Banking Regulators Prepare for Tough Questions From Lawmakers

March 28, 2023
Business

Some lawmakers may take the opposite political approach: Could future bank crises be resolved more quickly through letting nonbank investment firms bid on assets or by setting aside qualms about consolidation and letting bigger lenders acquire failing ones?

In other banking crisis news: SVB’s collapse has chilled start-up funding. Did the F.D.I.C. have to sweeten the terms of the SVB rescue to revive a “stale” deal? And the governor of the Bank of England said that Britain’s banks would be resilient enough to withstand further rises in interest rates.

HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING

Benjamin Netanyahu delays a contentious judicial overhaul. The Israeli prime minister backed down, at least temporarily, from an effort to give the government more control over the judiciary, after protests that shut swaths of the country (and pressure from the Biden administration). It’s unclear what Mr. Netanyahu, whose allies still want the overhaul, will do next.

Disney prepares to lay off 7,000 workers. The long-awaited move, which will take place in three stages over the next few months, is meant to cut $5.5 billion in costs. Among the divisions hit: the 50-person team focusing on the metaverse, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Alibaba will split itself six ways. The Chinese internet giant said it will divide itself into core businesses including artificial intelligence and e-commerce — and each can pursue “independent fund-raising and I.P.O.s when they are ready,” the C.E.O., Daniel Zhang, said. The announcement came after Jack Ma, Alibaba’s co-founder, reappeared in China, signaling that regulators there may be easing a crackdown on tech.

BioNTech falls from pandemic heights. The drugmaker behind Pfizer’s blockbuster Covid vaccine forecast that revenue from the shots would slide to about €5 billion ($5.4 billion) this year, from €17 billion in 2022. It’s one of many businesses that boomed in the pandemic — think Zoom and Peloton — now tumbling back to earth. (One exception: Crocs shoes.)

Russia tells Western companies they must pay to leave. A Moscow commission on foreign investments ruled that businesses trying to exit must make a donation directly to the Russian state budget. For hundreds of international companies still considering whether to cut ties with Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, it’s an additional complication: Leaving, too, could fund Moscow’s war effort.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/business/dealbook/silicon-valley-bank.html