WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
WASHINGTON (FDIC) – First Republic Bank, San Francisco, California, was closed May 1 by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver.
To protect depositors, the FDIC is entering into a purchase and assumption agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Columbus, Ohio, to assume all of the deposits and substantially all of the assets of First Republic Bank.
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association submitted a bid for all of First Republic Bank’s deposits. As part of the transaction, First Republic Bank’s 84 offices in eight states will reopen as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, during normal business hours. All depositors of First Republic Bank will become depositors of JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, and will have full access to all of their deposits.
Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, and customers do not need to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of First Republic Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, that it has completed systems changes to allow other JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, branches to process their accounts as well.
As of April 13, 2023, First Republic Bank had approximately $229.1 billion in total assets and $103.9 billion in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits, JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, agreed to purchase substantially all of First Republic Bank’s assets.
The FDIC and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, are also entering into a loss-share transaction on single family, residential and commercial loans it purchased of the former First Republic Bank. The FDIC as receiver and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, will share in the losses and potential recoveries on the loans covered by the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize recoveries on the assets by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction is also expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. In addition, JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, will assume all Qualified Financial Contracts.
The resolution of First Republic Bank involved a highly competitive bidding process and resulted in a transaction consistent with the least-cost requirements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be about $13 billion. This is an estimate and the final cost will be determined when the FDIC terminates the receivership.
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 5-3-2023 at 12 p.m.
2023 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2023)
Total Shootings: 229 (including Atlanta)
Total Dead: 338
Total Wounded: 852
Shootings Per Day: 1.86
Days Reached in Year 2023 as of May 3: 123
Latest High Profile Incident
Location: Cleveland, TX.
Time: Around 11 p.m. local time, April 28.
Deceased: At least 5. (Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8 or 9)
Injured: Three children were covered in blood, but uninjured in the chaos.
Shooter(s): Francisco Oropesa, 38.
Weapon(s): AR-15 style rifle.
Motive: Allegedly drunk, suspect was enraged after being asked not to fire off rounds in his yard, which would wake a sleeping baby.
Status: Captured in Cut and Shoot, TX. A judge has issued an arrest warrant and already assigned a $5 million bond when or if he is apprehended. Oropesa is likely to be charged with murder.
Notes: Oropesa is reportedly an illegal immigrant who had been previously deported four times. Also arrested was Oropesa’s wife Divimara Nava. Authorities reportedly arrested other suspects, but have not revealed them as of press time.
EUROPE
CONCERN LOOMS OVER NEW UK LAW
A new UK law affecting people’s rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, is “incompatible” with the country’s international obligations, the UN rights chief said on April 27.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called the Public Order Bill “deeply troubling legislation,” after it completed its passage through parliament on April 26.
“It is especially worrying that the law expands the powers of the police to stop and search individuals, including without suspicion; defines some of the new criminal offences in a vague and overly broad manner; and imposes unnecessary and disproportionate criminal sanctions on people organizing or taking part in peaceful protests,” Mr. Türk said.
He appealed to the UK Government to reverse the legislation, which has yet to receive Royal Assent, “as soon as feasible.” The Government insists that the fundamental right to protest is still protected under the legislation, but it brings in new penalties for so-called “guerrilla tactics.”
The bill was introduced to crack down on disruptive protests by activists such as the Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion groups, which have used tactics such as blocking roadways and chaining themselves to railings, including those around the UK Parliament in central London.
The UN rights chief stressed that the law’s apparent targeting of “those protesting about human rights and environmental issues” was particularly concerning.
“As the world faces the triple planetary crises of climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution, governments should be protecting and facilitating peaceful protests on such existential topics, not hindering and blocking them,” Mr. Türk said.
Mr. Türk insisted that the law was “wholly unnecessary”, given the UK police’s existing powers to act against violent demonstrations. He also criticized the criminalization of protests linked to the new legislation.
The Public Order Act introduces “Serious Disruption Prevention Orders” which, according to the UN rights chief’s office, have the potential to significantly limit the freedoms of protesters, by allowing courts to ban individuals from being in certain places at certain times, being with particular people, or even to limit the way they use the internet.
On the basis of the new law, individuals could be electronically monitored to ensure compliance, even if they have never been convicted of any criminal offense.
