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Krystal Rolle, a lawyer who has represented Bankman-Fried on other matters in the Bahamas, told Reuters Bankman-Fried had decided to consent to be extradited to the United States. After the hearing, Bankman-Fried was remanded back to the custody of the Bahamas' Department of Corrections. During Monday's hearing, Bankman-Fried, dressed in a dark blue jacket and an untucked white shirt, spoke only to greet Magistrate Shaka Serville and confirm he would speak with his U.S. counsel. Roberts told Serville initially that he did not know why Bankman-Fried was brought to court on Monday morning. When the hearing concluded, Bankman-Fried was given the chance to speak on the phone with his U.S. defense lawyer with Roberts present.

When the hearing concluded, Bankman-Fried was given the chance to speak on the phone with his U.S. defense lawyer with Roberts present. After the hearing, Bankman-Fried was remanded back to the custody of the Bahamas' Department of Corrections. [1/9] The Founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 19, 2022. Roberts told Serville initially that he did not know why Bankman-Fried was brought to court on Monday morning. Following a recess, the lawyer said Bankman-Fried wanted to see the indictment before consenting to extradition.

REUTERS/Marco BelloWASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland instructed federal prosecutors on Friday to end disparities in the way they charge offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Mandatory minimum sentences for crack-related offenses are currently 18 times lengthier than those for powder cocaine. In the memos, Garland instructs prosecutors to treat "crack cocaine defendants no differently than for defendants in powder cocaine cases" when they are charging defendants and making sentencing recommendations. In 1986, Congress passed a law to establish mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking offenses, which treated crack and powder cocaine offenses using a 100-to-1 ratio. Under that formula, a person convicted for selling 5 grams of crack cocaine was treated the same as someone who sold 500 grams of powder cocaine.

☆ FTX's Bankman-Fried hires white collar defense attorney Mark Cohen
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Bankman-Fried has retained Cohen, of Cohen & Gresser, Bankman-Fried's spokesperson Mark Botnick said in an emailed statement. In recent weeks, U.S. authorities have sought information from investors and potential investors in FTX, according to two sources with knowledge of the requests. Federal prosecutors in New York are asking for details on any communications such firms have had with the crypto firm and its executives, including Bankman-Fried, the sources said. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been asking for similar information from investors as well, one of the sources said. "I didn't ever try to commit fraud," Bankman-Fried said, adding that he doesn't personally think he has any criminal liability.

[1/2] The logo of FTX is seen at the entrance of the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 12, 2022. Ellison, who ran trading firm Alameda Research, has hired Washington-based law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr to represent her, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Semafor previously reported Mills' advisory work for Bankman-Fried. FTX secretly transferred customer funds to its affiliate Alameda Research to fill a shortfall at the crypto trading firm, Reuters has previously reported. The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that Ellison and senior FTX officials knew the crypto exchange had dipped into its customer funds to help Alameda meet liabilities.

☆ Meet 12 Republican officials crusading against BlackRock and ESG investing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

A group of vocal conservative officials are criticizing aspects of ESG investing. Players in the ESG ecosystem, like S&P Global and BlackRock, the world's largest money manager and an influential proponent of ESG investing, are often the subject of their critiques. Instead, officials often paint large financial firms' ESG strategies as functions of left-leaning agendas. Here are key GOP players who are taking aim at ESG investing. Abbott, who is seeking reelection in November, was early to denouncing ESG investing.

☆ Hurricane Ian was the costliest disaster and the second-largest insured loss on record after Hurricane Katrina
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Remains of destroyed restaurants, shops and other businesses are seen almost one month after Hurricane Ian landfall in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, U.S., October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloHurricane Ian, a category 4 Atlantic hurricane that struck Florida and South Carolina earlier this year, was the costliest catastrophe and the second-largest insured loss on record after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to a new report from reinsurer Swiss Re. Ian caused between $50 billion and 65 billion in insured damages after it made landfall in western Florida in late September with extreme winds and torrential rain. Insurance losses from catastrophes were also high, with estimated damages of $115 billion, higher than the 10-year average of $81 billion, the report said. Insured losses from extreme weather events have been rising as climate change triggers more frequent and destructive hurricanes, floods and wildfires, the reinsurance firm said.

☆ After a slow start, the 2022 hurricane season roared in with memorable and destructive storms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jennifer Gray | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —As the hurricane season closes, a handful of blockbuster storms made history after an eerily quiet first half of the season gave false hope. In fact, we didn’t have any named storms from July 3 to August 31, the first time that’s occurred since 1941. One of those storms was Hurricane Ian, which hit land in late September and will go down as the most memorable storm of the 2022 season. “Tropical storms have formed in every month outside of hurricane season, and there have been a few hurricanes, too,” NOAA said. Historically, we’ve seen at least 15 named storms form in the month of December, even all the way up to December 30.

☆ Factbox: COP27: Counting the rising cost of climate disasters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

How to get money to poorer countries after climate disasters has been a dominant theme at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt, and insurance is seen as one way to do that. On Monday, a G7-led plan dubbed "Global Shield" to provide pre-arranged insurance and disaster protection funding to countries suffering climate disasters was launched at the climate conference. Worst fires: Tubbs Fire Oct 2017, Camp Fire Nov 20182017 loss: $180 billion2017 deaths: 402018 loss: $148.5 billion2018 deaths: 103Total loss: $328.5 billion2. Harvey loss: $125 billionHarvey deaths: 88Irma loss: $65 billionIrma deaths: 134Maria loss: $107 billionMaria deaths: 4,600Total loss: $297 billion3. Hurricane Ian, Florida, Sept 2022The hurricane hit southwestern Florida and South Carolina, with a 4-metre high storm surge on the west coast of Florida.

related investing news Cathie Wood's ARK Invest keeps buying more crypto assets despite FTX bankruptcy Crypto.com is smaller than FTX but still ranks among the top 15 global exchanges, according to CoinGecko. Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, speaking at a 2018 Bloomberg event in Hong Kong, China. Marszalek has spent the early part of the week trying to reassure users and regulators that the business is fine. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said his company's assets were "fine" two days before he was desperate for a rescue because of a liquidity crunch. Marszalek said on Monday that this was just a reflection of the assets Crypto.com customers were buying.

☆ FTX's founder Bankman-Fried says he failed to see warning signs - NYT
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of FTX is seen at the entrance of the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 12, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloNov 14 (Reuters) - FTX founder and former Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried said he expanded his business too fast and failed to notice signs of trouble at the exchange, whose downfall sent shock waves through the crypto industry, the New York Times reported late on Monday. Bankman-Fried, who is based in the Bahamas, declined to comment on his current location, citing safety concerns, the newspaper said. When asked whether FTX used customer funds to prop up the trading firm Alameda Research that he founded, Bankman-Fried told the New York Times that Alameda had accumulated a large "margin position" on FTX. Reuters reported last week that Bankman-Fried had secretly transferred $10 billion of customer funds from FTX to Alameda.

Kris Marszalek, CEO of Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com, refuted suggestions it could be in trouble, saying in a YouTube livestream address the platform would prove all naysayers wrong. Crypto.com is among the top 10 exchanges by turnover globally, but smaller than FTX and market leader Binance. Former CEO and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has previously told Reuters some of the transfers out of FTX were a result of "confusing internal labelling". Another crypto exchange Kraken said on Twitter on Sunday it had frozen the accounts of FTX, affiliated crypto trading firm Alameda Research and their executives. The logo of FTX is seen at the entrance of the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 12, 2022.

☆ FTX collapse being scrutinized by Bahamas authorities
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Jasper Ward | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] The logo of FTX is seen at the entrance of the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 12, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloNASSAU, Bahamas, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX is the subject of scrutiny from government investigators in the Bahamas, who are looking at whether any "criminal misconduct occurred," the Royal Bahamas Police said on Sunday. Bankman-Fried had transferred $10 billion of customer funds to his trading company, Alameda Research, the sources said. Blockchain analytics firm Nansen said on Saturday it saw $659 million in outflows from FTX International and FTX U.S. in the preceding 24 hours. In its bankruptcy petition, FTX Trading said it has $10 billion to $50 billion in assets, $10 billion to $50 billion in liabilities, and more than 100,000 creditors.

☆ FTX collapse being scrutinized by Bahamas investigators
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] The logo of FTX is seen at the entrance of the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 12, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloNov 13 (Reuters) - The collapse of FTX is the subject of scrutiny from investigators in the Bahamas, who are looking at whether any "criminal misconduct occurred," the Royal Bahamas Police said on Sunday. In a statement on Sunday, the Royal Bahamas Police said: "In light of the collapse of FTX globally and the provisional liquidation of FTX Digital Markets Ltd., a team of financial investigators from the Financial Crimes Investigation Branch are working closely with the Bahamas Securities Commission to investigate if any criminal misconduct occurred." When asked by Reuters on Saturday whether he had flown to Argentina, he responded in a text message: "Nope". Reporting by Jasper Wade in the Bahamas; Writing by Megan Davies in New York; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hurricane Nicole barrels into Florida's Atlantic coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nicole was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane as it thrashed the Bahamas on Wednesday. It was packing sustained winds of up to 75 mph (120 kph) as it made landfall along the east coast of Florida north of Miami, according to the National Hurricane Center. read moreThe hurricane center also issued storm-surge advisories for much of Florida's Atlantic coast, warning that wind-driven waves would wash over beaches and rush inland to flood low-lying areas well beyond the shore. Nicole is expected to pack less punch at landfall than Ian, which struck Florida as a major Category 4 storm. 'LAST OPPORTUNITY'[1/5] A car drives by a flooded street ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Nicole, in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S., November 9, 2022.

☆ Hurricane Nicole bears down on Florida's Atlantic coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] A car drives by a flooded street ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Nicole, in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S., November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloMIAMI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Hurricane Nicole closed in on Florida's Atlantic shoreline early on Thursday with a brew of heavy downpours, fierce winds and a treacherous surge of ocean surf that threatened coastal areas still reeling from the last major storm six weeks ago. Nicole is expected to pack less punch at landfall than Ian, which struck Florida as a major Category 4 storm. Authorities warned, however, that Nicole still posed a formidable threat, especially to structures and coastal foundations weakened by Ian. "We have had a lot of flooding within the last couple of storms," Leanne Hansard, 53, a Daytona Beach resident, said as she was boarding up windows to her family's insurance office.

☆ Analysis: Four takeaways from the U.S. midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is showered with confetti as he celebrates onstage with his wife Casey and family during his 2022 U.S. midterm elections night party in Tampa, Florida, November 8, 2022. Oz, the TV physician who was Trump's hand-picked candidate for the race, had questioned his fitness for office. During Fetterman's campaign, he made much of visiting the state's rural regions with talk of creating working-class jobs. Meanwhile, a race in the state’s 10th district, situated even closer to Washington, ended with incumbent Democrat Jennifer Wexton keeping her seat. The win moved Republicans closer to the five seats they needed to take over the House.

☆ Analysis: Three takeaways from the U.S. midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Marco BelloWASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections will determine whether Republicans seize control of Congress from Democrats. Early exit polls from Edison Research, however, showed reason for concern as Democrats appeared to be losing support from crucial voting blocs. The exit polls showed 54% of voters with college degrees picking Democrats while 45% voted for Republicans. Exit polls showed Republicans were winning 40% of the Hispanic vote, compared to 32% won by Trump in 2020. Now all eyes will be on his next move — and whether he has the guts to take on Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

☆ Analysis: Takeaways from the U.S. midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is showered with confetti as he celebrates onstage with his wife Casey and family during his 2022 U.S. midterm elections night party in Tampa, Florida, November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloWASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday will determine whether Republicans can seize control of Congress from Democrats. Early exit polls from Edison Research, however, showed reason for concern as Democrats appeared to be losing support from crucial voting blocs. The exit polls showed 54% of voters with college degrees picking Democrats while 45% voted for Republicans. Exit polls showed Republicans were winning 40% of the Hispanic vote, compared to 32% won by Trump in 2020.

☆ Dorsey's Block posts a jump in revenue, boosting shares
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The logo of Cash App is seen at a stand during the Bitcoin Conference 2022 in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. April 6, 2022. Shares of Block, formerly called Square, rose more than 14% in extended trading on Thursday. The San Francisco, California-based company reported a 17% rise in total net revenue from the year prior at $4.52 billion in the third quarter. Its unit that sells terminals and software for businesses to process payments, Square, generated gross profit of $783 million, up 29%. In August, the company announced it had slowed hiring and slashed its 2022 investment target by $250 million, citing ongoing economic uncertainty.

☆ Insurer Travelers profit falls on hurricane costs, lower investment returns
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A U.S. flag is seen in a flooded rural area after Hurricane Ian caused widespread destruction in Arcadia, Florida, U.S., October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloOct 19 (Reuters) - Property and casualty insurer Travelers Companies Inc (TRV.N) reported a 20% fall in quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by hurricane-related claims and lower returns on its investments. Insurers are bracing for a hit of up to $57 billion from Hurricane Ian in Florida and South Carolina, risk modeling firm Verisk said earlier this month. The insurance industry also faces hefty claims from the Ukraine crisis and greater uncertainty brought on by higher claims costs from inflation. Pretax net investment income dropped 23% to $593 million, Travelers said.

☆ U.S. Treasury proposes climate data collection rule for insurers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Destroyed buildings are seen after Hurricane Ian caused widespread destruction, in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, U.S., October 4, 2022. The Treasury's Federal Insurance Office said in a Federal Register notice that it was seeking public comment on the proposal, under which it would collect current and historical underwriting data on homeowners’ insurance. The zip-code level data would provide the insurance office with "consistent, granular, and comparable insurance data needed to help assess the potential for major disruptions of private insurance coverage in regions of the country that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change." Treasury said the proposed data collection rule would help the Federal Insurance Office to assess both the availability of insurance for millions of Americans as well as the affordability of such insurance. “Today’s action by the Federal Insurance Office is an important step in determining how Americans are being affected by the increasing costs of climate change,” Yellen said in a statement.

Carlos Castañeda and Genesis Martusciello fled Venezuela in the middle of the previous decade, arriving in Miami with little money and few prospects but in search of a better life. Within a few years, the young couple had access to millions of dollars. They achieved their sudden wealth through what Florida real-estate attorneys call one of the boldest real-estate frauds the U.S. has ever seen.

☆ Tens of thousands likely jobless after Hurricane Ian, economists say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Martha C. White For Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Although the damage is still being tallied, early estimates indicate that Ian could be the most costly hurricane to make landfall in Florida. In the short term, a spike in jobless claims is almost inevitable, economists say: “Hurricane Harvey in Texas prompted a rise of about 50,000 in August of 2017,” noted Mike Englund, chief economist at Action Economics. A view of the destroyed road between Florida's Matlacha and Pine Island after Hurricane Ian. “Katrina was a much more damaging storm, and impacted Louisiana, which is much less affluent than Florida,” Zandi said. A powerboat lies atop a pile of debris two days after the passage of Hurricane Ian, in Fort Myers, Florida.

☆ Hispanic unemployment rate falls sharply in September, but fewer workers join labor force
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Marco Bello | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe unemployment rate among Hispanic workers dropped sharply in September, but that could be due to fewer eligible adults looking for a job. Hispanic workers saw their unemployment rate fall to 3.8% from 4.5% in August. But Hispanics saw a sharp decline in labor force participation, which tracks how many people are employed or searching for work. Many Hispanic workers do seek employment in some areas of the market heavily affected by Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, she added. While Hispanic workers saw the biggest declines on a month-to-month basis, she noted that Black women have still seen the sharpest decline in labor force participation since the start of the pandemic.

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