Good morning. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked the Supreme Court to protect the agency’s ability to seek disgorgement in cases where it can’t identify victims of a defendant’s wrongdoing, reports Risk Journal’s Max Fillion.

• SEC’s viewpoint: The SEC said in a legal brief that the court should preserve its ability to seek disgorgement in cases where it can’t identify harmed investors. Wrongdoers can generate profits from illegal activity without causing monetary harm to victims, the agency argued, and stripping disgorgement powers would allow defendants to walk away with illicitly earned money.
   
• The defendant’s case: The agency was pushing back against arguments by defendant Ongkaruck Sripetch, who stands accused of penny-stock pump-and-dump fraud schemes, among other misconduct, in a civil case brought by the SEC. A district court ordered Sripetch to disgorge over $3.3 million, but he argued on appeal that the order should be invalidated because the SEC never showed investors had been harmed.
   
• Opposing views on disgorgement: Sripetch argued a 2020 Supreme Court ruling required the SEC to show harm to investors before seeking disgorgement. The SEC maintained, however, the ruling didn’t require investor harm as a prerequisite for disgorgement requests, but instead stated the agency should pay disgorgement back to investors when it is feasible to do so.

Anthropic wins injunction in court battle with Trump administration.

A U.S. federal judge halted the Trump administration’s designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk, issuing a ruling that the government trampled free-speech protections when it classified the artificial-intelligence company as a security threat and barred government use of its models.

The ruling hands Anthropic an early victory in its legal fight with the Pentagon, which stems from a dispute over company-imposed limitations on its AI tools in a military setting.

Bank of America agrees to pay $72.5 million to settle Epstein lawsuit.

Bank of America agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged the bank kept ties to people close to Jeffrey Epstein and failed to flag suspicious payments between the convicted sex offender and his associates and victims.

What the suit alleged: The lawsuit alleged that Bank of America “financially benefited” from Epstein’s circle and failed to file suspicious activity reports with the government, despite the information it gleaned from the accounts it provided to those around him. Unlike other lawsuits against banks that resulted in settlements, this suit wasn’t primarily about Epstein having his own accounts at Bank of America.

• The Trump administration plans to require higher wages for foreign workers who come to the U.S. on visas for high-skilled employees, its latest move to discourage U.S. companies from hiring foreign nationals instead of American workers.
   
• The Trump administration continued its efforts to loosen restrictions on private equity by eliminating a policy aimed at ensuring that buyout firms invest responsibly in troubled banks.
   
• An Australian court has ordered the local derivatives arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance to pay a $6.9 million penalty related to onboarding failures that caused users millions in losses and fees.
   
• Two U.S. senators introduced bipartisan legislation on Thursday that would impose sanctions and visa bans on senior Hungarian government officials for continuing to buy Russian oil and gas or obstructing Western assistance to Ukraine, reports Risk Journal.
   
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Friday banning gubernatorial appointees from using nonpublic information to profit on prediction markets.
   
• Investigators searched the office of a Federal Emergency Management Agency contractor as they investigate a network of aides former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and adviser Corey Lewandowski seeded throughout the DHS during their turbulent tenure, according to people familiar with the matter.
   
• Farmers and processors are poised to benefit from rules requiring more biofuels for use at the nation’s gas stations and truckstops.
   
• A federal judge disqualified law firm Beasley Allen from representing 5,500 women in talc lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson for ethical breaches.

Risk Journal on March 31 hosts a discussion on debanking and fair access banking laws with Will Jacquet, a partner at Morgan Lewis and former head of enforcement at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; and Eric Young, senior managing director, Guidepost Solutions, and a former chief compliance officer. You can register here.

Trump weighs military operation to extract Iran’s uranium.

President Trump is weighing a military operation to extract nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran, according to U.S. officials, a complex and risky mission that would likely put American forces inside the country for days or longer.

Where the decision stands. Trump hasn’t made a decision on whether to give the order, the officials said, adding that he is considering the danger to U.S. troops. But the president remains generally open to the idea, according to the officials, because it could help accomplish his central goal of preventing Iran from ever making a nuclear weapon.

• U.S. and Israel Have Pounded—but Not Eliminated—Iran’s Missile Threat
• Why Russia Is Stepping Up Its Support for an Embattled Iran
• The Other Markets Being Rattled by the Blockage of Hormuz
• EU Finance Ministers Tally Economic Hit of Iran War
• The Gulf Is Divided and Sees Dark Times Ahead
• How Pakistan Wooed Trump and Styled Itself as a Peace Broker in Iran Conflict

Private credit’s exposure to ailing software industry is bigger than advertised.

Many private-credit fund managers are playing down their exposure to software as fears spread about threats from artificial intelligence. A detailed analysis revealed four large funds marketed to individual investors by Apollo Global Management, Ares Management, Blackstone and Blue Owl Capital have more exposure to the software industry than their filings suggest.

Investors’ concerns about the industry’s software exposure helped prompt record withdrawals from private-credit funds in the first quarter. Fund managers contend that AI will affect each software company differently and that some will adapt or even benefit.

• The Private-Credit Industry’s Trouble: Surging Redemptions, Slower Fundraising

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr ​​Zelensky toured Gulf countries under attack from Iran, signing defense and security deals that harness Ukraine’s innovative military prowess while trying to portray fighting there as part of a global battle against allies Iran and Russia.
   
• About a year into the full-blown trade war between the U.S. and China, trade between the world’s two largest economies has plunged to levels not seen in decades.
   
• China on Friday opened two probes into U.S. trade practices, keeping pressure on Washington ahead of President Trump’s visit to Beijing in May.
   
• Japan is rethinking its role in the post-war world, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi planning to boost Japan’s defense spending and revise its pacifist constitution.
   
• Prediction markets face more than 20 lawsuits across the country over whether their Yes/No bets on sports events should be subject to state gambling laws. But Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said the impact of the lawsuits has mostly been positive, Barron’s reports. “The business keeps growing. It’s basically free press.”
   
• Electric-vehicle startup Rivian Automotive just won a yearslong battle with car dealers in Washington state that threatens the model of how cars are sold.

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