Cisco Sued for Discrimination Based on Caste

In an unusual case of discrimination by caste, the state of California has alleged two managers at Cisco Systems harassed a fellow Indian-American employee because he comes from the lowest social group in India’s caste system.The suit filed on Tuesday by California’s Department of Fair Employment...

By Matthew Heller • July 2, 2020

Telegram to Return $1.2B to ICO Investors

Messaging startup Telegram Group has agreed to return more than $1.2 billion to investors to settle allegations that it illegally sold digital tokens to raise money for a blockchain project.The settlement came three months after a court granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s reques...

By Matthew Heller • June 29, 2020

DoJ Proposes Weakening Tech Immunity Law

The U.S. Department of Justice has recommended changes to the law that protects online platforms from liability for content posted by their users and allows them to moderate that content.In unveiling the reform package, the DoJ said the time was “ripe to realign the scope of Section 230 [of the C...

By Matthew Heller • June 18, 2020

EU Launches Probes of App Store, Apple Pay

The European Commission has opened antitrust investigations of two Apple services, citing concerns that the App Store and Apple Pay stifle competition.The App Store probe will focus on music streaming and e-books/audiobooks, following complaints by Spotify and e-reader company Kobo over the commi...

By Matthew Heller • June 16, 2020

Former eBay Employees Accused of Roach Attack

Six former eBay employees have been accused of sending a box of live cockroaches and a pig fetus to a Massachusetts couple as part of a campaign to harass them for publishing a newsletter critical of the online auction site.James Baugh, eBay’s former senior director of safety & security, and ...

By Matthew Heller • June 16, 2020

Chicken Producer Execs Charged With Price Fixing

Four top executives with two major U.S. chicken producers have been charged with conspiring to fix prices and rig bids for chicken products sold to grocers and restaurants.The grand jury indictment announced Wednesday by the Department of Justice are the first in a still-open investigation involv...

By Matthew Heller • June 4, 2020

Aviron Pictures Founder Accused of $25M Fraud

The founder and former CEO of movie distributor Aviron Pictures has been charged with a $25 million fraud for illegally transferring money from a BlackRock investment fund to a sham company and using some of it to support his lavish lifestyle.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Willi...

By Matthew Heller • May 26, 2020

Former KPMG Auditors Charged With Exam Cheating

Three former KPMG audit partners have settled charges that they cheated on internal training exams by improperly sharing answers.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Timothy Daly received answers to a test on lease accounting from Michael Bellach while John Donovan supported exam shar...

By Matthew Heller • May 19, 2020

Moderna Stock Soars on COVID Vaccine Results

Shares in Moderna jumped on Monday after the biotech firm announced promising results from the first coronavirus vaccine to be tested in people.Moderna has been working on its mRNA-1273 drug with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, launching an early-phase study on March 16...

By Matthew Heller • May 18, 2020

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