Private equity and venture capital funds could be facing more regulations on their investments into China, due to a new bill introduced by Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

Why it matters: This could needlessly escalate tensions between the world's two largest economies, just as there are new signs of cooperation ahead of this week's APEC summit in San Francisco.

Driving the news: The legislation would require private investment funds to annually disclose to the SEC any assets invested in China and other countries of concerns, including entity names, values, and use of proceeds.

• The SEC then would publicly release a report on those firms, including percentages of assets invested in China.
• Transactions of less than $25 million, or annual aggregate transactions below $50 million, appear to be exempted from the reporting requirements.

Background: This comes just months after the passage of new outbound investment rules focused on Chinese companies involved in sensitive sectors like AI, semiconductors, and quantum computing.

• That requirement was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act, but Casey and Scott haven't yet determined a legislative mechanism for their newest endeavor.

The big picture: Sunlight is the best disinfectant, but there's no identifiable mess here. Instead, the bill will just enshrine costly busywork for both private fund managers and federal regulators.

• An aide to Casey says that the bill will promote transparency so that pensioners, including those in public systems, can see on an annual basis where their retirement savings are being invested. And, at least in theory, they could object if they see something they don't like.
• But pension fiduciaries already should have access to this information, via their limited partnership agreements. And it's not like public employees can just pull their money out of the system over unhappiness with investment strategy.
• Moreover, the bill would apply to all private funds, including those backed exclusively by family offices and high-net-worth individuals (i.e., no pensioner money at all).

In a press release, Scott said: "Our adversaries, like Communist China, benefit from a complete lack of transparency allowing them to hide and fund bad behavior — especially when it comes to financial markets. These foreign adversaries lie, cheat and steal, and it's almost impossible to call them out for it. It is time to stop sending American dollars to these countries of concern."

• This bill is about U.S. money going into China, not the other way around. And there's nothing in there that stops U.S. firms from investing in said adversaries.
• If Scott really believes what he says, he should have written different legislation.

The bottom line: This is the sort of proposal that makes more sense on a political debate stage than it does in practice.

Foresight Ventures of Singapore has acquired a majority stake in crypto media company The Block for around $60 million, buying out former CEO Mike McCaffrey, Axios Pro reports.

Why it's the BFD: Sam Bankman-Fried is in jail awaiting sentencing, but his investment portfolio continues to be unwound on the outside.

• McCaffrey was ousted last year after Axios reported that he received millions of dollars worth of loans from the disgraced FTX founder. Some of the proceeds were used to buy out non-employee shareholders, while some went to finance the purchase of a Bahamian property.

The bottom line: Crypto media companies are struggling, but Foresight believes it can help The Block grow by expanding its Asian customer base. The firm also holds minority stakes in three other crypto media sites, two of which are Mandarin-language and one of which is Korean-language.

• Divergent Technologies, a Torrance, Calif.-based software and hardware production system for industrial digital manufacturing, raised $230m in Series D funding led by $100m from Hexagon AB. www.divergent3d.com

• Monument Bank, a British digital challenger bank, raised £40m in Series B funding led by Dubai Investments, and reportedly is seeking to raise an additional £100m in Series C funding. https://axios.link/3uh5Kgs

⚡ Otovo, a Norwegian marketplace for solar and battery storage, raised €40m from insiders Å Energy, Axel Johnson Group and Nysnø. www.otovo.com

• Spark Car Wash, a Summit, N.J.-based tech-enabled car wash operator, has raised a $30 million Series B round led by insider GoPoint Ventures, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3SEgobr

• LXA, a Singaporean mortgage services startup, raised $10m in seed funding. NEA led, and was joined by Openspace Ventures and EDBI. www.lxasia.co

• Solvimon, a Dutch billing platform, raised €9m led by Northzone. www.solvimon.cokm

• Galactic Holding, a Latin American cryptocurrency exchange operator, raised $6.25m in Series A funding co-led by Galaxy Interactive and DragonFly. https://axios.link/46aNtyK

🌎 InPlanet, a rock-weathering carbon removal startup, raised €4.3m in seed funding from FoodLabs, Salvia, Mudcake, Carbon Removal Partners and Übermorgen Ventures. www.inplanet.earth

🚑 Nema Health, a Branford, Conn.-based virtual trauma therapy provider, raised $4.1m in seed funding. Optum Ventures and .406 Ventures co-led, and were joined by GreyMatter Capital. https://axios.link/4626Vhe

• SpinDrive, a Finnish developer of active magnetic bearings for OEMs, raised €3.8m in Series A funding led by Rhapsody Venture Partners. https://axios.link/3Myg9L2

• Shekel Mobility, a B2B marketplace for auto dealers in Africa, raised $3.2 in pre-seed funding (plus $4m in debt) co-led by Ventures Platform and MaC Venture Capital. https://axios.link/3MFnf0q

• Era, a personal finance management startup, raised $3.1m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Northzone led, and was joined by Protagonist and Designer Fund. https://axios.link/466AfmS

• Omorpho, a Portland, Ore.-based maker of micro-weighted training gear, raised $3m in seed funding co-led by KB Partners and Thirty-5 Capital. www.omorpho.com

🚑 Heali, an LA-based developer of food-as-medicine tools, raised $3m in seed funding led by Astanor Ventures. www.heali.com

• Diesta, a London-based payments insurance payment platform, raised $2m in seed funding. Restive led and was joined by SixThirty and Antler. https://axios.link/3FSsNkA

• Phantm, an Australian plastic reduction company, raised A$2m in seed funding from Blacknova VC, Salus Ventures and CoVentures VC. https://axios.link/3sjEU78

• Cardeo, a London-based credit card manager platform, has shut down. It had raised around $4m from firms like JamJar Investments. https://axios.link/3srVwJP

• Abry Partners agreed to buy Chambers and Partners, a London-based legal rankings provider, from Inflexion. The FT reports a price tag north of £400m. https://axios.link/47qFqPt

🚑 Columbia Asia Healthcare, backed by TPG and Hong Leong Industries, agreed to buy the hospital unit of Ramsay Health Care (ASX: RHC) and Malaysia's Sime Darby for $1.2b. It consists of four facilities in Malaysia and three in Indonesia. https://axios.link/47ao1Lh

🚑 EMZ Partners agreed to buy Imes-icore, a German provider of milling and grinding machines for making dental prosthetics, from Ardian. www.imes-icore.com

• General Atlantic agreed to become majority owner of existing portfolio company Joe & the Juice, a Denmark-based juice bar operator with 360 stores, via a share purchase from Valedo Partners. https://axios.link/3FWMwzv

• GFP, a Spanish private equity firm, invested in the Rafa Nadal Academy, a European operator of tennis training programs and facilities.

• Greater Sum Ventures acquired a majority stake in Utility Associates, a Decatur, Ga.-based provider of police body cameras and communications systems, from Hicks Holdings. Hicks will retain a minority stake, alongside new minority investor PSG Equity. www.utility.com

🚑 Norwest invested in Aesthetic Partners, a Miami-based practice management company focused on aesthetics. www.aestheticpartners.com

🚑 Cargo Therapeutics, a San Mateo, Calif.-based developer of CAR T-cell therapies for cancer, raised $281m in its IPO. The company priced 18.8m shares at the low end of its $15-$17 range, and closed its first day of trading (Nasdaq: CRGX) at $14.53 per share.

• The Phase 2 biotech raised around $225m in VC funding from firms like Samsara BioCapital (17.3% pre-IPO stake), Perceptive Advisors (12.9%), Third Rock Ventures (11.1%), Nextech (9.2%), RTW Investments (9.2%), Red Tree VC (9.1%), Janus Henderson (7.4%), Wellington, Ally Bridge Group, Emerson Collective and Cormorant Asset Management.

🚑 Ajinomoto (Tokyo: 2802) agreed to buy Forge Biologics, a Columbus, Ohio-based contract development and manufacturing group focused on gene therapy, for $620m in cash. Forge had raised over $300m from firms like Aisling Capital, Drive Capital, Xontogeny, Perceptive Advisors, Surveyor Capital, Octagon Capital Advisors and Marshall Wace. https://axios.link/47br4mr

• Federation Studios, a French TV and film producer, is in talks for a sale that could fetch over €500m, per Reuters. Backers include Montefiore Investment. https://axios.link/3svh1tf

🌸 Lombard Investments is seeking a buyer for its 25% stake in Vietnamese flower business Hasfarm, which could be valued at around $600m (including debt), per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3QT279C

⚡ Mach Natural Resources (NYSE: MNR) agreed to pay $815m in cash for certain oil and gas assets in Oklahoma's Anadarko Basin from Paloma Partners. https://axios.link/47sSJyX

• Quadrant Private Equity is seeking to sell Barbeques Galore, an Australian seller of outdoor grills, per The Australian. www.barbequesgalore.com.au

• Flywire (Nasdaq: FLYW) acquired StudyLink, an Australian provider of international student application software, for around A$60m. www.flywire.com

⚡ TotalEnergies (Paris: TTE) agreed to buy three gas-fired power plants in Texas from TexGen Power for $635m. https://axios.link/3SzXqmp

⚡ Volvo Group plans to buy the battery unit of bankrupt electric bus-maker Proterra for $210m. https://axios.link/47gNPWc

• Everstone Capital, a PE firm focused on India and Southeast Asia, is raising $1b for its latest fund, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/40wJsnf

• GenNx360 Capital Partners, a New York-based PE firm focused on midmarket B2B services and manufacturing companies, is raising up to $600m for its fourth fund, per an SEC filing.

• Interplay, a New York-based VC firm, raised $45m for its third fund. https://axios.link/3QF2gfo

• Lightspeed Faction, a blockchain-focused VC firm, has launched its inaugural $285m fund. https://axios.link/3QQq9Sr

• PAI Partners raised €7.1b for its seventh flagship private equity fund. https://axios.link/3QTRNy7

• Valor Capital, a Brazil-based VC firm, plans to raise around $500m for its next pair of funds, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/40ykkwb

• AnaCap promoted general counsel Victoria Brown and CFO Graeme Chaffe to partners. www.anacap.com

• Darrel Frater joined Serac Ventures as a venture partner. He previously was with Visible Hands. https://axios.link/3uguqWM

• Joe Gallitano (ex-AlpInvest) and Pramit Sheth (Kroll Bond Rating Agency) joined Whitehorse Liquidity Partners as head of private wealth and head of structured products, respectively. www.whitehorseliquidity.com

• Agastya Gupta joined VC firm Nyca Partners, after two years as a growth equity investor with Goldman Sachs. https://axios.link/4781FtS

• Andrew Ott, former president and CEO of PJM Interconnection, joined ArcLight as a senior advisor. www.arclight.com

Stepstone Group, with $146 billion assets under management, is the newest entrant into the private market data business, telling Axios that it's opening up a dashboard that includes aggregate benchmark data.

• "The biggest difference between us and others is that we're actual market participants," says Tom Keck, Stepstone's head of research and portfolio management. "We deploy a significant am0unt of capital and have taken close to 5,000 GP meetings ... We're not relying on FOIA requests."

Our thought bubble: It should be interesting to watch how Stepstone benchmarks match up (or don't) with other providers, particularly when it comes to look-through data on loans and operating metrics.