Benzinga Before The Bell: FDA Temporarily Suspends Juul Ban, FTX Wants Bitcoin Derivatives, Voyager Digital Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy And Other Top Financial Stories Wednesday, July 6

CNBC

Ben & Jerry’s Sues Parent Unilever On Israeli business Sale

• Unilever Plc UL owned Ben & Jerry’s has sued its owner to stop the sale of its Israeli business to a local licensee.
• The move is said to help keep Ben & Jerry’s ice cream products available in Israel.
• The brand said Unilever decided on the sale without the approval of its independent board.

Reuters

Inflation Effect: Walmart To Charge Suppliers Fuel Fee

• Walmart Inc WMT is planning to levy a new fee for some of its suppliers to transport goods to its warehouses and stores.
• The move, effective from August, is in response to the soaring fuel and transportation costs.
• Walmart will charge a “collect pickup charge,” which is a percentage of the cost of goods received and a fuel surcharge based on the cost of fuel to transport the goods, the report added.

Wall Street Journal

Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX Seeks Approval For Crypto Derivatives, Rivals Object

• The FTX is seeking regulators to allow investors to use derivatives to place leveraged bets on bitcoin.
• Though the rivals, including traditional exchanges and financial-industry groups, FTX’s proposal might endanger market stability as it will put volatile derivatives in the hands of unsophisticated investors.
• “The FTX model would significantly increase market risk,” commented Terrence Duffy, CEO of CME Group Inc, which offers a competing bitcoin-derivatives product.

Bloomberg

US Canvasses Netherlands To Severe Chipmaking Ties Between ASML And China: Pros And Cons

• The U.S. is influencing the Netherlands to prohibit ASML Holding NV ASML from selling to China, mainstream technology essential in making a large chunk of the world’s chips, Bloomberg reports.
• The proposed restriction could thwart the country’s aspirations to lead global chip production by intensifying an existing suspension, a severe blow to Chinese chipmakers like Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp and Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd.

Financial Times

Key Takeaways From Amazon’s Antitrust Case Settlement With EU Regulators; UK Watchdog Launches Similar Probe

• Amazon.com Inc AMZN has agreed to share more data with rivals and offer a wider choice of products for buyers under a deal with EU antitrust regulators.
• The arrangement will mark the end of two of the most high-profile probes in Brussels.
• Amazon will allow third-party sellers on its marketplace to access more information to help them sell more products online. The possible settlement comes three years after an antitrust probe into Amazon’s alleged anti-competitive practices over the data handling of its rivals.

Benzinga

Highlights From Amazon-Just Eat Takeaway.com Collaboration

• Amazon.com Inc AMZN agreed to acquire a 2% stake in Just Eat Takeaway.com N.V.’s JTKWY struggling US meal delivery business Grubhub and offer its Prime members access to the service for a year.
• Under the deal announced as part of Amazon’s July “Prime Day” promotion, Amazon customers will receive free delivery on orders over $12 in the 4,000 cities where Grubhub operates.
• The deal aims to boost traffic for Grubhub.

Shiba Inu Plans To Launch New Reward Token’ TREAT:’ What You Need To Know

• The project behind the Shiba Inu SHIB/USD meme cryptocurrency has added a new token named “TREAT” to its ecosystem.
• TREAT, a new reward token, was announced by Shiba Inu lead developer Shytoshi Kusama in a July 6 update.
• “Yes, you are reading it correctly. TREAT will launch as part of our ecosystem development,” said the developer in a blog post.

Alert: This Malware Steals Your Crypto Via ‘Free Bitcoin Mining’ Links On YouTube

• A new type of crypto-malware identified on Alphabet Inc-owned GOOG GOOGL Google’s YouTube has been found to infect users’ devices and steal from 30 different types of cryptocurrency wallets and browsers.
• According to a recent report from cyber intelligence firm Cyble Research Labs, the newly developed cryptocurrency stealer named “PennyWise” uses multithreading to steal user data.
• The threat actors (TA) reportedly spread the PennyWise stealer as a link to download free Bitcoin BTC/USD mining software.

FDA Temporarily Suspends Banning Order On Juul’s E-Cigarettes

• The FDA temporarily suspended its ban on sales of the popular e-cigarette maker Juul, backed by Altria Group Inc MO, which owns a 35% stake in the company.
• “On July 5, 2022, FDA administratively stayed the marketing denial order,” the agency’s tobacco division wrote in a tweet. “The agency has determined that there are scientific issues unique to the JUUL application that warrant additional review.”
• The agency said that the administrative stay temporarily suspends the order during the additional review but doesn’t rescind it.

Why Alibaba, Other Chinese Firms Could Seek Shifting Primary Listings to Hong Kong

• Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA and other U.S.-listed Chinese stocks could convert their secondary listings in Hong Kong to primary, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing the bourse operator’s chief executive.
• Since dual-listed companies — especially ones with secondary listings in Hong Kong — are currently excluded from the “Stock Connect” scheme with China, it would serve as an incentive to explore primary listings instead, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing CEO Nicolas Aguzin said, according to the report.
• The current exchange rule mandates that if more than 55% of the stock trading volume occurs in Hong Kong, then the company should transfer its listing status to primary.

Goldman, Volkswagen backed Northvolt Raises $1.1B For Expansion In Europe

• Northvolt, the battery maker back by Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs, raised $1.1 billion via convertible note to finance its expansion of battery cell and cathode material production in Europe to support the rapidly expanding demand for batteries.
• Among the investors in the capital offering were Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Volkswagen Group VWAGY.
• It is now building a manufacturing capacity to fulfill $55 billion in orders from key customers, including BMW, Fluence, Scania, Volvo Cars, and Volkswagen Group.

Crypto Lender Voyager Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

• Days after it suspended trading, deposits, and withdrawals on its platform, cryptocurrency lending platform Voyager Digital LLC VYGVF filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York, according to its court filing.
• As per the petition filed by Voyager, the company has over $110 million in cash and owned cryptocurrency assets on hand, which will provide liquidity to support day-to-day operations during the Chapter 11 process, in addition to more than $350 million cash held in a customer benefit account at Metropolitan Commercial Bank.

‘Obey Law Of Land,’ India Tells Big Tech After Twitter Challenges Takedown Orders

• India’s government wants Big Tech to follow the law of the land after Twitter Inc TWTR filed a lawsuit against an order to take down content.
• India’s Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted, noting that all in the country, including “Internet intermediaries/platforms,” have the right to court and judicial review.

Apple Hates Buttons, Zippers — So It Filed A Patent For A Magnetic Fastener

• Apple Inc AAPL is researching magnetic fasteners for clothing and cases because it considers buttons and zippers as “unsightly” and “time-consuming.”
• The Tim Cook-led tech giant filed a recent patent titled “Magnetic Fastener,” first noted on Apple Insider, which explores doing away with the limitations of more traditional fasteners.
• Apple described the apparatus as having a fabric body with body portions that can be opened and closed alongside a seam in its patent application.

After $250 Deposit, Fisker Asks Customers For $5,000 More To Confirm Ocean One SUV Orders

• Reservation holders for Fisker Inc’s FSR Ocean SUV have reportedly been asked to shell out $5,000 more to secure a limited edition of the electric vehicle, after having paid an initial $250 deposit fee.
• Earlier this week, Fisker emailed its “early reservation holders” to place a “$5,000 non-refundable pre-order deposit” to confirm an Ocean One, according to an Electrek report.
• Fisker’s extra ask was made only to “select groups of reservation holders,” implying that the $250 deposit fee it has been collecting for years was only to be among the first to place a $5,000 non-refundable order, according to Electrek.

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