Good morning. Insurers are using rapidly evolving data tools to help predict, and potentially prevent storm-related losses, an effort they hope will yield benefits during this year’s hurricane season.

The past six years had higher-than-average Atlantic hurricane activity, an unlucky streak for communities in the way. This year’s season—typically defined as June through November—is predicted to be another busy one.

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Though scientists are split on how climate change might be influencing the number of hurricanes, warming is expected to intensify storm surges and rainfall, leading to more flooding.

Insurers and data providers to that sector have invested in data analysts and climate scientists to build and refine advanced models that can help map out potential damage well before any bad weather hits. [Read more]

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority said on Thursday that it fined U.K.-based Ghana International Bank PLC about £5.8 million, equivalent to about $7.1 million, for alleged failures in its anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing controls in relation to its correspondent-banking activites.

By using correspondent-banking relationships, banks can gain access to financial services in various jurisdictions and provide cross-border payment services to customers. The regulator said no money-laundering was detected, but that between 2012 and 2016, the bank failed to perform required checks on its established relationships with overseas banks and assess those banks’ anti-money-laundering controls. As a result, the FCA said the risk of money-laundering from these deficient systems was significant.

The bank said it has appointed a new board and a new management team and has strengthened its controls.

—Mengqi Sun

Federal investigators searched the home of former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark this week, according to a person familiar with the matter, in an escalation of an inquiry into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The Justice Department is conducting its own parallel investigation of Jan. 6 separate from the House committee. The raid of Mr. Clark’s house is the clearest indication yet that prosecutors have moved beyond the violence at the Capitol itself and are examining the actions of senior officials involved in Mr. Trump’s efforts to stay in office.

Mr. Clark ran the department’s environmental division during the Trump administration, and was the only senior official at the agency supporting Mr. Trump’s efforts.

• A U.S. appeals court voted to throw out a $1.9 billion patent-infringement judgment against Cisco Systems Inc., saying the judge in the original case should have disqualified himself after learning his wife owned stock in the company.
   
• The Food and Drug Administration is investigating a new report of another child’s death after consuming Abbott Laboratories’ baby formula, the agency said.
   
• The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered Juul Labs Inc. to halt U.S. sales of all of its e-cigarette products, saying the company hadn’t submitted sufficient evidence that its devices were safe.

The U.S. and European economies slowed sharply in June as surging prices of energy and food weakened demand for other goods and services, business surveys showed, increasing the risk of recession around the world.

The new figures on manufacturing and services activity underline how dark the outlook has become in both Europe and the U.S. Russia’s war in Ukraine has hit global growth as high inflation spread across the globe. Economies also face continuing supply-chain disruptions and the prospect of rising interest rates that curb business investment. Europe faces additional pressure from a possible energy shortage this winter.
 

• Fed Stress Test Finds Big Banks Can Weather Severe Recession
• Powell Pressed Over How Fed Would Respond to Economic Slowdown
• Energy Secretary Urges Oil Companies to Address High Gasoline Prices

Bipartisan legislation to establish broad privacy rights for consumers won approval from a House subcommittee on Thursday, adding to its momentum.

Lawmakers approved the bill, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, on a voice vote with no dissent. It now moves to the full Energy and Commerce Committee for a vote. The bill still faces a long and potentially difficult path, particularly in the Senate.

“Every American knows it is long past time for Congress to protect their data privacy and security,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D., N.J.), the committee chairman. “The modern world demands it.”

• U.K. delivery company Yodel Delivery Network Ltd. is scrambling to restore its computer networks after a “cyber incident” left shipments of clothes, wine and other items in limbo, forcing retailers to field customer complaints on delayed goods.

Nike Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. said on Thursday they are leaving Russia, months after both companies paused operations in the country because of the war against Ukraine.

“Nike has made the decision to leave the Russian marketplace,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “Our priority is to ensure we are fully supporting our employees while we responsibly scale down our operations over the coming months.”

Cisco said it would support employees in Russia and Belarus through the transition as it shuts down operations.

• Billionaire Ken Griffin is relocating his hedge-fund firm Citadel from Chicago to Miami, the third major employer to announce the move of a corporate headquarters from Illinois in the past two months. 
   
• Netflix is laying off about 300 employees globally in its latest round of cuts, as the streaming service tries to control costs.
   
• Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling all of its new battery-powered sport-utility vehicles because of a potential safety risk regarding its tires, a setback for the electric-vehicle plans of the Japanese auto maker.