Benzinga Before The Bell: Roe vs Wade Ruling Effect, Airbnb's Ban on Parties, JetBlue's Modified Proposal And Other Top Financial Stories Tuesday, June 28

CNBC

Ahead Of Investor Deep Dive Event, Credit Suisse Fined For Cocaine Money Laundering Case: Report

• Credit Suisse Group AG CS will hold an Investor Deep Dive event today to inform investors about its key priorities and achievements across the Risk, Compliance & Technology & Operations functions, and the Wealth Management business.
• “Despite the challenging market environment, we remain firmly focused on executing our strategic plan during the transition year 2022 and reinforcing our risk culture – crucially, while staying close to our clients,” said Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein.
• “At the same time, we are continuing to drive the bank’s digital transformation, which is key to building a robust, scalable, and agile organization that is fit for the future,” he added.

Reuters

Toshiba Shareholders Vote Activist Investors To Board

• Toshiba Corp TOSBF TOSYY reported results from the shareholders’ meeting, where members from activist hedge funds were elected to the board.
• Elliott Management’s Nabeel Bhanji and Farallon Capital Management’s Eijiro Imai were elected as board members, Reuters reported.
• Akihiro Watanabe, an executive from investment bank Houlihan Lokey, becomes the board chairman.

Volkswagen, Siemens, Others Invest Over $700M For Hassle-Free, Cheaper EV Charging

• The White House disclosed over $700 million in investments by Volkswagen AG VWAGY unit Electrify America and Siemens AG SIEGY to expand its Grand Prairie, Texas, and Ponoma, California EV charger plants.
• The move could add at least 2,000 jobs and make charging more convenient and cheap.
• It looks to boost U.S. manufacturing capacity for EV chargers to over 250,000 annually.
• The U.S. government aims to grow the U.S. network of EV chargers to 500,000 by 2030, up from 100,000 today.

No More Parties in Airbnb, Company Bans It Permanently On Listings: Reuters

• Airbnb Inc ABNB is set to make the ban on parties in homes listed on its site permanent, citing a significant decrease in reports of unauthorized gatherings since the ban was implemented in August 2020.
• Since implementing the strategy, ABNB has reported a 44% decrease in the rate of party reports year after year.
• The ban was introduced and extended to halt the spread of COVID-19 infections. As the summer travel season begins, the company is making the ban permanent.

Investors Seek More Transparent Tax, Disclosure Norms From Microsoft and Cisco

• Britain-based proxy advisers Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC) sought more transparent tax and financial information from Microsoft Corp MSFT and Cisco Systems, Inc CSCO.
• The resolution urged Microsoft to disclose financial and tax information country-by-country outside the U.S.
• It also sought a tax transparency report from Microsoft in line with the tax standard of the Global Reporting Initiative.

Russia Fined These US Companies Over Data Privacy Breach

• A Moscow court penalized Amazon.com Inc AMZN owned video streaming service Twitch, social network Pinterest, Inc PINS, holiday rental company Airbnb, Inc ABNB, and United Parcel Service, Inc UPS for refusing to store Russian citizens’ data in Russia.
• Russia penalized Twitch by 2 million roubles ($37,700), Pinterest and Airbnb by 2 million roubles, and UPS by 1 million roubles.
• In late May, Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor opened cases against the companies for allegedly violating personal data legislation.

Berkshire Hathaway Raises Stake In Occidental Petroleum, Find Out How Much

• Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) has purchased another 794,389 shares of Occidental Petroleum Corp OXY at an average price of ~$55.39, according to a Form-4 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• The total purchase amount was ~$44 million for ~794 thousand shares of OXY.
• The recent purchase of OXY shares brings Berkshire Hathaway’s total stake in the company to 16.4%.

Tesla To Face New Trial In Race-Bias Lawsuit After Ex-Worker Rejects $15M Payout

• Tesla Inc TSLA will face a new trial related to the damages that it owes to a Black former factory worker after he turned down a $15 million award in a race discrimination lawsuit, Reuters reported on Monday.
• U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco ordered a new trial a week after the former elevator operator with Tesla, Owen Diaz, said he would not accept the award.
• A jury had last October awarded Diaz a $137 million award. Orrick had in April lowered the $137 million jury award for Diaz to $15 million.

Wall Street Journal

Volkswagen In Talks To Sell Stake In US EV Charging Business To Siemens

• Volkswagen AG VWAGY is nearing a deal to divest a minority stake in its U.S. electric vehicle charging business to a division of Siemens AG SIEGY.
• The deal, if realized, would value Volkswagen’s Electrify America LLC at more than $2 billion.
• The report added that the funds will be used for Electrify America’s plan to expand its EV charging stations across the U.S. and parts of Canada to 1,800 by 2026.

Effect Of Roe Vs. Wade Ruling - Pharmacies Ration Contraceptive Pills

• Major pharmacies like CVS Health Corp CVS, Walmart Inc WMT, and Rite Aid Corporation RAD have put a limit on purchases or deliveries of Plan B and other emergency contraceptive pills.
• The move comes as demand for contraceptive pills spiked following the Supreme Court ruling overturning a constitutional right to abortion. These were in short supply or out of stock on major retailer websites.
• As per the report, CVS and Rite Aid were limiting purchases to three.

Bloomberg

US-Based Exploration & Development Company Ivanhoe Electric Prices Big US IPO

• Ivanhoe Electric Inc has priced its initial public offering at $11.75 a share, raising $169.1 million.
• The company’s mining billionaire Robert Friedland sold about 14.4-million shares at the bottom of its previously guided IPO price range of $11.75 to $12.50.
• The underwriters have an option to purchase an additional 2.16-million shares.
• According to Bloomberg, Ivanhoe Electric IPO is still the biggest U.S. IPO since May.

Financial Times

US Government Offers $75M Support For Lipid Systems Expansion Used In mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

• The U.S. government will provide up to $75 million to expand U.K.-listed Croda International Plc’s COIHF U.S. manufacturing capacity of ingredients for lipid systems used in novel therapeutic drugs, such as mRNA vaccines.
• Croda will also invest up to $58 million.
• The investment will be used to establish a new lipid facility in Lamar, Pennsylvania. Construction is expected to start later this year, with the new capacity anticipated in 2025.

Benzinga

Volkswagen Unveils 1st Electric Mid-Size Sedan To Take On Tesla In China, Europe Next Year

• Volkswagen Group VWAGY on Monday unveiled the first electric mid-size sedan it plans to start selling in China and Europe in the second half of next year.
• The German automaker said ID. Aero is the sixth member of its electric vehicle portfolio that also has its sports utility vehicles and crossovers.
• “Sedans are the second most popular body style in China,” said Stephen Wollenstein, CEO, Volkswagen China.

Alibaba Lays Off 50 Employees As It Shuts Israel R&D Center: Report

• Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings BABA is shutting down its R&D center in Israel, the company notified its employees on Sunday.
• According to Israeli News company CTech, Alibaba notified around 50 local employees on Sunday that it plans to shut the center and lay off the staff.
• According to the report, the Israel R&D center of Alibaba has employed dozens of experts in the fields of AI, product and cloud, and mobile software engineering.

Nancy Pelosi’s Team Blames Media For Controversy Over Her Elbowing Republican Congresswoman’s Daughter

• A spokesperson for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D- Calif.) said the House Speaker was not trying to push aside Rep. Mayra Flores’s (R-Texas) child at a photo op during Flores’ swearing-in ceremony last week but was instead was trying to make sure she would not be hidden.
• The spokesperson said it was sad to see news outlets “that know better” misrepresent Pelosi’s efforts to ensure Flores’ daughter wouldn’t be hidden behind her in “all of the photos of such an important moment for their family,” reported The New York Post.
• Additional footage was reportedly shared by the spokesperson which apparently showed Pelosi “graciously greeting Rep. Flores’ children and telling them about the room they are in.”

JetBlue Modifies Spirit Proposal; Urges Spirit Shareholders Vote Against Frontier Offer

• JetBlue Airways JBLU has again modified its proposal to acquire Spirit Airlines Inc SAVE based on discussions with Spirit shareholders.
• JetBlue added a ticking fee, increased the reverse breakup fee to $400 million, and accelerated prepayment to $2.50 per share.
• The addition of a ticking fee mechanism provides shareholders with a monthly prepayment of $0.10 per share between January 2023 and the consummation or termination of the transaction.

Shiba Inu Community Passes Proposal To Halt BONE Farming: What It Means

• The Shiba Inu SHIB/USD community has overwhelmingly voted in favor of a proposal to halt the minting of BONE BONE/USD at 230 million tokens.
• According to an update released by the DOGGY DAO on Monday, 97.88% of the community voted in favor of capping BONE so that the remaining 20 million minted tokens can be reserved for Shibarium validators.
• BONE is the rewards token that also serves as a governance token in the SHIB ecosystem.

EOS Is ‘Ethereum On Steroids?’ Vitalik Buterin Serves Sarcasm On Twitter

• Ethereum ETH/USD co-founder Vitalik Buterin recalled an old joke about cryptocurrency project EOS EOS/USD on Twitter Inc TWTR.
• “EOS is Ethereum on Steriods,” joked Buterin, in response to what was presumably more sarcasm from Ethereum developer Josh Stark who asked what EOS was.
• EOS is a smart contract platform that quickly gained popularity after its launch in 2018, where it raised $4.1 billion in an initial coin offering (ICO).

Alibaba Loses 2%, Nio Tumbles 9%: What’s Dragging Down Hong Kong Stocks Today?

• Shares of major U.S.-listed Chinese companies were trading lower in Hong Kong on Tuesday, with major tech stocks like Alibaba Group Holdings BABA, Tencent Holdings TCEHY, Baidu Inc BIDU, and JD.com Inc JD slipping between 0.9% and 4.6%.
• In the electric vehicle segment, Xpeng Inc XPEV and Li Auto Inc LI cracked nearly 4%, while Nio Inc NIO led losses with a near 9% fall.
• Hang Seng Index down 0.71%; global cues mostly weak. JPM analysts are concerned about the Chinese economy in the “absence of a clear COVID exit roadmap.”

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