Tag: JP Morgan (Page 1 of 2)

Morgan Stanley CEO Steps Down in Middle of Banking Meltdown

Market News Daily - Morgan Stanley CEO Steps Down in Middle of Banking Meltdown.
Market News Daily – Morgan Stanley CEO Steps Down in Middle of Banking Meltdown.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) CEO James Gorman said on Friday he plans to step down as CEO this year.

The bank’s board has narrowed its CEO search to three “very strong” internal candidates, Gorman said.

Morgan Stanley’s CEO candidates are the men leading the bank’s three main businesses: Ted Pick, Andy Saperstein and Dan Simkowitz, according to people with knowledge of the matter, per CNBC.

Gorman will still take on the executive chairman role “for a period of time” after stepping down as CEO, he said.

“The specific timing of the CEO transition has not been determined, but it is the board’s and my expectation that it will occur at some point in the next 12 months,” Gorman said.

“That is the current expectation in the absence of a major change in the external environment,” he continued.

Morgan Stanley’s CEO’s resignation comes after several banks have begun to experience turmoil in the banking sector.

After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March and First Republic Bank in April, a study on the fragility of the U.S. banking system found that 183 more banks are at risk of failure even if only half their uninsured depositors—those with deposits greater than $250,000—decide to withdraw their funds, USA Today reported

“If a ‘confidence crisis’ can happen to First Republic, it can happen to any bank in this country,” says Jake Dollarhide, Chief Executive Officer of Longbow Asset Management.

A run on these banks could pose a risk to even insured depositors—those with $250,000 or less in the bank—as the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund starts incurring losses, the economists wrote. 

Morgan Stanley Mentioned in List of Banks at Risk

Morgan Stanley banks at risk today.
Morgan Stanley – Banks at risk today.

Banks that have the most risk right now are:

  • First Republic Bank
  • Huntington Bancshares
  • KeyCorp
  • Comerica
  • Truist Financial
  • Cullen/Frost Bankers
  • Zions Bancorporation

The “Top 5” also have a big risk factor, though many have deemed these banks as “too big to fail”.

  • Bank of America
  • Citigroup
  • JPMorgan Chase
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Wells Fargo

Is people’s money safe in banks today?

“It’s not a problem unless your depositors decide it’s a problem and ask you for their money back, which is sort of what happened with Silicon Valley Bank,” said David Sacco, a finance professor at the University of New Haven. 

A case study of the recently failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) says that 10 percent of banks have larger unrecognized losses than those at SVB.

Nor was SVB the worst capitalized bank, with 10 percent of banks having lower capitalization than SVB.

“On the other hand, SVB had a disproportional share of uninsured funding: only 1 percent of banks had higher uninsured leverage.

Combined, losses and uninsured leverage provide incentives for an SVB uninsured depositor run.

We compute similar incentives for the sample of all U.S. banks.

Even if only half of uninsured depositors decide to withdraw, almost 190 banks with assets of $300 billion are at a potential risk of impairment, meaning that the mark-to-market value of their remaining assets after these withdrawals will be insufficient to repay all insured deposits,” said a report by SSRN.

Related: Wells Fargo Agrees to Pay $1 Billion in New Lawsuit

Yellen Tells Bank CEOs More Mergers May Be Necessary

Yellen Tells Bank CEOs More Mergers May Be Necessary - Janet Yellen on Banking Crisis - Banking News Today.
Janet Yellen on Banking Crisis – Banking News Today.

During Thursday’s meeting with the CEOs of large banks, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told executives that more bank mergers may be necessary as the industry continues to navigate through a crisis, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.

The worst banking crisis since 2008, marked by a series of bank failures, plunging stock prices and concern about the business model of regional and mid-size banks, has forced a regulatory rethink.

Regulators, of course, prefer corporate mergers where strong banks take over weaker ones over destabilizing bank failures.

“Consolidation is inevitable,” said Ed Mills, Washington policy analyst at Raymond James.

Earlier this month, regulators allowed JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank, to buy most of First Republic, the second-largest bank to fail in US history.

“What happened here is because a bank was under-regulated and started to fail, the federal government has helped JPMorgan Chase get even bigger,” Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren told CNN.

“It may look good today while everything’s flying high, but ultimately if one of those giant banks, JPMorgan Chase, starts to stumble, the American taxpayers are the ones who will be on the line.”

“This might be an environment in which we’re going to see more mergers, and you know, that’s something I think the regulators will be open to, if it occurs,” Yellen told Reuters.

Related: Bankers Want an Emergency Ban on Short Selling

Market News Published Daily

Banking News Today - Morgan Stanley CEO Steps Down in Middle of Banking Meltdown.
Banking News Today – Morgan Stanley CEO Steps Down in Middle of Banking Meltdown.

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SEC Scraps Vote for Hedge Fund Transparency Rule

SEC Scraps Vote for Hedge Fund Transparency Rule
Market News Daily: SEC scraps vote for hedge fund transparency rule.

(WSJ) The Securities and Exchange Commission scrapped plans to vote Wednesday on a rule that would have increased regulators’ visibility into financial risks at some hedge funds and private equity funds.

After scheduling the vote last week, the five-member commission “decided to take a little more time” on the rule, an SEC spokeswoman said.

She declined to comment on whether the cancellation owed to a lack of majority support from the commission, which is composed of three Democrats and two Republicans.

Several SEC commissioners could not immediately be reached for comment.

The rule, proposed early last year over Republican opposition, would have increased reporting requirements for filers of a confidential document called Form PF.

Among other proposed changes, it would have required large hedge funds to file reports within one business day of incidents such as extraordinary investment losses, defaults by major counterparties or spikes in margin requirements.

The rule sparked pushback from lobbyists for the hedge-fund and private-equity industries in Washington.

The Managed Funds Association, which represents hedge funds, urged the SEC last week to hold off on finalizing the rule until it was ready to adopt a separate Form PF proposal issued last August.

Who is the Managed Funds Association?

Who is the managed funds association?
Who is the managed funds association? Citadel’s Ken Griffin.

The Managed Funds Association, or MFA, is an association made up of a variety of hedge fund managers, including Citadel, Two Sigma, Point72, and Millennium Management.

That’s right, some of the industry’s biggest short sellers and the SEC just prolonged this transparency rule.

Citadel, Anchorage (defaulted), Millennium Management, and Bank of America are a few of the members who are or have been short on ‘meme stocks’ such as AMC Entertainment.

For years now, retail investors who were part of the events that occurred in 2021 have urged the SEC to enforce proper regulation from sneaky hedge funds and banks with overleveraged short positions.

The SEC has sparked excitement within the retail community when it’s announced proposals that would shed light on darker markets — however, trust has been severed as the regulator has only proved to be complicit to market injustices.

Dark pools, OTC trading, and naked shorting have suppressed retail’s favorite company stocks from rising on true demand.

Shorting has its purpose and is a useful tool to keep the markets balanced and in check.

Manipulative shorting on the other hand is what retail activists are fighting against — the un-American type that sinks businesses and disrupts innovation.

Northwest Biotherapeutics sued Citadel and other market makers for manipulating its stock price in December of 2022.

Ken Griffin’s Citadel chose to profit from the US cancer drug company through the means of short selling, a practice the hedge fund/market maker is notoriously known for.

Rather than allow the company to raise money for its treatments, hedge funds teamed up to profit from manipulated falling share prices.

But the lawsuit comes as no surprise to the retail community as Citadel has a long history of market manipulation.

Retail Investors Organize and Fight Back

Market News Daily: SEC Scraps Vote for Hedge Fund Transparency Rule.
Market News Daily: SEC Scraps Vote for Hedge Fund Transparency Rule.

‘We The Investors’ is taking Wall Street head on which means retail investors from around the world are now being represented in a way like never before for the first time in history.

More than 1,300 letters have been submitted to the SEC supporting rules proposed in December that represent the biggest changes to equities trading in nearly two decades, according to Reuters.

The collective of retail investors have joined ‘We The Investors’ led by Dave Lauer in efforts to combat Wall Street as a legitimate organization that sprouted from the events of the ‘meme stock’ frenzy in 2021.

Halts in AMC, GameStop, and other stocks during at the time angered many investors which led to the exposure of crime and market injustices on social media.

Retail investors have been pushing for market transparency ever since.

We The Investors has held two online meetings since December with SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who took questions directly from retail investors on the proposals, which include requiring most retail stock orders to be sent to auctions to boost competition.

Other proposed rules call for a new standard for brokers to demonstrate they’ve gotten the best execution for clients on transactions, as well as lower trading increments and access fees on exchanges, and stronger disclosure around retail order executions.

But Wall Street, including Ken Griffin’s Citadel is pushing back.

Related: “The Game is Rigged”, Says Ex-Citadel Data Scientist

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Market News Daily: SEC Scraps Vote for Hedge Fund Transparency Rule.

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Credit Suisse Was Bailed but Clients Keep Pulling Out Money

Market News Daily: Credit Suisse Bank News Today.
Market News Daily: Credit Suisse Bank News Today.

Credit Suisse is trying to lure investments from wealthy clients in Asia by offering higher deposit rates than its competitors, Reuters has reported citing people familiar with the development.

Sources said the offers are valid until the end of this quarter and only apply to new cash deposits, not to existing portfolios.

The Swiss National Bank and Finma, the top financial regulator in Switzerland, said Credit Suisse “meets the higher capital and liquidity requirements applicable to systemically important banks.”

The regulators didn’t provide details of what type of liquidity they would offer, but said they are in very close contact with the bank.

“If regulators do not handle the Credit Suisse situation well, this will send shock waves through the whole sector,” said Joost Beaumont, head of bank research at Dutch lender ABN Amro.

Credit Suisse has been the problem child of European banking for several years.

Repeated scandals and financial losses have hammered the 166-year-old bank, which combines a wealth-management business catering to the world’s elite rich with a Wall Street investment bank. 

The bank is classified as a “systemically important financial institution” under international banking rules created after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Such designations require the bank to hold higher amounts of capital and to maintain plans for an orderly unwinding of its operations in case it gets into trouble. 

Like Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse has suffered large deposit outflows in recent quarters.

Some local units briefly breached regulatory liquidity coverage ratios last fall.

That means they weren’t holding enough easy-to-sell assets, such as bonds, to safely cover customer withdrawals.

Top 4 Wall Street Banks See Big Losses

Wall Street’s 4 top banks just had $55 billion wiped off their market value in a single day.

Four of America’s biggest banks lost a combined $55 billion of market value in a single day as financial stocks plunged.

US bank shares took a beating amid fears of contagion effects from the turmoil at Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate.

 JPMorgan Chase, Bank of AmericaWells Fargo and Morgan Stanley – the four most valued US lenders – saw $55 billion wiped off their combined market capitalization last Thursday, Refinitiv data show.

JPMorgan, the biggest US bank, alone saw a $22 billion tumble in its market value as its stock slid 5.41% to $130.34.

Wall Street’s Bank of America lost $16.16 billion as its share price fell 6.20% to $30.54.

Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley saw their market capitalization drop by $10.3 billion and $6.2 billion, respectively.

Among other major US banks, Goldman Sachs and Citi also witnessed significant declines in their share prices.

Credit Suisse Warned Investors of Potential Losses in Q4 of 2022

Market News Daily: Credit Suisse Bank News Today.
Market News Daily: Credit Suisse Bank News Today.

The SEC released Credit Suisse’s 6-K filing where the bank warns investors of potential losses due to naked short covering, more on that below.

Credit Suisse (CS) took a massive hit of $4.09 billion in Q3 and hinted at occurring losses in an upturn in markets — something we saw at the start of 2023.

The bank proceeded to hire 20 banks for a $4 billion injection in effort to pivot from Q3’s disaster.

In a statement, the bank says, “Conversely, to the extent that we have sold assets that we do not own, or have net short positions, in any of those markets, an upturn in those markets could expose us to potentially significant losses as we attempt to cover our net short positions by acquiring assets in a rising market.

“Market fluctuations, downturns and volatility can adversely affect the fair value of our positions and our results of operations.

Adverse market or economic conditions or trends have caused, and in the future may cause, a significant decline in our net revenues and profitability.”

The closing of naked shorts this year would send affected securities soaring as buying momentum compounds.

Credit Suisse recently postponed publication of its annual report after a last-minute call from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which raised questions about its earlier financial statements.

The unusual intervention by the U.S regulator is the latest blow to Credit Suisse as it attempts to rebuild investor confidence after a series of scandals and setbacks that have sent its shares plunging and led clients to withdraw billions, per Reuters.

Market News Published Daily

Market News Daily: Credit Suisse Bank News Today.
Market News Daily: Credit Suisse Bank News Today.

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SVB Distributed Bonuses Hours Before Bank Collapsed

Banking News: SVB gave company-wide bonuses hours before it collapsed.
Banking News: SVB gave company-wide bonuses hours before it collapsed.

Silicon Valley Bank employees received their annual bonuses on Friday just hours before the government took control of the company, according to Fox Business.

The Santa Clara, California-based band collapsed last week and is now under the control of federal regulators.

SVB had been the 16th-largest bank in the U.S. prior to the bank run that led to its downfall.

The bank held a reputation as a go-to for a number of Silicon Valley industries and startups.

Y Combinator, an incubator startup that launched Airbnb, DoorDash and DropBox, regularly referred entrepreneurs to them.

SVB’s collapse was so quick that, hours before its closure, some industry analysts were hopeful that the bank was still a good investment.

The bank’s shares had fallen by 60% on Friday morning after a similar drop the day before. 

Anxious depositors rushed to withdraw their money over concern for the bank’s health, causing its collapse, which may serve as “an extinction-level event for startups,” according to Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan.

Entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban called for federal regulators to buy out the bank earlier on Friday.

“The Fed should IMMEDIATELY buy all the securities/debt the bank owns at near par, which should be enough to cover most deposits,” Cuban wrote as part of a lengthy Twitter chain last week. “Any losses paid for in equity and new debt from the new bank or whoever buys it. The Fed knew this was a risk. They should own it.” 

SVB traditionally processes annual bonuses on the second Friday of March, unnamed sources associated with the bank told CNBC.

The bonuses were reportedly for work completed in 2022.

Banking News: Wall Street Banks Face Distress

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) isn’t the only bank experiencing serious distress.

Wall Street banks lost $55 billion in just one day last week.

Four of America’s biggest banks lost a combined $55 billion of market value in a single day as financial stocks plunged.

US bank shares took a beating Thursday amid fears of contagion effects from the turmoil at Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate.

JPMorgan saw the biggest tumble in market value among US lenders, losing $22 billion. 

(Markets Insider) JPMorgan Chase, Bank of AmericaWells Fargo and Morgan Stanley – the four most valued US lenders – saw $55 billion wiped off their combined market capitalization on Thursday, Refinitiv data show.

JPMorgan, the biggest US bank, alone saw a $22 billion tumble in its market value as its stock slid 5.41% to $130.34.

Wall Street’s Bank of America lost $16.16 billion as its share price fell 6.20% to $30.54.

Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley saw their market capitalization drop by $10.3 billion and $6.2 billion, respectively.

Credit Suisse Bank Sees Billions in Withdraws

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) clients have withdrawn billions of dollars in the past several months.

In November, the bank warned investors in a 6-K filing of potential losses due to naked short covering, which as scared investors from losing most if not all of their money.

Credit Suisse also took a massive hit of $4.09 billion in Q3 and hinted at occurring losses in an upturn in markets.

This has fueled widespread withdraws from the bank leading it to borrow money.

The bank hired 20 banks for a $4 billion injection in effort to pivot from Q3’s disaster.

Credit Suisse has postponed publication of its annual report after a last-minute call from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which raised questions about its earlier financial statements.

The unusual intervention by the U.S regulator is the latest blow to Credit Suisse as it attempts to rebuild investor confidence after a series of scandals and setbacks that have sent its shares plunging and led clients to withdraw billions.

Market News Published Daily

Banking News: SVB gave company-wide bonuses hours before it collapsed.
Banking News: SVB gave company-wide bonuses hours before it collapsed | SVB News.

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Wall Street Banks Lost $55 Billion in Just One Day

Market News Daily - Wall Street Banks lost $55 billion in just one day.
Market News Daily – Wall Street Banks lost $55 billion in just one day.

Wall Street’s 4 top banks just had $55 billion wiped off their market value in a single day.

Four of America’s biggest banks lost a combined $55 billion of market value in a single day as financial stocks plunged.

US bank shares took a beating Thursday amid fears of contagion effects from the turmoil at Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate.

JPMorgan saw the biggest tumble in market value among US lenders, losing $22 billion. 

(Markets Insider) JPMorgan Chase, Bank of AmericaWells Fargo and Morgan Stanley – the four most valued US lenders – saw $55 billion wiped off their combined market capitalization on Thursday, Refinitiv data show.

JPMorgan, the biggest US bank, alone saw a $22 billion tumble in its market value as its stock slid 5.41% to $130.34.

Wall Street’s Bank of America lost $16.16 billion as its share price fell 6.20% to $30.54.

Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley saw their market capitalization drop by $10.3 billion and $6.2 billion, respectively.

Among other major US banks, Goldman Sachs and Citi also witnessed significant declines in their share prices.

Credit Suisse Clients Withdraw Billions

Credit Suisse News Today - Wall Street Banks lost $55 billion in just one day.
Credit Suisse News Today – Wall Street Banks lost $55 billion in just one day.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) clients have withdrawn billions of dollars.

In November, the bank warned investors in a 6-K filing of potential losses due to naked short covering.

Disarming these types of overleveraged positions won’t be easy.

Credit Suisse took a massive hit of $4.09 billion in Q3 and hinted at occurring losses in an upturn in markets.

Now Credit Suisse as postponed publication of its annual report, per Reuters — more on that below.

The bank hired 20 banks for a $4 billion injection in effort to pivot from Q3’s disaster.

Is Credit Suisse on the verge of collapsing?

(Reuters) Credit Suisse has postponed publication of its annual report after a last-minute call from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which raised questions about its earlier financial statements.

The unusual intervention by the U.S regulator is the latest blow to Credit Suisse as it attempts to rebuild investor confidence after a series of scandals and setbacks that have sent its shares plunging and led clients to withdraw billions.

Credit Suisse shares were close to their all-time low in Zurich on Thursday but later recovered much of a 6% loss.

Swiss financial regulator Finma told Reuters that Credit Suisse had informed it of the delayed publication.

“We are in contact with the bank,” Finma said.

What is Happening with Banks Right Now?

SVB Bank News Today - Wall Street Banks lost $55 billion in just one day.
SVB Bank News Today – Wall Street Banks lost $55 billion in just one day.

Banks are losing billions in liquidity leading many to believe a financial collapse is imminent.

In February, Credit Suisse reported that 2022 brought its biggest annual loss since the 2008 global financial crisis after rattled clients pulled funds from the bank, and it warned that a further “substantial” loss would come this year.

Among a string of scandals, Credit Suisse was hard hit by the collapse of U.S. investment firm Archegos in 2021 as well as the freezing of billions of supply chain finance funds linked to insolvent British financier Greensill.

Investors have been speculating that Credit Suisse will be the next bank to default — time will certainly tell.

“SVB collapse is the second-largest bank failure in US history”, says CNN.

Startup investors have shared their concerns on Twitter in regard to capital being held by the banks.

Many are urging one another not to use a bank at the moment, speculating that this is a sector-wide issue.

Market News Published Daily

Market News Today - Wall Street Banks Lost $55 Billion in Just One Day.
Market News Today – Wall Street Banks Lost $55 Billion in Just One Day.

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Ex-JPMorgan Gold Trader Faces 30 Years in Prison for Spoofing

Market News: Ex-JPMorgan Gold Trader faces time in prison after spoofing the market.
Market News: Ex-JPMorgan Gold Trader faces time in prison after spoofing the market.

An Ex-JPMorgan Gold trader was found guilty of fraud in the commodities market.

Christopher Jordan was convicted of wire fraud affecting a financial institution by a federal judge in Chicago, the latest win for U.S prosecutors in their crackdown of on illegal “spoofing” trades and market manipulation.

Jodan was found guilty Friday after a four-day trial in the same courthouse where two of his most senior colleagues on the JPMorgan precious metals desk were convicted in August of spoofing related charges for deceptive buy and sell orders.

Jordan worked at JPMorgan from 2006 to late 2009.

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Department of Justice Comments on JPMorgan Trader

DOJ report on Ex-JPMorgan Trader spoofing the gold market.
DOJ report on Ex-JPMorgan Trader spoofing the gold market.

Between 2008 and 2010, Jordan placed thousands of spoof orders, i.e., orders that he intended to cancel before execution, to drive prices in a direction more favorable to orders he intended to execute on the opposite side of the market. 

Jordan engaged in this deceptive spoofing strategy while trading gold and silver futures contracts on the Commodity Exchange (COMEX), which is a commodities exchange operated by the CME Group.

These deceptive orders were intended to inject false and misleading information about the genuine supply and demand for gold and silver futures contracts into the markets.

He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. 

Four other former JPMorgan precious metals traders were previously convicted in related cases.

In August 2022, Gregg Smith and Michael Nowak were convicted after trial in the Northern District of Illinois of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, commodities fraud, attempted price manipulation, and spoofing.

In September 2020, JPMorgan admitted to committing wire fraud in connection with (1) unlawful trading in the markets for precious metals futures contracts and (2) unlawful trading in the markets for U.S. Treasury futures contracts and in the secondary (cash) market for U.S. Treasury notes and bonds.

JPMorgan entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement pursuant to which it paid more than $920 million in criminal monetary penalties, criminal disgorgement, and victim compensation, with parallel resolutions by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities Exchange Commission announced on the same day.

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Source(s): Bloomberg, Justice.Gov.


Phase 6 Margin Call Requirements on The Way

Phase 6 Margin Call Requirements
Market News: Phase 6 Margin Call Requirements on the way | ISDA

Market News: Phase 6 margin call requirements are on the way.

Institutions under UMR who had not previously been affected by these specific margin requirements will be as of September 1st, 2022.

Uncleared Margin Rules (or UMR) were created to address the OTC derivatives market–and its participants– in the wake of the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008-2009.

It implemented new margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives to avoid further systemic risk.

For this reason, they were ‘phased in’, or broken down by phases.

Institutions affected by phase 6 margin call requirements could find themselves in a sticky situation and I’m going to discuss why down below.

Let’s get started!

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Preparing for margin calls

The requirement to exchange initial margin for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives is one of the last remaining pillars of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) that remains to be fully implemented.

The five-year implementation period began in 2016.

UMR Phases - Phase 6 Margin Requirements
UMR Phases – Phase 6 margin requirements

The chart above depicts the number of counterparties affected throughout each phase.

Phase 5 occurred in September of 2021 where 319 counterparties were affected.

We will be entering Phase 6 in September of 2022, where 775/990 counterparties with more than the $8 billion scope detailed on the graph, or gross amount across all uncleared OTC trades, will be affected.

Phase 5 of UMR touched a mix of sellside and buyside firms, especially medium-sized banks and larger buyside firms.

However, Phase 6 is almost exclusively buyside-focused meaning we could potentially see a massive market rebound, per Bloomberg.

Institutions affected by Phase 6 margin call requirements may include asset managers, banks, hedge funds, and private family offices.

The entire process is extremely challenging according to Bloomberg.

But while it may seem complex in nature, it’s the results that truly matter.

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How long will it take for margin calls to happen?

Although Phase 6 margin call requirements are going into effect on September 1st, 2022, it’s important to note that this is going to take some time.

The derivatives market is massive, now boasting approximately 1 quadrillion derivatives as of May 2022, per Investopedia.

The Senior Principal at BNY Mellon has said in the past that even after Phase 6 there will be margin calls that will still have to be processed.

That’s how massive this event will be.

Phase 6 margin call requirements will begin to margin a variety of sized banks, hedge funds, market makers, and family offices.

The bottom line, the markets need this reset, and its coming.

For a much greater and in-depth walkthrough of what this event means, check out AMCBIGGUM’s video below.

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Phase 6 Margin Call Requirements meaning

JP Morgan Manipulated Gold to Keep Hedge Funds Happy

JP Morgan manipulated gold
Market News: JP Morgan manipulated gold and silver market

An ex-trader says JP Morgan spoofed gold to keep hedge funds happy.

He says client orders made a lot of money for the bank.

Big hedge funds like Moore Capital Management and Tudor Capital Corp. were so important to JPMorgan Chase & Co. that its precious-metals traders routinely manipulated gold and silver markets to get the best prices on client orders, the former trader for the bank told a Chicago jury. 

“They brought in a huge volume of trading, which made the bank a lot of money and our team a lot of money,” John Edmonds, a former trader on JPMorgan’s precious metals desk, said on Wednesday when asked about the incidents.

This isn’t the first time a bank colludes with hedge funds to cheat non-institutional investors from their money.

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JP Morgan manipulates gold and silver market

Gold and Siver Market
Gold and Silver Market

Edmonds worked on the JP Morgan precious-metals desk for more than a decade and pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiracy and commodities fraud related to “spoof” trading. – Bloomberg

Spoofing is a term used when traders place market orders and cancels them before the order is fulfilled, initiating fake orders into the market without the intent of paying them.

Earlier this year the DOJ targeted hedge fund Muddy Waters for flooding the market with fake orders.

John Edmunds is currently testifying against his former boss, Michael Nowak, the longtime head of the trading desk, gold trader Gregg Smith and hedge funds salesman Jeffrey Ruffo.

They’re accused of thousands “spoof” trades in which huge orders were placed and quickly canceled in the hope of moving prices up or down so they could complete desired trades.

Prosecutors allege the traders were influenced by the needs of hedge fund clients, whom at times were looking to buy or sell millions of dollars in gold or silver in a matter of seconds or minutes.

Edmonds said that when a client needed an order filled, everyone on the desk would stop trading so as not to “get in the way” of filing that order.

Edmonds said he’d regularly watch Nowak or Smith use spoof trades to fill those order, per Bloomberg.

Bank gets caught red-handed

JP Morgan Precious Metals Desk
JP Morgan Precious Metals Desk

Jurors were shown instant messages between Ruffo and traders at Moore Capital and Tudor, as well as Smith’s trading records around those communications as evidence of improper trading in gold and silver futures.

Edmonds, who sat near Ruffo and Smith, said the hedge fund clients were “price sensitive” and concerned about even small differences in prices of gold and silver given the massive size of their orders.

One example from prosecutors was an order on Dec. 12, 2011, by Moore Capital, which sought to sell 1 million ounces of silver at $31 an ounce.

Smith placed orders to buy 1,190 futures contracts, each for 5,000 ounces of silver, data presented to the jury showed.

Edmonds said that was consistent with a spoof trade designed to drive the price higher, where Smith wanted to sell.

Minutes later, Smith sold 200 contracts, which is the equivalent to 1 million ounces, and canceled his buy orders.

The jury also heard about a Jan. 18, 2012, gold trade on behalf of Tudor where Ruffo was asked to unload more than 900 contracts.

As the price of gold decreased around 8 a.m., Tudor’s James Phelan wrote to Ruffo, “tell Gregg to wake up,” according to a chat log.

Shortly thereafter, Smith started entering orders on the buy side. “He was trying to move the market higher so he can sell at a higher price for an important client,” Edmonds said.

Sources – Bloomberg.

Will JP Morgan face any consequences?

JP Morgan manipulated gold and silver market to keep hedge funds happy
JP Morgan manipulated gold and silver market to keep hedge funds happy

The case is US v. Smith et al, 19-cr-00669, US District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

For the reasons explained in this Opinion, the Defendants’ motion to dismiss, R. 114, is denied except for the bank fraud counts (Counts 5–7).

Those counts are dismissed.

The remainder of the Superseding Indictment survives.

You can view the entire case text, opinion, and details here.

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Related: Chicago Tribune Says Citadel Securities' Dark Pool Targets Small Investors

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Chinese Tycoon Gets Bailed Out From $8 Billion Margin Call

Chinese Tycoon gets bailed out from $8 billion margin call
JP Morgan bails out Chinese tycoon Xiang Guangda after receiving an $8 billion margin call for sorting Nickel – Long Metal Exchange halts continue

Chinese tycoon Xiang Guangda has been bailed out by JP Morgan after receiving a whopping $8 billion margin call.

The margin call came about as he was shorting Nickel.

The commodity short squeezed leaving the Chinese tycoon with an $8 billion margin call.

Xiang told banks he wanted to keep shorting Nickel and shrugged off suggestions to reduce his short positions, Bloomberg.

Should this even be allowed?

Let’s discuss it.

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Chinese tycoon gets away with $8 billion margin call

London Metal Exchange
London Metal Exchange

The tycoon whose big short bet on nickel helped trigger one of the most dramatic price spikes in history has told his banks and brokers that he doesn’t intend to reduce his position, according to Bloomberg.

The London Metal Exchange halted trading in nickel after prices spiked as much as 250% in two days.

 Xiang has told the roughly 10 banks that he still believes prices will fall and that he would like to keep his short position.

The LME acknowledged that short sellers weren’t going to voluntarily reduce their short positions.

It said there were “considerable differences in view on the appropriate price.”

Apparently big net worth short sellers make the rules.

They Chinese Tycoon secured a deal with JP Morgan and China Construction Bank that would allow it to avoid defaulting on its $8 billion margin call.

LME halts Nickel trades

The LME cancelled $4 billion in transactions as Nickel prices began to surge.

The exchange said: “Nickel will be deemed a disrupted session and all agreed trades during this session will be null and void.”

In other words, they took away the ‘buy’ button and are allowing short sellers to either close their positions or profit on the way down.

Dave Lauer says the exchange is ruining their credibility by protecting very wealthy and powerful people/firms.

“You can’t run a market like this, busting trades at someone’s whim.”

The halts are similar to those that occurred last year during the ‘meme stock’ frenzy when Robinhood froze the purchasing of GameStop, AMC, and other heavily shorted stock.

At some point, the people will cause an uproar.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Big banks are beginning to bail out wealthy people and firms.

What can be done about it and what should be done about it?

The Chinese tycoon is only one example, but what will happen when heavily shorted stock begin to squeeze again?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below and share this article to raise awareness to the injustices in the markets.

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Peabody Receives a $534 Million Margin Call: Goldman Steps In

Peabody Margin Call
Peabody Margin Call – Global margin calls will happen in every corner of the financial sector

Leading global pure-play and Fortune 500 company Peabody received a $534 million margin call.

The Australian benchmark coal price is up more than 400% in the past 12 months, hitting $425.

Peabody was not prepared and got slammed with a $534 million margin call.

The sum is more than half the cash the company had at the end of December 2021.

Margin calls are beginning to happen left and right and we’re going to discuss it.

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Margin calls in the coming weeks

The Russian-Ukraine conflict is affecting global markets sparking margin calls in every corner of the finance sector.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has further fueled a rally in coal driven by a squeeze on global energy supplies.

Chinese tycoon Xiang Guangda is currently facing an $8 billion margin call after Nickel prices skyrocketed to $100,000 per ton.

Nickel surges to $100,000 per ton

Xiang Guangda tells banks he has no intention in reducing his positions.

The short seller is requiring a coordinated bank bailout including the participation of JP Morgan.

The London Metal Exchange halted trading in nickel on Tuesday morning after prices spiked as much as 250% in two days, driven by brokers rushing to close out short positions after holders of bearish bets struggled to make margin calls.

Credit Suisse News: Margin call tension rises

Credit Suisse margin call

The Swiss bank Credit Suisse is also imposing margin calls on investors exposed to Russia.

The invasion of Ukraine has left wealthy individuals invested in Russian assets with frozen accounts and demands for more collateral.

Tension really began to pick up when Russia was removed from SWIFT.

Banks in the United States are losing cash quick.

Citigroup disclosed in its annual report that it has nearly $10 billion in exposures to Russian counterparties, including loans, reverse repo agreements and cash deposits. 

Morgan Stanley’s next gen emerging markets fund (MFMIX) has also been exposed to Russia with nearly $16.6 million frozen due to Russian sanctions.

Schwab’s fundamental emerging markets large company index ETF (FNDE) has also been affected with 12.7% being exposed to the Russian stock market.

Peabody receives a 10% loan from Goldman

Peabody receives a 10% loan from Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs steps in with 10% loan – Peabody Margin Call

Peabody shares plunged 17% after announcing the margin call, taking a chunk out of the gains they had made in recent months as the coal market boomed.

Margin calls could increase if the coal market moves higher.

Senior VP for coal markets at Rystad Energy Steve Hulton says prices could reach $500 per ton.

Peabody arranged a $150 million credit line with Goldman Sachs although the bank announced in 2019 that it would phase out financing for coal.

Peabody’s margin call is only a glimpse of what’s coming to various institutions in the markets worldwide.

And in the states, retail investors are waiting for hedge funds’ number to be called.

Will banks be able to inject liquidity into hedge funds?

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As banks and hedge funds’ assets continue to lose their value, will banks be able to inject liquidity into hedge funds when they need it?

Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

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