Government and Policy Sector
The U.S. government advanced several key policy initiatives, including approving a federal national trust charter for World Liberty Financial's stablecoin and permitting private security firms to conduct offensive cyber operations. Internationally, France faced regulatory and security challenges, with media outlets filing a competition complaint against Google's AI Overviews while the government confirmed a major tax data breach. Additionally, federal courts upheld the end of the $800 de minimis duty exemption, while pharmacy benefit managers integrated TrumpRx cash prices into pricing tools.
Ten pharmacy benefit managers and the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association agreed Thursday to display TrumpRx cash prices within their benefit tools. The participating companies, including industry heavyweights CVS Health, OptumRx, and Express Scripts, will list TrumpRx prices alongside plan benefit prices for in-network prescriptions. Patients across commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid plans will be able to view these price comparisons using real-time benefit tools or platform features. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz endorsed the move as a way to boost market competition and lower consumer costs. The Trump administration launched the TrumpRx platform earlier this year, building on prior expansions that added hundreds of generic drugs to the portal.
The French Ministry of Finance confirmed that a cyberattack on the General Direction of Public Finances in late June compromised sensitive data belonging to individual and professional taxpayers. An unauthorized actor gained access to the tax agency's systems by exploiting a compromised internal virtual private network and utilizing a taxpayer search tool before internal audits blocked the breach. While the ministry has not verified the precise scale of the fallout, the local tracking platform FrenchBreaches reported that approximately 700,000 taxpayers had their information exfiltrated. Potentially exposed records include personal identities, contact details, tax identification numbers, withholding tax rates, and business registration figures. Affected users will receive direct notifications detailing what information was accessed, alongside required precautionary measures.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted conditional preliminary approval for a national trust bank charter to World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by President Donald Trump and his family. The decision allows the newly formed World Liberty Trust Company to take over the issuance and custody of the USD1 stablecoin from BitGo Bank and Trust. USD1 has reached over $4 billion in circulation since its launch last year. The national trust charter does not permit traditional depository services or lending, but it permits the bank to offer fiduciary and digital asset custody services to institutional clients. The review process spanned 221 days, exceeding the 120-day timeline previously advertised by Comptroller Jonathan Gould. The approval comes with conditions, including maintaining at least $20 million in capital and appointing an internal audit manager. Democratic lawmakers criticized the decision as a conflict of interest, with Senator Elizabeth Warren introducing legislation to bar regulators from approving banks owned by top government officials or their families.