Yellen defends efforts to stabilize banks
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday defended the federal government's actions to stabilize the U.S. financial system, saying recent moves to protect depositors at two banks were aimed at preventing problems from spreading through the banking system.
Yellen, appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, also sought to reassure the public that America's banks, whose stocks have been incredibly volatile in recent days, are “sound” and that their customer deposits are safe.
The comments were Yellen's first since the Treasury secretary and other federal regulators moved to contain fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. On Sunday, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced they would make sure all depositors at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which regulators also seized, were repaid in full.
“We wanted to make sure that the problems at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank didn't undermine confidence in the soundness of banks around the country,” Yellen said.
Yellen played a central role in the rescue effort that was undertaken in the past week, ultimately declaring that Silicon Valley Bank posed a “systemic” threat to the economy. That determination opened the door to the Federal Reserve and the FDIC guaranteeing the uninsured deposits at the failing banks.
Her testimony came as she was working behind the scenes to broker a rescue of First Republic bank, which saw its shares plummet last week amid concerns that it could fail, by coordinating a $30 billion infusion from other financial institutions. Before the hearing, Yellen spoke to regulators and top bank executives to finalize the deal that she devised Tuesday and executed with the assistance of Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase.
Novo Nordisk to cut insulin prices
Novo Nordisk, one of the world's biggest makers of insulin, said it would cut U.S. prices for several of its products by up to 75%, following similar actions by rival Eli Lilly & Co.
Novo will reduce the list price for NovoLog and NovoLog Mix 70/30 by 75%, and cut Novolin and Levemir's list prices by 65%, according to a statement Tuesday. It is also reducing the list price of several unbranded insulins. The changes go into effect in 2024.
Lilly said earlier this month that it would slash prices for Humalog and Humulin by 75% and cap out-of-pocket costs at $35. Those actions were hailed by President Joe Biden, who said then that other companies would do the same.
Meta slashing 10,000 more jobs
Facebook parent Meta is slashing another 10,000 jobs and will not fill 5,000 open positions as the social media pioneer cuts costs.
The company announced 11,000 job cuts in November, about 13% of its workforce at the time.
Meta and other tech companies have been hiring aggressively for at least two years and in recent months have begun to let some of those workers go.
Early last month, Meta posted falling profits and its third consecutive quarter of declining revenue.
Biden administration threatens to ban TikTok
President Joe Biden's administration has threatened to ban TikTok from the United States unless the app's Chinese owners agree to spin off their share of the social media platform, TikTok acknowledged Wednesday evening.
The apparent ultimatum by a U.S. multiagency panel known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States marks a possible turning point in the long-running negotiations between federal officials concerned about TikTok's links to China and a wildly popular social media company with more than 100 million U.S. users.
TikTok declined to discuss specifics of the U.S. government's request, including details around its timing.
The company has been negotiating with CFIUS — a group composed of the Departments of Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, Defense and Commerce, among others — for more than two years on a deal that might allow the app to continue operating in the U.S. market in the face of security and privacy concerns.