Ford announced major cuts to its European workforce yesterday, announcing that it would reduce its overall headcount there by 1/5 (or about 12,000 workers), roughly half of whom are salaried employees. Ford first revealed the...more
6/28/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Bonds ,
Capital Gains ,
Data Breach ,
Equifax ,
Facebook ,
Ford Motor ,
G20 ,
Job Creation ,
National Security ,
Native American Issues ,
Nissan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Reform ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment
In case you haven’t had your eye on matters of global intrigue of late, figured we’d get you a bit caught up so that you know why your gas prices are heading north in the next couple of weeks....more
6/17/2019
/ Alternative Investment Funds ,
AT&T ,
Corporate Bonds ,
Credit Suisse ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deficit Reduction ,
Facebook ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Italy ,
Judges ,
KPMG ,
MasterCard ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
PayPal ,
Plant Based Products ,
Recusal ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tariffs ,
Taxi Cabs ,
Time Warner ,
Tyson Foods ,
Uber ,
Unfair Pricing ,
Visa Inc ,
Wall Street
Well, that was short lived. FiatChrysler broke news late yesterday that it’s withdrawing its offer to merge with France’s Renault, mere weeks after the companies bowled over the auto world with the proposal. Fiat blamed the...more
6/6/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Aircraft Sales ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Boeing ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Development ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fiat ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mexico ,
New Rules ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Volkswagen ,
Wall Street
The SEC will vote today on what it’s calling Regulation Best Interest, “which says brokers can’t put their own paychecks ahead of a customer’s needs”—the more-industry-acceptable revision of an Obama-era fiduciary duty rule...more
6/5/2019
/ Anti-Dumping Agreement ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Brokers ,
Carnival Cruise Lines ,
Code of Conduct ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Violations ,
Federal Reserve ,
FHFA ,
Freddie Mac ,
Imports ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Mexico ,
Mobile Apps ,
Probationary Period ,
Renault-Nissan ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Stocks ,
Tariffs ,
Toyota ,
Unregistered Securities ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
The US’s ongoing trade war with China—which just isn’t going away any time soon—has prompted the White House to propose a new “$16 billion bailout for farmers hurt by Beijing’s tariffs.” At the same time, leaders from both...more
5/24/2019
/ Capital Raising ,
China ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deregulation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
DoorDash ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
High Risk Financial Products ,
Indictments ,
Investment Adviser ,
On-Demand Services ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Theresa May ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies
Deutsche Bank on Wednesday confirmed the basics of a recent German newspaper report that revealed that the bank “had used faulty software to screen customer transactions for suspicious activity” while claiming that “no...more
5/23/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Android ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Avon ,
BSA/AML ,
Cosmetics ,
Data Management ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
General Electric ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Investment Banks ,
Investment Fraud ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Real Estate Brokers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smartphones ,
Software ,
Theresa May ,
UK Brexit ,
Wireless Industry
FCC Chair Ajit Pai gave his agency’s stamp of approval to the pending $26 billion T-Mobile/Sprint merger on Monday, helping move the deal towards completion based on pledges from the companies to develop “a robust 5G network...more
5/21/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Adidas ,
Bitcoin ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Facebook ,
FCC ,
Financial Markets ,
Fines ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Banks ,
Forex ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Layoffs ,
Market Manipulation ,
Nike ,
RBS ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
UBS ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency
True, the economic headwinds weren’t its fault, but boy—not a banner debut for Uber after years of speculation and waiting....more
5/13/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Bank Fraud ,
China ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dividends ,
Economic Development ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Flex-Time Policies ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SoftBank ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Uber ,
US Trade Policies ,
Volkswagen
Chevron has dropped its $33 billion bid for Anadarko, ending the energy industry’s “fiercest takeover battle in 15 years” and leaving smaller rival Occidental “poised to become the dominant force in the largest oil field in...more
5/10/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Audits ,
Chevron ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Danske Bank ,
Estonia ,
Financial Markets ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Relations ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Uber ,
US Trade Policies
Shared workspace giant We Work is joining the growing wave of major start-ups planning to go public this year. And like many of its unicorn peers (as we’ve documented), the company “shows no sign of turning a profit anytime...more
4/30/2019
/ Alibaba ,
Alphabet Company ,
Chevron ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Relations ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Huawei ,
Independent Contractors ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mexico ,
New Guidance ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sharing Economy ,
Software ,
Spotify ,
Startups ,
Stock Prices ,
Unicorns ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Wage and Hour
Elon Musk and the SEC have reached an agreement to revise their earlier agreement to settle the latest round of issues caused by Musk’s Twitter habit. Under its terms, a Tesla securities attorney must now “preapprove any of...more
4/29/2019
/ Agribusiness ,
Apple ,
Chevron ,
Commerzbank ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Elon Musk ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exports ,
Farms ,
Financial Markets ,
Ford Motor ,
Germany ,
HSBC ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Occidental Petroleum ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Slack ,
Social Media ,
Takeover Bids ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Twitter ,
Unicorns
Carlos Ghosn, the onetime “savior” of Nissan, faced another indignity while again behind bars in Japan—the automaker officially removed the former chair from the board altogether....more
4/9/2019
/ Airbus ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Bayer ,
Boeing ,
Bonds ,
Cancer ,
Chapter 11 ,
Class Action ,
Collusion ,
Deregulation ,
Enforcement Authority ,
EU ,
Fannie Mae ,
Freddie Mac ,
Leveraged Loans ,
Monsanto ,
Nissan ,
Price Manipulation ,
Saudi Aramco ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Toxic Exposure ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Website Owner Liability ,
White Collar Crimes ,
WTO
Jobs report Friday again. Which, after February’s dismal numbers, is carrying extra importance today. We’ll be keeping an eye on US manufacturing, among other things. Here’s what to watch....more
4/5/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Commerzbank ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Divorce ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Job Creation ,
Kickbacks ,
Manufacturers ,
Medicare ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Spoofing ,
Tesla ,
Theresa May ,
Trade Relations ,
Twitter ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment
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
Monsanto’s (and, in turn, Bayer AG’s) terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in court over its Roundup products’ links to cancer continued yesterday, as a jury awarded $80 million to the California man who it had already...more
3/28/2019
/ Bonds ,
Business Valuations ,
Cancer ,
Class Action ,
EU ,
Fannie Mae ,
Federal Reserve ,
Freddie Mac ,
Health Insurance ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Banks ,
Lyft ,
Market Manipulation ,
McDonalds ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Minimum Wage ,
Money Laundering ,
Monsanto ,
Pesticides ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Startups ,
Telecommunications ,
Theresa May ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
UK Brexit ,
Unicorns ,
Wage and Hour
OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, reached a deal this week with the state of Oklahoma in which they will pay “$270 million to avoid going to a state court trial over the company’s role in the...more
3/27/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Apple ,
Barclays ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Interest Rates ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
IP License ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Lyft ,
Opioid ,
OxyContin ,
Pain Management ,
Patent Litigation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Qualcomm ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Share Price ,
Tariffs ,
Theresa May ,
Trade Relations ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wealth Management ,
Whistleblower Awards
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee wrapped its March meetings yesterday with Chair Powell highlighting the central bank’s “fairly downbeat economic assessment” and the expectation that it will keep rates steady for...more
3/21/2019
/ 21st Century Fox ,
Automotive Industry ,
Capital Raising ,
China ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disney ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Greece ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Levi Strauss ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Visas ,
Wall Street
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
Warner Bros. studio division chief—part of AT&T’s recently acquired media empire—has “stepped down after accusations surfaced that he had pushed for a woman with whom he had a sexual relationship to be considered for roles in...more
3/19/2019
/ Commerzbank ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
E-Commerce ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
FinTech ,
First Amendment ,
Germany ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Swaps ,
Investment Banks ,
Levi Strauss ,
Market Manipulation ,
Payment Processors ,
RBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Social Media ,
Startups ,
Trading Platforms ,
UK Brexit ,
Waiver of Rights ,
Warner Brothers Entertainment ,
Workplace Romances
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
Concessions wrenched from EU leaders aside, PM May and her latest Brexit plan again fell apart in Parliament, with lawmakers voting it down 391-242. The defeat raises the ongoing specter of a no-deal departure from the Union...more
3/13/2019
/ 1MDB ,
Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Boeing ,
Contempt ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tesla ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo
The SEC has announced a settlement with nearly 80 investment advisory firms in which they will pay back more than $125 million “to clients who were steered into higher-cost mutual funds without adequate disclosure” as part of...more
3/12/2019
/ Car Dealerships ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
Investment Management ,
KPMG ,
Mutual Funds ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Severance Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tesla ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wire Fraud
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals dealt the DOJ a blow yesterday with a ruling that “rejected the government’s claim that a lower court had applied antitrust laws incorrectly in allowing the merger” between AT&T and Time Warner...more
2/27/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
AT&T ,
Bank of America ,
Bonds ,
Commerzbank ,
Competition ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Fannie Mae ,
Fees ,
Fidelity Investments ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Freddie Mac ,
Germany ,
Huawei ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mutual Funds ,
Online Advertisements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Time Warner ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE) ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wireless Industry
GE—still in streamlining mode—agreed yesterday to sell its biopharma business to Danaher (current CEO Larry’s Culp’s former company, btw) for a reported $21.4 billion in the form of $21 billion in cash and $400 million in...more
2/26/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Bank of America ,
Barclays ,
China ,
Contempt ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
General Elections ,
Heinz ,
Investment Banks ,
Kraft ,
Libor ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
RBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Warren Buffett