The moral of this story is as follows: if Maysayoshi Son says the merger’s off, it’s probably off (regardless of what the rest of the board says). We discussed the will they/won’t they status of the T-Mobile/Sprint deal last...more
11/6/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Banking Sector ,
Board of Directors ,
China ,
Derivative Suit ,
E-Commerce ,
FHLB ,
Housing Market ,
Internet Retailers ,
Job Creation ,
Moody's ,
Qualcomm ,
Rating Agencies ,
RMBS ,
Securities Violations ,
Semiconductors ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
Unemployment ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wireless Industry
Tesla’s hoping that a manufacturing plant in China—the first in the country wholly owned by a foreign manufacturing company—will translate into big sales in the Chinese market. With the Chinese government loath to give up the...more
10/23/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
Banking Sector ,
Blue Apron ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Cross-Selling ,
Derivatives ,
E-Commerce ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
Euro ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Fidelity Investments ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Forex ,
General Motors ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internet Retailers ,
Investment Banks ,
Manufacturers ,
Merrill Lynch ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retail Market ,
Subscription Services ,
Technology Sector ,
Tesla ,
UK ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wells Fargo
American Express Chair and CEO Kenneth Chenault announced that he’s stepping down next year after 16 years at the helm of AmEx. He’ll be succeeded by Vice Chair Stephen Squeri....more
10/19/2017
/ American Express ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Banking Sector ,
Business Litigation ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Dow Jones ,
Financial Markets ,
Liquidation ,
Misappropriation ,
Native American Issues ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Payday Loans ,
RMBS ,
Samsung ,
South Korea ,
Tribal Governments ,
Tribal Loans ,
Wells Fargo
If Netflix is to be believed (and, you know, it is a public company), there’s a LOT more Stranger Things and House of Cards on the way...
Turns out Nelson Peltz’s failed quest for a P&G board seat was crazy close. As in,...more
10/17/2017
/ Asset-Backed Securities ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Internet Streaming ,
Millennials ,
Netflix ,
Nordstrom Inc. ,
Procter & Gamble ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Startups ,
Token Sales ,
Unicorns ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Wells Fargo
Uber’s Board of Directors has officially voted to realign the power balance at the company, reducing the clout of ousted CEO Travis Kalanick, and setting the stage for a stock sale to SoftBank. Oh yeah, and prepping for that...more
10/5/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Back Taxes ,
Consolidated Audit Trail ,
Debt ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EU ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Forex ,
HSBC ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mortgages ,
Navient ,
Puerto Rico ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sharing Economy ,
SoftBank ,
Stock Sale Agreements ,
Uber ,
Wells Fargo
Equifax’s ex-CEO Richard Smith will be on the Hill today to address the a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Smith is expected to report that a “widespread breakdown in security safeguards” at his former...more
10/4/2017
/ Automotive Industry ,
Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
Digital Currency ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Equifax ,
Financial Markets ,
Ford Motor ,
General Electric ,
General Motors ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hackers ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Senate Committees ,
Tesla ,
Testimony ,
Wells Fargo
As expected, the Fed left interest rates at current levels yesterday, though it hinted at another December rate hike and officially unveiled the start of its bond wind-down next month....more
9/21/2017
/ Apple Watch ,
Bank Accounts ,
Bonds ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cross-Selling ,
Data Breach ,
EDGAR ,
Electronic Communications ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Encryption ,
Equifax ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Hackers ,
Illegal Trading ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Insider Trading ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Mobile Apps ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector ,
Toshiba ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
In an apparent effort to appease dissatisfied activist investors, chemicals giant DowDuPont has announced plans to change its breakup plan with an reorganizational structure that focuses on three “distinct businesses: an...more
9/14/2017
/ Apple ,
Bitcoin ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Digital Currency ,
Dow Chemical ,
DuPont ,
Interest Rates ,
Mortgages ,
Toshiba ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Wachovia ,
Wells Fargo
Equifax is not exactly ending the week on a high note. The credit reporting agency revealed yesterday that a cyberattack [uncovered nearly 2 months ago] rendered potentially vulnerable the information of 143 million people....more
9/8/2017
/ Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Banking Sector ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Data Breach ,
Equifax ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Eurozone ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
State Street ,
Wells Fargo
Vanguard’s not well known for making waves, but the $4.5 trillion mutual-fund manager has quietly increased its corporate engagement activity over the past year—discussing governance, pay, and other issues with nearly a...more
9/5/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Cross-Selling ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Currency ,
Ethereum ,
Financial Fraud ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Innovation ,
Mutual Funds ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Payday Loans ,
Procter & Gamble ,
Silicon Valley ,
Tribal Loans ,
Tribal-State Gaming Compacts ,
Vanguard ,
Wells Fargo
As the scandal grows, WF’s newish CEO, Timothy Sloan, faces the unfortunate reality of being a company man (30-years at Wells) when the foundations of that company are cracking....more
9/1/2017
/ Bank Accounts ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Economic Development ,
Financial Fraud ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Job Creation ,
Libor ,
Market Manipulation ,
Oil & Gas ,
Richard Cordray ,
RMBS ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wells Fargo ,
White-Collar Exemptions
While the Journal considers the ever-growing list of headaches for Khosrowshahi, including a new federal bribery probe over potential Uber FCPA violations....more
8/30/2017
/ Appraisal ,
Aviation Industry ,
Class Action ,
Countrywide ,
Dominos ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Fraud ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mortgages ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
S&P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Sharing Economy ,
Social Networks ,
Startups ,
Uber ,
Wells Fargo
Along with this week’s news that Amazon and Whole Foods are putting the finishing touches on their deal and have the government’s stamp of approval came word that as of Monday, the first official day of Amazon control, the...more
8/25/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Banking Sector ,
Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FinTech ,
Grocery Stores ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Internet Retailers ,
Janet Yellen ,
Libor ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mortgages ,
Oil & Gas ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Retail Market ,
SoftBank ,
US Bank ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whole Foods
Breakingviews suggests that the devil is definitely in the details in Sempra Energy’s apparent winning bid for Oncor. Control of the company, for example, isn’t as simple as it might seem....more
8/22/2017
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Berkshire Hathaway ,
BHP Billiton ,
Bonds ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Fraud ,
Foreign Investment ,
Oil & Gas ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Wells Fargo
As expected, Wells Fargo has promoted former Fed governor and current vice chair Elizabeth Duke to succeed Board chair Stephen Sanger. Incredibly, the move makes Duke the first woman to hold the top spot at one of the...more
8/16/2017
/ Amazon ,
Automotive Industry ,
Automotive Loans ,
Banking Sector ,
Bonds ,
Class Action ,
Customer Privacy ,
Energy Sector ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
KPMG ,
Oil & Gas ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Solar Energy ,
Uber ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whole Foods
Uber investor Benchmark (a Silicon Valley VC fund) is looking to recover for the lost-investment costs associated with the rocky 2017 at the ride-hailing company, and it has former CEO Travis Kalanick in its crosshairs....more
8/11/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Blue Apron ,
Dow Jones ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Housing Market ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
S&P ,
Uber ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whole Foods
Big news in the streaming world late yesterday, with Disney announcing that was acquiring a 75 percent stake in BamTech and would be pulling all of its content from Netflix in anticipation of launching its own streaming...more
8/9/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Disney ,
Financial Institutions ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Investment ,
Forex ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Loan Originators ,
Movies ,
Netflix ,
Wells Fargo
Is the SEC officially on record with a warning about the viability of unregulated ICOs? It is. Is that stopping start-ups from creating and selling new virtual currencies at a torrid pace? It is not....more
8/8/2017
/ Automotive Industry ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Blockchain ,
Capital Raising ,
Cross-Selling ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Fannie Mae ,
Fraud ,
Freddie Mac ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Libor ,
Martin Shkreli ,
Puerto Rico ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stress Tests ,
Tesla ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
Wells Fargo has reportedly uncovered another trove of unauthorized accounts, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. The bank also disclosed a CFPB investigation over potential harm to customers over its practice of...more
8/7/2017
/ Apple ,
Arbitration ,
Bitcoin ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cross-Selling ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Diversity ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Gender Equity ,
Google ,
Information Technology ,
Job Creation ,
Navient ,
Nike ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Student Loans ,
Technology Sector ,
Unemployment ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wall Street ,
Wells Fargo
Activist investor Nelson Peltz is officially taking on his biggest target yet—consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble. The announcement begins the public stage of a fight we’ve been waiting for since Peltz’s Trian Fund Mgmt...more
7/17/2017
/ Activist Investors ,
Automotive Loans ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Equity Transactions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Fixed Income Investments ,
Insider Trading ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subprime Loans ,
Telecommuting ,
Wells Fargo
Here’s the other shoe for that news that all the big banks passed their Fed stress tests the other day: are the “bad old days of enormous leverage and freewheeling deals” and the risk inherent in them back, too?....more
6/30/2017
/ Bank of America ,
Banking Sector ,
Blue Apron ,
Bonds ,
Capital Raising ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Financial Markets ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
RMBS ,
Rupert Murdoch ,
Stress Tests ,
Transparency ,
Warren Buffett ,
Wells Fargo
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s indefinite leave of absence just got a whole lot more definite with news late yesterday that, bowing to pressure from shareholders, Kalanick has resigned from his post altogether....more
6/21/2017
/ China ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Financial Fraud ,
Foreign Listed Stock Index ,
Fraud ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
REIT ,
Securities Fraud ,
Sharing Economy ,
Uber ,
Wells Fargo
There’s been a hitch in Saudi Aramco’s IPO plans (mind-boggling $2 trillion possible valuation and all): where to list. The frontrunners, by the way, are the London Stock Exchange and the NYSE....more
6/15/2017
/ Anbang ,
Bonds ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Fashion Industry ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Sentencing Guidelines ,
Financial Institutions ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
J Crew ,
London Stock Exchange ,
Mortgages ,
Retailers ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Wells Fargo
When it comes to the big (tech) 5, investors are cheering on their massive gains even as they nervously look around the corner for the dreaded market correction....more
6/8/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Barclays ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exports ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Fraud ,
HSBC ,
Investment Adviser ,
Libor ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pinterest ,
Uber ,
UBS ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whistleblowers
Goldman Sachs’ recent purchase of $2.8 billion in Venezuelan bonds has been kicking around the headlines for a few days now. Here’s what’s at stake for the country and the bank....more
5/31/2017
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
BlackRock ,
Bonds ,
Class Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Hedge Funds ,
Impression Products v Lexmark International ,
Ocwen ,
Patent Infringement ,
RMBS ,
Robocalling ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
TCPA ,
Trade Secrets ,
Uber ,
Venezuela ,
Wells Fargo