A Dutch court has backed the local Akzo Nobel in a bid by Elliot Mgmt to remove Akzo’s chairman after ignoring multiple overtures from PPG for the pain and chemicals giant. Elliot had hoped to force a special shareholder meeting, but the Dutch court rejected the move – WSJ and Bloomberg
White Collar Watch dissects the recent Deerfield Management indictments with an eye toward what it’ll take to prove insider trading over mere “political intelligence” – NYTimes
The Journal closes out Quant week with a look back 200 years at one of history’s greatest quants, David Ricardo – WSJ
Recently unveiled Theranos documents paint a picture of a Board of Directors too willing to take CEO Elizabeth Holmes at her word on the company’s purportedly revolutionary blood-testing technology – WSJ
As the Fed seeks to return to pre-recession-level “normal,” SF Fed Reserve President John Williams is predicting a “much smaller” Fed balance sheet by 5 years from now—a prognostication presumably aimed at short circuiting any taper tantrums by giving the markets plenty of notice – Bloomberg and WSJ
US credit scores are as high ask they’ve been in nearly a decade, a good sign for those hoping that improved scores will mean more available loans, more spending, and ripple effects (in a good way this time) for the rest of the economy – WSJ
Jay Clayton’s looking to bring some buddies on board with him at the SEC, and he’s starting by naming Steven Peikin as the agency’s co-director of enforcement. Peikin will join current acting enforcement chief Stephanie Avakian in the enforcement role – NYTimes
Jay and his crew could soon be taking their own crack at the retirement adviser fiduciary rule that’s currently the Labor Department’s baby – Bloomberg
Troubled Italian lender Monte Dei Paschi is reportedly in talks to unload a huge chunk of its bad loans—an important step in its restructuring plan – WSJ
It was a big weekend in London for the old alma mater this weekend, with my Academy boys taking 1st place in the Shell Eco Marathon – Star Tribune
Okay, okay, okay. The whole “millennial pink” thing has now gone too far – TheKitchn
