First Read
Hits & Takes
JLN Staff
On this day in 1973 the Black-Scholes options pricing formula was published – trivia courtesy of John Nelson, president and founder of The Applied Research Company.~SD
Also on this day, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show opened in 1887, which is not related to options but maybe volatility.~JJL
Elizabeth Lan Davis, a former chief trial attorney at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Brian Walsh, both of the law firm of Murphy & McGonigle, wrote a commentary for JLN titled “CFTC Division of Enforcement Trends.”~JJL
CME Group WTI Futures hit record open interest on Friday, May 4 of 2,695,178 contracts. After yesterday’s Middle East news, CME’s data shows open interest is a new record of 2,698,402 contracts. ~SD
SGX’s April volume report showed that total derivatives volumes were up 13 percent from a year earlier. Its FTSE China A50 Index futures was up 11 percent to 5.7 million contracts. It was the fourth straight month SGX saw more than one million FX futures contracts traded.~JK
CME posted a record average daily volume of 3,745 bitcoin futures contracts last month.~JK
On May 22, The Executives Club of Chicago will present “Bitcoin Boom: Chicago’s Role in the Digital Currency Movement” featuring Sunil Cutinho, Peter Johnson, Matt Kluchenek and Michael Unetich.~JJL
Former Business Insider Executive Editor Mohammed Hadi will join BizDay as news director.~JJL
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Gemini’s Tyler Winklevoss informs Bill Gates that actually he can short bitcoin
Taylor Hatmaker – TechCrunch
While plenty of the scathing criticism aimed at the cryptocurrency world is well deserved, sometimes a jab fails to land. In the midst of the mostly grossly-worded slew of insults that the institutionally rich lobbed at the bitcoin crowd over the weekend, Bill Gates may have landed the furthest from the mark.
/jlne.ws/2K9oVwK
***** Futures 101?~JJL
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Decreasing Collateral Tech Spend – Steve Husk, CloudMargin
JohnLothianNews.com
CloudMargin, a cloud-based collateral management platform, spent 2017 acquiring new clients, including two tier one institutions. In 2018, CloudMargin wants to double its client list from 50 to 100. According to CloudMargin CEO Steve Husk, banks can spend $1000 a year managing and maintaining each of its credit support annexes (CSAs) – CloudMargin’s technology brings that number down to around $100. In this video from JLN’s annual series with industry leaders, Husk talks about more goals for CloudMargin and why the company doesn’t do bespoke solutions.
Watch the video and read the rest here »
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Tuesday’s Top Three
We’ve got bitcoin on the mind again. Our top three stories were all related to crypto, with none of them calling it a fraud or something to do with the business end of a cow. Our top read piece was Bloomberg’s NYSE Owner ICE Is Said to Be Working on Bitcoin Trading Platform. Second went to the Hehmeyer Blog Post, Hehmeyer Announces Impressive Performance Of Its Cryptocurrency Index Fund. Third went to Reuters’ Bitcoin drop tied to CME futures listing, Fed paper shows
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MarketsWiki Stats
125,489,503 pages viewed; 23,098 pages; 212,967 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
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Lead Stories
Bond trading: technology finally disrupts a $50tn market; Fixed income is being dragged into the 21st century with a shift towards electronic trading on exchanges
Robin Wigglesworth and Joe Rennison – FT
Abbie has enjoyed a brilliant start to her new job as a junior fund manager at AllianceBernstein, a $500bn investment group in New York. In her first three months she has handled thousands of bond trades worth nearly $19bn, never complaining, messing up or even taking a break.
/jlne.ws/2wpDWZc
Dutch State Treasury Agency taps Eurex for IRS swaps clearing; Dutch State Treasury Agency to begin clearing interest rate swaps through Eurex Clearing by the end of 2018.
John Brazier – The Trade
The Dutch State Treasury Agency has announced it will voluntarily begin central clearing of euro-denominated interest rate swaps through Eurex Clearing.
/jlne.ws/2wtBa58
Starting Next Week You Can See Brokers’ Profits From Bond Sales; New rule effective Monday is meant to curb abusive practices, but critics say
Andrew Ackerman and Heather Gillers – WSJ
Starting next week, mom-and-pop investors will learn how much their broker made selling them bonds.
/jlne.ws/2wpiTFY
On the offensive – Seeking a new edge, buy-side invests in portfolio and risk analytics
James Church, FINCAD – Risk.net
A fast-moving, headstrong hedge fund – hit by rare losses after a black swan event touched on an overweight country exposure – ponders adding fresh quantitative expertise. Much to traders’ chagrin, the chief investment officer and chief operating officer recruit several quants, running them through the gauntlet and backtesting their behavioural algorithms, before eventually deciding to take on the project themselves
/jlne.ws/2K4Up73
Asset managers double spending on new data in hunt for edge; With its fees under pressure, investment groups are attempting to reinvigorate returns
Robin Wigglesworth in New York – FT
Investment groups have more than doubled their spending on new digital information sets and data scientists in the past two years, as the asset management industry has tried to reinvigorate its fading fortunes.
/jlne.ws/2wsZeVG
Deutsche Bank denies planning to cut U.S. workforce by 20 percent
Reuters
Deutsche Bank does not plan to cut its U.S. workforce by about 20 percent, it said on Tuesday, denying a media report.
/jlne.ws/2K0P3cM
The Wealthy Are Hoarding $10 Billion of Bitcoin in Bunkers
Tom Metcalf – Bloomberg
Xapo’s Casares is Bitcoin’s ‘Patient Zero’ in Silicon Valley; Fingerprint scanners prevent amputated hands from being used
Behind the guards, the blast doors and down corridors of reinforced concrete, sit the encrypted computer servers — connected to nothing — that hold keys to a vast digital fortune.
/jlne.ws/2K6nqzn
Bloomberg chooses Amsterdam as EU trading hub
Philip Stafford – FT
Bloomberg has chosen Amsterdam as the base for its trading operations in the European Union, to give it access to EU markets after Britain leaves the 27-country bloc next year.
/jlne.ws/2wqQn6Y
Swaps data: the allure of liquidity
Amir Khwaja, Clarus Financial Technology – Risk.net
It’s often said that clearing is a business that naturally tends to monopoly. The primary burden for most users is the funding cost generated by margin calls, so bigger central counterparties – that are able to reduce margin demands via netting – will attract more business.
/jlne.ws/2FTGr5u
Gary Cohn Says a ‘Digitized’ Bank Is One Option for Future Role
Will Mathis – Bloomberg
A board seat doesn’t appeal to former Goldman executive; Getting involved with young entrepreneurs is another option. Gary Cohn, the former director of the White House Economic Council, said he’s still weighing options for his next role but one possibility is a digital bank.
/jlne.ws/2K49TIB
Wall Street’s Quest for China Supremacy Takes a Political Turn
Bloomberg News
Non-U.S. firms are first to apply for majority-owned JVs; Nomura, UBS applied after urging by China securities regulator
International politics are looming large over the race among global investment banks to secure coveted permits for taking majority stakes in Chinese securities joint ventures.
/jlne.ws/2wqVF2u
***More on Nomura – Nomura Wants a Bigger Piece of China
DTCC begins night cycle re-engineering for faster settlement
Finextra
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced a timetable for the first phase of settlement optimization, a significant enhancement aimed at removing an entire market day of settlement exposure without eliminating a calendar day from the standard trade settlement process.
/jlne.ws/2IpweDb
Exchanges, OTC and Clearing
Major cryptocurrency exchange lands in Chicago
Lynne Marek – Crain’s Chicago Business
Coinbase, one of the biggest cryptocurrency companies in the U.S., is planning to open an office in Chicago sometime soon, and it has already begun hiring employees in the city.
The San Francisco-based company has tapped former CME Group executive Paul Bauerschmidt as its “product lead” in Chicago and has posted ads for other Chicago positions on its website. Bauerschmidt, who was head of CME’s swap execution facility from 2013 to 2015, declined to comment, saying the company expects to have an announcement soon.
/jlne.ws/2FWUuqQ
World Federation of Exchanges Responds to IOSCO’s Consultation on Volatility Control Mechanisms
Proshareng.com
The World Federation of Exchanges (“WFE”), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, has responded to IOSCO’s Consultation Report on ‘Mechanisms used by trading venues to manage extreme volatility and preserve orderly trading’.
bit.ly/2rvC2RL
New Hong Kong dual-share listings to be tradeable through Stock Connect schemes
Enoch Yiu – South China Morning Post
Companies with dual-class shareholding structures that list on the Hong Kong bourse under its new listing rules will join the Hang Seng Composite Index so that they can be traded by mainland Chinese and international investors through the Stock Connect schemes, the index compiler, Hang Seng Indexes Company, said on Monday.
/jlne.ws/2K2ou7a
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange Set For Further Growth With New Technology From Cinnober
DGCX
The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX), and its 100% fully owned subsidiary the Dubai Commodities Clearing Corporation (DCCC), has upgraded its integrated trading and clearing solution from Cinnober to the latest version of the TRADExpress platform. http://bit.ly/2rv2s66
Dutch State Treasury Agency to clear IRS swaps via Eurex Clearing
Eurex Group
The Dutch State Treasury Agency has decided to enable central clearing of euro denominated interest rate swaps via Eurex Clearing in Frankfurt for the State of the Netherlands. As Debt Management Office, the Dutch State Treasury Agency is exempt from the obligation to clear swaps through a Central Counterparty (CCP). However, the Dutch State Treasury Agency has investigated options to clear its interest rate swaps centrally for risk management reasons and opted for the services of Eurex Clearing and is expected to operationally start clearing at the end of the year at the earliest. To this end, Eurex Clearing and the State of the Netherlands entered into a clearing agreement on 8 May 2018.
/jlne.ws/2K6vqjx
Pioneering CCP transparency to maintain safer markets (part 5)
Eurex Group
The Public Quantitative Disclosure (PQD) is an internationally agreed format defined by CPMI-IOSCO with the intention of enhancing CCP market transparency. Eurex Clearing has been publishing its PQD since 2015 and continues to strongly support CCP transparency and market stability.
/jlne.ws/2K4qcoC
Nasdaq Boardvantage And passiveIQ Win American Business Awards’ Gold Stevie For “Best New Product Of The Year”
Mondovisione
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is pleased to announce that the following products and services have been named Gold Stevie winners at the 2018 American Business Awards
/jlne.ws/2K4SSOa
“We Will Introduce New Order Types.” – Tony Shaw, Director London Office, Securities & Exchanges Of SIX, Presents The Current Success Factors And Future Potential Of SwissAtMid.
Press Release
SwissAtMid, the non-displayed order book provided by Exchange Services of SIX that offers the opportunity for mid-point execution on Swiss equity instruments, continues to grow. As Tony Shaw of SIX pointed out in a recent interview (see below), increasing volumes have been accompanied by significant improvements regarding time to fill.
/jlne.ws/2K1krIn
Adjustment of Minsheng Bank Structured Products, Futures and Options
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has announced the arrangements for the adjustment to China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd (Minsheng Bank) structured products, futures and options to account for Minsheng Bank’s capitalisation issue.
/jlne.ws/2I3PyXe
HKEX 2018 First Quarter Results
HKEX
/jlne.ws/2ItteWn
The owner of the New York Stock Exchange is working on a bitcoin trading platform
Taylor Hatmaker – TechCrunch 18 hours ago
The New York Stock Exchange is working on its own bitcoin trading platform.
The New York Stock Exchange is working on its own bitcoin trading platform. According to a new report from The New York Times, the NYSE’s parent company is developing an online exchange geared toward large institutional investors ó the kind of financial heavyweights that the cryptocurrency community is waiting for with bated breath.
/jlne.ws/2wnEbnG
SGX reports market statistics for April 2018
SGX
Market turnover value of structured warrants and DLCs rise 44% year-on-year
Securities – Total Securities market turnover value was at S$26.7 billion, down 4% month-on-month (m-o-m) and up 24% year-on-year
Derivatives – Total Derivatives volume was 15.25 million, down 12% month-on-month (m-o-m) and up 13% year-on-year (y-o-y).
/jlne.ws/2I2ErxO
Fintech
Now Available: TT REST API
Trading Technologies
One of the things that has made our trading solutions stand out through the years is our focus on providing application programming interfaces (APIs) that enable end users and developers to integrate their applications with our trading platform. To this end, I’m excited to announce that we have officially released the TT REST API, which gives our users tools to leverage the power of the TT platform within their own applications.
/jlne.ws/2FWxsQU
Quantitative Brokers Partners with Rebar Systems to Provide Best Execution Algorithms for Futures
BusinessWire
Quantitative Brokers (QB), an independent provider of advanced algorithms and data-driven analytics to clients in the Futures and US Cash Treasury markets, today announced that they have partnered with Rebar Systems (Rebar), a FinTech company specializing in building highly flexible, multi-asset order and execution management systems, to offer QB’s award-winning, premium execution algorithms on Rebar’s flagship product, ROME (Rebar Order Management & Execution).
/goo.gl/SxuMTq
AccessFintech signs Liquidnet for risk control dashboard
Finextra
Access Fintech announced today that Liquidnet, a global institutional trading network, is now using AccessFintech’s Business Operations Centre.
bit.ly/2rwk2Xq
Itiviti introduces VeriFIX Enterprise to automate trade tech testing
Finextra
Itiviti and ULLINK, market-leading global provider of multi-asset trading technology and financial infrastructure, today introduced VeriFIX Enterprise by Itiviti, an integrated platform for automated enterprise-level testing of trading systems.
/goo.gl/Zf5wYG
WH Trading selects QuantHouse for global market access
Finextra
QuantHouse, the leading independent global provider of end-to-end systematic trading solutions including innovative market data services, algo trading platform and infrastructure solutions, today announced that WH Trading, the leading global proprietary trading firm, has selected QuantHouse in order to leverage the QuantLINK and QuantFEED suite of advanced solutions.
/jlne.ws/2K42gld
Bryne Steps Back from tZero
MarketsMedia
The digital asset market vendor tZero CEO Patrick Byrne has issued a letter to stockholder announcing that he is stepping down as CEO.
/jlne.ws/2FWtN5x
Fintech mortgage broker Trussle secures £13.6m in Goldman Sachs-led funding
Oscar Lopez – City AM
Online UK mortgage broker Trussle has has secured £13.6m in financing from a group of international investors led by investment bank Goldman Sachs as part of its Series B funding round.
/jlne.ws/2K79xAQ
NovaSparks Bows Data Compressor to Boost Microwave Throughput Rates
Max Bowie – WatersTechnology
The conflation feature will help clients sent more data than previously possible over ultra-low latency microwave networks.
/goo.gl/M9ZyqV
Broadridge Acquires FundAssist to Further Expand Regulatory Communications Capabilities for Asset Managers Extends
PRNewswire
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR), a global fintech leader, has completed the acquisition of FundAssist Limited, a regulatory, marketing and sales solutions service provider to the global investments industry. Based in Dublin, Ireland, FundAssist is a natural extension of Broadridge’s governance and communications business and brings a complete suite of capabilities to enable the composition, management and distribution of digitized regulatory and disclosure documents for global fund managers distributing in Europe.
/goo.gl/SkfLJ7
Cryptocurrencies
Judge: Man’s cryptocurrency is ‘grand misrepresentation’
Kevin Dugan – NY Post
A Brooklyn federal judge called a digital currency at the center of a seminal fraud case a “grand misrepresentation” during a hearing on Tuesday, seemingly handing federal prosecutors an advantage before the trial is even set to begin.
/jlne.ws/2K78q48
Accused Crypto-Fraudster Faces Skeptical Judge Over His Defense
Patricia Hurtado – Bloomberg
A Brooklyn, New York, man accused of peddling cybercurrency offerings backed by non-existent investments in real estate and diamonds claims he can’t be prosecuted for securities fraud. But a judge wasn’t buying that defense.
/jlne.ws/2wqF0w1
Cryptocurrency creeps into the mainstream; Institutionalising bitcoin lowers risk ó but sends an unsettling signal
FT
The irony is delicious. Bitcoin, biggest of the cryptocurrencies, was heralded as a technology that would set us free from the sclerotic institutions of a fetid financial system: central banks, commercial bank oligopolies, bought-and-paid-for regulators.
/jlne.ws/2wlDwTw
Politics
Trump Withdraws U.S. From Iran Accord; President announces pullout from deal aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear activity, calling it ‘horrible’
Michael C. Bender, Michael R. Gordon and Rebecca Ballhaus – WSJ
The U.S. is exiting the Iranian nuclear accord, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, dismantling his predecessor’s most prominent foreign-policy initiative and bucking the appeals of some of America’s closest allies.
/jlne.ws/2K5hlTA
The dangerous cult of Donald Trump
Reza Aslan – LA Times
I am not the first person to point this out: There’s been a cultish quality to President Trump’s most ardent supporters. He seemed to acknowledge the phenomenon when he boasted that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose voters.
/jlne.ws/2Inax6L
Trump’s Most Foolish Decision Yet
By Susan E. Rice
Ms. Rice was the national security adviser during President Barack Obama’s second term.
President Trump’s reckless decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal will not force Iran back to the negotiating table, nor will it address serious concerns about Iran’s behavior in the Middle East. But it will leave Iran’s nuclear program unconstrained, and an inconstant America isolated from its allies and far less safe.
/goo.gl/xUwxUy
Europe, Again Humiliated by Trump, Struggles to Defend Its Interests
Steven Erlanger – NY Times
It is now a familiar, humiliating pattern. European leaders cajole, argue and beg, trying to persuade President Trump to change his mind on a vital issue for the trans-Atlantic alliance. Mr. Trump appears to enjoy the show, dangling them, before ultimately choosing not to listen.
/jlne.ws/2wpIgYq
Wall St must suppress its delight at Eric Schneiderman’s fall; The New York attorney-general played a key role in checking bad behaviour in finance
Brooke Masters – FT
You have got to be kidding me! On Monday, Eric Schneiderman, who has been leading efforts to hold movie producer Harvey Weinstein to account for sexual misconduct, said he would resign as New York attorney-general. His departure came three hours after the publication of allegations that he had physically abused four women with whom he had, or wanted to have, sexual relationships.
/jlne.ws/2wnEv5S
Donald Trump declares trade war on China; No sovereign power could accept the humiliating demands being made by the US
Martin Wolf – FT
The Trump administration has presented China with an ultimatum on trade. That is what the US’s “draft framework” for the trade talks with Chinese officials in Beijing last week actually is. China could not accede to its demands. The US administration is either so foolish that it does not understand this or so arrogant that it does not care. This may be a decisive moment for relations between the world’s two greatest powers.
/jlne.ws/2wnhUWZ
Regulation
New Jersey Federal Court Orders Alcibiades Cifuentes, Jennifer Wee Cifuentes, and Cifuentes Fund Management, LLC, to Pay More Than $2.2 Million for Forex Fraud Scheme
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that Judge Esther Salas of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has entered an Order of default judgment and permanent injunction against Alcibiades Cifuentes (Cifuentes) and Jennifer Wee Cifuentes (Wee), both of West New York, New Jersey, and their corporate entity, Cifuentes Fund Management, LLC (collectively, Defendants).
/jlne.ws/2IqrwoO
Remarks of Commissioner Brian Quintenz at SIFMA 2018 Operations Conference & Exhibition; Cutting the Grass, Adding Integrity, and Promoting Growth
CFTC
Good morning and thank you for that very kind introduction. I’m delighted to be here with you today. Before I begin, let me quickly say that the views contained in this speech are my own and do not represent the views of the Commission.
/jlne.ws/2I1TdF5
Hedge Fund Firm Charged for Asset Mismarking and Insider Trading; CFO Charged With Failing to Supervise Portfolio Managers
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the hedge fund advisory firm Visium Asset Management LP has agreed to settle charges related to asset mismarking and insider trading by its privately managed hedge funds and portfolio managers. Separately, the firm’s CFO agreed to settle charges that he failed to respond appropriately to red flags that should have alerted him to the asset mismarking.
/jlne.ws/2IrTxfv
ESMA closed for public holidays on 9, 10 and 11 May
ESMA
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is closed for a public holidays on Wednesday 9 May – Europe Day, Thursday 10 May and Friday 11 May and will reopen on Monday 14 May.
/jlne.ws/2I3Rxe8
FINRA Sanctions Fifth Third Securities, Inc., $6 Million for Cost and Fee Disclosure Failures and Unsuitable Recommendations Related to Variable Annuity Exchanges
FINRA
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today it has fined Fifth Third Securities, Inc., $4 million and required the firm to pay approximately $2 million in restitution to customers for failing to appropriately consider and accurately describe the costs and benefits of variable annuity (VA) exchanges, and for recommending exchanges without a reasonable basis to believe the exchanges were suitable. This is the second significant FINRA enforcement action against Fifth Third involving the firm’s sale of variable annuities.
/jlne.ws/2IprkpL
ESMA details latest double volume cap breaches; Updated dark pool data finds breaches for 58 equities for the 8% cap and 10 equities for the 4% cap.
John Brazier – The Trade
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published the latest set of data on the MiFID II dark pool double volume caps (DVC).
/jlne.ws/2wplQ9D
Investing and Trading
Oil and Gas Prices are Breaking Up
Owain Johnson – CME Group OpenMarkets
Divorce is always a challenging event, particularly when the couple in question have been together for so long.
/goo.gl/3DDnxf
Libor Was a Crappy Wrench. Here – Use This Beautiful New Hammer Instead!
Streetwise Professor
When discussing the 1864 election, Lincoln mused that it was unwise to swap horses in midstream. (Lincoln used a variant of this phrase many times during the campaign.) The New York Fed and the Board of Governors are proposing to do that nonetheless when it comes to interest rates. They want to transition from reliance on Libor to a new Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR, because you can never have enough acronyms), despite the fact that there are trillions of dollars of notional in outstanding derivatives and more trillions in loans with payments tied to Libor.
/goo.gl/xpKbQM
Musk vs. Buffett: An Invitation for Investors to Take Sides
John Foley – NY Times
Elon Musk and Warren E. Buffett clashed over the weekend after Mr. Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, derided as lame Mr. Buffett’s concept of companies having “moats” to keep potential competitors at bay. When Mr. Buffett, the Berkshire Hathaway chairman, cited his confectionery maker, See’s Candies, as proof to the contrary, Mr. Musk pledged to launch his own candy maker. It’s an invitation for investors to take sides; many already have.
/jlne.ws/2K7crpi
Impatient Investors Get Caught in the ‘Return Gap’; Investors on average lose 1 to 2 percentage points a year because of behavioral inefficiencies, writes this professor
Derek Horstmeyer – WSJ
Most investors think of themselves as rational and immune from the behavioral elements that periodically roil markets. Human factors, however, do continue to affect our personal portfolio decisionsóusually to the detriment of our long-run returns.
/jlne.ws/2K9iWbb
Rockefeller ‘Premium’ Draws Billionaires to $646 Million Auction
Katya Kazakina – Bloomberg
Picasso sells for $115 million; Monet fetches $84.7 million; Seven artist auction records were establised at Christie’s
Billionaires from around the world fought for a chance to own Peggy and David Rockefeller’s art trophies, sending paintings by Henri Matisse and Claude Monet to record prices at Christie’s in New York on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/2K7DQqS
****WSJ here.
Sell in May and Go Away? This Robot-Run ETF Disagrees
Kristine Owram – Bloomberg
MIND cuts cash position to 1%, goes all in on equities; Canadian firm recently added currency hedging to AI-run fund
The artificial intelligence behind the Horizons Active A.I. Global Equity ETF has apparently never heard the phrase “sell in May and go away.”
/jlne.ws/2K53Bs0
FTSE Russell ESG Ratings model reflects global climate standards
Charles Fruitiere, sustainable investment analyst – FTSE Russell
There is a growing awareness among institutional investors globally that climate change and the policy and regulatory responses to it represent potential major sources of investment risk and investment opportunity.
/goo.gl/sDQtH4
A Fix Everyone Loves to Hate for the $4 Trillion Retirement Savings Gap
Katherine Chiglinsky, Ben Steverman – Bloomberg
Saving for retirement is hard enough, but another difficult challenge is making sure the money lasts. Invest your nest egg conservatively, and you might not be able to stretch the money out, especially if you live longer than you expect. Putting more in the stock market could keep the pile growingóbut once you stop adding money, a streak of bad returns could decimate your stake and leave you little chance to recover.
/jlne.ws/2wqUdwL
Institutions
Barclays vs Deutsche Bank: A tale of two mediocrities
David Wighton – Financial News
The UK and German institutions have had similar battles to fight, but it is Deutsche that has fared worse
/goo.gl/iuE1AY
Disgraced ex-BofA exec raises uncomfortable questions about #MeToo
Bethany McLean – Yahoo Finance
When Omeed Malik, an executive at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, was fired at the start of 2018, he quickly became the poster child for #MeToo on Wall Street.
/goo.gl/3BHQYK
ITG Releases April 2018 U.S. Trading Volumes and Provides International Trading Commission Update
Investment Technology Group, Inc.
ITG, a leading independent broker and financial technology provider, today announced that April 2018 U.S. trading volume was 2.5 billion shares and average daily volume (ADV) was 117 million shares, compared to 2.9 billion shares and ADV of 136 million shares in March 2018 and 2.4 billion shares and ADV of 127 million shares in April 2017. There were 21 trading days in both April 2018 and March 2018, and 19 trading days in April 2017.
/jlne.ws/2FTV2O9
****Finance Magnates – ITG Sees Slump in Month on Month Trading This April
Regions
Argentina seeks financing deal with IMF to address peso volatility
Jorge Otaola – Reuters
Argentina is seeking a financing deal with the International Monetary fund to address recent market volatility punctuated by the local peso plumbing new lows and the central bank jacking interest rates up to 40 percent, the president said on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/2K7qfQF
Meteoric Singapore Stock Comes Crashing Back to Earth
Livia Yap – Bloomberg
Venture plunges over eight days after short report, earnings; That comes after tech darling more than tripled in two years
After a spectacular rise for two years, Singapore’s biggest technology company is suddenly returning to earth.
/jlne.ws/2K5ZcFa
Brexit
Theresa May forced to give MPs single market vote after shock defeat; More than 80 Labour peers defy whip on amendment calling for vote on EEA membership
Anne Perkins – The Guardian
MPs will have a vote on remaining in the European Economic Area – effectively a vote on the single market – after a shock defeat for the government in the Lords.
/goo.gl/Sa9F9y
Miscellaneous
Britain’s press singled out for further punishment; New legislation risks curtailing journalists’ ability to do their jobs
FT
Press regulation is an itch that some British politicians cannot stop scratching. Six years on from the end of the Leveson inquiry, which sought to restore trust in the newspaper industry following the phone hacking scandal, publications operate in a more constrained regulatory and economic environment. Yet some MPs and peers remain blissfully ignorant of this reality and continue to push for a more punishing regime.
/jlne.ws/2wtzjxc
The post Tech finally disrupting bond markets; Eurex tapped for Dutch IRS swaps clearing appeared first on John Lothian News (JLN).