More good economic news in the U.S. this week, with first-time jobless claims falling to 613k, a decrease of more than 150,000 from a week earlier and the lowest level of the pandemic. ...more
4/16/2021
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CBS ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Dow Jones ,
Economic Growth ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Markets ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Music Industry ,
Retail Sales ,
Robinhood Financial ,
Securities Regulation ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Stock Prices ,
Unemployment ,
Unions
Surging bond yields raised fears that government, consumer, and business spending could become more expensive, leading to a “tumultuous day in financial markets” that prompted some to blame the Fed for not expressing...more
2/26/2021
/ AirBnB ,
AT&T ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Bonds ,
Budget Reconciliation ,
Class Action ,
Data Collection ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Financial Markets ,
Kentucky Fried Chicken ,
McDonalds ,
Minimum Wage ,
Pizza Hut ,
Plant Based Products ,
Startups ,
TikTok ,
Twitter ,
Unemployment ,
Wage and Hour
Twitter will pay the Federal Trade Commission up to $250 million to “resolve new charges . . . that the social media giant breached a 2011 consent decree by using data provided for security purposes to target users with...more
8/4/2020
/ AIG ,
Argentina ,
Bank of America ,
Banks ,
BlackRock ,
Boeing ,
Bonds ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Facebook ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fraud ,
Hedge Funds ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Microsoft ,
Mortgage Escrow Account ,
Office Space ,
Online Advertisements ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Retail Market ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Social Media ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Twitter
The Fed is expected to hold rates steady as its June Open Market Committee meeting wraps today. Analysts expect that the better-than-expected May jobs numbers won’t be nearly enough for the central bank to suggest it is close...more
6/10/2020
/ 1MDB ,
Adidas ,
Airbus ,
Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Death Benefits ,
Diversity ,
Federal Reserve ,
France ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infrastructure ,
Insolvency ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Life Insurance ,
MetLife ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Mobile Apps ,
Movie Theaters ,
Race Discrimination ,
Race Relations ,
Resignation ,
S&P ,
Stock Prices ,
White Collar Crimes
The DOJ has begun the prosecutorial phase of its chicken price-fixing investigation with a one-count indictment accusing current and former senior execs at Pilgrim’s Pride and Claxton Poultry Farms—including their current...more
6/4/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Banks ,
Bias ,
Bonds ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
European Central Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Interest Rates ,
Layoffs ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Oracle ,
Overdraft Fees ,
Payday Loans ,
Price-Fixing ,
Relief Measures ,
Unemployment ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Vulnerable Victims ,
Warner Music Group
A proposed class action filed in federal court in California on Tuesday accuses Google of “surreptitiously amass[ing] billions of bits of information—every day—about internet users even if they opt out of sharing their...more
6/3/2020
/ Cancer ,
CARES Act ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Facebook ,
Google ,
Microsoft ,
Monsanto ,
Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ,
Police Brutality ,
Protests ,
Slack ,
Twitter ,
Zoom®
California has sued ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft over alleged violations of a new state law that requires companies to treat gig workers as employees “if they control how workers perform tasks or if the work is a...more
5/6/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Bonds ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Costco ,
Data Selling ,
Employee Definition ,
European Central Bank ,
FinTech ,
Food Supply ,
Germany ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
Navient ,
Personal Data ,
Private Equity ,
Relief Measures ,
Retail Market ,
Stock Exchange ,
Student Loans ,
Supply Chain ,
Uber ,
Venmo ,
Wendy's
All is not coming up aces for Masa Son and his faltering SoftBank empire, which warned investors on Monday of a coming $16.7 billion loss to its landmark Vision Fund, the tech-focused venture that’s been hammered by “the...more
4/15/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Business Interruption ,
CARES Act ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Digital Wallets ,
Economic Downturn ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Farms ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Supply ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
LinkedIn ,
Mortgages ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
PayPal ,
Roku ,
Smithfield Foods ,
SoftBank ,
Supply Chain ,
Unemployment ,
Zoom®
The pandemic is bringing rivals Apple and Google together in an effort to develop a system for “tracking through Bluetooth technology the contacts of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, a method the tech giants...more
4/13/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Business Closures ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Downturn ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Farms ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
Instagram ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Russia ,
Saudi Arabia ,
School Closures ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommuting ,
Trading Policies ,
Unemployment Benefits
A stark warning from the Centers for Disease Control that Americans should prepare for a COVID-19 outbreak sent stocks tumbling again on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 closing down 3% (and firmly in the red for the year) by the...more
2/26/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
CEOs ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Breach ,
Derivative Suit ,
Disney ,
Equifax ,
Financial Markets ,
Franchises ,
Grocery Stores ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Investors ,
Joint Employers ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
NLRB ,
Panasonic ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Resignation ,
Salesforce ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Solar Energy ,
Solar Panels ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Stock Prices ,
Tesla
Newly released minutes from the Fed’s January meeting show central bankers preoccupied with global risks, including the still-growing economic impact of the coronavirus, while still taking a wait-and-see approach to any...more
2/20/2020
/ 401k ,
Appraisal ,
Bank of America ,
CEOs ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Countrywide ,
Cyber Threats ,
Economic Injuries ,
Elon Musk ,
Employee Benefits ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fidelity Investments ,
Financial Reporting ,
Financial Services Industry ,
France ,
Fraud ,
Global Market ,
Government Investigations ,
Huawei ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment ,
Junk Bonds ,
Mortgages ,
NDAA ,
Presidential Pardons ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Retirement Plan ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Solar Energy ,
Startups ,
Supply Chain ,
Telecommunications ,
Token Sales ,
Trump Administration ,
UBS ,
White Collar Crimes ,
ZTE
Volvo’s owner, Li Shufu, is mulling over a move to combine the carmaker with his publicly traded Geely Automobile Holdings—a play that would take Volvo public and “unify the bulk of billionaire Li’s growing stable of...more
2/10/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Automotive Industry ,
Aviation Industry ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Reporting ,
Ford Motor ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Investment Fraud ,
IRS ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Municipalities ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Safe Harbors ,
Settlement ,
Small Business ,
Software ,
Stock Prices ,
Stock Sale Agreements ,
UAW ,
Union Dues ,
Volvo ,
White Collar Crimes
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
Sunday’s release of a long-awaited Labor Department final rule on joint employment spells trouble for workers hoping to “sue large companies for wrongdoing by contractors or franchisees.” The rule reverses Obama-era policies...more
1/13/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Alphabet Company ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bench Trial ,
Boeing ,
CEOs ,
Class Action ,
Climate Change ,
Controlling Employer ,
Corporate Culture ,
Cybersecurity ,
Damages ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Compensation ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FinTech ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
General Motors ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Internal Communications ,
Investment Fraud ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Nissan ,
Oil & Gas ,
Online Banking ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Resignation ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Socially Responsible Investments ,
Software ,
Startups ,
UK ,
USAA ,
Vulnerability Assessments ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wells Fargo ,
Workplace Romances
Home speaker maker Sonos has sued Google, accusing the company of “infringing on five of its patents, including technology that lets wireless speakers connect and synchronize with one another.” Sonos had originally partnered...more
1/8/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Boeing ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CEOs ,
Class Action ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
DaimlerChrysler ,
Data Breach ,
Demotions ,
Digital Taxes ,
Distributors ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
France ,
Franchises ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Hostile Environment ,
Imports ,
Insider Trading ,
Institutional Investors ,
International Tax Issues ,
Local Revenues ,
McDonalds ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Non-Public Information ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
Safety Training ,
Search Engines ,
Securities Violations ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wireless Technology
Because who wants a nice quiet December, right? Yesterday, the U.S. opened yet another trade war front by proposing retaliatory tariffs of up to 100% on a wide range of French imports after announcing that “it found France’s...more
12/3/2019
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Automotive Industry ,
Barclays ,
Brazil ,
China ,
Citibank ,
Class Action ,
Construction Industry ,
Corruption ,
Economic Downturn ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Emerging Markets ,
Exports ,
FCC ,
Fees ,
France ,
Fraud ,
Hong Kong ,
Hostess ,
Illegal-Subsidies ,
Imports ,
Infrastructure ,
J Crew ,
Lifeline Program ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Manufacturers ,
Money Laundering ,
NGOs ,
Quarterly Report ,
Sprint ,
Steel Industry ,
Subsidies ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wall Street ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wireless Industry
Dean Foods, the largest milk company in the U.S., has filed for bankruptcy protection, a “fresh setback to a U.S. dairy industry struggling against declining U.S. milk consumption and rising competition.” Industry experts...more
11/13/2019
/ #MeToo ,
AbbVie ,
Allergan Inc ,
Automotive Industry ,
Blockchain ,
Bonds ,
Checking Accounts ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Collection ,
Disney ,
Economic Reform ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Farms ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Google ,
Government Investigations ,
Imports ,
Internet Streaming ,
Investment ,
Loss of Income ,
Manufacturers ,
Market Manipulation ,
McDonalds ,
Nissan ,
Office Space ,
Overstock.com ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Revenue ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sharing Economy ,
Small Business ,
SoftBank ,
Stock Prices ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
Bloomberg is reporting that Walgreens Boots is weighing a potential deal “to take the company private in what could become the largest leveraged buyout in history.” PE firms like KKR are apparently in the mix to assist in the...more
11/6/2019
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
AT&T ,
Barclays ,
China ,
Citibank ,
Class Action ,
Conspiracies ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Use Policies ,
Debt Relief ,
Economic Downturn ,
Euro ,
Export Bans ,
Exports ,
Failure To Disclose ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Forex ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Investment Fraud ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mattel ,
Mortgages ,
PG&E ,
PricewaterhouseCoopers ,
Private Equity ,
RBS ,
Resignation ,
Scams ,
Solar Panels ,
SolarCity ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Tesla ,
Trade Deficit ,
Trade Wars ,
UBS ,
UK ,
Wal-Mart ,
Walgreens ,
Wireless Industry ,
Xerox
We didn’t get flop sweat Zuck, but it was still a hot seat indeed for Facebook’s founder and CEO on the Hill yesterday, who fielded a wide range of questions from Libra to political freedom of expression on his platform....more
10/24/2019
/ Airplane Accidents ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Congressional Oversight ,
Cryptocurrency ,
E-Commerce ,
Earnings Reports ,
Electric Cooperative ,
Elon Musk ,
Facebook ,
False Advertising ,
Fashion Industry ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Forever 21 ,
GAO ,
Google ,
Hedge Funds ,
Internet Retailers ,
Kellogg Company ,
Political Advertising ,
Profits ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
Social Media ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars
The White House is reportedly nearing a nationwide ban on most flavored e-cigarettes, a direct response to the recent spate of vaping-related illnesses that have affected hundreds across the country....more
9/12/2019
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Chapter 11 ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Conspiracies ,
Corporate Dissolution ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
E-Cigarettes ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Forever 21 ,
Independent Contractors ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Interest Rates ,
KPMG ,
Labor Regulations ,
Libor ,
Opioid ,
Oracle ,
OxyContin ,
Pain Management ,
Price-Fixing ,
Probation ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Retailers ,
Seafood ,
Settlement Agreements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber
A ruling this morning from South Korea’s top court means that Samsung’s de facto leader, its vice chair and chaebol heir Lee Jae-yong, could be heading back behind bars. The high court found that a lower appeals court “had...more
8/29/2019
/ Bayer ,
Bonds ,
Bribery ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forever 21 ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Monsanto ,
Mortgages ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Passive Investments ,
Popular ,
Samsung ,
South Korea ,
Treasury Markets ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
White Collar Crimes
Uber went big on Thursday. Unfortunately, for everyone (including fans of cinnamon gum and oversized gingers) it was Big Red, as the ride-hailing company posted a $5.2 billion loss for Q2—its largest ever since it began...more
8/9/2019
/ 1MDB ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Currency Fluctuation ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Records ,
Facebook ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Financial Crimes ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Heinz ,
Huawei ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Kraft ,
Malaysia ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Quarterly Report ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Reputation Management ,
Trade Wars ,
Uber
A round of internal Facebook emails produced in response to an FTC probe appear to show that the company’s “potentially problematic privacy practices” had filtered their way up to the very top of the social networking...more
6/13/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Class Action ,
Climate Change ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Facebook ,
Fannie Mae ,
Federal Reserve ,
FHFA ,
Freddie Mac ,
House Flipping ,
Huawei ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Internal Communications ,
Investment Fraud ,
Privacy Laws ,
Real Estate Market ,
Social Security ,
Telemarketing ,
Trump Administration ,
Trust Funds ,
Verizon
Amazon is prepping to execute a more permanent purge on its orders to smaller, mom & pop suppliers as part of a push to “cut costs and focus on wholesale purchasing on major brands like Procter & Gamble, Sony and Lego” in an...more
5/29/2019
/ Alibaba ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
Class Action ,
Economic Development ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Financial Markets ,
Flash Boys ,
General Motors ,
Global Economy ,
High Frequency Trading ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Nissan ,
Opioid ,
Popular ,
Recessions ,
Retail Market ,
Sears ,
Stock Exchange ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
That massive thud? That would be the other shoe dropping in the form of Chinese counter tariffs on another $60 billion in US goods in response to the White House’s trade moves last week....more
5/14/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Apple Inc v Pepper ,
Bayer ,
Cancer ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Markets ,
Imports ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment Fraud ,
iPhone ,
Loans ,
Marriott ,
Monopolization ,
Monsanto ,
Rental Property ,
SCOTUS ,
Share Price ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies