Yet more HSBC scandal, this time focused on two senior execs who are facing [rare] criminal charges for their alleged role in a “front-running” currency manipulation scheme – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360

US regulators have given a thumbs up to Anheuser-Bush InBev’s $106 billion takeover of SABMiller with minor conditions, “all but clearing the way for the two biggest brewers in the world to merge” – NYTimes and Bloomberg

The Treasury Dept’s Office of Financial Research has found that money-market funds are increasingly entering into direct repurchase loans with large investors and insurers—another sign that “participants in short-term lending markets are sidestepping ‘repo’ deals involving big banks” – WSJ

Conspiracy theorists have long suspected that a small cabal of the world’s most powerful leaders meet in secret mountain hideaways to determine the fate of the world.  But that’s just crazy!  They actually meet right on Park Avenue – NYTimes

Elon Musk has started filling in the details of his much-ballyhooed Master Plan Part II, and so far we’ve got heavy trucks and ride-sharing.  So, I think we’re still waiting for the wow – Bloomberg and WSJ

Bitcoin rival Ethereum has instituted a “hard fork” change in response to the June theft of $60 million in its digital currency. The move “essentially undoes the transactions that allowed that theft,” prompting critics to note that the change “contradicts Ethereum’s basic mission: to serve as a payments network with decentralized control and an unalterable, public ledger of transactions” – WSJ

The 6th Circuit’s revived a proposed shareholder class action against Freddie Mac over alleged lies about its exposure to subprime mortgages in the lead-up to the Great Recession – Law360

Amazon’s partnered with Wells Fargo to ease its way into the banking business in the student-loan market – WSJ

It looks more like an avant garde art installation than a natural phenomenon, but Canada’s Spotted Lake is sure living up to its name – NYTimes