The long-awaited Facebook antitrust bomb dropped on Wednesday, with the FTC and attorneys general from more than 40 states accusing Zuck & Co. of “buying up its rivals to illegally squash competition” in D.C. federal district...more
12/10/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
AT&T ,
Big Tech ,
Canada ,
Capital Raising ,
CARES Act ,
Dairy Farmers ,
Disney ,
DoorDash ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Fraud ,
General Electric ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internet Streaming ,
Monopolization ,
Movies ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Sony ,
Stock Prices ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
White Collar Crimes
A World Trade Organization panel on Tuesday declared that the U.S.’s 2018 tariffs on China “violated international trade rules,” siding with China and its allegations that the White House’s trade war broke, among other...more
9/16/2020
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Canada ,
China ,
CMBS ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FOMC ,
Heinz ,
Hotels ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Itt Educational Services ,
Kraft ,
Main Street Lending Programs ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Movie Theaters ,
Movies ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Private Student Loans ,
Retaliatory Tariffs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
US Trade Policies ,
WTO
The path for extradition of Huawei exec Meng Wanzhou is much clearer now that a Canadian court has ruled that “the conduct she is accused of in the United States, if proved, also constitutes a crime in Canada.” That...more
5/28/2020
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Canada ,
Capital One ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Breach ,
Data Management ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discovery ,
Economic Downturn ,
Elon Musk ,
Eviction ,
Extradition ,
General Electric ,
Hiring Statistics ,
Huawei ,
Lost Profits ,
NASA ,
Outer Space ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Rental Property ,
S&P ,
SpaceX ,
Telecommunications ,
Wall Street
Facebook has agreed to pay $550 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit claiming that Zuck & Co.’s use of facial recognition technology violated Illinois’ biometric privacy law. Though the settlement is little more than “a...more
1/30/2020
/ Airplane Accidents ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Aviation Industry ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Boeing ,
Broadcom ,
Canada ,
Class Action ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Electronic Data Transmissions ,
EU ,
European Parliament ,
Facebook ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
FDIC ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Interest Rates ,
iPhone ,
Loans ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Mexico ,
Microchip Technology ,
OCC ,
Patent Infringement ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Pyramid Schemes ,
Quarterly Report ,
Smartphones ,
Social Media ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Statutory Violations ,
Stock Prices ,
Tesla ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wifi ,
Withdrawal Agreement
As it kicked off its 50th annual gathering today, the World Economic Forum in Davos is facing some hard questions—both about the state of the ideals it has long espoused (“open borders, liberal democracy and free borders,” to...more
1/21/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Automotive Industry ,
Aviation Industry ,
Banks ,
BlackRock ,
Boeing ,
Canada ,
Capital Markets ,
China ,
Citibank ,
Climate Change ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Extradition ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Fraud ,
Global Economy ,
Huawei ,
IMF ,
India ,
Insider Trading ,
International Relations ,
Investment ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Social Media ,
Telecommunications ,
Tesla ,
Transparency ,
World Economic Forum
While there’s plenty of other business afoot in D.C. these days, it also happens to have been a pretty big week for trade deals. A day after Phase One with China was inked, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a revised...more
1/17/2020
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Bayer ,
Business Valuations ,
Canada ,
Cancer ,
Comcast ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Relations ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Germany ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
Imports ,
International Trade Disputes ,
Internet Streaming ,
Mexico ,
Monsanto ,
NAFTA ,
Online Advertisements ,
Pesticides ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Raids ,
Social Media ,
Stock Markets ,
Stock Prices ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Trade Negotiations ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
WhatsApp ,
WTO
U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are “laying the groundwork for a delay of a fresh round of tariffs set to kick in on Dec. 15” as the countries continue to work through how a Chinese promise to make huge ag purchases from...more
12/11/2019
/ Bank Fraud ,
Canada ,
Chevron ,
China ,
CIGNA ,
Climate Change ,
Commodities ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Exports ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Farms ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FOMC ,
For Profit Colleges ,
Fraudulent Marketing ,
Imports ,
Interest Rates ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Martin Act ,
Mexico ,
Misleading Statements ,
Notice and Comment ,
Oil & Gas ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Statutory Violations ,
Student Loans ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UBS ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies
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
Kraft Heinz dropped a double-whammy on investors on Thursday, announcing a $15 billion charge against its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands and revealing news of an SEC subpoena related to the company’s accounting practices....more
2/22/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Accounting Fraud ,
Asbestos ,
Baby Products ,
Banks ,
Canada ,
Cancer ,
Case Consolidation ,
China ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Danske Bank ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Ford Motor ,
Google ,
Heinz ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Kraft ,
Mesothelioma ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Pinterest ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Standard Chartered Bank ,
Tariffs ,
Toxic Exposure ,
US Trade Policies
Qatar and ExxonMobil are teaming up on a $10 billion natural gas investment plan in Texas and America’s growing status as an LNG exporting power....more
2/6/2019
/ Banks ,
Barclays ,
Benchmarks ,
Canada ,
Cartels ,
China ,
Commodities ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Digital Currency ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Projects ,
EURIBOR ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Federal Reserve ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Market Manipulation ,
Nasdaq ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
OPEC ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Qatar ,
Russia ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stress Tests ,
Transparency ,
Unemployment
Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn problems now extend to the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a probe into the accuracy of the company’s financial disclosures and internal controls....more
1/28/2019
/ Audits ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Canada ,
China ,
Facebook ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Financial Statements ,
Government Shutdown ,
Huawei ,
Instagram ,
Internal Controls ,
Job Creation ,
KPMG ,
Next Generation ,
Nissan ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
Vodafone ,
WhatsApp
British lawmakers are voting today on Theresa May’s updated Brexit plan, and by all accounts, it’s been a mad dash for the Prime Minister in recent weeks to shore up support for a plan “that could go down to a humiliating...more
1/15/2019
/ Canada ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hemp ,
Housing Market ,
IRS ,
Malaysia ,
Marijuana ,
Mortgages ,
PG&E ,
Publishers ,
RMBS ,
UK Brexit ,
Utilities Sector ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wildfires
After a brutal Tuesday, the White House tried to take advantage of yesterday’s market day off to run some damage control “and ease concerns that [the] trade truce with China was already floundering.” I suspect we’ll find out...more
12/6/2018
/ AIG ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Canada ,
CBS ,
China ,
Corporate Culture ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Huawei ,
PayPal ,
RMBS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Takeovers ,
UK ,
Venture Capital ,
Wells Fargo
Wall Street apparently views a divided Congress as a good thing (think less chance of tighter regulation), and it celebrated by pushing the Dow up 500 points and jumping back into tech stocks....more
11/8/2018
/ BlackRock ,
Canada ,
Citibank ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Executives ,
Cybersecurity ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Exxon Mobil ,
FCC ,
Financial Markets ,
General Elections ,
Germany ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Net Neutrality ,
OCC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
Stock Prices ,
Stocks ,
Tax Fraud ,
Technology Sector ,
Tesla ,
Wells Fargo
Markets took a beating yesterday, with investors apparently put off by tech stocks, tensions with China, a recent jump in interest rates and government bond yields, and a tightening Fed monetary policy....more
10/11/2018
/ Aetna ,
Automotive Industry ,
Barclays ,
Canada ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Citibank ,
Competition ,
CVS ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Notify ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Investment ,
Forex ,
Google ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Money Laundering ,
National Security ,
Printed Publications ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
SoftBank ,
Starbucks ,
Technology Sector ,
Volkswagen ,
Wall Street ,
White Collar Crimes
Honda is joining forces with General Motors in an effort to win the race to develop self-driving cars through a $750 million stake in GM’s Cruise Holdings autonomous vehicle unit. The Japanese carmaker plans to contribute a...more
10/4/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
Barnes and Noble ,
Canada ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Deutsche Bank ,
eBay ,
EU ,
Federal Student Loans ,
General Motors ,
Honda ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Mexico ,
Navient ,
No-Poaching ,
Offerings ,
Presidential Elections ,
Public Employees ,
Spyware ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Vulnerability Assessments ,
White Collar Crimes
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
To no one’s surprise, the Fed followed through with its months of promises and raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points yesterday. The FOMC also indicated that it’s planning to raise rates again in December....more
9/27/2018
/ 21st Century Fox ,
Agricultural Sector ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bailout ,
Benchmarks ,
Blockchain ,
CalPERS ,
Canada ,
CFTC ,
Collateralized Loan Obligations ,
Comcast ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dairy Farmers ,
Data Breach ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
FOMC ,
Hong Kong ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
Japan ,
Junk Bonds ,
Leveraged Lending ,
NAFTA ,
Pensions ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sharing Economy ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
US Trade Policies ,
USDA ,
Virtual Currency
Big tech (including Facebook, Google [theoretically], and Twitter) is heading back to the Hill (with @jack pulling double-duty, because that’s how he rolls). Here’s what to expect today based on their prepared testimony....more
9/5/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Argentina ,
Banking Sector ,
Canada ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Fines ,
Corruption ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emerging Markets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Google ,
Insurance Industry ,
Market Manipulation ,
Money Laundering ,
NAFTA ,
Settlement ,
Spoofing ,
State Farm ,
Stock Prices ,
Trade Relations ,
Twitter ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
A mix of corporate tax cuts and a strong economy helped propel US corporate profits to a 16.1% year-over-year gain, the best figure in 6 years...more
8/30/2018
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Automotive Industry ,
Barclays ,
Bond Markets ,
Business Profits ,
Campbell Soup Company ,
Canada ,
CFTC ,
Citibank ,
Class Action ,
Conspiracies ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Credit Ratings ,
Derivatives ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Farms ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Relations ,
Income Taxes ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
ISDAfix ,
Market Manipulation ,
Moody's ,
Pending Legislation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
State and Local Government ,
Steel Industry ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies
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!
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is undoubtedly breathing a sigh of relief on news out of the UK yesterday that Uber will regain its taxi license in London—a “crucial victory for efforts by its new chief executive to revamp the...more
6/27/2018
/ Amazon ,
American Express ,
Bank of America ,
Canada ,
Class Action ,
ConAgra ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Credit Cards ,
Eskom ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
General Electric ,
Harley-Davidson ,
Imports ,
Investment Fraud ,
Lending ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Ridesharing ,
Small Business ,
South Africa ,
Spotify ,
State Street ,
Steel Industry ,
Stress Tests ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Uber ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies
A political crisis in Rome has economics [at least partially] and EU commitment at its core and is reminding some observers of the Greece morass of a few years back. The uncertainty the situation’s creating is not expected to...more
5/29/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
Canada ,
Chrysler ,
Coinbase ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Breach ,
Digital Currency ,
Director Mulvaney ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EU ,
Fiat ,
Fidelity Investments ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Global Market ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Italy ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Retail Market ,
RICO ,
Sun Capital Partners ,
Volcker Rule
With Davos 2018 in the rear view mirror, some analysts are pegging the “geopolitical momentum” as China’s to claim, thanks in no small part to its expansive and ongoing “Belt and Road” initiative....more
1/29/2018
/ Alibaba ,
Arbitration ,
BNP Paribas ,
Canada ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybertheft ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Foreign Relations ,
Forex ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Global Economy ,
Infrastructure ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) ,
Lenovo ,
Mexico ,
Morgan Stanley ,
NAFTA ,
RMBS ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Trading Platforms ,
World Economic Forum