Friday remarks from Fed Chair Powell in Zurich confirmed the central bank’s dedication to keeping the US economic expansion on track and appear to have signaled the Fed’s plan to cut interest rates for a second time this...more
9/9/2019
/ Apple ,
Big Tech ,
British Airways ,
China ,
COPPA ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Employee Rights ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Investigations ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
iPhone ,
Job Creation ,
Job Market ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Opioid ,
OxyContin ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Public Offerings ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Strike ,
Temporary Employees ,
Unemployment ,
YouTube
Google will pay a “record $170 million fine and make changes to protect children’s privacy on YouTube” as part of a deal it reached this week with the FTC and NY AG’s office, both of whom had accused YouTube of “violating the...more
9/5/2019
/ Aetna ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Clearing Agencies ,
Compliance ,
COPPA ,
CVS ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disney ,
Economic Downturn ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Health Insurance ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Star Wars ,
State Attorneys General ,
Stock Options ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
UK ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo ,
YouTube
The CBO sent shivers down the spines of deficit hawks yesterday with its latest forecast that shows federal cost overruns hitting $1 trillion for fiscal 2020, an increase of more than $100 billion from projections just 3...more
8/24/2019
/ Alibaba ,
Bonds ,
Capital Gains ,
CBO Report ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Downturn ,
Employment Tax ,
Executive Compensation ,
Germany ,
Hedge Funds ,
Hong Kong ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Job Creation ,
Oil & Gas ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Senate Banking Committee ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Wells Fargo
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 new report out Tuesday from the Food & Drug Administration reveals that drug maker Novartis “concealed manipulated data” from the agency “while applying for approval of an extremely expensive gene therapy treatment and then...more
8/7/2019
/ Asia Pacific ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Currency Manipulation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disney ,
ESPN ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Genetic Materials ,
Global Economy ,
HUD ,
Hulu ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
MasterCard ,
Netflix ,
Novartis ,
Payment Processors ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Retailers ,
RMBS ,
Trade Wars ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UBS
Last week’s wild economic ride combined with China’s currency-devaluing response (and, arguably, months more of trade-war-driven global uncertainty) led to the worst day on Wall Street since last December, with the Dow...more
8/6/2019
/ China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Currency Manipulation ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Currency ,
Grand Juries ,
Imports ,
Marriott ,
Media ,
Money Services Business ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Publishers ,
Quarterly Report ,
Subpoenas ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Tyson Foods ,
US Trade Policies
The European Central Bank announced on Thursday that is likely to revive the quantitative easing program aimed at “pump[ing] money into the region’s financial system,” a major reversal from just 6 months ago, when the ECB...more
7/26/2019
/ Airports ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Cancer ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Debt Collectors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Facebook ,
GDP ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Monsanto ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Quantitative Easing ,
Quarterly Report ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
The announcement itself isn’t a shock, but given the potential players, it’s headline-worthy anyway: the DOJ announced yesterday that it’s officially opening an antitrust probe into Big Tech companies and “whether they had...more
7/24/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Banks ,
Big Tech ,
Bonds ,
China ,
DaimlerChrysler ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Financial Transactions ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
Living Will ,
Money Laundering ,
Sharing Economy ,
Snapchat ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies
The big takeaway from Day 1 of Fed Chair Powell’s Congressional testimony is that a July rate cut is still definitely on the table, despite last week’s strong US jobs numbers. As the Times puts it, “That the Fed is...more
7/11/2019
/ 1MDB ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
Capital Raising ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
France ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Huawei ,
Illegal Tipping ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Insider Trading ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Regulation A ,
S&P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sexual Assault ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UNESCO ,
Unfair Trade Practices Act ,
White Collar Crimes
Lots more details on what turned out to be something of a bloodbath for Deutsche Bank employees around the world, with the bank starting to make good yesterday on its plans to cut nearly 18,000 employees worldwide – NYTimes...more
7/9/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
China ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Debt ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Global Economy ,
Innovative Technology ,
Investment Funds ,
Layoffs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Software ,
UK ,
Volkswagen
The US and China agreed to resume trade talks after a 7-week hiatus, “averting for now an escalation of their multibillion-dollar tariff war that has roiled global markets and threatened the future of the world’s two largest...more
7/1/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deportation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Exports ,
Franchisee ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Reform ,
Imports ,
Internships ,
Martin Shkreli ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Semiconductors ,
Subway ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Theranos ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
US Trade Policies ,
YouTube
The DOJ has jumped on board claims made in existing civil class-action lawsuits and is considering criminal price-fixing charges against “some of the biggest American poultry companies, including Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s...more
6/27/2019
/ Activist Investors ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Data-Sharing ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Facebook ,
Food Supply ,
G20 ,
Google ,
Imports ,
Oil & Gas ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
Price-Fixing ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Tyson Foods ,
US Trade Policies
Some U.S. tech firms are finding ways to get around the White House’s Huawei no fly zone, with Micron, Qualcomm, and Intel leading the way...more
6/26/2019
/ AbbVie ,
Allergan Inc ,
Aviation Industry ,
BuzzFeed ,
Capital Markets ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Commodities ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Fashion Industry ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
G20 ,
Huawei ,
Insider Trading ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Mitsubishi ,
National Security ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Spoofing ,
Stock Prices ,
Supply Chain ,
Telecommunications ,
UBS
Massive pharma news to start the day, with AbbVie announcing that it’s reached a deal to buy Allergan for roughly $63 billion. The tie-up is seen as giving AbbVie a “dominant position in the $8 billion-plus market for Botox...more
6/25/2019
/ AbbVie ,
Allergan Inc ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Bank Fraud ,
Banks ,
Bonds ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
EURIBOR ,
Federal Reserve ,
Google ,
HELOC ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
Japan ,
Nissan ,
NYDFS ,
Oil & Gas ,
Opioid ,
Pipelines ,
RMBS ,
S&P ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals ,
UBS ,
White Collar Crimes
Well, that was short lived. FiatChrysler broke news late yesterday that it’s withdrawing its offer to merge with France’s Renault, mere weeks after the companies bowled over the auto world with the proposal. Fiat blamed the...more
6/6/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Aircraft Sales ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Boeing ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Development ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fiat ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mexico ,
New Rules ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Volkswagen ,
Wall Street
Much more on the suddenly hot topic of Big Tech antitrust oversight, including a negotiated agreement among regulators that will see the DOJ handling Apple and Google while the Federal Trade Commission will take on Facebook...more
6/4/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Development ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fiat ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
France ,
General Motors ,
Google ,
Government Investigations ,
Insider Trading ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Mexico ,
NYDFS ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Renault-Nissan ,
SAC Capital ,
SCOTUS ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration
The DOJ is considering joining its European counterparts in targeting Google for potential antitrust violations focused on Google’s “advertising practices and influence in the online advertising industry,” possibly including...more
6/3/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apartments ,
Apple ,
Biotechnology ,
China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Google ,
Imports ,
India ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Influencers ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Martin Shkreli ,
Mesothelioma ,
Mexico ,
Online Advertisements ,
Punitive Damages ,
Real Estate Market ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Search Engines ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Volkswagen
Recent San Francisco-federal court decisions from Judge Vince Chhabria suggest that the “dozens” of lawsuits accusing Facebook of violating users’ privacy for its own profit (many of which stemmed from the Cambridge Analytica...more
5/30/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Agribusiness ,
Bond Markets ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Commodities ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Ericsson ,
Facebook ,
Farms ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiat ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Global Economy ,
Huawei ,
Nokia ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Social Media ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wireless Industry ,
Wireless Technology
Deutsche Bank on Wednesday confirmed the basics of a recent German newspaper report that revealed that the bank “had used faulty software to screen customer transactions for suspicious activity” while claiming that “no...more
5/23/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Android ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Avon ,
BSA/AML ,
Cosmetics ,
Data Management ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
General Electric ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Investment Banks ,
Investment Fraud ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Real Estate Brokers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smartphones ,
Software ,
Theresa May ,
UK Brexit ,
Wireless Industry
True, the economic headwinds weren’t its fault, but boy—not a banner debut for Uber after years of speculation and waiting....more
5/13/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Bank Fraud ,
China ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Debt Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dividends ,
Economic Development ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Flex-Time Policies ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SoftBank ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Uber ,
US Trade Policies ,
Volkswagen
Amazingly, April’s gone and it’s Jobs Report Friday again. Here’s what to look for in the numbers – Bloomberg and NYTimes and WSJ...more
5/4/2019
/ Bonds ,
Bribery ,
Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
Capital Raising ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Libor ,
Money Laundering ,
Opioid ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Racketeering ,
Swiss Banks ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration ,
Tumblr ,
UBS ,
Yahoo!
Elon Musk and the SEC have reached an agreement to revise their earlier agreement to settle the latest round of issues caused by Musk’s Twitter habit. Under its terms, a Tesla securities attorney must now “preapprove any of...more
4/29/2019
/ Agribusiness ,
Apple ,
Chevron ,
Commerzbank ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Elon Musk ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exports ,
Farms ,
Financial Markets ,
Ford Motor ,
Germany ,
HSBC ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Occidental Petroleum ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Slack ,
Social Media ,
Takeover Bids ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Twitter ,
Unicorns
A quick check-in with Fed Chair Powell, the man trying to help keep the US economy humming—a hard enough job as it is, but one made much tougher by a White House that hasn’t been shy about voicing its near-constant...more
4/15/2019
/ Apple ,
Danske Bank ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emulex Corp. v Varjabedian ,
Exports ,
False Statements ,
Farm Animals ,
Federal Reserve ,
General Electric ,
KPMG ,
Money Laundering ,
Omissions ,
Ownership of Works ,
Patents ,
Qualcomm ,
Subprime Mortgages ,
Tender Offers ,
Trans-Pacific Partnership ,
Trump Administration ,
Waste Management ,
White Collar Crimes
As a mid-April blizzard again sucks all light (and life and hope) in the world away from us in the North, it feels like an awfully appropriate time to recognize the team of astronomers and other scientists (including Dr....more
4/11/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Banks ,
Capital Raising ,
CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Committee ,
FRB ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Lyft ,
Sharing Economy ,
Software Developers ,
Spoofing ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit
Pinterest has set a price range of $15 to $17 a share for its IPO roadshow today that “will value the company below its last private-market peg of $12 billion.” The company also plans to attempt “the sunset version of...more
4/8/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Aetna ,
Australia ,
Boeing ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Corporate Bonds ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
CVS ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Evidentiary Hearings ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Federal Reserve ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Job Creation ,
Money Laundering ,
Pinterest ,
Spoofing ,
Startups ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies