What the Shell?

The Treasury Department axes a database intended to prevent shady shell companies, billionaire whimsy strikes again, and the heat is threatening the Italian cheese bank.

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This week: The Treasury Department announced it’s killing an anti-corruption measure that requires shell companies to identify their beneficiaries. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck explain how a key aspect of the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act ended up on the chopping block—and what lobbyists and the Trump administration stand to gain from its elimination. Then, the hosts discuss the billionaires who are buying themselves fun little treats like the L.A. Lakers and Broadway theaters. And later: how Italian bank vaults full of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese are dealing with the extreme heat.

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A weekly roundup of the most important stories from the worlds of business and finance, hosted by Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers.

Emily Peck is the co-host of Slate Money and a markets correspondent for Axios.

Elizabeth Spiers is Slate’s Pay Dirt columnist. She was the founding editor of Gawker and the former editor in chief of the New York Observer. Prior to Gawker, she was a financial analyst.