A recap of Friday’s GDP numbers, which featured both a strong 3.5% growth rate and early signs that “the growth could cool in coming months”...more
10/29/2018
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Automotive Loans ,
Bank of America ,
Barclays ,
Bribery ,
Business Valuations ,
Capital Raising ,
Citibank ,
Cloud Computing ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Breach ,
Economic Development ,
Equifax ,
Forex ,
GDP ,
Google ,
IBM ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Marijuana ,
Market Manipulation ,
Payday Lending Rule ,
Payday Loans ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Software Developers ,
Stock Prices ,
Tesla ,
Title Loans ,
Video Games ,
Wal-Mart ,
White Collar Crimes
New York has sued Exxon Mobile over its alleged failure to disclose to its shareholder the “expected risk of climate change to its business”—behavior that the state asserts amounts to a “’longstanding fraudulent scheme’ to...more
10/25/2018
/ Apple ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Protection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics Breach ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Oil & Gas ,
Payday Loans ,
Quarterly Report ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Prices ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trading Plans ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo ,
WTO
The Federal Reserve bank released the minutes from its September meeting yesterday. Among other things, we learned that the Fed Governors moved largely in lockstep on September’s rate hike, even as the crew was less unanimous...more
10/18/2018
/ CEOs ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Executives ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Currency Manipulation ,
Data Breach ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Forex ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
FSOC ,
Insurance Industry ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Libor ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Martin Act ,
Prudential ,
Retail Market ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SIFIs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trans-Pacific Partnership ,
U.S. Treasury
In order to comply with European antitrust rulings against it earlier this year, Google announced that for the first time it will begin charging telephone handset manufacturers to install Gmail, Google Maps, and other popular...more
10/17/2018
/ Android ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Audi ,
Automotive Industry ,
Banks ,
Capital Raising ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debt ,
Debt Ceiling ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Earnings Reports ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fees ,
Germany ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Lyft ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Devices ,
Nasdaq ,
NYSE ,
RMBS ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sharing Economy ,
Tesla ,
Twitter ,
Uber ,
Volkswagen ,
White Collar Crimes
Sears marked the end of an era today, as the store that “more than a century ago pioneered the strategy of selling everything to everyone” filed for bankruptcy protection early this morning....more
10/15/2018
/ Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commodities Traders ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
Fraud ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Italy ,
Prudential ,
Retailers ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
SIFIs ,
SoftBank ,
Spoofing ,
Tesla ,
Theranos ,
White Collar Crimes
Walmart’s retail efforts to keep pace with Amazon are well documented. Now it appears that the company’s refusing to concede the entertainment space, either, as evidenced by its new partnerships with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and...more
10/12/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Blockchain ,
Earnings Reports ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Housing Market ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
Journalists ,
Monsanto ,
Mortgages ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Punitive Damages ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wal-Mart
Google has announced plans to shutter Google Plus, its “floundering answer to Facebook,” following the discovery of a security vulnerability that “exposed the private data of up to 500,000 users of the service.” Google...more
10/9/2018
/ 21st Century Fox ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disney ,
Google ,
Hackers ,
Hedge Funds ,
Identity Theft ,
Insider Trading ,
Netflix ,
Papa John's International ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Surveillance ,
Takeover Bids ,
Tariffs
Blink, and it’s Jobs Report Friday again. Where does the time go? Here’s what we’re watching for in the numbers....more
10/5/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Barnes and Noble ,
Bond Markets ,
Bonuses ,
Campbell Soup Company ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Development ,
Elon Musk ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Electric ,
Hedge Funds ,
Italy ,
Job Creation ,
Minimum Wage ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Stock Options ,
Tesla ,
Unemployment ,
Wage and Hour ,
White Collar Crimes
Amazon announced yesterday that it will immediately raise the minimum wage it pays to all 250,000 of its employees (and the 100k it plans to hire for the holiday season) to at least $15/hour, more than double the current...more
10/3/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Competition ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Data Breach ,
E-Cigarettes ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Global Warming ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Internal Controls ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Minimum Wage ,
Music Streaming ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Redaction ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector ,
Tesla ,
Toys R Us ,
Unemployment ,
Wage and Hour ,
Zurich America Insurance Co.
More on the rather shocking departure of John Flannery from GE, the Board that didn’t want to give him any more leash for his turnaround plans, and the future of the embattled corporate giant under Larry Culp....more
10/2/2018
/ Banks ,
Canada ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exports ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services and Markets Act ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
General Electric ,
IMF ,
Imports ,
Insider Trading ,
Instagram ,
Investment Opportunities ,
IRS ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
PayPal ,
Resignation ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Tax Fraud ,
Tesco ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
Though he was apparently ready to go with his “verbal agreement with the Saudis” defense, Elon Musk capitulated to pressure “from his lawyers and investors of Tesla” and agreed to resolve all SEC allegations of wrongdoing,...more
10/1/2018
/ 3-D Technology ,
Automotive Industry ,
Board of Directors ,
Canada ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Financial Institutions ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Gender Equity ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
General Electric ,
Hackers ,
Housing Market ,
Internal Controls ,
Libor ,
Marijuana ,
NAFTA ,
Procter & Gamble ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Social Media ,
SoftBank ,
Solar Energy ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
Twitter ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
Hard to imagine that any financial news could come close to making headlines on Thursday, and yet, the SEC and Elon Musk came close. Specifically, the SEC filed suit against Musk, accusing him of “making false public...more
9/28/2018
/ Bribery ,
Comcast ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corruption ,
Derivatives ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disney ,
Elon Musk ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Google ,
Hulu ,
IRS ,
Japan ,
KPMG ,
Libor ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Meal and Entertainment Expenditures ,
Misleading Statements ,
New Guidance ,
Petrobras ,
Public Statements ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Student Loans ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
White Collar Crimes
In January 2017, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma was proudly promising to create 1 million jobs in America—a heady promise but one not unthinkable given Alibaba’s massive scale. Fast forward 20 months and a growing Sino-American...more
9/21/2018
/ Alibaba ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Bear Sterns ,
Big Data ,
CBS ,
CFTC ,
Competition Authorities ,
Corporate Bonds ,
Data Collection ,
Data-Sharing ,
Email ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Job Creation ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Market Manipulation ,
Money Laundering ,
NYSE ,
On-Demand Services ,
Payment Processors ,
PayPal ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Resignation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Severance Pay ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Spoofing ,
Uber ,
UK ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
“Pot is the new crypto,” declares Bloomberg, and if you’ve seen how the virtual currencies are faring these days, that should be a warning and not a selling point....more
9/20/2018
/ 21st Century Fox ,
Administrative Appointments ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bank of America ,
Comcast ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Collection ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Marijuana ,
Money Laundering ,
Nominations ,
Philanthropy ,
Resignation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
Even while we’ve spent that past few weeks looking back at the origins of the 2008 financial crisis a decade later, market watchers are keeping an eye on the roots of the next one that “might already be taking hold.”...more
9/17/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Citigroup ,
Corporate Governance ,
Debt ,
Financial Crisis ,
FinTech ,
High Frequency Trading ,
Imports ,
Investment Fraud ,
Loans ,
OCC ,
Salesforce ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Special Purpose National Bank Charter ,
Student Loans ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
Incoming Goldman CEO David Solomon has chosen his top deputies, settling on investment banking vets John Waldron (49) and Stephen Scherr (54) as his president/COO and CFO, respectively, and signaling the firm’s shift away...more
9/14/2018
/ AIG ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Campbell Soup Company ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Crisis ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
The SEC has taken its first enforcement action against a hedge fund over its cryptocurrency investments—namely, falsely holding itself out as the “first regulated fund in the U.S. focused on crypto assets.” It also targeted a...more
9/12/2018
/ Apple ,
Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Job Creation ,
Misclassification ,
Mobile Devices ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sprint ,
State Labor Laws ,
T-Mobile ,
Telecommunications ,
Token Sales ,
Trade Relations ,
Uber ,
Unemployment ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whistleblowers
Markets are joining the American mid-Atlantic and East Coast in bracing for Hurricane Florence and the estimated $27 billion in damages it could bring with it....more
9/11/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Alibaba ,
Automotive Industry ,
CBS ,
Corporate Culture ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Crisis ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Leadership ,
Mobile Apps ,
Pinterest ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Tone At The Top ,
Volvo
As expected based on buzz from late last week, longtime CBS chief Les Moonves is out at the network he’s led for more than 20 years. While his exit has been in the works for some time, a report out yesterday detailing new...more
9/10/2018
/ Alibaba ,
Banking Sector ,
CBS ,
Citigroup ,
Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Ether ,
EU ,
Financial Crisis ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Google ,
Job Creation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Pump and Dump ,
Resignation ,
Right to Be Forgotten ,
Search Engines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unemployment
The FBI and OCC have each launched inquiries into pricing practices within American Express’s forex unit with an aim to determine “whether the foreign-exchange international payments department misrepresented pricing to...more
9/6/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Aetna ,
American Express ,
CBS ,
China ,
CIGNA ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
CVS ,
Deregulation ,
Emerging Markets ,
Facebook ,
FBI ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Forex ,
Imports ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Libor ,
OCC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Tariffs ,
Theranos ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Twitter ,
US Trade Policies
Coke is buying British coffee-shop chain Costa for $5.1 billion, as the coffee wars just keep on chugging. Costa has 3800 stores in 32 countries and “a foothold in China,” making Coke an instant player in the field....more
8/31/2018
/ Annuities ,
Argentina ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bias ,
China ,
Coca Cola ,
Emerging Markets ,
EU ,
Google ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investors ,
MasterCard ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Online Advertisements ,
Private Company Shares ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes ,
WTO
Following yesterday’s US/Mexico trade announcement, Canada’s wasting little time in getting back to the table with the US on revised Nafta talks...more
8/29/2018
/ Bonds ,
Canada ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Data Collection ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Relations ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Imports ,
Insider Trading ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Mexico ,
Moody's ,
NAFTA ,
OCC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Yahoo!
So about that whole going private thing. Change of plans for Elon & co. Here’s the inside scoop on the reversal...more
8/27/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Bitcoin ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Conglomerates ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Elon Musk ,
ETFs ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Investment ,
Korea ,
Mexico ,
Minority Shareholders ,
NAFTA ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency ,
White Collar Crimes
A lot of the furor over Elon Musk’s recent “going private” tweets has centered on whether he actually had the financial backing needed to pull it off. The Times sets aside that initial inquiry to explore the why and how,...more
8/24/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Bribery ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Elon Musk ,
Embezzlement ,
Emerging Markets ,
Fannie Mae ,
FHFA ,
Financial Markets ,
Freddie Mac ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Housing Market ,
Liquidation ,
Lucia v SEC ,
Microsoft ,
Mortgages ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Software ,
Tesla ,
Toys R Us ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
White Collar Crimes
Here’s all you need to know from the Fed minutes released yesterday, including next month’s rate increase, an apparent plan to continue rate hikes at their gradual pace (unless White House trade policies “scramble their...more
8/23/2018
/ Auto Insurance ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Citigroup ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Fiat ,
Forex ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Market Manipulation ,
Price Manipulation ,
Putative Class Actions ,
S&P ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Options ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency