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☆ I talked to over 100 women leaders—the top 3 things I learned about what makes them successful
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Julia Boorstin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The 120-plus mix of CEOs, founders, and VC investors are — by definition — exceptional in the male-dominated business world. I wanted to both share their stories and also to find takeaways in their successful strategies. I also had a particular advantage as I scheduled back-to-back zoom interviews: pretty much everyone was at home. I was impressed to find these women deploying characteristics that would seem like they could detract from strong leadership — like introversion, empathy or gratitude — to their advantage. Take Jennifer Holmgren, the CEO of Disruptor 50 company LanzaTech, which uses a microbe to turn pollution into a fuel.

☆ Credit Suisse’s wayward debt is a bet for the bold
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Credit Suisse’s (CSGN.S) debt derivatives are still sending spooky signals, even though its equity is not. Yet its credit default swaps (CDS), contracts used to speculate on a company defaulting on its debt, are still bizarrely elevated, despite the absence of any bad news. Five-year swaps were trading at roughly 360 basis points on Thursday, compared with around 200 basis points in mid-September, according to Refinitiv data. Credit Suisse’s one-year CDSs, meanwhile, were quoted at around 600 basis points on Thursday morning, according to one trader. Investors willing to bet that Credit Suisse can survive would make handsome gains.

☆ Pension fund blowup faces brutal second act
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Bank of England announced a 65 billion pound gilt-buying scheme to stabilise markets and rescue pension funds. Bailey’s move may have been too late to stop some pension funds from having to close out their hedges, like interest rate swaps or futures. The rate at which retirement payments are discounted will also fall, pushing up the pension fund’s future liabilities, but without a corresponding asset gain. Meanwhile, investors like Goldman Sachs are hoovering up cut-price stakes in private equity vehicles, which LDI funds are selling. They also held 78 billion pounds and 317 billion pounds in property and equities respectively.

☆ Delaware Freezes Out Russia-Linked Startups, Extending Sanctions’ Reach
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Andrew Scurria | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

PREVIEWDelaware is now extending U.S. sanctions meant to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine to business ventures incorporated in the state. Blocked startups also can’t raise outside financing because they can’t amend their articles of incorporation in Delaware to issue new capital stock, according to several startup founders and their lawyers. Some startups have persuaded Delaware to restore their good standing after demonstrating that corporate officers no longer live in Russia. Blocked startups face other financial repercussions. It can’t proceed with expansion plans so long as it is blocked in Delaware, Mr. Zykov said.

Yet the government’s unfunded mini-budget on Sept. 23 stoked fears of runaway inflation, causing gilt yields to soar. The mess left pension funds scrambling to raise margin, and they wound up doing so by selling their most liquid asset – gilts. And the more the pension funds sold, the more gilt prices fell, causing a vicious spiral and fears the funds could run out of cash. By the time Governor Andrew Bailey intervened, certain pension funds had been hit with margin calls as high as 100 million pounds. Ahead of the BoE’s announcement, strategists said the 2.1 trillion pound gilt market was seizing up, with very poor liquidity and pricing quality being a clear sign of market dysfunction.

☆ Celsius CEO resigns in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Alex Mashinsky, founder and chief executive officer of Celcius Network Ltd., during a panel session at the Blockchain Week Summit in Paris, France, April 13, 2022. Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday, months after the crypto company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Mashinsky's resignation is effective immediately, but he said in a release that he will continue to help the company provide creditors with the "best outcome." As of May, Celsius was one of the largest players in the crypto lending space with more than $8 billion in loans to clients and almost $12 billion in assets under management. The firm would lend customers' crypto out to counterparties willing to pay sky-high interest rates to borrow it, and Celsius would then split some of that revenue with users.

Institutional crypto lending involves lending cryptocurrencies as well as cash in return for a yield. Unsecured lending has become common across the crypto industry, according to the review of filings and the interviews. Crypto research firm Arkham Intelligence put the figure in the region of $10 billion, for instance, while crypto lender TrueFi said at least $25 billion. BULLISH ON BORROWINGWhile Blockchain.com has largely pulled back from unsecured lending, many crypto lenders remain confident about the practice. Sid Powell, co-founder and CEO of unsecured crypto lending platform Maple, said institutional crypto lenders were more cautious after Three Arrows' insolvency, but conditions have since normalized and lenders are now again comfortable lending unsecured.

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