Morgan Stanley shook the financial world yesterday with the announcement that it’s planning to drop $13 billion on a deal to purchase online discount brokerage E-Trade—the “biggest takeover by a major American lender since...more
2/21/2020
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Business Interruption ,
CEOs ,
Children's Products ,
Children's Toys ,
China ,
COPPA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
E*Trade ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
Government Investigations ,
Imports ,
Inventory ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Software ,
Sprint ,
Spyware ,
State Attorneys General ,
Statutory Violations ,
T-Mobile ,
Takeovers ,
Targeted Digital Advertising ,
UBS ,
Wells Fargo
It’s all coming up Elon these days for Tesla and its stock. “Positive developments” from the electric carmaker’s battery suppliers helped goose shares even higher, ending the day at $780/share—a nearly 20% gain since Friday....more
2/4/2020
/ #MeToo ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bank of America ,
Bias ,
China ,
Citigroup ,
Competition ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Culture ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Elon Musk ,
EU ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Ford Motor ,
Fuel Efficiency ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Interest Rates ,
Merger Controls ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Oil & Gas ,
On-Demand Services ,
OPEC ,
Pay Gap ,
Personal Care Products ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Race Discrimination ,
Search Engines ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sharing Economy ,
Stock Prices ,
Supply and Demand ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Inc ,
Voluntary Dismissals ,
Wells Fargo
The OCC announced yesterday that it’s bringing enforcement actions against five former Wells Fargo bank executives as part of their alleged roles in the bank’s sales practices scandal. The agency further revealed that it’s...more
1/24/2020
/ Apple ,
Board of Directors ,
Bribery ,
Broadcom ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Corporate Executives ,
Credit Scores ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cross-Selling ,
Debt ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Currency ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
Loans ,
Microchip Technology ,
OCC ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Physicians ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Public Health ,
Racketeering ,
Underwriting ,
Wells Fargo
Sunday’s release of a long-awaited Labor Department final rule on joint employment spells trouble for workers hoping to “sue large companies for wrongdoing by contractors or franchisees.” The rule reverses Obama-era policies...more
1/13/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Alphabet Company ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bench Trial ,
Boeing ,
CEOs ,
Class Action ,
Climate Change ,
Controlling Employer ,
Corporate Culture ,
Cybersecurity ,
Damages ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Compensation ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FinTech ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
General Motors ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Internal Communications ,
Investment Fraud ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Nissan ,
Oil & Gas ,
Online Banking ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Resignation ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Socially Responsible Investments ,
Software ,
Startups ,
UK ,
USAA ,
Vulnerability Assessments ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wells Fargo ,
Workplace Romances
The United States and Mexico appear poised to move past a last-minute snag over new language on Labor Department attaches to posts in Mexico. Mexico feared that the diplomats would “act as labor inspectors,” and for a day or...more
12/17/2019
/ Aircraft ,
Aircraft Sales ,
Amazon ,
Beer ,
Beverage Manufacturers ,
Boeing ,
Breach of Duty ,
Commerzbank ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Employee Definition ,
FedEx ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Workers ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Housing Market ,
HSBC ,
Independent Contractors ,
Internet Streaming ,
Liquidity ,
Loans ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Manufacturers ,
Mexico ,
Misclassification ,
Mortgages ,
NAFTA ,
Netflix ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Race Discrimination ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Ridesharing ,
RMBS ,
Supply Chain ,
Tax Increases ,
Tax Rates ,
Third-Party Agents ,
Uber ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wine & Alcohol
CBS and Viacom are back together again. The deal to reunite the former partners, which closed late yesterday, was pushed by National Amusements’ chief Shari Redstone since 2016 and hasted along recently by the precipitous...more
12/5/2019
/ Alphabet Company ,
Amazon Web Services (AWS) ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Baseball ,
Big Tech ,
Business Valuations ,
CBS ,
CEOs ,
Chrysler ,
Cloud Computing ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Consumer Complaint Management ,
Electricity ,
Equipment Failure ,
Expedia ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fiat ,
Google ,
Hedge Funds ,
Infrastructure ,
Insider Trading ,
Italy ,
Minority Shareholders ,
OCC ,
PG&E ,
Repossess ,
Resignation ,
Search Engines ,
Software ,
Stock Prices ,
Viacom ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wildfires
Because who wants a nice quiet December, right? Yesterday, the U.S. opened yet another trade war front by proposing retaliatory tariffs of up to 100% on a wide range of French imports after announcing that “it found France’s...more
12/3/2019
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Automotive Industry ,
Barclays ,
Brazil ,
China ,
Citibank ,
Class Action ,
Construction Industry ,
Corruption ,
Economic Downturn ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Emerging Markets ,
Exports ,
FCC ,
Fees ,
France ,
Fraud ,
Hong Kong ,
Hostess ,
Illegal-Subsidies ,
Imports ,
Infrastructure ,
J Crew ,
Lifeline Program ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Manufacturers ,
Money Laundering ,
NGOs ,
Quarterly Report ,
Sprint ,
Steel Industry ,
Subsidies ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wall Street ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wireless Industry
Saudi Aramco’s slow trickle of IPO-related information continued this weekend, including its goal of setting overall company market value at a staggering $1.7 trillion. The figure, though massive, is still well short of the...more
11/18/2019
/ Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Algorithms ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Automobile Recall ,
Automotive Industry ,
Aviation Industry ,
Bailout ,
Bank of America ,
Boeing ,
Bonds ,
Business Valuations ,
Capital Raising ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Citibank ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
FedEx ,
Fiat ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Banks ,
General Motors ,
Google ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
Huawei ,
Information Sharing ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internet ,
Investment ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Labor Relations ,
Layoffs ,
Metals ,
Municipal Bonds ,
Nissan ,
Office Space ,
Oil & Gas ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Price-Fixing ,
Racketeering ,
Saudi Aramco ,
Search Engines ,
Search Results ,
Settlement ,
Sharing Economy ,
Software ,
Spoofing ,
Stock Markets ,
Strike ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Negotiations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
Sending a shot across the bow of the gig economy, New Jersey is seeking nearly $650 million from Uber for “years of unpaid employment taxes for its drivers, arguing that the ride-hailing company has misclassified the workers...more
11/15/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Bias ,
Carbon Emissions ,
China ,
Cloud Computing ,
DaimlerChrysler ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Contractors ,
Firearms ,
Foreign Policy ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Google ,
Harvard University ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Mass Shootings ,
Media ,
Medical Devices ,
Medical Research ,
Mercedes-Benz ,
Microsoft ,
Misclassification ,
Mobile Apps ,
NAFTA ,
Newspapers ,
PHI ,
Popular ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Smith & Wesson ,
Startups ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
US Trade Policies ,
Venture Capital ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wells Fargo
SoftBank’s plan to help bail out WeWork would mean not only a takeover by Masa Son’s crew but also “would slash the co-working company’s valuation to about $8 billion”—a staggering drop of nearly $40 billion. The plan would...more
10/22/2019
/ Bailout ,
Business Valuations ,
Cardinal Health ,
CEOs ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Disney ,
Electricity ,
Facebook ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Lucasfilm ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
McKesson Technologies ,
Office Space ,
On-Demand Services ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
PG&E ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Reorganizations ,
Resignation ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sharing Economy ,
SoftBank ,
Star Wars ,
Takeovers ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Parliament ,
Wells Fargo
The Federal Reserve took the rare step yesterday of stepping “into financial markets . . . to keep interest rates from rising above its target, the first time the central bank has had to carry out this type of ‘market...more
9/18/2019
/ AT&T ,
Board of Directors ,
Capital Requirements ,
Collateralized Debt Obligations ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drones ,
False Statements ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FOMC ,
Forever 21 ,
Hedge Funds ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Internet Streaming ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
NBC ,
OCC ,
Office Space ,
Oil Prices ,
Price Manipulation ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Retailers ,
RICO ,
Spoofing ,
Swaps ,
Universal ,
Wachovia ,
Wells Fargo
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
Amgen will pay $13.4 billion in cash to buy psoriasis treatment Otezla, a deal that will “pave the way for Bristol-Myers Squibb to complete its acquisition of Celgene” by addressing “regulatory concerns over their union”....more
8/26/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Amgen ,
Automotive Industry ,
Boeing ,
Bristol-Myers Squibb ,
China ,
Credit Monitoring ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Economic Development ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Adviser ,
Financial Markets ,
Hasbro ,
Imports ,
Japan ,
Life Sciences ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Product Defects ,
Restitution ,
Solar Panels ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Agreements ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wealth Management ,
Wells Fargo
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
Sprint and T-Mobile are facing new merger headwinds in the form of a NY & CA state AG-led lawsuit in the Southern District of New York that seeks to block the deal, alleging that it would cost customers of the companies “at...more
6/12/2019
/ Activist Investors ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Loans ,
On-Demand Services ,
Raytheon ,
Slack ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wireless Industry
Jobs Report Friday again! Lots to look for in the numbers this month, especially considering the economic uncertainty that’s defined the past few weeks....more
6/7/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Add-ons ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Barnes and Noble ,
Bribery ,
Chrysler ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
FCC ,
Fiat ,
Financial Institutions ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Google ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Huawei ,
Job Creation ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mexico ,
Opioid ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Robocalling ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
The SEC will vote today on what it’s calling Regulation Best Interest, “which says brokers can’t put their own paychecks ahead of a customer’s needs”—the more-industry-acceptable revision of an Obama-era fiduciary duty rule...more
6/5/2019
/ Anti-Dumping Agreement ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Brokers ,
Carnival Cruise Lines ,
Code of Conduct ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Violations ,
Federal Reserve ,
FHFA ,
Freddie Mac ,
Imports ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Mexico ,
Mobile Apps ,
Probationary Period ,
Renault-Nissan ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Stocks ,
Tariffs ,
Toyota ,
Unregistered Securities ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
British Bank Standard Chartered agreed on Tuesday “to pay $1.1 billion to settle allegations by the authorities in the United States and Britain that it violated anti-money laundering laws and economic sanctions.” The...more
4/10/2019
/ Aircraft ,
Aircraft Sales ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Money Laundering ,
Takeovers ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wynn Resorts
Lyft had a banner debut on the public markets, with its shares jumping 8.7% “after opening at $87.24, far above the public offering price of $72.” Some analysts are interpreting the strong showing as a sign that the gig...more
4/1/2019
/ Asbestos Litigation ,
Cancer ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Commodities ,
Data Breach ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Reserve ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Libor ,
Lyft ,
Opioid ,
Personal Care Products ,
Peugeot ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Spoofing ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan is out after a rocky two-plus-year tenure in arguably the hottest seats in finance over the past several years. He’ll be replaced on an interim basis by Wells’ GC C. Allen Parker....more
3/29/2019
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Campbell Soup Company ,
Corporate Entities ,
Discrimination ,
Facebook ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Goldman Sachs ,
HUD ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Lyft ,
Online Advertisements ,
Opioid ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Securities Violations ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo ,
White Collar Crimes
Fascinating weekend feature from the Journal exploring how Sears Roebuck went from the dominant force in American retailing to the bankrupt shell of a company that it is now—all within a period of just 40 years....more
3/18/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Allianz ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Cambridge Analytica ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Data-Sharing ,
Defamation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disclosure ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Gaming ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
iPhone ,
Loan Modifications ,
Lyft ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mortgages ,
Patent Infringement ,
Personal Data ,
Qualcomm ,
Retailers ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media ,
Technology Sector ,
UK Brexit ,
Wall Street ,
Wealth Management ,
Wells Fargo
Concessions wrenched from EU leaders aside, PM May and her latest Brexit plan again fell apart in Parliament, with lawmakers voting it down 391-242. The defeat raises the ongoing specter of a no-deal departure from the Union...more
3/13/2019
/ 1MDB ,
Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Boeing ,
Contempt ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tesla ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo
The SEC has announced a settlement with nearly 80 investment advisory firms in which they will pay back more than $125 million “to clients who were steered into higher-cost mutual funds without adequate disclosure” as part of...more
3/12/2019
/ Car Dealerships ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
Investment Management ,
KPMG ,
Mutual Funds ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Severance Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tesla ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wire Fraud
After the tragic crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 this weekend, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and China have moved to ground all flights on Boeing’s new 737 Max 8 planes until further notice. ...more
3/11/2019
/ Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Board of Directors ,
Boeing ,
Commerzbank ,
Competition ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Fraud ,
General Electric ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Martin Shkreli ,
Technology Sector ,
Unemployment ,
Wells Fargo
After weeks of regular negotiations (and months of back-and-forth before that), the rough outlines of a broad US/China trade deal are starting to take shape. Early reports look like the end of US tariffs in exchange for...more
3/4/2019
/ Alibaba ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Derivative Suit ,
Grocery Stores ,
Huawei ,
Imports ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Libor ,
Lyft ,
Office Depot ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
USPS ,
Wells Fargo