Here’s an interesting take on the future of the labor market (especially for an emerging generation that is better with a screen than eye contact)—because robots and AI will be able to take over anything that’s routine,...more
12/7/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bank Accounts ,
Confidential Information ,
Cross-Selling ,
Cybersecurity ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Insider Trading ,
Securities Violations ,
Wells Fargo
Loyal Starwood pointers have been waiting anxiously to hear what the hotel brand’s merger with Marriott will mean for their coveted reward system. They’ll have to wait a bit longer, but here are a lot of answers to other...more
11/29/2016
/ Banks ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Ratings ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Investment ,
Marriott ,
Samsung ,
Takeover Bids ,
Theranos ,
Warner Music Group ,
Wells Fargo
A new trading link dropping next week will give international investors access to more than 800 stocks listed on China’s Shenzhen stock market, the boom/bust venue best known for its “rampant speculation”....more
11/28/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Arbitration ,
Bank Accounts ,
Banks ,
China ,
Cross-Selling ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Investment ,
Innovative Technology ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Stock Markets ,
Wells Fargo
The Financial Stability Board—that Swiss-based grand collection of central bankers and regulators from the world’s biggest economies—has upped the systemic importance ranking for three of America’s biggest banks, including...more
11/22/2016
/ Ally Financial Inc ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Bank of America ,
Banks ,
Brokers ,
Citigroup ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
FSB ,
Investment Adviser ,
Kickbacks ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Cuts ,
Trump Administration ,
Valeant ,
Wells Fargo
The IRS isn’t waiting around for virtual currency to gain wider acceptance. No, it’s more than happy to go after Bitcoin users who have sought to use the virtual currency as a means of evading taxes....more
11/21/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Anthem Blue Cross ,
Best Buy ,
Bitcoin ,
CIGNA ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fannie Mae ,
Financial Institutions ,
Freddie Mac ,
Internet Retailers ,
IRS ,
Microsoft ,
OCC ,
Retailers ,
Royal Bank of Scotland ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Tax Evasion ,
Technology ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo
The bond market seems to have a pretty good guess of things to come, at least. The bond market lost more than $1 trillion in value last week, and 30-year US bond yields rose the most since January 2009—all in anticipation of...more
11/14/2016
/ AT&T ,
Banks ,
Big Data ,
Bonds ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Mergers ,
Pensions ,
Presidential Elections ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Time Warner ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whistleblowers
Veteran’s Day in the US means Singles Day in China, the world’s biggest shopping day and a major test for Alibaba to keep growing on the day it helped invent....more
11/11/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Alibaba ,
China ,
Cybersecurity ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mergers ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Presidential Elections ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Retirement Plan ,
Sales Commissions ,
Trump Administration ,
Verizon ,
Wells Fargo ,
Yahoo!
Wells is working hard to keep from having to produce four databases in ongoing toxic RMBS litigation with an investor class headed by Royal Park & BlackRock...more
11/8/2016
/ Administrative Appointments ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Hillary Clinton ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Political Campaigns ,
Presidential Elections ,
RMBS ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo is well past the rain, the pouring, and even the flooding. So why not possible liability for its RMBS practices? As part of an SEC disclosure, the bank acknowledge that it’s “in discussion” with the RMBS Working...more
11/4/2016
/ Banks ,
Brokers ,
Credit Suisse ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Institutions ,
Generic Drugs ,
Investment Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
RMBS ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wells Fargo
Soooooo . . . about that whole Brexit thing. A UK High Court has ruled that Britain’s EU withdrawal cannot move forward without the approval of Parliament, setting off more uncertainty and what’s expected to be a series of...more
11/3/2016
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Earnings Reports ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment Banks ,
Investors ,
Member State ,
Merger Agreements ,
Microsoft ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Referendums ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Valeant ,
Variable Annuities ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whistleblowers
Merrill Lynch has already staked out the position in response to the DOL’s retirement account fiduciary duty rule that it would no longer offer commission-based IRAs to retirement savers. Yesterday, it effectively doubled...more
11/2/2016
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Appraisal ,
Banks ,
Broker Commissions ,
Brokers ,
Class Action ,
Dark Pool ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Herbalife ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Mutual Funds ,
Nasdaq ,
Nutritional Supplements ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Retirement Plan ,
Settlement ,
Stocks ,
Takeda Pharmaceuticals ,
Trading Platforms ,
Valeant ,
Wells Fargo
The latest on the AT&T/Time Warner deal, including its place in the “ambitious climb” of AT&T’s CEO, Randall Stephenson [NYTimes] and a conversation with one of the deal’s vocal political opponents, Sen. Al Franken....more
10/31/2016
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
AT&T ,
Baker Hughes ,
BlackRock ,
Energy Sector ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Electric ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Merger Agreements ,
Oil & Gas ,
RMBS ,
Telecommunications ,
Time Warner Cable ,
Wells Fargo
Italy’s struggling lender Monte Dei Paschi is cutting jobs and closing branches in an effort to revive the world’s oldest bank (and maybe save Siena in the process)....more
10/26/2016
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
AT&T ,
Banks ,
Credit Suisse ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Italy ,
Morgan Stanley ,
RMBS ,
Time Warner Cable ,
Wells Fargo
Federal regulators unveiled a proposal yesterday that would push the country’s biggest banks and other “critical financial companies” to shore up cybersecurity protocols, to prevent hacks, and to have a recovery plan at the...more
10/20/2016
/ Bank Accounts ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Bonds ,
Cross-Selling ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Earnings Reports ,
Economic Development ,
Embezzlement ,
Fraud ,
Hackers ,
Identity Fraud ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
Tax Evasion ,
Uber ,
Wells Fargo
Like a hot new underground nightclub [I presume. Not exactly my scene], Marcus—Goldman Sachs’ new online lending platform aimed at the consumer banking segment—requires a password. Goldman’s reportedly sending out the...more
10/14/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Bank Accounts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Corporate Culture ,
Cross-Selling ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
HSBC ,
Inversion ,
Mergers ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Stocks ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Verizon ,
Wells Fargo ,
Yahoo!
Holding companies appear to be an important new feature of the “living will” revisions the big banks have been making in an effort to appease the Fed and FDIC’s efforts to stamp out “too big to fail” entities. The idea is for...more
10/13/2016
/ Bank Accounts ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Corporate Culture ,
Cross-Selling ,
Federal Reserve ,
FinTech ,
Fraud ,
Holding Companies ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Russia ,
Tone At The Top ,
Toyota ,
Wells Fargo
Regulators aren’t the only ones after Theranos now. On Monday, one of its major investors—Partner Fund Management—filed suit against the embattled blood-testing company in Delaware state court over an alleged series of...more
10/11/2016
/ Bonds ,
Corporate Culture ,
Cross-Selling ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Salesforce ,
Stocks ,
Theranos ,
Tone At The Top ,
Twitter ,
Wells Fargo
Some good news for the UK after a brutal few days for the pound? It appears that the pound’s precipitous fall has acted as a sort of “giant shock absorber” against Brexit—a release valve of sorts that has meant decreased...more
10/10/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Alibaba ,
Corporate Culture ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Financial Adviser ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Currency ,
General Motors ,
Mergers ,
Mobile Payments ,
Mylan Pharmaceuticals ,
Online Platforms ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Salesforce ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Twitter ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Volkswagen ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
Investor plaintiffs won a big discovery battle with the US gov’t over its 2012 decision to seize Fannie & Freddie’s profits. Federal Claims Court Judge Margaret Sweeney has ruled that the government improperly invoked the...more
10/5/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Bank of America ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disney ,
Fannie Mae ,
Financial Institutions ,
Freddie Mac ,
Housing Market ,
IBM ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Millennials ,
Mobile Devices ,
Prepaid Payment Products ,
Retail Market ,
Salesforce ,
Target ,
Twitter ,
Wells Fargo
The Journal gives us a closer look at Italy’s Monte dei Paschi—the world’s oldest bank (founded in 1472)—that’s deeply tied to Siena and that’s threatening to drag the whole of the region’s economy down with it if it fails,...more
10/4/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Bank Accounts ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Cross-Selling ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
Germany ,
Italy ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Och-Ziff ,
RMBS ,
Royal Bank of Scotland ,
Underwriting ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo
Deutsche Bank’s penchant for dealing in risk—in the form of currency swaps, bond sales, or derivatives, among others—has left it (and its highly leveraged balance sheet) particularly vulnerable amidst last week’s news of...more
10/3/2016
/ Asset Management ,
Automotive Loans ,
Clawbacks ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Markets ,
Janus Capital Group ,
Mergers ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Settlement Offer ,
Stock Prices ,
Stocks ,
Tick Size ,
Wells Fargo
NY hedge fund Och-Ziff has agreed to pay a $413 million fine as part of a deferred-prosecution agreement with US regulators over allegations that it was involved in the payment of more than $100 million in bribes to African...more
9/30/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Bank Accounts ,
Banks ,
Bribery ,
Cross-Selling ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Deutsche Bank ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Germany ,
Hedge Funds ,
IBM ,
Investment ,
Natural Resources ,
Och-Ziff ,
Wells Fargo
OPEC has reached a tentative deal among its 14 member nations to “modestly cut” their oil output toward the end of the year in an effort to shore up sagging oil prices–an announcement that immediately sent global oil prices...more
9/29/2016
/ Anheuser-Busch ,
Bank Accounts ,
Banks ,
Cross-Selling ,
Energy Sector ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
Google ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Mergers ,
Municipal Bonds ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Underwriting ,
Wells Fargo
It wasn’t exactly a direct reaction to his testimony on the Hill, but Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf didn’t do himself any favors there, and Wells Fargo’s Board has announced that it will claw back an estimated $41 million in...more
9/28/2016
/ AIG ,
Bank Accounts ,
Banks ,
Clawbacks ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Cross-Selling ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Elon Musk ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Fraud ,
Indonesia ,
Insurance Industry ,
Life Insurance ,
NCUA ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Payday Loans ,
RBS ,
RMBS ,
Technology Sector ,
Tesla ,
Wells Fargo
We learned yesterday that Twitter’s shopping itself around for a buyer. It’s facing one big complication, though—the sizeable amount of stock Twitter has doled out to its employees over the years. Last year, for example,...more
9/27/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
American Express ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bank Accounts ,
Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Credit Cards ,
Cross-Selling ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disney ,
EBITDA ,
Energy Sector ,
Facebook ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Germany ,
Indonesia ,
Insider Trading ,
Lands End ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Offer ,
Social Media ,
Standard Chartered Bank ,
Stock-Based Compensation ,
Stocks ,
Twitter ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes