The U.S. Treasury Department is looking into whether the federal regulators are able to insure banking deposits beyond the current $250K FDIC cap, Bloomberg's Saleha Mohsin and Sridhar Natarajan report, citing people familiar with discussions. The report states that the emergency authority is being sought by a coalition of banks, claiming that it is needed to prevent a potential financial crisis. Under one legal framework that is being considered for expanding FDIC insurance, regulators would use the Treasury Department's authority to take emergency action and lean on the Exchange Stabilization Fund. Reference Link

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan determined that JPMorgan (JPM) and Deutsche Bank (DB) will have to face lawsuits accusing the banks of enabling Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking, Reuters' Jonathan Stempel reports. The decision could expose the two lenders to additional financial and reputational damage for maintaining Epstein as a client, the author notes. In his order, Rakoff said JPMorgan must face a lawsuit by the U.S. Virgin Islands that claims the bank missed red flags about Epstein's abuse of women on Little St. James, the author says, noting that the judge also ruled both companies must face proposed class actions by women who said Epstein abused them. Reference Link

The biopharma solutions business of medical device maker Baxter International (BAX), is being courted by U.S. scientific instruments maker Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) and South Korea's Celltrion, writes Reuter's Anirban Sen and David Carnevali. "The divestment, which the sources said could fetch more than $4B, would help Baxter pay down debt following its $10.5B acquisition of medical device maker Hill-Rom Holdings in 2021 Other suitors for the Baxter unit include KKR & Co (KKR) and Carlyle Group (CG), added the story. Reference Link