By David Shepardson

(Reuters) – South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster on Monday signed legislation approving $1.29 billion in state incentives for Volkswagen’s off-road brand Scout Motors to build a $2 billion manufacturing plant for trucks and SUVs.

The project could also receive up to $180 million in job development tax credits based on hiring, said South Carolina Commerce Secretary Harry Lightsey.

In May, VW said it would reintroduce the Scout off-road brand in the United States, offering new electric pickup and sport-utility vehicles. Scout said it hopes to eventually create 4,000 jobs and produce 200,000 Scout vehicles annually.

Groundbreaking is planned for mid-2023 and production is projected to begin by the end of 2026.

“We looked at 74 sites in a dozen states, roughly,” Scout CEO Scott Keogh told reporters. “The site was ready, the governor himself put together an EV council … to make sure his state was ready.”

Keogh said Scout wants to “act like a startup, be nimble and take advantage of this moment.” Scout, an independent U.S. company owned by Volkswagen Group, has said it is evaluating the potential for outside investment but has made no announcements.

Volkswagen has moved away from cars in the United States. SUVs now account for about 80% of U.S. sales of the group’s VW and Audi brands. VW last sold a pickup in the United States in the early 1980s.

Scout and Travelall vehicles made by International Harvester were forerunners to the popular SUVs from Detroit’s Three automakers such as the Ford Bronco and General Motors Co’s Chevrolet Suburban.

Volkswagen first disclosed it was considering using the Scout name late in 2021. The automaker’s Traton business acquired U.S. truck maker Navistar in 2020, which owns the name.

Monday’s event was the latest major auto announcement for South Carolina, home to BMW’s U.S. operations and its largest plant by volume. The state also has over 500 automotive-related companies and 75,000 automotive industry employees.

(Reporting by David Shepardson Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

By Sarah Morland

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -U.S. construction materials firm Vulcan Materials Co said on Monday that Mexican security forces illegally took possession last week of its port terminal in southern Mexico, as an extended legal battle over its nearby limestone mining activities plays out.

The incident took place last Tuesday night at the terminal in the popular tourist hub of Playa del Carmen, and follows a five-year fight with the government over Vulcan’s concessions punctuated by sharp criticism from the country’s president last year.

Vulcan, which markets crushed stone as well as asphalt and ready-mixed concrete, said in a statement on Sunday that workers from Mexican cement company Cemex accompanied the security forces last week as part of the takeover of their port terminal.

“We are shocked in Cemex and in the Mexican government entities that supported this reckless and reprehensible armed seizure of our private property,” Vulcan said in the statement.

Vulcan declined to say how last week’s action was illegal or who currently controls the terminal.

The company also contends that a decision by the government last year to shut down its operations was illegal.

Cemex on Monday defended its actions last week, saying they were backed by a local court and a recent order from state prosecutors.

Cemex in a statement referred to its contract with a local Vulcan unit dating back two decades which it said allows it to use the terminal.

The company added that an order from prosecutors granted it access to the port terminal premises, and that on March 14 authorities enforced it. This, Cemex said, followed what the company described as months of failed negotiations with the Vulcan unit.

Mexico’s security ministry did not reply to a request for comment.

The Alabama-based firm has been unable to quarry and ship construction materials since the Mexican government shut down its operations last May over concerns of harmful impacts of underwater limestone mining on the local environment and water table.

At the time, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized the impacts as an “ecological catastrophe.”

Video footage shared on Fox News, which Vulcan confirmed, showed around a dozen security officers entering the site in police trucks last week, as well as a Cemex-branded pickup truck.

(Reporting by Sarah Morland in Mexico CityAdditional reporting by Diego Ore in Mexico CityEditing by David Alire Garcia and Matthew Lewis)

By Medha Singh and Ankika Biswas

(Reuters) – Shares of First Republic Bank closed 47% lower on Monday, adding to recent losses as concerns about its liquidity continued to worry investors despite a $30 billion influx of deposits last week.

The bank’s stock fell as much as 50% and closed at $12.18 after the New York Stock Exchange halted it several times due to volatility.

S&P Global downgraded First Republic deeper into junk status on Sunday and said the recent cash infusion from 11 large U.S. banks last week may not solve its liquidity problems.

“We do not view this deposit infusion–which has an initial maturity of 120 days–as a longer-term solution to the bank’s funding issues,” S&P wrote. “We think attracting meaningful deposits will be difficult, constraining the bank’s business position.”

Large U.S. banks injected $30 billion in deposits into First Republic Bank on Thursday, swooping in to rescue the lender caught up in a widening crisis triggered by the collapse of two other mid-size U.S. lenders over the past week.

The fresh deposits did not halt the slide in its shares, however. First Republic Bank is among the banks that have been speaking to peers and investment firms about potential deals in the wake of U.S. regulators taking over Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank this month amid a flight of depositors, sources have said.

Regional banks that are under pressure could be taken over by stronger rivals, or they could seek cash infusions from investors such as private equity firms, the industry sources said last week. Two sources familiar with the matter said that all options are on the table for First Republic, which could include a sale or equity infusion, the sources said, confirming previous reports.

MARKET VALUE PLUMMETS

JPMorgan Chase & Co is advising First Republic on its options to raise capital from investors, a source familiar with the situation said.

First Republic declined to comment on the potential share sale.

“Following Thursday’s uninsured deposit of $30 billion by the 11 largest banks in the country, together with cash on hand, First Republic Bank is well positioned to manage short-term deposit activity,” the company said in a statement.

The support “reflects confidence in First Republic and its ability to continue to provide service to its clients and communities,” the lender said.

The large banks that contributed deposits to First Republic could potentially withdraw some of the funds and take equity stakes instead, said a legal expert who declined to be identified. But the person stressed that deposits cannot be converted into equity.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is leading talks with the chiefs of other big banks about fresh efforts to stabilize the San Francisco-based bank, citing people familiar with the matter.

JPMorgan and First Republic declined to comment on the report.

“The market wants a more conclusive resolution for what’s going to happen to First Republic and the only way out of that is some sort of asset sale,” said Matt Orton, chief market strategist at Raymond James Investment Management.

GRAPHIC: First Republic Bank’s stock market collapse (https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/jnpwyjxdbpw/Pasted%20image%201679333478533.png)

First Republic’s stock market value has collapsed by over 80% in the past 10 trading sessions due to fears of a bank run as a large proportion of the lender’s deposits are uninsured.

Short sellers in First Republic made about $560 million profit on paper since last Monday, analytics firm Ortex said.

Shares of other U.S. lenders largely rebounded on Monday in tandem with their European peers as UBS Group’s state-backed takeover of troubled peer Credit Suisse Group AG appeared to allay worries that the recent banking crisis could spread further.

The deal announcement “should both ease contagion fears but also meaningfully reduce the counter-party concerns for U.S. universal banks,” said KBW analyst David Konrad.

The S&P 1500 regional banks index rebounded 0.5% after sharp declines in recent days.

PacWest Bancorp climbed almost 11% after the bank said deposit outflows had stabilized and its available cash of more than $10.8 billion exceeded total uninsured deposits.

“We have increased confidence that PACW can make it through this liquidity crunch now that it has enough cash to cover any additional run-off in uninsured deposits,” Matthew Clark, managing director at Piper Sandler & Co said in a note.

A U.S. official told Reuters on Sunday that the deposit outflows that left many regional banks reeling in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s failure had slowed and in some cases reversed.

New York Community Bancorp Inc surged 32% after its subsidiary agreed with U.S. regulators to buy deposits and loans from the shuttered New York-based Signature Bank.

Western Alliance Bancorp fell 6.7%, while Fifth Third and U.S. Bancorp both rallied more than 4%.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, Calif., Greg Roumeliotis, Megan Davies, Lananh Nguyen, Saeed Azhar and Tatiana Bautzer in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Aurora Ellis)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks jumped on Monday after a deal to rescue Credit Suisse and central bank efforts to bolster confidence in the financial system relieved investors, while participants also weighed the likelihood of a pause in rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this week.

UBS late on Sunday agreed to buy rival Credit Suisse for $3.23 billion, in a merger engineered by Swiss authorities to avoid more turmoil in the banking group.

Also, major central banks moved on Sunday to bolster the flow of cash around the world.

The S&P Banking index was up 0.6% and the KBW Regional Banking index was up 1.5% following sharp losses last week.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank shook markets earlier this month, leading to a rout in banking stocks and worries that central bank monetary tightening would create a recession.

While some bank shares were still lower on Monday, the weakness appeared to be contained, said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.

All of the major S&P 500 sectors ended higher, and the Cboe Volatility index – Wall Street’s fear gauge – fell.

U.S.-listed shares of Credit Suisse were down 53% on Monday, while UBS Group shares rose 3.3%.

Regional bank First Republic Bank fell 47.1% following a downgrade by S&P Global and a report of more fundraising that fueled fears about the bank’s liquidity despite a $30 billion rescue last week. Trading in shares of the bank was halted several times due to volatility.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 382.6 points, or 1.2%, to 32,244.58, the S&P 500 gained 34.93 points, or 0.89%, to 3,951.57 and the Nasdaq Composite added 45.03 points, or 0.39%, to 11,675.54.

Helping optimism, New York Community Bancorp climbed 31.7% after a unit of the bank agreed to buy deposits and loans from Signature Bank.

“Where it is another bank coming in, that is the kind of headline that helps underpin confidence in the banking system,” Krosby said. “It helps to halt the panic and fear.”

Among other regional banks, PacWest Bancorp closed up 10.8% after the bank said deposit outflows had stabilized.

Investors are also focused on the Fed’s decision when policymakers conclude a two-day meeting on Wednesday. Before the turmoil with the banks earlier this month, many market participants had been factoring in a 50 basis-point interest rate hike from the Fed at its March meeting.

Fed funds futures now show a 28.4% probability of the Fed holding its overnight rate at 4.5%-4.75%, and a 71.6% likelihood of a 25 basis-point increase, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.

Shares of Amazon.com fell 1.3% on the day following the company’s plans to slash another 9,000 jobs.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.48 billion shares, compared with the 12.60 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.69-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.05-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 1 new 52-week high and 8 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 33 new highs and 298 new lows.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevith in New York; Additional reporting by Shubham Batra, Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Matthew Lewis)

(Reuters) -A former director of Tesla Inc’s Australian unit was sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment and will be released immediately on the condition of “good behaviour”, Australia’s corporate watchdog said on Tuesday.

The sentence follows the former director’s guilty pleas to two insider trading offences tied to a supply deal the electric-car maker signed with Piedmont Lithium Inc in 2020, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

ASIC said Kurt Schlosser purchased 86,478 shares in U.S.-based Piedmont in two transactions after being informed of details of a five-year spodumene concentrate supply agreement.

Schlosser sold the shares for a realised profit of $28,883.53 after the agreement became public, according to the watchdog.

The regulator added that Schlosser communicated information to a friend “in circumstances where it was likely” that the person would acquire Piedmont shares.

Last November, Schlosser pled guilty at a court in Sydney.

“We do not comment on the legal proceedings of individuals or other companies,” Piedmont said, while Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

(Reporting by Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd convinced a Los Angeles federal jury on Friday that its Galaxy S10 phones do not violate the trademark rights of a talent-management agency that also uses the “S10” name.

The jury found that S10 Entertainment & Media LLC had not shown that Samsung’s popular smartphones were likely to cause consumer confusion and drown out its brand in the marketplace, according to a court document published Monday.

Representatives for Samsung and S10 did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

S10 Entertainment, which manages the pop singers Anitta and Normani, said it began using the S10 name in 2017. Samsung began selling its Galaxy S-series smartphones in 2010 and started offering S10 phones in 2019.

S10 argued Samsung’s advertising would confuse customers into thinking the brands were affiliated, citing Samsung’s use of a similar font and color scheme as the talent agency for its S10 logo and its promotional partnerships with musicians.

The lawsuit said S10 had received social-media messages from people trying to buy Samsung’s phones. It also said Samsung was aware of the company before adopting the branding, and that Samsung and S10 had discussed a potential deal for Anitta to endorse the tech giant.

“As a result of confusion between Samsung’s S10 phone line and S10 Entertainment’s S10 mark, the value and goodwill of S10 Entertainment’s Instagram and social media footprint has been severely diminished,” the lawsuit said.

Samsung told the court that its use of “S10” would not cause confusion, that it had priority to the S10 name based on its earlier Galaxy S “family” of marks, and that S10 waited too long to bring the lawsuit.

The case is S10 Entertainment & Media LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 2:21-cv-02443.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)