Holly Sraeel

How AI firms and investors are funding and backing JD Vance & Trump in order to slash AI regulation. A must read - https://lnkd.in/eu4H9gpK

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To toot my own horn: I suggested securitizations of sub lines in 2022 during a Q&A portion of a panel at the annual Fund Finance Association conference (Wrote about it in 2023, below). Initially, people felt the structure just wouldn't work due to the short, revolving nature of the loans. Two years later, behold the first broadly syndicated, publicly rated sub line securitization from Goldman Sachs. Will be interested to know if the deal is structured like a CLO (it will, like a CLO, be actively managed, presumably with warehoused lines ready to fill in for amortized lines in the pool), maybe even with buckets for other instruments like structured finance or leveraged loans? Maybe there are some term loan pieces involved? At some point this was going to happen regardless, but trade journos don't often get a chance to claim this particular kind of credit, so I'm doing it anyway, lol. Goldman, DM me for my venmo 😂

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▶️ New Podcast: Crypto.com Sues SEC After Receiving Wells Notice ➡️ Crypto.com has filed a lawsuit against the SEC, claiming that the regulator is overstepping its authority by attempting to regulate secondary market sales of certain crypto tokens on their platform. ➡️ The lawsuit was filed in response to a Wells Notice, a preliminary warning from the SEC informing Crypto.com of potential charges. ➡️ The lawsuit seeks to prevent the SEC from expanding its jurisdiction over crypto transactions and to clarify the legal status of such transactions. https://lnkd.in/eXTxJnUf

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"It's hard to find a trillion-dollar technology company that hasn't faced antitrust scrutiny—companies like Microsoft, Google, or NVIDIA," said Chris Miller. “I think we shouldn't be surprised if #TSMC faces a similar set of questions.” 

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See below for an outstanding and short read, reminding the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board that they are not carrying out their mission to have their editorials combine deft writing, intelligence, facts and opinion into cogent and timely commentary. I agree with Aaron Edelheit, these are hit pieces, knowingly massacring statistics (facts) and repeating Prohibitionist and anti-business rhetoric that has zero to do with allowing capitalism and Liberalism (the real meaning of the word, note the capital L) to flourish in this country. If the Wall Street Journal can not champion a domestic industry that is $30b+, provides over 400,000 jobs and is setting up US corporations to be leaders in a $100+ billion global industry, then why should The Wall Street Journal continue to think of itself as the vanguard of capitalism and free markets in this country? Just an idea, why not allow free markets, in combination with our regulatory bodies, decide if this sector, that has 70%+ approval in our country (90%+ for medical), should be “allowed” too flourish. The Wall Street Journal, stop your Prohibitionist and thoroughly misleading OpEds and get on the side of US commerce and push for our companies to export this product to all legal markets (like Germany). Let the cannabis sector in this country lead the way for the world, the companies we invest in and follow are ready, why hold them back? https://lnkd.in/eKQ2iitq

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Explore how #cryptocurrency can provide a #decentralized, transparent, and global funding solution for independent #journalism. Learn about advantages like #censorship resistance, #accountability, and easy international payments. https://lnkd.in/eK_AE5Vr

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I recently wrote an article about tech bloat/redundancies at financial institutions, citing Patrick Sells, Paul Schaus and Tom Kientz, and something HAUNTS 👻 me. Salary/compensation is one of the biggest noninterest expense at FIs, but most companies don't just... vibe this line item. No. They have HR. HR helps them manage the line item AND the thing the line item touches, which is talent. HR helps create and enacts a framework/philosophy around the spend, comes up with incentives, a way to measure it. It helps companies grow, hopefully directionally and mindfully. It also helps the company figure out WHO TO FIRE AND LET GO to save money. In contrast, I don't think most FIs have a function that is truly tasked with helping manage the tech budget/the things the tech budget touches. Sure, there's IT and the IT steering committee. But I don't think most FIs make that those groups' jobs. Should they? I'm haunted by Patrick telling me a bank with between $10 billion - $15 billion found $9 million of highly redundant tech spending on True Digital. How many employees is that, that could be added or don't have to be laid off, by finding this wasted annual spending? FIs might be going into a credit cycle, tightening their belts, potentially laying people off. They might make these changes while also shelling out $$ in redundant tech spending — all because they've got an HR for compensation but not a parallel group for tech spend. True Digital Group Academy Bank CCG Catalyst

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Does it matter where you bought that item? https://is.gd/HO0Q3j #business #cfo #startup #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #cfoadvisory #cfoservices #cashflow #cashflowmanagement

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Does it matter where you bought that item? https://is.gd/HO0Q3j #business #cfo #startup #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #cfoadvisory #cfoservices #cashflow #cashflowmanagement

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Want 'Five Forces' 2.0? Integrate Economic Engagement Michael Porter's strategy tool needs an essential upgrade. Here's one approach. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dmBjWpPg . . Like 💝 Comment below ⏬ Share ✅ For More Such Updates Follow Us @qnewshub @qnewscrunch . . #qnewshub #qnewscrunch #StartupFunding

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🗞 In this week's Prima Facie newsletter for Capital Brief I've covered a topic that's been bubbling away in my brain for a few months now: NDAs. 📖 Initially brought to my attention via research Regina Featherstone and Sharmilla Bargon in March, this is becoming an increasing area of debate and scrutiny. Plus: 💰 Litera has some new research on tech and billing in the legal industry. I spoke with Litera APAC lead Stefan Steenveld about why Australia lags behind US and UK counterparts in technology adoption, relying more heavily on hiring freezes or reducing head counts than US or UK firms when adapting to the economic climate. And: ⚖ Judgment day is coming in the ACCC v Delta Building Automation attempted bid-rigging lawsuit linked to National Gallery of Australia. https://lnkd.in/gJnKAP8P Until next Thursday! #nondisclosureagreements #bidrigging #competitionlaw #legalaffairs

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Counter-programming. Many news outlets have been consumed with the implications of the verdict in the case of a certain candidate (and former president) on the upcoming U.S. election. As they zigged, ImpactAlpha zagged, to highlight instead the climate stakes in this week’s elections in Mexico, India and South Africa, with Jessica Pothering's dive into Mexican politics and contributing editor Shefali Anand's report from Delhi (where temperatures this week reached 126 degrees Fahrenheit). ImpactAlpha launched The Brief in January 2017, the same week that same former president was inaugurated, and grew up by (largely) avoiding being sucked into the vortex that followed. Steady on. This week, we bucked the trend toward polarization with my Agents of Impact podcast conversation with Lafayette Square’s Damien Dwin, who is trying to crowd in capital for working-class places and people. “We are betting on America. This is a pro-America agenda,” Dwin told me. “We believe you should run toward Washington, not away from Washington. We believe you should run toward public policy, not away from public policy. We believe you should run toward regulation, not away.” Agents of Impact operate within the same larger context as all investors and entrepreneurs, but are perhaps more apt to look beyond the daily headlines. Brian Wayne of CurvePoint Capital, which this week spun out of Aegon Asset Management, sees an opportunity for the firm’s brand of structured finance as government incentives, corporate demand and falling cost curves for climate solutions create what he calls “a snowballing effect.” In Brazil, VOX CAPITAL diversified its offerings across asset classes to accommodate investors’ appetites for liquidity, risk and time horizons, as Vox’s Daniel Izzo and Daniel Brandão explained. ImpactAlpha’s Dennis Price has video interviews with a handful of other fund managers in Latin America who are likewise betting on the region’s entrepreneurial energy. Impact accounting that accounts for the value created (or destroyed) for all stakeholders finally appears to be converging on the simpler and interoperable standards that investors demand. As Dan Osusky of the International Foundation For Valuing Impacts (IFVI) concludes, “It isn’t the only solution to the world’s challenges, but it just might be a necessary one.” Amy Cortese Roodgally Senatus Isaac Silk Brian Walsh Cesar Chavez Lucy Ngige Christian Quiñonez Sol Aldo Soto Andres Baehr Justin Schwartz, CFA Ana Maria Aristizabal https://lnkd.in/gE6vxfPF

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The week in impact investing: Political risk. 🗣 ImpactAlpha endorses Kamala Harris. There, we said it. We don’t expect many readers to be surprised about where we stand. We have no illusions about swaying still-undecided voters or tipping swing states. And we appreciate that the impact investing community – our audience and our beat – has long sustained a rare level of bi- or even post-partisanship. Indeed, at last week’s The Global Impact Investing Network's Impact Forum in Amsterdam and this week’s #SOCAP24 gathering in San Francisco, impact leaders largely sidestepped the impending US presidential election, at least in their public comments. In private, many shared shudders of dread before moving back to evergreen topics like climate solutions, sustainable development, diverse representation and systems change. But as the election nears, maintaining that sealed bubble feels at least naive, if not borderline complicit. Certain other publications have zigged away from making endorsements. We’ve chosen to zag: We believe the vice president represents the best choice for keeping open the path toward an impact economy, inclusive prosperity, a just transition and, ultimately, systemic change. Reams have been written about the candidates’ policy planks and party stakes in this election. Lists are being prepared for personnel to be promoted or purged in the various agencies, from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The outcome of the election will have specific implications across the whole range of impact investment priorities and strategies. But the systemic risks of the former guy’s return to power go beyond parties and policies (for a rundown, see Leadership Now’s “US political risk analysis“). https://lnkd.in/gb7SBxTa And even the persecution and prosecution promised by Donald Trump and his proxies is less alarming than the anticipatory obedience of so many supposed leaders. JUST Capital's latest survey suggests Americans overwhelmingly agree executives have a role to play in addressing income inequality, gender and racial equity, and even the ethical use of AI. They are more iffy on CEOs’ responsibility, or perhaps ability, to protect our democracy. In the hopes that we don’t find out too late that the rule of law and the freedom to invest were essential preconditions for positive impact after all, we endorse Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in Tuesday’s election. https://lnkd.in/gpbiP8KN

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The 10th annual Consensus is set to be the most consequential conference in crypto history. Here’s why I believe that to be true: Just before the event, a big victory for crypto advocates in the U.S. House and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of an #etherETF have dramatically transformed the regulatory landscape overnight. #Consensus2024. Remarkably, crypto is now a key player in this year’s U.S. elections. At Consensus 2024, over 500 of the industry's most influential voices will dissect these political winds. Alongside presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr we have GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who played a pivotal role in pushing through two key bills this week in the House, and Senator Ron Wyden, a Democratic advocate for privacy and internet freedom. This comes alongside on-stage discussions on the burgeoning world of decentralized AI, the global expansion of stablecoins and Wall Street’s forays into crypto investing and tokenization — among so many other hot topics. There’s a palpable urgency and excitement in the air. I’ve never felt this level of anticipation leading into a Consensus. Behind the scenes, speakers are buzzing with enthusiasm, eager to share their insights and perspectives on this watershed moment. #Consensus2024 Explorer passes are SOLD OUT. There are a handful of Pro passes left, but they won’t last long. Come join us at the most powerful business development event in crypto. With the events of the last week, it will be a celebration and discussion of this profound inflection point for crypto and decentralization. https://lnkd.in/eN6P6KaY

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In my Prima Facie newsletter for Capital Brief today: The multiple pieces of legislation and technology that impact with data privacy is something I often think looks like a big bowl of spaghetti, tangled together. Today, in a week where social media bans for kids and the ways in which AI is trained are top of mind, we've got a first tranche of privacy law proposals. A lot of the biggest changes to the privacy act are still to come, but that doesn't mean today's changes are without significance. There's a web of implications attached to the new automated decision making requirements and the new statutory right for individuals that doesn't require proof of damage or harm when complaining over a serious invasion of privacy. 👀 More to come on this!

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FEATURE: Crypto startups are carving out room in funding rounds for droves of influencers in so-called KOL deals. The influencers often get better terms, including lower valuations and shorter vesting schedules. Sometimes they’re required to promote projects, sometimes projects simply hope a “whisper network” emerges among them. But legal experts think KOL deals may draw scrutiny from the SEC. Read more on Bloomberg News 👇 https://lnkd.in/dYQTNahw

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