As world economic leaders (sans the U.S. government) gather in Davos this week, China’s economic cooling (coming just “when the world needs its spark”) is both a hot topic of conversation and a cause for concern....more
1/22/2019
/ Alphabet Company ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Currency Fluctuation ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
Fannie Mae ,
FHFA ,
Financial Crisis ,
Freddie Mac ,
GAO ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Insider Trading ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Online Advertisements ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Puerto Rico ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Theresa May ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
The White House is reportedly considering easing some tariffs on Chinese markets “as a way to calm markets and give Beijing an incentive to make deeper concessions in a trade battle that has rattled global economies.” The...more
1/18/2019
/ Anti-Steering Rules ,
Barclays ,
CBS ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
EURIBOR ,
Exports ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Fraud ,
Government Shutdown ,
Imports ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mitsubishi ,
Navient ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Severance Pay ,
Student Loans ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
US Trade Policies ,
USTR
A quick spin through the Fed’s December minutes shows that most Fed officials are set on slowing their previously regular rate hike schedule, only reinforcing the message that Fed Chair Powell delivered last week that the...more
1/10/2019
/ BlackRock ,
China ,
Danske Bank ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Federal Budget ,
Google ,
Government Shutdown ,
Imports ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Money Laundering ,
Right to Be Forgotten ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wall Street
We’ve got details on China’s proposed trade peace deal along with thoughts on whether it’ll be sufficient to satisfy a White House that’s been itching for a fight....more
1/9/2019
/ American Express ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Class Action ,
Clean Air Act Violations ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diesel Fuel ,
Environmental Violations ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiat ,
Financial Markets ,
Fintech Charter ,
Forex ,
Imports ,
Motor Vehicles ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
OCC ,
PayPal ,
Sears ,
Special Purpose National Bank Charter ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
The US and China have resumed trade talks in an effort to cool down an increasingly heated trade war between the economic powerhouses....more
1/8/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Exports ,
Fidelity Investments ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Global Market ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Imports ,
Infrastructure ,
Insider Trading ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Nissan ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SoftBank ,
Stock Exchange ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
US v Newman ,
White Collar Crimes ,
World Bank
I wish I had some better news for you heading into Christmas, but Wall Street was not in the holiday spirit, with all major indices diving another 2% or so on Thursday....more
12/21/2018
/ Bonds ,
China ,
CIGNA ,
Credit Suisse ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Reporting ,
HSBC ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Japan ,
Living Will ,
Market Manipulation ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Nissan ,
Securities Violations ,
Standard Chartered Bank ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
The Fed will wrap up its Open Markets Committee meeting today, and the recent dive on Wall Street has rather suddenly brought a bit of drama to what was a long-promised rate hike. Here’s a bit of background on what it’s been...more
12/19/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Barclays ,
Blue Apron ,
Bonds ,
China ,
Corruption ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Germany ,
Hedging ,
Huawei ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Personal Data ,
Quarterly Report ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SpaceX ,
Subscription Services ,
Unicorns ,
Verizon ,
Volkswagen ,
Whistleblowers
It was quite a run, but on Thursday, ECB chief Mario Draghi announced that the bank is finally putting an end to the quantitative easing program it’s used “to hold down interest rates and encourage lending” since 2015. ...more
12/14/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
China ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
European Central Bank ,
Exports ,
Farms ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Food Supply ,
General Electric ,
Housing Market ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Interest Rates ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Token Sales ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
White Collar Crimes
PM May will live to fight another day after surviving Wednesday’s no-confidence vote. But her prospects of getting the controversial Brexit plan through the UK parliament are still poor, at best....more
12/13/2018
/ Apple ,
Banks ,
China ,
Commerzbank ,
Data Breach ,
Deregulation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Farm Bill ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Germany ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
Marriott ,
Pending Legislation ,
Stock Prices ,
Trade Relations ,
UBS ,
UK Brexit
Prime Minister Theresa May has proven herself to be a remarkably good political survivor in the face of tall odds, but even she will have a difficult time this time around. Members of her own Tory party have called for a...more
12/12/2018
/ AOL ,
Banks ,
China ,
Elder Abuse ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extradition ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Relations ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
Infrastructure ,
Internet Streaming ,
Living Will ,
Net Neutrality ,
Netflix ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Scams ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Verizon ,
Yahoo!
With the phrase “humiliating defeat” being bandied about quite freely by opposition leaders and Tory backbenchers alike, PM May delayed a parliamentary vote for her EU-backed Brexit plan that had been set for today. The...more
12/11/2018
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Appointments ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
iPhone ,
Patent Infringement ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Qualcomm ,
RMBS ,
Tariffs ,
Testimony ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wireless Industry
We’ve already considered what the arrest of Huawei’s CFO will mean for the trade war between the U.S. and China. Now let’s dig in to what that move—and a host of recent country-level rejections of Huawei’s 5G...more
12/7/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Biotechnology ,
China ,
Confirmation Proceedings ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Relations ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Kickbacks ,
Lyft ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Registration Statement ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trade Relations ,
Unemployment ,
Whistleblower Awards
After a brutal Tuesday, the White House tried to take advantage of yesterday’s market day off to run some damage control “and ease concerns that [the] trade truce with China was already floundering.” I suspect we’ll find out...more
12/6/2018
/ AIG ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Canada ,
CBS ,
China ,
Corporate Culture ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Huawei ,
PayPal ,
RMBS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Takeovers ,
UK ,
Venture Capital ,
Wells Fargo
We’re glad the steak dinner went well, but we’re also still anxiously awaiting actual details about what exactly is covered by the pause in the US/China trade war....more
12/4/2018
/ Aetna ,
China ,
Confirmation Proceedings ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
CVS ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Markets ,
Hackers ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Marriott ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
The G-20 summit in Buenos Aires wrapped this weekend with the nations agreeing to a joint statement that “affirms the importance of the multilateral trading system” while giving ground to both the US and China over language...more
12/3/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Financial Crisis ,
Foreign Relations ,
FRCP 23 ,
G20 ,
General Electric ,
Material Misstatements ,
Microsoft ,
Natural Gas ,
Nissan ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
OPEC ,
Qatar ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Snapchat ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
US Trade Policies ,
White Collar Crimes
Unbowed by personal attacks from the White House, Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivered remarks to the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday that markets used as an excuse to jump nearly 600 points by the closing bell. ...more
11/29/2018
/ Bank of England ,
Banks ,
Benchmarks ,
China ,
Commercial Loans ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Deregulation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
E-Cigarettes ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
G20 ,
Huawei ,
Living Will ,
Money Laundering ,
Mossack Fonseca ,
National Security Review Proceedings ,
New Zealand ,
Next Generation ,
Nissan ,
Panama Papers ,
Raids ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Securities Violations ,
Startups ,
Stress Tests ,
Trade Relations ,
UK
GM’s Monday announcement about cutting 14,000 North American jobs drew the ire of the White House yesterday, which threatened to “end federal tax credits” that have helped subsidize the company’s electric-vehicle fleet....more
11/28/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Conde Nast ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Data Mining ,
Debt Collection ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
General Motors ,
Hedge Funds ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Layoffs ,
Medical Records ,
NFL ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retailers ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Credits ,
Uber
The downfall of Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn continues today with news that Ghosn has been arrested by Japanese prosecutors over the recently revealed whistle-blower complaint alleging that he had “been misrepresenting his salary as...more
11/21/2018
/ Amazon ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bitcoin ,
CEOs ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Disney ,
Federal Reserve ,
Film Industry ,
FSB ,
General Electric ,
Indictments ,
Japan ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Nissan ,
Restructuring ,
Sanction Violations ,
Spoofing
Nissan Board Chair Carlos Ghosn is on the verge of being ousted at the Japanese automaker after an internal investigation found that he had “underreported his compensation to the financial authorities for several years.”...more
11/19/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Brokers ,
China ,
Digital Currency ,
Disney ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
J Crew ,
Nissan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
US Trade Policies
Saudi Arabia is pushing OPEC and its allies to cut oil production in 2019, and it’s doing its own part by exporting 500,000 fewer barrels a day in December than now—all an attempt to “counter the price rout battering the...more
11/12/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Alibaba ,
Arbitration ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
France ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Italy ,
Netflix ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Retail Market ,
RMBS ,
Sears ,
Securities Violations ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Liability ,
UBS ,
Waivers ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
The Wall Street Journal first reported yesterday that Amazon, fresh from a weekend leak suggesting that Northern Virginia was the HQ2 frontrunner, will choose two locations with an evenly split workforce for its next...more
11/6/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Dollar Tree ,
Exports ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Farms ,
Food Supply ,
Insider Trading ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Oil & Gas ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reversal ,
Securities Fraud ,
Swap Execution Facilities ,
Tariffs ,
Technology Sector ,
US Trade Policies ,
Verizon ,
Voting Leave ,
Wireless Industry
More on yesterday’s news of a split power-generation division at GE, including why fixing the ailing business is such an important task for new CEO Larry Culp and what federal criminal and civil accounting probes mean for the...more
10/31/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) ,
China ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Economic Development ,
EU ,
Foreign Currency ,
General Electric ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Investment Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pyramid Schemes ,
Sanctions ,
Spoofing ,
UK Brexit ,
Valeant
US stocks dove again on Monday after early gains, thanks, in part, to concerns that the White House is planning yet another round of tariffs on “all remaining imports from China” if the US and China make no progress in trade...more
10/30/2018
/ Banks ,
Campbell Soup Company ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Digital Taxes ,
e-Books ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Markets ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Stock Prices ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Revenues ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Relations ,
UK
New York has sued Exxon Mobile over its alleged failure to disclose to its shareholder the “expected risk of climate change to its business”—behavior that the state asserts amounts to a “’longstanding fraudulent scheme’ to...more
10/25/2018
/ Apple ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Protection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics Breach ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Oil & Gas ,
Payday Loans ,
Quarterly Report ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Prices ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trading Plans ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo ,
WTO
Markets around the world took a beating yesterday amidst concerns about steel tariffs and other rising commodity costs, an economic slowdown in China, and brewing trouble in the EU. US stocks rallied by the end of the day to...more
10/24/2018
/ American Express ,
Budgets ,
Capital One ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commodities ,
Data Breach ,
EU ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Italy ,
Money Laundering ,
OCC ,
Sears ,
Steel Industry ,
Strict Compliance ,
Tariffs ,
Yahoo!