Cato report says administration misdiagnosed debanking

A report from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, released Thursday found that most sudden account closures were spurred by supervisory pressure rather than political or religious bias on the part of the banks, a finding that is at odds with the White House’s framing of the issue.

Legal battle sours merger between San Diego credit unions

San Diego County Credit Union and California Coast Credit Union, which last year announced plans to merge, are now duking it out in court. SDCCU alleges there are widespread compliance problems at Cal Coast, which Cal Coast denies.

Powell says DOJ served Fed subpoenas, threatened indictment

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank has been served grand jury subpoenas and been threatened with criminal indictment, moves he called “pretexts” to influence interest rates through “political pressure or intimidation.”

Google unveils new agentic commerce protocol for retailers

Universal Commerce Protocol is an open standard that establishes a common language for AI agents and systems to work together, and will allow consumers to purchase products from retailers directly through Google’s AI Mode in the browser or the Gemini app.