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☆ EU's competition chief Margrethe Vestager under fire for hiring a U.S. economist
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager is answering questions from lawmakers on considering giving a top job in her cabinet to a U.S. citizen. Europe's powerful competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, is under fire for hiring an American citizen for one of her team's top jobs. Vestager, who's been leading investigations into Big Tech for almost 10 years, is due to answer questions from European lawmakers Tuesday after appointing Fiona Scott Morton, a professor at the Yale School of Management, as chief competition economist at the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. Laurence Boone, France's secretary for Europe, said on Twitter that she had spoken with Vestager about this nomination, adding that "Europe has many talented economists." "I invite the European Commission to reconsider its choice," he added.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager, who's, Fiona Scott Morton, Laurence Boone, Jean, Noël Organizations: Big Tech, Yale School of Management, European Commission, Twitter, Commission, CNBC Locations: Europe, Brussels

A U.S. judge said on Thursday that Ripple Labs Inc did not violate securities law by selling its XRP token on public exchanges. Although the decision was specific to the individual case, it unleashed a wave of optimism among crypto investors that more cryptocurrencies may also not be deemed securities. Still, the enthusiasm for some was tempered by a report from the Wall Street Journal that Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has laid off more than 1,000 people in recent weeks. "The regulatory environment is changing," said Matthew Dibb, chief investment officer at crypto asset manager Astronaut Capital. Still, crypto investors have taken encouragement from the world's biggest asset manager, BlackRock (BLK.N), filing to launch a bitcoin exchange traded fund last month.

Persons: XRP, Coinbase, Bitcoin, Matthew Dibb, Justin d'Anethan, Binance.US, bode, Sam Bankman, Alex Mashinsky, Patrick Hillmann, Hillmann, We'd, Chris Weston, it's, Vidya Ranganathan, Simon Cameron, Moore, Alex Richardson, Josie Kao Organizations: Labs, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Wall Street, Capital, SEC, U.S, Wall, Twitter, BlackRock, Fidelity, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, WASHINGTON, U.S, California , New Jersey, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Asia, Keyrock, Hong Kong, XRP, reining, China, Binance, Melbourne, Singapore

NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - Alex Mashinsky, founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, pleaded not guilty Thursday to U.S. fraud charges that he misled customers and artificially inflated the value of his company's propriety crypto token. Three federal regulatory agencies also sued Mashinsky and Celsius in connection with the case. Mashinsky, 57, was charged with seven criminal counts - including securities fraud, commodities fraud and wire fraud - according to an indictment unsealed earlier on Thursday. Its founder Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud last year, and has pleaded not guilty. "Whether it's old-school fraud or some new-school crypto scheme, it doesn't matter one bit.

Persons: Alex Mashinsky, Mashinsky, Sam Bankman, Fried, Ona Wang, Roni Cohen, Pavon, Cohen, Damian Williams, Williams, Hannah Lang, Luc Cohen, Chris Prentice, Elizabeth Howcroft, Chizu Nomiyama, Michelle Price, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: YORK, Prosecutors, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Futures Trading Commission, Federal Trade Commission, U.S, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, Israeli, U.S, Hoboken , New Jersey, Washington, New York, Bengaluru, London

Coinbase (COIN.O) and Binance.US, two of the largest crypto exchanges by market share among those operating in America, have lost ground this year. Bitstamp's global market share among exchanges operating in the U.S. has risen to about 9%. Coinbase and LMAX declined to comment on the data, while Binance.US - the American affiliate of the world's largest crypto exchange - didn't respond to a request for comment. It may not be that simple for hungry challengers to grab market share, according to market players. In years gone by, crypto exchanges could swiftly gobble up business by offering access to a swathe of coins.

Persons: Sam Bankman, FTX, Ravi Doshi, Guy Hirsch, Bobby Zagotta, Wade Guenther, Doshi, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, LMAX, Genesis, Bitstamp, Reuters Graphics, Wilshire, Thomson, Reuters Locations: United States, America, Binance.US, U.S, Bitstamp USA, solana, Washington

The lending unit of crypto firm Genesis filed for bankruptcy in January after the collapse of key counterparties including FTX caused it to freeze customer redemptions in November. Its largest creditor is Gemini, founded by billionaire identical twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss who are also former U.S. Olympic rowers. A bankruptcy court appointed a mediator in April to help Genesis, DCG and its creditors agree on a restructuring plan, but the parties have yet to reach a deal despite several extensions. Under the offer, DCG would retain the proceeds from the sale of Genesis' lending unit. If Silbert and DCG do not agree, Gemini will sue Silbert and DCG, and file a motion to place DCG in default and demand immediate debt repayments, Winklevoss said.

Persons: Cameron, Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini, Barry Silbert, Cameron Winklevoss, Winklevoss, DCG, Mark Zuckerberg, Silbert, ” Winklevoss, Hannah Lang, Dietrich Knauth, Michelle Price, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Digital Currency Group, Gemini, U.S, Olympic, Reuters, Genesis, Meta, Facebook, Thomson Locations: Connecticut, Washington

June 26 (Reuters) - Certain banks working with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's trading firm Alameda Research raised questions about the firm's wire activity as early as 2020, according to a report released by FTX on Monday. Federal prosecutors have alleged that Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in customer funds to plug losses at Alameda. He has previously said that when FTX did not have a bank account, some customers wired money to Alameda and were credited on FTX. In 2020, certain banks working with Alameda pressed the firm on its wire transfers, according to the report. One bank representative wrote to Alameda about references to FTX in the company's wire activity and asked whether the account was being used to settle trades on FTX.

Persons: Sam Bankman, FTX, Fried, Hannah Lang, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Alameda Research, Federal, Alameda, Thomson Locations: Alameda, FTX, An Alameda, Washington

Blinken said tensions that sparked the action had been growing for months and added that the threat of internal turmoil could affect Moscow's military capabilities in Ukraine. Blinken described the turmoil as an "internal matter" for Putin. "It may be that Putin didn't want to debase himself to the level of negotiating directly with Prigozhin," Blinken said. "To the extent that the Russians are distracted and divided it may make their prosecution of aggression against Ukraine more difficult," Blinken told ABC. Senator Ben Cardin said the weekend turmoil in Russia does not ease Washington's need to continue aiding Ukraine as it launches its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, NBC's, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, debase, Mike Turner, Turner, Ben Cardin, Cardin, Don Bacon, he's, Bacon, David Morgan, Hannah Lang, Tyler Clifford, Scott Malone, Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter Organizations: U.S . Congress, Russian, Press, Forces, ABC, of, CBS, Democrat, Senate Foreign Relations, Fox News, Republican, U.S . Air Force, House Armed Services Committee, NBC, Thomson Locations: U.S, Russia, Poland, Baltic, Ukraine, Russian, Russia's, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

But certainly, we have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead," Blinken told NBC's "Meet the Press" program. Blinken described the turmoil as an "internal matter" for Putin. "It may be that Putin didn't want to debase himself to the level of negotiating directly with Prigozhin," Blinken said. "To the extent that the Russians are distracted and divided it may make their prosecution of aggression against Ukraine more difficult," Blinken told ABC. Senator Ben Cardin said the weekend turmoil in Russia does not ease Washington's need to continue aiding Ukraine as it launches its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, NBC's, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko, debase, Mikhail Klimentyev, Mike Turner, Turner, Philip Breedlove, Breedlove, Ben Cardin, Cardin, Don Bacon, he's, Bacon, David Morgan, Hannah Lang, Tyler Clifford, Scott Malone, Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter, Chris Reese Organizations: U.S . Congress, Russian, Press, REUTERS Forces, ABC, of, CBS, U.S . Air Force, . European Command, U.S, Democrat, Senate Foreign Relations, Fox News, Republican, House Armed Services Committee, NBC, Thomson Locations: U.S, Russia, Poland, Baltic, Ukraine, Russian, Kremlin, Russia's, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

☆ Sam Altman is AI's compelling preacher. The world is ready to bow down.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Sam Altman is a man on a mission: Sell the world on AI. Insider spoke to people who met or saw Altman during his tour, who say the CEO was a convincing preacher. Sam Altman knows he's at an inflection point. On June 9, at a fireside chat in Seoul, Korea, the OpenAI CEO acknowledged he was on a "diplomatic mission." "Sam replied that he did not know and asked the student to tell him in ten years," Mathew said.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Isaac Herzog, He's, Narendra Modi, Yoon Suk, Emmanuel Macron, Rishi Sunak, ChatGPT, Varshal Gupta, Gupta, OpenAI, Sam, Frances, …, Jacob Mathew, Mathew, Felfoul Organizations: Knights, Innovation, Google, Health, OpenAI, Qatar National Library, European Union, EU, WISE Locations: Seoul, Korea, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, UAE, India, Tel Aviv, South Korea, France, Delhi, Doha, European

☆ Taylor Swift is an unlikely public transit icon
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Taylor Swift, public transit savior? Public transit systems across the United States are getting a much-needed, if temporary, boost from Taylor Swift fans flooding trains, buses and subways to her sold-out Eras Tour. As transit agencies scramble to recover from the pandemic, transit experts say all those Swifies taking mass transit offer lessons for policymakers on how to adapt to the post-pandemic world. Philadelphia’s SEPTA system and New Jersey Transit also got a boost from concertgoers taking mass transit to Swift shows. But public transit agencies still have yet to fully recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Persons: New York CNN — Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift’s, Swift, Raymond James, Matthew Dickens, Taylor, ”, Jim Aloisi, Aloisi, Yanfeng Ouyang Organizations: New, New York CNN, Chicago Transit Authority, CTA, Soldier, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Mercedes, Benz, SEPTA, New Jersey Transit, Swift, American Public Transportation Association, Public, MIT, Transportation, University of Illinois Locations: New York, United States, New Jersey, Pittsburgh , Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, University of Illinois Urbana, Champaign

[1/2] Internally displaced Ethiopians queue to receive food aid in the Higlo camp for people displaced by drought in the town of Gode, Somali Region, Ethiopia, April 26, 2022. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File PhotoNAIROBI, June 19 (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Programme hopes to resume some food aid distribution in Ethiopia as soon as next month once it has received greater control over how beneficiaries are selected, a senior WFP official said on Monday. It paused food aid to the northern Tigray region in May and then to all of Ethiopia this month in response to widespread theft of donations. The WFP has been providing emergency food assistance to nearly 6 million of them. Valerie Guarnieri, WFP assistant executive director for programme and policy development, said the agency wanted to reduce the authority of local and regional government officials to decide who qualified for food aid.

Persons: Valerie Guarnieri, Guarnieri, Aaron Ross, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, Tiksa, WFP, Reuters, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, Ethiopian, Thomson Locations: Gode, Somali Region, Ethiopia, NAIROBI, Tigray, States

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - Other U.S. crypto exchanges are likely to be in the firing line after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week sued Coinbase and Binance, two of the world's largest crypto exchanges, for allegedly breaching its rules. Both Coinbase and Binance deny the SEC's allegations and have pledged to vigorously defend themselves in court. The Coinbase and Binance suits this week expand that list to include some commonly traded tokens, such as Solana, Cardano and Polygon. While big crypto companies can afford to fight the SEC, smaller companies have filed for bankruptcy following SEC enforcement actions, including crypto exchange Beaxy. "I think if there's a real value in these crypto tokens, then compliance will build trust and the business model might change," he said.

Persons: Coinbase, Binance, Jason Allegrante, Gary Gensler, “, Scott Freeman, Crypto, Kraken, OKCoin, Ripple's, Stuart Alderoty, Piper Sandler, Gensler, Bernstein, Katharine Wooller, Hannah Lang, John McCrank, Susan Heavey, Michelle Price, Stephen Coates Organizations: Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Cornerstone Research, Department of Justice, JST, Justice Department, Piper Sandler Global, Fintech Conference, CNBC, U.S, Executives, Thomson Locations: Solana, Cardano, U.S, United States, New York, Washington

June 8 (Reuters) - The chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday strongly rebutted criticism that the agency is trying to crush the crypto industry, and said many companies in the space had made a "calculated economic decision" to flout its rules. That means most crypto exchanges have to comply with the securities laws too, he added. "They may have made a calculated economic decision to take the risk of enforcement as the cost of doing business." The crypto industry has attacked Gensler in recent days after the SEC sued two of the world's largest crypto exchanges, Coinbase (COIN.O) and Binance, for allegedly breaking securities laws by failing to register their operations with the agency. The SEC alleged Coinbase traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities, while it accused Binance of offering 12 cryptocurrency coins without registering them.

Persons: Piper Sandler, Gary Gensler, Gensler, Brian Armstrong, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Binance.US, Coinbase, Heath Tarbert, John McCrank, Hannah Lang, Susan Heavey, Manya, Michelle Price, Chizu Nomiyama, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Twitter, Coinbase, Department of Justice, U.S, Reuters, Futures Trading Commission, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: New York, Washington, Gensler, Bengaluru

REUTERS/David SwansonJune 7 (Reuters) - Coinbase (COIN.O) Chief Executive Brian Armstrong on Wednesday hit back at the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair over the agency's lawsuit against the crypto exchange, calling him an "outlier," while also reassuring customers that their funds were safe. Crypto companies, including Coinbase, dispute that crypto tokens are securities and have repeatedly called for the SEC to create clear rules. SETTLEMENT BREAKDOWNLast July, Coinbase disclosed an SEC probe into its asset listing processes, staking programs and yield-generating products. Grewal said despite the lawsuit, Coinbase would still be interested in a dialogue with the SEC about how to bring cryptocurrency into the regulatory perimeter. "If there were an opportunity for a real conversation, of course we would take it up, but I want to be very clear: Coinbase is absolutely committed to defending itself in court," he said.

Persons: Brian Armstrong, David Swanson, Coinbase, Armstrong, Gary Gensler, Gensler, ” Armstrong, Binance, hasn’t, haven’t, Paul Grewal, Grewal, Hannah Lang, Manya Saini, Niket, Chris Prentice, Shounak Dasgupta, Michelle Price Organizations: Milken, Global Conference, REUTERS, U.S Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Bloomberg, Monday, CNBC, Reuters, U.S ., Appeals, Circuit, Thomson Locations: Beverly Hills , California, U.S, Solana, Cardano, Washington, Bengaluru

[1/2] Brian Armstrong, CEO and Co-Founder of Coinbase, speaks at the 2022 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 2, 2022. REUTERS/David SwansonJune 7 (Reuters) - Coinbase (COIN.O) executives on Wednesday defended the company against a lawsuit brought by the U.S. securities regulator, saying the cryptocurrency sector lacks a clear set of guidelines. The agency also said Coinbase was operating as an unregistered exchange, broker and clearinghouse. Coinbase also sought to distance itself from rival exchange Binance, which was also served with an SEC lawsuit on Monday. The SEC alleged Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange and its founder Changpeng Zhao, also sold cryptocurrency products without registering them as securities.

Persons: Brian Armstrong, David Swanson, Coinbase, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Paul Grewal, Grewal, Hannah Lang, Manya, Shounak Dasgupta Organizations: Milken, Global Conference, REUTERS, Wednesday, U.S, Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, CNBC, U.S ., Appeals, Circuit, Reuters, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: Beverly Hills , California, U.S, Solana, Cardano, Cayman Islands, Washington, Bengaluru

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday took aim at Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The SEC accuses Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao of operating a "web of deception". The SEC said Coinbase traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities that should have been registered, including tokens such as Solana, Cardano and Polygon. Reuters GraphicsFounded in 2012, Coinbase recently served more than 108 million customers and ended March with $130 billion of customer crypto assets and funds on its balance sheet. Tuesday's SEC lawsuit seeks civil fines, the recouping of ill-gotten gains and injunctive relief.

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Kevin O'Brien, Ford O'Brien Landy, Coinbase, Nansen, Paul Grewal, Coinbase's, Ed Moya, bitcoin, Oanda's Moya, Dado Ruvic, Gary Gensler, Gensler, Kristin Smith, Jonathan Stempel, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Kevin Buckland, Leslie Adler, Christopher Cushing Organizations: YORK, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Global Inc, Exchange, REUTERS, Securities, Supreme, Beaxy Digital, Bittrex Global, CNBC, Blockchain Association, Reuters Graphics, U.S, Binance's U.S, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, Solana, Cardano, bitcoin, Binance, Binance.US, Binance's, Cayman Islands, New York, Washington, Tokyo

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday took aim at Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The SEC said Coinbase traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities that should have been registered, including tokens such as Solana, Cardano and Polygon. More recently, it has taken aim at unregistered crypto broker dealer, exchange trading and clearing activity. Reuters GraphicsFounded in 2012, Coinbase recently served more than 108 million customers and ended March with $130 billion of customer crypto assets and funds on its balance sheet. Tuesday's SEC lawsuit seeks civil fines, the recouping of ill-gotten gains and injunctive relief.

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Kevin O’Brien, Ford O’Brien Landy, Coinbase, Nansen, Paul Grewal, Coinbase's, Gary Gensler, Dado Ruvic, Gensler, Kristin Smith, Jonathan Stempel, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Lisa Shumaker, Leslie Adler Organizations: YORK, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Global, Securities, Supreme, Exchange, REUTERS, Beaxy Digital, Bittrex Global, CNBC, Blockchain Association, Reuters Graphics, U.S, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, Solana, Cardano, U.S, Binance, New York, Washington

June 5 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrencies and shares in crypto and blockchain-related companies tumbled on Monday after the U.S. securities regulator sued crypto exchange Binance, another blow to the industry. The SEC crackdown has prompted some crypto companies to increase compliance, spike products, and expand overseas, moves that some marketwatchers said would likely be accelerated by this latest action against the world's largest crypto exchange. In April, the SEC charged crypto exchange Bittrex Inc with operating an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency, and settled with Kraken in February for $30 million over the exchange's U.S. crypto staking service. Shares of Coinbase (COIN.O) were down 9.1% on the news of the SEC's charges against Binance. Both Coinbase and crypto exchange Gemini launched international exchanges for crypto derivatives in May.

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Binance's cryptocurrency, Gary Gensler, marketwatchers, John Reed Stark, Kraken, Bittrex, James Angel, Gemini, Rajeev Bamra, Sinéad Carew, John McCrank, Manya Saini, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Leslie Adler, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Reuters, SEC, Washington , D.C, Internet, Coinbase Global Inc, Georgetown University, Binance, Inc, Marathon, Mining, Moody’s Investors Service, Thomson Locations: Washington ,, U.S, New York, Bengaluru, Washington

Fed officials pointed toward a rate hike "skip" at its June 13-14 meeting, giving time for the central bank to assess the impact of its tightening cycle thus far against still-strong inflation data. U.S. manufacturing contracted for a seventh straight month in May as new orders continued to plummet amid higher interest rates, but factories boosted employment to a nine-month high. "We have made clear that we still have ground to cover to bring interest rates to sufficiently restrictive levels," Lagarde said in a speech. Money markets are pricing in an 85% chance of a 25 basis point hike when the ECB meets on June 15. "There's a sort of narrowing interest rate differential ... when the ECB is expected to hike one or two more times and the Fed is more questionable about that."

Persons: Christine Lagarde, Edward Moya, Patrick Harker, payrolls, Lagarde, John Velis, Hannah Lang, Joice Alves, Rae Wee, Andrew Heavens, Will Dunham, Mark Potter, Leslie Adler Organizations: Federal Reserve, Reserve, European Central Bank, Fed, OANDA, Philadelphia Federal, ADP, Institute for Supply Management, ECB, BNY Mellon, Thomson Locations: OANDA . U.S, Washington, London, Singapore

May 19 (Reuters) - Auction house Sotheby's announced Friday seven non-fungible tokens from bankrupt cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital sold for about $2.5 million. The auction was part of liquidating Three Arrows, according to a February memo from Teneo, one of the court-appointed liquidators. Singapore-based Three Arrows was the first major crypto firm to go bankrupt in 2022, brought down by the collapse of cryptocurrencies Luna and TerraUSD. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a blockchain-based asset that represents ownership of a digital item, such as an image, video or piece of text. The market for NFTs exploded in 2021, and auction houses including Sotheby’s and Christie’s joined the craze.

The agreement came after the European Union, which participates in the G7, inched closer this month to passing legislation to regulate AI technology, potentially the world's first comprehensive AI law that could form a precedent among the advanced economies. The G7 leaders said they "need to immediately take stock of the opportunities and challenges of generative AI", a subset of the technology popularised by the ChatGPT app. A month later, EU lawmakers urged world leaders to find ways to control AI technologies, saying they were developing faster than expected. The United States so far has taken a cautious approach on governing AI, with President Joe Biden last month saying it remained to be seen whether AI is dangerous. While acknowledging differences on how AI should be regulated, the G7 leaders agreed on Friday to create a ministerial forum dubbed the "Hiroshima AI process" to discuss issues around generative AI, such as copyrights and disinformation, by the end of this year.

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley Bank's former CEO Greg Becker told senators at a hearing that he was unaware the bank was in trouble when he sold stock in the months leading up to the regional U.S. lender's collapse. Becker, who sold SVB shares through the first quarter - the largest sale of which occurred on Feb 27, less than two weeks before the bank collapsed on March 10, triggering a rout in banking shares globally. Responding to questions from senators, Becker painted a picture of an unprecedented, unpredictable crisis at the bank. He said the bank took risk management seriously and had liquidity of around $80 billion at the end of last year. [1/2] Greg Becker, former president and CEO of SVB, speaks at the 2022 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 3, 2022.

"I believe it was a series of unprecedented events that all came together in the fastest bank run in history," Becker told the Senate Banking Committee. "I was the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, I take responsibility for what ultimately happened," Becker said. Executives from Signature Bank also testified alongside Becker on Tuesday, pushing back on assertions from lawmakers that the bank had weak corporate governance. "I don't believe that there was mismanagement at the bank," said Eric Howell, the former president of Signature Bank. The bank tried to cover the loss by raising capital, but in announcing the transaction helped fuel a bank run.

May 15 (Reuters) - Greg Becker, the former chief executive officer of Silicon Valley Bank, is set to appear before the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, two months after the collapse of his bank sparked panic among bank customers and investors, forcing the government to backstop deposits. California banking regulators moved quickly to shut down Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 after depositors withdrew $42 billion in 24 hours. Becker will testify before the Senate Banking Committee alongside Scott Shay and Eric Howell, the former chair and president, respectively, of Signature Bank. When his manager left to work for Silicon Valley Bank, Becker followed, he said on a 2021 Bloomberg podcast. Before becoming president and CEO of SVB Financial Group, Becker co-founded SVB Capital, the company's investment arm.

[1/2] Block Inc logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, April 10, 2023. Shares of Block, formerly called Square, rose more than 4% in extended trading on Thursday. Prior to market close, its stock was down more than 10% from the beginning of this year. Block has denied the allegations and has said it would explore legal action against the short seller. Short sellers like Hindenburg typically sell borrowed securities and aim to buy these back at a lower price.

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