Week InReview
Friday | Apr 24, 2020
Covid couture.
10 fabric masks you can buy right now. The best face masks for civilians to wear are made of cloth. Leave the surgical masks and N95s for the healthcare professionals and essential workers. Besides, designers have been in the fabric-mask game for a long time.

—  Vogue
in case you missed it...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s regulator said in a statement Wednesday that it will let the mortgage giants buy new loans that have entered forbearance in an effort to ease market disruptions as borrowers miss monthly payments because of the Covid-19 crisis. (Bloomberg Law | Apr 22)

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted Tuesday to propose a new rule that would establish a framework for fund valuation practices, the agency said in a statement. The rule would clarify how fund boards can satisfy valuation obligations in light of market developments. (SEC | Apr 21)

Fed interventions calmed the market for commercial paper, a form of short-term borrowing for companies, but rates remain elevated. This more than $1 trillion market froze during March's Covid-19-induced mayhem. Some fund managers are concerned that problems remain despite the  quick work of central banks  to ease the funding strains. (The Wall Street Journal | Apr 20)

Moody's Investors Service has put 20% of covered collateralized loan obligations on downgrade watch as expected losses for loans underlying the securities have "increased materially" because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Investors will get a clearer picture in coming weeks of how much CLOs are worth when managers report asset values. (Bloomberg Markets | Apr 20)

The decade after the financial crisis saw the creation of a vast asset price bubble. Even when what the IMF is calling the Great Lockdown ends and we emerge from the immediate Covid-19 crisis, the economic ramifications of this moment will produce a new age of U.S. austerity. (Financial Times - opinion | Apr 19)
Wall Street's massive audit trail system delayed again on Covid
(Apr 20) —  The Securities and Exchange Commission is giving brokers more time to begin reporting data to a long-delayed market-surveillance system as Wall Street continues to grapple with Covid-19.
  • The brokerages will now have until June 22 this year to start feeding data on many equities trades into the system.
  • Separate to the Covid-19-related delay, the agency also announced that it was granting a new phased-in timeline for the system that wouldn’t require full customer and account reporting until July 2022.
  • The Consolidated Audit Trail has already been delayed for multiple years amid privacy concerns and as banks and stock exchanges have squabbled over rules and costs.
  • The SEC said in a statement late Monday that the relief depends on firms meeting other obligations related to testing and other compliance requirements.
the cyber cafe
Cyber quote of the week
How should the U.S. address cybersecurity risks exposed by the broader move to telework?
"In the Armed Services Committee we use a term, 'attack surface.' This has massively expanded the attack surface, the target areas for malevolent actors. Particularly in the private sector, it opens up new avenues for penetrating private networks. I'm talking about businesses all the way from retail to national defense. Our commission found something like 90 percent of private sector cyberattacks can be prevented by simple cyber hygiene. It's a serious problem that just got a lot more serious."
— Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, as told to Politico's cybersecurity reporter  Tim Starks

Trickbot names most prolific Covid-19 malware
Notorious malware Trickbot has been linked to more Covid-19 phishing emails than any other, according t o new data from Microsoft. Microsoft Security Intelligence made the claim on Friday on Twitter . Last week's campaign used several hundreds of unique macro-laced document attachments in emails that pose as messages from a non-profit offering a free Covid-19 test.
—  InfoSecurity

FSB consults on effective practices for cyber incident response and recovery
The Financial Stability Board published a consultation report on  Effective Practices for Cyber Incident Response and Recovery,  which was sent to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors for their virtual meeting on 15 April. The toolkit of effective practices aims to assist financial institutions in their cyber incident response and recovery activities.
binge reading disorder
Cats and dogs debate: Stay home or back to work?
You might think that you or the government decide, but your pets may have some thoughts.

'The Chore Club' for kids stuck at home
The Club is designed to provide instructional posts published on Instagram, Pinterest and Whirlpool.com on strategies to make everyday activities educational. Recent posts have included “1-2-3 Cookies” to reinforce math and counting skills; “Cookie Cutter Sandwiches” to spotlight creativity and independence; and “Easy Folding for Kids” to teach children about “spatial cues and self-reliance.” 

Your keyboard: clean it up!!
Your keyboard holds enough crumbs for tomorrow’s lunch and your monitor is breeding dust bunnies. You need a good microfiber cloth ( like these from Amazon ) and some screen/gadget cleaner — or a spray bottle with 70% isopropyl alcohol. Power off your gadgets, spray the cloth and give the screens and surfaces a good wipe down. Tip your keyboards over to dump out the gunk or try canned air. Looking to disinfect?  You can safely use Clorox wipes on screens  but be careful not to get liquid into your keyboard.
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