Nearly two years after the European Union’s top court overturned a transatlantic agreement regulating data flows between the U.S. and the EU after finding American “safeguards on Europeans’ data to be insufficient,” President...more
The European Union is putting the final touches on its latest landmark digital legislation, the Digital Markets Act—one of “the world’s most far-reaching laws to address the power of the biggest tech companies.” The DMA is...more
Already at the forefront of personal privacy rules, European regulators are looking to extend their focus in an effort to protect small businesses with proposed legislation called the Data Act. The measure, as the Journal...more
In a blow to Google and the rest of Big Tech, an EU appeals court has refused to “overturn a landmark antitrust ruling by European regulators” from 2017 over Google’s alleged “preferential treatment to its own...more
11/10/2021
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Big Tech ,
Competition ,
DoorDash ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
NYDFS ,
OK Supreme Court ,
Opioid ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Public Nuisance ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Technology Sector ,
Tesla ,
Zillow
EU antitrust officials are targeting Google for “potentially abusing its dominance in the online advertising market to box out competition”—all part of a “broader push by the European authorities to clamp down on the world’s...more
Fresh off her Senate approval as newest commissioner to the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan—“a prominent critic of Big Tech”—has been named chair of the Commission. President Biden’s decision to make the 32-year-old Khan...more
6/16/2021
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Administrative Appointments ,
Aircraft ,
Biden Administration ,
China ,
Data Protection ,
EU ,
FTC Commissioners ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Insider Trading ,
Kodak ,
Lumber Industry ,
McGraw Hill ,
Retail Sales ,
Silicon Valley ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Subsidies ,
Tariffs
Sweden-based and celeb-backed oat milk company Oatly hit it big on its first day of public trading, with shares soaring 30% “as investors jumped at the chance to take part in rapid changes in the food industry driven by...more
5/21/2021
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Bitcoin ,
EU ,
Financial Markets ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Merger Agreements ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Multinationals ,
Plant Based Products ,
Railways ,
Ransomware ,
Tax Reform
Stocks fell again on Wednesday, the third day of losses in a row, and bond yields rose, spurred on by a 4.2% CPI increase as compared to a year ago. Though analysts were expecting that surge ...more
5/13/2021
/ Amazon ,
Biden Administration ,
Consumer Price Index ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Elon Musk ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
General Motors ,
Hackers ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Mexico ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Pipelines ,
Stock Prices ,
Tesla ,
Volvo
New numbers show that the U.S. economy “picked up speed last quarter,” expanding 1.6% in the first three months of the year [for an annualized 6.4%], as a mix of stimulus money and falling unemployment helped power consumer...more
4/30/2021
/ Abuse of Power ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Apple ,
Biden Administration ,
Big Data ,
Big Tech ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Growth ,
EU ,
Federal Funding ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Infrastructure ,
Mobile Apps ,
Music Streaming ,
Payment Terms ,
Renewable Energy
A Senate antitrust subcommittee hearing on Thursday turned into an airing of grievances session for smaller tech companies focusing on their issues with Apple and Google’s app stores and their “stranglehold on the business of...more
4/22/2021
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Apple ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Big Tech ,
Buyouts ,
Credit Suisse ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Ford Motor ,
Google ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
Microchip Technology ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Advertisements ,
Private Equity ,
Supply Chain
EU and British authorities unveiled new proposals this week to “crimp the power of ‘gatekeeper’ platforms like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, which policymakers argue deserve more oversight given their outsize...more
12/16/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Bonds ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Counterfeit Goods Regulation ,
Cyber Espionage ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FOMC ,
Google ,
Hate Speech ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internet Retailers ,
Investment Management ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Microsoft ,
Online Advertisements ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Relief Measures ,
Stock Markets ,
UK ,
Vanguard
Drugmaker AstraZeneca agreed on Saturday to buy biopharma company Alexion for $39 billion in cash and stock. In the deal—the “biggest by a health care company this year”—will help AstraZeneca expand into the immunology...more
12/14/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Alexion ,
Alphabet Company ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
AstraZeneca ,
Biden Administration ,
Certiorari ,
Class Certification ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Congressional Committees ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disney ,
DoorDash ,
EU ,
Gaming ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hackers ,
Housing Market ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Life Sciences ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Retail Sales ,
Russia ,
SCOTUS ,
Stock Prices ,
Trade Negotiations ,
UK Brexit
Because too much of a good thing is always trouble (especially on Wall Street), market watchers are warning of a new tech bubble after Airbnb’s monster IPO on Thursday. The home-sharing app’s shares rose more than 112% to...more
12/11/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Big Tech ,
Bitcoin ,
Bonds ,
Competition ,
Cookies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Stimulus ,
France ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
MassMutual ,
MasterCard ,
Online Platforms ,
Pornography ,
Trade Agreements ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment ,
Visa Inc
DoorDash is entering the public markets fray today with hopes of “cash[ing] in on the frenzy in initial public offerings” of late. The food-delivery company is expected to price shares “at the high end of or above its...more
12/9/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
DoorDash ,
EU ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
McDonalds ,
Movies ,
Procter & Gamble ,
Rebates ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Share Buybacks ,
SoftBank ,
Tariffs ,
Uber ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Warner Brothers Entertainment
TikTok parent ByteDance, flying under the radar as other recent events have shoved the White House’s battle with the company to the back burner, has “asked a U.S. appeals court for additional time to work out a potential...more
11/12/2020
/ Alibaba ,
Apple ,
Biden Administration ,
Boeing ,
Casinos ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Job Creation ,
Silicon Valley ,
Social Media ,
TikTok ,
Unemployment
The European Union has unveiled a new antitrust probe and accompanying charges against Amazon over alleged the “use of non-public business data from independent sellers on its marketplace that could benefit the company’s own...more
11/11/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Biden Administration ,
Big Tech ,
Boeing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Protection ,
Dow Jones ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Supply ,
Infectious Diseases ,
iPhone ,
Junk Bonds ,
Labor Law Violations ,
McDonalds ,
Nasdaq ,
Retaliatory Tariffs ,
S&P ,
SoftBank ,
Stock Prices ,
Vaccinations ,
WTO ,
Zoom®
The Justice Department on Wednesday announced an $8.3 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma as part of a deal in which the company will plead guilty to criminal charges “related to its marketing of the addictive painkiller”...more
10/22/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Boeing ,
Bonds ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
EU ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Foreign Investment ,
Google ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Opioid ,
OSHA ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Profits ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Social Networks ,
Startups ,
Tesla
The WTO—already on shaky ground with the White House—did little to endear itself on Tuesday with a decision giving the EU “permission to impose tariffs on $4 billion worth of American products annually in retaliation for...more
10/14/2020
/ 5G Network ,
Airbus ,
Aircraft ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Bank of America ,
Boeing ,
Citigroup ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
Google ,
Investment Funds ,
iPhone ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Libor ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Movie Theaters ,
Poultry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Quarterly Report ,
Retaliatory Tariffs ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tariffs ,
Theranos ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
US Trade Policies ,
WTO
Big Friday win for Apple in its ongoing battle with Epic Games, as N.D. Cal. Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Cook & Co. didn’t “need to reinstate the popular video game Fortnite in its App Store,” a blow to...more
10/12/2020
/ App Store ,
Apple ,
Bonds ,
British Airways ,
CEOs ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Economic Downturn ,
Electronic Trading ,
EPIC ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraud ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Investment ,
Layoffs ,
Main Street Lending Programs ,
Mobile Apps ,
Netflix ,
Payment Systems ,
Popular ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retailers ,
Robinhood Financial ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Small Business ,
Venmo
Here’s a fun little exercise. Pull up a chart of Tuesday's market activity, and see if you can pinpoint the exact moment the White House announced to the world that it was pulling support for another Covid stimulus bill...more
10/8/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Apple ,
Banks ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Financial Stimulus ,
General Electric ,
Google ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Monopolization ,
Relief Measures ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trade Deficit ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Notice
Palantir’s direct listing experiment generally went well yesterday, with the company’s shares beginning trading up nearly 40% from the $7.25 reference price set Tuesday evening. Fellow direct lister Asana also had a good...more
10/2/2020
/ Allstate ,
American Airlines ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Banks ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dividends ,
Donald Trump ,
Economic Downturn ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hewlett-Packard ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Joe Biden ,
Layoffs ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Political Campaigns ,
Political Candidates ,
Political Debates ,
Ransomware ,
Relief Measures ,
Secretary of the Treasury ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Share Buybacks ,
Small Business ,
Stock Prices ,
Tokyo Stock Exchange ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment ,
United Airlines
Under the terms of a deal with the DOJ announced this week, JPMorgan will pay $920 million and sign on to a deferred prosecution agreement “to resolve charges that it had manipulated markets for U.S. government bonds and...more
9/30/2020
/ Airbus ,
Boeing ,
Chevron ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Disney ,
Duke Energy ,
E-Commerce ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Financial Markets ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Layoffs ,
Lyft ,
NYSE ,
Oil & Gas ,
Retail Market ,
Royal Dutch Petroleum ,
Seasonal Workers ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Spoofing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Target ,
Tariffs ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wal-Mart ,
WTO
The White House has given its crucial imprimatur to a deal for Oracle (and Walmart) to take a stake in Chinese video app TikTok, “an agreement that will delay the U.S. government’s threat to block the popular app in the...more
9/21/2020
/ BSA/AML ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EU ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Infectious Diseases ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mobile Apps ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgages ,
National Security ,
Oracle ,
Remote Learning ,
Social Media ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Wal-Mart
The latest on the potential Oracle/TikTok deal includes news that the Treasury Department has added requirements addressing “how TikTok’s data and source code would be handled and secured” to any potential deal that the...more
9/18/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Big Data ,
Blue Bell Creameries ,
BSA/AML ,
China ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Contamination ,
Google ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Listeria ,
MetLife ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
Social Media ,
Stock Prices ,
Telecommuting ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Wal-Mart
New concerns from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission about Facebook’s protection of information from American government surveillance may soon force the social networking giant to “overhaul its operations to keep data on...more
9/10/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Fraud ,
Infrastructure ,
International Data Transfers ,
JCPenney ,
Job Creation ,
Joint Employers ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mobile Apps ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Popular ,
Railways ,
Shopping Centers ,
Social Media ,
Takeover Bids ,
Theranos ,
TikTok ,
Unemployment