DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried steps down as FTX CEO as his crypto exchange files for bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and chief executive officer of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, during an interview on an episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein in New York, US, on Wednesday, Aug 17, 2022. Sam Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency exchange FTX has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S., according to a company statement posted on Twitter. CNBC reached out to Adam Landis, founding partner of Landis Rath & Cobb LLP, who filed the Chapter 11 proceedings on behalf of FTX. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried admitted on Thursday that he "f---ed up." The Chapter 11 proceedings exclude the following subsidiaries: LedgerX LLC, FTX Digital Markets Ltd., FTX Australia Pty Ltd., and FTX Express Pay Ltd.

☆ War in Ukraine and weather-related disasters have disrupted climate action. Here are 6 ways the private sector can mobilize sustainable transformation.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Bernhard Lorentz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

War in Ukraine and a slew of weather-related disasters have slowed government progress towards climate action. Here are six ways the private sector can mobilize sustainable transformation. The Ukraine conflict in particular has significantly disrupted decarbonization plans and brought into focus concerns around resilience and sovereignty when it comes to ongoing energy transition efforts. Innovate in line with the energy transition to build resilienceInnovation is at the heart of maintaining competitive edge as it replaces costly and inefficient processes with more effective ones. Bernhard Lorentz is the global consulting sustainability & climate strategy leader at Deloitte and the founding chair of the Deloitte Center for Sustainable Progress.

☆ What the collapse of FTX means for the future of crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange FTX collapsed in a matter of days and has started Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The FTX fiasco is the latest in a series of meltdowns to rock the crypto world this year. "It's been a long time coming, and it's a real wild west out there for anybody who is trading crypto." Big banks could be less likely to let people trade cryptoFinancial institutions like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley tried to capitalize on the crypto boom last year with services like trading crypto futures or derivatives. Crypto exchanges should watch for contagion riskOther exchanges and companies should be on high alert for continued fallout.

☆ Washington turns up heat on crypto 'darling' Sam Bankman-Fried following FTX bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and chief executive officer of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, during a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. As FTX teeters on the brink of collapse, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has fallen out of favor as the industry "darling" in Washington and drawn scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers in both parties. Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange he founded, and FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company announced Friday. A spokesman for FTX and Sam Bankman-fried didn't return a request for comment. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday the near collapse of FTX proves more regulation is needed.

☆ FTX's fortunes fell off a cliff in a matter of days. Here's what experts think the company's fiasco could mean for the future of crypto.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange FTX collapsed in a matter of days and has started Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Less than a year after it boasted a $32 billion valuation, the crypto exchange, owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, faced a "liquidity crunch" that forced it to try to sell itself to rival Binance. "It's been a long time coming, and it's a real wild west out there for anybody who is trading crypto." Crypto exchanges should watch for contagion riskOther exchanges and companies should be on high alert for continued fallout. "As an investor, you should be seriously questioning what you're investing in if it can evaporate over a weekend," Royal said.

☆ Crypto's Lehman moment: Here's how Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX compares to the biggest collapse of the Global Financial Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Experts have drawn comparisons between the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Here's how the two events compare and what FTX's fall means for the broader financial system. In the years leading up to the Great Financial Crisis, Lehman loaded its balance sheet with vast amounts of subprime mortgage debt. When the "bank run" began this week, FTX didn't have the funds to meet withdrawal requests. But compared to 14 years ago, it probably won't be FTX's downfall that sparks a broader financial crisis, Allen said.

☆ Factbox: Sam Bankman-Fried: The crypto mogul whose empire came crashing down
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried on Friday resigned from his role as chief executive of FTX and the crypto exchange said it will initiate bankruptcy proceedings in the United States, capping off a tumultuous week for the industry. Following are some facts about the co-founder and former CEO:EDUCATION AND VENTURES BEFORE FTXBorn in 1992, Sam Bankman-Fried grew up in California. Bankman-Fried later graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a degree in physics. After a more than three-year stint at the New York-based firm, he moved to crypto trading and founded Alameda Research in 2017. The company offered trading on crypto tokens and derivatives, while also boasting of a robust risk management system.

Nov 10 (Reuters) - Trading volumes in bitcoin futures and exchange traded funds (ETFs) has exploded as investors scrambled to hedge their positions after this week's slump in digital tokens triggered by turmoil at crypto exchange FTX. CME bitcoin futures November contracts traded at $17,250, with a volume of 13,292 at 11:24 a.m. EST (1624 GMT), which was a 3% discount to the spot price of $17,770. Trading volumes soared on Tuesday and Wednesday as FTX's woes worsened, touching 48,554 and 32,168 contracts respectively, significantly higher than volumes over the past two months which hovered between 4,902 and 27,309. The ProShares short bitcoin strategy ETF (BITI.P), a bearish play on CME bitcoin futures, witnessed record trading volume on Wednesday as investors hunted for "regulated, transparent futures market," ProShares Global Investment Strategist Simeon Hyman said. Meanwhile, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO.P), which was halted for trading on Wednesday, has witnessed a 300% jump in trading volume in the from its previous high on October 21, 2022.

☆ Crypto broker Genesis discloses locked funds on FTX
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. cryptocurrency broker Genesis Trading disclosed its derivatives business has approximately $175 million in locked funds on FTX, the company said Thursday in a Twitter post. Gensesis said its operating capital and net positions in FTX "are not material to our business" and that it has no ongoing relationship with FTX or Alameda Research, the crypto trading firm belonging to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. The locked assets on FTX do not impact the company's market-making activities, Genesis said. Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Crypto is in chaos as FTX files for bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

By Friday morning, FTX said Bankman-Fried had resigned as CEO and that the firm was filing for bankruptcy. Failures are not uncommon in the murky, largely unregulated world of crypto, but FTX is not your average crypto startup. Namely, that the bulk of its assets are held in FTT, a digital token minted by Alameda’s sister firm, FTX. On Sunday, the CEO of Binance, FTX’s much larger rival, said his company was liquidating $580 million worth of FTX holdings. After a chaotic week, FTX filed for bankruptcy.

☆ This may be the start of a traditional post-midterms rally as signs of cooling inflation emerge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

October's cooler-than-expected consumer inflation report triggered a massive surge in stocks that could herald the traditional midterm election year fourth-quarter rally. To be sure, they also caution that there's risk the rally could be derailed by another hot inflation report or other factors, like the crypto meltdown. Thursday's CPI report breaks a string of inflation surprising to the upside. Bitcoin also rallied after the CPI report, gaining more than 6% to a level of $17,554 on Coin Metrics in mid-morning trading. Strategists warn the rally could be temporary, and Emanuel called it a "bear market rally."

But there was also a wider question for the officials: could the energy companies' use of such complex instruments threaten financial stability? So the ECB has widened its scrutiny to examine potential domino effects, including on the banks which it supervises. read moreWhile ECB President Christine Lagarde said the ECB stood ready to provide liquidity to banks, she said it would not do the same for energy firms. "Energy companies pose specific risks not only to financial stability. Reuters GraphicsRating agency Moody's, meanwhile, said that energy companies did not provide enough information about their derivatives.

☆ Wall Street awaits midterm vote tallies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Republicans were favored to win control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, polls and betting markets showed earlier, though it may be hours before all vote tallies are known. read moreCOMMENTS:CHARU CHANANA, MARKET STRATEGIST, SAXO MARKETS, SINGAPORE"The race seems to be closer than expected, especially for the Senate. "That said, if the Republicans take the Senate along with the House that provides a pro-business backdrop for the market." "A Republican win will in generally be positive for equities, but inflationary risk is unlikely to be mitigated nor accelerated." IPEK OZKARDESKAYA, SENIOR ANALYST, SWISSQUOTE BANK"From an investor point of view, a Republican win in both chambers is a good outcome for the stocks.

☆ 3 Wall Street awaits midterm vote tallies in upbeat mood
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The S&P 500 (.SPX) rose 0.56% on Tuesday during voting that will determine control of the U.S. Congress, with investors betting on a political stalemate that could prevent major policy changes. Republicans are favored to win control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, polls and betting markets show, though it may be hours before all vote tallies are known. BROOKS RITCHEY, CO-CIO, K2 ADVISORS"If we get a split Congress, we might have to adjust our portfolios to be less defensive than we are today." JACK ABLIN, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, CRESSET CAPITAL, CHICAGO"I think the markets are rallying at the prospect of gridlock." Compiled by the Global Finance & Markets Breaking News teamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ COP27: Regulators plan closer scrutiny of carbon markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Global securities regulators proposed closer scrutiny of carbon trading on Wednesday to deepen liquidity and prevent greenwashing in markets used by companies to offset their emissions to drive the transition to a net-zero economy. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which groups securities regulators from across the world, made recommendations to improve 'compliance' carbon markets, and asked whether regulators should be more involved in 'voluntary' carbon markets. Compliance refers to regulated markets for trading permits on exchanges like ICE and EEX with the EU emission trading scheme (ETS). The unregulated voluntary market refers to companies buying credits from emission reducing projects like renewable energy or planting trees to offset their own emissions. "Some vulnerabilities in voluntary carbon markets have thus far prevented these markets from scaling to their full potential, while others can be of concern for regulators in their efforts to counter the risk of greenwashing," IOSCO said.

☆ Meet 5 of Goldman Sachs' newest partners, including a top fintech dealmaker and a structured trader from Honduras whose 3 brothers also work on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Dakin Campbell | Alex Morrell | Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It also includes a star fintech banker and leading voice on the Black experience on Wall Street. Here are 5 top names who will help shape the Wall Street of tomorrow. In the 12 years that he's been at Goldman, Watkins has helped Goldman advise on some of the technology industry's biggest transactions. He has also been a leading voice in discussing the Black experience on Wall Street. After graduating in 2010, he went to work for the Global Electronic Trading Co., known on Wall Street as GETCO.

☆ EU considers tighter rules for commodity houses after margin turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Commodity markets have long been governed by relatively light regulation, but the EU document seen by Reuters said waivers for big commodity players from rules that govern banks could be scrapped. The European Commission, the EU executive, is expected to set out proposals next month to update its European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) to 'incentivise' clearing in euro swaps to move from post-Brexit London. "Recent events in commodity markets have highlighted targeted areas where there may be merits in improving the EMIR framework," the European Commission informal document prepared for a meeting on Tuesday of EU member state officials said. Ideas include clearing houses having separate accounts for financial and non-financial customers to avoid "commingling of risk", though this could be costly to implement. Clearing houses, which stand between buyers and sellers to ensure completion of a trade and collect margin, could also be required to have a separate default fund for their commodities business.

For the second time in less than three years, the Bank of England has made an emergency intervention in the market for UK government bonds. Investors rushed to liquidate assets, including money market funds which held UK government bonds. The latest intervention was triggered by excessive leverage in UK pension funds, which had borrowed to boost returns using a strategy known as liability-driven investing (LDI). To prevent future blow-ups, regulators could cap money market funds’ exposure to less liquid assets, reducing the risk of a run by investors. Financial market regulators in European fund centres like Ireland and Luxembourg have stepped up surveillance of LDI strategies used by UK pension funds, the Financial Times reported on Oct. 28.

☆ How Binance's plan to buy FTX unfolded in a matter of days
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are the key developments in the longstanding relationship between Binance and FTX:* December 2019: Binance invested an undisclosed amount in FTX, which was then a derivatives exchange, CoinDesk reported. As part of that exit, Binance received the equivalent of $2.1 billion in Binance's stablecoin and FTT, according to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. loading* Nov. 2: Crypto news website CoinDesk reported on a leaked balance sheet from Alameda Research, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto trading firm, which maintains close ties with FTX. * According to CoinDesk's report, $3.66 billion of Alameda's $14.6 billion in assets are held in “unlocked” FTT. The firm has more than $10 billion in assets that are not reflected in the CoinDesk report, she said.

☆ BNP Paribas set to expand Exane in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Carolina Mandl | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) is expanding its equity research house Exane in the United States, after the euro zone's biggest lender took it over last year, the bank said on Tuesday. Michael Rietbrock has joined Exane from Cantor Fitzgerald in October as head of U.S. research, according to BNP. The move comes as BNP aims to strengthen its equities unit and diversify the lender's business, best known for derivatives. As part of this strategy, BNP acquired last year a remaining 50% stake in cash equities execution and research house firm Exane, which covers 800 stocks globally. It's really where we want to grow," Nicolas Marque, head of global equities at BNP Paribas told Reuters.

☆ Democratic upset in U.S. midterms could roil markets, options mavens say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - An unexpected result in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm election could roil markets positioned for relative calm, options strategists said. Control of the U.S. Congress is at stake in Tuesday's midterms, with Republicans favored by polls and betting markets to win control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate. At the individual stock level, certain names have the potential for higher election-related volatility, strategists at Goldman Sachs said in a note earlier this month. Meanwhile, shares of tobacco company Philip Morris International Inc (PM.N) could be volatile around regulatory restrictions, Goldman’s analysts wrote. Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Banks and corporations use the market to manage interest rate risks and traders depend on it as reference for pricing other assets. To make a swap, market participants turn to a dealer or bank to facilitate the deal. DRAINEDPart of the issue is a lack of bond market supply. Last week, the RBA's head of domestic markets, Jonathan Kearns, noted the swaps market dysfunction. Nor are other swap markets globally seeing similar pressures.

What this portends for stocks going into year end is unclear, but given how low volatility is just now it is reasonable to assume investor demand for protection and hedging will rise. Afraid of missing out on a year-end rally, investors are now paying a premium for equity 'call' options over 'puts'. Benchmark volatility gauges like the VIX index of implied vol on the S&P 500 or the V2TX index of implied vol on euro stocks rise when demand for put options spikes. The VIX has fallen recently to near a two-month low even as the S&P 500 has surged into the green and lurched back into the red. By mid-October the S&P 500 was down 25% and ripe for a bounce.

☆ Options market is behaving nonchalantly ahead of midterms, inflation report, says Amy Wu Suliverman
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | 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 EmailOptions market is behaving nonchalantly ahead of midterms, inflation report, says Amy Wu SulivermanAmy Wu Silverman, head of derivatives strategy at RBC Capital Markets, joins CNBC's 'Squawk Box' to discuss markets ahead of the midterm elections on Tuesday.

☆ Bank of England wants more transparency for 'non banks' after gilts turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Traders work on the trading floor of Barclays Bank at Canary Wharf in London, Britain December 7, 2018. It shone a light on the less regulated global $200 trillion 'non-bank' sector which is made up of pension funds, insurers and different types of investment funds, and spans borders. The onus for building resilience in the non-bank system sits first and foremost with the firms themselves," Breeden added. Banks and non-banks also need to improve stress-testing for risks, she added. Toks Oyebode, executive director for regulatory affairs at JPMorgan bank, said steps outlined by Breeden and other regulators, such as regarding margining, were timely.

Search resuls for: "Derivatives"

25 mentions found