Has anyone checked on Interactive Brokers lately? There might be some interesting conversations taking place since for the second time in three months someone looks to acquire one of its online retail competitors. Morgan Stanley announced its plan to acquire E*Trade in a $13 billion all-stock transaction that would more than double the firm’s customer…
Current Events
A Hectic 24 Hours for Exchanges
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•US exchange operators have been on a tear over the past day with acquisition announcements, a denial, and a modest market-structure proposal. It started early on February 4, when Cboe Global Markets announced that it had finalized its purchase of options-analytics vendor Handweck Associates and portfolio management system provider FT Options the previous day. The…
Architecture, Disruptive Technology
Central Banks Release DLT-Based Cross-Border Payment Study
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•The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of Thailand (BoT) have issued a 90-page joint report regarding their four-month Central Bank Digital Currency project, which they completed at the end of 2019. The proof-of-concept, dubbed Project Inthanon-LionRock, studied the application of CBDC for cross-border peer-to-peer payments between the Hong Kong dollar and the Thai…
Current Events
A Belated Thank You
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•Today I received a nice surprise from the staff of The Financial Revolutionist this afternoon. I found out via Twitter that they included me in their multi-part 200 Financial Revolutionist article from December with 15 other fintech journalists. I never expected it and I really appreciate it. Thank you. We think @rob_daly of @marketsmedia…
Regulations
Is Wall Street Ready for a De Facto ESG-Data Standard?
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•Just as Walmart has the power to force its suppliers to adopt product standards, could asset managers working in concert achieve the same with corporate sustainability disclosures? During its four-quarters earnings call earlier this week, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, stated that the world’s largest asset manager had put environmental, social, and governance-based investing front…