Finance

RFK Jr. is a ‘conspiracy theorist’ endangering lives, say analysts at Howard Lutnick’s former firm

Published

2 months ago

April 1, 2025

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before signing an Executive Order, alongside US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (L) and US Secretary of Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick (R), at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Feb. 25, 2025.

Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine crusader, is not qualified to have any power at the agency that’s supposed to protect the health of Americans, said research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald, which was formerly headed by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Cantor’s note came as Peter Marks, the head of the FDA biologics division, resigned in protest of Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccines. Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic, has already taken steps that public health experts say could deter routine immunizations in the U.S.

“We call on the administration to re-evaluate RFK Jr’s role at HHS. Pushing out one of the most trusted leaders of the FDA to promote an anti-science agenda is a step too far for us,” analysts Josh Schimmer and Eric Schmidt wrote in an unusual note to clients Tuesday. “HHS cannot be led by an anti-vax, conspiracy theorist with inadequate training.”

Kennedy has downplayed the importance of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and promoted unproven treatments to counter the measles outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also carrying out a study into long debunked links between vaccines and autism, led by a researcher with a history of spreading misinformation about shots.

“An amateur scientist who doesn’t appreciate the need for difficult public health policy decisions, who struggles with the difference between causality and correlation, and who promotes unproven remedies at the expense of proven ones is not the right person for the job, on our view,” Cantor analysts wrote.

Shares of vaccine makers Moderna and Novavax, along with a range of other biotech companies, sold off significantly Monday after the resignation of Marks. Moderna and Novavax both shed more than 8%, while the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF slid nearly 4%.

“This has nothing to do with stocks, although the biotech tape may be roiled from Marks’ resignation, that’s not what matters,” stated the analysts who normally opine to clients about whether to buy or sell certain equities. “This is much bigger than that.”

HHS didn’t immediately respond to a CNBC’s request for comment.

“We already had a needless measles death. It’s time to end the narrative of ‘just take Vitamin A’ and ‘give individuals the freedom to choose’ all whilst telling them vaccines can cause autism. How many more people need to die from this absurdity?” the analysts wrote.

Lutnick stepped down as chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald in February after he was confirmed as the Secretary of Commerce. Lutnick led the investment bank for 40 years.

Finance

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Published

1 day ago

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Business Finance News

Finance

Swiss government proposes tough new capital rules in major blow to UBS

Published

2 days ago

June 6, 2025

Business Finance News

A sign in German that reads “part of the UBS group” in Basel on May 5, 2025.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

The Swiss government on Friday proposed strict new capital rules that would require banking giant UBS to hold an additional $26 billion in core capital, following its 2023 takeover of stricken rival Credit Suisse.

The measures would also mean that UBS will need to fully capitalize its foreign units and carry out fewer share buybacks.

“The rise in the going-concern requirement needs to be met with up to USD 26 billion of CET1 capital, to allow the AT1 bond holdings to be reduced by around USD 8 billion,” the government said in a Friday statement, referring to UBS’ holding of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds.

The Swiss National Bank said it supported the measures from the government as they will “significantly strengthen” UBS’ resilience.

“As well as reducing the likelihood of a large systemically important bank such as UBS getting into financial distress, this measure also increases a bank’s room for manoeuvre to stabilise itself in a crisis through its own efforts. This makes it less likely that UBS has to be bailed out by the government in the event of a crisis,” SNB said in a Friday statement.

‘Too big to fail’

UBS has been battling the specter of tighter capital rules since acquiring the country’s second-largest bank at a cut-price following years of strategic errors, mismanagement and scandals at Credit Suisse.

The shock demise of the banking giant also brought Swiss financial regulator FINMA under fire for its perceived scarce supervision of the bank and the ultimate timing of its intervention.

Swiss regulators argue that UBS must have stronger capital requirements to safeguard the national economy and financial system, given the bank’s balance topped $1.7 trillion in 2023, roughly double the projected Swiss economic output of last year. UBS insists it is not “too big to fail” and that the additional capital requirements — set to drain its cash liquidity — will impact the bank’s competitiveness.

At the heart of the standoff are pressing concerns over UBS’ ability to buffer any prospective losses at its foreign units, where it has, until now, had the duty to back 60% of capital with capital at the parent bank.

Higher capital requirements can whittle down a bank’s balance sheet and credit supply by bolstering a lender’s funding costs and choking off their willingness to lend — as well as waning their appetite for risk. For shareholders, of note will be the potential impact on discretionary funds available for distribution, including dividends, share buybacks and bonus payments.

“While winding down Credit Suisse’s legacy businesses should free up capital and reduce costs for UBS, much of these gains could be absorbed by stricter regulatory demands,” Johann Scholtz, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said in a note preceding the FINMA announcement.

“Such measures may place UBS’s capital requirements well above those faced by rivals in the United States, putting pressure on returns and reducing prospects for narrowing its long-term valuation gap. Even its long-standing premium rating relative to the European banking sector has recently evaporated.”