Category: 3. Business

The US Department of Justice is probing market volatility at a Hong-Kong based traditional Chinese medicine company after a stock surge briefly made its value soar 46,000%.

The DOJ sent a subpoena to Regencell Bioscience Holdings Ltd. to turn over documents and communications concerning trading in the company’s shares “and other corporate operational, financial and accounting matters,” according to the company’s financial report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday in Washington.

Oct 31 (Reuters) – Central Bancompany said on Friday that it was targeting a valuation of up to $5.72 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, in a rare move for a U.S. bank looking for a fresh flotation.

The Jefferson City, Missouri-based lender is looking to raise as much as $426.7 million by offering 17.8 million shares priced between $21 and $24 each and reinforcing a strong demand for IPOs in the market.

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However, a government shutdown in October has pulled the brakes on appetites for IPOs, hindering activity with short-term delays.

“The United States government shutdown took the Securities and Exchange Commission offline at exactly the wrong time, like a DJ walking away mid-drop,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, partner and chief investment officer at Running Point Capital.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, U.S. bank IPOs have been rare, as tighter regulations, rising compliance costs and market volatility reduced the appeal of public listings.

“For banking and finance specialists that have seen their pool grow smaller through M&A (and the occasional bellyflop), this will be a welcome addition,” Schulman said.

Central Bancompany has total balance sheet assets of $19.2 billion and wealth assets under advice of $15.4 billion, serving consumers and businesses in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Florida.

Morgan Stanley and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods are the joint lead book-running managers for the offering.

Central Bancompany intends to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “CBC”.

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He proudly celebrates his upcoming 20th anniversary at Leonardo. Having joined the company as a graduate student in Electronic Engineering at the University of Genoa, writing a thesis on security applied to networking equipment, 43-year-old electronic engineer Enrico Giacobbe has held numerous positions, from developing products for defence and space to providing security services for institutions and critical infrastructure, prior to his current role as Head of Global Cyber Consultancy & Advisory. This is a high responsibility role, leading a team of about 100 people in Italy and abroad, which designs and manages security solutions for over 160 customers worldwide.

“The Global CyberSec Center manages end-to-end security for the Division’s customers, carrying out projects and providing services ranging from predictive analysis, protection and real-time monitoring to cyber incident response. Leonardo‘s work is crucial for protecting strategic assets, including critical data and infrastructure, for the benefit of public administrations, institutions and companies,” explains Enrico. In a context of hybrid threats and geopolitical upheavals, the work carried out by this international team guarantees security for numerous organisations.

This sector is rapidly growing, which is why Leonardo has developed a targeted programme for recruiting young talent with STEM training. “We are looking for talented young people who are capable, passionate and motivated by desire to learn, become professionals and grow within the company: this is why we consider our collaboration with Higher Technical Institutes (ITS) and universities to be very fruitful. I tell new recruits about my career path, because I understand the uncertainties and doubts of those in their twenties who are taking their first steps in a large company. But,” Enrico adds, “as it was for me, there are many opportunities at Leonardo: it is a company that allows you to gain important international experience and that values people who are committed to achieving short- and long-term goals with competence and a strong sense of responsibility.”

Enrico’s suitcase is always packed and ready to meet clients and partners in Italy and Europe: “I obtained a diploma in electronics and a degree in electronic engineering, and then went on to work in cybersecurity with a business perspective.” Half-jokingly, he adds: “One of two things: am I a boring person? I would say, rather, a consistent person.”

Pfizer is suing over some unsolicited competition in its nearly $5 billion bid to buy the drugmaker Metsera.

New York-based Pfizer said Friday after markets closed that it was suing Metsera and a third drugmaker, Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, over a bid for Metsera that Novo announced Thursday.

Novo said it planned to buy Metsera in a deal that could be worth up to $9 billion, and Metsera said the offer appeared to be superior to Pfizer’s bid, which was announced in September.

Metsera Inc. has no products on the market, but it is developing potential oral and injectable treatments. That includes some potential treatments that could target lucrative fields for obesity and diabetes.

Novo already has the treatments Wegovy and Ozempic on the market in those respective categories.

Pfizer said the offer from Novo cannot be considered superior to its bid because it carries significant regulatory risk that makes it unlikely to be completed.

Pfizer, which ended development of a potential pill to treat obesity this spring, also said Novo’s offer represents “an illegal attempt by a company with a dominant market position to suppress competition.”

Representatives of both Novo and Metsera did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

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First Guaranty said it has a $52 million credit exposure tied to commercial lease financing to entities related to an unnamed auto parts manufacturer that declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy during the third quarter.

“We are continuing to monitor our loan portfolio and are working to de-risk the bank,” CEO Michael Mineer said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

“We are monitoring all events related to our large recent issue and will continue to assess our reserve and are working in conjunction with our servicer of the lease.”

The lender did not respond to Reuters’ request for the name of the bankrupt auto parts maker.

Provision for credit losses vaulted to $47.9 million in the quarter from $4.9 million a year earlier.

First Guaranty’s shares fell another 1.2% on Friday, following a 17.5% plunge in the previous session to a seven-month low. On Thursday, the lender released its quarterly call report, a regulatory filing that provides details about the bank’s financial health.

The bank’s stock is down 42.3% year-to-date.

“We have taken proactive steps to reserve against the credit, given the current known facts. We anticipate further clarification of our position in the fourth quarter,” Mineer said in a statement.

“For the time being, we will retain the high level of reserve against these commercial lease credits.”

The bank swung to a net loss of $45 million, or $3.01 per share, in the three months ended September 30, versus a net profit of $1.9 million, or 11 cents per share, a year earlier.

It booked a $12.9 million goodwill impairment charge in the quarter, as its stock trades below book value and higher provisions.

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Italian prosecutors ordered the seizure of around €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) in shares from the holding company that controls the drinks maker Davide Campari-Milano NV, as part of an alleged tax-fraud probe, according to a statement late Friday.

The order from Monza’s prosecutor office, carried out by the finance police, targets alleged unpaid taxes on assets moved abroad.

Berlin’s main airport briefly suspended flights late Friday after drone sightings, the latest in a string of such incidents across Europe.

Multiple flights into Berlin Brandenburg Airport were diverted to other airports in Germany, starting at about 9 p.m. local time according to the airport’s website. A British Airways plane on approach into the airport was redirected to Dresden, while an EasyJet flight from Paris was sent to Hanover.

US businesses are literally going penniless.

Since the Trump administration ended minting the one-cent coins earlier this year, those still in circulation are becoming harder to find. Many stores are now rounding their cash sales down to the nearest five cents, saying there are no federal guidelines on how to proceed.

“That adds up really quickly,” said Dylan Jeon, senior director of government relations with the National Retail Federation

In February, President Donald Trump said producing the coin was wasteful and too expensive and called on social media to “rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time”.

The US Mint officially stopped making pennies in May. The Treasury Department estimated shortages would start in early 2026, but they actually came much sooner. Banks can’t get pennies from the federal government, so businesses can’t get them from the banks.

“We first heard about the issue in late August, early September,” Mr Jeon said. “It’s really impacting any business that deals with cash payments.”

Now store clerks don’t know what to do when their tills are bare and someone needs change in pennies from a cash purchase.

The temporary solution for many, Mr Jeon said, is rounding the price of the sale up or down to the nearest five cents so the customer can use a nickel, the next lowest tender in the US.

But some cities, including New York, require retailers to give exact change and others don’t allow cash payments to differ from card payments for the same item, Mr Jeon said.

To avoid lawsuits and customer complaints, many retailers have chosen to just round down.

“You’re talking about losing up to four cents for every cash transaction across multiple stores across the country,” he said. “It’s unsustainable.”

Many stores are now urging customers to pay in exact change. Others are hosting promotions for customers to bring in extra pennies they have at home.

Convenience stores are some of the hardest hit by the shortage, said Jeff Lenard, a spokesperson for the National Association of Convenience Stores.

Convenience giant Kwik Trip has announced it is rounding down to the nickel, which it says will cost it up to $3m (£2.3m) this year.

American coins have been discontinued before, including the half-cent, three-cent and 20-cent pieces that were retired in the 1800s, Mr Lenard said. It’s been many years, though, since a staple like the penny – which entered ciruclation in 1793 – has ceased production.

“People don’t want the penny until they can’t get it back in change,” he said.

It costs nearly four cents to make a penny.

But keeping the zinc and copper coins in circulation will help lower-income Americans who primarily pay in cash, said Mark Weller, executive director of Americans for Common Cents.

“These are people that don’t have the access to checking accounts and charge cards and banking services,” he said. “You hurting lower-income groups when you start rounding transactions.”

He also thinks the government savings from not producing pennies will be offset by the need for more nickels, which are worth five cents but cost nearly 14 cents to make.

People watching the penny world believe there needs to be federal guidance for both businesses and shoppers on rounding, how to carry out transactions during the shortage, and generally what to do with the coins.

“There will always be pennies out there, it’s just such a low-utilisation coin,” said Mr Jeon. “People forget about them in their pockets, they lose them in their couch, they’re sitting in jars. Those are coins that aren’t making it into circulation.”