奇点财经_金融科技，ESG與綠色金融，人工智能，区块链_全球科技财经资讯门户

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has watched while a new breed of fintech players, led by PayPal, Square and tech giants around the world have exponentially grown users and market value. His message to the management team of his $3.4 trillion banking goliath: Be frightened. “Absolutely, we should be scared s---less about that,” Dimon said Friday in a conference call with analysts. “We have plenty of resources, a lot of very smart people. We’ve just got to get quicker, better, faster. ... As you look at what we’ve done, you’d say we’ve done a good job, but the other people have done a good job, too.” Dimon’s blunt assessment was in response to questions from analysts including Mike Mayo of Wells Fargo who pointed out that with rich, tech-like valuations, fintech players have “trounced” the traditional banks in recent years. Dimon said he sent his deputies a list of global competitors, and that PayPal, Square, Stripe, Ant Financial as well as U.S. tech giants including Amazon, Apple and Google were names the bank needs to keep an eye on. The rivals are also clients of JPMorgan’s commercial and investment banking in many cases, he added.

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Thursday proposed a $1.9 trillion rescue package to combat the economic downturn and the Covid-19 crisis, outlining the type of sweeping aid that Democrats have demanded for months and signaling the shift in the federal government’s pandemic response as Mr. Biden prepares to take office.

The package includes more than $400 billion to combat the pandemic directly, including money to accelerate vaccine deployment and to safely reopen most schools within 100 days. Another $350 billion would help state and local governments bridge budget shortfalls, while the plan would also include $1,400 direct payments to individuals, more generous unemployment benefits, federally mandated paid leave for workers and large subsidies for child care costs.

“During this pandemic, millions of Americans, through no fault of their own, have lost the dignity and respect that comes with a job and a paycheck,” Mr. Biden said in a speech to the nation. “There is real pain overwhelming the real economy.”

He acknowledged the high price tag but said the nation could not afford to do anything less. “The very health of our nation is at stake,” Mr. Biden said, adding that it “does not come cheaply, but failure to do so will cost us dearly.”

Singularity Financial Hong Kong January 15, 2021 –  Asia’s Best Credit Funds Say Junk Bonds Will Be Key in 2021 (Source: Bloomberg) Despite a spike in defaults and a resurgence in the virus, some investors expect Asia’s debt market to offer superior returns than their European and U.S. peers in 2021. Still, the prospect of a pullback in fiscal support and government efforts to force Chinese property companies to deleverage will make 2021 a difficult year for the region’s credit funds. “You’re seeing fund flows come into Asian credit because it’s still cheaper -- especially high-yield,” said Rachana Mehta, who helps run Maybank Asset Management Singapore’s fixed income team. Its Maybank Bluewaterz Total Return Bond Fund is up more than 9% since January. “We have positive real yield, which is very rare in this negative-rate environment. The bargain hunting as panicked investors hit the sell button helped fund manager John Stover’s $50 million Tribeca Vanda Asia Credit Fund gain almost 21% in 2020 as government stimulus kicked in -- well above the Bloomberg Credit Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund Index, which has been flat. Tribeca’s Stover, whose parent firm manages about $1.7 billion, remains similarly bullish on Asia. One of his favorite trades is Indonesia property developer Lippo Karawaci, despite S&P and Fitch Ratings both assigning it a negative outlook. But with the company cutting costs and property presales there on the rise, he is betting he can again beat the crowd. “There’s a misperception in the market that Asia credit is a lot riskier than other regions, whereas the data just doesn’t support that and you’re getting paid for that misperception,” he said. Today, about one-fifth of Stover’s fund is in Chinese property-developer bonds such as Sunac China Holdings Ltd., which are under orders to deleverage. Another 20% is in travel and leisure providers -- up thanks to vaccines -- and he also holds positions in Indonesian property companies, renewable-energy providers and battery suppliers.

Chen Wenhui, vice chairman of China’s National Social Security Fund, said at a January summit that China’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment approach was lagging that of many developed countries. As of March 2020, only 44 investment institutions joined the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and the country's ESG investing volume stood at Rmb10 trillion ($1.54 trillion), a tiny portion of the global figure of $90 trillion. China’s pension scheme has set up a special ESG investment research group to carry out systematic research, and Chen said the government would further improve information disclosure in line with international standard. Asset managers in China are gradually building in-house environmental, social and governance (ESG) capabilities and launching sustainable investment products. However, the actual level of such investments is still low, due to limited understanding of ESG issues and lack of standardized investment practices.

Approval of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the US could pull investors out of a popular trade and erode a key support of the cryptocurrency's lofty price, JPMorgan strategists said Friday. Institutional investors largely invest in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust for regulatory reasons instead of directly buying bitcoin. But the trust touts a premium to the underlying token. The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to authorize a bitcoin ETF in 2021. The introduction of such a fund could drive institutional investors out of Grayscale's trust and cut into the premium. While outflows from Grayscale's trust could present a near-term pressure for bitcoin prices, JPMorgan still expects bitcoin ETFs to benefit the cryptocurrency in the longer term. "A cascade of GBTC outflows and a collapse of its premium would likely have negative near-term implications for bitcoin given the flow and signaling important of GBTC," the bank said in a note to clients. Bitcoin cooled to start the week after soaring to nearly $42,000 on Friday. The cryptocurrency tumbled as much as 19%, to $30,775.26, on Monday as investors secured profits from its weeks-long rally. Bitcoin still sits roughly 90% higher over the past month.

Hong Kong’s financial chief has revealed he plans to maintain or even increase levels of public spending in the forthcoming budget to protect livelihoods during the economic downturn, despite the heavy strain on government funds. Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday he would deliver a “countercyclical fiscal policy” in his February 24 speech, an approach favouring higher spending and lower taxes in a recession. The city’s financial reserves have shrunk 30 per cent to HK$800 billion (US$103.1 billion) over the past year, mostly due to a series of massive relief packages designed to prop up the economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Chan also dismissed the prospect of major tax reforms in the short term, saying such profound changes could not be dealt with over one or two budgets. Chan says he expects first half of new year to remain challenging, with 2020 figures on track for a full annual economic contractions. He also doubles down on news that hard-hit residents will not be able to access pension funds early.

KKR & Co. raised $3.9 billion for its first Asia-Pacific infrastructure fund, amassing the largest pool of cash in the region for investments in everything from waste management and renewable energy to communication towers. In the process of raising funds, the firm boosted its initial target from $3 billion and stopped fundraising after reaching its cap. It tapped three dozens investors in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, said Alisa Amarosa Wood, head of KKR’s Private Markets Products Group. KKR and its employees contributed about $300 million. Accelerating its expansion across a region that’s emerging from the pandemic and bolstered by a growing middle class, the firm is also in the midst of raising at least $12.5 billion in a fourth private equity fund and planning its first real estate and credit funds in Asia. KKR declined to comment on the other fund-raisings. Institutional investors are increasingly looking for a “one-stop shop” with deal-making, operational and capital market expertise, favoring assets with a lower-risk profile that aren’t tied to public market indexes, Wood said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will delist 500 structured products in Hong Kong, adding to the fallout from a U.S. ban on investments in companies linked to China’s military. The products include warrants and callable bull/bear contracts on Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index and China Mobile Ltd., according to filings to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. The city is the world’s largest structured product market with more than 12,000 listed products, HKEX figures show. Separately, the $14 billion Tracker Fund of Hong Kong said it would refrain from making new investments in companies covered by the ban, adding that the fund is no longer “appropriate” for U.S. investors. Managed by State Street Global Advisors Asia Ltd., the tracker fund is Hong Kong’s most actively traded ETF. Investors have been scrambling for more clarity on how regulators, exchanges and financial intermediaries will implement the vaguely worded executive order issued by Donald Trump in the waning days of his administration. The New York Stock Exchange said last week it will delist China Mobile and two other Chinese telecom companies. MSCI Inc. deleted the stocks from its global benchmark indexes on Friday, triggering a rush to sell that pushed volume in the stocks to historic highs and drove China Mobile’s share price to a 14-year low.

BMO Financial Group says it has signed a deal to sell its private banking business in Hong Kong and Singapore to J. Safra Sarasin Group. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. BMO says J. Safra Sarasin has a strong reputation for client service and it is confident that they are well positioned to service its private banking clients in Hong Kong and Singapore. The Canadian bank says the Hong Kong and Singapore markets remain important and it looks forward to continuing its service to corporate and institutional clients in Asia. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals. The acquisition is expected to close during the first half of 2021.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is looking to raise as much as $8 billion selling dollar bonds as early as next week, giving global investors a chance to bet on the Chinese e-commerce giant’s long-term prospects at a time when the company and its co-founder face intense government pressure back home. The company aims to raise at least $5 billion but could wind up with more depending on the reception, according to people familiar with the matter who aren’t authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified. The deal will be a multi-tranche offering, with specific tenors yet to be determined, they said. Pulling off the sale as Jack Ma’s internet empire faces a regulatory crackdown and antitrust probe would be a sign of global investor confidence in the company. In recent months, officials blocked Ant Group Co.’s $35 billion IPO, proposed new rules to curb the dominance of internet giants and fined Alibaba over acquisitions from years before. Closer scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions could add uncertainty over the growth of large internet firms. “We view the issuance as somewhat exploratory given the broader uncertainty around Ant/Jack Ma,” said Chuanyi Zhou, a credit analyst at Lucror Analytics in Singapore. “It may well reveal how seriously global investors perceive the rapidly evolving regulatory environment in China and the potential impact on Alibaba.” Alibaba raised about $11 billion from its Hong Kong stock sale in late 2019, and had a cash hoard of almost $90 billion at the end of September.

China’s securities regulator conducted regulatory talks with Huarong Securities Co. Ltd. executives, ordering the brokerage to work out a plan for the disposal of risky assets as soon as possible.

China’s Silicon Valley will offer tax exemptions and tax cuts to investment companies that wait longer to exit from startups as part of the government’s efforts to bolster China’s independent technological capabilities. Beijing’s tech hub, the Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone, under a pilot policy will cut corporate income taxes for qualified venture capital companies by 50% if they hold equity stakes in startups for more than three years and if proceeds from the eventual sale of the holdings exceeds 50% of annual income. If venture capitalists hold onto investments for more than five years, the proceeds from selling out will be except from income tax, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Finance said.

Right after the New Year celebration of 2021, Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital formally launched the SkyBridge Bitcoin Fund, a limited partnership that is available to accredited investors for a minimum $50,000 investment. Scaramucci says the fund will trade at net asset value, unlike the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust which often trades at a premium, and it carries a 0.75% fee. Fidelity Investments is the custodian. “We believe Bitcoin is in its early innings as an exciting new asset class,” said Scaramucci in a statement. “With the institutional quality custody solutions available today, we believe the time is right to allocate capital and provide our clients access to the digital assets space.” The fund, seeded with $25 million of the firm’s capital, is targeting $500 million and individuals who can buy and hold the cryptocurrency for a minimum three months. Despite its volatility, which is expected, Bitcoin will be considered a store of value over and has a place in individuals’ portfolios, Scaramucci said. “There’s a lot of institutional demand … and only 2 million coins left to be mined. They can’t be created.” RIAs who can’t own coins outright due to regulatory issues can buy into the investment partnership to own the coin, Scaramucci said.

More than a third of 185 investment firms for wealthy clans plan to boost allocations amid the economic upheaval caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to survey released Wednesday by BlackRock Inc. and Juniper Place, a London-based firm that helps asset managers raise capital. Family offices and other investors soured on hedge funds in recent years, bemoaning high fees and lackluster returns. But the health crisis has given some of those managers a boost, particularly stock-pickers who benefited from aggressive bets on technology stocks and copious economic stimulus that drove equities to new heights. Family offices have proliferated in recent years along with a surge in personal wealth derived from tech, finance and real estate. Some of the largest include Bill Gates’s Cascade Investment and Sergey Brin’s Bayshore Global Management. There are now more than 10,000 single-family offices globally, according to accounting firm EY. Single family offices, which have just one client, had average assets of $802 million, according to research published in 2019 by Campden Wealth and UBS Group AG. More than three-quarters of family offices said they preferred long-short equity hedge funds, according to research BlackRock conducted in July and August. Such funds were the best performing broad strategy last year, gaining about 4% through November on an asset-weighted basis, according to data from Hedge Fund Research Inc. The firms also plan to increase allocations to asset classes that typically made up the bulk of their portfolios before the pandemic struck, such as private equity and real estate, according to the report. In addition, they’re increasingly exploring sustainable investments, with 80% of family offices now including some form in their portfolio. “Family offices no longer see sustainable investing as a compromise on investment returns,” Sheryl Needham, BlackRock’s head of family offices for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said in a statement.

Twitter has added new warnings to tweets from Donald Trump amid violence in Washington D.C. At least two tweets from the president now have labels warning of a “risk of violence.” “This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence,” the label says. It was also added to a one-minute video in which the president told his supporters to “go home now” and said the rioters were “very special.” A large pop-up with similar language also appears if you try to retweet the labeled tweets, though quote tweets are still possible.

The company said on its @TwitterSafety account that it was “significantly restricting engagement with Tweets labeled under our Civic Integrity Policy due to the risk of violence,” and that it’s “exploring other escalated enforcement actions.” It wasn’t immediately clear what those “escalated” steps may be.

Singularity Financial Hong Kong January 6, 2021 – 3 reasons why the stock market is vulnerable to a sharp sell-off, according to Morgan Stanley (Source: Business Insider, by Emily Graffeo) The stock market is vulnerable to a drawdown to begin in 2021 after a fierce performance last year, according to Morgan Stanley's chief investment officer, Mike Wilson. "Optimism is high in the market right now as investors can see the vaccine-led economic recovery in their front view, and a 2020 that closed at record highs in their rear view. While this optimism alone won't spark a sell-off, there's three catalysts that could lead to a drawdown, Wilson said in a Monday note to clients. "Extreme optimism and/or high valuations are necessary but insufficient conditions for a meaningful equity market correction," Wilson said. "Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that the 'risk reward' of the US equity market has deteriorated materially and the market is ripe for a drawdown." The first catalyst could be the two Georgia Senate run-off elections, taking place on Tuesday, Wilson said. The outcome of the races will determine which party takes control of the US Senate. If just one Republican wins, the GOP will have 51 votes in the Senate and the Congress will be split. While some investors say the market has largely priced in a Republican win, an unexpected outcome could rattle investor confidence. Wilson also said softer guidance than expected during the fourth quarter earnings season could trigger a stock drawdown. While investors are confident in the economic recovery in 2021 and anticipate a return to normal for companies hit hardest by the pandemic, they may lose faith if major companies signal a later-than-expected recovery during the upcoming earnings season. The third potential catalyst could be "some kind of intervention by regulators and or the Fed to quash the exuberance in crypto-currencies," said Wilson. In December, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed regulation that would require companies to collect the names and addresses of people if they make cryptocurrency transactions over $3,000. Bitcoin's sky-high price demonstrates exuberance hasn't been squashed just yet, but Wilson is watching for what further government intervention could mean for cryptocurrencies and the broader equity market. Original source: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-outlook-morgan-stanley-vulnerable-sell-off-drawdown-2021-1-1029934560

Big tech stocks fell sharply Wednesday as Democratic gains in Georgia stoked fears that the feds could tighten regulations on the industry’s dominant players. Futures contracts linked to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index tumbled about 1.3 percent as of 8:12 a.m. with Democrats poised to flip both the Peach State’s Senate seats — likely giving them control of a chamber that could help President-elect Joe Biden rein in tech titans and hike corporate taxes. The Rev. Raphael Warnock beat incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, and fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff had a narrow lead over Sen. David Perdue in their too-close-to-call race. Shares in the so-called FAANG tech stocks — Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet — all fell further than the Nasdaq in premarket trading. Facebook was the biggest loser, dropping about 2.4 percent to $264.40 as of 8:19 a.m. “With a Senate now likely controlled by Democrats we would expect much more scrutiny and sharper teeth around FAANG names with potential (although still a low risk) legislative changes to current anti-trust laws now on the table,” said Dan Ives, a tech analyst at Wedbush Securities. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have ramped up pressure on big tech companies in recent years over concerns that they’ve used their power and size to squash competition.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans on Tuesday raised the possibility that U.S. financial regulation and supervision may be due for an overhaul, given the new reality that interest rates are likely to be low for a long time.

The Fed recently undertook just such a review of its monetary policy framework, culminating in the adoption last August of a new strategy that targets 2% inflation on average and seeks to rectify shortfalls, but not overshoots, on the Fed’s full employment goal.

That new framework, designed to overcome the downward pull on inflation from persistently low interest rates globally, led the U.S. central bank to promise super-accommodative monetary policy for what could be years as it tries to push inflation upwards.

The expectation of an extended period of low rates raises concerns that investors take on excessive risks as they reach for yield, generating marketwide financial instability, Evans said in remarks prepared for delivery to a virtual meeting of the American Economic Association.

Responding to such concerns by raising rates or paring back the Fed’s asset purchases before the central bank’s economic goals are met would be a “lose-lose scenario (that) could not just threaten the achievement of our dual mandate objectives, but might not even improve financial stability either, given that financial stability is bolstered by a strong economy,” Evans said.

Instead of monetary policy, Evans said, the better tools to address financial stability concerns are regulation and supervision.

Singularity Financial Hong Kong January 4, 2021 – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has indicated it could be open to digital currency custodians being allowed to handle trading in securities for digital assets, in a move that could lead to a significant change in position over regulation in the sector. The regulator recently announced that it would allow digital currency broker-dealers a period of five years without enforcement action if they can verify they have control over customers’ digital assets. The proposal is currently out for feedback from the industry, following calls for clarity from those operating in the sector. The announcement from the SEC has been welcomed by leading voices in the industry, with CEO of Avanti Financial, Caitlin Long, describing the move as “enabling rather than restrictive.” Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, also welcomed the plans as “potentially very good news,” with the regulator demonstrating a more proactive approach to supporting the development of the industry. Kristin Smith of Blockchain Association said the greater regulatory certainty would be good for operators and consumers in developing trust in the sector: “Regulatory certainty on this issue will enable the custody marketplace to develop and give consumers the confidence they need that their digital assets are safe and secure.” The SEC has said the initial five year period will allow more time to understand how best to regulate the space. The plans will now be opened for consultation before being introduced subject to approval.

Singularity Financial Hong Kong January 4, 2021 – The People’s Bank of China has taken steps to ease financial conditions after interbank rates doubled in the second half of the year, reflecting the challenge it faces in navigating a return to normal monetary conditions. The central bank supplied more liquidity than the market anticipated in mid-December via its medium-term lending facility, through which it provides one-year loans to the banking system. The scale of a reverse repo operation in late December — another way of injecting cash into the system — also exceeded expectations, analysts said. The moves to ease banks’ access to funding come after conditions tightened in the second half of 2020 as China’s economic recovery gathered pace. They also illustrate the pressure facing the central bank as it grapples to control leverage across a rapid but uneven economic recovery without excessively constraining the flow of money to businesses and households.

While businesses relying on tourism should expect prolonged difficulties, the turnaround after two years of contraction could also be accelerated by progress in containing the coronavirus pandemic, including through a mass vaccination drive, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday. Beijing’s grand plan to stimulate domestic growth should help lift Hong Kong out of recession by the end of the year, the financial chief has predicted. The economy has withered under the triple onslaught of the launch of the trade war between the United States and China in 2018, the eruption of anti-government protests in the summer of 2019 and the arrival of Covid-19 last January. Gross domestic product has contracted for five consecutive quarters, declining 3.5 per cent in real terms in the third quarter in 2020 from a year earlier. In 2019, GDP shrank 1.2 per cent. The government estimates the economy will contract by 6.1 per cent in 2020, the most on record. But Chan saw light at the end of the tunnel. “The difficulties may still be there in 2021, but the turning point is emerging,” he said on his blog. “I expect that we will still be facing relatively huge challenges in the first half of the year. But in the second half, there is hope that there will be stronger momentum for recovery. He said, “The economy is expected to see growth for the whole year.”

Hong Kong-based L&R Capital’s $650 million Asia-focused credit fund has returned almost 30% after fees this year through Dec. 15, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chief Operating Officer Francis Tan declined to comment on behalf of the firm, led by former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. portfolio manager Li Ran. Part of the return came from bearish bets in February and early March on companies that had a high probability of running into liquidity, cash-flow or refinancing difficulties in the next six to 12 months, said the person, who asked not to be named because the returns are private. For example, it shorted some Asian commodity company bonds as lockdowns hit global demand. The fund also profited from price dislocations on a relative-value basis, such as pairing long positions in high-quality, liquid dollar-denominated Chinese junk bonds with short positions in Indonesian and Indian peers. China’s high-yield dollar corporate debt was trading at the widest spreads over domestic yuan bonds even as the economic rebound took hold, while outflows from offshore emerging-market funds were pressuring Indonesian and Indian credit. It also bought some heavily sold-off bonds yielding 15% or more, betting they had high potential to rebound as fundamentals improved. For instance, the fund turned long on some commodity bonds in late March and early April, correctly anticipating a recovery in commodity prices in the second half.

Chinese central processing unit (CPU) maker Loongson has signed a pre-listing consulting agreement with CITIC Securities, putting it on track to become China’s first homegrown CPU maker to list on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market, according to the Beijing Bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The news comes at a time when China is seeking self-sufficiency in high-tech industries like semiconductors and information technology as the U.S. attempts to bar some Chinese tech firms from obtaining advanced American technologies. Beijing-based Loongson uses the MIPS instruction set architecture to design CPUs — which are the “brains” of most computing devices — even though most of the world’s computers, servers and mobile devices are now powered by chips using the x86 and Arm architectures. The popularity of x86 and Arm leave Loongson in a dilemma where it must choose between sticking to the MIPS CPUs and potentially losing software developers, or switching to the more popular systems.