EMEA Morning Briefing : Stocks to Fall as Worries -2-

As President Biden nears a decision about who should be the next Federal Reserve chairman, the current chief is getting criticized by progressives for his record on bank regulation and the postcrisis rulebook for Wall Street.

During Chairman Jerome Powell's nearly four years as head of the Fed, the central bank has revamped big-bank stress tests, tailored its rules for U.S. lenders based on their size and simplified key postcrisis regulations such as the Volcker rule prohibition on proprietary trading.

Ernst & Young to Pay $10 Million to Settle SEC Probe of Bid Violations

Ernst & Young LLP will pay $10 million to settle a regulatory investigation into allegations that it improperly obtained confidential information in pursuit of a contract to audit a public company's books.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also fined four accountants allegedly involved in the misconduct: an Ernst & Young partner, two retired partners and a former chief accounting officer of the unnamed client company who shared the competitive information with them, according to the agency. The four accountants were all suspended from reviewing the financial statements of public companies for periods ranging from one to three years.

Hackers Take Down Italian Vaccine-Booking Site

A cyberattack brought down the Covid-19 vaccine-scheduling website for the Italian region of Lazio, underscoring the vulnerability of healthcare data and vaccine technology during the pandemic.

On Sunday hackers attacked technology systems run by the government of Lazio, the region that encompasses Rome, Italian authorities said in a Facebook post.

Heineken's Usual Advantage Will Slow Its Recovery

A big business in developing countries is normally a reason to buy Heineken's shares. For now, though, slow vaccination rollouts have taken the fizz out of some of the world's most promising beer markets.

The second-largest brewer globally after Anheuser-Busch InBev said Monday that sales increased 14% in the six months through June, compared with the same period of last year. Revenue is still more than one-tenth below where it was in the first half of 2019.

Ferrari Is Stuck in Neutral

Ferrari likes to take its time to get things right. That is a strength in creating cars that justify astronomical prices, but it also means investors can't expect the stock to suddenly pick up speed.

Like the luxury industry it sometimes seems part of, the Italian sports car maker is accelerating smoothly out of the pandemic. Second-quarter operating profits reported Monday were about 15% higher than in the same period of 2019, before Covid-19 struck. It sold a similar number of vehicles, but those cars it did sell-such as the SF90 Stradale, a plug-in hybrid with a base price north of $500,000-were more expensive and profitable than those of two years ago. June was the best month ever for orders.

Device Maker Linked to Alleged Ponzi-Like Scheme Loses Bankruptcy Funding

Insightra Medical Inc., a device maker which filed for bankruptcy after its investment firm owner became the target of civil and criminal complaints by the U.S. government, lost access to financing and is teetering on the edge of liquidation.

Insightra lawyer Anthony Saccullo said at a court hearing Monday that its direct shareholder Odyssey Life Science Holdings LLC was cutting off the financing, including $500,000 the company needed in the short term.

Former Nazi Guard, Age 100, to Stand Trial in Germany

BERLIN-A 100-year old man will be tried in Germany on charges of aiding and abetting mass murder while working as a concentration-camp guard, making him one of the oldest defendants in a case brought against alleged Nazi-era perpetrators.

The centenarian was charged with complicity in the murder of more than 3,500 inmates at the Sachsenhausen camp on the outskirts of Berlin. He is alleged to have worked there between 1942 and 1945 as a member of the SS Nazi militia.

U.S. and Turkey Caught in Extradition Fight for Businessman With Ties to Turkish Elite

A well-connected Turkish businessman currently sits in a Vienna jail, awaiting his fate in an extradition contest between the U.S. and Turkey. Both want him on charges of laundering proceeds from a U.S. renewable-energy tax credit fraud, and where he winds up could affect already strained relations between the U.S. and a NATO ally.

Sezgin Baran Korkmaz was arrested in Austria in June at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, which accuses him of laundering more than $133 million in tax fraud proceeds through a network of businesses he controls in Turkey. Prosecutors in Turkey want him in connection with the same alleged scheme, and have launched extradition proceedings against him in an Austrian court, which ordered him to be held until Sept. 22.

Goldman Sachs Is Giving Entry-Level Bankers a Nearly 30% Raise

Junior bankers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are getting a big raise.

The Wall Street firm is increasing base pay for its entry-level employees-first-year analysts-to $110,000, a nearly 30% increase from the previous starting salary of $85,000, according to a person familiar with the matter. Second-year analysts are set to make $125,000, up from $95,000. Salaries for first-year associates will jump to $150,000 from $125,000.

Li Auto Seeks to Raise Around $1.9 Billion in Hong Kong Offering

Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto Inc. plans to raise as much as 15 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$1.93 billion) through a share offering in Hong Kong.

The company plans to sell 100 million shares and has set a maximum price of HK$150 each for the stock that is expected to start trading on the Hong Kong exchange from Aug.12, Li Auto said Tuesday.

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Expected Major Events for Tuesday

00:01/IRL: Jul Ireland Manufacturing PMI

06:00/ROM: Jun PPI

07:00/CZE: 2Q LFSS Employment & Unemployment

07:00/SPN: Jul Unemployment

07:00/SWI: Jul Quarterly Consumer Sentiment Index

07:00/TUR: Jul PPI

07:00/TUR: Jul CPI

09:00/EU: Jun PPI

14:00/DEN: Jul Foreign Exchange & Liquidity

23:01/UK: 3Q CBI SME Trends Survey

All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-03-21 0019ET