• The Securities and Exchange Commission is weighing tougher disclosure requirements for investment firms after the Archegos Capital Management blowup and the GameStop Corp. trading frenzy earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The review under Gary Gensler, who took the helm at the SEC last week, is still in its early stages, the people said. (Bloomberg) 
• Republican lawmakers in a private meeting suggested they would oppose future increases to the debt ceiling unless it’s paired with comparable federal spending cuts, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) saying that the GOP position is “a step in the right direction in terms of reining in out-of-control spending.” Congress agreed to suspend the debt ceiling limit through July, at which point lawmakers need to either raise the full amount or face default. (The Washington Post) 
• JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. were noticeably absent as signatories from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a new financial sector climate change initiative revealed yesterday. Wall Street counterparts Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., however, did sign on to the group. (Politico) 
• Senate Democrats rejected Republicans’ yet-to-be introduced infrastructure proposal that would slim down President Joe Biden’s $2.5 trillion plan to less than $1 trillion, with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) preparing a counteroffer of between $600-$800 billion. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called the GOP proposal “totally anemic” and an “insult,” while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said that “the Republican proposal does not meet the moment.” (Politico)

Many left behind in this recovery have something in common: No college degree

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Janet Yellen says spending by companies will be key to the U.S. reaching climate goals.

Alan Rappeport, The New York Times

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said on Wednesday that the private sector will need to shoulder much of the cost of greening the United States economy over the next decade and that the Biden administration is working on a new financial reporting framework to make the climate sector more appealing to investors. Ms. Yellen, speaking at an Institute of International Finance event, called climate change an “existential risk to our future economy and way of life,” and said that she is working on a “whole of economy” approach to addressing it. 

Lawmakers lobby to bring home big bucks as Congress wrangles over $2 trillion infrastructure plan

Tony Romm, The Washington Post

Rep. Donald Payne Jr. has asked the Biden administration to front the cash for a local railway project so many times that one of the president’s top advisers no longer greets him with just a hello. “I know, Gateway, I know,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tells the congressman as soon as they start talking — or so Payne (D-N.J.) joked with reporters recently, stressing that he thinks he has secured the White House’s support for the initiative.

Supporters hope for Build America Bonds revival in infrastructure plan

Aaron Lorenzo, Politico 

The push to revive the federally subsidized Build America Bonds program as part of massive infrastructure legislation has investors and issuers champing at the bit. Their appetite for the bonds, or BABs, was immense when they were briefly issued more than a decade ago by states, cities and local governments unable to finance their projects at reasonable rates during the Great Recession.

Biden Administration Debating How to Overhaul a Trump-Era Tax Break

Jim Tankersley, The New York Times

The Biden administration is weighing how to overhaul a Trump-era tax incentive that was pitched as a way to drive investment to economically depressed swaths of the country but which early evidence suggests has primarily fueled real estate development in areas like Brooklyn neighborhoods that were already becoming richer and whiter. Administration officials have not yet settled on how to make adjustments that critics and supporters alike say would improve the so-called opportunity zone program, a creation of President Donald J. Trump’s 2017 tax law that Mr. Biden vowed on the campaign trail to reform.

POLITICO Pro Q&A: Sen. Elizabeth Warren on her IRS funding plan

Aaron Lorenzo, Politico 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to dedicate a mandatory funding stream to enforcement activities at the IRS, specifically aimed at increasing its ability to examine more wealthy Americans and major corporations. A decade’s worth of funding cuts to the agency and a shrinking workforce led to a corresponding decline in audits across the board, with steep drop-offs in scrutiny of higher-income taxpayers. 

SALT Cap Critics Ask Yellen to Add Repeal to Biden Economy Plan

Laura Davison, Bloomberg

Democrats are making another push for the Biden administration to include a repeal of the cap on state and local tax deductions in its long-term economic program, a move that would give the write-off a White House seal of approval. Representative Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Wednesday making a plea to include repeal of the $10,000 cap on the SALT deduction in the administration’s proposals to pump trillions of dollars into the economy with spending initiatives in part funded by tax hikes.

Businesses hate GILTI but may like Democrats’ overhaul plan even less

Brian Faler, Politico 

GILTI may need a new name if Democrats get their way. They want to transform the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income tax into something broader than just a levy on so-called intangible income.

Cash payments spread from Congress to Stockton to Brazil — but notion of ‘universal basic income’ far from reality

Eli Rosenberg et al., The Washington Post

When this central valley city of 300,000, far removed from the wealth and coastal vibes of the Bay Area, became the first in the country to try out what it called a “guaranteed income” program in 2017, it became a nationwide sensation. Michael Tubbs, the mayor who brought the program to the area, appeared on national television programs to extol its virtues.

Unemployment Claims Likely Held Near Covid-19 Pandemic Low

Amara Omeokwe, The Wall Street Journal

Worker filings for jobless benefits last week likely remained near their lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic began, adding to evidence of a strengthening labor market and overall economic recovery. Economists expect that initial unemployment claims, a proxy for layoffs, edged higher last week to 603,000 from 576,000 the prior week.

Will the unemployment claims report offer new hope on the economy?

Patricia Cohen, The New York Times

The latest update on the labor market is scheduled to arrive Thursday morning when the government releases its weekly report on jobless claims. The unexpectedly sharp drop announced last Thursday took Wall Street by surprise and fueled hopes that the economic recovery was gaining momentum. 

Corporate Bond Gauge Signals Dwindling Economic Risk

Sam Goldfarb, The Wall Street Journal

A key measure of the perceived risk in low-rated corporate bonds is hovering around its lowest level in more than a decade, highlighting investors’ mounting confidence in the economic outlook. The average extra yield, or spread, investors demand to hold speculative-grade corporate bonds over U.S. Treasurys dropped below 3 percentage points this month to as low as 2.90 percentage points for the first time since 2007, when it set a record of 2.33 percentage points, according to Bloomberg Barclays data.

The Job Market Is Tighter Than You Think

Greg Ip, The Wall Street Journal

One set of numbers shows a labor market in dire straits. Total employment, despite March’s jump, is still down 8.4 million from its pre-pandemic peak, on a par with the worst point of the 2007-09 recession and its aftermath. While the unemployment rate at 6% is lower than in 2009, it is above 9% when people not counted as unemployed because they dropped out of the labor force or were misclassified are added back, according to the Federal Reserve.

JPMorgan Is Hiring 190 Bankers, Support Staff to Combat Burnout

Hannah Levitt, Bloomberg

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is adding almost 190 workers to its investment-banking ranks as Wall Street firms seek to ease the burden for junior bankers inundated with work during the pandemic. The largest U.S. bank has hired 65 analysts and 22 associates globally, and is planning to hire 100 more bankers and support staff, according to a person familiar with the matter

Credit Suisse Taps Investors for Cash After Archegos Loss Widens

Margot Patrick, The Wall Street Journal

Credit Suisse Group AG said it would issue new shares after losses from Archegos Capital Management wiped out a strong first quarter, highlighting the damage caused by the collapse of the investment firm. On Thursday, the bank said it placed notes that convert to stock in six months to counter damage to its capital position from the loss and new charges imposed by the Swiss financial regulator. 

Credit Suisse’s Exposure to Archegos Investments Grew to More Than $20 Billion

Emily Glazer et al., The Wall Street Journal

Credit Suisse Group AG amassed more than $20 billion of exposure to investments related to Archegos Capital Management, but the bank struggled to monitor them before the fund was forced to liquidate many of its large positions, according to people familiar with the matter.

JPMorgan Gets Caught Up in Europe’s Big Soccer League Blunder

David Hellier and Harry Wilson, Bloomberg

Funding a revolution is always a risky business, and one of the world’s largest banks is now exposed to a very public defeat in the emotional arena of soccer. JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to back Europe’s breakaway league to the tune of 4 billion euros ($4.8 billion). 

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon expects the bank’s employees will back in the office ‘within weeks’ and going maskless by October

Samantha Stokes, Insider

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon expects the bank’s employees will back in the office ‘within weeks’ and going maskless by October.

Manic Markets, Imploding Funds: Wall Street’s New Top Cop Has a Full Plate

Matthew Goldstein, The New York Times

Wall Street’s new watchdog, Gary Gensler, is coming to the job with an ambitious agenda that includes taking a hard look at how to regulate digital currencies and requiring more environmental disclosures of companies. But the market may already be dictating some of the agenda for Mr. Gensler.

Greensill parent enters liquidation

Jamie Smyth, Financial Times

Creditors vote to wind up Australia-based group that collapsed under A$4.9bn of debt.

FHFA sets extensions and expirations on loan flexibilities

Alex Roha, HousingWire

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on Wednesday that due to “low usage” it is no longer extending expirations on certain temporary loan origination flexibilities for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The regulator is also advancing permanent changes to be made in the appraisal space.

SEC Presses Ahead With Ripple Lawsuit With Gensler at the Helm

Benjamin Bain, Bloomberg

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler is showing no signs of backing away from the regulator’s high-stakes lawsuit against Ripple Labs Inc. In a Wednesday court filing, the first the SEC has submitted in the case since Gensler took over last week, the agency asked a federal judge to block Ripple’s demands that the regulator turn over internal emails and communications on officials’ personal devices.

Amazon to let Whole Foods shoppers pay with a swipe of their palm

Jeffrey Dastin, Reuters

Amazon.com Inc said it is rolling out biometric technology at its Whole Foods stores around Seattle starting on Wednesday, letting shoppers pay for items with a scan of their palm.

Regulators to examine crypto exchange Binance’s foray into equities

Adam Samson et al., Financial Times

Concerns over whether stock tokens comply with rules on transparency and corporate disclosures.

Congress Must Overturn OCC’s ‘Fake Lender’ Rule: Payday Lenders Benefit, Consumers Lose

Lauren Saunders (associate director of the National Consumer Law Center) and Lisa Stifler (director of state policy at the Center for Responsible Lending), Morning Consult

If Congress doesn’t act soon to repeal a rule by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the floodgates will be open for predatory lending in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Two decades ago, payday lenders came up with a brilliant scheme: Not content with making 400 percent APR loans in the large number of states that allowed their loans, they found a way to evade the interest rate laws of other states that do not allow triple-digit loans.