director and Global Head of Metals at CME Group. “We are pleased with the incremental strides we have made in growing our global Aluminum Futures, with average daily volume of approximately 3,700 contracts so far in September and open interest of approximately 1,000 contracts. We welcome our new clients and look forward to helping them manage their price risk more efficiently.”
/jlne.ws/3diiw6x

London Stock Exchange to Close for Day of Queen’s Funeral
August Graham, PA Business Reporter – Bloomberg
Trading terminals in London will not operate on Monday as several markets around the world prepare to mark the death of the Queen. The London Stock Exchange will not trade at all on the day of the monarch’s funeral, while markets in other Commonwealth countries also plan to mark her death by closing for public holidays in the coming days.
/jlne.ws/3qP8f4K

Presentation by HKEX Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Aguzin and Group Chief Financial Officer Vanessa Lau on 2022 Interim ResultsPDF
HKEX
2022 Interim Results Media Briefing by Nicolas Aguzin Chief Executive Officer, HKEX Group and Vanessa Lau Group Chief Financial Officer, HKEX Group.
/jlne.ws/3BqW17w

Webinar of the Bank of Russia: measures to support small and medium-sized businesses
MOEX
On September 20, 2022, the Bank of Russia will hold a webinar, during which issues of financial support for entrepreneurs will be considered. The webinar will be attended by Mikhail Mamuta, Head of the Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Ensuring Access to Financial Services of the Bank of Russia, Alexander Isaevich, General Director of the SME Corporation, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development and OPORA RUSSIA.
/jlne.ws/3dtEaEL

The Investor Path of the Moscow Exchange is available at the Tinkoff Investment Academy
MOEX
The Moscow Exchange training course “The Investor’s Way” has become available in the mobile application and on the website of the Tinkoff Investment Academy, it is presented in a new design and adapted to the platform standards. The course allows you to get the basic skills of effective investment – from understanding the risks of working in the market to knowing the rights of investors.
/jlne.ws/3f5Ak5u

Moscow Exchange will hold MOEX Home Talks with the management of the Positive Group: Denis Baranov and Maxim Pustov
MOEX
On September 22, 2022, the Moscow Exchange will host MOEX Home Talks with Denis Baranov, CEO and Maxim Pustov , Managing Director of Pozitiv Group. The meeting will be moderated by Natalia Loginova , Director of Issuer Relations at the Moscow Exchange.
/jlne.ws/3RVE6Nc

Moscow Exchange resumes trading in mutual funds at the evening session
MOEX
On September 19, 2022, the Moscow Exchange resumes trading in mutual funds at the evening trading session. At the evening session, trading will be resumed in 13 funds of five management companies, of which 12 are exchange-traded mutual funds (BPIF) and one is a closed-end mutual investment fund (CPIF). Liquidity will be provided by market makers.
/jlne.ws/3UkYb12

Fintech

MAS and IFSCA to Pursue Cross-border FinTech Innovations
The Monetary Authority of Singapore
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) [1] today signed a FinTech Co-operation Agreement (CA) to facilitate regulatory collaboration and partnership in FinTech.
/jlne.ws/3RV2Oxj

Fear over Tourism numbers, fintech investment falls and will there be a house price correction? Conn Ó Midheach – The Irish Times
Investment in the Irish fintech sector slid by over 70 per cent in the first half of the year to $259 million (EUR258.8 million), down to a drop in large individual deals that had driven last year’s record figures, according to a new report.
/jlne.ws/3BT9tCE

Fintech’s Funk Smells Like Teen Spirit
Ron Shevlin – Forbes
If you were between 14 and 21 years old in 1991, you might remember the release of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, which debuted in September of that year. The song launched the band into superstardom and became an anthem of teen angst for millions of disenfranchised Gen Xers. Today, those Gen Xers are in their mid-40s to early 50s, and many (if not most) have jobs, a family, and maybe even children of their own who are experiencing teen angst.
/jlne.ws/3eYp8HB

UP Fintech approved as the latest member of NYSE
Press Release
UP Fintech Holding Limited (“UP Fintech” or the “Company”, Nasdaq: TIGR), a world-leading online brokerage, announced today that its subsidiary TradeUP Securities, Inc. is the latest member of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The NYSE’s approval gives the company membership in New York Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE American LLC, and NYSE Arca, Inc., respectively, making it one of the very first fintech brokers to obtain this status. The move also boosts its worldwide number of global licenses and qualifications from 56 to 59.
/jlne.ws/3eY1Y48

Philippine call centres win battle to make remote work permanent; Government says BPO companies can keep tax perks without on-site workers
Cliff Venzon – Financial Times
The Philippines’ call centres and other business process outsourcing companies can keep their tax incentives and allow their employees to work from home, the country’s finance secretary has said, settling an issue that had been hanging over the economically important sector.
/jlne.ws/3xBNyNI

Cybersecurity

The Deep Roots of Nigeria’s Cybersecurity Problem
Olatunji Olaigbe – WIRED
Website Planet was running a web-mapping project when it discovered unsecured AWS S3 data buckets belonging to a state health agency in Nigeria. These buckets contained some 75,000 entries on an estimated 37,000 people—about 45 GB in all, including identification documents and photos of people registered with the agency. The buckets dated from January 2021, and they were live and being updated at the time of discovery, according to Website Planet.
/jlne.ws/3RT7h3B

Microsoft Security Shifts its Cybersecurity Approach
CXO Today
Microsoft Security wants to be the go-to partner for all enterprise security solutions and has now set its sights on end-to-end security protection to customers. The move follows reports of how hackers are breaking into systems not just at end points but across multiple levels in the enterprise-level network of systems.
/jlne.ws/3qM1z7F

International cooperation is key to fighting threat actors and cybercrime
Cynthia Brumfield – CSO Online
In this era of cybersecurity, when nation-state digital attacks and cybercrime quickly cut across country borders and create global crises, international cooperation has become an urgent priority. The need for global collaboration to cope with various pressing threats, from electronic espionage to ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure, is imperative to prevent economic and social disasters, top cybersecurity professionals and government officials say.
/jlne.ws/3f5qTTC

Who Are the Sleuths Protecting Your Crypto From Hacks? Consistent hacks of digital assets have made security a priority, and these trackers are in high demand.
Victoria Vergolina – Bloomberg
Companies that specialize in finding vulnerabilities in crypto’s software infrastructure are flourishing. Why? Because crypto hacks and frauds are growing, with some estimating as much as $2 billion in losses stemming from these attacks. Bloomberg reporter Olga Kharif and senior editor Anna Irrera join me now for more about these crypto sleuths.
/jlne.ws/3dssZwb

Cryptocurrencies

Crypto investment advisor faces SEC fraud charges after raising $4.3 million
Catarina Moura – The Block
A crypto advisor is facing fraud charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection to the $4.3 million he raised from investors. He pocketed most of the money while making some repayments to investors in a “Ponzi-like fashion,” authorities said. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges on Thursday against a crypto advisor who raised close to $4.3 million from four investors. The SEC alleged that Gabriel Edelman fraudulently sold securities via his two businesses, Creative Advancement LLC and Edelman Blockchain Advisors LLC, telling clients that he would invest their funds in digital assets. Instead, he purportedly used most of the money for his personal expenses and only a small amount to pay investors early and “encourage their ever-larger investments” in a “Ponzi-like fashion,” the complaint said.
/jlne.ws/3DF4iXU

Ethereum Plunges After SEC Chair Says ‘The Merge’ Could Make Crypto a Security
Matt Novak – Gizmodo
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency in the world, continued to plunge in price over the weekend following the network’s highly publicized technical change known as ‘the Merge’ last Thursday as well as comments from the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission that ether might need to be a treated as a security. Ethereum is currently trading at roughly $1,290, down over 11% from 24 hours ago, while bitcoin, the most popular crypto in the world, is also down 8% to just $18,420.
/jlne.ws/3dnyexh

Here are all of the Biden administration’s crypto reports
Michael McSweeney – The Block
A trio of reports released Friday morning by the Biden administration represent a key step in the federal government’s efforts to lay out a comprehensive approach for American crypto policy and oversight. As of today, some eight publications, including the three from the Treasury, have been published since Biden’s executive order. The White House characterized President Joe Biden’s March executive order as “outlining the first ever, whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology.”
/jlne.ws/3BnBNLL

SEC accuses Chicago firm of misleading investors who bought $1.5 million in crypto
Steve Daniels – Crain’s Chicago Business
The Securities & Exchange Commission has sued a Chicago cryptocurrency firm, alleging it sold at least $1.5 million of crypto-based securities without registering with the agency. The lawsuit against Chicago Crypto Capital, filed Sept. 14 in federal court in Chicago, is an early example of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s campaign to police cryptocurrency trading and investing, despite the lack of specificity in federal law over how the nascent industry should be regulated.
/jlne.ws/3ScxJVl

Coinbase Adds a Curious Feature; The most popular bitcoin and other cryptocurrency exchange in the United States is trying something new and unheard of.
Luc Olinga – TheStreet
Nothing stops Coinbase. The most popular platform for buying and selling bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the United States remains committed to pushing for mass adoption of the crypto industry. To achieve this, the firm already targets the masses directly with ads broadcast during major sport events. Its 2022 Super Bowl commercial last February had been one of the most talked on social networks. The now retro, bouncing QR code created a major buzz.
/jlne.ws/3DwsVpS

Crypto Fees Are High. The Stock Market May Hold the Answer.; Despite predictions of doom, Wall Street thrived as stock trading commissions fell last century. The same could happen in crypto, but it won’t be easy to replicate
Telis Demos – The Wall Street Journal
As cryptocurrency firms try to keep warm during the market’s freeze, there might be a way to stoke the fire: lower fees. Small investors can pay a steep price for the privilege of trading bitcoin and its many digital brethren. The range of costs, from network fees to commissions or spreads for using an exchange or brokerage app to trade, look like cents on the dollar but can be many times higher than what it costs to trade stocks or move money. For example, the Ethereum platform last year generated about 100 times the average fee-per-transaction versus the revenue-per-transaction of Visa’s vast platform, according to figures compiled by finance professors Igor Makarov and Antoinette Schoar in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.
/jlne.ws/3DxxEaT

Climbing Interest Rates Fuel Stablecoin War as Binance Makes Move on Rivals; World’s largest crypto exchange will automatically convert users’ deposits of rival stablecoins into its own Binance USD after its market value topped $20 billion
Vicky Ge Huang and Caitlin Ostroff – The Wall Street Journal
The battle for the stablecoin market is heating up as interest rates continue to rise and the largest players jostle for market share. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, said it would automatically convert users’ deposits of several rival stablecoins into its own stablecoin, Binance USD, starting this month. Analysts say Binance’s decision could escalate the rivalries among the largest stablecoin players, such as Tether and Circle, and generate additional revenue for Binance as the market cap of its stablecoin grows.
/jlne.ws/3BO3WNo

What The Fidelity, Schwab and Citadel Create Crypto Exchange Looks Like
Wola Odeniran – SmartAsset
It’s not often that financial giants such as Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Citadel Securities come together to form a financial entity. But the three heavyweights did just that as they teamed up to launch a new cryptocurrency exchange called EDX Markets. Let’s break down how this new platform will work and what it could offer you as a crypto investor.
/jlne.ws/3BNzIdw

Australian Senator Proposes Crypto Bill Targeting China’s Digital Yuan
Amitoj Singh – CoinDesk
Australian politician Andrew Bragg wants to prepare the country for the widespread use of China’s central bank digital currency, the digital yuan, according to a draft digital assets bill introduced on Monday. In his draft bill, Bragg – who is a senator for the Australian state of New South Wales and a member of the opposition – proposes strict reporting requirements for banks that could potentially make the digital yuan available for use in Australia.
/jlne.ws/3LnjU4q

Britain’s financial watchdog says FTX may be operating in UK without authorisation
Reuters
Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority said on Friday cryptocurrency exchange FTX may be offering financial services or products in the UK without its authorisation. FTX is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, raising its profile this year by acting as crypto’s white knight, throwing lifelines to digital asset platforms which have faltered as cryptocurrency prices have cratered.
/jlne.ws/3dnPeDz

Key Player In Ethereum Infrastructure Infura Rejects Centralization Claim; ConsenSys business runs network nodes for developers, apps; Token issuance, opening sourcing tools is under consideration
Olga Kharif – Bloomberg
One of the most influential entities in crypto is pushing back in its own way against criticism that Thursday’s revision of Ethereum will lead to more centralized control of the blockchain network. Infura, a key infrastructure provider controlled by Joseph Lubin’s ConsenSys, plans to offer a decentralized version of its service, which effectively runs network nodes so developers and users of apps like MetaMask don’t have to do it themselves. Think of it as Amazon Web Services for Ethereum and other blockchains, like Polygon and Near. Lubin is a co-founder of Ethereum.
/jlne.ws/3eXGx39

Politics

Joe Biden says US would defend Taiwan from Chinese attack; President’s warning follows Beijing’s military exercises after House Speaker Pelosi visited Taipei
Demetri Sevastopulo – Financial Times
President Joe Biden said the US would defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack, in a strong warning to Beijing one month after China held large-scale military exercises in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.
/jlne.ws/3f0j9lM

US lawmakers’ stock market trades targeted by ETFs; Upstart fund manager plans to piggyback on controversial transactions by politicians
Steve Johnson – Financial Times
Most Americans believe politicians have an “unfair” edge in stock market trading and should be banned from buying and selling equities. While they have not got their way on the latter, Joe Public will at least be able to piggyback on the former, if two proposed exchange traded funds are approved by the US regulator.
/jlne.ws/3BuYU78

Trump Adviser’s Trial May Shed Light on Foreign Influence Campaigns; Thomas Barrack, a Los Angeles private equity executive, is accused of working secretly for the United Arab Emirates.
Rebecca Davis O’Brien – The New York Times
The trial of Thomas J. Barrack Jr., an informal adviser to former President Donald J. Trump accused of acting as an unregistered agent of the United Arab Emirates, could shed light on how foreign governments jockeyed for access to the Trump administration — efforts that may have created lucrative opportunities for businessmen close to the White House.
/jlne.ws/3DAjCFi

Blockchain Association calls White House’s crypto framework a ‘missed opportunity’; Critics claimed the Biden administration’s reports focused on environmental concerns over crypto’s energy consumption and illicit uses rather than the technology’s benefits.
Turner Wright – Cointelegraph
Members of the crypto space and advocacy groups reacted to United States President Joe Biden’s administration releasing a regulatory framework on digital assets, with many suggesting the White House focused on the potential negative aspects of crypto. In a Friday announcement, the White House said that federal agencies and departments had submitted nine reports as required by Biden’s executive order on crypto from March.
/jlne.ws/3BOFICA

White House Digital Assets Executive Order: First Set of Reports Released
Mike Castiglione – Medium
On 16 September 2022 the White House released the latest set of digital asset reports based on its March’s Executive Order calling for “responsible innovation.” Here is a quick summary of what they say and a recap of other reports released during the summer.
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Justice Department Announces Report on Digital Assets and Launches Nationwide Network
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice today announced significant actions regarding digital assets, including the public release of its report, pursuant to the President’s March 9 Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, on The Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets;[1] and the establishment of the nationwide Digital Asset Coordinator (DAC) Network, in furtherance of the department’s efforts to combat the growing threat posed by the illicit use of digital assets to the American public.
/jlne.ws/3SeUIPH

Get a Tax Break Like a Billionaire on Your Political Donations; Donating to causes is the newest tax break for billionaires. You can do it, too.
Laura Saunders – The Wall Street Journal
On Sept. 15, the left-leaning Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard announced he is donating 98% of the company, a multibillion-dollar outdoor-apparel business, to a nonprofit group to address climate change. In August, it was revealed that in 2020, right-leaning Chicago billionaire Barre Seid had donated 100% of the shares of his electrical device maker Tripp Lite to another nonprofit group to “maintain and expand human freedom.” In making these political donations to nonprofit advocacy groups, these very different business owners are achieving similar results: Both avoided several hundred million dollars of taxes on sales of businesses, and the money not paid in taxes will go instead to their favorite causes, according to independent tax analyst Robert Willens.
/jlne.ws/3S7cioY

Companies and Nonprofits Expand Efforts to Hire Veterans; Some programs also help spouses of veterans find jobs—relieving a big stress for military families
Cheryl Winokur Munk – The Wall Street Journal
Efforts to spur hiring of U.S. military veterans have ramped up in recent years. Many private-sector companies and nonprofits are introducing or expanding programs that help match veterans with civilian jobs. Some also are rolling out initiatives that aim to address specific pain points, such as military-spouse unemployment caused by frequent moves, and the inability of many veterans to advance in private-sector careers. “You’re seeing better programs that are coming from lessons learned and that are much more tailored to where the specific needs are,” says Crystal Cochran, senior director of programs and events at Hiring Our Heroes, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce initiative that works to connect the military community with meaningful employment opportunities.
/jlne.ws/3DR598n

IRS Faces Tight Job Market and Competition for Talent as It Recruits Thousands; Agency prepares to begin hiring specialists it needs to step up enforcement as part of $80 billion overhaul
Richard Rubin – The Wall Street Journal
The Internal Revenue Service now has plenty of money. Its next challenge: finding people. The tax agency received $80 billion from Congress this summer to overhaul aging computer systems and strengthen enforcement so the U.S. collects more unpaid taxes. The Biden administration wants the IRS to provide better, more-modern service and take a tougher approach to high-income households and large corporations. Meeting the objectives will require a top-to-bottom transformation and expansion of the agency, a shift to be accomplished with a yearslong hiring binge for tens of thousands of workers after a long period of agency attrition.
/jlne.ws/3LmLRt8

Biden Says He Warned Xi of Investment Chill If China Backs Putin; No sign yet of Beijing providing weapons to Moscow, Biden says; Biden tells 60 Minutes US investment is at stake for China
Josh Wingrove – Bloomberg
President Joe Biden said he warned Chinese President Xi Jinping it would be a “gigantic mistake” to violate sanctions imposed on Russia, but that there’s been no indication that Beijing has provided weapons to Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Biden, according to excerpts from an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” airing Sunday, said he spoke with Xi shortly after the Chinese president met with Russia’s Vladimir Putin during the Olympics in February. Russia invaded days after the games’ closing ceremony.
/jlne.ws/3S9rnWO

The Republicans Have a Peter Thiel Problem; As the campaigns of Blake Masters and JD Vance struggle, the party finds itself in a standoff with one of Silicon Valley’s most ruthless investors.
Max Chafkin – Bloomberg
Venture capitalists—when trying to explain how their business works, or, more often, when waving away financial losses—sometimes bring up the “J-curve.” This is a concept that says that successful funds tend to lose money before posting big profits, leading to returns that when plotted on a graph look like the letter “J.” VCs buy stakes in a bunch of startups, which by definition are likely to fail, and then hope that one of them—two, if they’re really lucky—turns into the next Google while the rest go under. That takes years, which can lead to an uncomfortable stretch when even the smartest investors start looking unbelievably, almost inexplicably, foolish. Sometimes the curve turns up and they’re vindicated; sometimes it never does.
/jlne.ws/3Ui3iiu

Regulation

SEC, Ripple Call for Immediate Ruling in Suit Over Whether XRP Sales Violated Securities Laws
Nikhilesh De – CoinDesk
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs each want a federal judge to rule either that the crypto company affiliated with the XRP cryptocurrency violated federal securities laws or otherwise dismiss the lawsuit without requiring a lengthy trial.
/jlne.ws/3LozGMa

Gary Gensler Does Crypto. And Clearing (Again). And Climate.
Craig Pirrong – Streetwise Professor
Gary Gensler has long lusted to get his regulatory hooks into cryptocurrency. To do so as head of the SEC, he has to find a way to transform crypto (e.g., Bitcoin, Ether, various tokens) into securities, as defined under laws dating from the 1930s. Although Gensler has stated that crypto regulation is a long way off – presumably because it is no mean feat to jam an innovation of the 2010s into a regulatory framework of the 1930s – he thinks that he may have found a way to get at the second largest crypto, Ether.
/jlne.ws/3DAfIw9

Federal Court Orders Defendants to Pay More than $6.6 Million for Defrauding Binary Options Pool Participants
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that on August 29, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a judgment against William Thomas Caniff, a resident of Ohio, and his company, Berkley Capital Management, LLC (BCM), a Wyoming limited liability company with offices in Ohio, and two investment pools that BCM operated as Delaware limited partnerships with offices in Wintersville, Ohio, BBOT 1, LP (BBOT) and Berkley II, LP (Berkley II).
/jlne.ws/3S6ttaB

The Market Risk Advisory Committee to Meet on September 28
CFTC
The Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC) will hold an in-person public meeting on Wednesday, September 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (EDT) at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson is the sponsor of the MRAC. At the meeting, the MRAC will address refining the MRAC’s agenda and topics of discussion on a forward-looking basis; developments in the digital asset markets and the unique risks of such markets; investor and customer protection in markets with increasing retail participation; and the importance of climate-related market risk and market structure developments. The MRAC will also address procedural matters, including possible votes on establishing new or re-establishing currently inactive subcommittees and a discussion of issues that should be addressed by MRAC’s subcommittees.
/jlne.ws/3f0ML25

SEC Obtains Partial Summary Judgment Against Microcap Issuer and Its CEO
SEC
On August 31, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted the Commission summary judgment on four of its claims. According to the SEC’s complaint, Nutra Pharma Corporation, a microcap issuer that purports to make pain relief drugs with cobra venom, and its CEO, Rik Deitsch, issued or posted a series of press releases that materially misled investors.
/jlne.ws/3Dz6tMM

Dixon Advisory penalised $7.2 million for breaches of best interest obligations
ASIC
The Federal Court has imposed a $7.2 million penalty on Dixon Advisory and Superannuation Services Limited (Dixon Advisory) after six representatives failed to act in their clients’ best interests and failed to provide advice appropriate to their clients’ circumstances. ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said ‘Licensees need to ensure their representatives are taking into account their clients’ specific needs and circumstances. Advice that fails to reflect client circumstances – or advice models that lead to one-size-fits-all outcomes – are less likely to meet best interest duty obligations and can expose clients to a risk of capital loss.’
/jlne.ws/3r7jS7z

Scams offering to ‘write off debts’ targeting UK consumers
FCA
We believe there are firms offering unauthorised claims management services to people in the UK. These firms offer to ‘write off’ debts, mainly mortgages, and get compensation for consumers from their lenders. This might include reclaiming past payments of capital and interest.
/jlne.ws/3QNOFAA

Hong Kong Calls on Finance Firms to Return Workers From Abroad; SFC is rethinking flexibility granted for working overseas; Hong Kong sees exodus of talent as Covid curbs drag on
Kiuyan Wong – Bloomberg
Hong Kong’s top market regulator is talking to finance firms to bring back their licensed staff that have been working abroad amid efforts by the city to revive its status as a vibrant business hub. There’s growing concern at the Securities and Futures Commission over prolonged absences of licensed managers at the investment firms and brokerages it oversees, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations. It’s in communications with some firms to urge them to have key personnel return to the city, emphasizing that the flexibility allowed during the pandemic is temporary, the people said.
/jlne.ws/3RWW9m5

Investing and Trading

Need Your Money Now? The Markets Aren’t Helping.; The rout in the stock and bond markets has been especially rough on people paying for college, retirement or a new home. Our columnist has some advice.
Jeff Sommer – The New York Times
The stock market has been painful if you have been looking at it closely. So don’t look. Set up your investments, then take a deep breath. After that, what should you do? In a word: nothing. Get on with your life. I’ve been suggesting this approach for quite a while, and follow a modified version of it myself. I can’t ignore the markets entirely. My work compels me to study them. But after years of practice I am able to separate work from my personal investments, which are mainly in low-cost, diversified index funds. I’m adding to my holdings, even in this nasty market, and intend to continue until I need to draw on the money.
/jlne.ws/3eZJUGV

Pricing of Stock Trades Varies Widely Among Popular Brokers, Study Finds; TD Ameritrade delivered best prices in professors’ experiment, while Interactive Brokers lagged behind
Alexander Osipovich – The Wall Street Journal
Brokerages aren’t created equal when it comes to getting investors a good deal on trades. A recent academic study found wide disparities in the prices that investors get when buying and selling stocks through a half dozen popular brokerages. TD Ameritrade delivered the best prices, the study found, followed by Fidelity Investments, E*Trade and Robinhood Markets Inc. In a surprise to some investors, at the bottom of the pack were a pair of trading platforms from Interactive Brokers Group Inc.—a brokerage catering to day traders that has long touted its execution quality.
/jlne.ws/3drQ8ij

Where You Can Find Stock-Market Bargains; Europe is at war. China is floundering. Japan is aging. Emerging markets are suffering. Could there be a better time for a contrarian bet on international stocks?
Jason Zweig – The Wall Street Journal
Markets almost always misprice the obvious. That’s worth bearing in mind as you think about the U.S. stock market’s nerve-racking 5% decline this week. It’s worth remembering as you size up the behavior of stocks in the rest of the world, too. Stock prices impound the expected. If the future unfolds according to the consensus, markets won’t move much. Surprise is the source of extra returns, magnifying gains and losses alike. Enterprising investors—those who are willing to put time and effort into diverging from the crowd—should always be thinking about where the potential for surprise is the greatest. For U.S. investors right now, that could mean venturing abroad.
/jlne.ws/3dpwm76

Market reset delivers constant shock therapy; Big sell-off in equities is sign of things to come as central banks pull support
Katie Martin – Financial Times
It was, as one economist put it, “a brutal day across risky markets” when on September 15 the S&P 500 shed a massive 4.7 per cent — its biggest one-day decline in seven years. “An ugly day in stocks,” he added. “Locusts” were picking off victims across global stocks, another market watcher agreed. The verdict on the front page of this newspaper was blunt. “Day of reckoning on Wall Street”, the headline declared, complete with a large picture of despondent-looking bankers in Canary Wharf. If you think something feels slightly off here, you are right. That September 15 shock to markets was in 2008, not 2022. Those despondent bankers were standing outside Lehman Brothers’ European headquarters and Bank of America had just swallowed Merrill Lynch as the global financial system frayed at the seams.
/jlne.ws/3QNbC6Y

Overlooked by Investors, Royalties Are Fetching Princely Sums; Resources companies find there is a deepening pool of buyers for assets that have long been undervalued
Rhiannon Hoyle – The Wall Street Journal
A rush of deals for royalties on resources projects is drawing attention to an asset that many investors didn’t even know about. Elevated commodity prices have helped companies including South32 Ltd., Glencore PLC and Rio Tinto PLC raise hundreds of millions of dollars from sales of royalties that had long been on the balance sheets but were overshadowed by their vast mining operations. Owners of royalties get a share of revenue from a mine or oil field, in exchange for an initial investment or as part of a deal, without having to run the operations. A legacy of past investment and deal-making booms, global producers have dozens of royalties on their balance sheets that they believe aren’t valued by the market much.
/jlne.ws/3QSqnFI

Wall Street Rush Into Single-Stock ETFs Takes Risky Foreign Turn; Issuers have planned 129 products targeting overseas companies; Traders could get easy exposure to shares unbound by US rules
Elaine Chen – Bloomberg
Wall Street watchdogs already concerned about the risks of single-stock ETFs won’t like what’s coming next: funds offering exposure to individual foreign shares unbound by US listing standards. Issuers have filed plans for at least 129 ETFs targeting non-US companies in the past month, most of which don’t have depository receipts trading on American exchanges. That generally means the underlying firms don’t have to meet the same financial reporting standards as a US-listed business.
/jlne.ws/3RZIw5F

The ‘Fear Trade’ Is in Effect, but the Early Stages Are Over
Jacob Sonenshine – Barron’s
The “fear trade” that emanates from destructive inflation is in effect, but it is starting to look less appealing. The fear trade is when investors buy mostly safe assets to ride out economic turbulence. Usually, that means they pile into cash, the U.S. dollar and government bonds, while they sell stocks. Right now, though, there’s a slight wrinkle to that trade, given the currently unique economic environment. Since the recent global economic pain has resulted from out-of-control inflation, investors have not been buying bonds, sending bond prices lower and yields higher. Inflation both reduces the current value of future interest payments and prompts central banks to lift short-term rates. This year, investors have piled into cash, the dollar and commodities, while selling stocks and bonds.
/jlne.ws/3DuYMHw

Stagflation-Free Asian Markets Are Leaving Taper Tantrums Behind; Asia’s currencies, bonds faring better than most peers; Region benefitting from weaker inflation, built-up FX reserve
Garfield Clinton Reynolds, Marcus Wong, and Michelle Jamrisko – Bloomberg
It’s time for emerging Asian markets to reap the rewards after years of building up foreign-exchange reserves, as they become the latest destination for risk investors. While no market has come through 2022 unscathed, countries from Indonesia to South Korea and the Philippines are reaping the rewards of a quarter-century preparing for a repeat of the turmoil that set off the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Even as the dollar rallied, emerging Asia’s currencies are mostly faring better than traditional havens like the yen and the euro. The region’s bonds are standing out as a rare bright spot in a year that sent global debt into its first bear market for a generation.
/jlne.ws/3BtkB7J

Market downturn sparks longest US tech IPO drought in over 20 years; High-growth technology stocks have been hit disproportionately hard by this year’s sell-off
Nicholas Megaw – Financial Times
The stock market downturn since the start of the year has caused the longest drought in US technology listings this century, with experts cautious about the pace of a revival even after tentative signs of life in other sectors.
/jlne.ws/3UmdyGE

Understanding Index Options
Steve Sosnick – Traders’ Insight
When you do something for a long time, you sometimes fail to appreciate some of its subtleties. One of those subtleties that I have overlooked is the distinction between index options and equity/ETF options. There are key differences, some of which become especially critical as we approach monthly and quarterly expirations. With a quarterly expiration tomorrow, it seems like a particularly opportune time to discuss them. Even if you don’t trade index options, or even options whatsoever, it is important to understand how expiring index options can create a sort of magnetism around major expirations, attracting or repelling as major indices approach key levels.
/jlne.ws/3BNVdLi

Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance

ADM, PepsiCo turn to carbon-friendly farms for emissions goal; The food-production giants are partnering to implement carbon-friendly agricultural practices on two million acres of American farmland by 2030, the companies said Wednesday.
Bloomberg – Crain’s Chicago Business
Food and beverage maker PepsiCo Inc. and agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. are partnering to implement carbon-friendly agricultural practices on two million acres of American farmland by 2030, the companies said Wednesday. The effort could eliminate 1.4 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, the companies said, helping both reach their carbon reduction goals. “It’s the largest effort we’ve had like this to date,” said Jim Andrew, chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo, calling it a “sea change” from typical operations because of the length and geographic scope of the partnership. The farming methods, known as “regenerative” practices, focus on techniques that enrich the soil and put carbon back into the ground. As pressure mounts for companies to meet carbon targets, a slew of major food companies have turned to regenerative agriculture in recent years, including General Mills Inc., Cargill Inc. and Walmart Inc.
/jlne.ws/3LsPOfJ

PayPal threatens to pull Phoenix Suns sponsorship after owner’s racist slurs; Payments company says it will not renew deal with basketball team if its owner Robert Sarver remains in charge
Sara Germano – Financial Times
PayPal has threatened to scrap its sponsorship of the National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Suns if the team’s owner remains in control of the franchise after he was suspended for using racist and misogynistic language. Robert Sarver, the team’s owner since 2004, used the N-word on multiple occasions and fostered a culture of bullying and discrimination against female employees at the team, according to report released this week by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The NBA suspended Sarver for a year and issued a fine of $10mn, a punishment criticised as too lenient in recent days by basketball player LeBron James as well as other team and sports executives.
/jlne.ws/3BNjXDp

Cracking Down on a Wall Street Trend: E.S.G. Makeovers; In recent years, financial firms have revamped dozens of mutual funds into E.S.G. dedicated funds — seeking to cash in on growing demand for such investments.
Matthew Goldstein and Emily Flitter – The New York Times
In early 2018, Goldman Sachs gave one of its decades-old mutual funds a makeover. It had been invested in the stocks of large European and Japanese companies across many industries, but suddenly it became the Goldman Sachs International Equity ESG Fund. Its new investing mandate: choose foreign companies with the best reputations on environmental, social and governance policies. E.S.G.-fund makeovers have become the trend du jour on Wall Street: BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, WisdomTree, Putnam and MassMutual have all done it. Over the past five years, about 90 mutual funds and E.T.F.s have undertaken similar revamps, according to the mutual fund rating firm Morningstar.
/jlne.ws/3DAouKw

A Catholic’s Answer to ESG? Meet a firm that’s investing in companies based on alignment with church teachings.
Itxu Díaz – National Review
Capitalism, faithfully followed, would have you making money and maximizing profits. That’s all good. It just so happens that there are many ways to do it, and not all of them are equally good. Perhaps that is why when a Christian feels the call to become an entrepreneur in the nightlife business, he usually ends up opening a pub and not a brothel. Aside from profits, one’s personal preferences, tastes, and often values enter the equation.
/jlne.ws/3BRlPLm

Pension funds push back at GOP attacks on ESG led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Bloomberg News
After watching key GOP figures launch an all-out political attack on ESG, senior officials from the $57 trillion global pension industry are speaking out against the risks such an agenda poses to long-term savings. Matti Leppala, chief executive at PensionsEurope, said efforts to lambaste ESG based on an assessment of short-term returns are “ridiculous” and “meaningless.” “We would argue that not taking ESG into consideration is in fact the real risk factor that will have an impact on long-term, sustainable returns,” Mr. Leppala, whose association represents firms overseeing a combined $7 trillion in assets, said in an interview.
/jlne.ws/3LqOjP5

Robo Adviser Touting Green-Only 401ks Is Latest ESG ETF Entrant; Carbon Collective ETF eyes stocks focused on climate solutions; ESG ETF category is ‘getting very crowded’: BI’s Balchunas
Emily Graffeo – Bloomberg
An online investment adviser that creates climate-focused 401ks is the latest entrant to throw its hat into the ring of ESG exchange-traded funds. The Carbon Collective Climate Solutions U.S. Equity ETF is set to begin trading under the ticker “CCSO” Tuesday. The actively-managed fund will track about 200 US companies across the market capitalization spectrum that are actively looking to solve the climate change crisis through avenues like green utilities, plant-based diets, and carbon capture, according to a regulatory filing. At least half of each companies’ revenue must come from climate solutions.
/jlne.ws/3RV2jmV

Norway oil fund warns of ‘danger’ that environment falls down agenda; Nicolai Tangen calls on investors to stay focused on issue despite slowdown and Republican hostility
Richard Milne – Financial Times
The head of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund has urged investors to stay focused on environmental, social and governance issues, warning of a “real danger” that economic turmoil and a political backlash in the US drive them down the agenda.
/jlne.ws/3RX3gLs

High energy prices attract investors back to UK fossil fuel small caps; Seven of the 10 best performing stocks on London’s junior Aim market are fossil fuel companies
Shotaro Tani – Financial Times
High energy prices have boosted UK small cap fossil fuel companies, lifting their share prices and allowing some to register rare profits. Seven of the 10 best performing stocks on London’s junior Aim market are fossil fuel companies, with four focusing on UK oil and gas production, as the market rides the surge in prices since Russia invaded Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3RVzC9k

Institutions

NinjaTrader Group Introduces First-of-its-Kind Mobile Trading Experience Custom-Built for New CME Group Event Contracts; Subsidiaries NinjaTrader and Tradovate See Significant Potential for Straightforward Trading Vehicle, Enabling Individuals to Predict Daily Market Close
NinjaTrader
NinjaTrader Group, LLC, a global leader in futures brokerage for active traders through its subsidiaries NinjaTrader and Tradovate, announced that the firm has just introduced a first-of-its-kind mobile trading experience, custom-built for the new event contracts launched today by CME Group. The firm sees significant potential for the new products, which give U.S. investors the opportunity to predict the daily closing price of up to 10 of the world’s most popular financial and commodities markets.
/jlne.ws/3BtEzze

Big Regional Banks Might Face New Rules for Dealing With a Crisis; Bailout-prevention proposals could call for firms to raise billions in debt to absorb losses
Andrew Ackerman – The Wall Street Journal
A group of President Biden-appointed bank regulators are considering new rules to require large regional banks to add to financial cushions that could be called on in times of crisis. The steps under consideration include requirements that the regional firms raise long-term debt that can help absorb losses in case of their own insolvency, according to three people familiar with the matter, extending a slimmed-down version of requirements that at present apply only to the largest U.S. megabanks.
/jlne.ws/3qP7h8C

UBS Hiring ‘Content Reviewers’ to Vet Chinese Research, FT Says
Jim Silver – Bloomberg
UBS Group AG is hiring “content reviewers” to check that its analysts’ research published in Chinese is “free of any sensitivities,” the Financial Times reported, citing a job advertisement the global wealth management division posted in July. Reviewers will check that the “language, tone and content” of the reports is “appropriate and adheres to regulatory and internal guidelines,” the advertisement said, according to the FT. UBS has so far hired one reviewer in Hong Kong and is recruiting more in Singapore, the newspaper said, citing a person close to the hiring process.
/jlne.ws/3xyai0Z

Goldman Sachs Backs Data Startup Fortanix in $90 Million Round
Saritha Rai – Bloomberg
Data security startup Fortanix Inc. raised $90 million from backers led by a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fund, as cybersecurity companies attract investor interest despite a cooling venture financing market. The Mountain View-based company’s Series C round was fronted by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, with participation from GiantLeap Capital and existing investors including Intel Capital, the startup said in a statement. Soumya Rajamani from the Goldman Sachs fund will join Fortanix’s board.
/jlne.ws/3Dv0BnQ

Autonomy Capital offers investors chance to exit fund at May value
Unusual move follows macro hedge fund falling nearly 30% this year after market rout
Laurence Fletcher – Financial Times
Autonomy Capital, the macro hedge fund hit by a sharp sell-off in emerging markets, has offered investors the opportunity to withdraw their money and be paid back some losses after falling nearly 30 per cent so far this year.
/jlne.ws/3QUuUY9

Fund managers pitch ‘alts’ to retail investors as institutions max out; Wealthy individuals viewed as new market for asset classes such as credit, private equity and real estate
Madison Darbyshire – Financial Times
A saturated market for institutional clients is pushing asset managers to pursue another business: selling so-called alternative investments to rich individual investors. Alternatives stray outside mainstream portfolios of stocks and bonds into such asset classes as credit, private equity and real estate. Harder to trade and often walled off by accreditation requirements, they have historically been the domain of large investors such as pension funds and endowments.
/jlne.ws/3xyRMFL

Wellness Exchange

Fauci Warns of Anti-Vaxxer Attitude Beyond Covid-19
Benjamin Stupples – Bloomberg
US President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser warned in an interview with the Financial Times that a broad refusal of vaccines against Covid-19 may undermine efforts to immunize children and contain future illness outbreaks. Anti-vaccine attitudes “might spill over into that kind of a negative attitude towards childhood vaccinations,” Anthony Fauci was quoted as saying. “If you fall back on vaccines against common vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, that’s where you wind up getting avoidable and unnecessary outbreaks.”
/jlne.ws/3S4JiOu

Joe Biden says the COVID-19 pandemic is over. This is what the data tells us
Ayana Archie – NPR
President Joe Biden said in a 60 Minutes interview Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic is a thing of the past. “The pandemic is over,” he said. “We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape, and so I think it’s changing, and I think [the Detroit Auto show resuming after three years] is a perfect example of it.”
/jlne.ws/3qM4k91

Anthony Fauci warns Covid politics could harm childhood vaccination efforts;l Chief US medical adviser says anti-vax attitudes could spill over and cause disease outbreaks
Jamie Smyth – Financial Times
Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser has warned that the demonisation of Covid-19 jabs could spill over into childhood immunisation programmes and lead to outbreaks of disease. Dr Anthony Fauci told the Financial Times that political divisions in public health was preventing a “laser-beam focus” on the common enemy — coronavirus. Some US states were not promoting Covid vaccination, while Congress was blocking billions of dollars of funding, both of which were holding back the national response to the pandemic, he said.
/jlne.ws/3BODRho

Regions

Korea Banks Told to Report FX Positions Each Hour, Daily Reports; Authorities ramp up oversight as won continues its slide; Won weakened toward key 1,400 level last week on dollar rally
Hooyeon Kim – Bloomberg
South Korean authorities are tightening their grip on the foreign-exchange market after the won approached a key psychological level of 1,400 per dollar last week. The government asked banks to report the status of dollar transactions and foreign-exchange-related positions every hour as part of efforts to strengthen monitoring of the currency market, Korea Economic Daily reported Monday, citing people it didn’t identify.
/jlne.ws/3Buo8T0

Singapore Dollar May Become Rare Global Winner as MAS Tightens; Currency seen rising on belief MAS will tighten policy; Nation’s core inflation rose to a 14-year high in July
David Finnerty – Bloomberg
Singapore’s dollar has established itself as Asia’s most resilient currency against the US dollar this year, and some strategists are betting on more strength if price pressures force the nation’s central bank to tighten its exchange-rate policy again next month. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and MUFG Bank Ltd. are among banks that are bullish on the currency, underpinned by an expectation that the Monetary Authority of Singapore will extend policy tightening at its October meeting to help rein in core inflation that hit a 14-year high in July.
/jlne.ws/3Dwwhcx

Pakistan’s Largest Fuel Retailer Planning to Build $500 Million LNG Terminal
Faseeh Mangi – Bloomberg
Pakistan State Oil Co., the nation’s largest fuel importer and retailer, is planning to build a $500 million LNG terminal as part of its strategy to diversify into multiple businesses.
/jlne.ws/3QOBqjb

Flights cancelled to keep skies silent over London and Windsor; Some flights on American Airlines and British Airways are delayed to avoid the spells of closure
Simon Calder – The Independent
Flight cancellations to and from London Heathrow airport are under way to keep the skies above the capital silent at key points during the Queen’s state funeral. On a normal day aircraft approach Heathrow just to the south of Westminster, creating a significant amount of noise. The airport is telling passengers: “As a mark of respect for the solemnity of this sad and unique occasion, operations at the airport will be subject to alterations to avoid noise disturbance during the state funeral.”
/jlne.ws/3DAFxw1

Professor Behind $12 Billion Empire Fuels China’s Tech Rise; Li Zexiang has backed startups valued at almost $12 billion; The role of gurus like Li crystallized during US sanctions
Jane Zhang – Bloomberg
Li Zexiang grew up in rural China during the Cultural Revolution, when capitalists were the enemy. Now the 61-year-old academic has quietly emerged as one of the country’s most successful angel investors, backing more than 60 startups including drone giant DJI.
/jlne.ws/3Sjjnmp

Scholz Puts Full Muscle of German State Into Securing Energy; Germany seizes local division of Russian oil major Rosneft; Government in talks to take over Uniper, other gas companies
Michael Nienaber – Bloomberg
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is putting billions of euros of public money on the line to keep Germany running as Moscow cuts off energy supplies, in a high-stakes gamble that risks tensions with his pro-market coalition partners. The decision to seize control of Russian oil major Rosneft PJSC’s German oil refinery assets is likely just the first step in an overhaul that could see Berlin pressured to take over a big chunk of the energy sector in Europe’s largest economy, with consequences for years to come.
/jlne.ws/3eU2lN3

Climate graphic of the week: Record ice sheet melt in September as emissions rise; Experts on ‘tipping points’ meet to examine the outcomes of likely temperature rise of 1.5C
Camilla Hodgson and Steven Bernard – Financial Times
Record ice sheet melting in Greenland was identified in September, among the planetary tipping points that scientists warned would be triggered by climate change, even as new data showed global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Global carbon emissions surged in 2021 after a temporary easing during the pandemic, and preliminary data found they were 1.2 per cent higher again in the first five months of 2022 compared with the same period in 2019, based on the latest research from the Global Carbon Project published last week. At the same time, Nasa’s Earth Observatory said “vast areas” of Greenland’s ice sheet had melted in recent weeks, “the most on record for any September”.
/jlne.ws/3BqGODl

Oktoberfest Restarts in Munich After Two Years but Beermakers Face Inflation Headache; Contracts that kept the cost of ingredients and energy low are starting to expire, and prices have exploded since last year
Eliza Collins – The Wall Street Journal
Oktoberfest, the world’s biggest beer festival, kicks off Saturday after a Covid-induced two-year lull, but German brewers now facing one of their biggest crises in memory fear the party will give way to a painful hangover. The country’s roughly 1,500 breweries are feeling the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its energy war on Europe and the lingering effects of the pandemic. Contracts that kept the cost of ingredients and energy low are starting to expire, forcing companies into the open market for supplies, where prices have exploded since last year.
/jlne.ws/3ePkzze

EU Confronts Opponent Within, Who’s Bolstered by Putin’s Oil; European Commission recommends blocking funds to Hungary; Orban repeatedly censured by EU over rule-of-law violations
Stephanie Bodoni and Richard Bravo – Bloomberg
The European Union unleashed an unprecedented punishment on one of its own, signaling that patience has worn out with Hungary — and Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s determination to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while eschewing the democratic values of the bloc, makes the move all the more resonant.
/jlne.ws/3xwtpbS

Electric Bills Soar Across the Country as Winter Looms; Rising natural-gas prices are expected to make it more expensive to light and heat homes in the coming months
Katherine Blunt and Jennifer Hiller – The Wall Street Journal
U.S. utility customers, faced with some of their largest bills in years, are set to pay even more this winter as natural-gas prices continue to climb. Natural-gas prices have more than doubled this year because of a global supply shortage made worse by the war in Ukraine, and they are expected to remain elevated for months as fuel is needed to light and heat homes during the winter. The supply crunch has made it substantially more expensive for utilities to purchase or produce power, and those costs are being passed on to customers.
/jlne.ws/3BpnVRa

Miscellaneous

How LinkedIn Became a Place to Overshare; “This isn’t Facebook,” users complain. But others are finding it a valuable place to talk about much more than work.
Lora Kelley – The New York Times
About three years ago, Joel Lalgee started posting on LinkedIn. He works in recruiting, so naturally spent a lot of time on the site, where people list their work experience, and job seekers look for their next gig. But he didn’t just write about work. He wrote about his personal life: the mental health challenges he faced as a teenager, and his life since. “Being able to share my story, I saw it as a way to connect with people and show you’re not alone,” he said.
/jlne.ws/3DwM4rB

Trump Spac fails to pay proxy firm despite tough hunt for votes; Solicitors charged with drumming up support for struggling deal are owed six-figure sum
Ortenca Aliaj – Financial Times
Executives behind a blank-cheque company that plans to take Donald Trump’s media business public have failed to pay their proxy solicitors even as they struggle to drum up support for an extension to complete the deal. Digital World Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company set up by Patrick Orlando, has not paid Saratoga Proxy Consulting for its work helping to rally shareholders, according to people familiar with the situation. DWAC owes the New York-based firm a six-figure sum but Orlando has informed it that there is no money to pay the bill, one of the people said. On Friday, the company announced that it had brought on a new proxy solicitor, Alliance Advisors.
/jlne.ws/3qOVirO

What Good Leadership Looks Like Now vs. Pre-Covid; The pandemic has changed the essential qualities displayed by leaders of the best-run companies
Rick Wartzman and Kelly Tang – The Wall Street Journal
What a difference a pandemic makes. More than two years after the coronavirus began to roil the world, leaders of the best-run companies are displaying new qualities that are essential to building a more caring and empathetic workplace and otherwise thriving in a topsy-turvy environment, according to a study conducted by the organizational-consulting firm Korn Ferry. These findings, which rest in part on the Drucker Institute’s measure of corporate effectiveness, suggest that “we are perhaps seeing a shift in the behaviors needed” by executives to “navigate their companies through…turbulent waters,” Korn Ferry concludes in a soon-to-be-released paper detailing its research.
/jlne.ws/3Uw2uH0

Who Will Inherit the Family Business? Often, It’s Private Equity; Better known for billion-dollar buyouts, private-equity firms are bending over backward to court family businesses
Miriam Gottfried – The Wall Street Journal
Neal Rosenthal found a different kind of heir when he set out to craft a succession plan for his wine-importing business a few years ago. Mr. Rosenthal wasn’t ready to give up the company he started in 1977 out of a liquor store connected to his parents’ pharmacy in New York City, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and his daughter wasn’t interested in taking over. So Mr. Rosenthal sold a stake in the business to a buyout firm and stayed on as CEO. “I am confident that if I dropped dead today, my business would continue on without me,” said Mr. Rosenthal, 76 years old.
/jlne.ws/3BqExrQ

Germany Holds First Oktoberfest Since the Covid Pandemic
Tim Loh – Bloomberg
Hi, it’s Tim in Munich, where tomorrow we’re kicking off the first Oktoberfest since 2019 — and bracing for a potentially brutal Covid hangover. Here in Munich, it’s finally happening. On Saturday, the city’s mayor will bang a tap into a keg of beer, kicking off the world’s biggest folk festival. Over the next 2.5 weeks, more than 6 million people from around Europe and beyond will descend on Munich’s festival grounds, consuming some 8 million liters of brew and devouring half a million roasted chickens.
/jlne.ws/3BnC8hD

Business Schools Are Beginning to Embrace Stakeholder Inclusion; As MBA programs play catch-up with CEOs and move beyond shareholder capitalism, they have yet to change the core curriculum.
Paul Keegan – Bloomberg
On the role of business in society, the trend lines are clear: Shareholder primacy is out and stakeholder inclusion is in. Chief Executive Officers Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Larry Fink of BlackRock Inc. were among the scores of corporate luminaries who in 2019 publicly made “a fundamental commitment to all of our stakeholders,” including the environment, employees, suppliers, and communities, as members of the Business Roundtable. Similar pledges now pop up everywhere, from global gatherings of the business elite to advertisements for the Australian toilet paper company Who Gives a Crap Ltd., which uses recycled materials and spends half its profits on building toilets and improving sanitation in the developing world: “Wipe your bum, change the world.”
/jlne.ws/3QU1HfO