Local-TV powerhouse Sinclair Broadcast Group isn’t all that well known outside of the Baltimore area, but it’s making a big play for the national stage as it nears a deal to buy Tribune Media—the former “Tribune empire’s...more
5/8/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Charter Communications ,
Comcast ,
Cross-Selling ,
Derivative Suit ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EU ,
Euro ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Institutions ,
France ,
Individual Accountability ,
Misrepresentation ,
NRSRO ,
Omnicare ,
Presidential Elections ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Rating Agencies ,
Securities Fraud ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Television Broadcast Stations ,
Volkswagen ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wireless Industry
We’ve mentioned Uber’s Greyball issues before in passing. But since the authorities are literally making a Federal case out of it, you should probably know more about the details if the software tool that has the...more
5/5/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EU ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Job Creation ,
Manufacturers ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Sharing Economy ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit ,
Volcker Rule
The Fed wrapped up its Open Market Committee meeting yesterday without any change in interest rates but with an expression of confidence in the economy, despite Q1’s sub-1 percent growth figure (which it dubbed “transitory”)....more
5/4/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Breach of Duty ,
Credit Suisse ,
Credit Unions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EU ,
Euro ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
France ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
NCUA ,
Presidential Elections ,
Puerto Rico ,
RMBS ,
State and Local Government ,
U.S. Commerce Department
The Times gives us an intriguing long read on Uber’s Travis Kalanick, the controversial CEO whose vision has helped propel the ride-hailing company even as his no-limits approach has led the company into months of crisis....more
4/24/2017
/ Bank Accounts ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cross-Selling ,
EU ,
Euro ,
Foreclosure ,
Foreign Currency ,
Fraud ,
Glass-Steagall Act ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Housing Market ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Sharing Economy ,
Tobacco ,
Uber ,
Volkswagen ,
Wells Fargo
A group of current and former Citizen Bank branch employees from five states has admitted to fabricating information about the results of the Bank’s much-touted “Citizens Checkup” program (in which real customers are invited...more
3/30/2017
/ Article 50 Treaty of the EU ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Raising ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Confidential Information ,
Credit Cards ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
Foreclosure ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Loan Modifications ,
Member State ,
Mortgages ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Referendums ,
Technology Sector ,
Uber ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Valeant
Financial transaction provider Euronet Worldwide’s made an unsolicited bid to acquire MoneyGram for about $1 billion in cash, throwing a wrench into Ant Financial’s plan to use MG as a way to break into the US market and...more
3/15/2017
/ Article 50 Treaty of the EU ,
EU ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Hackers ,
Indictments ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment Adviser ,
SIFMA ,
Stock Markets ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Yahoo!
Index-fund giant State Street is putting gender diversity on corporate boards front and center, announcing this week that it will begin voting against board members charged with nominating new directors if they don’t make an...more
3/9/2017
/ Android ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Automotive Industry ,
Capital Raising ,
Commodities ,
Diversity ,
Driverless Cars ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Gender Equity ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
North Korea ,
Price Maintenance ,
Sharing Economy ,
State Street ,
Uber ,
Volvo ,
ZTE
Shareholders have accused Under Armour of “concealing the impact” of Sports Authority’s bankruptcy from investors in order to artificially inflate its stock price. The suit comes on the heels of a disastrous Q4 for UA, in...more
2/21/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Bribery ,
Capital Raising ,
Climate Change ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EU ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Heinz ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
Kraft ,
Member State ,
Merger Agreements ,
Public Offerings ,
Referendums ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Samsung ,
Search Engines ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholders ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Sports Authority ,
Stock Prices ,
Telecommunications ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unilever ,
Verizon ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Yahoo!
RBS has agreed to pay $85 million to the CFTC to resolve allegations that its traders “manipulated the ISDAfix benchmark rate over a period of five years to benefit the bank’s derivatives positions”....more
2/6/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Benchmarks ,
CFTC ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Derivatives ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ETFs ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Market Manipulation ,
Member State ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
RBS ,
Referendums ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
The Brexit Appeal ,
Trading Platforms ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Parliament
Some solid non-search-engine growth helped Alphabet post pretty solid Q4 numbers (with profit missing estimates but revenue surging past them)....more
1/27/2017
/ Alibaba ,
Banks ,
Barclays ,
Charter Communications ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Google ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Mergers ,
Mexico ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Verizon
Judge John Bates of the US District Court for DC has blocked a proposed $37 billion mega-health-care-merger between Aetna and Humana, one of 2 major deals before the courts opposed by the Obama-era DOJ over antitrust...more
1/24/2017
/ Aetna ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Automotive Industry ,
Automotive Loans ,
Citigroup ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Ford Motor ,
Healthcare ,
Humana ,
Investment Banks ,
Loans ,
Member State ,
Mergers ,
Money Market Funds ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Referendums ,
Search Engines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology ,
Telecommunications ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Verizon ,
Yahoo!
Deutsche Bank and the DOJ have put the finishing touches on the deal to resolve the investigation into DB’s role in its sale of toxic RMBS. The bank will fork over $7.2 billion in total, including a $3.1 billion civil penalty...more
1/18/2017
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Banks ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Fintech Charter ,
Member State ,
OCC ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Qualcomm ,
Referendums ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
RMBS ,
Sears ,
Securities Fraud ,
Technology ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
US Bank ,
Wireless Technology
Ratings Agency Moody’s Corp. has agreed to pay roughly $864 million to resolve federal and state claims that it gave juiced ratings to risky MBS in the run-up to the financial crisis. Half of the total will end up in DOJ...more
1/17/2017
/ 401k ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bitcoin ,
Bribery ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Employee Benefits ,
EU ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
High Frequency Trading ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Management ,
Mergers ,
Moody's ,
Rating Agencies ,
Retirement Plan ,
RMBS ,
Rolls-Royce ,
Samsung ,
Technology ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Virtual Currency ,
White Collar Crimes
A NY state court threw out Ace Decade Holdings’ suit against UBS accusing the Swiss lender of fraud for its $500 million investment loss in a Chinese company. The court found that jurisdictional issues plagued plaintiff’s...more
12/9/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Resignation ,
Bail-In Provisions ,
Bonds ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
Investment ,
LinkedIn ,
Microsoft ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UBS
With Fitch and DBRS [by most measures, the #3 and #4 rating agencies in a 3-player game] doling out AAA ratings for bonds backed by non-qualified mortgages that Moody’s has dubbed “risky.” Well worth keeping an eye on this...more
12/8/2016
/ AT&T ,
Banks ,
Bonds ,
China ,
Consumer Lenders ,
DBRS ,
EU ,
EURIBOR ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Fitch ,
HSBC ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
LendingClub ,
Moody's ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Time Warner
So, it turns out that all of the Brexit-style market freefalling was reserved for overnight trading. US markets actually closed up yesterday after modest opening losses....more
11/10/2016
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EU ,
Extradition ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Flash Crash ,
Hackers ,
Member State ,
Mortgage Loan Originators ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
NYDFS ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Referendums ,
Retirement Plan ,
Spoofing ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Yahoo!
Soooooo . . . about that whole Brexit thing. A UK High Court has ruled that Britain’s EU withdrawal cannot move forward without the approval of Parliament, setting off more uncertainty and what’s expected to be a series of...more
11/3/2016
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Earnings Reports ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment Banks ,
Investors ,
Member State ,
Merger Agreements ,
Microsoft ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Referendums ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Valeant ,
Variable Annuities ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whistleblowers
NY hedge fund Och-Ziff has agreed to pay a $413 million fine as part of a deferred-prosecution agreement with US regulators over allegations that it was involved in the payment of more than $100 million in bribes to African...more
9/30/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Bank Accounts ,
Banks ,
Bribery ,
Cross-Selling ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Deutsche Bank ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Germany ,
Hedge Funds ,
IBM ,
Investment ,
Natural Resources ,
Och-Ziff ,
Wells Fargo
In a move anticipated over the past year or so, Caliber Home Loans—with PE Lone Star Funds’ backing—is making more loans to “borrowers with spotty credit histories.” A euphemism for subprime, by the way. That targeting has...more
9/8/2016
/ Apple ,
Barclays ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Cross-Selling ,
Cybersecurity ,
Dark Pool ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Hackers ,
Interest Rates ,
iPhone ,
Misrepresentation ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Market ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Subprime Loans ,
UK ,
Wells Fargo
Dealbook gives us the story of Airgas, where founder Peter McCausland’s reticence to sell (despite serious shareholder pressure) resulted in a $5 billion windfall rather than the all-too-often result of a later sale for...more
9/6/2016
/ 3D Printing ,
Apple ,
Barclays ,
Bayer ,
Bonds ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Ireland ,
Job Creation ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mergers ,
Monsanto ,
NCUA ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
RMBS ,
Royal Bank of Scotland ,
Stock Prices ,
Stocks ,
Summary Judgment ,
Tax Evasion
Continual rejections worked for Hershey in fending off Mondelez’s takeover bid. The Deal Professor thinks that Tronc faces considerable risks in following the same strategy with Gannett’s repeated overtures....more
8/31/2016
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Acquisitions ,
Apple ,
Banks ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
Hersheys ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mergers ,
Monsanto ,
Public Offerings ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sharing Economy ,
Stock Exchange ,
Tax Evasion ,
Theranos ,
Uber ,
Whistleblowers ,
Zika
And after all the sturm und drang surrounding the Hershey Trust and the Mondelez buyout offer over these past few months . . . it’s over. Mondelez announced yesterday that it’s no longer seeking to acquire the Hershey...more
8/30/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Barclays ,
Driverless Cars ,
EU ,
Fannie Mae ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Forex ,
Hersheys ,
Market Manipulation ,
Retailers ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Tax Evasion ,
Uber ,
White Collar Crimes
The DOJ has asked the 2d Circuit to reconsider its May decision overturning the 2013 jury verdict (and subsequent $1.27 billion penalty) against Bank of America for fraud relating to its mortgage-generation HUSL program....more
8/5/2016
/ Apple ,
Bank of America ,
Bank of England ,
Bonds ,
Colombia ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Development ,
Elon Musk ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Job Creation ,
Marijuana ,
Mortgage Fraud ,
Tesla
As foreshadowed a few weeks ago, the Bank of England has cut its main interest rate to an historically low .25 percent in an effort to address the impact of June’s Brexit vote. The BOE will start bond buying in September....more
8/4/2016
/ Bank of England ,
Bonds ,
CMBS ,
CNN ,
Digital Media ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hulu ,
Internet Streaming ,
Member State ,
Money Market Funds ,
Mortgages ,
Referendums ,
Securities ,
Time Warner ,
UK Brexit
Look to Miami for the latest legal troubles for the country’s biggest banks. After most have finally put to bed the remnants of Great Recession RMBS litigation, a new tack by the city is looking to hold them responsible for...more
8/3/2016
/ Allergan Inc ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Digital Currency ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreclosure ,
Hackers ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
HSBC ,
Instagram ,
Merck ,
Mortgages ,
Olympics ,
Procter & Gamble ,
Quarterly Report ,
Referendums ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Startups ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Wall Street