Driving the day — Brookings holds an event on NFTs at noon … CFTC Commissioner Dawn Stump talks about the regulation of Bitcoin at a Texas A&M conference at 4:30 p.m. … Tech stocks lead S&P, Dow to record highs — Reuters’ Shivani Kumaresan and Shreyashi Sanyal: “The S&P 500 and the Dow hit record highs on Thursday as easing inflation concerns boosted demand for richly valued technology stocks, while upbeat earnings reports and strong March retail sales raised hopes of a broader economic rebound.” Brown, Waters call up big bank CEOs for May hearings — The CEOs of the six largest U.S. banks will testify before Senate and House committees in back-to-back hearings late next month, lawmakers announced Thursday. Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) formally announced the virtual hearings — first reported by POLITICO — as they seek to escalate oversight of Wall Street. Democrats agonize over Republican role in Biden infrastructure plan — POLITICO’s Marianne LeVine, Burgess Everett and Sarah Ferris: “Democrats are clearly at a crossroads on the critical decision of whether or not to work with their GOP colleagues. And the clock is ticking. “During private conversations with members of both parties in recent days, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain has signaled that there’s still time to wait for Republican buy-in, but that the party shouldn’t take forever, according to several people familiar with the discussions.” Biden targets Russian debt — NYT’s Peter S. Goodman, Jack Ewing and Matt Phillips: “The Biden administration on Thursday barred American banks from purchasing newly issued Russian government debt, signaling the deployment of a key weapon in Washington’s intensifying conflict with Moscow — threatening Russia’s access to international finance. ... “[A]s a symbolic step, experts said, the measures outlined by the Biden administration signal its willingness to engage in an incremental approach that could lead to harsher measures, such as imposing tougher curbs on Russia’s access to capital markets, if Moscow does not moderate its activities.” Massachusetts wants to revoke Robinhood’s license — WSJ’s Caitlin McCabe: “Massachusetts securities regulators on Thursday asked that Robinhood Market Inc.’s registration as a broker-dealer in the state be revoked to prevent the popular online brokerage from doing business there. “The regulators said Robinhood has 'continued a pattern of aggressively inducing and enticing trading among its customers,’ in a follow-up filing to a complaint filed by the state against the company in December.” BofA, Citi see earnings bump — NYT’s Kate Kelly and Stacy Cowley: “Profit at both Bank of America and Citigroup jumped for the first three months of this year, bouncing back from the lows of the early stages of the pandemic in 2020, as they reduced their loss cushions to reflect an improving economy. … “Like JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, which reported first-quarter results on Wednesday, both banks were aided by the release of the cash cushions they had set aside during the economic downturn last year to absorb potential losses.” And Citi pulls back in Asia — FT’s Imani Moise: “Citigroup on Thursday put its consumer operations in 13 markets across Asia and eastern Europe up for sale, appeasing investors who have pressed the bank to boost profitability by cutting costs in its underperforming retail network.” | 
