Five large banks in France were reportedly targeted by investigators as part of a €100 billion fraud probe. French and German  governments were involved because of a possible money laundering allegation. The banks under investigation are HSBC, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Exane, and Natixis.

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced on Monday the start of the company’s mass layoffs. This follows the company’s plans last month to cut 7,000 workers this year in an effort to reduce costs by $5.5 billion.

Nasdaq is about to launch crypto custody services in the second quarter of this year. Nasdaq is reportedly moving forward to get all the necessary technical setup and regulatory approvals ready.

Trading platform eToro raised $250 million in an advanced investment agreement, topping the company’s valuation at $3.5 billion. ION Group, Social Leverage, SoftBank, and other major industry players invested in eToro in the recent deal. 

Enterprise blockchain adoption will be sped up thanks to a new partnership between Chainlink Labs and PwC Germany. Chainlink Labs will offer services to traditional businesses who are already working with PwC but have not yet adopted blockchain technology.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for a ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). He pointed out some negative effects, including higher surveillance over citizens or a cap on CBDC holdings.

The result of the annual inflation rate in Spain surprised, dropping from 6% in February to 3.3% in March. This is very close to the central bank’s goal. Germany’s inflation also fell, from 8.7% to 7.4%, a little above the estimated 7.3%. Belgium’s inflation held steady at 6.6%.

Thursday saw an almost 1% increase in European stock indices on hopes that central banks will soon halt their tightening cycle. Global risk sentiment improved as worries about the recent banking turmoil subsided. The STOXX 600 jumped to 455 while DAX 40 surged to 15,500.

Ripple (XRP) jumped an additional 12% to $0.58, as investors hope the lawsuit between the SEC and Ripple is coming to an end. The cryptocurrency is already up 65% in the last 2 weeks.

Saudi Aramco is working with China to build a $12.2 billion oil refinery. The refinery will be in northeast China, and it is expected to be fully operational in 2026. About 300,000 barrels of oil a day will be housed at the refinery.

The announcement of Alibaba’s plan to divide itself into six distinct businesses boosted the stock by 13%. This reorganization may result in many IPOs down the road. The segments would be cloud, e-commerce, global e-commerce, digital mapping, logistics, and a media arm.

Five large banks in France were reportedly targeted by investigators as part of a €100 billion fraud probe. French and German  governments were involved because of a possible money laundering allegation. The banks under investigation are HSBC, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Exane, and Natixis.