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Shares of JPMorgan and some of the other the largest U.S. banks rose on Monday, while those of mid-tier banks fell. [1/3] People walk past a First Republic Bank branch in San Francisco, California, U.S. April 28, 2023. "This is not the world financial crisis, this is not the savings and loan crisis. JPMorgan also entered into a loss-share agreement with the FDIC on single family, residential and commercial loans it bought, but will not take First Republic Bank's corporate debt or preferred stock. The failed bank's 84 offices in eight states will reopen as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank from Monday, it added.

First Republic was one of the major casualties of the banking crisis triggered in March, when depositors fled en masse from some U.S. lenders to institutions such as JPMorgan that they thought were safer. [1/2] People walk past a First Republic Bank branch in San Francisco, California, U.S. April 28, 2023. JPMorgan has assumed all of the bank's deposits, it said, and will repay $25 billion of the $30 billion big banks deposited with First Republic in March. JPMorgan said it expected to achieve a one-time, post-tax gain of about $2.6 billion after the deal. The failed bank's 84 offices in eight states will reopen as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank from Monday, it added.

FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg has said the report, to be released at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday, will address options on deposit insurance coverage levels, excess deposit insurance, implications of risk-based pricing and the adequacy of the regulator's deposit insurance fund, which will take an estimated $20 billion hit from the failure of SVB and a smaller knock of about $2.5 billion from Signature Bank. The FDIC's deposit insurance fund helps to fulfill the agency's guarantee of bank deposits up to $250,000 per person. In the event an insured bank fails, the FDIC uses the deposit insurance fund to pay back customers who maintained accounts under the limit. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Republican lawmakers in March that Congress should re-evaluate limits on the size of federally insured bank deposits. Some analysts have floated a more targeted change: raising the insurance cap for small business accounts used to manage payroll and other transactions.

☆ Coinbase, crypto industry hope new Supreme Court doctrine is silver bullet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

But the agency will have to provide a more detailed response if Ripple, Coinbase or crypto groups that have filed friend-of-the-court briefs pushing major questions doctrine arguments manage to pique a judge’s interest. Former Coinbase manager Ishan Wahi expanded on the major questions theory last February in his motion to dismiss the SEC’s insider trading case. Under the major questions doctrine, they said, the SEC does not have the requisite Congressional authority to regulate digital assets. Coinbase’s contention in that paper, released last Thursday, is all-encompassing: The major questions doctrine, according to Coinbase counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell, “forecloses” regulation of the trillion-dollar crypto industry. But if the SEC moves ahead with a case against Coinbase, the major questions doctrine could turn out to be, well, a major question.

☆ What’s next for SpaceX’s Starship after a dramatic first launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Starship launches for the first time on its Super Heavy booster from Texas on April 20, 2023. Soon after the launch, SpaceX began the process of cleaning up the launchpad and assessing the damage to its infrastructure. Fish and Wildlife Service disclosed this week that the Starship launch started a 3.5-acre fire on land owned by Texas' Boca Chica State Park. A SpaceX Starship prototype stands in a bay at the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on April 18, 2023. As with any rocket-development program, and especially the largest ever assembled, SpaceX's timeline for the next Starship flight is likely to evolve and change.

☆ Explainer: What next for Microsoft's $69 billion Activision deal after UK ban?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday blocked Microsoft's (MSFT.O) $69 billion acquisition of 'Call of Duty' maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) over concerns it would hinder cloud gaming. The regulator's decision reflected a flawed understanding of the market, it said. Microsoft can appeal to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), an independent judicial body, which will only examine the CMA's decision-making process, not the merits of the merger. "The CAT aims to deal with 'straightforward' cases in under nine months – and Microsoft/Activision is anything but straightforward," Lane, said. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint to block the deal, which Microsoft has indicated it will fight.

☆ Explainer: What next for Microsoft's $69 bln Activision deal after UK ban?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The regulator's decision reflected a flawed understanding of the market, it said. Microsoft can appeal to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), an independent judicial body, which will only examine the CMA's decision-making process, not the merits of the merger. "The CAT aims to deal with 'straightforward' cases in under nine months – and Microsoft/Activision is anything but straightforward," Lane, said. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint to block the deal, which Microsoft has indicated it will fight. The regulator then "identified certain potential errors" in its investigation chaired by Martin Coleman, who also oversaw the Microsoft-Activision case.

Five months later, on Nov. 24, the regulator approved the plan for the Quesqui field in the southern state of Tabasco. Interviews with eight sources with direct knowledge of the matter show Hernandez had been pressured by Lopez Obrador's government and Pemex to approve Quesqui and other plans, or resign. According to these people, at least three other senior officials at the regulator were also pressured by officials in government and at the regulator to help approve the plans. One of the officials who the sources said was pressured, the former technical head, Julio Trejo, resigned shortly before the Quesqui plan was approved. Guerrero also reiterated that the Quesqui field "is a strategic project" as defined by the government.

☆ UK watchdog defends Microsoft block in face of onslaught from companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the deal on Wednesday, saying it could hit competition in the nascent cloud gaming market. Microsoft's president Brad Smith said the decision "had shaken confidence in the UK tech industry" and was "probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain". "There's a clear message here - the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business than the United Kingdom," he added. "That's important for UK consumers and UK business and it's those UK consumers and UK businesses that the CMA is here to protect," she told BBC radio. She said Britain had not acted alone, noting that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was also suing to block the deal.

☆ FTC chair met UK antitrust officials last week but did not talk deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERSWASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan met with the heads of other antitrust enforcers, including Britain's, last week but no mergers were discussed, according to an FTC official who spoke amid allegations the FTC and UK are working together to block Microsoft's bid for Activision. The FTC official, speaking on Thursday, was responding to comments made by the game-maker's CEO, Bobby Kotick, who told CNBC he believed that the U.S. agency had pushed Britain's CMA to stop the planned acquisition. Kotick said: "I was surprised to learn that Lina Khan and the head of the CMA had a meeting a week and a half ago in Washington. The FTC official, who was not authorized to speak on the record but who was present at the virtual meeting, said that officials had no discussions of any mergers being reviewed or other ongoing investigations. When a deal appears blatantly anticompetitive then independent antitrust regulators can simply make their own judgments," said spokesperson Douglas Farrar.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has a message for Coinbase and other crypto exchanges: The rules are clear, and they must be obeyed. In a video posted on Twitter on Thursday, Gensler said that crypto exchanges must treat cryptocurrencies like securities and stop acting as if the regulations are ambiguous. "If you're a securities exchange, clearinghouse, broker, or dealer, you must come into compliance, register with us, and deal with conflicts of interest and disclose important information. Since January, the SEC has taken action against crypto exchanges Bittrex & Gemini, crypto lender Genesis, and a number of individual actors accused of manipulating crypto assets, including crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and disgraced Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon. "Intermediaries for investment contracts, whether they're exchanges, brokers, dealers, clearinghouses, they need to comply with the securities laws and register with the Securities and Exchange Commission."

☆ SVB's former parent may need new funding after $2bln cash seizure
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The FDIC has also not fully explained why the cash was seized, Bromley said. FDIC's attorney, Derek Baker, told Glenn that SVB Financial's bank accounts were properly seized as part of FDIC's takeover of the failed bank. The cash is being held as a set-off against the regulator's costs in stepping in to protect SVB customer deposits, and FDIC is working to provide more detail about its claims against SVB Financial, Baker said. Glenn said he needed more information about the FDIC's authority to seize cash and how disputes related to the seizure should be resolved. SVB Financial is also still waiting for the full return of financial records that were seized as part of the bank takeover.

☆ Microsoft's blockbuster Activision deal may be doomed. But the tech giant's future is still bright
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Microsoft 's (MSFT) proposed blockbuster acquisition of video-game publisher Activision Blizzard (ATVI) may be doomed thanks to British regulators. The U.K.'s top antitrust body — the Competition and Markets Authority — said Wednesday that it opposes Microsoft's $69 billion bid because of competition concerns in the budding cloud gaming market. Microsoft's multipart gaming business includes Xbox consoles, cloud-based Xbox Game Pass service and in-house titles, such as the long-running "Halo" series. The CMA's opposition centered on competition concerns in the burgeoning world of cloud gaming, which Jefferies analysts estimate is less than 2% of the overall gaming market. Cloud gaming enables players to, essentially, stream video games without having to buy a physical console.

☆ SVB's former parent may need new funding after $2 billion cash seizure
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley Bank's former owner may need to take out a bankruptcy loan amid uncertainty about the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Company's seizure of $2 billion in cash from the company, its attorney said Wednesday. The FDIC has also not fully explained why the cash was seized, Bromley said. FDIC's attorney, Derek Baker, told Glenn that SVB Financial's bank accounts were properly seized as part of FDIC's takeover of the failed bank. Glenn said he needed more information about the FDIC's authority to seize cash and how disputes related to the seizure should be resolved. SVB Financial is also still waiting for the full return of financial records that were seized as part of the bank takeover.

☆ No 'immediate path forward': CFTC is talking to Binance after launching legal action, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A Commodity Futures Trading Commission official said Tuesday that she hopes to find a "path forward" in the regulator's legal battle with crypto exchange Binance, noting that no decision has been taken yet on whether to settle the case or take it to court. Kristin N. Johnson, commissioner at the CFTC, said that the regulator has been in conversations with Binance to address its concerns about the company's conduct. And I want to say that typically, in the context of any litigation, we are always ready to have conversations and typically even ahead of the litigation," Johnson said in an interview with CNBC's Arjun Kharpal Tuesday. "As of the moment, we can conclude that there is not an immediate path forward," she added. Her comments mark a rare statement on the Binance suit to media since the CFTC first announced it was suing the company on Mar.

☆ Nokia says draft EU patent rules one-sided, will undermine Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 25 (Reuters) - EU draft rules aimed at staving off spats over patents essential to key technologies for telecoms equipment and connected cars appear to put the onus and cost on patent owners, which could undermine Europe's leadership in such areas, Nokia said. Under the proposal seen by Reuters, patent holders are required to register their patents with the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) if they want to charge patent fees or take legal action. The proposal is unbalanced and ignores a key problem for patent owners, said Nokia's (NOKIA.HE) head of IP policy Collette Rawnsley. "The leaked draft regulation appears one-sided with additional obligations, burdens and costs falling on SEP owners rather than implementers," she told Reuters in an interview. She said Europe, currently home to leaders in cellular standards, could even lose its lead under the draft rules.

Boeing has more than 130 completed MAX jets in inventory for Chinese customers worth more than $15 billion at list prices, although airlines typically receive substantial discounts. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on April 14 released the second revision of its 737 evaluation report which incorporates updates to 737 MAX training and technical information. Chinese airlines begun returning the MAX to service in January led by China Southern (600029.SS) and as of April, all Chinese MAX operators have resumed flight operations, with 45 of 95 MAX jets now back in service, Calhoun said. China Eastern (600115.SS) and China Southern said in March they would resume taking delivery of MAX jets this year, without providing further details. The CAAC report is a reason for "incremental" optimism on MAX momentum in China, Myles Walton of Wolfe Research wrote in to a note to investors.

☆ U.S. SEC issues guidance on broker and adviser 'care obligations'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( John Mccrank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The guidance, which is the third in a series of such documents, specifically clarifies brokers' and advisers' so-called "care obligations" under the SEC's long-standing investment adviser fiduciary standard and its Regulation Best Interest rule (Reg BI), passed in 2019. Reg BI is a package of rules requiring brokers to disclose potential conflicts in the fees investors pay and the commissions brokers earn when giving financial advice. The rules also require brokers to raise the standard for giving advice to meet a client's best interest when recommending stocks, mutual funds and other financial products. Consumer groups criticized the Reg BI rule for being too vague in its definition of "best interest" while not addressing all potential conflicts. The guidance under the current Democratic-led SEC, seeks to plug some of these gaps, analysts have said.

☆ Google to open up UK in-app payments to satisfy regulator's concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 19 (Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator said proposals from Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google to give app developers the freedom to break away from Google Play's billing system looked to be sufficient to address its concerns about in-app payments. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in June that Google's complete control over in-app payments unfairly restricted developers by forcing them to use Google Play's billing system, reducing competition and hurting users. "Under the commitments, developers will be able to add an alternative in-app billing system, alongside Google Play's billing system, for their mobile and tablet users in the UK," Google said in a blog post. "At checkout, users will be able to choose which billing system to use." The CMA invited comments on Google's proposals by May 19 before it makes a final judgment.

☆ SEC's Gensler in congressional hot seat today over climate change and crypto
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission this morning. That's because SEC Chair Gary Gensler has aroused the ire of many in corporate America over his 50+ list of new regulatory proposals the SEC is scheduled to vote on this year. "Chair Gensler has identified a range of 50-55 regulatory priorities since the start of his tenure, and has already proposed twice as many rules as his predecessor in just half the time." "The vast majority of crypto tokens are securities," Gensler declared in his written testimony to the House Financial Services Committee. "SEC Chair Gensler is long overdue to testify before the House Financial Services Committee," Rep. French Hill (R.-Ark), Vice Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement released to CNBC.

☆ Sarepta drops as report says FDA almost rejected under-review gene therapy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 13 (Reuters) - Sarepta Therapeutics Inc's shares (SRPT.O) fell more than 6% on Thursday as Stat News reported that the U.S. health regulator's staff were inclined to reject the company's gene therapy which is currently under review. Some staff at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had reached a "non-binding conclusion" that Sarepta's gene therapy should not be given approval, prompting FDA official Peter Marks to intervene and instead schedule an advisory meeting on May 12, Stat News reported, citing sources. The company is seeking approval for its gene therapy for treating a rare muscle-wasting disorder called Duchenne muscular dystrophy under the FDA's accelerated pathway. Brokerage William Blair said it still sees a "likely" approval for the therapy. Shares of Catalent Inc (CTLT.N), which holds the contract manufacturing rights for the therapy, fell as much as 5.5% in early trade.

☆ India NSE's IPO plan stumbles at market watchdog's door - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Jayshree P Upadhyay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has formed an internal view that due to the pending cases it won't approve NSE's application made last year for an IPO, the sources said. “Till the legal and regulatory issues are cleared there is no chance that SEBI will approve NSE's IPO plans,” said one of the sources, who is a senior regulatory official. A delayed NSE IPO will test the patience of its core shareholders - banks, insurance companies and foreign funds - who have been waiting for an exit opportunity in rising markets. The regulator's reluctance to approve NSE's IPO has not been previously reported. These include whether certain brokers made unfair gains due to preferential access to NSE’s trading systems and another lapse in NSE’s trading architecture, the source said.

☆ Swiss regulator deflects blame for Credit Suisse debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( John O'Donnell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BERN, April 5 (Reuters) - Switzerland's financial regulator deflected blame for the collapse of the country's second-biggest bank, Credit Suisse, saying it had been quick to respond, calling instead for more powers to take lenders to task. Axel Lehman had told shareholders he was 'truly sorry" for taking Swiss bank to the brink of bankruptcy. "Our instruments hit their limits ... as seen in the case of Credit Suisse," said Amstad, making a rare public appeal for more power. But, as we have seen, Credit Suisse paid billions in fines and that didn't change its catastrophic business strategy," said Dominik Gross of the Swiss Alliance of Development Organisations. While the takeover of Credit Suisse has been agreed, many hurdles, such as winning regulatory approval from countries around the world, lie ahead.

☆ Italian minister says country's ban on ChatGPT is excessive
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, April 2 (Reuters) - Italy's deputy prime minister on Sunday criticised a decision by the government's Data Protection Authority to temporarily ban chatbot ChatGPT, saying the block over privacy concerns seemed excessive. Salvini, who also serves as transport minister, said the regulator's move was "hypocritical" and that common sense was needed as "privacy issues concern practically all online services". OpenAI, which disabled ChatGPT for users in Italy on the back of the agency's request, said on Friday it actively works to reduce the use of personal data in training its AI systems like ChatGPT. "We look forward to working closely with (the Italian data agency) and educating them on how our systems are built and used," it said. It is right to control and regulate through an international cooperation between regulators and legislators, but it cannot be blocked," he said.

☆ The Nasdaq 100 just entered a fresh bull market - and a top analyst says tech names look like the new safety trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Those rate forecasts have bolstered tech names, and mega-caps like Apple and Microsoft have pulled the Nasdaq higher. "While it sounds like Twilight Zone comment to many investors, tech stocks have become the new safety trade with Big Tech names a major beneficiary of this dynamic," Ives, a managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush, wrote in a note. "And these tech stocks have been under owned and still remain in that camp in our opinion." Short sellers generated paper profit of $14 billion betting against bank stocks over the last month. Shorting bank names in March produced a "wide swath of profitable trades that returned +17.2% in less than a month," S3 Partners said.

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