Oscar Mayer, the brand known for its bologna and hot dogs, is rolling out a line of plant-based hot dogs and sausages from TheNotCompany, a startup backed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Plant-based meats have had their day in the sun over the past few years, with even big names like Burger King and McDonald’s getting in on the act. Oscar Mayer parent company Kraft Heinz projects sales of plant-based foods to hit nearly $20 billion by 2030. But the alternative animal products haven’t shown the type of growth needed to disrupt the culinary world. Beyond Meat’s share price has fallen nearly 90% in the past five years, and Impossible Foods has repeatedly delayed its IPO as its valuation plummets. Maybe Oscar Mayer will have a way with V-E-G-A-N.
REGULATION
SEC OKs Climate Disclosure Rule But Leaves Environmentalists Wanting More
The Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to clear the financial air.
The SEC passed a rule on Wednesday that, starting in 2026, public companies — excluding some smaller ones — must report their greenhouse gas emissions each year.
The Greenhouse Effect
To better protect investors, the SEC’s latest ruling will provide greater transparency into the amount of pollutants companies release into the atmosphere through their operations and energy purchases. In addition to reporting emissions, companies also have to divulge climate-related risks that could impact their bottom lines. If a business sets up shop in an area prone to wildfires or earthquakes, investors have a right to know that.
But while the new rule reads like a real leap forward, it’s quite a step back from what the SEC originally proposed. In the initial plan, companies were also going to be required to report indirect — or Scope 3 — emissions released along their entire supply chains — and when customers used their products. For example, when an oil company’s CEO hops on a plane for a business trip or when countless drivers burn through tanks of gasoline, those emissions would have to be reported.
But after two years, 24,000 public comments, and Republican lawmakers and oil and agricultural lobbyists arguing that those reports would be way too involved and complicated, the SEC dropped the provisions, much to the ire of climate activists and certain financial experts:
The Scope 3 emissions dropped from the rule account for the largest piece of the pollution pie for most businesses: more than 70% of a company’s carbon footprint, according to Deloitte. Both the Sierra Club and EarthJustice have hinted at possibly suing the SEC for watering down the rule.
Tracey Lewis of Public Citizen’s climate program told The Washington Post, “Avoiding Scope 3 reporting is stripping away the teeth from this rule.” And former acting SEC Chair Allison Herren Lee told The New York Times, “Thanks to corporate lobbying, disclosure of the very real financial risks from climate change has fallen victim to the culture wars.”
Standardized Reporting: Plenty of large companies like Apple, Walmart, and Chevron already report their emissions voluntarily, but Asaf Bernstein of the University of Colorado told The Wall Street Journal that the methods are far from perfect. “Voluntary reporting is all over the map. Standardization is something you can use as a decision tool as an investor.” Now, the US will be on the same level as the European Union when it comes to corporate climate disclosures. The EU adopted the rule last year.
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New York Community Bancorp Gets $1B Cash Injection
Bigger has not been better for New York Community Bancorp.
On Wednesday, after reports surfaced that the flailing regional lender was seeking an emergency cash infusion, NYCB apparently secured a $1 billion equity infusion, courtesy of former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s Liberty Strategic Capital, Citadel Securities, and NYCB management, according to sources who spoke with The Wall Street Journal.
Too Big, Starting to Flail
NYCB has been in a tailspin since reporting a surprise loss in its fourth-quarter earnings report at the end of January, when it blamed the twin forces of shaky commercial real estate loans — particularly among rent-stabilized New York City apartment buildings — and the increased demands associated with graduating into the “big leagues” of banks with more than $100 billion of assets under management. The news rocked the bank, sending its share price tanking nearly 70%.
In February, newly appointed Executive Chairman Alessandro DiNello insisted that there was “virtually no deposit outflow” from its retail branches (by the end of the month, DiNello was made CEO). But the bank has also taken active measures to avoid having to provide evidence for that statement, and Wednesday’s equity injection may suggest otherwise — and comes with yet another sweeping overhaul of NYCB’s C-suite:
Last week, NYCB announced it would delay filing its annual 10-K to focus on addressing a “material weakness” in the company’s controls that played a role in its fourth-quarter flop. The 10-K, now due March 15, will be the first publicly available source of information on depositor outflows.
Along with the $1 billion raise comes news that DiNello, after just roughly a week on the job, will be replaced by Joseph Otting, former head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, while Mnuchin and others join a board purged of all legacy NYCB directors, the WSJ reports.
Mnuch Ado About Something: “In evaluating this investment, we were mindful of the bank’s credit risk profile,” Mnuchin said in a statement on Wednesday. “We believe we now have sufficient capital should reserves need to be increased in the future to be consistent with or above the coverage ratio of NYCB’s large bank peers,” he added. The former cabinet member has some experience in this sort of situation. After the collapse of IndyMac Bank back in 2008, Mnuchin and a group of investors bought the bank from the FDIC for $13.5 billion, before running it as OneWest Bank. The group sold it years later to CIT Group, earning hundreds of millions for Mnuchin, who clearly sniffs a similar opportunity.
Written by Brian Boyle
BLOCKCHAIN
Sam Altman’s Worldcoin Gets Kicked Out of Spain
Spanish regulators have thrust their blade into the shoulder of Sam Altman’s pet crypto project.
Spain’s data watchdog told Altman’s cryptocurrency startup Worldcoin, which requires new sign-ups to have their eyeballs scanned by a device coyly named an “Orb,” it has 72 hours to vamoose, theFinancial Times reported on Wednesday.
A New Black Eye
Worldcoin launched its cryptocurrency last July, with Altman’s stated grand aim of providing a universal basic income. On Worldcoin’s website, you can locate your nearest “Orb operator” — essentially, gig-economy workers who get sent an Orb and help scan people’s irises who want to sign up. The logic is clearly to have a physical identity tied to each user while being as creepy as possible. To encourage takeup, Worldcoin offered free crypto tokens with each signup.
Worldcoin’s website says it has 29 Orb locations in Spain, but they don’t look to be sticking around for much longer:
Spain’s data protection watchdog AEPD ordered Worldcoin to immediately stop scanning eyeballs and to stop using any eyeball-data it has already collected.
AEPD director Mar España Martí told the FT the agency was particularly concerned that the startup might be scanning the eyeballs of minors. She added that there were worries that the company had not complied with the country’s laws on how to manage biometric data in a way that users know what’s being done with it, and can request it be erased.
“I want to send a message to young people,” España Martí told the FT. “I understand that it can be very tempting to get €70 or €80 that sorts you out for the weekend […] giving away personal data in exchange for these derisory amounts of money is a short, medium and long-term risk.”
Kenya Believe It: Spain isn’t the first country to take action against Worldcoin. Kenya shut it down last August. Thousands of Kenyans signed up for the currency, but the country’s Communications Authority said it was concerned about the use of biometric data, especially since Worldcoin was effectively buying it off people. Now it looks like Kenya’s approach could spread, as España Martí told the FT she thinks there should be “coordinated action” by EU countries.
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Extra Upside
When will the rate cuts come? We’re still not sure after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks to Congress.
Standardized Reporting: Plenty of large companies like Apple, Walmart, and Chevron already report their emissions voluntarily, but Asaf Bernstein of the University of Colorado told 
