Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group has reached a deal worth some $11.6 billion to buy the U.S. operations of BBVA, a Spanish lender. The mash-up, “one of the biggest banking deals since the 2008 financial crisis,” catapults PNC into the 5 spot among America’s biggest retail lenders - NYTimes and WSJ and MarketWatch
More positive vaccine news—this time from Moderna—is giving markets a reason to kick off the week with optimism, even as states and cities move to reimpose measures to reduce the spread of the surging coronavirus - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
Former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf reached a deal on Friday with federal authorities in which he’ll pay $2.5 million “to settle civil claims over his role in the bank’s fake accounts scandal.” Stumpf had earlier paid $17.5 million to resolve OCC claims as part of an agreement in which he was “barred from the banking industry” - WSJ and Law360
As part of its move to go public, food deliver start-up DoorDash released its set of financials to the wider world on Friday. While the company was “a clear winner of the pandemic”—more than “200 percent above the $587 million” in revenue for the same period a year ago—DoorDash has continued to lose money (though at a slower pace than last year’s clip) - NYTimes and WSJ and MarketWatch
The recent election and the incoming Biden/Harris administration could mean major changes for the nearly 42 student loan borrowers scattered throughout the United States. The Times explores some of the potential moves ahead that could “directly affect millions of borrowers’ monthly bills” - NYTimes
SEC chair Jay Clayton revealed this morning that he’s stepping down at the end of the year. Here’s a recap of his tenure at the Commission - NYTimes
Because central bankers clearly don’t have enough to worry about, a recent scoop by The Sun about the Bank of England’s “plans for a bigger-than expected expansion of quantitative easing that day” has “cast doubt” on the BOE’s “ability to keep a secret” - Bloomberg
Last week’s bickering between the White House and Pfizer over the latter’s participation in the Operation Warp Speed “program to accelerate vaccine development” is, according to The Upshot, a “fascinating” case study for “understanding modern capitalism.” Indeed, the pandemic may have been the perfect vehicle for showing how free markets and governments work with and depend on each other: “in a modern state, capitalism can save the day—but only when the government exercises its power to guide the economy and act as the ultimate absorber of risk” - NYTimes
Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen is among those the incoming Biden administration is considering to helm the Treasury Department, joining Fed Governor Lael Brainard as a front-runner for the gig - Bloomberg
The UK’s data protection authority has fined Ticketmaster $1.65 million for “failing to secure its customers’ personal details, exposing tens of thousands of account-holders at Barclays Bank to fraud” after installation of a chat-bot feature in 2018 – Law360
A host of Asia Pacific nations—including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand—have “signed the world’s largest regional free-trade agreement, encompassing nearly a third of the world’s population and gross domestic product.” The deal, dubbed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RECP—was “nearly a decade in the making” - Bloomberg
Procter & Gamble, a company “known for its meticulous market research and complex management structure,” shifted gears—through uncomfortable restructuring and accompanying layoffs—in an effort to be more nimble and lean. The success of its February-launched Microban 24 disinfectant spray suggests that it may be back on the right track after years in the rebuilding wilderness - WSJ
The Journal suggests that Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is fast becoming its “own elephant investment,” after $15.7 billion worth of buybacks this year (including $9 billion in Q3 alone) means that Berkshire is “now one of Berkshire Hathaway’s biggest investments ever,” a major shift for the company after years of eschewing buybacks - WSJ
New research suggests that Isaac Newton’s groundbreaking (but dense and Latin-written) Principia Mathematica “in fact achieved a surprisingly wide distribution throughout the educated world,” even in its first, limited edition published in London in 1687 - NYTimes
Stay safe.
