The Soft Benefits of Truck Fleet Upgrades

The many companies that transport goods, such as food distributors, grocery companies, retailers, and oil-and-gas transporters, can realize significant savings by replacing older, less-efficient trucks that cost more to operate and produce harmful emissions.According to the most recent truck life...

By David McCann • Jan. 22, 2020

Final Arguments Made Over T-Mobile, Sprint Deal

An antitrust lawsuit over the proposed mega-merger between T-Mobile and Sprint is now in the hands of a federal judge after an attorney for more than a dozen states called the deal “presumptively anticompetitive.”U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of New York heard final arguments Wednesday in th...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 16, 2020

Cyber Incidents Ranked as No. 1 Business Risk

Cyber incidents are now the No. 1 business risk facing corporations, moving to the top of insurer Allianz’s annual list, which also showed climate change reaching its highest ranking.According to the Allianz Risk Barometer for 2020, 39% of respondents to its ninth annual survey of risk experts id...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 14, 2020

U.S. Pushes Voluntary Guidelines for AV Industry

The Trump administration has unveiled updated guidelines for self-driving vehicles, saying it wanted to encourage innovation without compromising safety.In the so-called AV 4.0 guidance released on Wednesday, the Department of Transportation said it will adopt and promote “flexible, technology-ne...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 9, 2020

8 Ways to Shore Up Cybersecurity Agreements

Most businesses have realized the risks posed by and to their data. Some experience significant operational interruptions after data breaches. The litigation they face as a result directly impacts their bottom line.Below are eight tips for protecting a company’s finances through better negotiatio...

By Charles Russman • Dec. 30, 2019

The Most Notorious Rogue Employee Speaks

Edward Snowden, who has the distinction of having stolen data from the most secure database in the world, has written a book. Called “Permanent Record,” it describes his exploits while employed by the U.S. National Security Agency.Snowden’s prodigious technical skills allowed him access to the NS...

By David McCann • Dec. 23, 2019

Five IT Workers Charged in Insider Trading Ring

A former IT administrator at Palo Alto Networks has been charged with tipping off friends in advance of the cloud-computing company’s quarterly earnings announcements as part of an insider trading ring that made more than $7 million in illegal profits.Federal authorities said Janardhan Nellore wa...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 18, 2019

Ericsson to Pay $1B in 2nd-Largest FCPA Case

In one of the costliest corruption cases ever brought against a U.S.-listed company, telecom equipment maker Ericsson has been fined more than $1 billion for engaging in bribery and other illegal practices to win business in five countries.As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justi...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 9, 2019

Spinoff Sues Honeywell Over Asbestos Liabilities

The turbocharger maker that was spun off from Honeywell last year has sued the conglomerate over asbestos liabilities it says could drive it into “severe financial distress.”Garrett Motion had agreed to reimburse Honeywell for 90% of liabilities arising from exposure to asbestos in Bendix automot...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 3, 2019

SEC Charges Former MiMedx Execs With Fraud

Three former top executives of MiMedx Group have been charged with orchestrating an accounting fraud that enabled the biotech firm to inflate sales to distributors with which it had entered into secret side arrangements.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the “pervasive” fraud that l...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 27, 2019

Ex-Outcome Health Execs Charged With Fraud

Three former top executives of Outcome Health, including the CFO, have been charged with engaging in a “massive” revenue recognition fraud to raise nearly $500 million for the healthcare advertising company from investors.The charges announced on Monday against CEO Rishi Shah, President Shradha A...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 26, 2019

Whistleblower Tips to SEC Top 5,200 in FY 2019

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program received the second-highest number of tips in its history in fiscal 2019 as it passed the $2 billion mark for sanctions in enforcement matters resulting from tips.In its annual report to Congress on the program, the SEC said it f...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 19, 2019

DOJ Plans Heightened Scrutiny of Government Contractors

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday the formation of a new unit aimed at deterring, detecting, investigating, and prosecuting procurement-related antitrust crimes such as bid-rigging and price-fixing conspiracies.Such fraud undermines competition in government procurement, grant, and prog...

By David McCann • Nov. 8, 2019

AT&T Fined $60 Million in Data ‘Throttling’ Case

After five years of litigation, AT&T has agreed to pay $60 million to settle allegations that it “throttled” the data speeds of millions of smartphone customers who had signed up for unlimited data plans.The company and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission had reached a settlement in August but ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 6, 2019

Proxy Adviser Sues SEC Over New Guidance

Institutional Shareholder Services has sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over guidance that would heighten regulatory oversight of proxy advisers, claiming it would have a chilling effect on their ability to advise shareholders.In August, the SEC recommended that the definition of ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 1, 2019

Operations Leaders Are Pessimistic on Recession

“It’s a universally acknowledged truth: The world will eventually experience another economic downturn. Equally as obvious: Companies that are well prepared for economic turbulence will fare the best when storm clouds gather on the horizon. But knowing these truisms and doing something about them...

By David McCann • Oct. 24, 2019

Pelosi’s Drug Plan Would Save Medicare $345B

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill to lower drug prices would save Medicare $345 billion between 2023 and 2029 but reduce the flow of new medications, according to the Congressional Budget Office.In a preliminary analysis of the measure, the CBO focused on its main provision, which would allow the...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 15, 2019

Fed OKs Rollbacks of Post-Crisis Banking Rules

The Federal Reserve has voted to loosen liquidity and capital requirements for large U.S. banks that were imposed as part of the post-crisis Dodd-Frank financial reforms.The Fed on Thursday adopted what The Wall Street Journal called “some of the most significant rollbacks of bank rules since Pre...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 11, 2019

Block.one Fined $24M Over Initial Coin Offering

Blockchain startup Block.one has agreed to pay $24 million to settle allegations that it conducted an illegal securities offering by selling digital assets.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has been cracking down on initial coin offerings, said Block.one violated securities laws ...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 2, 2019

Warren Slams SEC Oversight of Rating Firms

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, has questioned regulatory oversight of credit rating agencies, saying the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission needs to take “meaningful action” to curb their activities.According to the Democratic presidential candidate and frequent Wall Street c...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 30, 2019

Ex-Sodastream CEO Suspected of Insider Trading

Israeli authorities are investigating whether the chairman of Sodastream violated insider trading laws by tipping off an associate in advance of the $3.2 billion takeover of the Israeli carbonated drink maker by PepsiCo.Hebrew-language media reported that Daniel Birnbaum, who stepped down as Soda...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 24, 2019

Marcum Fined $525K for Touting Audit Clients

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has fined accounting firm Marcum, a subsidiary and one of its partners a total of $525,000 for touting audit clients at investor conferences it hosted.According to the PCAOB, 62 issuer audit clients made presentations to investors at Marcum’s annual M...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 11, 2019

NY to Lead Antitrust Investigation of Facebook

Facebook’s antitrust headaches worsened on Friday as New York’s attorney general announced she was leading an investigation into potential anticompetitive conduct.The social media giant is already being probed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which is focusing on whether Facebook has used ac...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 6, 2019

Clearinghouse Fined $20M for Violating Standards

Options Clearing Corp. has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a first-of-its-kind enforcement action alleging it failed to comply with heightened standards governing clearing agencies.A joint investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commissio...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 5, 2019

Walmart to Limit Ammo Sales in ‘Watershed’ Move

A month after a gunman armed with an AK-47 killed 22 people at one of its stores in El Paso, Texas, Walmart has announced it will no longer sell ammunition that can be used in military-style assault rifles.The nation’s largest retailer said the decision to discontinue sales of short-barrel rifle ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 4, 2019