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☆ Jamie Dimon is riding to the rescue again. This time, he's poised to come out on top.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Why, then, has Dimon been so willing to swing back into action in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse? But it's starting to look like JPMorgan — and Dimon — will end up winners no matter how things turn out. In backstopping First Republic, JPMorgan helps a client and a bank that experts say would fit nicely into its business. By saving First Republic, JPMorgan also stands to gain goodwill from Silicon Valley startups, which are customers of the smaller bank. The paper also reported that regulators asked Dimon, Bank of America, and other banks to buy Silicon Valley Bank and pay out depositors over the insured limit.

☆ Explainer: How a massive options trade by a JP Morgan fund can move markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

read moreWHAT IS THE JP MORGAN HEDGED EQUITY FUND? The JPMorgan Hedged Equity Fund holds a basket of S&P 500 (.SPX) stocks along with options on the benchmark index and resets hedges once a quarter. For the year, the fund was down 10.66% through September 28, compared with a 21% decline for the S&P 500 Total return Index (.SPXTR). On June 30, the refresh of the fund's options positions involved about 140,000 S&P 500 options contracts in all, including S&P 500 puts at strikes 3580 and 3020 and calls at 4005, all for the September 30 expiry. Options dealers - typically big financial institutions that facilitate trading but seek to remain market-neutral - take the other side of the fund's options trades.

☆ Global derivatives industry defends CDS after banking blow-ups
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Credit default swaps (CDS) are derivatives that offer insurance against the risk of a bond issuer - such as a bank - not paying their creditors. European Union markets watchdog ESMA said on Thursday that it, together national regulators, had been "looking into the recent market movements, including in the CDS market". Clearing of individual bank or company CDS is also available at LCH’s CDSClear and ICE Clear Credit. Overall, the credit derivatives market is also far smaller than it was before the 2008 crisis. "The credit derivatives market continues to play a critical role, particularly during times of volatility," Malia said.

☆ Bullish flows happening in airlines, metals and Big Tech stocks, says Susquehanna's Chris Murphy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBullish flows happening in airlines, metals and Big Tech stocks, says Susquehanna's Chris MurphyChris Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna joins 'The Exchange' to discuss the options market, uncertainty in the trading week, and the Fed 's support for the banking system.

☆ The Banker Tasked With Saving Swiss Banking
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Eliot Brown | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

During Sergio Ermotti ’s last stint as chief executive officer at UBS Group AG , the bank slashed thousands of jobs, sharpened its focus and became the dominant Swiss financial institution, while rival Credit Suisse Group AG remained strategically scattered and scandal-prone. Now the plain-spoken, immaculately dressed former derivatives trader is about to be in charge of both.

Ermotti may need to persuade Switzerland's authorities that UBS should keep "the piece de resistance," Credit Suisse's domestic bank, said Porta's Wittmann. During the financial crash of 2008 it was UBS, not Credit Suisse, that took the lion's share of support from the state. One of Ermotti's biggest challenges may be to prevent Credit Suisse's problems contaminating UBS, which will involve hacking back its investment bank and its unwieldy derivatives. Disentangling Credit Suisse's finances, however, is only a part of the problem. "There are clearly parts of Credit Suisse that have had a bad culture.

☆ Deutsche Bank Selloff Focuses Attention on Credit-Default Swap Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Anna Hirtenstein | Patricia Kowsmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Last week’s selloff in Deutsche Bank AG shares and bonds has drawn attention from regulators—and sparked broad debate about whether credit-default swaps caused the market stress, or simply reflected investor unease. The instruments are derivatives that effectively insure the holder against a corporate default. The cost of insuring Deutsche Bank’s debt against default in this way surged late last week, helping fuel an 8.5% decline in the bank’s Frankfurt-traded stock on Friday. The episode had echoes of a social-media frenzy around Credit Suisse Group AG last fall, in which default-swap pricing also fed into a broader loss of confidence.

☆ A portfolio manager at a $41 billion investment firm explains why US stocks aren't as attractive as their international counterparts — and shares 5 recession-resistant stocks to buy now
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Portfolio manager Emily Leveille shared 7 international stocks investors should consider buying now. After lagging behind their American counterparts for years, international equities may finally give US stocks a run for their money in 2023. Leveille is a portfolio manager who oversees the international growth strategy at Thornburg Investment Management, a firm with $41 billion in assets under management. As growth becomes more scarce during an economic slowdown, she believes that companies with resilient growth characteristics are best positioned to outperform. Another luxury brand Leveille owns is LVMH (LVMHF), which is known for its signature Louis Vuitton handbags.

☆ Here's why recent moves by the SEC and CFTC may be just the start of crypto's regulatory troubles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Both the SEC and the CFTC have taken action against the crypto industry in the last few weeks. He added: "At the end of the day industry participants are searching for regulatory clarity, which has not yet been achieved." "Compliance and regulatory efforts are expensive, but necessary, the personnel will be almost as important as tech people," Yang told Insider. Markets could face more volatility following a crackdown because crypto prices are often sensitive to regulatory news. This, however, would require a widespread effort and coordination between financial regulators, industry participants, and legislators.

March 28 (Reuters) - Immediate investor concerns over the banking sector eased on Tuesday, lifting stock prices, with the European Central Bank's supervisory chief saying recent sector volatility underscored the need to step up regulatory scrutiny. Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) shares rose 1.7%. Top U.S. banking regulators said on Monday they planned to tell Congress that the overall financial system remains on a solid footing after recent bank failures, but will comprehensively review their policies in a bid to prevent future collapses. Regional U.S. lender First Citizens BancShares on Monday scooped up the assets of SVB, in a vote of confidence for the battered banking sector that prompted a rally in bank shares. Bailey said the stresses which led to a crisis in confidence in Credit Suisse were down to specific issues in Switzerland's second-largest bank.

☆ Binance 'could be in big trouble' as the CFTC lawsuit alleges the crypto behemoth dodged regulators and breached laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Binance is being blow-torched from all angles as US regulators close in on the world's largest crypto exchange. The CFTC sued the exchange this week for violating US financial laws, whilst some reports suggest Binance has engaged in secret fund transfers. On Monday, the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and Zhao himself, for allegedly breaching US financial laws. Following the shocking implosion of Sam-Bankman Fried's FTX exchange late last year, concerns have risen whether Binance faces similar risks. If US authorities decide the links meant the crypto exchange had control over the US platform, it could expose the company to enforcement action.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried paid out tens of millions of dollars worth of bribes to at least one Chinese government official, federal prosecutors alleged in a new indictment Tuesday. The indictment said accounts belonging to Bankman-Fried's hedge fund, Alameda Research, were the target of a freezing order from Chinese police "in or around" November 2021. Bankman-Fried and his associates considered and tried "numerous methods" to unfreeze the accounts, which contained around $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency, prosecutors allege. Ultimately, after both legal and personal efforts failed, Bankman-Fried agreed to and directed a multimillion-dollar bribe to have the frozen accounts unlocked, prosecutors alleged. Bankman-Fried now faces a federal indictment and civil charges from both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

☆ Explainer: What are credit default swaps and why are they causing trouble for Europe's banks?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Amanda Cooper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Turbulence in Europe's banks following the implosion of 167-year-old Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) and runs on regional banks in the U.S. has focused attention on the role played by credit default swaps in all the turmoil. The moves followed a surge in the cost of insuring Deutsche Bank's debt against default via credit default swaps (CDS) to a more than four-year high last week. Credit default swaps are derivatives that offer insurance against the risk of a bond issuer - such as a company, a bank or a sovereign government - not paying their creditors. The CDS market is worth around $3.8 trillion, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. The CDS market is small relative to equities, foreign exchange or the global bond markets, where there are more than $120 trillion bonds outstanding.

☆ Binance Sued by CFTC Over Evading U.S. Rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Dave Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Eric Lee for The Wall Street JournalThe CFTC and other federal agencies have been investigating Binance for several years. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday sued Binance Holdings Ltd., alleging the operator of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange violated U.S. rules that require futures and other derivatives to be traded on regulated platforms. The CFTC’s lawsuit also named Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and Samuel Lim , who the agency said was Binance’s first chief compliance officer, as defendants. The lawsuit seeks restitution and fines as well as an order that would prevent the companies from any continuing conduct that violates U.S. rules.

☆ Factbox: Binance, world's top crypto exchange, at the center of US investigations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Tom Wilson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao have been sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over regulatory violations, according to a court filing on Monday. The exchange offers spot and derivatives trading and a host of services from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to crypto loans and asset management. FINANCESBinance's global trading platform, Binance.com, is by far the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. Last year it processed crypto trades worth about $65 billion a day, Binance said, dominating the crypto trading landscape with more than half of the market, CryptoCompare data shows. Binance last year extended its reach beyond the crypto sector in 2022, investing $500 million in Tesla boss Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter.

☆ Xavier Niel can feast on European telco misery
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Xavier Niel is set to be more than a spectator in the looming consolidation of Europe’s telecoms industry. It earned EBITDA after leases of 3.3 billion euros last year. Those shareholdings have a combined market value of 1.2 billion euros, though they were partly funded through derivatives, potentially limiting the tycoon’s cash outlay. On a multiple of 6 times last year’s EBITDA of 652 million euros it’s worth little more than the 3.5 billion euros Niel and other investors paid in 2017. Smaller investments in Monaco Telecom and holdings in Senegal and the Comoros are probably worth a combined billion euros, bankers estimate.

The CFTC sued Binance, Zhao and its former top compliance executive with "willful evasion" of U.S. law, "while engaging in a calculated strategy of regulatory arbitrage to their commercial benefit." "Upon an initial review, the complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts, and we do not agree with the characterization of many of the issues alleged in the complaint," Zhao said in a statement. Firms such as brokers that facilitate U.S. customers' trading of such products are required to register with the agency. 'PIRATE SHIP'Founded in Shanghai in 2017, Binance sits at the heart of the global crypto industry. With a holding company based in the Cayman Islands, Binance has never revealed the location of its core exchange.

March 27 (Reuters) - Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance and executives, including CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao, have been sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for regulatory violations, according to a court filing on Monday. Binance's compliance program has been "ineffective" and the firm, under the direction of Zhao, told employees and customers to go around compliance controls, the CFTC said. It also accused Binance's former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim of aiding and abetting Binance's violations. "For years, Binance knew they were violating CFTC rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance. Its core Binance.com exchange, the world's biggest, processed trades worth about $23 trillion last year, according to data provider CryptoCompare.

☆ Goldman Sachs is exploring use cases for large language models, the same AI fueling ChatGPT. Here's 3 areas where the bank is experimenting with the tech.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Large language models, the form of AI behind ChatGPT, could transform how Wall Street does business. With advances in generative AI and large language models, the realm of possibilities have been blown way open. Argenti and Tsementzis outlined three ways Goldman is experimenting with large language models. Summarizing and extracting data from documentsGoldman's document-management process stands to improve from the use of generative AI, Argenti said. Helping engineers parse through code documentationA big time suck for software engineers is figuring out other peoples' code, Argenti said.

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Funds have dumped their bets on higher copper prices as the turbulence triggered by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank continues to roil financial markets. The investment community has turned net short of CME copper for the first time in five months, while funds have cut their long exposure on the London Metal Exchange (LME). Investors' negativity towards Doctor Copper contrasts with the bullish headlines generated by the FT Commodities Global Summit. Investment funds bought into copper in January, the net long position expanding from 11,830 to 32,397 contracts at the end of the month. Bulls such as Trafigura and Goldman Sachs contend it's a very thin inventory cushion if China rediscovers its copper mojo.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank red flags: Why did almost everyone fail to predict its collapse?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

A bank run took down Silicon Valley Bank on March 10, as depositors withdrew $42 billion in a single day. To embrace a uniquely Silicon Valley ethos that champions boldness, growth and disruption. Silicon Valley Bank held 55% of its customers' deposits in long-dated bonds whose value eroded as interest rates went up. Silicon Valley Bank held an unusually large proportion (55%) of its customers’ deposits in long-dated Treasuries. And for most of that year, Silicon Valley Bank was operating with a massive vacancy in its corporate leadership team: a chief risk officer.

☆ Get ready for stocks and real estate to crash - and the US economy to crater, 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' author warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Robert Kiyosaki expects stocks, bonds, and real estate to crash as higher interest rates bite. The "Rich Dad Poor Dad" author slammed the Fed for choking growth and eroding the US dollar's value. "Raising interest rates will crash stocks, bonds, real estate, & US dollar," the personal-finance guru and "Rich Dad Poor Dad" author tweeted on Thursday, adding that he expects the vast derivatives market to tank as well. "Saving money & investing in a well diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, mutual funds & ETFs is risky advice," he tweeted in February. The founder of The Rich Dad Company has been sounding the alarm on an epic market crash and massive recession for more than 18 months.

☆ Deutsche Bank is not the next Credit Suisse, analysts say as panic spreads
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In this article 0H7D-GB Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTA general meeting of Deutsche Bank Arne Dedert | picture alliance | Getty Imageswatch nowDeutsche Bank underwent a multibillion euro restructure in recent years aimed at reducing costs and improving profitability. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a news conference in Brussels Friday that Deutsche Bank had "thoroughly reorganized and modernized its business model and is a very profitable bank," adding that there is no basis to speculate about its future. 'Just not very scary' Some of the concerns around Deutsche Bank have centered on its U.S. commercial real estate exposures and substantial derivatives book. To be crystal clear - Deutsche is NOT the next Credit Suisse." 'Fresh and intense focus' on liquidity Credit Suisse's collapse boiled down to a combination of three causes, according to JPMorgan.

☆ Coinbase could tumble more than 45% as prolonged SEC battle unfolds, TD Cowen says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A prolonged battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will weigh on shares of Coinbase near term, according to TD Cowen. Stephen Glagola downgraded shares of the cryptocurrency exchange operator company to underperform, citing "incremental risk to operations" as the SEC cracks down on crypto banking. The downgrade from TD Cowen comes after the SEC this week issued a Wells notice to Coinbase that warned the company of potential U.S. securities law violations. Glagola also views Coinbase's staking business at risk after Kraken shuttered its own staking operations in a settlement with the SEC . A forced closure of this business would weigh on a component of Coinbase's subscription and services revenue, Glagola wrote.

Hohn, who runs hedge fund TCI Fund Management, owns 3.1% of Cellnex's shares and 5.9% in derivatives, corporate records show. However, Hohn last month wrote to Airbus, in which TCI has a 3% stake, demanding it drop a deal. "We believe that the subsequent hiring process for a new CEO has been mishandled by the board and resulted in insufficient progress to recruiting a suitable replacement," Hohn wrote in the letter, published on TCI's website. "We intend to exercise our shareholder rights to request certain shareholder resolutions be added to the next AGM," the letter said. Kan was named Cellnex's chairman in 2021 and has been an independent member of the board since 2015.

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