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“It was beyond a small matter of negligence. It was complete and thorough.”

— William Galvin, the Massachusetts secretary of the commonwealth, on MassMutual’s lack of supervision of Keith Gill, the insurer’s former employee who became famous as the meme-stock trader known as “Roaring Kitty.” In a settlement with the state, MassMutual will pay a $4 million fine for failing to adequately oversee Gill, a registered securities broker who had carried out trades on behalf of other people not affiliated with the insurer without its approval.

Setting sail with Bain and Virgin

Virgin Voyages, a joint venture between Bain Capital and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, made its U.S. debut this week, more than a year later than scheduled. DealBook spoke with Ryan Cotton, the head of the consumer and retail group at Bain, about the venture and the prospects for the cruise industry, which has been upended by the pandemic.

Branson has wanted to start a cruise line for about 25 years, Cotton said. (He still has his original sketches.) Seven years ago, he got serious about it and brought in Bain to help with financing a Virgin-branded cruise ship. The idea was to bring to cruises the same sensibility that Branson brought to his airlines: younger and slightly edgy. (There is a tattoo parlor onboard.)

The venture’s first ship, the Scarlet Lady, has been cruising around Britain this summer on short trips open only to British residents. It was originally supposed to begin operations from the U.S. early last year, just as everything shut down. Some cruise ships were hit hard by Covid outbreaks early in the pandemic, which decimated the industry. But demand among aficionados has proved resilient, giving cruise lines hope.

“The Covid situation has not gone the way any of us expected,” Cotton said. But the vaccine rollout has given the new venture confidence in going ahead with a soft launch of the adult-only cruises in the U.S. Ships are for the vaccinated only, and travelers need to be tested before they board. Onboard precautions include grab-and-go food options, capacity restrictions and an air ionization system.