Good morning. In an ornate ballroom in Palm Beach, Fla., where a golden eagle loomed over a conference stage, recently pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao made a triumphant return to the U. S.—his first visit since his release from a California federal prison in 2024.

• Mingling at Mar-a-Lago: Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to a related charge, returned to the U.S. for what World Liberty Financial—the Trump-backed cryptocurrency company—billed as a “carefully curated” 500-person gathering to discuss the future of finance and technology. The venue was President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, the so-called Winter White House, where Secret Service agents milled around the property.
   
• Change in fortunes: Zhao’s arrival followed Binance’s efforts to boost World Liberty over the past year—and spotlighted the crypto titan’s dramatic change in status since Binance paid a record $4.3 billion fine in 2023. 
   
• Seeking a new framework: Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong, who has spent months lobbying Congress and the Trump administration on legislation that would set a new regulatory framework for digital assets, mingled alongside Sen. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio), one of the bill’s major supporters, and attended a smaller VIP dinner Tuesday evening with Trump’s sons, Zhao and others.
   
• Notable guests: The attendee list included Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, New York Stock Exchange president Lynn Martin and “Shark Tank” personality Kevin O’Leary. Some Trump administration officials were also in attendance, including newly appointed Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig and Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg.

Elizabeth Warren has questions about the shake-up inside the Fed’s banking regulator.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and other Democrats are demanding that the Federal Reserve turn over information about changes inside its division of banking supervision, citing a Wall Street Journal report about internal tensions sparked by job cuts and sidelined examiners.

The Massachusetts Democrat asked the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, Michelle Bowman, for information about those changes, as well as plans to conduct a new report on the 2023 failure of Silicon Valley Bank, according to letters viewed by the Journal.

West Virginia attorney general’s lawsuit alleges Apple’s iCloud allows for distribution of child pornography.

JB McCuskey, the attorney general of West Virginia, filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging the company allowed its iCloud platform to be used to store and distribute child sexual abuse material.

The complaint, filed Thursday, alleges that Apple’s iCloud platform makes it easier for criminals to maintain large collections of illicit material and enables repeated access and redistribution. The lawsuit claims Apple has abandoned its responsibility to protect children under the guise of promoting user privacy.

• The European Union designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, subjecting the military unit to new sanctions and asset freezes, Risk Journal reports.
   
• The U.S. Treasury Department ramped up its campaign against one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels, sanctioning a network of individuals and companies, including a luxury resort, it says defrauded American retirees through sophisticated timeshare scams.
   
• Anti-diversity activists are going after DEI policies for corporate boards, but a new analysis finds that companies have largely abandoned those goals already.

Trump weighs initial limited strike to force Iran into nuclear deal.

President Trump is weighing an initial limited military strike on Iran to force it to meet his demands for a nuclear deal, a first step that would be designed to pressure Tehran into an agreement but fall short of a full-scale attack that could inspire a major retaliation.

The opening assault, which if authorized could come within days, would target a few military or government sites, people familiar with the matter said. If Iran still refused to comply with Trump’s directive to end its nuclear enrichment, the U.S. would respond with a broad campaign against regime facilities—potentially aimed at toppling the Tehran regime.

• If Iran’s Regime Falls, Options to Replace It Are Narrow—and Risky
• Stock Investors Brace for Possible U.S. Strike in Iran, Send Dow Industrials Falling

America imported a record amount last year despite seismic trade policy changes.

Imports to the U.S. grew to a record high in 2025, leaving the trade deficit little changed despite steep Trump administration tariffs aimed at closing trade gaps.

The nation’s trade deficit—the gap between imports and exports in both goods and services—was $901.5 billion last year, slightly smaller than the $903.5 billion deficit recorded in 2024, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The small change shows America’s role as a heavy net importer remains intact, at least thus far, despite seismic policy shifts during the year.

• Mexico has surpassed Canada as the top market for U.S. exports, data show. A senior Canadian official says he’s hoping to speak with the U.S. Trade Representative in the coming weeks about addressing the Trump administration’s complaints over Canadian trade policy.

Join us in New York on March 4 for the Dow Jones Risk Journal Summit. Speakers include Kaitlin Asrow, acting superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services; Erika Brown Lee, head of global data privacy legal, Citi; Beth Collins, chief compliance officer, Walmart; Indrani Franchini, chief compliance officer, IBM; and Kevin O’Connor, general counsel, Lockheed Martin.

Request a complimentary invitation here using the code COMPLIMENTARY. Attendance is limited, and all requests are subject to approval.

• Top lawyers’ fees have skyrocketed. Be prepared to pay $3,400 an hour.
   
• A Seoul court sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison for leading an insurrection during a short-lived attempt to impose martial law.
   
• Bill Gates canceled his keynote address at an artificial intelligence summit in India as the Microsoft co-founder faces growing scrutiny over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. British police arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew, Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office following disclosures about his dealings with Epstein.

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