Corporate governance - Vigil

Finance chiefs and treasurers expect to earn higher interest on cash piles parked at banks once interest rates go up, but banks, awash with trillions of dollars in deposits, might take their time before they pay commercial customers more.

Dan Keegan, a top Citigroup markets executive, is leaving the bank to start an investment fund focused on financial-technology companies, according to an internal memo.

The agreement was completed before Mr. Zucker announced his resignation on Feb. 2, the people said, with the executive citing a failure to disclose a consensual relationship with a colleague. He didn’t receive any severance package as part of his exit, they said.

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Chapek reversed course on his policy of staying out of politics and stepped into the debate over a controversial education bill in Florida that critics say targets LGBTQ youth.

Power Corp.’s venture capital arm Portage Ventures has closed a sixth round in one of the world’s largest VC funds focused on early-stage fintech companies, raising US$616-million from both institutional and retail investors.

A bank’s decision to loan Donald Trump’s company $100 million is the latest evidence the former president might survive fraud investigations and a business-world backlash over his efforts to stay in office after losing the 2020 election.

The London Metal Exchange (LME) suspended nickel trading on Tuesday, after the price of the base metal skyrocketed to a record amid escalating uncertainty around major supplier Russia, and after an intense short squeeze.

BCE Inc.’s chief financial officer says that if Rogers Communications Inc. agrees to sell Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile in a proposed $26-billion takeover, the wireless unit will have a difficult time competing against national, integrated telecoms.

Google said it reached a deal to buy cybersecurity company Mandiant for nearly $5.4 billion, aiming to bolster its cloud unit with more cybersecurity offerings at a time when businesses across industries have seen a wave of attacks on their systems.

Steel magnate Alexei Mordashov, known as Russia’s richest man with a fortune worth US$29-billion, has been sanctioned in Europe for his ties to the Kremlin and businesses that support the war against Ukraine. He’s also in line to be an indirect shareholder in Onex Corp.’s WestJet Group, should the Toronto investment company’s proposed takeover of Sunwing Travel Group go ahead.

The move comes as administration officials have raised concerns in recent weeks about Russia’s use of cryptocurrency to evade the impact of crushing sanctions in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions have sent the ruble to historic lows and have closed the country’s stock market.

Ryan Cohen, the billionaire co-founder of online pet-products retailer Chewy has a big stake in Bed Bath & Beyond and is pushing the housewares retailer to streamline its strategy and explore strategic alternatives.

With retail gasoline prices surging 57 cents a gallon in a week, more Americans are inclined to go the extra mile to fill up for less. Search interest for “cheap gas” has doubled since last week, according to Google Trends. That is a mixed bag for big box retailers such as Costco, Kroger  and Walmart, where it can frequently be found.

The European Union and the U.K. opened formal antitrust investigations into whether Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. sought to illegally cooperate in digital advertising, one of the few instances in which major regulatory bodies are exploring whether two Silicon Valley giants acted together to thwart competitors.

An Amazon spokeswoman said the split will make the split-adjusted share price more accessible for potential investors and will allow employees more flexibility in how they manage stock-based compensation.

Bayer AG agreed to sell its pest-control unit to private-equity firm Cinven for $2.6 billion, as the German chemical and drug giant seeks to focus on its core agricultural portfolio and reduce debt.

The company says the investment will help improve customer experience across its online and brick-and-mortar stores while growing its loyalty program.

XPO Logistics Inc. plans to split its freight brokerage, European and intermodal businesses apart from its U.S. trucking operation, effectively dismantling the sprawling, multibillion-dollar freight and supply-chain operation that Chief Executive Brad Jacobs built through a decade of acquisitions.

Beijing has told Chinese state refiners to consider suspending exports of gasoline and diesel in April as the Ukraine war heightens concern of shortages, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order on government oversight of cryptocurrency that urges the Federal Reserve to explore whether the central bank should jump in and create its own digital currency.

LanzaTech NZ Inc. is merging with a special-purpose acquisition company to go public in a deal that values the carbon-capture and transformation company at about $2.2 billion, company officials said.

Private debt funds use investor money to make short-term loans to high-risk borrowers. They have exploded in popularity in Canada over the past decade because of marketing that promises 8-per-cent annual returns to investors desperate for higher yields in an era of ultra-low interest rates.

Rogers Communications is tapping credit markets for $19-billion, locking in financing for its planned takeover of Shaw Communications ahead of an expected rise in interest rates.

Robert Smith, the billionaire chief executive of private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners, played a larger role than previously known in the $2 billion alleged tax evasion of his former business partner, recently filed court documents show.