SEC Questions COVID Drug Claims of Biotechs

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has temporarily halted trading in the shares of three biotech companies because of concerns over the accuracy of statements they have made about a drug candidate for treating COVID-19.Houston-based CNS Pharmaceuticals and WPD Pharmaceuticals of Vancouve...

By Matthew Heller • May 5, 2020

SEC Accuses Praxsyn of Virus-Related Fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has brought its first coronavirus-related fraud case, alleging Florida health-care company Praxsyn made “blatantly false” claims that it had secured a supply of N95 masks.Praxsyn’s share price doubled after it issued a press release on Feb. 27 claiming ...

By Matthew Heller • April 29, 2020

Moderna Gets $483M to Fund Corona Vaccine

Biotech firm Moderna Inc. has gotten a boost in the race to develop a novel coronavirus vaccine, securing as much as $483 million in U.S. government funding to cover advancing its candidate drug through clinical testing.The Cambridge, Mass.-based company said Thursday that the Biomedical Advanced...

By Matthew Heller • April 17, 2020

Airlines Accept Terms for Virus Relief Grants

The Payroll Support Program for U.S. airlines appears to have gotten off the ground as several carriers announced they had reached agreements with the Treasury Department for billions of dollars in grants.The $25 billion program is a special carveout for the airline industry from the $2 trillion ...

By Matthew Heller • April 15, 2020

Airlines Meet Deadline for Payroll Grant Program

U.S. airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and JetBlue Airways met Friday’s deadline to apply for part of a $25 billion payroll grant program aimed at helping carriers weather the economic storms of the coronavirus crisis.The program is a special carveout for the airline industry...

By Matthew Heller • April 3, 2020

GM Announces Ventilator Deal as Trump Fumes

President Donald Trump used the Defense Production Act to order General Motors to manufacture ventilators for coronavirus patients even though the automaker had already announced a partnership to do so.Trump’s order on Friday followed a barrage of tweets in which he berated GM for “wasting time” ...

By Matthew Heller • March 30, 2020

Virus Relief Bill Targets $350B for Small Businesses

The historic $2 trillion emergency relief bill approved by the U.S. Senate includes a $350 billion loan program aimed at helping small businesses weather the economic storm from the coronavirus.CNBC said the Paycheck Protection Program could be a “potential lifeline” for small businesses though a...

By Matthew Heller • March 26, 2020

Virus Expected to Slam Retail, Restaurant Sales

Credit risks to the global retail sector have increased dramatically as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with segments such as casual dining and mall-based stores particularly vulnerable, according to S&P Global Ratings.The rating agency said in a report that it expects to take rating ac...

By Matthew Heller • March 24, 2020

Fed Expands Asset Purchases to Boost Markets

The U.S. Federal Reserve stepped up its efforts to shore up financial markets on Monday, announcing it will expand asset buying under its “quantitative easing” program and move for the first time into purchasing corporate debt.The Financial Times said the Fed, which also unveiled a program to sup...

By Matthew Heller • March 23, 2020

Senate GOP Unveils $1T Virus Stimulus Package

Bipartisan discussions are set to begin Friday on Capitol Hill after Senate Republicans introduced a $1 trillion emergency economic aid proposal that includes direct cash payments to Americans.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the plan “a bold legislative proposal” that will deliver “...

By Matthew Heller • March 20, 2020

U.S. Dollar Surge Continues on Virus Fears

Investors continued to flock to the safe haven of the U.S. dollar on Thursday, sending several other currencies to multi-year lows.As CNBC reports, demand for the dollar has been boosted by concerns about the economic fallout from the coronavirus despite recent steps by world central banks to eas...

By Matthew Heller • March 19, 2020

Trump Signs Virus Relief Bill With Paid Sick Leave

President Donald Trump has signed a coronavirus relief bill including paid leave benefits and credits that count against employers’ payroll tax to offset the cost.The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates will cost $104 billion, wen...

By Matthew Heller • March 19, 2020

Trump Moves to Boost Medical Supply Production

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will invoke the Defense Production Act to step up production of medical equipment to combat the coronavirus outbreak.The DPA was enacted in 1950 to help the U.S. mobilize for the Korean War. A day after balking at invoking it — saying, “We hope we don’t ne...

By Matthew Heller • March 18, 2020

Did Your Contract Anticipate the Arrival of Coronavirus?

For CFOs, anticipating the “known unknowns,” or unforeseen events that could impact business performance, is a fact of life. In a global economy, where organizations are dependent on their overseas suppliers, these events now include diseases and quarantines, such as the coronavirus.Last December...

By David McCann • March 5, 2020

High Court Hears Dispute Over ‘Ill-Gotten Gains’

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether the Securities and Exchange Commission may force defendants accused of defrauding investors to disgorge their ill-gotten gains.At a hearing on Tuesday, the justices appeared skeptical that the SEC exceeded its authority by obtaining a disgorgement ord...

By Matthew Heller • March 4, 2020

Cardinal Health Fined $8M for FCPA Violations

Cardinal Health has been fined $8.8 million for its role in a bribery scheme aimed at boosting the sales of a European skincare company for which it was the exclusive distributor in China.According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, employees of Cardinal China used its marketing acco...

By Matthew Heller • March 2, 2020

Cboe ‘Speed Bump’ Runs Into SEC Road Block

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected a controversial rule change that would have allowed Cboe Global Markets to put a split-second “speed bump” in the way of an ultrafast trading strategy known as “latency arbitrage.”Cboe in June proposed delaying incoming executable orders on...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 24, 2020

Wells Fargo Fined $3B Over Fake-Accounts Scandal

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $3 billion to resolve criminal and civil liabilities arising from its fake-accounts but its legal troubles may be far from over.The deal announced on Friday applies to a Department of Justice criminal investigation of Wells Fargo for falsifying bank records and ident...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 24, 2020

Barr Questions Lawsuit Immunity for Tech Firms

U.S. Attorney General William Barr has questioned whether operators of online platforms should continue to be protected from being sued over content posted by their users.According to Barr, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides immunity from liability for providers of an i...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 20, 2020

Attacked by Ransomware, Many Companies Opt to Pay Up

It’s like the plot of a James Bond movie: Hackers take control of a global organization’s computer systems and threaten to destroy its records, steal its intellectual property, and drain its bank accounts unless a hefty ransom is deposited into an untraceable offshore bank account by the end of t...

By David McCann • Feb. 14, 2020

Coronavirus Crimps Supply Chains, May Harm World Economy

Coronavirus may not ultimately infect 60% of the world’s population, as a leading public health expert controversially suggested on Tuesday. But it’s growing increasingly likely to trigger serious economic consequences worldwide.Dun & Bradstreet estimates in a new report that if a vaccine for...

By David McCann • Feb. 13, 2020

Facebook Settlement May Trigger More Privacy Laws

Facebook’s recent $550 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit in Illinois over alleged privacy violations may lead to a wave of privacy legislation across the country.The largest-ever cash settlement resolving a privacy-related issue will establish a fund to be shared by Illinois Facebook u...

By David McCann • Feb. 11, 2020

Don’t Try to Improve Weak Areas; Outsource Them

When I was a young Navy officer I was taught two guiding principles about leadership: (1) leave things better than you found them; and (2) incorporate best practices of managers you encounter during your career, adapting them to your own style to become a stronger leader.Both were about not only ...

By David McCann • Feb. 10, 2020

Don’t Discount Secondhand Whistleblower Reports

Which employee whistleblower hotline report would you trust more — one with firsthand knowledge of alleged conduct, from someone who was involved in it or observed it? Or one based on secondhand information, from someone who was told about conduct, overheard it, or accidentally found a document o...

By David McCann • Feb. 7, 2020

Solar Firm Owners Charged With ‘Massive’ Fraud

A California couple have been charged with orchestrating a “massive” Ponzi scheme that collected nearly $1 billion from investors in their solar company.Jeff Carpoff, President and CEO of DC Solar The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Jeff Carpoff and his wife Paulette promised investo...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 27, 2020