Regulator Continues Crypto Asset Crackdown

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has broken new regulatory ground by charging a hedge fund manager and the owners of TokenLot with registration violations related to digital assets.The SEC’s case against TokenLot, a self-described “ICO Superstore,” is its first charging unregistered br...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 12, 2018

Risk Psychology Invites Exposure to Black Swans

With weather events swirling and cyber-hackers swarming, CFOs need to keep a clear head and have a coherent risk strategy.Too often, however, companies fail to take to take proper precautions against Black Swans — outlier events, like last year’s extreme flooding in Houston. Their occurrence isn’...

By Frank Licata • Sept. 11, 2018

SEC Halts Trading in Bitcoin Tracking Products

In another move that highlights U.S. regulators’ concerns over Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended trading in two investment products that track cryptocurrencies.Bitcoin Tracker One and Ether Tracker One were launched in U.S. public markets las...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 10, 2018

Nike Likely to Win with Bold Kaepernick Move

As we recently pointed out, companies are growing more emboldened to take stances on social and political issues — and accept the accompanying risks — during this divisive era in American history.The topic has, of course, exploded in the news this week, with Nike’s revelation of its new marketing...

By David McCann • Sept. 6, 2018

Ex-Playgirl Owner Accused of $287M Fraud

The former owner of Playgirl magazine has been charged with fraudulently raising $287 million for a cash-advance business that actually served as a source of cash for his other companies and his own lavish lifestyle.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Carl Ruderman perpetrated a four...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 30, 2018

Moody’s Fined $16M Over Rating Deficiencies

Moody’s Investors Service has agreed to pay more than $16 million to settle allegations that it failed to ensure the accuracy of statistical models used in its ratings and apply rating symbols consistently.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday said the credit rating agency’s qual...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 28, 2018

Oil Firm Founder Settles Charges of ICO Fraud

The founder of an oil and gas exploration company has settled allegations that he attempted to raise $5 million from investors through an initial coin offering he promoted with misleading marketing materials.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said David T. Laurance and his Tomahawk Explo...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 15, 2018

Brand Risk Soars in Today’s Social & Political Climate

“The country is divided, and companies are not getting away unscathed.”So says Peter Horst, a former chief marketing officer with several large companies, including Capital One and Hershey. His new book, “Marketing in the #FakeNews Era” (Advantage Media Group, May 2018), carries the tagline, “New...

By David McCann • Aug. 15, 2018

RBS to Settle RMBS Claims for Record $4.9B

Royal Bank of Scotland Group has settled another case arising out of its sale of toxic mortgage-backed securities for a record amount, agreeing to pay the U.S. $4.9 billion.The Justice Department said the penalty was the largest it had ever imposed for financial crisis-era misconduct at a bank un...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 15, 2018

Monsanto Cancer Verdict Rattles Bayer Shares

Shares of German pharmaceutical giant Bayer plunged on Monday as analysts predicted a “litigious headache” in the wake of a $289 million jury award in a cancer exposure case against its Monsanto subsidiary.The case of a California school groundskeeper who alleged exposure to Monsanto’s glyphosate...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 14, 2018

Some Companies Are Ignoring GDPR Risk

During the six-year lead-up to the May 25, 2018, effective date of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), much attention was focused on the onerous financial penalties for noncompliance.The maximum penalty is so big that it almost defies comprehension: 4% of an offending ...

By David McCann • Aug. 9, 2018

Arista Settles Cisco’s Patent Claims for $400M

Arista Networks has agreed to pay Cisco Systems $400 million as part of a settlement of litigation that has pitted the two computer networking companies against each other for nearly four years.In return for the payment, Cisco will drop all its pending patent infringement claims against Arista. T...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 7, 2018

SEC Deals Another Setback for Bitcoin ETF

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected another effort by entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to list a bitcoin-related exchange-traded fund, citing concerns that the price of bitcoin is susceptible to manipulation.The Winklesvoss twins had proposed an SEC rule change that...

By Matthew Heller • July 30, 2018

Fyre Festival Promoter Settles Fraud Charges

The organizer of an ill-fated music festival in the Bahamas has settled charges that he defrauded investors in the Fyre Festival and two other media businesses of more than $27 million.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said William “Billy” McFarland — with the aid of two associates — in...

By Matthew Heller • July 25, 2018

Mizuho Fined Over Handling of Buyback Orders

The U.S. securities trading unit of Japan’s Mizuho Bank has been fined $1.25 million for failing to prevent material nonpublic information about clients’ stock buybacks from being disclosed to other traders and to hedge fund clients.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Mizuho Securiti...

By Matthew Heller • July 23, 2018

EU Fines Google $5B Over Android Restrictions

The EU’s antitrust regulator has fined Google a record 4.3 billion euros ($5.03 billion) over anticompetitive practices aimed at ensuring it dominates the search engine market on Android mobile devices.After a long-running investigation, the European Commission said Wednesday it had concluded tha...

By Matthew Heller • July 18, 2018

Regulators to ‘Vigilantly’ Monitor Crypto-assets

Global financial regulators don’t see any imminent risk to financial stability from crypto-assets but have identified an analytical framework to monitor them “vigilantly.”In a report released on Monday, the Financial Stability Board, which coordinates financial regulation for the Group of 20 Econ...

By Matthew Heller • July 17, 2018

Ex-Tesla Worker Alleges Production Irregularities

A former Tesla technician has filed a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging the automaker has used defective batteries in its cars and inflated production numbers.Martin Tripp’s complaint was the latest salvo in a legal battle that began last month when...

By Matthew Heller • July 16, 2018

Ex-Heartland CEO Charged With Insider Trading

The former CEO of Heartland Payment Systems has been charged with collaborating in an insider trading scheme with his longtime girlfriend that generated more than $250,000 in illicit profits.According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Robert Carr tipped off Katherine Hanratty to the...

By Matthew Heller • July 11, 2018

Ratings Analyst Accused of Insider Trading

An analyst at a major credit ratings agency has been accused of tipping off two friends about an impending acquisition by a client, enabling them to make nearly $300,000 in illicit stock trading profits.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Sebastian Pinto-Thomaz learned of paint compa...

By Matthew Heller • June 27, 2018

JPMorgan Fined $65M Over ISDAFix Rigging

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $65 million to settle charges that its traders attempted to rig a global benchmark for interest rate products to benefit its derivatives positions.The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Monday that the bank attempted to manipulate the U.S. Dollar Inter...

By Matthew Heller • June 19, 2018

Fitbit Employees Accused of Trade Secrets Crimes

Six people have been charged with being in possession of trade secrets of Jawbone after they left the now-defunct wearables maker to work for arch rival Fitbit.An indictment filed on Thursday accuses the six, who include one current Fitbit employee, of misconduct similar to allegations that Jawbo...

By Matthew Heller • June 15, 2018

U.S. Agrees to Lift American Parts Ban on ZTE

The Trump administration has announced it will lift a ban on American companies supplying ZTE with components as part of an agreement that requires the Chinese smartphone maker to pay a $1 billion penalty.The U.S. decision to end sanctions that had threatened to cripple ZTE’s operations follows t...

By Matthew Heller • June 7, 2018

House Sets Vote on Dodd-Frank Rollback Bill

Republican legislation to roll back the Dodd-Frank reform act is moving closer to clearing a final hurdle before being signed into law by President Donald Trump.CNBC reported that the House will vote on the legislation on Tuesday. It passed the Senate in March by a 67-31 vote with support from mo...

By Matthew Heller • May 16, 2018

Traditional Packaging Fails for E-Commerce

Using traditional product packaging in e-commerce can hurt the bottom line. For many companies, the practice triggers unnecessary, counterproductive costs several percent of their total cost of goods sold (COGS).Vijay Kasi This is a growing problem, with e-commerce rapidly becoming a much bigger ...

By Vijay Kasi and Tom Gildersleeve • May 15, 2018