The US government is officially greenlighting fintech, with both the OCC and the Treasury Department issuing statements yesterday in support of the “emerging corner of the financial sector.” For the OCC, that means welcoming applications for a federal charter that would allow fintech firms to operate across state lines – WSJ and Law360 and NYTimes

A recent statement from China’s politburo shows that the country’s trade war with the United States is hitting the Chinese economy’s bottom line. That acknowledgement could be the precursor to more governmental stimulus “on the horizon” – WSJ

The European Union and IMF are locked in something of an ideological battle over a pretty simple question: is Greece’s debt crisis over, or what? – NYTimes

The NYSE’s regulatory arm is investigating alleged kickbacks involving floor traders that “has revived old questions” about traders “making illegal profits at their customers’ expense” – WSJ

Former HSBC forex trader Stuart Scott has won his appeal from a British High Court and won’t be extradited to the US in October to face 11 wire-fraud charges related to alleged forex-rigging – Law360

The Fed’s Open Markets Committee wraps meetings today. Expect quiet for now but some rate hike action in September – Bloomberg and MarketWatch

I’m not sure high-frequency traders and quants are the likely protagonists in anyone’s thriller, but such is the real-life case at the secretive Houston-based Quantlab Financial, where a leadership fight has broken out and created quite a stir – WSJ

The DOJ is looking to reopen a 2015 bankruptcy case involving Alpha Natural Resources so it can “investigate whether conflicts of interest at McKinsey & Co. tainted its work as an adviser” to the coal-mining giant – WSJ

FAANG’s been having a rough week, but a big fiscal Q3 from Apple appears to be just what the bull doctor ordered – WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch

Ahhh, science.  Gotta love it, especially when it’s gifted us not only with a brand new 3 dimensional shape—the scutoid—but with the added bonus of it already being absolutely everywhere – NewYorker