PayPal joins abortion support; JPMorgan, BlackRock not snubbing energy sector

TOP NEWS IN BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES

* PayPal Holdings Inc. joins financial companies offering to cover travel expenses for employees seeking abortion out of their states, Bloomberg News reported, citing a memo. PayPal's announcement comes after a leaked draft U.S. Supreme Court ruling restricting abortion nationwide. Despite the leaked ruling raising employee concerns, PayPal will continue to give "equitable access to health care benefits" for employees, the report quoted Kausik Rajgopal, PayPal's chief human resources officer, as saying.

* Top Wall Street bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the world's biggest asset manager, BlackRock Inc., are among companies that told Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar they are not boycotting fossil-fuel companies, Reuters reported, citing the companies' letters to Hegar, in response to a request for information to see if the companies can continue managing the state's funds. Texas has a new law prohibiting state agencies from contracting with financial firms that shun fossil fuel companies.

➤ Endeavour Capital ups stake in New York-based Valley National in Q1

Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in New York-based Valley National Bancorp. by 73.8% during the first quarter of 2022, according to the company's latest Form 13F filing.

➤ Global private equity deal value inches up in April

Global private equity deals increased 6% in April to $98.81 billion in gross value from $93.28 billion in the same month of 2021, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

READ MORE about the market reaction and industry impact of the evolving situation in Russia and Ukraine in our new Issue in Focus.

BANKING

* Six current and former Wells Fargo & Co. employees said the company conducts "fake interviews" of "diverse" applicants — women or people of color — only to help its diversity efforts on paper, the New York Times reported, citing the employees, including Joe Bruno, a former wealth management division executive. Bruno said the interviews are done even if the target job posts have already been promised to someone else, the Times reported. Bruno said Wells Fargo fired him last August purportedly for retaliating against a co-worker, the report said.

* Meanwhile, Wells Fargo faces a racial discrimination lawsuit from a former Raleigh branch manager, who said the company fired her in 2020 after she posted a comment visible only to friends on Facebook denouncing a cop's killing of George Floyd, the Triangle Business Journal reported. Ranada Howard said in her lawsuit that Wells Fargo "knowingly and selectively" allowed similar Facebook posts from white employees, according to the report.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

* GoldenTree Asset Management LP is looking to raise as much as $1.5 billion for its first fund focused on providing loans directly to companies, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The company is also forming a team to source deal flow directly from private equity firms, which have been increasingly tapping privately negotiated financings to fund buyouts, according to the report.

* FTX Trading Ltd. now offers traditional stocks for trade as a safety net for the cryptocurrency exchange against market slumps in digital assets and a way to lure more retail investors, Bloomberg News reported, citing a company statement. Retail traders can opt to fund their brokerage accounts with asset-backed stablecoins, according to the report.

* Upstart Holdings Inc. CFO Sanjay Datta said the fintech company will no longer keep loans that no financial institution is buying, The Wall Street Journal reported. Upstart was met with surprise from investors after it decided early this year to park such loans in its balance sheet, according to the report. Now, Upstart might scale back its lending volume if investor demand for loans is weak, Datta reportedly said.

POLICY AND REGULATION

* Michael Barr, President Joe Biden's nominee to lead bank supervision at the Federal Reserve, said in his nomination hearing that the central bank's authority on climate change is limited and related to assessing risks.

* The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interpretive rule May 19 that lays out the authority of states to pursue companies and individuals that break federal consumer financial protection laws.

* The Federal Reserve Board finalized a rule that governs funds transfers over the FedNow Service. The final rule is substantially similar to the proposal from last year, with a few clarifications in response to comments, according to a release.

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