Banks dump bad debt; rich people dump bad-paying bank accounts; SEC dumps on crypto’s public ambitions; and more!

Banks Offload Millions in Hung Debt as Sale Restrictions Expire [Bloomberg]
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has agreed to sell its remaining £25 million ($31 million) or so of sterling loans in Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, according to people familiar with the matter. Goldman was also among banks — including Bank of America Corp. and Barclays Plc — that sold their sterling loans in Ekaterra BV, a tea business Unilever Plc sold to CVC, the people said….

Robert Iger, Henry Kravis to Buy Minority Stake in Thrive Capital [WSJ]
Mr. Iger and Mr. Kravis will invest about $175 million to purchase a 3.3% stake in Thrive, the New York-based firm said Tuesday. The deal values the venture firm at $5.3 billion./Mr. Iger briefly joined Thrive as a venture partner in September but relinquished his role when he returned to the top job at Disney.

Qatar doubles Credit Suisse stake as embattled lender forges ahead with strategic overhaul [CNBC]
Now, it owns 6.8% of the bank’s shares, according to the filing Friday, second only to the 9.9% stake purchased by the Saudi National Bank last year as part of a $4.2 billion capital raise to fund a massive strategic overhaul.
Combined with the 3.15% owned by Saudi-based family firm Olayan Financing Company, around a fifth of the company’s stock is now owned by Middle Eastern investors, Eikon data indicates.

SEC Scrutiny Blocks Some Crypto Firms From Going Public [WSJ]
Crypto-focused companies including Bullish Global, Circle Internet Financial and eToro Group Ltd. have failed to secure the SEC approvals that are required of companies going public. The firms were seeking stock-exchange listings through mergers with special-purpose acquisition companies…. Another crypto broker, Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., faced repeated rounds of questions from SEC staff about its business since filing paperwork to go public on the Nasdaq Stock Market, according to people familiar with the questioning.

Investor Elliott builds key stake in Japan's Dai Nippon Printing – sources [Reuters]
Elliott, one of the world's most powerful activist investors, has become one of the top three shareholders in DNP with a significant position….

Rich Customers Pull Money From Banks Offering Paltry Interest Rates [WSJ]
Deposits at [Bank of America’s] wealth unit, which includes Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, fell 17% in 2022 to $324 billion. Deposits in the consumer unit fell 0.6% to $1 trillion.… The flight of wealth deposits poses a big business issue for firms such as Charles Schwab Corp., which relies on the extra cash that investors leave in their accounts for a large part of its revenue.