239 Exchange Invest Weekly Podcast April 6th, 2024
Transcript:
This week in the parish of bourses and market structure:
JSE IPOs Rising,
Props Throttled By EU Red Tape,
Hong Kong Pushing Away From Men Only Boards,
And Tokyo Shines As The Yamato Reforms Kick In
My name is Patrick L Young
Welcome to the Bourse Business Weekly Digest
It's The Exchange Invest Weekly Podcast Episode 239
Good day ladies and gentlemen, this is a very brief reduction of highlights amongst the key headlines from the week in market structure. All the analysis of the many events and happenings from the past 7 days can be found in Exchange Invest daily subscriber newsletter, the unique guide to the bourse business sent daily to your inbox.
More details at ExchangeInvest.com
When it comes to Bitcarnage this week, it was first of all a tale of Vegans for Mercy.
Who cares about the corrosive management, the incompetence, the clear fraudulence and the desire to do what SBF wanted to do - as opposed to anything involving legal practice, with all manner of deceit in between and corporate governance, which was, to put it mildly, somewhat stunted. The clear reason SBF deserved leniency was because he didn't eat meat: As Sam Bankman-Fried’s Sentencing Approaches, Letters Invoking Vegan Lifestyle Call For Leniency, went the headlines in CoinTelegraph. Bloomberg was more sanguine: Sam Bankman-Fried Sentencing: FTX Co-Founder SBF Faces Decades In Jail, and ultimately Bloomberg was the more accurate…
In the end it was a Quarter Century for SBF albeit he may have a decent chance of 40-50% remission so presumably if Silicon Valley VCs retain their own bullheadedness about SBF, they will be lining up at the penitentiary door as soon as sometime in 2035.
The initial indications are however, poor as SBF immediately told ABC News: “I never thought that what I was doing was illegal.”
UK columnist Alex Brummer has some sanguine thoughts on the current state of crypto:
“What is most troubling about Bankman-Fried to skullduggery uncovered at Binance, resulting in a $4 billion fine for boss CZ, is the lack of discipline is brought to Wild West crypto markets. But in the story, don't expect sympathy when the crypto bubble bursts - and it will, said Mr. Brummer, this is money.
With SBF incapable of realizing he was doing anything wrong - you know, buying condos with other people's money and mixing up accounts and not understanding anything about corporate governance and trying to buy influence with the US government and and and…
I suppose we could blame the parents - a sad reflection on generations of Ivy league education?
The New York Post surmises bluntly but accurately with this headline: Sam Bankman-Fried cynically plays dumb as all the friends he bought evaporate
If you enjoyed this excerpt, you may be interested to know that you can read Bitcarnage every day in Exchange Invest. Alternatively, if you want to follow Bitcarnage, the daily update on happenings in the world of crypto and digital assets, you can find Bitcarnage as a standalone on Substack.
Optimism is growing in South Africa as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) CEO Leila Fourie foresees up to 10 IPOs in 2024. Meanwhile, SGX are going to be launching Commitment Of Trader data for commodities during Q3.
Over in Japan, the JPX Group CEO Hiromi Yamaji has managed an excellent first year in office as his stock has doubled in value as equities regain their mojo and made new highs breaching the December 1989 peak recently.
Then there is a staggering take away from the latest Acuiti prop trading report. European Union compliance takes three times longer than the US equivalent.
Where the European Union and its compliant meeja is full of fluff about needing one big unified market, from the top down the realpolitik is (as if we could not have guessed - but thank you Acuiti for this snippet of confirmation) simple: red tape does not hold the EU together, it is strangling commerce at its very core.
I suppose it brings a whole new red tape meaning to the concept of ‘throttling’ as the European Union applies 50 Shades of regulation and more…
Back in the USA, entirely to be expected BGC is assembling a consortium of incentivized banks and rate traders for its latest push at the CME/CBOT US dollar rates monopoly. After all, BGC has nothing of value in FMX other than a license. Can BGC generate sufficient incentive / momentum to actually challenge CME given that, for example, their previous attempts to defeat CBOT did not succeed.
In the UK, there's a lot of talk about the need to eradicate stamp duty. That would be a start, but it's far from enough.
The London stock Exchange Group (LSEG) is right now in a remarkably similar situation to the UK Government. Both have been around for ages and have managed to ignore the messages they were outstanding their welcome / in need of significant reform / need to do something to show progress. Now they both appear to have turned a tad surprised and sulky at the fact nobody likes them anymore. Yet it is through their own myriad failures that they have painstakingly earned the contempt of their constituents. It will be common to suggest that at the moment of mega-flaps in the media, this is the bottom but that contrarian indicator - while probably becoming valid in Chinese equity markets - is far from fulfillment in the UK where wholesale change is required. Current proposals amounting to sticking plasters to cure appendicitis and delays.
Britain will follow the US move to halve stock settlement time, great the US is happening in May. Now the talk is of London Stock settlement reaching T+1 day in 2027 - a solid 3 years or more behind the USA which sums up the situation elegantly - London has lost its mojo.
Over in Hong Kong, as expected the new Hong Kong Exchanges Group CEO, Bonnie Chan has been demonstrating our bona fide ease with a comfortable first round of speaking engagements as CEO. Being the CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges is one big role to fill after 2 sound leaders.
Meanwhile, being the top woman in the C-suite as the redoubtable Chairman Laura Cha prepares to take her leave from HKEX is arguably an even bigger task to fulfill.
So far, the commentary is sound and sensible. Firms now favor home listings, say HKEX boss notes the Standard Hong Kong as Hong Kong Exchanges continue to funnel local success stories in the public markets as well as being the east-west conduit for the growing Connect leviathan. On gender equality, the message is simply holding the line previously advanced and it's a fair one. Quotas can be contentious in places, but boards without women are simply Dickensian and ought to be shamed in the dynamic business of Hong Kong.
On the Chinese mainland, Chinese cities to close local financial asset exchanges to defuse risks runs a Yahoo / Reuters Finance headline.
Parishioners may recall the 1990s exchange but more from embryonic thoughts in 1988, the market blossomed to over 60 regulated and unregulated futures markets by 1994, which was carved back with aplomb during a previous period of Chinese regulatory reflection. I don't think this is equivalent as this cycle round the exchanges seem much better established within the fabric of the itself much more developed local economy. However, this does show intent to try to calm Chinese investment markets amid various debt and related issues.
In deals, it was a busy week for deals in the parish. All the deals were of course and Exchange Invest daily, the newsletter no person can afford to be without in capital markets and market structure. For the sake of this podcast let's look at some edited highlights.
Bill Ackman following up from his purchase of nearly 5% of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the Jewish billionaire endorses the stock, calling the Tel Aviv stock Exchange a ‘bargain’.
Meanwhile, Euronext buys one of those tiny market infrastructure firms which others may rue missing - somewhat Stephan Boujnah speciality, one might say.
The acquisition there is GRSS (Global Rates Set Systems), it's big in the niche of administration / calculation of not just EURIBOR but also STIBOR (indirectly), CIBOR (Denmark Copenhagen), PRIBOR (Czech Republic), and the benchmark administrator that produces the TAB, TADO and ICP indexes in Chile.
Finally this week and acquisition noozle, all the other acquisitions and investments were in Exchange Invest. SIX, the Swiss Exchange have acquired a majority stake in global fixed income data on solutions provider FactEntry.
If you're trying to work out where the market and data is going at the moment, or indeed where the world of exchanges is going per se, the world markets in blockchain cryptocurrency and the FinTech world, you ought to be looking at a copy of my most recent book “Victory or Death”.
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“Victory or Death?” is published by DV Books and is distributed by Ingram worldwide.
While you're waiting for your copy of “Victory or Death?” to arrived, check out our live stream that's on Tuesdays at 5 o'clock London time, which is midday New York time- the IPO video live show.
Catch the back episodes on Linkedin and YouTube via IPO-Vid.
Our next show coming up on Tuesday is going to be a thriller IPO-Vid #138, we're going to be interviewing Tom Coldwell from Canada. His topic of course is going to be none other than Exchanging Investments. What else can we expect from one of the most prolific investors in exchanges in the world? Catch us midday Eastern Time on 9th of April via IPO-Vid.
Our “Finance Book of The Week” this week is life in the Life in the Pits: My Time as a Trader on the Rough-and-Tumble Exchange Floors by Brad Schaeffer, a must read for all those who want to understand what went on in the final dying days of the major league pith business. And of course, Brad was our guest on IPO-Vid #131 when we discussed From the Floor To The Future.
Our next Book the Week will be unveiled on Saturdays EI Weekend Edition.
Don't forget if you want all the news on the bourse business sent daily in your inbox, you can subscribe to Exchange Invest via ExchangeInvest.com It's only $375 per annum to join the Exchange of information and we offer a free 30 day trial to newcomers. But at the same time if you want to find out about the “Book of the Week” and read some other macro topics of a Saturday morning, don't forget our EI Weekend Edition is absolutely free. You can sign up for either Exhange Invest daily, or the weekend edition via ExchangeInvest.com.
Technology news this week, a bit of a setback, the Warsaw Stock Exchange push back a year with the implementation of their newly in house built WATS trading system, or at least it can't all be entirely built because they're having to push it back a year. Exchange Invest 2887 reported on the Feb 9th GPW announcement that GPWLWATS test version had launched and was available to clients.
Clearly, something must be adrift as the rollout is now been delayed a year to Q3/Q4, of next year from the original announcement which was going to be November of this year, which was being hailed as recently as last October as the date when GPW announced they would co-locate with Equinix.
In career paths, Tomasz Bardziłowski is the new president of the GPW management board. Ss we reported on February 7th, as expected due to government change - the CEO was replaced Marek Dietl who has managed almost 7 years as CEO of GPW. And he's presumably going to return to academia where he was an Assistant Professor at the Warsaw School of Economics. He also remains an economic advisor to the President of Poland (who hails from the non governing PiS party). We wish both Marek and the incoming CEO Thomas Bardziłowski all the very, very best.
Finally two sad pieces of news, first of all, Hubert Dominic Guevara, who was appointed earlier in March as an SEC Philippine Commissioner died on Good Friday after suffering a heart attack while playing football.
And at the same time, very sadly, Roberta Karmel, the first ever commissioner of the SEC appointed during the Carter administration, who stood in office between 1977 and 1980 passed away. RIP Roberta Karmel, another Trailblazer amongst the many great women who have headed up and being commissioners and Chairman of the SEC.
For those busy, meanwhile in BigWorld, talking the USA down, the nation accounts ladies and gentlemen for about 4.2% of global population but it's home to 37% of the world's millionaires with 5.5 million high net worth individuals holding over 1 million US dollars in liquid investable assets each. The USA for all those talking about its decline includes 32% of global liquid investable wealth - a colossal $67 trillion.
…and on that mysterious on magnificent note, thank you for listening to this Exchange Invest Weekly Podcast # 239.
Join us daily via ExchangeInvest.com or if you have any marketplace or exchange you'd like built, get in touch!
My name is Patrick L Young and I wish you a great week in life and markets.
LINKS:
JSE Finally Sees Its IPO Crisis Easing
Moneyweb
JPX To Promote Listing Of Asian Firms By Assisting Development
Bloomberg Law News
Tokyo Stock Exchange Establishes TSE Asia Startup Hub
JPX
Japan Exchange's Surge Attests to CEO Yamaji's Push for Reform
Bloomberg
BGC Forming Consortium To Take On CME Group’s Rates Empire
Risk
Britain To Follow U.S. Move To Halve Stock Settlement Time
MSN
Bill Ackman on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange deal: 'Wanted to buy more'
YNet
Euronext To Acquire Global Rate Set Systems To Strengthen Its Index Franchise
Euronext
SIX Acquires Majority Stake In Global Fixed Income Data And Solutions Provider FactEntry
SIX
GPW WATS Rollout Date Change
GPW
Tomasz Bardziłowski Is New President Of GPW Management Board
GPW
SEC Philippines Commissioner Hubert Dominic Guevara dies
Rappler
Commission Statement On The Passing Of Former Commissioner Roberta Karmel
SEC
Member discussion