Lack of workable replacement (so far, at least) be damned—the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has announced that [the scandal-plagued] Libor will be phased out by 2021 in favor of “transaction-based benchmarks”....more
7/27/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Bonds ,
Digital Currency ,
Diversity ,
Earnings Reports ,
Economic Development ,
Facebook ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Gender Equity ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Libor ,
Martin Shkreli ,
Online Advertisements ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK ,
Wall Street
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
Unfortunately enough for Deutsche Bank, 2017 isn’t starting off much better than the previous year. The German banking giant has agreed to pay a $425 million fine to NY state authorities (and another $204 million to the UK’s...more
1/31/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Bonds ,
Capital Requirements ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Elon Musk ,
Energy Storage ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Investors ,
Microsoft ,
Money Laundering ,
Renewable Energy ,
Russia ,
Stress Tests ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration
By volume, December wasn’t an incredible month for US jobs. But the report did help cap a year that saw average hourly earnings rise 2.9%—the best since 2009 and a “turning point for the overall economy,” according to one...more
1/9/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Big Data ,
Bond Markets ,
China ,
Corporate Bonds ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Framework ,
Economic Development ,
Environmental Violations ,
Facebook ,
FBI ,
Federal Register ,
Financial Institutions ,
Germany ,
Google ,
Insurance Industry ,
Job Creation ,
Liquidity ,
Microsoft ,
National Emissions Standards ,
NYDFS ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Volkswagen ,
White Collar Crimes
The Fed’s anticipating faster growth in the coming year and rate increases to go with it. That and a whole lot of uncertainty about the incoming administration are the big takeaways from the Fed’s December meeting minutes....more
1/5/2017
/ Amazon ,
Apple ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Facebook ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Forex ,
Google ,
Hedge Funds ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Market Manipulation ,
Microsoft ,
Mortgages ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector
Even as auto lending continues at near break-neck pace, regulators are expressing concerns about the rise (again) of subprime delinquencies from borrowers. The trend, at a time when the US economy is doing relatively well,...more
12/2/2016
/ Automotive Loans ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Facebook ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Insider Trading ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Puerto Rico ,
Securities ,
Settlement ,
Valeant
Big American companies are awfully eager to keep the China market alive. For Disney, that means dropping $1.4 billion on a Hong Kong Disneyland upgrade. For Facebook, it means a CEO who’s picked up Mandarin and a...more
11/23/2016
/ Banks ,
Black Friday ,
China ,
Disney ,
Facebook ,
Fannie Mae ,
Financial Institutions ,
Freddie Mac ,
Index Funds ,
Mobile Apps ,
Retail Market ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations
SEC chief Mary Jo White has announced that she’ll be stepping down in early 2017—an expected move that nevertheless drives home the reality of the big changes ahead for the securities industry (and many others)....more
11/15/2016
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Bonds ,
Facebook ,
Fannie Mae ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
GAO ,
Google ,
Hedge Funds ,
Housing Market ,
Mortgages ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stocks ,
Stress Tests ,
Technology Sector ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
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
We learned yesterday that Twitter’s shopping itself around for a buyer. It’s facing one big complication, though—the sizeable amount of stock Twitter has doled out to its employees over the years. Last year, for example,...more
9/27/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
American Express ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bank Accounts ,
Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Credit Cards ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disney ,
EBITDA ,
Energy Sector ,
Facebook ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Germany ,
Indonesia ,
Insider Trading ,
Lands End ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Offer ,
Social Media ,
Standard Chartered Bank ,
Stock-Based Compensation ,
Stocks ,
Twitter ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
A pair of whistleblowers is seeking discovery-related sanctions against Wells Fargo for allegedly concealing “crucial evidence” for their False Claims Act claims over fees added to government-backed mortgages....more
7/28/2016
/ Banking Sector ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
FOMC ,
Fraud ,
Lloyds Banking Group ,
Member State ,
Mortgages ,
Profits ,
Referendums ,
RMBS ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whistleblowers
We heard last week about Unilever’s $1 billion acquisition of start-up Dollar Shave Club. With a few days to reflect, the Deal Professor suggests that this relatively innocuous deal should make “every other company . . . very...more
7/27/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Banks ,
Chrysler ,
Derivatives ,
Facebook ,
Fiat ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Currency ,
Forex ,
Fraud ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hedge Funds ,
Internal Investigations ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Unilever ,
Verizon ,
Yahoo!
EU financial watchdog ESMA has fined rating agency Fitch Ratings Ltd. $1.5 million for reportedly violating the EU’s rules for rating agencies relating to the 12-hour requirement, internal controls, and unauthorized...more
7/22/2016
/ Aetna ,
Anthem Blue Cross ,
Bitcoin ,
CIGNA ,
Elon Musk ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Crisis ,
Fitch ,
Housing Market ,
Humana ,
Interest Rates ,
Mergers ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Rating Agencies ,
Virtual Currency
Dealbook looks back at a crazy Thursday of healthcare company deals [with Abbott/St. Jude taking the prize for biggest] and concludes that the industry appears to be “convinced, regardless of tax benefits [or common financial...more
4/29/2016
/ AbbVie ,
Bank of America ,
Brokers ,
Facebook ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Ford Motor ,
Merger Agreements ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Spoofing