The daily business briefing: April 9, 2018

Millions of people around the world could be affected by the Facebook data breach.

(Image credit: DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Facebook to start notifying users whose data Cambridge Analytica accessed
2. Deutsche Bank replaces CEO after years of losses
3. Stock futures rise after U.S. officials stress effort to avoid trade war
4. Trans Mountain pipeline expansion suspended
5. Report: U.S., Mexico, and Canada won't reach NAFTA deal before Peru summit

published 9 April 2018

1. Facebook to start notifying users whose data Cambridge Analytica accessed

Facebook plans on Monday to start notifying users who were among as many as 87 million people whose data was accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a data-mining firm that did work for President Trump's 2016 campaign. On Tuesday, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is due to testify before Congress about the company's handling of the matter. The New York Times obtained a set of raw data from profiles Cambridge Analytica accessed, and contacted nearly two dozen of the Facebook users affected. Some expressed anger, while others seemed unsurprised because they had lost faith in tech giants protecting their data. The Times said the people it contacted were the first known users impacted by the scandal to be publicly identified.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, said Sunday that it was replacing CEO John Cryan with retail banking chief Christian Sewing, a lifelong company employee. Cryan led the company for three years. The bank is struggling after a series of years in which it lost money, and the CEO switch, which took effect immediately, was interpreted by some as a sign that Deutsche Bank was preparing for a future as a smaller lender. Marcus Schenck, who had served as co-deputy CEO with Sewing, will be leaving along with Cryan. The shakeup came after rising speculation about the future of the bank's leadership. "We need a new execution dynamic in the leadership of our bank," the company's supervisory board chairman, Paul Achleitner, said.

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U.S. stock futures rose early Monday, suggesting a possible rebound from Friday's deep losses as fears of a global trade war eased. Sentiment got a boost from Trump administration officials who said Sunday that the U.S. and China could avoid threatened tit-for-tat tariffs through negotiation. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up by 0.8 percent early Monday, while those of the S&P 500 rose by 0.7 percent. Nasdaq-100 futures were up by 0.9 percent. All three of the major U.S. indexes dropped by more than 2 percent on Friday.

Kinder Morgan said Sunday it would suspend work on the controversial expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. The project would come close to tripling the amount of oil moved from Canada's oil sands to the Pacific Coast. Kinder Morgan decided to halt all non-essential activities and spending on the expansion because of opposition by the British Columbia government. The Texas-based company said it would talk with "various stakeholders" in an attempt to reach terms that would allow the project to continue. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the project should proceed despite protests and a court battle with the provincial government.

The U.S., Mexico, and Canada won't be ready to announce a deal "in principle" on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement at the Summit of the America's next week in Peru, Reuters reported Sunday, citing two people familiar with the matter. President Trump, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all plan to attend the summit. The three nations have been hoping to be able to release news of significant progress. Representatives of all three governments declined to comment on the report Sunday. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said recently he hoped the three sides would reach a tentative deal in the "next little bit."

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.