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☆ Credit Suisse Will Borrow Up to 50 Billion Swiss Francs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Colin Barr | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Credit Suisse , the Swiss bank whose shares tumbled Wednesday as fears about the health of global banks jumped the Atlantic Ocean, said it would exercise its option to raise as much as 50 billion Swiss francs, equivalent to $53.7 billion, from the Swiss National Bank in a bid to stanch liquidity concerns. The firm, based in Zurich, called the decision a “decisive action to pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity.”

☆ Tech pressure, Yellen everywhere: How Washington scrambled as SVB collapsed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Yellen heads to the White House, Brainard meets with her staff and holds Zoom calls in her wood-paneled office in the West Wing. Treasury staff hustle to get Yellen on CBS News' "Face the Nation" program on Sunday, in an attempt to reassure markets. White House officials draft news releases with various scenarios, uncertain until shortly before 6 p.m. if an acquisition can still happen. As he leaves Delaware to return to the White House, Biden tells reporters he will make a statement on Monday. Treasury and White House officials reach out to members of Congress and their staffs throughout the evening to explain the plan, with discussions continuing into Monday.

☆ Fed to consider tougher rules for midsize banks after SVB collapse-source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Pete Schroeder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 14 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is considering tougher rules and oversight for midsize banks similar in size to Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O), which collapsed suddenly last week, according to a source familiar with the matter. Now, a review of the $209 billion bank's failure being conducted by Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr could lead to strengthened rules on banks in the $100 billion to $250 billion range, the source told Reuters. That review of Fed supervision and regulation of the bank will be released by May 1, and augments a review of bank capital rules by Barr already underway. All those requirements could be reworked by the Fed in the aftermath of the collapse, which has also spurred fresh calls from proponents of tougher rules for regulators to rebuild those restrictions. On Tuesday, 50 Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, introduced a bill to repeal the law that eased rules for banks in 2018.

☆ AMERICAS Bank stress, bond volatility and disinflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

But the implications of this sudden bout of financial instability - and its potential economic and policy fallout - were most clearly seen in the interest rate and bond markets. Implied terminal rates for the European Central Bank and Bank of England have been dramatically scaled back too - though one or two further hikes are still priced for those central banks. But the Fed rethink has led to seismic action on the U.S. Treasury market, with the biggest drop in 2-year Treasury yields on Monday since the stock market crash of 1987. Credit spreads in the corporate bond markets have also widened sharply as investors fear an economy-wide tightening of borrowing standards and financial conditions. It would certainly think twice about tightening policy again into this level of financial stress and bond market upheaval.

Fears remained on Wall Street on Monday despite the measures announced over the weekend following the collapse of California-based Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) and New York-based Signature Bank (SBNY.O). Some investors have called for further action by banking regulators to reassure markets. But banking experts said regulators would likely want to see the extent of any further contagion before deciding on fresh measures. In addition, the Fed announced Monday it was doing an internal review of its oversight of Silicon Valley Bank, where it was the primary regulator. Prior to Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, banks had been lobbying lawmakers to push back against the Fed's review, arguing it could slow the economy.

☆ Warren urges Powell to recuse from SVB probe, demands answers of ex-bank CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Pete Schroeder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Senator Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday called on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to recuse himself from an internal review of recent bank failures, saying his actions "directly contributed" to them. The Federal Reserve said on Monday it is reviewing its oversight of the bank in the wake of its abrupt failure Friday. Warren argued that Powell's prior support for easing bank rules indicates he should not participate in the review. For the Fed’s inquiry to have credibility, Powell must recuse himself from this internal review," she said in a Twitter post. Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Pete Schroeder; Editing by Susan Heavey and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Morning Bid: Bank stress, bond volatility and disinflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

☆ Sen. Warren urges Fed Chair Powell to recuse himself from review of Silicon Valley Bank collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday pushed Fed Chair Jerome Powell to remove himself from the central bank's review of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, accusing him of allowing dangerous practices that helped to cause its failure. The Massachusetts Democrat contended Powell's "actions to allow big banks like Silicon Valley Bank to boost their profits by loading up on risk directly contributed to these bank failures." "For the Fed's inquiry to have credibility, Powell must publicly and immediately recuse himself from this internal review," Warren said in a statement. "The events surrounding Silicon Valley Bank demand a thorough, transparent, and swift review by the Federal Reserve," Powell said in a statement Monday. The agency created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara to hold the insured deposits from SVB.

☆ U.S. Federal Reserve to review its oversight of Silicon Valley Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Pete Schroeder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Monday it is reviewing its oversight of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) in the wake of its abrupt failure Friday. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco was responsible for Silicon Valley Bank's supervision. "The San Francisco Fed had all the tools necessary to prevent this from happening," Senator Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican, said in an interview. "We need to understand why the San Francisco Fed wasn’t utilizing all the tools at its disposal from an oversight standpoint." A spokesperson for the San Francisco Fed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ The Fed says it will investigate its oversight of Silicon Valley Bank following the biggest bank failure since 2008
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Fed will investigate its oversight of Silicon Valley Bank, Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday. "The events surrounding Silicon Valley Bank demand a thorough, transparent, and swift review by the Federal Reserve." SVB became the biggest bank failure since 2008 after regulators closed it Friday. "The events surrounding Silicon Valley Bank demand a thorough, transparent, and swift review by the Federal Reserve," Chairman Jerome Powell said in the statement. "For a $200 billion bank to have no interest rate risk controls is staggering," he said.

☆ Why Silicon Valley Bank's customers were bailed out
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank on Friday and halted account withdrawals. Why did Silicon Valley Bank collapse? This social media firestorm created a bank run where SVB customers raced against each other to pull money from the bank. Did the government bail out Silicon Valley Bank? Will people get their money back from Silicon Valley Bank?

☆ US banks have well over $1 trillion of uninsured deposits. Signature Bank was among the most exposed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US government shut down Signature Bank on Sunday. This time it was Signature Bank. The FDIC insures US bank deposits up to $250,000 per account to prevent bank runs and failures. The demise of SVB, and now the collapse of Signature Bank, have stretched this system to a breaking point. The authorities are giving the same special exemption to Signature Bank, so all depositors will be made whole there too.

☆ Bank-rule pendulum swings back to 'safety first'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The crisis that struck the U.S. banking system over the weekend had many causes. After the 2008 crisis, Congress bound up the financial system with rules to prevent bank death spirals. The major financial authorities – the Fed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – applied the lighter touch. The Fed was permitted to retain tough rules for banks with assets over $100 billion, but decided not to. There are, after all, only 17 banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion – two fewer than last week.

☆ 3 Failed Banks This Year Were Bigger Than 25 That Crumbled in 2008
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Karl Russell | Christine Zhang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The three banks that failed this year were worth more in inflation-adjusted assets than the 25 that collapsed in 2008. Before Silicon Valley Bank, the last bank to fail was in late 2020, as the coronavirus was ravaging the country. First Republic Bank ranks 14th, Silicon Valley Bank ranks 16th and Signature Bank ranks 29th. Silicon Valley Bank’s chief executive, Greg Becker, was a strong supporter of the move. In a review of the Fed’s oversight of Silicon Valley Bank released on Friday, Michael S. Barr, the central bank’s vice chair for supervision, said the Fed would “re-evaluate” its rules for banks that were similar in size to Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ Mexico's top diplomat stresses cooperation with U.S. versus intervention
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, March 10 (Reuters) - Mexico's top diplomat on Friday criticized comments by former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who had called for increased U.S. involvement in Mexico to tackle drug cartels, saying Mexico "will never allow its sovereignty to be violated." Barr's opinion piece compared Mexico's "narco-terrorist" cartels to the jihadist Islamic State and backed a Republican proposal to give the U.S. president the power to send the military to fight against the cartels. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejected the calls for U.S. intervention Thursday, calling them "irresponsible." "We need an effective drug policy, and the illegal flow of weapons into Mexico must stop," Ebrard added. Reporting by Kylie Madry Editing by Chris Reese and Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How much will Silicon Valley Bank customers get back from the money they deposited? They may not recover it all, analysts say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Moody's, backed by Warren Buffett, specializes in assessing the financial strength of financial institutions, so SVB depositors should pay attention. Moody's downgraded SVB's long-term bank deposit rating to "Caa2," which reflects "an expected recovery rate of 80-90% for uninsured depositors," the rating agency said. For anything over $250,000 in your SVB bank account, Moody's estimates you will get 80 cents to 90 cents for each dollar deposited. That could mean that a newly supported SVB bank might open on Monday morning and depositors will have full access to their accounts. But it illustrates the risks to uninsured bank depositors.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank is a particularly scary failure. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

JPMorgan has only about 43% of its deposits uninsured via this US government backstop. Look at JPMorgan at the end of last year: Estimated uninsured deposits of $1.38 trillion versus total deposits of $2.34 trillion. "All insured depositors will have full access to their insured deposits no later than Monday morning, March 13, 2023. "Uninsured depositors will receive a receivership certificate for the remaining amount of their uninsured funds. As the FDIC sells the assets of Silicon Valley Bank, future dividend payments may be made to uninsured depositors."

☆ The Justice Department investigated Jeffrey Epstein's death. Then it went silent.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

Jeffrey Epstein's death in a federal jail was seen as a shocking Justice Department failure. But more than three years later, the office still hasn't released its report into the circumstances of Epstein's death. "We all took it by surprise," Mark Epstein told Insider. Barr tasked the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, and the FBI with investigating "the circumstances of Mr. Epstein's death." Mark Epstein told Insider that he spoke to his brother about once a month in the years before his death.

☆ Morning Bid: Job runes, China offer sliver of rate hope
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

That certainly ups the ante for Friday's monthly employment report and next week's consumer price index releases. But the rate at which people were leaving jobs voluntarily was falling and layoffs were up. Another pause for thought came from China's February inflation numbers that show annual consumer price rises slowed to just 1%, the lowest rate in a year. More broadly on Thursday, interest rates markets retained their dramatic re-pricing and relatively resilient stock markets tilted negative again. The implied end-2023 rate is now above 5.50% - more than a full percentage point above where it was assumed on February 1.

☆ House Republicans target the CFPB as the agency takes aim at 'junk fees'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers discussed ways to reform, or altogether defund, the nation's foremost consumer protection agency on Thursday, as the regulator takes aim at illegal "junk fees" levied on consumers. GOP lawmakers in the hearing criticized the Biden administration's push to eradicate "junk fees," largely regulated by the CFPB. On Wednesday, the agency released a list of illegal junk fees encompassing deposit accounts; auto and mortgage loan servicing; and payday and title lending. Subcommittee member Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., said Chopra has used junk fees as an excuse to expand his authority. The CFPB's working definition of junk fees is "any fee they don't like," argued Devin Watkins, an attorney at the conservative-leaning Competitive Enterprise Institute.

☆ Fed's Barr says crypto needs 'guardrails' to realize benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Pete Schroeder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - The top regulatory official for the U.S. Federal Reserve said cryptocurrency technology still could have "potential transformative" effects on the financial system, but needs "guardrails" to realize them. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said recent turmoil in crypto markets make clear the sector could still pose a risk to traditional banks, but that the impact has been limited as regulators urge caution. Barr stopped short of saying banks have no role to play in crypto, but rather said regulators are busy figuring out what firms could do in the space while remaining safe and sound. He noted that technology behind crypto could make financial markets and payments systems more efficient and affordable. "Our goal is to create guardrails, while making room for innovation that can benefit consumers and the financial system more broadly," he said.

☆ Opko Health soars after deal with Merck for experimental Epstein-Barr vaccine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 8 (Reuters) - Opko Health Inc (OPK.O) said on Wednesday it signed a deal with Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) potentially worth up to $922.5 million for its experimental Epstein-Barr virus vaccine. Merck will take over the clinical and regulatory activities related to the vaccine, as well its commercialization once the drugmaker files a joint application with Opko unit ModeX Therapeutics to test it in humans, the company said. Opko will receive an upfront payment of $50 million and is eligible for milestone payments of up to $872.5 million, plus royalties on global sales. There is currently no vaccine for the Epstein-Barr virus, which is the leading cause of mononucleosis, or mono, commonly called the "kissing disease". Reporting by Aditya Samal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja DesaiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Stock futures are flat as Wall Street weighs likelihood of higher rate hikes: Live updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. stock futures were flat on Wednesday night as traders processed fresh job market data and comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped by 0.01% and 0.03%, respectively. During the regular session, the Dow dipped 58.06 points, or 0.18%, marking its second negative session in a row. These mixed results came after new numbers on the job market led investors to believe that higher rate hikes are more likely. "The global economy is more resilient than many realized, which will make inflation stickier and is extending central bankers' terminal rate target.

☆ The rise, fall, and comeback of Victoria's Secret, America's biggest lingerie retailer
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Mary Hanbury | Áine Cain | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

He named the brand after the Victorian era in England, wanting to evoke the refinement of this period in his lingerie. Victoria's Secret vintage catalog 1982. Victoria's SecretHis vision was summed up by Slate's Naomi Barr in 2013: "Raymond imagined a Victorian boudoir, replete with dark wood, oriental rugs, and silk drapery. He chose the name 'Victoria' to evoke the propriety and respectability associated with the Victorian era; outwardly refined, Victoria's 'secrets' were hidden beneath." He went on to open a handful of Victoria's Secret stores and launched its famous catalog.

☆ The U.S. Must Defeat Mexico’s Drug Cartels
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( William P. Barr | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

America can no longer tolerate narco-terrorist cartels. Operating from havens in Mexico, their production of deadly drugs on an industrial scale is flooding our country with this poison. Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R., Texas) and Michael Waltz (R., Fla.) have proposed a joint resolution giving the president authority to use the U.S. military against these cartels in Mexico. Overdose deaths every year—more than 100,000—exceed the number of Americans killed in action during the bloodiest year of World War II. Given the explosion in illicit drug deaths since then, this estimate now seems conservative.

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