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NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - PNC Financial Services Group (PNC.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) were among banks set to submit final bids for First Republic Bank (FRC.N) by midday Sunday in an auction being run by U.S. regulators, sources familiar with the matter. FDIC was not immediately available for comment. The banks declined to comment. Citizens Financial Group Inc (CFG.N) was another bidder vying for the bank, according to sources familiar with the matter on Saturday. Reporting by Chris Prentice and Nupur Anand, writing by Megan Davies; Editing by Paritosh BansalOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ set to become 10th animated film to cross $1 billion at the global box office
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Nearly one month after “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” premiered with an impressive opening weekend at the box office, the animated film is expected to hit another major milestone. The movie is set to cross $1 billion at the global box office on Sunday, according to a news release from Universal, continuing to break box office records as it remains in the No. “Super Mario Bros.” will become the 10th animated film in history to cross $1 billion, making it the 10th biggest animated movie of all time globally, beating out the $942.5 million that “Minions: The Rise of the Gru” grossed in 2019. “Super Mario Bros.” surpassed Marvel’s “Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” at the time, which brought in $225.3 million globally during its February opening. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” follows Brooklyn plumbers Mario and Luigi as they’re transported down a mysterious pipe while working underground to fix a water main.

☆ US Fed points finger at Trump-era rollback for SVB demise
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Douglas Gillison | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

According to the Fed, SVB's management bore significant blame and bank examiners also made grave missteps. Randal Quarles, who was appointed to the Fed by President Donald Trump in 2017, oversaw the Fed's bank supervision until his resignation in 2021. Patrick McHenry, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, blasted the Fed report as a "thinly veiled attempt" to justify positions like those of Warren. According to the report, the 2018 law caused the Fed to raise the supervisory threshold for large banks, i.e. those smaller than the "global systemically important banks," to $100 billion in assets from $50 billion -- delaying stricter oversight of SVB "by at least three years."

☆ A gay Ukrainian military couple engaged only days ago is being pulled apart to face the fear and heartache of combat alone
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A gay Ukrainian military couple that got engaged only days ago is heading off into combat. The couple told Insider that while war is tough, they haven't let go of hope. "It is very difficult," Vladyslav told Insider, but if they were able to see each other more, or possibly fight alongside one another, it'd make the days a bit easier. They told Insider, courtesy of translator Maxim Potapovych, that they met on a dating app. The atmosphere, especially in the military, has improved, the couple told Insider.

Guggenheim Securities is advising the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) on the sale process, two sources familiar with the matter said. The process kicked off this week after First Republic, which got swept up in a banking crisis last month, failed to come up with a deal without government help, three of the sources familiar with the situation said. A deal for First Republic would come less then two months after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed amid a deposit flight from U.S. lenders, forcing the Federal Reserve to step in with emergency measures to calm markets. A sale would bring to an end a weeks-long effort by First Republic to survive the market rout. When that deal failed to stabilize First Republic, the lender, known best for its rich clientele, tried to find other private-sector solutions.

Depositors had pulled $100 billion from accounts at the bank in the panic triggered by the SVB and Signature failures, imperiling its survival. Both SVB and Signature failed last month. Both SVB and Signature grew quickly in recent years, outpacing the ability of regulators to keep up, especially with shrinking resources. Regulators closed Signature two days after SVB was shuttered. Signature lost 20% of its total deposits in a matter of hours on the day that SVB failed, FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg has said.

☆ Quotes: Fed plans broad revamp of bank oversight in wake of SVB collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

The assertion in the introduction that the Fed should focus on large bank capital requirements is disconnected from the report's conclusions. AMERICAN BANK ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT AND CEO ROB NICOLS"We take any bank failure seriously, and we will review the findings and proposed policy changes in these reports carefully, including where the conclusions may differ. JONATHAN MONDILLO, HEAD OF NORTH AMERICAN FIXED INCOME AT ABRDN"We're likely to see higher capital requirements. What that means for the overall markets is that the devil is in the details: how stringent those capital requirements will be. A potential First Republic Bank failure could similarly present a risk to the long-term investment strategy of high net-worth individuals."

☆ Factbox: Red flags galore: Fed officials cited Silicon Valley Bank 31 times
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

June 2022*Oversight of compliance monitoring and testing*Sanctions country of interest risk managementMay 2022*Risk management program: Supervisors found that SVB's risk management program was not effective or comprehensive, and resulted in a reactive approach rather than a holistic approach to risk management and reporting to senior management and the board. *Board effectiveness: The board of SVB did not provide effective oversight of the bank's management, and did not hold senior management accountable for executing a sound risk management program. November 2021* Enhanced liquidity risk management project plan: Fed officials identified weaknesses in the bank's risk management plans and said addressing them "will likely require an accelerated effort." August 2021* Governance process for lending procedures: The Fed found a "critical gap" in underlying documents for SVB's management to implement high-level policy objectives. * Loan risk rating granularity: While the bank's risk ratings were deemed timely and accurate, the system was not "sufficiently granular" for a bank of its size.

Both SVB and Signature failed last month. Regulators shut SVB on March 10, a day after customers withdrew $42 billion and queued requests for another $100 billion the following morning. Both SVB and Signature grew quickly in recent years, outpacing the ability of regulators to keep up, especially with shrinking resources. Regulators closed Signature two days after SVB was shuttered. Signature lost 20% of its total deposits in a matter of hours on the day that SVB failed, FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg has said.

☆ Factbox: Highlights from US regulators' reviews of SVB, Signature failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Below are key details from the government's post-mortems, which underscore management failings at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and too-slow, too-soft responses from regulators. * In 2022, SVB failed to test its capacity to borrow at the discount window and did not have appropriate collateral and operational arrangements in place to obtain contingency funding, the U.S. central bank said. The New York-based bank's board of directors and management pursued "rapid, unrestrained growth" without adequate risk management. * The Fed's judgments of SVB were "not always appropriate" given that bank's weaknesses. A single examiner was responsible for reviewing the bank's interest-rate risk and investment portfolio, and in some cases, would also review liquidity and model risk management during a two-to-three-week timeframe.

☆ Fed calls for rules revamp in 'unflinching' review of SVB oversight
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr called the review "unflinching," describing the U.S. central bank's oversight of the Santa Clara, California-based bank inadequate and regulatory standards too low. * Silicon Valley Bank was "acutely exposed" to risks from rising interest rates and slowing activity in the technology sector in ways that senior leaders and its board of directors did not appreciate. * In 2022, SVB failed to test its capacity to borrow at the discount window and did not have appropriate collateral and operational arrangements in place to obtain contingency funding. * Fed supervisors discussed conducting an interest-rate risk review of SVB during 2022 but decided to prioritize other exams and defer it to the third quarter of 2023. * The level of Fed resources dedicated to its regional bank oversight "proved insufficient."

In what Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr called an "unflinching" review of the U.S. central bank's supervision of SVB, the Fed said its oversight of the Santa Clara, California-based bank proved inadequate and that regulatory standards were too low. At the time of its failure, SVB had 31 unaddressed citations on its safety and soundness, triple what its peers in the banking sector had, the report said. Barr said as a consequence of the failure, the central bank will reexamine how it supervises and regulates liquidity risk, beginning with the risks of uninsured deposits. "Contagion from the failure of SVB threatened the ability of a broader range of banks to provide financial services and access to credit for individuals, families, and businesses," Barr said. The Fed is looking at linking executive compensation to fixing problems at banks designated as deficient on management so as to focus executives' attention on those problems, a senior Fed official said in a briefing.

☆ Highlights from the Fed review of SVB oversight
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Red flags galore: Fed officials cited SVB 31 times
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

☆ US Fed plans broad revamp of bank oversight in wake of SVB collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Many commentators linked the lessons learned from the earlier crisis to the ongoing concerns about First Republic Bank. INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL BANKERS CEO BETH ZORC"The IIB commends the Federal Reserve's timeliness of producing its report on SVB. "There are similarities between SVB's situation and what is happening with First Republic Bank: both are affected by the rapid movement of very large sums of money." A potential First Republic Bank failure could similarly present a risk to the long-term investment strategy of high net-worth individuals." "It feels isolated, than the rest of the regional bank system, feels like it's in a different place than where FRC is."

☆ Russia's desperately trying to drum up new recruits by selling military service as a 'worthy future' as thousands of troops die in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia is desperately selling military service as a "worthy future" to prospective recruits. The Washington Post reported that much of Russia's recruitment is happening regionally. Some of the army brochures say that "Contract service is a worthy future," the Post reported. Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesIn recent months, Russian authorities have also increasingly sensationalized military enrollment in television ads. Russia's push for more troops and glamorization of military enrollment comes as the country's casualties continue to climb.

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas ordered the head of a South African firm to pay a whopping $3.4 billion for what the U.S. commodities regulator said was its largest-ever fraud case involving bitcoin. Cornelius Johannes Steynberg was ordered to pay $1.7 billion in restitution to victims of the fraud scheme and another $1.7 billion as a civil penalty, a record for any Commodity Futures Trading Commission case, the regulator said in a statement on Thursday. The CFTC charged Steynberg in July, saying Mirror Trading solicited bitcoin online from thousands of people to purportedly operate a commodity pool. The firm claimed to trade off-exchange, retail foreign currency with participants who were not eligible to trade, the regulator said. The default judgment against Steynberg was granted by Judge Lee Yeakel in the Western District of Texas, according to a court filing.

☆ SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket was too powerful for its own good
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Chris Panella | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Rocks and other debris fly around remote cameras as SpaceX’s Starship lifts off atop its Super Heavy booster for the first time. Starship was too strong for its launchpadA field of debris surrounds Starship's launchpad after the rocket's launch blew up concrete beneath it. Debris litters the Starship launchpad, with damaged fuel tanks visible in the background. PATRICK T. FALLON / Contributor / Getty ImagesThere were no injuries related to the Starship launch, according to the FAA. In addition to the mishap investigation, SpaceX must request a modification to its launch license in order to fly another Starship.

Trump's Truth Social posts blasting E. Jean Carroll may be "tampering" the jury, the judge warned. Judge Kaplan pointed out that Trump had, for years, dodged taking a DNA test that would help determine the merits of Carroll's allegations. "It's as if you just told me yesterday was the Fourth of July," Judge Kaplan said. Judge Kaplan called Trump's Truth Social posts "a public statement that seems entirely inappropriate" and warned it may cross the line into "tampering" with the case. In an October 2022 post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "This 'Ms.

Disney alleges that DeSantis tried to "weaponize government power" over the company. It alleges that DeSantis' continued action against Disney "threatens Disney's business operations." Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, alleging that he tried to "weaponize government power" over the company. As retaliation to the Disney executives' pledges, DeSantis took aim at a decades-long provision that gives Disney special self-governing privileges in Florida. Unlike rival parks Universal Studios and Sea World, Disney doesn't have to run their plans by zoning commissions or building-inspection departments.

☆ US Treasury's financial crimes unit hits state-chartered trust with penalty
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Wednesday hit a South Dakota-chartered Kingdom Trust Company with a $1.5 million civil penalty for willfully violating a law requiring banks report suspicious transactions. From February 2016 through March 2021, Kingdom Trust processed billions of transactions without proper controls aimed at preventing money laundering, FinCEN said in its consent order. The firm admitted to the willful violations in what FinCEN described in a statement as its first enforcement action against a trust company. Kingdom Trust did not respond immediately to a request for comment. "Kingdom Trust had virtually no process to identify and report suspicious transactions, resulting in it processing over $4 billion in international wires with essentially no controls," FinCEN’s acting director Himamauli Das said in the statement.

☆ U.S. policing AI at companies to make sure it doesn't violate civil rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Tuesday warned financial firms and others that use of artificial intelligence (AI) can heighten the risk of bias and civil rights violations, and signaled they are policing marketplaces for such discrimination. Increased reliance on automated systems in sectors including lending, employment and housing threatens to exacerbate discrimination based on race, disabilities and other factors, the heads of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Justice Department's civil rights unit, Federal Trade Commission and others said. "Claims of innovation must not be cover for lawbreaking," Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, told reporters. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is trying to reach tech sector whistleblowers to determine where new technologies run afoul of civil rights laws, said Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra. If companies do not even understand the reasons for the decisions their AI is making, they cannot legally use it, Chopra said.

☆ UK intel says Russia is giving Ukrainians in occupied towns a choice: Get Russian passports or get 'deported' and have their property seized
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Russian authorities are forcing Ukrainian citizens in occupied areas to get Russian passports. If residents refuse, they will be "deported" and have their property seized, UK intel said. The UK Ministry of Defense said Putin's forces are trying to force Russian culture on occupied Ukrainian territories. According to an update from the UK Ministry of Defense, Russia is forcing Ukrainian citizens to accept Russian Federation passports. The ministry added that making Ukrainians register with Russian passports is "a tool in the 'Russification' of the occupied areas," meaning the forced assimilation of Ukrainians into Russian culture.

☆ Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Taylor Berman | Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Fox News' star host Tucker Carlson is gone, the media network announced Monday. Tucker Carlson and Fox News have "agreed to part ways," the cable news giant announced on Monday. Carlson's last episode of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" was Friday, Fox News said, though he didn't make any reference to his impending exit on the program. "We want to thank Tucker Carlson for his service to the network," Faulkner said. Carlson leaves Fox News less than a week after Fox settled a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million over the cable company's promotion of lies about the 2020 election.

It is considered the first criminal insider trading case involving such assets. "He abused that position of trust," prosecutors said in an April 4 filing. He added that if prosecutors mention insider trading, "there is a substantial danger of undue prejudice and confusion of the jury." "Is it insider trading of anything?" "If this case sticks, there is precedent that insider trading theory can be applied to any asset class."

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