Fed’s Powell Orders Review of Ethics Rules

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has ordered a “comprehensive” review of the bank’s ethics rules amid concerns over the investment activities of two regional presidents.In-house ethics officers concluded that the activities of Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Fed, and Boston’s Eric ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 17, 2021

App Annie Fined $10 Million for Misusing Data

Mobile data and analytics company App Annie has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges that it used confidential information from app developers to induce trading firms to become subscribers.The settlement announced on Tuesday resolves the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s first enfo...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 15, 2021

Ex-Controller Testifies in Trial of Theranos CEO

Blood-testing startup Theranos provided investors with revenue projections that did not match the reality of its finances, the company’s former controller has testified in the fraud trial of founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes.So Han Spivey, who also goes by Danise Yam, said Holmes gave her a revenu...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 15, 2021

Biden Mandates Vaccines for Large Companies

Biden reveals his six-point plan President Joe Biden has significantly extended COVID-19 vaccine requirements into the American workplace, saying large employers must have their workers vaccinated or tested weekly.The new vaccine requirement for companies with 100 or more employees is part of a s...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 10, 2021

Coinbase Clashing With SEC Over Lending Platform

Coinbase may be heading for a showdown with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its plan to offer customers a digital asset lending platform.The crypto firm said it had reached out to the SEC ahead of the launch of Coinbase Lend but the agency had responded with “intimidation tactics...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 9, 2021

BitConnect Charged With $2B Crypto Fraud

In what may be one of the largest cryptocurrency scams ever, BitConnect and its founder have been charged with defrauding investors of $2 billion in funds they said would be used to trade Bitcoin.According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, BitConnect conducted a fraudulent and unreg...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 2, 2021

Most U.S. Employers to Require COVID-19 Vaccination

Amid pressure from the federal government and their own workers, a majority of U.S. employers now say they will have one or more COVID-19 vaccine mandates in place by the end of the year.A Willis Towers Watson survey of 961 companies found that 52% plan to require employees to be vaccinated in th...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 1, 2021

Progressives Urge Biden to Replace Fed Chief

A group of progressive Democrats has called for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to be replaced, saying the central bank needs a leader who is more aggressive on financial regulation and climate change.Powell’s term as chair ends in February and President Joe Biden is expected to decide as ear...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 1, 2021

Feds Investigating Peloton Safety Disclosures

Peloton has disclosed that three government agencies are investigating its reporting of safety hazards associated with exercise treadmills it recalled in May.The home fitness company initially rejected a request from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to recall its Tread Plus product ami...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 30, 2021

Brokerages Fined Over Cybersecurity Failures

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged three brokerage firms with cybersecurity failures that resulted in customer information being compromised through email account break-ins.According to the SEC, five entities associated with Cetera Financial Group, two associated with Cambrid...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 30, 2021

Apple Settles App Makers’ Suit for $100 Million

Apple has reached a settlement with small app developers, agreeing to pay them $100 million and loosen App Store restrictions that prevented them from billing customers directly.The settlement would resolve a class-action lawsuit in which a group of app makers alleged Apple violated antitrust law...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 30, 2021

Ex-HeadSpin CEO Charged With Lying to Investors

The former CEO of tech startup Headspin has been charged with inflating its financial results to achieve high valuations that would attract investors.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Manish Lachwani, 45, engaged in a fraudulent scheme that helped HeadSpin raise approximately $80 m...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 26, 2021

FTC Revives Antitrust Suit Against Facebook

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has taken another swing at convincing a federal judge that it has a legal basis to sue Facebook for abusing a monopoly position in social networking.The FTC said an amended antitrust complaint it filed on Thursday addressed the concerns of U.S. District Judge Jam...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 19, 2021

Ex-Netflix Engineers Charged With Insider Trading

Five people, including three former Netflix software engineers, have been charged with using inside information about Netflix’s key subscriber growth metric to make $3.1 million in illicit trading profits.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Sung Mo “Jay” Jun was at the center of the ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 19, 2021

BitMEX Fined $100M in Latest Crypto Crackdown

Cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX has agreed to pay $100 million to settle charges that it traded digital assets without verifying customer identities and implementing an anti-money laundering program.The agreement announced on Tuesday covers a lawsuit that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commiss...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 11, 2021

Gig Companies Push Mass. Ballot Initiative

Massachusetts may become the next battleground over the employee classification of gig workers after a coalition of app-based companies filed papers to qualify a ballot measure that would define their workers as independent contractors.The Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work, which inclu...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 5, 2021

New SEC Chief Aims to Tame Crypto ‘Wild West’

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has called on Congress to give the agency more power over the cryptocurrency industry, comparing it to a fraud-ridden “Wild West.”At a conference on Tuesday, Gensler amplified the crypto concerns he first expressed at his Senate confirmat...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 4, 2021

Eagle Bancorp CFO Faces SEC Probe

Eagle Bancorp CFO Charles Levingston appears to have the support of the company’s board as he faces a possible enforcement action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.The SEC has indicated its staff made a preliminary determination to recommend charges against Levingston by sending him ...

By Matthew Heller • July 23, 2021

Biden to Name Tech Critic as Top Antitrust Cop

In another victory for progressive Democrats clamoring for aggressive regulation of Big Tech, President Joe Biden said he intends to nominate Jonathan Kanter to lead the Justice Department’s antitrust division.If confirmed as assistant attorney general for the division, Kanter would join White Ho...

By Matthew Heller • July 21, 2021

Yellen Urges Swift Action on Stablecoin Rules

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has joined other federal officials in pushing for regulation of the booming market for stablecoin digital currencies.At a meeting on Monday, Yellen and other members of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets discussed the rapid growth of stablecoin...

By Matthew Heller • July 20, 2021

Facebook Wants FTC Chair off Antitrust Case

In what could be a preemptive legal move, Facebook is seeking the recusal of U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan from the agency’s antitrust case against the company.Khan’s recusal is warranted, Facebook said in a court filing, because as a longtime critic of Facebook, she “cannot meet ...

By Matthew Heller • July 15, 2021

Three Sued Over Blockchain Firm Trading

The controlling shareholder of Long Blockchain has been charged with tipping off his broker about the company’s pivot to blockchain technology before it was publicly announced.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Eric Watson, a New Zealand national, engaged in an insider trading schem...

By Matthew Heller • July 12, 2021

Google Hit With Antitrust Suit Over Play Store

A group of 36 states and the District of Columbia has launched a new legal attack on Google, alleging it uses anti-competitive tactics to maintain its “virtually unchallenged power” in the Android app market.As The New York Times reports, a recent slew of antitrust complaints against Google has l...

By Matthew Heller • July 8, 2021

FTC Charges Broadcom With Unfair Competition

Chipmaker Broadcom has been charged with using exclusivity deals with customers to create “insurmountable barriers” for competitors.The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Friday it had voted unanimously to charge Broadcom with engaging in anticompetitive conduct to maintain its monopoly power in ...

By Matthew Heller • July 2, 2021

FTC Moves to Beef up Antitrust Enforcement

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has voted to scrap a 2015 policy statement that limited its ability to bring enforcement actions over anticompetitive conduct.The guidance required the commission to follow the “consumer welfare” standard in deciding whether to sue companies for “unfair methods o...

By Matthew Heller • July 2, 2021