Banking C.E.O.s Face a Grilling on Capitol Hill

“One of the most dangerous misconceptions about data — in policymaking terms, at least — is that data is the ‘new oil’: a scarce resource to be hoarded, enriching those who own the most.”

— Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, arguing that misconceptions about how we handle and value data risk holding back the digital economy.

SPACs sacked

Yesterday, the investor Chamath Palihapitiya announced he was shutting down two of his special acquisition companies, or SPACs, and returning the money to investors.

The retreat by Palihapitiya, who has built a mini-empire of SPAC funds over the past three years, comes as investor demand has nearly collapsed for these so-called blank check firms. Essentially publicly traded shell funds, they merge with privately held companies and give them their stock listing, taking them public without the hassle or expense of an I.P.O.

But with rising inflation and interest rates and a bear market for risky assets — including the kinds of high-growth, no-profit companies that SPACs gravitate toward — investors have been fleeing blank-check funds. Just two SPACs were launched this month, valued at $195 million, compared with 31 a year ago, according to Dealogic. We’re far from the SPAC peak of March 2021, when 109 blank-check funds, valued at over $36 billion, were announced.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/business/dealbook/bank-ceos-dimon-gorman-senate-house-testimony.html