📅 Weekly Notes Archive

Feynman-style weekly briefings across all three pillars. Each event is explained with a simple analogy, a plain-English explanation, and why it matters.

Compliance

Aug 3 – Aug 9

PLACEHOLDER: Feynman takeaway for Compliance week 2026-W32.

🏛️ FinCEN enforcement focus

Jul 20 – Jul 26

FinCEN extended comment period for Huione Group rule targeting pig-butchering scam networks.

🏛️ Post-AMLA assessment week

Jul 13 – Jul 19

Compliance teams assessed the impact of the July 10 AMLA deadline and the Fed's proposed reforms.

⚡⚡⚡ SUPERWEEK

Jul 6 – Jul 12

AMLA publishes first ITS for direct supervision. EU AMLR core framework applies. Countries transpose AMLD6. Fed proposes

⏰ AMLA July 10 deadline countdown

Jun 29 – Jul 5

The AMLA July 10 technical standards deadline loomed. EU financial institutions rushed final preparations. Also: Fed Mon

🙌 Enforcement showcase

Jun 22 – Jun 28

FinCEN Law Enforcement Awards recognized 7 cases demonstrating effective use of BSA data.

⚡⚡ GENIUS Act CIP rule detailed

Jun 15 – Jun 21

FinCEN and agencies proposed the GENIUS Act Customer Identification Program rule — stablecoin issuers must now know thei

⚡⚡ FinCEN expands 314(b) to fraud

Jun 8 – Jun 14

FinCEN expanded Section 314(b) information sharing to include fraud — broadening the AML safe harbor beyond traditional

🏛️ Quiet week

Jun 1 – Jun 7

AML teams prepared for the July wave.

🏛️ Fed AML reform alignment

May 25 – May 31

The Fed signaled alignment with FinCEN's effectiveness-based AML approach. Banking regulators coordinating on AML modern

🏛️ Quiet week

May 18 – May 24

AML teams focused on AMLA July 10 preparations.

🏛️ Quiet week

May 11 – May 17

AML teams tracked committee markup of CLARITY Act — the stablecoin AML provisions were part of the debate.

🏛️ Quiet week

May 4 – May 10

AML teams tracked FinCEN comments and continued AMLA preparations.

🏛️ Quiet week

Apr 27 – May 3

AML teams continued working on implementing the proposed FinCEN changes.

🏛️ FinCEN reform analysis week

Apr 20 – Apr 26

BakerHostetler analyzed FinCEN's proposed rule: shift from 'checking boxes' to 'demonstrating results.'

⚡⚡ GENIUS Act stablecoin rules + AMLA details

Apr 13 – Apr 19

FinCEN/OFAC proposed GENIUS Act rules for stablecoin issuers — first federal AML mandate for digital assets. AMLA Level

⚡⚡⚡ FinCEN proposes BSA overhaul

Apr 6 – Apr 12

The single most important AML week of 2026: FinCEN proposed fundamental BSA/AML reform — the biggest US AML overhaul sin

🏛️ FinCEN whistleblower week (cont.)

Mar 30 – Apr 5

Whistleblower rule submission marked the beginning of Q2's regulatory wave.

🏛️ FinCEN whistleblower week

Mar 23 – Mar 29

FinCEN proposed a whistleblower reward rule — bringing AML enforcement into the 21st century with bounty hunting.

🏛️ Quiet compliance week

Mar 16 – Mar 22

AML teams continued tracking AMLA technical standard preparations.

🇪🇺 EU AML reform week

Mar 9 – Mar 15

EU AML Package Guide detailed 23 AMLA technical standards due by July 10. Moody's called AMLR the most significant EU AM

🏛️ Quiet compliance week

Mar 2 – Mar 8

AML teams tracked the oil crisis for trade-based ML red flags.

🏛️ Quiet compliance week

Feb 23 – Mar 1

AML compliance teams watched the oil crisis unfold — energy price spikes always correlate with trade-based money launder

🏛️ Quiet compliance week

Feb 16 – Feb 22

Quiet week in AML as FATF updates settled and the industry absorbed the grey list changes.

🌍 FATF grey list update

Feb 9 – Feb 15

FATF updated its grey list — Kuwait added, Iran stays blacklisted. The global AML framework continued evolving.

🏛️ Quiet compliance week

Feb 2 – Feb 8

AML world was watching the Warsh confirmation process with interest — a new Fed chair means new regulatory priorities.

🏛️ Quiet compliance week

Jan 26 – Feb 1

Quiet week in AML as all eyes were on the Fed and markets.

🏛️ Quiet compliance week

Jan 19 – Jan 25

A quiet week for AML as the industry focused on Q4 earnings season.

🏛️ Quiet compliance week

Jan 12 – Jan 18

The big action this week was in markets — crypto regulation framework emerged.

🏛️ Quiet compliance week

Jan 5 – Jan 11

AML compliance teams used January to assess the 2025 reforms before the 2026 rulemaking wave hit.

🔄 Transition week

Dec 29 – Jan 4

Investment advisers got a 2-year delay on AML rules — like telling a restaurant 'you don't need a fire extinguisher unti

Markets

Aug 3 – Aug 9

PLACEHOLDER: Feynman takeaway for Markets week 2026-W32.

⚡⚡⚡ CRISIS WEEK

Jul 20 – Jul 26

CLARITY Act updated with presidential crypto ban. Oil surges past $95. JPMorgan warns earnings fuel running out. The wor

📈 Q2 earnings season opens with 88% beat rate

Jul 13 – Jul 19

Q2 2026 earnings season opened with an astonishing 88% beat rate — the strongest since 2021. 16.4% above estimates, 23.3

⚡⚡ Hormuz crisis reignites

Jul 6 – Jul 12

Iran attacked 3 commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz (Jul 7). US retaliatory strikes (Jul 8). Trump declared the c

🔄 Oil volatility continues

Jun 29 – Jul 5

Oil briefly fell to ~$71 on peace hopes, but the Hormuz ceasefire was fragile. Markets maintained elevated uncertainty p

🏛️ CBDC banned through 2030

Jun 22 – Jun 28

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act included a provision banning the Fed from issuing a digital dollar through 2030. Th

⚡⚡⚡ Warsh's first FOMC + Iran ceasefire + Reg NMS proposal

Jun 15 – Jun 21

Kevin Warsh's first FOMC: shorter statement, no forward guidance, 5 task forces. Iran MOU signed — oil collapses from $1

⚡⚡⚡ TRIPLE HEADER

Jun 8 – Jun 14

SEC proposes rescinding Reg NMS Rule 611. 0DTE hits 1/3 of all options volume. Retail options hit $6.8B daily. S&P conce

🏛️ CLARITY Act on Senate calendar

Jun 1 – Jun 7

CLARITY Act placed on Senate Legislative Calendar (Calendar No. 423) — eligible for floor vote. Crypto regulation was on

🏛️ Reg NMS reform debate

May 25 – May 31

House Market Structure Hearing on Reg NMS reform. Rule 611 (Order Protection Rule) under scrutiny. Record $1T single-day

📈 Warsh's first full week

May 18 – May 24

Warsh's first full week as Fed Chair. Markets priced in his hawkish-but-pro-productivity stance. Reg NMS reform debate i

⚡⚡ Warsh becomes Fed Chair + CLARITY Act clears committee

May 11 – May 17

Two massive events: Kevin Warsh officially becomes Fed Chair (May 15). CLARITY Act passes Banking Committee 15-9 (May 14

🏛️ CLARITY Act markup

May 4 – May 10

CLARITY Act Senate Banking Committee markup began — the make-or-break moment for crypto regulation.

📉 Oil settles, CLARITY Act delayed

Apr 27 – May 3

Oil settled above $90 (the new floor). CLARITY Act markup slipped to May. Markets treaded water.

⚡⚡ Oil peaks + earnings warning

Apr 20 – Apr 26

Oil hit ~$125/barrel — the peak of the Hormuz crisis. JPMorgan warned earnings momentum was deteriorating. A double warn

🏛️ Senate returns, CLARITY Act markup targeted

Apr 13 – Apr 19

Senate returned to full session. CLARITY Act Banking markup targeted for late April.

🔄 Quiet week

Apr 6 – Apr 12

Markets digesting FinCEN reform and watching oil prices.

🏛️ Senate recess

Mar 30 – Apr 5

Senate in pro forma sessions. CLARITY Act frozen. Markets drifted on low volume.

🔄 Quiet week

Mar 23 – Mar 29

Markets in wait-and-see mode after the PCE shock. Senate in recess.

🏦🏛️ Fed holds + inflation spike

Mar 16 – Mar 22

Fed held rates at 3.5-3.75%. PCE inflation hit 4.1% — driven entirely by the energy crisis. The rate-cut narrative died.

🏛️ Quiet week

Mar 9 – Mar 15

Markets caught their breath after the oil shock. The S&P 500 stabilized as traders assessed the damage.

📉 Oil crisis week 2

Mar 2 – Mar 8

Oil continued to spike. Reg NMS data revealed record equity market fragmentation. The macro picture darkened.

⚡⚡⚡ Crisis week

Feb 23 – Mar 1

The biggest geopolitical event of 2026: the US-Iran conflict begins. Strait of Hormuz effectively closed. Oil prices spi

🏛️ Market structure week

Feb 16 – Feb 22

SEC extended Reg NMS compliance to November 2027, giving the industry more time to adapt to the 23/5 trading world.

📈 Warsh productivity bet

Feb 9 – Feb 15

Markets continued digesting the Warsh AI productivity thesis. Forbes asked: 'Why an inflation hawk might lower interest

🏦 Warsh confirmation week

Feb 2 – Feb 8

Kevin Warsh confirmation hearings began. He signaled an AI-optimistic outlook that could allow rate cuts even as an 'inf

⚡⚡⚡ Triple-header week

Jan 26 – Feb 1

Kevin Warsh nominated as Fed Chair, Fed holds rates steady, 23/5 trading formally approved — the most consequential week

📈 Earnings week

Jan 19 – Jan 25

Q4 earnings continued to impress — 75% beat rate, 8.2% YoY growth, tech and materials leading.

⚡ Landmark week

Jan 12 – Jan 18

The SEC approved 23/5 trading, Q4 earnings kicked off strong, and the CLARITY Act draft emerged — a triple witching hour

Jan 5 – Jan 11

The Fed started quietly expanding its balance sheet — the first hint that monetary policy was loosening behind the scene

📉 Quiet week

Dec 29 – Jan 4

January 2026 opened with a whimper for markets — the calm before the tariff storm, the Hormuz crisis, and a new Fed chai

Data Engineering

Aug 3 – Aug 9

PLACEHOLDER: Feynman takeaway for Data Engineering week 2026-W32.

🔄 Quiet week

Jul 20 – Jul 26

Data engineering teams focused on Lakestream adoption and Iceberg migration planning.

🔄 Quiet week

Jul 13 – Jul 19

Data engineering teams continued Q3 projects.

⚡⚡ Iceberg named industry standard + Lakestream validated

Jul 6 – Jul 12

TechTarget: Iceberg named 'de facto industry standard.' Delta Lake concedes via UniForm. StreamNative publishes Lakestre

🔄 Quiet week

Jun 29 – Jul 5

Data engineering teams prepared for the July technology news cycle.

⚡ Open Lakehouse report confirms Iceberg standard

Jun 22 – Jun 28

Industry report: 'Open Data Lakehouse in 2026' confirmed Iceberg as the de facto standard, format war over.

⚡⚡ Flink 2.3.0 with Native S3 FS

Jun 15 – Jun 21

Apache Flink 2.3.0 released: Native S3 FileSystem, changelog SQL operators, materialized table refresh — the biggest Fli

🔄 Quiet week

Jun 8 – Jun 14

Data engineering teams continued their Q2 projects, eyes on the Reg NMS proposal's implications for market data pipeline

⚡ Google Cloud joins Iceberg ecosystem

Jun 1 – Jun 7

Google Cloud announced next-gen cross-cloud Lakehouse — AI-native, Iceberg-native, multi-cloud. All 3 major clouds now a

🔄 Quiet week

May 25 – May 31

Data engineering teams absorbed the 'Iceberg won' news and began planning migration strategies.

⚡⚡⚡ ICBERG WINS THE FORMAT WAR

May 18 – May 24

Iceberg v3 GA on Snowflake, preview on Databricks. Iceberg v4 development begins. The format war is over — Iceberg is th

⚡ Apache Polaris solidifies as catalog standard

May 11 – May 17

Apache Polaris emerged as the default catalog for Iceberg lakehouses — one standard to rule them all.

⚡ AI creates 80%+ of new databases

May 4 – May 10

AI agents now create 80%+ of new databases on Databricks — a stunning stat showing AI-native data infrastructure had arr

🔄 Quiet week

Apr 27 – May 3

Data engineering teams continued Q2 execution.

🔄 Quiet week

Apr 20 – Apr 26

Data engineering teams continued their Q2 projects.

⚡ Delta Lake 4.2.0

Apr 13 – Apr 19

Delta Lake 4.2.0 released with Unity Catalog Managed Table enhancements and streaming read support — format convergence

⚡⚡⚡ LAKESTREAM LAUNCH

Apr 6 – Apr 12

StreamNative launched Lakestream architecture and Ursa for Kafka — the streaming-lakehouse unification product that woul

⚡⚡ Flink CDC 3.6.0

Mar 30 – Apr 5

Flink CDC 3.6.0 released — the biggest CDC release of 2026 with AI pipeline enhancements, new connectors, and better sch

⚡ AI agents in production

Mar 23 – Mar 29

Flink Agents 0.2.1 preview release and AI-assisted pipeline development trends signal the agentic data infrastructure fu

🔄 Quiet week

Mar 16 – Mar 22

Data engineering continued Q1 execution.

🔄 Quiet week

Mar 9 – Mar 15

Data engineering teams continued their Q1 projects.

⚡ Workflow engineering week

Mar 2 – Mar 8

The 'everyone's a workflow engineer' narrative emerged — orchestration becomes the universal data layer.

🔄 Quiet week

Feb 23 – Mar 1

Data engineering teams were preoccupied with the oil shock's impact on cloud costs (AWS, GCP, Azure all burn diesel for

⚡⚡ Apache Polaris Graduation

Feb 16 – Feb 22

Apache Polaris became a top-level ASF project — the vendor-neutral Iceberg catalog standard was born.

⚡⚡ Survey week

Feb 9 – Feb 15

The State of Data Engineering 2026 survey dropped — 82% use AI daily, 42% expect team growth. The defining stat of the y

🔄 Quiet week

Feb 2 – Feb 8

Data engineering continued its Q1 planning rhythm.

🔄 Quiet week

Jan 26 – Feb 1

Data engineering teams focused on tool selection and architecture planning for 2026.

🔄 Quiet week

Jan 19 – Jan 25

Data engineering teams continued planning their 2026 roadmaps.

🔄 Quiet week

Jan 12 – Jan 18

Data engineering teams were still digesting the 2026 trend reports and planning their AI pipeline roadmaps.

⚡ Trend-setting

Jan 5 – Jan 11

The 2026 data engineering narrative solidified: AI, real-time, and cloud-first.

⚡ Trend-setting

Dec 29 – Jan 4

The data engineering community started the year by declaring AI pipelines, data contracts, and real-time streaming as th