Warner Bros. studio division chief—part of AT&T’s recently acquired media empire—has “stepped down after accusations surfaced that he had pushed for a woman with whom he had a sexual relationship to be considered for roles in the company’s films and television shows” – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
Fintech firm Fidelity National Information Services has agreed to purchase former RBS unit Worldpay for $34 billion as part of a deal meant to establish the combined company as “a powerhouse in the global payments sector.” Though largely “invisible to consumers,” these global payments companies process the ever-increasing number of “e-commerce transactions and purchases made through contactless payment systems like Apple Pay” – NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
Baton down the hatches, folks. We’ve got another Dot Plot dilemma at the Fed – WSJ
German’s two largest lenders—both in their own messy situations—have acknowledged that they began formal merger talks over the weekend. Most analysts consider the Deutsche Bank/Commerzbank mash-up discussions to be “a last-ditch effort to create a national [German] champion that can compete with the giant American investment banks” – NYTimes
The SEC isn’t buying Elon Musk’s latest First Amendment arguments over his most recent round of unvetted tweets, arguing in filing yesterday that Musk waived those rights as part of a court order last year – Bloomberg and MarketWatch
A bit more on Levi Strauss & Co. and its plans this week to go public for the second time in its storied 165-year history – NYTimes and MarketWatch
SDNY Judge Paul Engelmayer has denied for a third time an attempt by plaintiff institutional investors to “add claims from 2008 to 2012 to their permitted claims from 2013 to 2016 alleging [that 11 megabanks] conspired to block startup trading platforms from entering” the interest rate swaps. The ruling recognizes full implementation of Dodd-Frank reforms as the bright-line test between permitted and barred claims in the MDL – Law360
Because PM May doesn’t have enough difficulty staring here square in the face with the Brexit debacle, enter Speaker John Bercow as a new nemesis – Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs announced a major diversity and inclusion initiative that will require it to “interview two diverse candidates for any open job,” a variation on the NFL’s Rooney Rule – WSJ
More on the trouble the US has had convincing its friends and allies to go along with its anti-Huawei technology campaign – NYTimes
Can the Wild finish that late season surge and squeak their way into the NHL playoffs? Better question—does it really matter when the Whitecaps have already brought home a pro hockey championship to MN this year? Atta way, Caps – StarTribune