Fisker delisted, Ripple Labs targeted by the SEC, New Homes Sales, Layoffs at Citigroup, and Crown Resorts to keep their license

Fisker Delisted by NYSE as EV Maker Races to Save Itself

• The New York Stock Exchange announced Monday it was suspending trading of Fisker Inc. stock after the electric vehicle startup’s shares sank following news that it would not be getting an investment from a major automaker.

• The NYSE said in a statement that Fisker shares were “no longer suitable for listing based on ‘abnormally low’ price levels” and trading would be suspended immediately. Before trading was halted at 9:35 a.m. Monday, Fisker shares fell 28% to 9 cents. The stock has dropped 95% since the start of the year.

• Earlier Monday, Fisker said in a regulatory filing that talks with a major automaker about an investment were terminated without a deal, which means the company needs to renegotiate terms for recent financing or face the possibility of seeking “a strategic transaction in bankruptcy protection.”

SEC seeks $2 B from Ripple Labs over XRP sales, legal officer says

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking fines of about $2 billion from Ripple Labs over its allegedly unlawful sales of the cryptocurrency XRP, the firm’s chief legal officer said on Monday.

• Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer at Ripple, said in a series of social media posts that the SEC had asked District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan for the fines in confidential court papers filed on Monday. The commission is scheduled to file the documents publicly on Tuesday, with redactions.

• The payout, if passed, could be potentially one of the biggest fines slapped against a crypto firm. It comes after Torres ruled in July that Ripple Labs’ sales of XRP worth nearly $730 million to hedge funds and sophisticated investors were unlawful sales of unregistered securities.

US Economy News Today: New Home Sales Fall In February

• Sales of new U.S. single-family homes unexpectedly fell in February, but data for the prior month was revised higher, pointing to underlying strength as a shortage of previously owned houses on the market persists.

• New home sales slipped 0.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 662,000 units last month, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Monday. The sales pace for January was revised up to 664,000 units from the previously reported 661,000 units.

• Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which account for more than 10% of U.S. home sales, rising to a rate of 675,000 units.

Citigroup to end sweeping overhaul this week after 5,000 layoffs

• Citigroup is in the last phase of a sweeping overhaul to simplify its structure and improve performance, the bank said, after shrinking its workforce by 5,000 employees since September.

• The largest round of staffing moves, including reassignments and departures, will be communicated to employees from Monday to Thursday, CEO Jane Fraser told employees in a memo seen by Reuters.

• "These past months have not been easy," Fraser wrote. "Far from it. The changes we've made are the biggest that most of us have experienced at Citi ..., putting us on the front foot and improving our competitiveness."

Blackstone-owned Crown Resorts found fit to hold Melbourne casino license

• Blackstone-owned Crown Resorts can keep its licence to operate its Melbourne casino, Victoria state's gaming regulator said on Tuesday, after years of regulatory challenges around money-laundering charges.

• The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission said Crown Resorts will be allowed to keep its casino licence and that the decision was in the public interest.

• "Today, the commission is satisfied the systemic failings at Crown Melbourne are a thing of the past," Chair Fran Thorn said during a media briefing.