Because the Nissan leadership scandal is about as well-contained as Chernobyl in the early days [thanks, HBO], French automaker Renault has voted this morning to remove Chief Executive Thierry Bolloré amid concerns over the...more
10/11/2019
/ Automotive Industry ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
Business Valuations ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Capital Rules ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Electricity ,
Ether ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
General Motors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Banks ,
Labor Relations ,
Layoffs ,
Lenders ,
Liquidity ,
Personal Data ,
PG&E ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Reorganizations ,
Retailers ,
Rollbacks ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Saudi Aramco ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UAW ,
US Trade Policies ,
Victoria Secret ,
Wal-Mart
Senior negotiators from the U.S. and China will officially resume trade negotiations today, “with higher tariffs looming if [they] fail to break a five-month stalemate.” The U.S.’s moves this week to blacklist 28 Chinese tech...more
10/10/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Bed Bath & Beyond ,
CEOs ,
China ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Downturn ,
Exports ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fidelity Investments ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Government Investigations ,
Imports ,
Internal Controls ,
Internet Streaming ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Mesothelioma ,
Netflix ,
Pensions ,
Plan Administrators ,
Private Equity ,
Public Pension ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Supply Chain ,
Target ,
Tariffs ,
Teachers ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trading Platforms ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
Fed Chair Powell, speaking at an economics conference in Denver yesterday, made news by indicating that the central bank would “once again begin expanding its portfolio of government-backed securities”—a shift in policy...more
10/9/2019
/ Advertising ,
Automotive Industry ,
Blacklist ,
Cambridge Analytica ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Downturn ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Foreign Currency ,
General Motors ,
Global Economy ,
Government Securities ,
Human Rights ,
IMF ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Manufacturers ,
Money Laundering ,
Netflix ,
New Legislation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Punitive Damages ,
Risperdal ,
Stock Prices ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Twitter ,
Volcker Rule ,
Wall Street
Well, that was remarkably quick. Just days after WeWork’s board announced that it was considering replacing co-founder Adam Neumann to help clear a path to the work-share-startup’s initial public offering, Neumann stepped...more
9/25/2019
/ Airbus ,
Apple ,
CEOs ,
Chrysler ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diesel Fuel ,
E-Cigarettes ,
EU ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiat ,
Heinz ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Kraft ,
Labor Regulations ,
Layoffs ,
Minimum Salary ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Office Space ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Sharing Economy ,
Short-Term Loans ,
Startups ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Debt ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
As pretty much expected, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates a quarter point again yesterday, its second cut since late July. Fed Chair Powell also indicated in remarks after the FOMC broke that a “‘more extensive’ series...more
9/19/2019
/ AT&T ,
CFTC ,
DirectTV ,
Employee Definition ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
General Motors ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
J Crew ,
Legislative Agendas ,
OCC ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proprietary Trading ,
Repossess ,
Retailers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Strike ,
Trump Administration ,
Volcker Rule
The Federal Reserve took the rare step yesterday of stepping “into financial markets . . . to keep interest rates from rising above its target, the first time the central bank has had to carry out this type of ‘market...more
9/18/2019
/ AT&T ,
Board of Directors ,
Capital Requirements ,
Collateralized Debt Obligations ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drones ,
False Statements ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FOMC ,
Forever 21 ,
Hedge Funds ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Internet Streaming ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
NBC ,
OCC ,
Office Space ,
Oil Prices ,
Price Manipulation ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Retailers ,
RICO ,
Spoofing ,
Swaps ,
Universal ,
Wachovia ,
Wells Fargo
Shared office-space company WeWork, which had committed to moving forward with its planned IPO this week despite recent turmoil, appears likely to postpone the offering until at least October in an effort to shore up its...more
9/17/2019
/ Airbus ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Bear Sterns ,
CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Futures ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Interest Rates ,
Internet Streaming ,
Japan ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mutual Funds ,
Netflix ,
Office Space ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Proprietary Trading ,
Prudential ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Reorganizations ,
Sharing Economy ,
Short-Term Loans ,
Spoofing ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Volcker Rule ,
WTO
The White House is reportedly nearing a nationwide ban on most flavored e-cigarettes, a direct response to the recent spate of vaping-related illnesses that have affected hundreds across the country....more
9/12/2019
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Chapter 11 ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Conspiracies ,
Corporate Dissolution ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
E-Cigarettes ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Forever 21 ,
Independent Contractors ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Interest Rates ,
KPMG ,
Labor Regulations ,
Libor ,
Opioid ,
Oracle ,
OxyContin ,
Pain Management ,
Price-Fixing ,
Probation ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Retailers ,
Seafood ,
Settlement Agreements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber
Friday remarks from Fed Chair Powell in Zurich confirmed the central bank’s dedication to keeping the US economic expansion on track and appear to have signaled the Fed’s plan to cut interest rates for a second time this...more
9/9/2019
/ Apple ,
Big Tech ,
British Airways ,
China ,
COPPA ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Employee Rights ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Investigations ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
iPhone ,
Job Creation ,
Job Market ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Opioid ,
OxyContin ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Public Offerings ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Strike ,
Temporary Employees ,
Unemployment ,
YouTube
A ruling this morning from South Korea’s top court means that Samsung’s de facto leader, its vice chair and chaebol heir Lee Jae-yong, could be heading back behind bars. The high court found that a lower appeals court “had...more
8/29/2019
/ Bayer ,
Bonds ,
Bribery ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forever 21 ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Monsanto ,
Mortgages ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Passive Investments ,
Popular ,
Samsung ,
South Korea ,
Treasury Markets ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
White Collar Crimes
Man-of-the-people PM Boris Johnson is set to as the Queen to suspend parliament for 5 weeks in an attempt to squeeze the time for opposition to the October 31st Brexit deadline, a move that’s prompting concerns about a...more
8/28/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Arby's ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Currency Fluctuation ,
Driverless Cars ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Currency ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Misappropriation ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Papa John's International ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Philip Morris ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Prime Minister ,
Public Benefit Corporation ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Reputation Management ,
Stock-for-Stock Merger ,
Theft ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trade Wars ,
Uber ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Parliament
A bad day for J&J in Oklahoma at the close of the state’s trial against Johnson & Johnson means that the company’s on the hook for upwards of $572 million for its role in the opioid crisis that’s decimated swaths of the...more
8/27/2019
/ Argentina ,
China ,
DEA ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Fraud ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Heinz ,
IMF ,
Imports ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Kraft ,
Loans ,
Marijuana ,
Martin Act ,
Nissan ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Resignation ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
US Trade Policies ,
White Collar Crimes
Amgen will pay $13.4 billion in cash to buy psoriasis treatment Otezla, a deal that will “pave the way for Bristol-Myers Squibb to complete its acquisition of Celgene” by addressing “regulatory concerns over their union”....more
8/26/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Amgen ,
Automotive Industry ,
Boeing ,
Bristol-Myers Squibb ,
China ,
Credit Monitoring ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Economic Development ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Adviser ,
Financial Markets ,
Hasbro ,
Imports ,
Japan ,
Life Sciences ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Product Defects ,
Restitution ,
Solar Panels ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Agreements ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wealth Management ,
Wells Fargo
A recent report showing slowing US manufacturing activity and a sliding 10-year Treasury note yield is only making Chair Powell’s balancing act that much tougher....more
8/26/2019
/ Deutsche Bank ,
Economic Downturn ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Hasbro ,
Hewlett-Packard ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Manufacturers ,
Overstock.com ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Relatives of Public Officials ,
Resignation ,
Robocalling ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Attorneys General ,
Telecommunications ,
Treasury Markets
Beyond the revamped Volcker Rule we discussed yesterday, Federal Reserve officials are “slowly, but steadily,” making a series of regulatory changes likely to weaken “capital requirements installed in the wake of the [2008...more
8/21/2019
/ Bayer ,
Capital Requirements ,
Chick-Fil-A ,
Economic Downturn ,
Employment Tax ,
Endo Pharmaceuticals ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Opioid ,
Popular ,
RICO ,
Solar Energy ,
Stock Markets ,
Tax Reform ,
Tesla ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Volcker Rule ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wendy's
A survey of the country’s most powerful CEOs by the Business Roundtable shows an interesting shift in how they view their top priority—no longer does advancing the interests of shareholders take the top spot. Instead, the...more
8/20/2019
/ Airports ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Big Tech ,
China ,
Disney ,
Economic Downturn ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Statements ,
General Electric ,
Huawei ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Lyft ,
OCC ,
Overstatement of Basis ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Revenue Growth ,
Ridesharing ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Volcker Rule ,
Wall Street ,
Whistleblowers
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Rupert Hogg has resigned in order to “take responsibility” a week “after the carrier was rebuked by China for staff involvement in the anti-Beijing protests rocking Hong Kong.” Hogg...more
8/19/2019
/ Aviation Industry ,
Banks ,
Capital One ,
China ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deregulation ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Markets ,
Government Investigations ,
Hackers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Home Rule States ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Labor Regulations ,
Marriott ,
Opioid ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Profits ,
Proposed Rules ,
Protests ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Resignation ,
State Attorneys General ,
Stock Prices ,
Subpoenas ,
Trade Wars
A volatile August on Wall Street has insiders asking whether we should be taking our cues from 1998 or 2007.
With that in mind, our financial term of the week is “countercyclical capital buffer,” a wonkish special for you...more
8/13/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Automotive Industry ,
Big Tech ,
Bonds ,
Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
Capital Requirements ,
CBS ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Deregulation ,
Donald Trump ,
Economic Downturn ,
Educational Institutions ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Embedded Tweets ,
ETFs ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
General Motors ,
Oil & Gas ,
Predatory Lending ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retail Market ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Silicon Valley ,
Social Networks ,
Student Loans ,
Tariffs ,
Tumblr ,
Verizon ,
Viacom ,
Volcker Rule ,
Volkswagen ,
Wall Street
Les Wexner, the billionaire CEO of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works parent company L Brands, has accused his former money manager and confidant, Jeffrey Epstein, of misappropriating “vast sums of money” from Wexner and...more
8/8/2019
/ Amazon ,
America Invents Act ,
Banks ,
Bonds ,
Broadcom ,
China ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Reserve ,
FedEx ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Currency ,
Government Agencies ,
Huawei ,
Misappropriation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Rating Agencies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Shipping ,
Symantec ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Victoria Secret ,
Wall Street ,
Wealth Management ,
White Collar Crimes
Last week’s wild economic ride combined with China’s currency-devaluing response (and, arguably, months more of trade-war-driven global uncertainty) led to the worst day on Wall Street since last December, with the Dow...more
8/6/2019
/ China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Currency Manipulation ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Currency ,
Grand Juries ,
Imports ,
Marriott ,
Media ,
Money Services Business ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Publishers ,
Quarterly Report ,
Subpoenas ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Tyson Foods ,
US Trade Policies
HSBC chief John Flint is out just 18 months after he assumed the role as head of the London-based bank, likely due to clashes with Board Chair Mark Tucker and the lender’s focus on expanding in China. HSBC also announced it...more
8/5/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Blockchain ,
Bonds ,
Cancer ,
CBS ,
China ,
Credit Default Swaps ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Downturn ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Foreign Currency ,
HSBC ,
IMF ,
Imports ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Layoffs ,
Patent Applications ,
S&P ,
Talent Management ,
Tariffs ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Viacom ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wall Street ,
World Bank
The Fed delivered on its expected quarter-point rate cut yesterday, the first decrease in short term rates since 2008. Fed Chair Powell cited “the implications of global developments for the economic outlook as well as muted...more
8/1/2019
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Bank of England ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Currency Fluctuation ,
Elon Musk ,
Energy Sector ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Currency ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Nordstrom Inc. ,
Prior Authorization ,
Retail Market ,
Share Price ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
SolarCity ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
White Collar Crimes
At this point, pretty much everyone on Wall Street is expecting the Fed to cut interest rates as its FOMC meeting breaks later today. Some thoughts on what’s likely to happen and how the Street could react to the news....more
7/31/2019
/ Apple ,
Capital One ,
China ,
Data Breach ,
Federal Reserve ,
House Flipping ,
Huawei ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Natural Disasters ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Samsung ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Vietnam
Drug giants Pfizer and Mylan have inked a deal that will merge the former’s off-patent drugs with the latter’s generics business, a tie-up that creates a mammoth global seller of lower-priced medicines....more
7/29/2019
/ 3M Company ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Audi ,
Barclays ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Citibank ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
FOMC ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Forex ,
GDP ,
Generic Drugs ,
IRS ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mylan Pharmaceuticals ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
RBS ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Rental Property ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tax Liability ,
Tenants ,
UBS ,
Volkswagen ,
Wireless Industry
Credit bureau Equifax is closing in on an agreement with federal and state authorities in which it would pay $650-700 million to resolve claims related to the massive breach it revealed in September 2017 that exposed personal...more
7/22/2019
/ Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
China ,
Commercial Leases ,
Data Breach ,
E-Commerce ,
Equifax ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FOMC ,
Foreign Investment ,
Google ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Public Health ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Rental Property ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Silicon Valley ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber