Good morning. Nestlé Chief Executive Laurent Freixe’s downfall started with an anonymous tip to an internal hotline called “Speak Up.”

Freixe was having an intimate relationship with a marketing executive who reported to him, the tipster reported. The couple initially denied any relationship, the company said.

• Internal investigations: It took two investigations, more hotline reports and a letter to the Nestlé chairman before the food company acted, dismissing Freixe on Monday for breaking its conduct code.
   

• Company man: Freixe, 63 years old and at Nestlé since 1986, had refocused the company on core brands such as Nescafé instant coffee, KitKat chocolate bars and Fancy Feast cat food since being named to the job a year ago. The French CEO slashed costs to reinvest in more-promising products such as cold coffee, and shored up Nestlé’s executive team at the company’s headquarters on the shores of Lake Geneva.

• Impact of the hotline: Freixe’s dismissal also sends a message that no one is above the rules at the company based in Vevey, Switzerland. Nestlé says reports received last year to the Speak Up line led to more than 100 staffers leaving.

• Freixe’s Swiss successor: Philipp Navratil, faces the task of arresting a yearslong slide in the company’s shares and restoring calm after a series of scandals, snafus and executive departures. Navratil, 49, most recently served as CEO of Nestlé’s Nespresso brand. He joined the executive board in January.

Why lawmakers don’t want to ban their own stock trading.

Many lawmakers decry stock trading on principle, only to back off later when faced with the practical impacts—ranging from transaction costs and taxes to annoyance over being told how to conduct their finances. While some are plowing ahead on ideas for new bans, passage remains uncertain after a history of failed efforts.

Proponents of a crackdown see trading as an obvious opportunity for corruption. Opponents note that insider trading is already illegal and say that new rules would discourage successful businesspeople from running for Congress.

• The U.S. Treasury Department said international freight forwarder company Fracht FWO has agreed to pay more than $1.6 million to settle allegations of sanctions violations, Risk Journal reports. 
   
• The U.K. competition regulator launched an investigation into Primary Health Properties’ 1.79 billion-pound ($2.40 billion) acquisition of Assura.
   
• The European Union’s general court upheld a decision by tech regulators to impose tougher rules on German online retailer Zalando under the bloc’s digital content law.
   
• France’s data protection authority fined Alphabet’s Google and Shein a total 475 million euros ($553.9 million) over concerns the companies are flouting French regulations around cookies.
   
• Right-leaning cable news channel Newsmax accused bigger rival Fox News of anti-competitive behavior in an antitrust lawsuit filed Wednesday.
   
• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday issued a letter of no action allowing prediction market Polymarket to relaunch its services in the U.S. Last week, Donald Trump Jr.’s venture-capital firm, 1789 Capital, announced a strategic investment in Polymarket. 
   
• The United Kingdom is sanctioning 11 Russian officials and state-linked organizations responsible for forcibly deporting, indoctrinating and militarizing Ukrainian children in what officials called a deliberate campaign to erase Ukrainian cultural identity.

EU closes in on trade deal with South American bloc.

European leaders said Wednesday that they would formally propose a landmark trade deal with a cluster of South American nations, boosting Europe’s economic partnerships at a time when relations with the U.S. remain strained.

The European Commission in Brussels unveiled its formal pact with the Mercosur nations of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay that has been under discussion for more than 25 years, sending the final text for ratification by the European Union’s 27 member states and the European Parliament.

Investing in disaster preparedness pays off ahead of extreme weather.

While natural disasters are getting expensive, mitigation can help drive down their costs.

In areas prone to hurricanes, not investing in disaster preparedness could lead to the loss of up to 131,000 jobs, according to a report published Wednesday by Allstate Insurance, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. And where wildfires are common, a community may pay $21.87 for every dollar not spent on preparedness, the report said.

• Big Oil has a tough balancing act: Help further President Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda and stick to its climate goals at the same time.
   
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to foster security cooperation and respect Mexico’s sovereignty and territory a day after the U.S. military sank an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean, a major escalation that rattled regional partners and adversaries alike.

• American Bitcoin, a bitcoin mining and accumulation business backed by President Trump’s two eldest sons, jumped on its first day of trading Wednesday as investors scooped up shares of the Trump-linked crypto venture.
   
• A federal appeals court blocked President Trump from using a centuries-old wartime law to quickly deport a group of Venezuelan migrants, putting one of the administration’s signature issues closer to a Supreme Court showdown.
   
• The chief financial officer of xAI has left the company, people familiar with the matter said, the latest high-profile departure from Elon Musk’s artificial-intelligence company.
   
• The federal government improperly cut off $2.2 billion in research funding from Harvard University and must restore the funds, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, concluding the Trump administration’s actions violated Harvard’s constitutional rights.
   
• Unilever said it is evaluating its top 200 leaders and plans on “refreshing” about 25% amid a shake-up under its new chief executive.

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