Possible end to a high-profile fight
JPMorgan Chase on Monday reach a tentative agreement With victims of Jeffrey Epstein, weeks after embarrassing revelations about his longtime relationship with the convicted sex offender.
If approved, the deal would ease some pressure on JPMorgan as it defends itself against allegations of ignoring repeated warnings about Mr Epstein’s crimes. (The bank has denied any wrongdoing.) But the banking giant isn’t entirely free of legal entanglements over its 15-year relationship with the deceased financier.
Victims’ lawsuit accuses JPMorgan of ignoring red flags about Mr Epstein, Because it valued him as a wealthy customer who could help the bank connect with even more deep-pocketed people. (The Times previously reported that bank staff had filed several suspicious-activity reports about Mr. Epstein’s repeated large withdrawals and that he had been treated as a customer, despite labeling him a “high-risk customer” in 2006.) kept as.)
The deal comes about two weeks after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon testified about the case. In a one-day statement in the case filed last November in Manhattan federal court, Dimon said he had barely heard of Epstein before the financier’s 2019 arrest.
It also comes after Jess Staley, the former JPMorgan executive who had a close relationship with Mr Epstein, testified over the weekend in the case. The bank has sued Mr Staley, seeking to ensure that he can be held liable for any damages the bank has to pay. (Mr. Staley has denied any wrongdoing.)
But JPMorgan still faces a lawsuit by the US Virgin Islands, It argued that the bank should pay damages for allowing Mr Epstein to set up a sex trafficking operation on his private island of St Thomas. The bank has shot back in legal filings that government officials there cohabited with Mr. Epstein for nearly two decades.
What’s going on over here
UBS closes the acquisition of Credit Suisse. The combination of two of Switzerland’s largest banks, finished on monday, will create a financial giant with $1.6 trillion in assets and a strong presence in wealth management. To prevent more scandals of the type that have plagued Credit Suisse, UBS has reportedly imposed ban on his former rival bankersIncluding a ban on doing business with countries like Libya and Venezuela.
A major British hedge fund grapples with #MeToo fallout involving its founder. Ode Asset Management, which oversees $4.4 billion in assets, is said to Weight limit on investor withdrawal After The Financial Times reported allegations of sexual assault and harassment against his namesake, Crispin O’Day. was the financier ousted by his colleagues on Saturday, but suggested he would fight the move.
Reddit users rebel against the social network. thousands of message threads on the platform it will get dark to protest the company’s plan to charge more for access to its firehose of data over the next two days. (Many third-party apps have already rolled out the changes.) The move is a black eye for Reddit as it prepares to go public in the second half of the year.
What can come in the way of LIV-PGA deal
Ahead of the US Open Golf Championship this week, questions are looming large over the game. Chief among them: Will PGA Tour In fact Merging with its former rival, Saudi-backed LIV Golf?
Last week’s surprise announcement came together quickly: A secret meeting in Venice between Jay Monahan, the tour’s commissioner, and Yasir al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s $700 billion sovereign wealth fund, proved decisive. Still, doubts remain that the deal, which has not yet been completed, will even happen.
Regulatory questions remain. Since the deal is not an acquisition in the traditional sense, it is unclear whether Tour and LIV will be required to file for antitrust regulatory approval. That doesn’t mean regulators won’t step in to block it. The Justice Department has demonstrated a willingness to go after non-M&A. deals. (Given the European ambitions of the tour, regulators there may also look into the matter.)
Adding to the complications: The DOJ continues to investigate the PGA Tour’s seemingly cozy ties to powerful golf tournament organizations as observers see it as “a dominant monopolist.” Matt Stoller, a prominent critic of mega mergers, wrote in a scathing blog post: “There’s a lot of gray area in antitrust law, but when two companies want to merge into a monopoly, and declare it as such, it’s a violation of black letter law. Indeed, the deal was so wildly and comically It’s against the law that I don’t think it’s intended to be closed.
Mr. Monahan must have fed that narrative when he said last week that the PGA-LIV alliance was good for the game because it would “get the competitor off the board.”
The PGA Tour Board has to approve it. Initial deal negotiations excluded most board members, including former AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson. Rory McIlroy, a player-director on the board, gave the deal a solemn blessing last week. The sport’s most famous star, Tiger Woods, has yet to weigh in – as have most sponsors and advertisers.
The deal will essentially create a new entity. But the parties have yet to agree on the respective valuation and the share of equity for each party. (Ongoing litigation prevented them from being on each other’s books.) Stuck points may remain over how to value contracts for existing players or individual teams.
What happens if a deal doesn’t happen? It is unclear whether either side will have to pay a breakup fee to the other side. Speaking of money, will the Tour be in a position to save its dwindling roster of golfers from blame in the free-spending LIV? And, what’s to stop superstar golfers like Mr. Woods and Mr. McIlroy from becoming their Travel The new disruptive force in professional golf?
Illumina lost its head
Just weeks after avoiding a proxy fight with Carl Icahn, Francis D’Souza said on Sunday that he would Resigns as CEO of Illumina, the gene-sequencing giant. It’s a late victory after winning just one of Icahn’s three board seats — and it raises questions about what’s next for Illumina as it faces pressure to divest an acquisition that has Has attracted regulatory opposition on two continents.
Mr. Icahn sought the ouster of Mr. D’Souza, Arguing that Illumina’s $7 billion acquisition of cancer-detection specialist Grail was a mistake, especially after the company went ahead with the deal despite European regulators seeking to block it.
Although shareholders re-elected Mr. D’Souza (who also serves as a Disney director) to the Illumina board last month, he faced opposition from the company’s newly appointed non-executive chairman, Stephen McMillan, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mr D’Souza told the staff that he informed the board about his decision last week.
Icahn tweeted Mr D’Souza’s departure was “a very positive development”.
What’s next for Illumina? Mr D’Souza – who will serve as a consultant until July 31 – will be replaced by Charles Dadswell, the company’s general counsel, on an interim basis as it looks for a permanent successor. (Mr. Icahn’s choice, former Illumina CEO Jay Flatley, is unlikely to get the job, The Journal reports.)
But bigger questions hover around the Grail acquisition. While Illumina has appealed efforts by the FTC and the European Commission to block the transaction, analysts and investors increasingly believe the company will have little choice but to scuttle the deal even if it wins those efforts.
An unlikely Soros successor emerges
George Soros has been running one of the most prominent and politically active financial empires for decades hand over the reins To his son, Alex, on behalf of his $25 billion Open Society Foundation.
This is another example of succession planning by Wall Street’s old guard. But the foundation’s change is particularly notable because it includes the elder Soros, whose unabashed support of liberal causes, $1.5 billion a year, has long made him right-wing.
Alex Soros will follow in his father’s footsteps. “We think alike,” George Soros told The Wall Street Journal. Alex Soros supports causes including voting and abortion rights and gender equality.
The younger Soros was elected chairman of the foundation in December. He also serves as chairman of the Soros Super PAC and is the only family member on the investment committee for the Soros Fund Management.
Alex Soros’ ascension was somewhat less likely. The soft-spoken 37-year-old was better known for high-profile partying than high-finances in his younger days. His half-brother Jonathan, a lawyer and former Soros employee, was considered by many to be the more natural successor until his relationship with their father more than a decade ago.
Will Alex Soros become a political lightning rod like his father? George Soros has drawn criticism for his political activities over the years – some with antisemitism – including from Elon Musk, who recently compared his Sometimes X-Men Villain Magneto,
The Journal notes that Alex Soros has a quieter public presence than his father, with the ACLU’s executive director telling The Journal, “Alex is unlikely to be the boogeyman that George Soros was for the right.” But the younger Soros is also more focused on domestic politics and is “more political” by his own admission.
“If even half of it is true, it’s toast.”
, William Barr, an attorney general under former President Donald Trump, says allegations against his former boss over his handling of classified government documents look “very, very damaging.” Trump is set to appear in Miami federal court on Tuesday — and then Host the first fund-raiser for his 2024 campaign.
week ahead
Interest rate decisions, inflation reports – this is the week many investors have circled on their calendars. Here’s what to watch:
Tuesday: Consumer Price Index is scheduled for release. According to economists polled by Reuters, “core” inflation maybe sidelined 5.2 percent on an annual basis.
Wednesday: The Fed ended its two-day rate-setting meeting. The futures market was trading no change in the prime lending rate this morning, but a potential hike in July was on the cards.
Thursday: It is the turn of the European Central Bank. Economists widely expect the central bank to raise borrowing costs by another 0.25 percentage points.
Friday: Bank of Japan is expected to remain Pat. Elsewhere, the University of Michigan published its latest consumer sentiment report.
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