DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ One of Wall Street's favorite ways to control workers is under attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

One of Wall Street's favorite employee leverage tactics — non-compete agreements — is facing a major threat, and there could be far-reaching implications for how the financial industry does business. But it's also clear that Wall Street firms are under particular attention for the practice. With major Wall Street firms already having among the most unpopular back-to-work policies in the market, "Wall Street is already in a position where they are recognizing they don't have all the hands they had before," Chamberlin said. Shore recommends Wall Street firms undertake a thorough competitive analysis at every level in every department to ensure they are market competitive. Even if the FTC rule goes through, Wall Street firms still have options to protect their business.

Persons: Charles Scharf, Wells, Brian Thomas Moynihan, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, Jane Fraser, Ronald O’Hanley, Robin Vince, BNY Mellon, David Solomon, Goldman Sachs, James Gorman, Morgan Stanley, General Mills, —, Wall, it's, Kathy Hochul, that's, Covid, Laurie Chamberlin, Chamberlin, Lina Khan's, Khan, It's, David Fisher, Gilbert, Fisher, Juan A, Crowell, Arteaga, Paul Webster, Matt Shore, Kareem Bakr, Webster, Leslie John, Ballard Spahr, John Organizations: Company, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Citigroup, BNY, Google, Apple, Pfizer, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Procter, Gamble, Nike, Economic, Institute, Federal Trade Commission, North America, American College of Emergency Physicians, Davis, FTC, Supreme, Industry, Moring, Wall, Phaidon International, Wall Street Locations: Wells Fargo, Hart, Washington ,, New York, . California, U.S, Gilbert . Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts

☆ Meet the Man Behind Litquidity, the Anonymous Instagram Account Dominating Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Reed Alexander | Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

The deck kicked off a game of one-upmanship among Wall Street banks trying to keep their employees happy. Lit capitalized on poking fun at Wall Street culture, selling $35 dad hats that read, "Do You Know Who My Father Is?" There have, of course, been endless rumors about Lit's identity, especially among Wall Street underlings. Wall Street underlings have speculated about Litquidity's identity for years. Basak, one attendee said, wanted to take a "wrecking ball through it all" and hold Wall Street heavy hitters accountable.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, I've, David Solomon, Litquidity, Goldman, Solomon, Evercore, Michael Kovac, Lit, Warburg Pincus, Jamie Dimon, Jamie Dimon's, Banksy, Bennett Jordan, who've, Lit's, — Mark Moran, —, Jefferies, Richard Handler, Spencer Platt, Isaac Laifer, Laifer, Handler, We'd, Henry, Hank, Medina, He's, he's, Jefferies Medina, Bart P, Fuchs, Karl Smith, Mark Moran, Moran, Bloomberg he'd, Zack DeZon, Getty Images Moran, Brian Hanly, Hanly, Sonali Basak, Angela Weiss, cryptocurrency, we'll, Mark, Medina's, weren't, CoinFLEX, Litquidity doesn't, Dave Portnoy, wasn't, Medina Ayden Syal, Kyle Zappitell, Zappitell, he'd, hasn't, Bennett Jordan —, Craig Sjodin, Litney, Paul Argenti, Wall Organizations: Goldman, New York Times, CNBC, Business, Bloomberg, Metropolitan Club of New, Nomura, Citigroup, Financial Times, Litney Partners, Whitney Partners, BI, ESPN, Litquidity, Centerview Partners, New York, Getty, Bain Capital, Litquidity Venture Partners, SEC, Cornell University, Wexford Capital —, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche, CFA, Getty Images, Bullish, Vice, Wall Street, Litquidity's, Manhattan's Rue, Fox Business, Litquidity Ventures, Coatue Management, SAFE, Soho House, Dartmouth University Locations: New York, Tribeca, Metropolitan Club of New York, Instagram, San Francisco, Medina, New York City, Miami, NoHo, Chad, Connecticut, Litquidity, Linktree, Soho

☆ Top U.S. Treasury Officials to Visit Beijing for Economic Talks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Alan Rappeport | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration is dispatching a high-level delegation of Treasury Department officials to Beijing this week for a round of economic talks as the world’s largest economies look to continue engagement efforts that President Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to pursue last year. A Treasury official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the trip has not been publicly announced, said that the two days of meetings would include “frank conversations” about China’s use of nonmarket economic practices like government subsidies. The U.S. officials also plan to discuss concerns about industrial overcapacity, which could flood international markets with cheap products. More broadly, the two governments will discuss the macroeconomic outlooks for their countries, whose economies are critical to the health of the overall global economy. The United States is proving to be the most resilient economy in the world.

Persons: Biden, Xi Jinping Organizations: Treasury Department, Treasury, U.S Locations: Beijing, China, United States

☆ A fund manager who has beaten 99% of his peers over the last decade breaks down how he finds value investments where others don't, and the 2 sectors he's looking for opportunities in this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Mark Reeth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Consistently beating the competition over a decade and a half is a sign that Bill Nygren is worth listening to. Instead, he uses good old-fashioned value investing techniques that have proven reliable for decades, even as they've evolved. Nygren added: "It's clearly not a value stock, but when you make those adjustments it sells at less than a market multiple. Advertisement2 sectors to invest in right nowThe average investor would be forgiven for looking around the market right now and struggling to find value. Advertisement"And I think value investors have been a natural home for a lot of the financial industry because the industry's typically traded at something like three-quarters of the S&P multiple," Nygren said.

Persons: Bill Nygren, Nygren, there'd, you've Organizations: Oakmark, Oakmark Fund, Business, Big Tech, Capital, Intercontinental Exchange, American International Group, AIG

☆ Meet the JPMorgan executive emerging as a dark horse to succeed Jamie Dimon
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Read previewA longtime JPMorgan executive who has kept a low public profile while cultivating a reputation as a successful trader with a talent for managing risk is emerging as a contender to succeed Jamie Dimon as chief executive. His new position through the internal shuffle has vaulted him more publicly and prominently into the most closely watched succession race on Wall Street. JPMorgan executive David Hudson told the publication that he returned to JPMorgan after working at Nomura in 2010 "to work for Troy." Rohrbaugh's other stops at JPMorgan have been head of global markets and head of macro markets. A senior JPMorgan executive who works with Rohrbaugh recalled that time during the pandemic.

Persons: —, Jamie Dimon, Dimon, Troy Rohrbaugh, Jennifer Piepszak, Wall, Marianne Lake, Rohrbaugh, Goldman Sachs, Euromoney, Eddie Wen, David Hudson, He's, Gary Gensler's, Goldman, Cantor Fitzgerald, Tim Soulas, Cantor, Johns Hopkins, you've, he'll, Kaja Whitehouse, Alex Morrell Organizations: Service, JPMorgan, Wall, Business, CIB, North America, Goldman, Nomura, Troy, Federal Reserve Bank of New, Global, Securities, Exchange, Banque Nationale, CooperNeff, Philadelphia Stock Exchange, World Trade Center, New York Daily News, Gilman School, Johns Hopkins University, Alpha Delta Phi, Baltimore Sun, Bloomberg Locations: Dimon, North, JPMorgan's, Canadian, Manhattan, Baltimore, Maryland, New York

☆ Fahmi Quadir, short seller nicknamed 'The Assassin,' takes aim at for-profit college giant Adtalem
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Eamon Javers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Quadir told CNBC she has a short position in the stock, meaning she is betting that the share price will decline. "We believe that Adtalem is completely uninvestable, the number of existential risks that exists today should cause alarm for any investor that's looking into this company," Quadir said. In 2017, DeVry Education changed its DV ticker symbol to Adtalem's current ATGE, completing the rebranding of DeVry into Adtalem. Quadir's report found that among Adtalem's properties, the online college Walden University has a graduation rate of just 29%. Adtalem's stock price has soared over 75% in just seven months, from just over $33 a share in late June, to more than $60 a share at Monday's open.

Persons: Quadir, Safkhet, Bridget Bennett, Rafael Henrique, Lightrocket, DeVry, Adtalem Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty Images WASHINGTON, Walden University, Chamberlain University, Ross University School of Medicine, CNBC, Safkhet, Netflix, Education, DeVry University, Cogswell Education, Blackrock, Vanguard, Department of Education, Higher Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, Barbados, Quadir, Adtalem

☆ China stock market: CSRC limits short-selling in latest effort to stem a rout
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —China’s top securities regulator has limited short-selling, in its latest effort to stem a protracted $6 trillion-dollar stock market rout that began in 2021. The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced Sunday it would “fully” suspend the lending of restricted shares on bourses in mainland China. The Shenzhen stock exchange is the second-largest in mainland China after Shanghai. Bloomberg/Getty ImagesCalm returns but challenges remainChinese authorities have stepped up their measures to stem the stock market rout over the past week. A day later, in an unprecedented move, regulators said they were considering evaluating the performance of the heads of state-owned companies based on their stock market value.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, ”, Ken Cheung, Evergrande, ” Cheung, Hong, Li Yunze, Pan Gongsheng Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, China Securities Regulatory Commission, Mizuho Bank, Bloomberg, Shanghai Shenzhen, Administration of Financial, People’s Bank of China Locations: Hong Kong, bourses, China, Shanghai, Shenzhen

☆ China stock market: Calm returns after wild week but big challenges remain
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Hong Kong CNN —It’s been a rollercoaster week for stocks trading in mainland China and Hong Kong. “For a sustained rally in China stocks, we think China will need to address the core of these concerns (predominantly property sector issues and US-China tensions),” the analysts added. In the 7 days to January 24, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Chinese stocks recorded large inflows of $12.6 billion, according to a Citi survey of global fund managers. Still, investors have been fleeing Chinese stocks over a much longer period because they are worried about the country’s economic prospects. The country is facing the prospect of a vicious cycle whereby lower demand leads to lower investment, lower production and lower income, thus causing even lower demand.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN — It’s, Hong, — haven’t, ” Nomura, “, Li Qiang, ”, Li Yunze, Pan Gongsheng, Florence Lo, HSI, Raymond Yeung, ” Yeung Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Shanghai Shenzhen, ”, Shanghai Financial Exchange, Bloomberg, State, Supervision, Administration Commission, Administration of Financial, Reuters, People’s Bank of China, Citi, Enodo Economics, HSBC, Greater China, ANZ Research Locations: China, Hong Kong, Shanghai, United States, Beijing, Davos, Switzerland, Greater

☆ 'Unshirkable responsibility': China's financial institutions urged to support property developers
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Clement Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

China's financial institutions should provide strong support to the country's beleaguered real estate sector and not "blindly withdraw" financing for projects facing difficulties, according to a senior Chinese financial regulatory official. His strongly worded comments follow the Chinese central bank's largest cut in mandatory cash reserves for banks since 2021. "The financial industry has an unshirkable responsibility and must provide strong support," said Xiao Yuanqi, deputy director of China's National Financial Regulatory Administration, at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, according to a CNBC translation. "We all know the real estate industry chain is long and involves a wide range of areas. China's real estate troubles are closely intertwined with local government finances since they typically relied on land sales to developers for a significant portion of revenue.

Persons: Xiao Yuanqi Organizations: China's, Financial Regulatory Administration, CNBC Locations: Beijing

☆ Why banks and consumer groups have become unlikely allies
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon previously noted that this would dampen economic expansion, as banks may pull back on new lending. Separate groups that rely on bank investments have also called for the proposal's revision. The National Association of Manufacturers expressed worry that tighter requirements would mean less capital availability to virtually every industrial sector, especially smaller manufacturers that have few options for financing. Meanwhile, the American Council on Renewable Energy and the Solar Energy Industries Association warned that tighter capital requirements would make it expensive for banks to finance green energy projects through tax equity incentives, slowing the clean energy transition.

Persons: —, Banks, Jamie Dimon, Michelle Bowman Organizations: Service, Business, JPMorgan, National Association of Manufacturers, American Council, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy Industries Association Locations: Basel

☆ China tries to halt stock market rout by boosting lending and wooing foreign investors
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has vowed to pump more money into the economy and further open its $64 trillion financial industry to international investors, as Beijing scrambles to restore confidence following a massive stock market rout. The astonishing losses, reminiscent of the last Chinese stock market crash of 2015-2016, highlight a crisis of confidence among investors concerned about the country’s future. It will allow Hong Kong banks to expand their businesses in mainland China and reduce the barriers to investing in mainland insurers. Last month, China Reform Holdings, a state-owned investment fund, announced it had bought tech-focused index funds to support the market. The brutal sell-off in Chinese stock markets has even forced some hedge fund managers to apologize for making wrong bets.

Persons: Li Yunze, “, Pan Gongsheng, Goldman Sachs, Li, ”, Lam, Li Qiang, Wang Zhao, Premier Li Qiang, Stringer, Li Bei Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Administration of Financial, People’s Bank of, Buildings, New Champions, Getty, Premier, Xinhua, Reuters, Securities Daily, Social Security Fund, China Reform Holdings, Central Huijin Investment, Shanghai Banxia Investment Management Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, People’s Bank of China, Victoria Harbour, British, Tianjin, AFP, Central, Fuyang, China's, Anhui

"When you see the news of a Wall Street employee or any highly paid professional dying this way, it obviously wakes you up." Wall Street is all about relationships, which often means spending big money to show people a good time. "That's been the Wall Street playbook for many, many years, and I don't think it has changed." On the other side of the coin is Wall Street, where a history of drug use can haunt working professionals for years. AdvertisementLaird thinks Wall Street firms could learn a thing or two from other industries when it comes to their response to addiction.

Persons: Rudy Giuliani, It's, Joe, I'm, Anna Lembke, Streeters, biohacking, Wall, couldn't, Rudolph Giuliani, Getty John Battaglia, Spear, Goldman Sachs, " Battaglia, Goldman, Adderall, Jaime Blaustein, Blaustein, Sylvia Brafman, Zyn, who's, JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE Denise Shull, hasn't, Shull, —, Artur Widak, they've, Ray Donovan, AGNES BUN, Battaglia, Ross Peet, Betty, Lembke, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paramount Pictures Trey Laird, Laird, Trey, That's, Peet Organizations: Business, New York Times, Wall, psychedelics, Stanford, Addiction, Mental Health Services Administration, Bettmann, Leeds, Kellogg, Sylvia Brafman Mental Health, BI, Citadel, Getty, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Credit Suisse, Traders, Bank of America, New, Betty Ford Foundation, Street, Paramount Pictures, Needham & Co, Treatment, Industry Locations: Manhattan, New York, Brussels, Silicon Valley, California, Arlington , Virginia, New York City, Bank, New Canaan , Connecticut

When employees who contribute to a 401(k) plan leave a company, they have options for what to do with that money. The guidance investors receive from a financial professional or firm about handling old 401(k)s has been exempt from investment advice rules. And, there are different standards for financial advice. The Biden administration wants investment advice given when making these decisions to come from a fiduciary — and the Department of Labor has proposed rules to make that happen. They also argue that existing laws have been established to safeguard consumers seeking financial advice.

Persons: Biden, Labor Department's, Ann Wagner Organizations: Department of Labor, Finance, Labor, Financial, Capital Markets

☆ The wealth of the world’s five richest men more than doubled since 2020
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

His wealth soared to $245.5 billion at the end of November, up 737% from March 2020, after accounting for inflation. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had a fortune of $167.4 billion, up 24%; while Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s wealth totaled $145.5 billion, up 107%. US billionaires, many of whom derive their wealth from the equity in the companies they lead, are $1.6 trillion richer. Seven out of 10 of the world’s largest public companies have either a billionaire CEO or a billionaire as its principal shareholder. What’s more, the top 1% holds 43% of the world’s financial assets, according to Oxfam, drawing on data from Wealth X.

Persons: Nabil Ahmed, ” Ahmed, Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, Larry, Warren Buffett, Amitabh Behar Organizations: CNN, Forbes, Oxfam, Workers, Tesla, SpaceX, Amazon, Oracle, Berkshire Hathaway, Wealth, Oxfam International’s Locations: Davos, Switzerland, United States, Asia, Europe, “

☆ GPT and other AI models can't analyze an SEC filing, researchers find
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-19 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Patronus AI co-founders Anand Kannappan and Rebecca Qian Patronus AILarge language models, similar to the one at the heart of ChatGPT, frequently fail to answer questions derived from Securities and Exchange Commission filings, researchers from a startup called Patronus AI found. "That type of performance rate is just absolutely unacceptable," Patronus AI co-founder Anand Kannappan said. It feels like just testing by inspection," Patronus AI co-founder Rebecca Qian said. Here's some examples of questions in the dataset, provided by Patronus AI: Has CVS Health paid dividends to common shareholders in Q2 of FY2022? How the AI models did on the test

Persons: Anand Kannappan, Rebecca Qian Patronus, OpenAI's, ChatGPT, they're, Rebecca Qian, FinanceBench, Qian Organizations: Securities, Exchange, CNBC, SEC, Bloomberg, JPMorgan, McKinsey, Microsoft, Facebook, Meta, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Patronus, CVS, AMD, Coca

☆ Tel Aviv bourse says no unusual trading ahead of Oct 7 Hamas attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Steven Scheer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange said on Tuesday that a report by U.S. researchers suggesting there were investors in Israel who may have profited from prior knowledge of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack was inaccurate and its publication irresponsible. "There was nothing unusual in short positions in the stock exchange in the two months before the attack." "The ISA's examinations found, inter-alia, that the average short balances for shares traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange declined during the period preceding October 7th," the regulator said in a statement. Their report said "short interest in the MSCI Israel Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) suddenly, and significantly, spiked" on Oct. 2, based on data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He also said the short position in Leumi was taken by an unidentified Israeli bank known to the TASE.

Persons: Robert Jackson Jr, Joshua Mitts, Yaniv Pagot, Pagot, Mitts, Steven Scheer, Mark Potter, Leslie Adler Organizations: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, U.S, New York University, Columbia University, Hamas, Reuters, Israel Securities Authority, Tel, Aviv Stock Exchange, ISA, Leumi, MSCI Israel, Fund, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Thomson Locations: Israel, Leumi, Israel's, agorot, MSCI

☆ Israeli regulators are looking into unusual trading prior to October 7 attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Regulators in Israel are aware of and reviewing research that suggests some unknown traders may have had advance knowledge of the October 7th Hamas attacks. “This subject is known and is being thoroughly checked,” Sivan Carmon, a spokesperson for the Israel Securities Authority, told CNN in a statement on Tuesday. The ISA, the Israeli equivalent of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, is charged with fighting securities fraud, insider trading and other market abuse. Experts urged regulators to investigate the matter, including by looking at nonpublic market data that researchers did not have access to. “Of course, that’s quite different from trading based on inside knowledge of terrorist attacks,” Whitehead said.

Persons: ” Sivan Carmon, hasn’t, Yaniv Pagot, ” Pagot, ” Charles Whitehead, Whitehead, ” Whitehead, ” – CNN’s Gayle Harrington Organizations: CNN, Regulators, Israel Securities Authority, Columbia University, New York University, ISA, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Industry Regulatory Authority, Israel, Fund, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Bank Leumi, Cornell Law School Locations: Israel, Gaza, San Francisco

☆ Israel investigates possible trading knowledge ahead of Oct 7 Hamas attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Steven Scheer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] An aerial view shows vehicles on fire as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel October 7, 2023. REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsJERUSALEM, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Israeli authorities are investigating claims by U.S. researchers that some investors may have known in advance of a Hamas plan to attack Israel on Oct. 7 and used that information to profit from Israeli securities. "And just before the attack, short selling of Israeli securities on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) increased dramatically," they wrote in their 66-page report. In response, the TASE referred Reuters to the Israel Securities Authority, which said: "The matter is known to the authority and is under investigation by all the relevant parties." The professors referred to patterns in early April when it was reported that Hamas was initially planning its attack on Israel.

Persons: Ilan Rosenberg, Robert Jackson Jr, Joshua Mitts, Steven Scheer, Howard Goller Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Research, New York University, Columbia University, MSCI Israel, Fund, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Reuters, Israel Securities Authority, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Ashkelon, Israel, MSCI, Israel's

☆ Unknown traders appear to have anticipated October 7 Hamas attack, research finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Short selling is a way to bet against the value of a security. “Our findings suggest that traders informed about the coming attacks profited from these tragic events,” the authors wrote. The research found that on October 2, just five days before the Hamas attack, “nearly 100% of the off-exchange trading volume in the MSCI Israel ETF … consisted of short selling.”“Days before the attack, traders appeared to anticipate the events to come,” the professors wrote. In the days before the attack, bets against Israeli securities traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange “increased dramatically,” the paper said. “Taken together, our evidence is consistent with informed traders anticipating and profiting from the Hamas attack,” the authors wrote.

Persons: hasn’t, Jonathan Macey, ”, Robert Jackson Jr, Joshua Mitts, “, Mitts, it’s “, ” Mitts, Jackson, Bill Bagley, Charles Whitehead, Whitehead, – Organizations: New, New York CNN, Columbia University, New York University, Israel, Fund, Yale Law School, CNN, “ Regulators, SEC, NYU, …, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Israeli Securities Authority, Reuters, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Bank, Cornell Law School Locations: New York, Israel, Gaza, Columbia, Bank Leumi

☆ Bitcoin and gold are smashing through key levels. Here's what's driving the moves
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Both gold and bitcoin kicked off the week by hitting new milestones — spot gold hit a record high above $2,100 per ounce, and bitcoin topped $42,000 to hit its highest level since April 2022. The digital currency appears to have broken through key technical levels and could continue to rally through the end of the year, according to Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group. "A Bitcoin ETF allows easy access to Bitcoin via broker accounts, RIAs and wealth/private banking channels. Think of Bitcoin ETF as the largest pipe ever built between traditional financial markets and crypto financial markets," the note said. XAU= 5D mountain Gold retreated from the record high reached on Sunday evening in New York.

Persons: bitcoin, Joel Kruger, Kruger, Bernstein, Gautam Chhugani, Chhugani, Bitcoin, Maximilian Layton, Layton, Gold, Craig Erlam Organizations: LMAX, CNBC, Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, BlackRock, ETF Locations: Bitcoin, U.S, New York

☆ China regulator to speed reform of smaller financial institutions
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Li Yunze, director of China's National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), speaks at the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, China June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Xue/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A key Chinese financial regulator said on Sunday it would accelerate reform of small and midsize financial institutions as it steps up its oversight of the sector. The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) will collaborate with the General Administration of Financial Supervision to tighten supervision of the financial industry other than the securities market, director Li Yunze said in an interview with state media Xinhua. It will promote small and midsize banking institutions to optimise their structure, improve quality and increase efficiency, Li said. “At present, the operation of China's financial sector is generally stable and the overall risk resistance is strong,” he said.

Persons: Li Yunze, Jason Xue, Li, ”, Mei Mei Chu, Christopher Cushing, William Mallard Organizations: China's, Financial Regulatory Administration, REUTERS, Rights, Administration, Financial, Xinhua, NFRA, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights BEIJING

☆ More States Now Require Financial Literacy Classes in High Schools
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Ann Carrns | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Requiring all students to take a financial literacy course can help reduce such inequality, Mr. Pelletier said. Carly Urban, a professor of economics at Montana State University who studies financial literacy, said that discussions about what topics should be taught in classrooms are often bitterly divisive, but state legislators appear to be finding common ground supporting high school financial instruction. Most American adults said they wanted their states to require a semester- or yearlong financial course to graduate from high school, according to a 2022 poll from the National Endowment for Financial Education. Over the years, questions have arisen about whether high school financial literacy classes are effective. High school financial instruction, she said, “overwhelmingly” improves credit scores, lowers loan delinquency rates and reduces the use of risky services like payday lending.

Persons: —, Pelletier, Carly Urban, Urban, “ Organizations: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Montana State University, National Endowment, Financial Education, Champlain College

A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. And they often work unpaid overtime because of chronic understaffing at Wells Fargo branches, according to the lawsuit. Wells Fargo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Michael Scimone, a lawyer for Perez, said Wells Fargo has consistently classified workers as exempt from overtime pay even though they are not managers and lack any decision-making authority. “Companies like Wells Fargo should know better than to withhold overtime pay from workers like Ms. Perez," Scimone said in a statement.

Persons: Stephanie Keith, Wells, Wells Fargo, Sabrina Perez, Perez, Michael Scimone, Scimone, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics . Wells Fargo, Daniel Wiessner, Alexia Garamfalvi, Deepa Babington Organizations: REUTERS, Fargo & Co, Senior, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics ., Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, San Francisco, Wells Fargo, Albuquerque , New Mexico, Wells, Albuquerque, Alaska, Albany , New York

☆ US regulator fines Bank of America $24 mln for Treasuries spoofing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FINRA said a junior trader and his supervisor at BofA Securities conducted 717 spoof trades between October 2014 and February 2021. It also faulted the oversight system of the second-largest U.S. bank for being designed to detect only spoofing by trading algorithms, not manual spoofing. The junior trader, Tyler Forbes, was accused of placing 194 spoof trades before Bank of America fired him in 2019. Bank of America did not admit or deny wrongdoing in accepting FINRA's fine and a censure. In a separate spoofing case, former Bank of America traders Edward Bases and John Pacilio were in March each sentenced in Chicago to one year in prison for spoofing in precious metals.

Persons: FINRA, Tyler Forbes, Sidney Lebental, Edward Bases, John Pacilio, Forbes, Lebental, Jonathan Stempel, Richard Chang Organizations: Bank of America, U.S, Treasuries, Financial Industry, Authority, BofA Securities, Thomson Locations: Charlotte, North Carolina, Chicago, New York

☆ SEC's in-house enforcement powers at risk in US Supreme Court case
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Andrew Chung | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The case involves hedge fund manager George Jarkesy, who the SEC fined and barred from the industry after determining he had committed securities fraud. Critics of the agency have argued that its in-house system gives it the unfair advantage of prosecuting cases before its own judges rather than before a jury in federal court. The case could make it harder for the SEC weed out bad actors in the securities industry, legal experts said. The court in 2018 faulted the way the SEC selected its in-house judges, and in April made it easier for targets of agency actions to mount challenges in federal court. The FINRA case - a constitutional challenge to its structure brought by Utah-based Alpine Securities Corp - is currently before another federal appellate court and eventually could come to the Supreme Court.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Joe Biden's, George Jarkesy, Jarkesy, infringes, Benjamin Edwards, Edwards, FINRA, James Park, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Washington , D.C, REUTERS, Exchange, Circuit, 5th Circuit, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, University of Nevada, Consumer, U.S, Constitution, Patriot28, Securities, Jarkesy, Alpine Securities Corp, Supreme, UCLA School of Law, Thomson Locations: Washington ,, New Orleans, Constitution's, Las Vegas, Houston, disgorge, Utah

Search resuls for: "Financial Industry"

25 mentions found