Biden's First Veto Preserves Rule Enabling ESG Investing

Biden vetoes bill to block Labor Dept. rule on ESG investing

President Biden on Monday vetoed his first bill — blocking a Republican-led effort to restrict pension funds from making investment decisions based on factors such as climate change.

“I just signed this veto because the legislation passed by the Congress would put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country,” Biden said in a tweeted video.

The bill passed Congress on March 1 after two Senate Democrats, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, voted in favor, allowing it to prevail 50-46 in the Democrat-held chamber.

The resolution would reverse a Labor Department rule making it easier for funds to consider environmental, social, and corporate governance, or ESG, issues.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Proposes Law to Ban CBDCs

A legislative proposal from Florida Gov. (and possible Republican U.S. presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis would prohibit the use of a national central bank digital currency (CBDC) as money within his state.

“Today’s announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance,” DeSantis said in a press release.

The proposed law would also prohibit in Florida the use of a CBDC issued by any overseas central bank. The governor’s statement calls on other states to adopt similar legislation.

Sadly, Bitcoin

On Friday, tech Twitter guy Balaji Srinivasan entered into a Twitter bet in which he bet $1 million against 1 Bitcoin that Bitcoin would be worth more than $1 million in 90 days. Noah Smith explains the bet here. If a Bitcoin is worth more than $1 million, Srinivasan wins one Bitcoin, which in this scenario is worth $1 million. If a Bitcoin is worth less than $1 million, Srinivasan loses $1 million, which in this scenario is worth, you know, (1) $1 million and (2) more than a Bitcoin. In every scenario, Srinivasan is strictly much worse off than if he had just bought 35 Bitcoins today.

What? There are three possible explanations here:

–He is kidding and not actually going to do this.

–He is deeply confused about how money works.

–He does know that this trade is economically irrational, but he is doing it to draw attention to himself and to Bitcoin, and to get other people to buy Bitcoin as a hedge to the societal collapse that he is promising, because he already owns a lot of Bitcoin and would like the price of Bitcoin to go up.

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear First Crypto Case TuesdayThe U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in its first-ever crypto-related case on Tuesday, when lawyers for San Francisco-based crypto exchange Coinbase will attempt to convince the nine Justices to pause a pair of class-action lawsuits against the crypto exchange.

Though the case the high court will hear Tuesday involves crypto, it is not itself a crypto case. Instead, this case is a fairly esoteric, procedural argument over whether a lawsuit can proceed in federal court while one party – in this case, Coinbase – is attempting to send the dispute to arbitration.

SVB Chief Becker Hires Defense Lawyers in Securities Fraud Suit

Silicon Valley Bank Chief Executive Officer Greg Beckerhas hired defense lawyers for a shareholder suit accusing him and the bank of securities fraud.

James Kramer and Alex Talarides, both San Francisco partners at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, are now representing Becker, according to a court filing in the shareholder case. It’s unclear if the two are also representing Becker in other matters, including probes of the bank’s failure by the Justice Department, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Reserve.

Former Tesla Australia Boss Avoids Jail After Insider Trading

Schlosser was sentenced in the Sydney District Court to two years and six months in prison, though was immediately released on a good behavior bond, Australia’s securities regulator said Tuesday.

Schlosser bought 86,478 shares in Piedmont Lithium Ltd. on Sept. 16., 2020 after becoming aware that Tesla had struck a supply deal with the Australia-listed mining company. Schlosser also told a friend about the agreement before it was announced, knowing that they would probably buy Piedmont stock, according to ASIC.

Schlosser was ordered to hand over to the state the A$28,883.53 ($19,400) profit he made from the trade, and is disqualified from managing corporations for five years, ASIC said.

Crypto Wants Its Shine Back

After a disastrous 2022, when a procession of prominent crypto firms imploded, the industry is angling for an audacious rebrand. Executives like Mr. Kwon and Mr. Bankman-Fried — once beloved crypto celebrities, with hundreds of thousands of devotees hanging on their every tweet — are now personae non gratae. Their former admirers argue that these crypto villains never truly embodied the industry’s core values, even before their companies collapsed.

At surviving firms, top executives are looking for new ways to market products that many consumers now distrust — and to distance themselves from former colleagues and mentors who could face years in prison. Some companies are trying to capitalize on the growing interest around artificial intelligence, with crypto schemes that feature convoluted A.I. tie-ins. Others are looking to replace the word “crypto,” arguing that the industry’s original nomenclature has become irredeemably tainted.

Rite Aid Hit with Opioid-Related Securities Suit

The opioid crisis in the United States is not a new development; sadly, it has been around for years, as has D&O litigation relating to the crisis. Indeed, more than five years ago, I published a post in which I noted the outbreak at the time of a number of opioid-related securities suits. Now, in the latest of these opioid-related securities suits to be filed, and in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice’s filings of a complaint in intervention in an opioid-related False Claims action against the company, a securities class action lawsuit has now been filed against the pharmacy company, Rite Aid Corporation. The March 20, 2023, Rite Aid complaint can be found here.