The U.S. administration has nominated Stuart Levenbach to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for a five-year term, according to a notice provided to the Senate. President Donald Trump and Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, have called for the elimination of the CFPB, the federal consumer finance watchdog. Vought is also acting director of the CFPB. Learn More

Schneider Electric said on Wednesday that it had signed new deals worth almost $2.3 billion with two U.S. data centre operators, as surging adoption of artificial intelligence boosts infrastructure demand. At an industry event in Las Vegas, the French industrial group announced a $1.9 billion partnership with privately held tech firm Switch, covering power modules and cooling systems. Learn More

Saudi and U.S. officials touted billions of dollars in new investments and growing financial ties between the two countries on Wednesday, coinciding with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Washington. The CEOs from Chevron, Qualcomm, Cisco, General Dynamics and Pfizer are attending the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington, according to the event's program, as well as senior executives from IBM, Alphabet's Google, Salesforce,