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TGIF

Illustration: Institutional Investor

SEC drops crypto definition from private equity reporting rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped a proposed definition of digital assets from its final rules for private equity fund reporting. The commission on Wednesday rolled out final reporting rules for private equity firms and hedge funds, big private investors whose wagers have the potential to unnerve financial markets. The rules didn’t include language the SEC had initially suggested to define digital assets for such reporting. (Bloomberg Law | May 4) see also Big hedge funds face new 72-hour deadline to report losses (Bloomberg Markets | May 3)

You’ve heard about behavioral finance. But what about physical finance?

Over the last ten years, the amount of research on behavioral finance — or BeFi — has exploded to the extent that anything said about the subject today seems almost trite. Research suggests a fascinating link between the physical world and how investors price stocks. (Institutional Investor | May 3)

US Treasury announces first buyback scheme in decades to boost liquidity

The Treasury Department on Wednesday said it would repurchase US government debt next year for the first time in decades, in an effort to boost liquidity in the $23 trillion government bond market. The program would allow the Treasury to buy back older bonds, which are typically harder to trade, from primary dealers — banks that act as market makers for the Federal Reserve — and help improve functioning in some corners of the market. (Financial Times | May 3)

Fed raises rates, signals potential pause

Federal Reserve officials signaled they might be done raising interest rates for now after approving another increase at their meeting that concluded Wednesday. “People did talk about pausing, but not so much at this meeting,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference. “We feel like we’re getting closer or maybe even there.” (The Wall Street Journal | May 3)

Supreme Court to mull voiding Chevron ruling on agency power

The US Supreme Court will consider overturning a decades-old legal doctrine that has given federal regulators broad power to define their authority, accepting an appeal that aims to put new constraints on environmental, consumer-protection, and financial watchdog agencies. (Bloomberg Law | May 1)

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Ransomware is a forever problem now

Ransomware — a novelty just a few years ago — is now endemic, like COVID. We'll have to learn to live with the malicious file-encrypting code, even as we struggle to limit it. Ransomware attacks, which take an organization's data hostage and shut down its systems until the hackers receive payment, have exacted an escalating price on law enforcement, policymaking, and financial resources around the world.

— Axios

The DOJ detected the SolarWinds hack 6 months earlier than first disclosed

The US Department of Justice, Mandiant, and Microsoft stumbled upon the SolarWinds breach six months earlier than previously reported but were unaware of the significance of what they had found. The breach, publicly announced in December 2020, involved Russian hackers compromising the software maker SolarWnds and inserting a backdoor into software served to about 18,000 of its customers. The operation was actually discovered by the DOJ six months earlier, in late May 2020 — but the scale and significance of the breach weren’t immediately apparent.

— Wired

Fake ChatGPT software

Hackers are luring victims with malware disguised as ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. Ten such malware strains have been identified and more than 1,000 malicious links with ChatGPT themes.

— Reuters

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Maynard cabin, which sleeps two. Whereas the earlier glamping trend was geared towards families, most of the new designer cabins are aimed at couples. Photo: Nicholas JR White | FT

Why designer cabins are springing up in a wood near you

Ever since Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden, his account of life in the woods in Massachusetts, away from what constituted the rat race in 1845, we have fetishised versions of the cabin aesthetic. Today, social media and urban coffee tables are awash with #cabinlife imagery. Unyoked and its rivals set out to bring those photos to life, reimagining utilitarian shelters as accessible destinations for mindful retreats. And they’re growing fast.

— Financial Times

Epstein’s private calendar reveals prominent names, including CIA chief, Goldman's top lawyer

The nation’s spy chief, a longtime college president, and top women in finance. The circle of people who associated with Jeffrey Epstein years after he was a convicted sex offender is wider than previously reported, according to a trove of documents that include his schedules.

— The Wall Street Journal

If you want a more sustainable business, don't overlook your software

While you surely know what software is, you may not know about sustainable or "green" software, an approach that aims to reduce a software's carbon footprint through more energy-efficient design and deployment. But so far, green software still has a ways to go toward widespread adoption.

— Inc.