👋 Readers, this is 24 straight weeks of Weekly Notes!
I am continuing to refine the structure of Weekly Notes, but the general theme remains to share the news and issues I am tracking every week. The subject areas encompass economic and national security, finance and technology, as well as risk, regulation, and financial crime.
Interesting issues and news across the US economic and national security landscape.
Analysis: Since June 13th, the Iran-Israel conflict has continued to escalate and inch closer to direct US involvement. At the center of the conflict is Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon, and Trump has been clear about that not happening. The historic US-UK trade deal represents a win-win for both the US economy and national security. Market access and reciprocal trade highlight the opportunities arising from the “Economic Prosperity Deal.” The US labor market remains strong, as evidenced by robust job growth and a dip in unemployment to 4.1%. The remaining key ingredient is for the Fed to lower interest rates. The next few days will have a monumental impact on both the economic and national security fronts.
I’ve included four (4) links below sourced directly from the White House and Treasury Department that cover this past week’s action.
Fact Sheet: Implementing the General Terms of the U.S.-UK Economic Prosperity Deal
President Trump Has Always Been Clear: Iran Cannot Have a Nuclear Weapon
Treasury Sanctions Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion Leaders Under Counterterrorism Authorities
Blue-Collar Wage Growth Sees Largest Increase in Nearly 60 Years Under Trump
Interesting issues and news across finance, technology, risk, regulation, and financial crime.
Analysis: Plenty of action, and plenty of positive signals coming from the digital assets and financial technology space. Clarity in a regulatory framework arising from the passage of the GENIUS Act (a historic piece of legislation for financial innovation), another confidential IPO filing for a crypto-related company, and acquisition activity are all forward progress over the past week. As financial innovation moves forward, financial crime risk follows (both emerging and conventional paths). Payments and check fraud, along with elder exploitation, remain a USG concern.
I’ve included seven (7) links below sourced directly from Congressional committees, regulators, and press releases that cover this past week’s action.
Scott Champions Historic Senate Passage of GENIUS Act
Chairman Hill Statement on Senate Passage of GENIUS Act
Cryptocurrency firm Bullish confidentially files for US IPO, FT reports
Privy and Stripe: Bringing crypto to everyone
JPMorgan moves further into crypto with stablecoin-like token JPMD
Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies Seek Comment to Address Payments and Check Fraud
Interesting reports.
Future of Work with AI Agents from Stanford University’s SALT Lab
Interesting charts of the week.
