All of Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s “great progress” reports be damned, apparently. Over the weekend, the White House threatened to fast-forward plans to raise tariffs from 10 to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese imports,...more
5/7/2019
/ 21st Century Fox ,
Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
China ,
Corporate Fines ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Disney ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Sinclair Broadcast Group ,
Subpoenas ,
Tariffs ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Uber ,
Warren Buffett
Zuck and Co. are launching a major platform redesign as Facebook attempts to move beyond years of privacy-related scandals and promote group-based communications rather than the public-square newsfeed....more
5/1/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Alphabet Company ,
Apple ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
E-Commerce ,
Facebook ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Instagram ,
Internet Streaming ,
Lost Profits ,
Music Streaming ,
OCC ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Renewable Energy ,
Sandbox ,
Share Buybacks ,
Social Media ,
Solar Energy ,
Solar Panels ,
Stock Prices ,
Tesla ,
Warren Buffett
More fun for Facebook, just a day after it revealed a coming FTC fine, with the news on Thursday that Canadian privacy commissioners “violated national and local laws in allowing third parties access to private user...more
4/26/2019
/ 3M Company ,
Accounting Standards ,
Automotive Industry ,
Breach of Trust ,
Data Breach ,
Employee Benefits ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Microsoft ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Pension Funds ,
Public Employees ,
Quarterly Report ,
Renault-Nissan ,
RMBS ,
Shopping Centers ,
Social Media ,
Telecommunications ,
Uber ,
Volcker Rule ,
White Collar Crimes
Facebook revealed on Wednesday that it’s expecting a one-time $3 to 5 billion FTC fine over privacy violations, an amount that would be a “record penalty for a technology company by the agency.” In preparation, Zuck & co....more
4/25/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Commerzbank ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Facebook ,
Fannie Mae ,
Ford Motor ,
Freddie Mac ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Mortgages ,
Nissan ,
Quarterly Report ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
SoftBank ,
Startups ,
Tesla
Samsung announced yesterday that it’s postponing the official mass-market introduction of its new foldable smart phone (originally set for the end of the week) based on reports that the pricey device has been malfunctioning....more
4/23/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anheuser-Busch ,
Boeing ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Elon Musk ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Currency ,
Google ,
Heinz ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Fraud ,
Kraft ,
NVIDIA ,
Plant Based Products ,
Retailers ,
Safety Standards ,
Samsung ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Smartphones ,
Telecommunications ,
Tesla ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unicorns
Not shockingly, the White House’s recent insistence on keeping tariffs in place on China (to ensure deal compliance) is proving to be a major stumbling block in negotiations on a grand trade deal between the US and China....more
4/5/2019
/ Agricultural Workers ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Cloud Computing ,
Construction Workers ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Economic Downturn ,
Employment Litigation ,
Facebook ,
FASB ,
Foreign Workers ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Japan ,
Job Creation ,
Lyft ,
Nissan ,
No-Action Letters ,
Personal Data ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Unemployment
Just months after Whole Foods raised prices on certain items after an initial Amazon-pushed lowering, Bezos & Co. are planning cuts on “hundreds of items” as early as this week in an effort to “change the chain’s high-cost...more
4/2/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Barclays ,
China ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Direct Listing ,
Dow Jones ,
EU ,
EURIBOR ,
Facebook ,
Flash Crash ,
Grocery Stores ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Lyft ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
NYSE ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities Violations ,
Slack ,
Software ,
Spoofing ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Whole Foods
Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan is out after a rocky two-plus-year tenure in arguably the hottest seats in finance over the past several years. He’ll be replaced on an interim basis by Wells’ GC C. Allen Parker....more
3/29/2019
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Campbell Soup Company ,
Corporate Entities ,
Discrimination ,
Facebook ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Goldman Sachs ,
HUD ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Lyft ,
Online Advertisements ,
Opioid ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Securities Violations ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
Facebook revealed yesterday that “millions of user account passwords had been stored insecurely, potentially allowing employees to gain access to people’s accounts without their knowledge.” The company said it “had found no...more
3/22/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Banks ,
Beverage Manufacturers ,
Budweiser ,
Dilution ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
False Advertising ,
Fashion Industry ,
FDIC ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Levi Strauss ,
Mortgages ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Right to Privacy ,
RMBS ,
Startups ,
Theresa May ,
Trademarks ,
Unicorns ,
Wal-Mart
The US and China have scheduled two more rounds of high-level trade talks with hopes for an agreement between the economic superpowers by late April, even as China has begun to push back against some of the US’s major...more
3/20/2019
/ Airplane Accidents ,
Android ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Bayer ,
Boeing ,
Cancer ,
China ,
Citibank ,
Contempt ,
Corporate Liability ,
E-Commerce ,
Elon Musk ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Google ,
Instagram ,
Loans ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mobile Apps ,
Monsanto ,
Mortgages ,
OCC ,
Online Advertisements ,
Race Discrimination ,
Search Engines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Securitization ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Smartphones ,
Tesla ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Web Browsers
Fascinating weekend feature from the Journal exploring how Sears Roebuck went from the dominant force in American retailing to the bankrupt shell of a company that it is now—all within a period of just 40 years....more
3/18/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Allianz ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Cambridge Analytica ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Data-Sharing ,
Defamation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disclosure ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Gaming ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
iPhone ,
Loan Modifications ,
Lyft ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mortgages ,
Patent Infringement ,
Personal Data ,
Qualcomm ,
Retailers ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media ,
Technology Sector ,
UK Brexit ,
Wall Street ,
Wealth Management ,
Wells Fargo
Just days after Facebook announced its shift to more private communications, the company’s chief product officer (and longtime Zuck inner-circler) Chris Cox and WhatsApp head Chris Daniels are both heading out the door,...more
3/15/2019
/ Asbestos ,
Asbestos Litigation ,
Banks ,
Canada ,
China ,
College Admissions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Foreign Currency ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment Fraud ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Manufacturers ,
Mesothelioma ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Personal Care Products ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
UBS ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Volkswagen
With new data pointing to similarities between the Lion Air and Ethiopian Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes, the White House has decided to override the FAA and ground all models of the plane in the US....more
3/14/2019
/ Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Aviation Industry ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Customer Information ,
Data Management ,
Dismissals ,
Facebook ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Fiat ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Instagram ,
Investment Opportunities ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
National Emissions Standards ,
On-Demand Services ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Social Media ,
SoftBank ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit ,
Wal-Mart ,
WhatsApp
Federal regulators moved this week to “ease oversight of Wall Street firms by scaling back two major mechanisms that were imposed to scrutinize big financial companies in the wake of the financial crisis.” ...more
3/7/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
Banks ,
Barclays ,
China ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Due Process ,
Electronic Communications ,
Elon Musk ,
Encryption ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
HSBC ,
Huawei ,
Libor ,
NCUA ,
NDAA ,
Pop-Up Stores ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Short-Term Loans ,
Stress Tests ,
Too Big to Fail ,
Trade Deficit ,
Volcker Rule ,
Wall Street ,
Wireless Industry
As many expected, the US economy slowed in Q4 2018, growing at a 2.6% annual rate in the final three months of last year. That figure was better than some forecasters thought, but it still marks a “significant slowdown” from...more
3/1/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Audits ,
Beer ,
Breweries ,
Business Profits ,
China ,
Credit Ratings ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Development ,
Elon Musk ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Fashion Industry ,
Gap Inc ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Ireland ,
KPMG ,
PCAOB ,
PG&E ,
Retail Market ,
Safety Standards ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Wars ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wildfires
With a high-level White House meeting on Friday, the US and China have extended trade talks, even as a “final deal remains elusive” (aka, nothing at all is in writing yet). It also appears that the purported progress is...more
2/25/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
China ,
Currency Fluctuation ,
Data Collection ,
Enron ,
Exports ,
Facebook ,
Heinz ,
Imports ,
Index Funds ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Investment ,
Kraft ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Street ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
Twitter ,
US Trade Policies ,
Vanguard ,
Xerox
Quite a start to the week for consulting powerhouse McKinsey & Co., with a Times expose on the questionable relationship between McKinsey’s clients and the investments its hedge fund has made in those same clients, not to...more
2/20/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consultants ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Danske Bank ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emerging Growth Companies ,
Facebook ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Foreign Currency ,
Germany ,
Honda ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Money Laundering ,
PCAOB ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wireless Technology
In what can only be classified as a second major “Oh yeah? Try this on for size” moment from Jeff Bezos in as many weeks, Amazon has announced that it’s canceling its planned HQ2 project in Queens, NY. Some local activists...more
2/15/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Facebook ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Shutdown ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Retail Market ,
Securities Fraud ,
Token Sales ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unregistered Securities ,
US Trade Policies ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
Wall Street
Regional lenders BB&T and SunTrust have announced plans to “unite in an all-stock deal” that would value the combined bank at $66 billion. The new lender would be the sixth-largest in the US, and, if allowed, would be created...more
2/7/2019
/ Ability-to-Repay ,
Alstom ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Browser History Sniffing ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Collection ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Farm & Fisherman Bankruptcies ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Germany ,
International Trade Disputes ,
Investment Funds ,
Music Streaming ,
Payday Loans ,
Podcasts ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Siemens ,
Smartphones ,
SoftBank ,
Sovereign Wealth Funds ,
Spotify ,
SunTrust ,
Tariffs ,
Video Games
USA Today publisher and media conglomerate Gannett has rejected a $1.3 billion hostile takeover bid from Alden Global Capital-backed MNG Enterprises, “kicking off a battle for shareholder votes to determine the future of the...more
2/5/2019
/ Australia ,
Automotive Industry ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Climate Change ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Energy Storage ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Facebook ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hostile Takeover ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Nissan ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Publishers ,
Retirement Plan ,
Slack ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tesla ,
UK Brexit ,
Wire Fraud ,
World Bank
All of that SuperBowling seems to have put activist investor Starboard in the mood for some pizza—specifically, former NFL-partner Papa John’s, which has struggled in the wake of the removal of its founder and namesake John...more
2/4/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Berkshire Hathaway ,
Citgo ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Confidential Information ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Former Employee ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Misappropriation ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Opioid ,
OxyContin ,
Papa John's International ,
Payday Loans ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Proprietary Information ,
Sears ,
Venezuela
Once again, it’s Jobs Report Friday. Here’s some things to keep in mind as you review the numbers...more
2/1/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Banks ,
Cartels ,
China ,
Cloud Computing ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Government Bonds ,
Huawei ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Job Creation ,
Mobile Apps ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Smartphones ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies
The Fed wrapped its January meetings yesterday with the expected news that it would leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged and the less-guaranteed report that it was hitting the pause button on future rate hikes (aka,...more
1/31/2019
/ Activist Investors ,
Alphabet Company ,
Apple ,
China ,
Commerzbank ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Diversity ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
GDP ,
General Elections ,
Global Market ,
Google ,
Interest Rates ,
Internal Controls ,
KPMG ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Scams ,
Takeovers ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
UK Brexit
Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn problems now extend to the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a probe into the accuracy of the company’s financial disclosures and internal controls....more
1/28/2019
/ Audits ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Canada ,
China ,
Facebook ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Financial Statements ,
Government Shutdown ,
Huawei ,
Instagram ,
Internal Controls ,
Job Creation ,
KPMG ,
Next Generation ,
Nissan ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
Vodafone ,
WhatsApp
The Federal Reserve, as long forecast, raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point on Wednesday. Chair Powell noted that a downturn in financial markets and weakened financial growth “may signal some softening relative...more
12/20/2018
/ Asbestos ,
Automotive Loans ,
Benchmarks ,
Cambridge Analytica ,
Cancer ,
Collateralized Loan Obligations ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Breach ,
E-Cigarettes ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment Fraud ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Misrepresentation ,
Mobile Payments ,
Personal Care Products ,
Political Campaigns ,
Public Health ,
SoftBank ,
Square ,
Wall Street