Amazon has narrowed its list of HQ2 contenders to 20 finalists – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch

NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange is looking to do the as-yet inconceivable: bring some order to cryptocurrencies. The plan, announced yesterday, is to launch a data feed that pull info from cryptocurrency exchanges around the world and package it up for financial firms—a major change in the way pricing and trading activity could be monitored – WSJ

The IMF wouldn’t mind a say, either – Bloomberg

The future for Airbus’s A380 was looking dire.  And then, in stepped Emirates, the Dubai-based airline that dropped a $16 billion order for up to 36 planes to be delivered beginning in 2020. The order was desperately needed good news for Airbus, which saw 2017 with no orders for the plane it billed as the future of aviation – NYTimes and Bloomberg

The White House is considering John Williams (no, not that John Williams) for the role of Fed Vice Chair, a move that signals more continuity with the Yellen regime – Bloomberg

Further thoughts on Apple’s repatriation announcement this week, including a look at why its promise to invest tens of billions domestically won’t mean significant changes in its business operations – WSJ

Global watchdog group International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is joining the chorus of regulators warning of the risks of ICOs – Law360

Businessweek provides details on the “weirder and darker than you thought” demise of Travis Kalanick as CEO of Uber – Bloomberg

The OCC is reminding banks that cybersecurity and AML are among the “biggest threats” to the financial sector these days – Law360

Home security company ADT dropped a rather subdued IPO on markets yesterday in a return to public ownership 2 years after PE firm Apollo Global took it private – WSJ

HSBC has agreed to pay $101.5 million—roughly 2/3 of which comes in the form of a criminal penalty and the rest in restitution and disgorgement—to resolve DOJ claims that its bankers engaged in illegal front-running in currency exchanges – Law360

And here we are thinking we have it hard up here on the tundra.  Try Moscow, where a city used to a tiny amount of sunlight in a normal December (just 18 hours) made do with roughly 6 minutes this year.  6 MINUTES! мой Бог – NYTimes

Have a great weekend.