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The Federal Reserve plans to loosen capital requirements for the largest U.S. banks, a move aimed at encouraging lending and helping lenders compete with private credit firms. In a speech, Fed vice-chair for supervision Michelle Bowman said upcoming reforms to the implementation of global Basel III “Endgame” rules would slightly reduce overall capital requirements for major banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. The changes include adjusting how extra capital buffers for systemically important banks are calculated, which would lower surcharges and offset increases tied to Basel reforms. The proposal follows heavy lobbying from the banking industry after earlier plans in 2023 could have raised capital requirements by about 19%. Regulators argue the revisions will better align requirements with actual risk, while critics warn that weakening safeguards could reduce protections put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. Details of the reforms are expected to be released by U.S. regulators next week.

 

Financial Times

New York Times

Reuters

Adobe said chief executive Shantanu Narayen will step down after 18 years once a successor is found, as the company seeks new leadership to navigate disruption from artificial intelligence (AI). The announcement came as Adobe reported stronger quarterly results but failed to convince investors that its AI strategy will drive sufficient growth, sending shares down more than 8% in premarket trading. For the first quarter, the company reported profit of $1.89bn on revenue of $6.40bn, up 12% year over year, while adjusted earnings of $6.06 per share beat expectations. Narayen, who will remain chair of the board during the transition, has focused on integrating AI across Adobe’s products, including Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and its Firefly AI platform, as the company aims to expand its customer base and grow AI-driven revenue.

 

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Wall Street Journal

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing the speed, density and complexity of work rather than reducing it, according to an analysis of 164,000 workers’ digital work activity by workforce analytics and productivity-tracking software company ActivTrak. The data covers more than 443m hours of work across 1,111 employers, making it one of the biggest studies of AI’s effects on work habits to date, the Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s not that AI doesn’t create efficiency,” observed Gabriela Mauch, ActivTrak’s chief customer officer. “It’s that the capacity it frees up immediately gets repurposed into doing other work, and that’s where the creep is likely to happen.”

 

Wall Street Journal

McKinsey is rushing to fix flaws in an in-house AI system after hackers - who acted without malicious intent - gained access to millions of its internal messages and were able to identify sensitive files. Researchers at red-team security startup CodeWall say their AI agent hacked McKinsey's internal AI platform and gained full read and write access to the chatbot in just two hours. "We used a specific AI research agent to autonomously select the target, it did this without zero human input," CodeWall CEO Paul Price told The Register. "Hackers will be using the same technology."

 

Financial Times

The Register

An Iranian-linked hacking group has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on U.S.-based medical device provider Stryker. The attack, which began shortly after midnight on Wednesday, led to limitations in access to various systems. The company said that "we have no indication of ransomware or malware and believe the incident is contained." Stryker, which employs 56,000 people globally, saw its shares drop by 3.6% following the incident. "This is exactly ⁠the type ⁠of attack we have been ⁠worried about: Iranian proxies using ​destructive cyber attacks like data deletion against U.S. companies to retaliate," said Cynthia Kaiser, senior vice president of cybersecurity firm Halcyon's Ransomware ​Research Center and a former senior FBI ⁠cyber official.

 

U.S. News

Reuters reports on a ​growing industry of ex-military and national security advisors who are helping Wall Street firms identify imminent military action. Around 6 p.m. ET on the day before U.S.-Israeli air strikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader on Saturday February 28, for example, geopolitical risk consultancy WestExec Advisors, advised clients that there was a 65% probability of military action that weekend, said its managing partner Nitin Chadda. "What you're really seeing from the financial industry is ​how national security and economic security have been merging over the last few years, and that is accelerating," observed Amy Mitchell, founding partner at geopolitical consultancy Kilo Alpha Strategies.

 

Reuters

Eli Lilly plans to invest $3bn in China over the next decade to expand local production. Much of the investment will be directed to the setting up of the manufacturing of orforglipron, the firm's weight-loss pill which is currently under regulatory review in China. Bloomberg notes that Lilly is among drugmakers seeking to tap China’s increasingly sophisticated infrastructure for drug research, development and manufacturing.

 

Bloomberg

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson has escalated his criticism of the company’s board, warning prospective chief executive candidates that the brand’s challenges stem from governance issues rather than its current leadership vacancy. Wilson, a major shareholder, said in a letter to potential candidates that appointing a new CEO alone will not resolve what he sees as weak oversight and slow engagement from the board, as the company continues its search for a successor to Calvin McDonald, who stepped down at the end of January.

 

Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal

Dollar General has reported a profit of $426.3m for the fourth-quarter ended January 30th, up from $191.2m a year earlier, while earnings per share of $1.93 beat analyst expectations of $1.66. Sales rose 5.9% to $10.91bn, ahead of the $10.81bn forecast, driven by higher store traffic and larger basket sizes. Chief operating officer Emily Taylor said the firm's performance was due in part to a revamped store format that is "designed to be more open and inviting, resulting in greater browsing and treasure hunt shopping as customers are exposed to more categories as they navigate the store". GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders noted that the firm's stores "are now looking better and are easier to shop", adding: “Admittedly, we still believe that Dollar General has some work to do on this front, but there has been a significant step-up over the last year".

 

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The US Sun

U.S. jobless claims came in lower last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, indicating that layoffs remain contained. Initial filings in the seven days to March 7th dropped 1,000 to 213,000, putting them 2,000 below the 215,000 expected among economists polled by the Wall Street Journal. The four-week moving average totaled 212,000 while continuing claims, reported with a one-week lag, fell 2,000 to 1.85m. “The level of claims is just very low, plain and simple,” said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, in a note to clients. “The data show no sign of the layoffs we would expect in a weakening labor market during the early days of a hypothetical recession.”

 

Bloomberg

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The U.S. trade deficit shrank sharply to $54.5bn in January, down 25.3% from December, as exports surged to a record $302.1bn while imports declined. The Commerce Department said the increase in exports was driven largely by strong shipments of industrial supplies, capital goods such as computers and aircraft, and other goods, though pharmaceutical exports fell. Imports dropped slightly to $356.6bn, with declines in consumer goods, vehicles and industrial supplies partly offset by record imports of capital goods linked to artificial intelligence (AI) and data-center construction. The narrowing trade gap could help boost U.S. economic growth in the first quarter. Trade flows have been volatile amid tariff policies introduced by President Donald Trump, including new global tariffs following a Supreme Court ruling against earlier duties.

 

The Detroit News

Bloomberg

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One-third of Americans cut back on other expenses to cover healthcare in 2025, according to a survey of nearly 20,000 U.S. adults in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia conducted from June to August 2025 by ​the West Health-Gallup Center. The research found ​that 33% of respondents had made at least one trade-off in daily expenses ​to pay for healthcare, and this was far more common among Americans ⁠who do not have health insurance. "We're actually finding that people are reporting higher incidences of metabolic disease or depression and anxiety. We're not getting healthier as a society, we're actually getting sicker, and the healthcare cost is ​going up on top ​of it," ⁠said Timothy Lash, president of West Health Policy Center, a nonprofit organization focused on healthcare and aging.

 

Reuters

As Congress considers reforms to energy tax credits, it is crucial to align these changes with the realities of the sector. Andrew Leahey, an assistant professor of law at Drexel Kline School of Law, emphasizes that "capital can adapt to almost any policy framework, but it struggles to finance policy whiplash." The current policy environment has shifted significantly, with the Inflation Reduction Act scaling back incentives for renewable energy projects. This uncertainty in tax treatment and regulatory frameworks can lead to increased investment risks, affecting future energy infrastructure. To stabilize long-term energy policy, Congress should implement multi-year phaseouts and ensure timely resolution of regulatory proposals. A clear and predictable regulatory environment is essential for attracting sustained investment in renewable energy.

 

Bloomberg Tax

EY is increasing its bonus for early-career accountants who pass the CPA Exam, offering a $10,000 incentive for those who complete all four parts in their first year. This initiative is part of a $1bn investment aimed at attracting young talent. Diana Kutz, EY Americas assurance talent leader, said: "To create a vibrant and growing pool of future CPAs, EY is doubling its bonus for early certification." The move comes amid a CPA shortage and efforts to make the profession more appealing, with many states introducing alternative pathways to licensure that require less schooling than the traditional 150 credit hours. EY ranks as the third largest accounting firm, reporting $22.2bn in revenue.

 

Accounting Today

According to a recent survey by The Harris Poll for AICPA, 81% of Americans support an annual report to Congress from the U.S. Comptroller regarding the nation's audited financial statements. AICPA has expressed strong backing for H.R. 7026, the Fiscal State of the Nation Act, which aims to enhance fiscal transparency and assist policymakers in understanding critical financial measures. The letter from AICPA emphasizes: “Our nation's fiscal health is essential to sustaining long-term economic strength and national stability.” The legislation is seen as a vital step towards ensuring that Congress has the necessary information to make informed fiscal decisions, reflecting the public's concern for future generations' economic well-being.

 

CPA Practice Advisor

Atlassian, Australia’s largest listed technology company, is to cut 10% of its staff, or 1,600 employees, in response to the threat posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to its operations. The Sydney-based company said it plans to "rebalance" its resources to focus on the "future of ​teamwork in the AI era." Chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes said in a ​memo to staff: "Our ​approach is not 'AI replaces people.' But it would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn't change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas. It does." 

 

Financial Times

Reuters