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GOP lawmakers accuse Fed of being lax before bank failure
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers accused top bank regulators of dawdling as Silicon Valley Bank hurtled toward the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history and questioned whether tougher regulations would have made a difference. Regulators closed the bank March 10, shaking the U.S. financial system and triggering fears of a broader banking crisis. But Federal Reserve supervisors had first raised questions about Silicon Valley’s risky practices far earlier — in 2021 — and had warned the bank’s management about them in the fall of that year. “That doesn’t sound like a very urgent supervisory process,” Rep. French Hill, an Arkansas Republican, said at Wednesday’s hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.
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US: Credit Suisse violates deal on rich clients’ tax evasion
GENEVA (AP) — U.S. lawmakers say Credit Suisse violated a plea agreement by failing to report secret offshore accounts that wealthy Americans used to avoid paying taxes. The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday released a two-year investigation that detailed the role employees at the embattled Swiss bank had in aiding tax evasion by clients. The committee pointed to an ongoing, possible criminal conspiracy tied to nearly $100 million in accounts belonging to a family of American taxpayers that the bank didn’t disclose. It says over $700 million was concealed in violation of Credit Suisse’s plea deal with the Justice Department. The bank says it “does not tolerate tax evasion” and that the report described “legacy issues” that have been addressed.
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Starbucks’ Howard Schultz defends union stance before Senate
Longtime Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz insisted the coffee chain hasn’t broken labor laws and is willing to bargain with unionized workers during an often testy, two-hour appearance before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Schultz was firm in his stance that the Seattle-based company provides good wages and benefits and doesn’t need a union. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent and a vocal supporter of Starbucks labor organizers, has sought Schultz’s testimony for months, saying the Starbucks chief has violated workers’ rights by opposing unionization. At least 293 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-owned U.S. stores have voted to unionize since late 2021.
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Macy’s Gennette to retire; Bloomingdale’s Spring is new CEO
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy’s says Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette plans to retire and will be succeeded by Bloomingdale’s Chairman and CEO Tony Spring in February. Gennette, 61, has served as Macy’s CEO since March 2017 and became chairman in February 2018. Spring, 58, will become president and CEO-Elect of Macy’s, effective immediately, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. He’s served as an executive vice president at Macy’s since 2021.
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WWE’s WrestleMania extravaganza draws sponsors to the ring
NEW YORK (AP) — WWE’s WrestleMania arrives this weekend to a massive audience and vastly larger sponsorship revenue as it seeks to establish itself as a serious contender for major dollars from such partnerships. Craig Stimmel, WWE’s senior vice president and head of global sales and partnerships, exclusively tells The Associated Press in an interview that sponsorship revenue for this year’s event has doubled to more than $20 million, a record for any WrestleMania ever. Those numbers are critical in light of the return in January of Vince McMahon, the founder and majority shareholder of WWE, who said WWE could be up for sale.
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UBS brings back Ermotti as CEO with Credit Suisse deal ahead
GENEVA (AP) — UBS says it’s bringing back former CEO Sergio Ermotti to lead the Swiss bank as it moves forward with a government-orchestrated plan to take over struggling rival Credit Suisse. The bank said Wednesday that Ermotti’s appointment takes effect in a week. Ermotti was the bank’s top executive for nine years and will take over from CEO Ralph Hamers. The bank says Hamers will remain at UBS during a transition period. The hastily arranged, $3.25 billion deal for Credit Suisse aimed to stem the upheaval in the global financial system after the collapse of two U.S. banks and jitters about long-running troubles at Credit Suisse led shares of Switzerland’s second-largest bank to tank and customers to pull out their money.
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Congress approves measure to toss Biden’s water protections
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress on Wednesday approved a resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s protections for thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways. The Senate voted 53 to 43 to approve the Republican-led effort. President Joe Biden has promised to veto the measure. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to block recently enacted executive branch regulations and only needs a majority vote. This is the latest development in a long-running fight over the reach of the Clean Water Act. Environmental groups have sought protections that cover more waters to reduce pollution while business and farming groups have supported proposals to curtail regulations that can impose permitting requirements on builders.
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Musk, scientists call for halt to AI race sparked by ChatGPT
Are tech companies moving too fast in rolling out powerful artificial intelligence technology that could one day outsmart humans? That’s the conclusion of a group of prominent computer scientists and other tech industry notables such as Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak who are calling for a 6-month pause to consider the risks. Their petition published Wednesday is a response to San Francisco startup OpenAI’s recent release of GPT-4, a more advanced successor to its widely-used AI chatbot ChatGPT that helped spark a race among tech giants Microsoft and Google to unveil similar applications.
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Congress to consider new no-fly list for unruly passengers
Congress is taking another look at creating a new no-fly list for unruly passengers. It’s an idea that was floated last year but never got off the ground. On Wednesday, several members of the U.S. Senate and House introduced legislation to let the Transportation Security Administration ban people from flying if they’ve been convicted or fined for assaulting or interfering with airline crew members. Flight attendant unions say the measure is needed to prevent violent incidents on planes. But civil libertarians oppose a new no-fly list, saying there are already measures in place to address unruly passengers.
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The S&P 500 rose 56.54 points, or 1.4%, to 4,027.81. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 323.35 points, or 1%, to 32,717.60. The Nasdaq composite rose 210.16 points, or 1.8% to 11,926.24. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 18.97 points, or 1.1%, to 1,771.60.
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