Evening Briefing: Americas
Bloomberg Evening Briefing Americas
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JPMorgan told financial-technology companies that it will start charging fees amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars for access to customer bank account information. It’s a tectonic move by the Wall Street giant that promises to upend the industry’s business model. 

Data aggregators, those middlemen that connect banks (like Chase) to fintechs (like PayPal) just received a pricing menu. The fees vary depending on how companies use the information, with higher levies tied to payments-focused companies. In some cases, the proposed fees could eclipse the revenue certain companies generate on a single transaction by as much as 1,000%.

Such charges would drastically reshape the business for fintech firms, which rely on access to customer bank accounts. Payment platforms like PayPal’s Venmo, cryptocurrency wallets such as Coinbase Global and retail-trading brokerages like Robinhood Markets all use this data so customers can send, receive and trade money. Typically, they have been able to get it for free. But soon, that likely won’t be the case—which probably means you’ll have to pay. David E. Rovella

What You Need to Know Today

What’s Donald Trump’s global trade war good for? According to Moody’s, private credit. Marc Pinto, the company’s global head of private credit, points to infrastructure as one area where he says there’s been many deals of late. Pinto said he expects $2.5 trillion to be spent on data centers in the next five years, for example, with private credit providing at least some of the financing.  


Ukraine Spy Chief Says 40% of Russian Ammunition Is North Korean
The partnership between the authoritarian states is only deepening, according to the head of Ukrainian military intelligence.

Delta Air Lines has been cannibalizing new Airbus jets in Europe by stripping off their engines and using them to get grounded planes in the US back into service, as it seeks to overcome a shortage and avoid aircraft import tariffs. The airline has been taking US-made Pratt & Whitney engines off new European-built A321neos and shipping them back to the US without any duties. The engine-less aircraft, meanwhile, remain in Europe.


China Heiress in $2 Billion Inheritance Feud With Siblings
A $2 billion wealth tussle at one of China’s largest beverage empires is unfolding in a Hong Kong courtroom.

Shein Group is said to have confidentially filed for a Hong Kong listing, marking another step for the fast-fashion retailer to become a publicly traded company. Bloomberg News reported in May that Shein was considering switching its planned IPO to Hong Kong from London.

Once valued at as much as $100 billion, the retailer has seen its price tag steadily fall amid increasing competition from rivals such as Temu, and the uncertainty over how much Trump’s tariffs would affect its business. The company had been under pressure from shareholders to cut its valuation to about $30 billion earlier this year to finally get listed, Bloomberg previously reported


Kraft Heinz is said to be preparing to break itself up. Facing new consumer tastes and a sagging share price, the company is weighing whether to spin off a large part of its grocery business into a new entity. This would allow it to focus on faster-growing segments—like sauces, apparently.

Kraft Heinz, which is scheduled to report second-quarter results on July 30, was formed in a 2015 merger orchestrated by 3G Capital and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. The stock has lost nearly two thirds of its value since then. 

More broadly, packaged food companies are battling shifting sentiment as shoppers opting for healthier, less processed options, as well as cheaper store brands. Federal regulators are also pressing for shorter, more natural ingredients lists.

A breakup of Kraft Heinz would mirror what’s been seen in the industrial space in recent years, where General Electric, Emerson Electric and Honeywell International have all moved to separate themselves. Benefits of such deals include better investor visibility on a company’s value and simpler capital allocation for the newly separated entities.


Binance Aided Trump Crypto Firm Before Its Founder Sought a Pardon
Critics say the relationship poses yet another conflict of interest for the Republican president.

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

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Screentime
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