Bitcoin’s back (and no, it never really left), thanks to a rally this morning that pushed its value up as much as 10% at one point in early trading today. Elon Musk’s weekend tweeting and news that presumptive top NFL draft...more
4/26/2021
/ Apple ,
Banks ,
Big Tech ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Suisse ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Executive Compensation ,
Infectious Diseases ,
iPhone Tracking ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mobile Apps ,
OCC ,
On-Demand Services ,
Panasonic ,
Popular ,
Railways ,
Slander ,
Underwriting Agreements ,
Virtual Currency
New estimates from the Congressional Budget Office suggest that the “U.S. economy could take the better part of a decade to fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic and related shutdown” and see as much as a 3% contraction...more
6/2/2020
/ CBO Report ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
GDP ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Oil & Gas ,
Puerto Rico ,
Puerto Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
REIT ,
SCOTUS ,
Virtual Currency ,
Volkswagen ,
Zoom®
As expected, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday while also signaling that “they would wait to see how the economy fared before making another move”....more
12/12/2019
/ Airplane Accidents ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Bitcoin ,
Boeing ,
Charitable Donations ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dairy Farmers ,
Dairy Farmers of America ,
Deficit Reduction ,
Disney ,
Farms ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
FinCEN ,
General Elections ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Internet Streaming ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Joint Venture ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Lost Profits ,
Mobile Devices ,
Nestle ,
Private Equity ,
prohibit ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Race Discrimination ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Religious Institutions ,
Saudi Aramco ,
Stock Prices ,
Suspicious Activities ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Virtual Currency
Fintech firm Stripe Inc., which “allows internet companies and online marketplaces to accept credit cards for their goods and services and pay out money to the people and firms that sell on their platforms,” just wrapped a...more
9/20/2019
/ AirBnB ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Bribery ,
Capital Raising ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Corporate Branding ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Enforcement Programs ,
Exports ,
FinTech ,
General Motors ,
Imports ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
Opioid ,
OxyContin ,
Pain Management ,
Paris Agreement ,
Payment Systems ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Purdue Pharma ,
RBS ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Negotiations ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whistleblowers
The White House announced on Friday that the US and Mexico reached a deal that it deemed sufficient to keep from levying the threatened 5% tariffs on Mexican goods that was set to take effect today. As details of that deal...more
6/10/2019
/ Aerospace ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Defense Sector ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
FedEx ,
Huawei ,
Imports ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Job Creation ,
Mexico ,
National Security ,
Raytheon ,
Salesforce ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency
FCC Chair Ajit Pai gave his agency’s stamp of approval to the pending $26 billion T-Mobile/Sprint merger on Monday, helping move the deal towards completion based on pledges from the companies to develop “a robust 5G network...more
5/21/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Adidas ,
Bitcoin ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Facebook ,
FCC ,
Financial Markets ,
Fines ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Banks ,
Forex ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Layoffs ,
Market Manipulation ,
Nike ,
RBS ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
UBS ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency
As promised, the Fed on Wednesday announced “one of the most significant rollbacks of bank rules” since the White House changed hands in the form of a draft proposal that would loosen capital and liquidity requirements for...more
11/1/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Annuities ,
Bitcoin ,
Capital Requirements ,
Credit Ratings ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deregulation ,
Digital Taxes ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
General Electric ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Investment ,
Investment Products ,
Life Insurance ,
Liquidity ,
Minimum Wage ,
Moody's ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stocks ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
Walmart’s retail efforts to keep pace with Amazon are well documented. Now it appears that the company’s refusing to concede the entertainment space, either, as evidenced by its new partnerships with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and...more
10/12/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Blockchain ,
Earnings Reports ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Housing Market ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
Journalists ,
Monsanto ,
Mortgages ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Punitive Damages ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wal-Mart
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
Hiding somewhat in the shadows during the rise of virtual currencies over the past year or two has been blockchain, the ledger technology that undergirds bitcoin and other cryptos, and its potential application beyond digital...more
9/26/2018
/ Apple ,
Arby's ,
Banking Sector ,
Blockchain ,
Capital Raising ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Confidential Information ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Facebook ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Financial Markets ,
FOMC ,
Franchises ,
Fraud ,
Futures ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Instagram ,
Intel ,
iPhone ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Market Manipulation ,
Money Laundering ,
Qualcomm ,
Redlining ,
Securities Violations ,
Social Media ,
Software ,
Spoofing ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wal-Mart ,
White Collar Crimes
“Pot is the new crypto,” declares Bloomberg, and if you’ve seen how the virtual currencies are faring these days, that should be a warning and not a selling point....more
9/20/2018
/ 21st Century Fox ,
Administrative Appointments ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bank of America ,
Comcast ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Collection ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Marijuana ,
Money Laundering ,
Nominations ,
Philanthropy ,
Resignation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
China is answering the White House’s latest tariff announcement with another $60 billion in levies on US goods of its own....more
9/19/2018
/ BMW ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
DaimlerAG ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Currency ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
European Commission ,
Facebook ,
Government Investigations ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Imports ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
ISDAfix ,
Job Applicants ,
Market Manipulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Social Media ,
Swaps ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Token Sales ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency ,
Volkswagen ,
White Collar Crimes
Incoming Goldman CEO David Solomon has chosen his top deputies, settling on investment banking vets John Waldron (49) and Stephen Scherr (54) as his president/COO and CFO, respectively, and signaling the firm’s shift away...more
9/14/2018
/ AIG ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Campbell Soup Company ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Crisis ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
The SEC has taken its first enforcement action against a hedge fund over its cryptocurrency investments—namely, falsely holding itself out as the “first regulated fund in the U.S. focused on crypto assets.” It also targeted a...more
9/12/2018
/ Apple ,
Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Job Creation ,
Misclassification ,
Mobile Devices ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sprint ,
State Labor Laws ,
T-Mobile ,
Telecommunications ,
Token Sales ,
Trade Relations ,
Uber ,
Unemployment ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whistleblowers
So about that whole going private thing. Change of plans for Elon & co. Here’s the inside scoop on the reversal...more
8/27/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Bitcoin ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Conglomerates ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Elon Musk ,
ETFs ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Investment ,
Korea ,
Mexico ,
Minority Shareholders ,
NAFTA ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency ,
White Collar Crimes
Here’s all you need to know from the Fed minutes released yesterday, including next month’s rate increase, an apparent plan to continue rate hikes at their gradual pace (unless White House trade policies “scramble their...more
8/23/2018
/ Auto Insurance ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Citigroup ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Fiat ,
Forex ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Market Manipulation ,
Price Manipulation ,
Putative Class Actions ,
S&P ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Options ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency
Google is facing a federal lawsuit in San Francisco over last week’s AP investigation that showed that the search giant “was sill tracking iPhone and Android device users, even if they turned off the ‘Location History’...more
8/21/2018
/ Android ,
Arbitration ,
Automotive Industry ,
BlackRock ,
Cell Phones ,
China ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
E-Commerce ,
Elon Musk ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Excessive Fees ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Fashion Industry ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Internet Retailers ,
Investment ,
iPhone ,
Location Data ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Mutual Funds ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Venezuela ,
Virtual Currency
Elon Musk had some explaining to do in light of his “funding secured” tweet on August 7 in the context of taking Tesla private, and he’s gone to the corporate blog to do so, arguing that his meetings with representatives of...more
8/14/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Discovery ,
Elon Musk ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ether ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
LIHTC ,
Netflix ,
Real Estate Development ,
RMBS ,
Student Loans ,
Subprime Loans ,
Tesla ,
Turkey ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo
Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson announced on Monday that it will shift some of its motorcycle production overseas “to avoid retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union” in response to the White House’s trade moves....more
6/26/2018
/ Anti-Steering Rules ,
Anticompetitive Agreements ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Baker Hughes ,
Barclays ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Burden of Proof ,
China ,
Credit Card Surcharges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
EU ,
EURIBOR ,
Facebook ,
FHFA ,
Financial Markets ,
General Electric ,
Harley-Davidson ,
Illegal Tipping ,
Insider Trading ,
Instagram ,
Merchant Fees ,
Merchants ,
Ohio v American Express ,
RBS ,
RMBS ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
SAC Capital ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Fraud ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Social Networks ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Retaliation ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
In what can only be described as a Lazarus-like return, the Ex-Im Bank is reportedly nearly back on its feet again. The White House has chosen Kimberly Reed to helm the agency after prior nominee Scott Garrett was rejected by...more
6/15/2018
/ AT&T ,
Barclays ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Citibank ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Ether ,
Forex ,
Imports ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
RBS ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SoftBank ,
Stays ,
Student Loans ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
UBS ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency
The US House included the revised Volcker Rule that we’ve discussed in a broader package of Dodd-Frank reforms that it passed with bipartisan support last night. The bill—ostensibly aimed at easing restrictions on small to...more
5/23/2018
/ China ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Facebook ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Foreclosure ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Kickbacks ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Lowe's ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgages ,
Payday Loans ,
Pending Legislation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
SIFIs ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Valeant ,
Virtual Currency ,
Volcker Rule ,
Wire Fraud ,
ZTE
Facebook isn’t the only tech stock having a good week. Amazon—helped along by its booming cloud business—more than doubled its net income in Q1 as compared to a year ago....more
4/27/2018
/ 401k ,
Amazon ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Disney ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crimes ,
GDP ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Products ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Nasdaq ,
Quarterly Report ,
Retirement Plan ,
Telecommunications ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo
In what can only be deemed a major reversal, the White House has reportedly ordered its economic adviser and trade representative to study rejoining the Trans Pacific Partnership, just a year after yanking the US out of deal...more
4/13/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Bank of America ,
Bernie Madoff ,
Bitcoin ,
Business Assets ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Deregulation ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
General Electric ,
NAFTA ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Public Offerings ,
Trans-Pacific Partnership ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency ,
Volkswagen ,
Wall Street
Spotify’s unconventional (non-IPO) public listing is off and running, and though it’s early, it sure feels as if the risk was a good one, with the market valuing the company north of $30 billion....more
4/4/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Capital Raising ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Fraud ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Regulation A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spotify ,
Startups ,
Stock Prices ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
The White House’s protectionist plan to impose roughly $60 billion in annual tariffs on Chinese imports went over like a lead balloon on Wall Street, sparking fears of a trade war, increased volatility, and unintended ripple...more
3/23/2018
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
AT&T ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Culture ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Forex ,
Grocery Stores ,
HSBC ,
Imports ,
Infrastructure ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Martin Shkreli ,
National Security ,
Nike ,
Private Equity ,
RBS ,
Steel Industry ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whole Foods