The European Commission is drafting proposals to empower the European Securities and Markets Authority to oversee significant clearinghouses, depositories, trading venues and all cryptocurrency firms, similar to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The proposals, which require approval from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, include the creation of an independent executive board to oversee ESMA.

Fanatics is reportedly in early talks with Crypto.com to launch a prediction market platform, a move that would expand the sports merchandising group into a fast-growing sector spanning sports, politics, and entertainment. The effort comes as Fanatics accelerates its global expansion and follows similar moves by industry players, including Flutter's new partnership with CME Group.

FanDuel will roll out its CME-backed prediction market app next month in states without legal sports betting, while surrendering its Nevada license after regulators warned the company planned to engage in unlawful sports event contract activity. The app, regulated by the CFTC, will offer sports and financial event contracts and marks a major test of how states respond as prediction markets expand outside traditional gaming oversight.

Cboe Global Markets is preparing to introduce its own suite of prediction markets in the coming months, focusing on contracts that revolve around financial outcomes and economic events, avoiding sports. CEO Craig Donohue emphasized that Cboe's efforts are still in the early stages, with the goal of attracting new retail investors and expanding the company's core business offerings.

Cboe Global Markets is launching options on the Magnificent 10 Index, which tracks 10 major US technology companies, on November 17. According to Cboe, the introduction of options on this tech-heavy index will help investors manage concentrated exposures in some of the most influential US technology stocks.

BMLL Technologies is set for accelerated growth following its acquisition by Nordic Capital, with chief executive Paul Humphrey outlining how the deal will catalyze global expansion. The acquisition will enable BMLL to strengthen its salesforce, particularly beyond its New York base and into Asia, and increase investment in scaling its product and go-to-market initiatives.

Trafigura is set to introduce a share clawback clause targeting employees who depart for rival firms. This new competition clause, which will apply to newly awarded shares rather than existing holdings, is meant to align the company's policies with those of leading banks and bolster its position amidst increased poaching by competitors.

MEFF, the derivatives market of Spain's BME, has launched European-style cash-settled options and plans to expand derivatives contracts to include European stocks. The new options, requested by clients, simplify expiration and are expected to enhance income strategies for asset managers. MEFF is also developing a retail strategy and will benefit from a unified trading platform through being part of SIX Group.

Natural gas prices have surged to $4.65 per million British thermal units, the highest since December 2022, driven by cold weather and record liquefied natural gas exports. This rise benefits US drillers but could increase heating bills for the 61 million homes using natural gas. The Energy Information Administration has raised its LNG export forecast to 14.9 billion cubic feet a day for the year, a 25% increase from 2024.

FDIC Chair Travis Hill says the agency is working on guidance for tokenized deposit insurance to help financial institutions expand their digital-asset presence. "A deposit is a deposit," Hill said at a Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia conference. "Moving a deposit from a traditional-finance world to a blockchain or distributed-ledger world shouldn't change the legal nature of it."