Business News at a Glance

SEC Seeks to Require Brokers to Put Their Clients First

In a long-expected move that would affect the roughly 43 million households with brokerage or retirement accounts, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted on Wednesday to propose rules that would require brokers to put their customers’ financial interests ahead of their own. But not everyone is convinced the rules — if passed as proposed — would go far enough to improve consumer protections, including some of the SEC’s own commissioners. Some of the five commissioners said they had concerns with different pieces of the proposal, suggesting that it may be difficult for them to coalesce around a final rule.

Time Warner Testifies It Needs AT&T’s Muscle to Compete

Time Warner’s chief executive, Jeffrey Bewkes, defended his company’s $85.4 billion merger with AT&T on Wednesday, saying the deal was necessary to confront “tectonic changes” in entertainment caused by internet competitors like Netflix and Amazon. Bewkes was the first top executive from Time Warner and AT&T to take the stand in federal court to argue against the Justice Department’s lawsuit to block the merger. Before a packed courtroom Wednesday, Bewkes portrayed Time Warner as an underdog against Silicon Valley giants that can reach hundreds of millions of users and are spending billions of dollars a year to produce original shows.

Top Porsche Official Targeted in German Police Raid Tied to Diesel Scheme

A top executive at Volkswagen’s Porsche unit was among those targeted when dozens of police officers raided the carmaker’s headquarters Wednesday as part of an investigation into emissions cheating, German prosecutors said. The raid at Porsche’s offices in Stuttgart and searches at other locations created new challenges for Volkswagen as it struggles to move past a diesel-emissions scandal that began in 2015. The raids will also test whether Herbert Diess, Volkswagen’s newly appointed chief executive, will be more aggressive than his predecessor in clearing out managers who took part in a widespread conspiracy to conceal excess diesel emissions from regulators.

Total, With Energy Industry in Flux, Makes $1.7 Billion Bet on a Utility

Worried that pressures to mitigate climate change could curb demand for their fossil fuel products, oil and gas firms are making major investments in a diverse array of businesses. On Wednesday, French energy giant Total made the latest, agreeing to buy an electricity utility that would give it a foothold in the delivery of clean energy to customers. The deal, worth 1.4 billion euros (about $1.7 billion) for Direct Energie, which has 2.6 million customers in Belgium and France, appears to stand in contrast to Total’s traditional business. Total makes healthy profits producing oil and natural gas through enormous projects.

Chipmaker Finds Itself Trapped in the Middle as Trading Rivals Spar

An escalating trade battle between the United States and China has put Qualcomm — a major supplier in both countries — squarely in the middle of the battlefield. On Monday, the San Diego-based chipmaker lost the ability to export semiconductors to one of its biggest customers after the United States banned Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp. from purchasing U.S. technology for seven years. Meanwhile in China, Qualcomm’s plan to acquire NXP Semiconductors has been stalled by a prolonged antitrust review, a move critics see as Chinese retaliation for President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade moves.

Comcast Bid More Than Disney for 21st Century Fox

Rupert Murdoch sold most of Twenty-First Century Fox to Disney in December for $52.4 billion, spurning a proposal from Comcast that was 16 percent higher, in part because Comcast refused to offer protections in the event of regulatory rejection. Although Comcast’s interest in Twenty-First Century Fox was previously known, details of Comcast’s proposal were disclosed for the first time Wednesday as part of a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Disney’s all-stock deal with Twenty-First Century Fox, announced Dec. 14, valued Murdoch’s company at $29.54 a share. Comcast made an all-stock proposal worth $34.41 per share in November.

Maryland Schools May Tell Children When It’s Time to Log Off

Maryland could become the first state to address parental concerns about computer screen time for children in the classroom. Legislation passed this month would require state education officials to develop optimum health and safety practices for the use of digital devices in schools. Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, has not taken a public position on the legislation. If he does not sign or veto it before May 28, the measure will become law without his signature. Until now, health concerns about children’s use of devices have centered largely on entertainment activities.

Harper’s Editor Says He Was Fired

James Marcus wants the world to know that he was fired from his job as editor of Harper’s Magazine. He is not stepping down voluntarily to work on a book, which he said was the face-saving “official narrative” offered to him by John R. MacArthur, the magazine’s longtime president and publisher. His disagreement with the boss, he said, had to do with the magazine’s March cover story, “The Other Whisper Network: How Twitter feminism is bad for women,” by Katie Roiphe. The article, which Marcus described as “exceedingly mediocre” in an email Wednesday, was assigned over his objections, he said.