CRYPTOCURRENCY
Federal regulators sue Binance, executives
Federal regulators sued Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and two of its senior executives Monday, alleging that in wooing business from US investors, they had chosen to “knowingly disregard” laws governing certain US financial markets. In a suit filed in a Chicago federal court, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, and its former chief compliance officer, Samuel Lim, worked together to attract trading customers who were based in the United States despite the fact that Binance did not have permission to operate in the country. The regulators said Zhao and Lim relied on an “opaque web of corporate entities” to direct business back to a central operation that was controlled by Zhao. They even helped US-based crypto traders hide their real locations using shell companies, accordingto the CFTC. — NEW YORK TIMES
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DEVELOPMENT
Via Separations is expanding
Industrial tech company Via Separations is expanding its footprint in Watertown with a 50,699-square-foot lease at 64 Pleasant St., a 160-year-old mill building recently renovated by real estate firm Berkeley Investments to attract life-science companies. Via’s research “enables industrial decarbonization” and targets wasted energy used in separating chemicals, petrochemicals, and pulp. “We designed 64 Pleasant with its Class A wet and test lab space and high-quality amenities to be a place where innovators like Via can do their best work for a better future,” said Young Park, president of Berkeley Investments, in a statement. An MIT spinout, Via Separations in November landed a $9.75 million federal grant from the US Department of Energy’s “Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy Technologies with Untapped Potential” — or SCALEUP — program. The company had previously raised $38 million in a Series B fund-raising round, led by Dallas-based private equity firm NGP. Via’s lease represents roughly half of 64 Pleasant St., which sits along the Charles River and now features Class A lab space, conference center, outdoor patio, and a roof deck. — CATHERINE CARLOCK
PHARMACEUTICALS
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Novartis drug prolongs life of breast cancer patients
Novartis’ drug Kisqali helped breast cancer patients live longer without tumors returning in a study that suggests the medicine could ward off cancer’s recurrence in a broad population. The stock rose as much as 5.9 percent in Zurich trading, the steepest gain in more than a year. Patients in the trial lived longer according to a measure called invasive disease-free survival when they took Kisqali along with endocrine therapy rather than only the latter, Novartis said in a statement. Kisqali has been around since 2017, but it was given mostly to patients whose breast cancer had spread to other parts of the body. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
LABOR
Chipotle to pay Maine workers after closing store
Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to pay $240,000 to former employees as part of a settlement stemming from a complaint that the company violated federal law by closing a restaurant where workers wanted to unionize. Chipotle announced it was permanently closing its Augusta, Maine, location last year after workers filed a National LaborRelations Board petition for a union election. The NLRB later said the closure was illegal. The Maine location was the first in the chain to file a union petition. The settlement, released by union officials on Monday, states that two dozen employees will receive payments from Chipotle and they will be placed on a preferential hiring list for other Maine locations. The company must also post a notice in dozens of stores in New England that it won’t close stores or discriminate against employees due to union support, the settlement states. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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ECONOMY
Nearly half of Americans have a side hustle, survey says
To meet increasing spending needs, households can generally do two things — cut spending or raise income. A large share of Americans may be doing the latter. Almost half of employed consumers hold a side job or have some other form of supplemental income such as selling artisan products, according to a survey released Monday by LendingClub Corp. in partnership with industry publication Pymnts.com. And it’s not just low-income or cash-strapped households who are turning to additional income to help pay the bills. Those earning $100,000 annually are more likely to have a growing supplemental income, the survey found. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
Alibaba founder resurfaces in China
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has resurfaced in China after months of overseas travel, visiting a school Monday in the city where his company is headquartered and discussed topics such as artificial intelligence. Ma founded e-commerce firm Alibaba in the 1990s and was once China’s richest man. He has kept a low profile with few public appearances since Nov. 2020, when he had publicly criticized China’s regulators and financial systems during a speech in Shanghai. Shortly afterward, authorities put the brakes on the initial public offering of Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Group, which had been set to raise $34.5 billion in what would have been the world’s largest share offering at the time. Alibaba was later investigated and fined $2.8 billion for breaching antitrust rules as Chinese authorities cracked down on the once-freewheeling technology industry. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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PHARMACEUTICALS
BioNTech expects vaccine sales to plummet this year
BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine sales are set to fall by more than two-thirds this year as demand wanes for its only marketed product. The German drug maker expects revenue of about $5.4 billion in 2023, it said in a statement outlining its full-year financial results. The company is renegotiating its supply contract with the European Union’s executive body, which may see deliveries spread across multiple years and a possible reduction in volume, BioNTech said. BioNTech shot to fame during the pandemic, when it teamed up with Pfizer to create one of the first vaccines to become available globally using a new technology — messenger RNA — that had never made it to market before. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
ENTERTAINMENT
Disney begins layoffs
Walt Disney Co. has begun the first of what is expected to be 7,000 job cuts, a key part of a $5.5 billion savings drive the company announced in February. The first group of employees will be notified over the next four days, chief executive Bob Iger said in a memo to staff on Monday. A second, larger round will happen in April, impacting several thousand workers. The last of the affected workers will receive notice before summer. The cuts are expected to fall on all parts of the company, including theme parks and the ESPN sports networks. Disney employed about 220,000 people worldwide as of Oct. 1. Approximately 25 percent are part-time or seasonal employees. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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LABOR
Transport strikes hit Germany
Trains, planes, and public transit systems stood still across much of Germany on Monday as labor unions called a major one-day strike over salaries in an effort to win inflation-busting raises for their members. The 24-hour walkout — one of the biggest in decades — also affected cargo transport by rail and ship, as workers at the country’s ports and waterways joined the strike. Many commuters opted to drive to work, causing some delays on the roads, while those who could worked from home. Unions are seeking a pay increase of at least 10.5 percent and have dismissed offers from employers of about 5 percent over two years plus one-off payments. — ASSOCIATED PRESS