Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson announced on Monday that it will shift some of its motorcycle production overseas “to avoid retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union” in response to the White House’s trade moves....more
6/26/2018
/ Anti-Steering Rules ,
Anticompetitive Agreements ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Baker Hughes ,
Barclays ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Burden of Proof ,
China ,
Credit Card Surcharges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
EU ,
EURIBOR ,
Facebook ,
FHFA ,
Financial Markets ,
General Electric ,
Harley-Davidson ,
Illegal Tipping ,
Insider Trading ,
Instagram ,
Merchant Fees ,
Merchants ,
Ohio v American Express ,
RBS ,
RMBS ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
SAC Capital ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Fraud ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Social Networks ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Retaliation ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
We used to call it Nafta. If the White House has its way, we may be talking about M/USTA and C/USTA. Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?...more
6/6/2018
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Board of Directors ,
China ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Data Breach ,
Facebook ,
Fox Broadcasting ,
Huawei ,
Investment Fraud ,
NAFTA ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
RMBS ,
Steel Industry ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
UK ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
The US House included the revised Volcker Rule that we’ve discussed in a broader package of Dodd-Frank reforms that it passed with bipartisan support last night. The bill—ostensibly aimed at easing restrictions on small to...more
5/23/2018
/ China ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Facebook ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Foreclosure ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Kickbacks ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Lowe's ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgages ,
Payday Loans ,
Pending Legislation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
SIFIs ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Valeant ,
Virtual Currency ,
Volcker Rule ,
Wire Fraud ,
ZTE
Chalk up a major win for Carl Icahn. Icahn has forced Xerox’s CEO, Board Chair, and 5 other board members out of their jobs as part of a push by activist investors. The shake-up will jeopardize the company’s $6.1 billion...more
5/2/2018
/ ABC Test ,
Activist Investors ,
Barclays ,
CA Supreme Court ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Credit Default Swaps ,
Dark Pool ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Forex ,
Free Speech ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Imports ,
Independent Contractors ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Market Manipulation ,
Personal Data ,
Silicon Valley ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
US Trade Policies ,
Xerox
Some inside baseball on how Sprint and T-Mobile are likely to try to convince suspicious regulators that their merger is a good thing. Hint: it has a lot to do with China and 5G....more
5/1/2018
/ Aluminum Sales ,
AT&T ,
Aviation Industry ,
Blockchain ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
European Central Bank ,
Facebook ,
Fees ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Marathon Oil ,
Oil & Gas ,
Panasonic ,
Personal Data ,
Prudential Standards ,
Sprint ,
Steel Industry ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Time Warner ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
WhatsApp ,
Wireless Industry
Facebook isn’t the only tech stock having a good week. Amazon—helped along by its booming cloud business—more than doubled its net income in Q1 as compared to a year ago....more
4/27/2018
/ 401k ,
Amazon ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Disney ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crimes ,
GDP ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Products ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Nasdaq ,
Quarterly Report ,
Retirement Plan ,
Telecommunications ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo
Facebook’s Q1 results make a strong case for Zuckerberg and his ilk riding out arguably its most serious crisis to date (the flood of criticism over its privacy practices and handling of user data) with next-to-no effect on...more
4/26/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Comcast ,
Commodities ,
Consumer Complaint System ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Facebook ,
Futures ,
Housing Market ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mortgages ,
Operating Lease ,
Public Disclosure ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Quarterly Report ,
Spoofing ,
UBS
The White House has chosen Columbia University economist Richard Clarida as Fed Vice Chair—the number 2 spot at the central bank. Clarida is a “monetary policy scholar” and former Bush II administration Treasury official....more
4/17/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Barclays ,
Benchmarks ,
China ,
Cloud Computing ,
Deutsche Bank ,
EURIBOR ,
Facebook ,
Investment ,
Job Creation ,
Marriott ,
Mergers ,
Netflix ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SFO ,
Stock Prices ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
ZTE
The full wrap of two days on the Hill for Zuck, including a Wednesday morning of generally more pointed questions from the House than he saw in the Senate....more
4/12/2018
/ Cambridge Analytica ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Credit Suisse ,
Data Breach ,
Facebook ,
Forex ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Market Manipulation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies
More than 3 years after admitting to cheating on diesel emissions tests, Volkswagen appears poised to oust CEO Matthias Muller—likely in favor of former BMW exec Herbert Diess....more
4/11/2018
/ Alibaba ,
Capital Requirements ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Penny Stocks ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Sprint ,
Stress Tests ,
Subprime Mortgages ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Token Sales ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Volkswagen ,
Wells Fargo
The Journal reported yesterday that the DOJ will allow Bayer to move forward with its plans to acquire Monsanto, a deal valued at more than $60 billion, after the companies “pledged to sell off additional assets to secure...more
4/10/2018
/ Bank of America ,
Barclays ,
Bayer ,
Best Buy ,
Bicycles ,
Bitcoin ,
Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
China ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Deutsche Bank ,
EURIBOR ,
Facebook ,
Global Market ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Monsanto ,
Nordstrom Inc. ,
PayPal ,
Retail Market ,
Student Loans ,
Tariffs ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Relations ,
Uber
Some analysis of Friday’s less-than-booming jobs report – NYTimes and Bloomberg And a look at Fed Chair Powell’s first major remarks on the state of the economy and the potential effects a trade war would have on the Fed’s...more
4/9/2018
/ Asset Freeze ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
HSBC ,
India ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Libor ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Market Manipulation ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Unemployment ,
Unregistered Securities ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
A day of massive lows (opening bell) and impressive rallies (with the dow up 230 by the end of the day) marked a wild Wednesday on Wall Street....more
4/5/2018
/ Airlines ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Bank of England ,
Cambridge Analytica ,
Corporate Bonds ,
Data Breach ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Facebook ,
FDIC ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Libor ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Presidential Elections ,
RMBS ,
Spotify ,
Trade Relations ,
UK
A look at the some of the losers—cities, mostly—in Amazon’s recent move to start collecting sales taxes in more states. The problem? While Amazon now collects sales taxes in every state that has one, it’s collection deals...more
3/26/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Bank of America ,
Citigroup ,
Class Certification ,
Data Collection ,
Dropbox ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Forex ,
General Electric ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internet Retailers ,
Libor ,
McDonalds ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Retailers ,
Sales Tax ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Securities Violations ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally issued a statement yesterday addressing the unauthorized data use scandal involving Cambridge Analytica that’s cost his company share price almost 10% since the story broke....more
3/22/2018
/ Cambridge Analytica ,
China ,
Credit Suisse ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Digital Currency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Driverless Cars ,
ETFs ,
Facebook ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Martin Act ,
Rental Insurance ,
RMBS ,
UBS ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency ,
Volcker Rule
The European Commission has drafted a new set of digital taxes as an answer to last year’s US tax overhaul that imposed a new minimum tax on the overseas efforts of companies with US operations. The EU’s plan would require...more
3/21/2018
/ Class Action ,
Cyan Inc v Beaver Cty Emps Ret Fund ,
Data Breach ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Orbitz ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Silicon Valley ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tax Liability ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales
The Journal’s weekend report on Facebook’s role in the unauthorized use of data from 50 million users wreaked havoc on the ‘Book’s stock yesterday, with losses spreading across the tech sector (and fellow its FANGers in...more
3/20/2018
/ Antitrust Violations ,
AT&T ,
Bank of America ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Credit Ratings ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Personal Data ,
PF Chang's ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retailers ,
S&P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Stock Prices ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
The DOJ is expanding its Wells Fargo sales probe into the bank’s wealth management division, a troubling move for an organization still trying to right the ship in its retail-banking unit where the sham-account scandal...more
3/19/2018
/ Blockchain ,
China ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Facebook ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Franchises ,
FTSE ,
Housing Market ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Joint Employers ,
McDonalds ,
NLRB ,
Retaliation ,
Startups ,
Wealth Management ,
Wells Fargo
The US government’s determination that Broadcom’s hostile takeover bid of Qualcomm “could pose a national security risk” is complicating an already high-stakes (and unwelcomed) overture by Broadcom. The Committee on Foreign...more
3/7/2018
/ Administrative Resignation ,
Aluminum Sales ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Blackberry ,
Broadcom ,
Facebook ,
Financial Instruments ,
Hostile Takeover ,
Imports ,
Instagram ,
McDonalds ,
National Security ,
Patent Infringement ,
Qualcomm ,
RBS ,
RMBS ,
S&P ,
Steel Industry ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
WhatsApp
The SEC is blocking the proposed sale of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to a group of Chinese investors based on “unresolved questions” over the “proposed ownership structure and concerns for the regulatory agency’s ability...more
2/16/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Digital Currency ,
Dual Class Share Structures ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Ford Motor ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Mortgages ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Prices ,
USPS ,
Viacom ,
Virtual Currency
Even as JPMorgan has set the playing field for his successor (Daniel Pinto v. Gordon Smith, FYI), head honcho Jamie Dimon is making it clear that he’s not about to go anywhere anytime soon....more
1/31/2018
/ Advertising ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Berkshire Hathaway ,
Bitcoin ,
BlackRock ,
Capital Raising ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Dow Jones ,
Elon Musk ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
iPhone ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Kodak ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Social Media ,
Software ,
Tesla ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wall Street ,
Xerox
Breakingviews on Broadcom’s threat to Qualcomm’s board in the form of a slate of 11 director nominees for the company it has, so far, unsuccessfully attempted to purchase....more
12/5/2017
/ Aetna ,
Apple ,
Back Taxes ,
Bitcoin ,
Broadcom ,
COPPA ,
Cryptocurrency ,
CVS ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Dollar General ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Hartford Insurance Company ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Life Insurance ,
Mobile Apps ,
Pharmacies ,
Qualcomm ,
Richard Cordray ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Social Networks
Facebook may have had a difficult day on the Hill. But a 79% rise in Q3 profit—driven, ironically enough, by online ads—should help soften the blow....more
11/2/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Arbitration ,
Automotive Loans ,
Banking Sector ,
Board of Directors ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Digital Currency ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FOMC ,
Google ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Microsoft ,
Quarterly Report ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sharing Economy ,
Social Media ,
SoftBank ,
Subprime Loans ,
Token Sales ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
The ‘book is backing off of a 2016-proposed stock reclassification that “would have solidified Mark Zuckerberg’s control over the social network” after a shareholder suit that would have seen Zuck on the stand in a Delaware...more
9/25/2017
/ AIG ,
BlackRock ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
EDGAR ,
ETFs ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
Hackers ,
Misrepresentation ,
Offerings ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sharing Economy ,
SIFIs ,
Social Media ,
Uber
Lots of Fed news this morning, and all of it on the administrative side. First, it now appears that a likely choice to replace Chair Yellen could be out before he was even in. And we’ve learned that Fed No. 2 Stanley Fischer...more
9/7/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Banking Sector ,
Bernie Madoff ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
FinTech ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Insider Trading ,
Janet Yellen ,
Online Advertisements ,
Procter & Gamble ,
Puerto Rico ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Small Business ,
Square