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Article: Britain to crack down on online fraud after LCF collapse

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Britain to crack down on online fraud after LCF collapse

Huw Jones, 21 April 2021

Britain will crack down on online scams and make platforms that make money from advertising financial products more accountable, financial services minister John Glen said on Wednesday.

A report into the collapse of London Capital & Finance investment firm recommended that the government should consider including financial fraud in its proposed law on online safety. LCF was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority but the mini-bonds it sold online were unregulated.

The government said on Monday it would pay up to 120 million pounds in compensation to many of the 11,600 investors who lost up to 237 million pounds when the fund collapsed in early 2019. The Serious Fraud Office is investigating the collapse. Continue reading “Article: Britain to crack down on online fraud after LCF collapse”

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Article: U.S. files lawsuit against Danske Bank, attorney says

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U.S. files lawsuit against Danske Bank, attorney says

Reuters, 20 April 2021

The United States of America and the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) have filed a lawsuit against Danske Bank (DANSKE.CO) and its former CEO in the Copenhagen city court, according to the attorney representing the parties.

Shares in Danske Bank (DANSKE.CO) fell around 8% after the news, which was first reported by the business daily Borsen.

The suit is linked to Danske’s involvement in a major money laundering scandal, according to Borsen. Continue reading “Article: U.S. files lawsuit against Danske Bank, attorney says”

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Article: VLSI Tells Jury $3B Intel Case Hinges On Witness Credibility

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VLSI Tells Jury $3B Intel Case Hinges On Witness Credibility

Cara Salvatore, 20 April 2021

Patent holder VLSI made its final argument Tuesday that Intel owes $3 billion for allegedly infringing chip-voltage-regulation technology, telling a Texas federal jury Intel’s witnesses contradicted themselves at moments they weren’t “getting the script right.”

In the second of three planned trials in the multipatent case, hedge-fund-owned VLSI has argued that Intel chip properties directly echoed two technologies invented by engineers at a company called Sigmatel around the year 2000. The patents are U.S. Patent Number 6,633,187, which covers “waking up” chip cores very quickly from power-saving idle states, and U.S. Patent Number 6,366,522, which covers regulating power draw while the cores are awake. Continue reading “Article: VLSI Tells Jury $3B Intel Case Hinges On Witness Credibility”

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Article: BHP, Vale-Owned Mineral Co. Files Ch. 15 For $9B Debt Reorg

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BHP, Vale-Owned Mineral Co. Files Ch. 15 For $9B Debt Reorg

Rick Archer, 20 April 2021

A Brazilian mining joint venture between Vale SA and the BHP Group involved in a 2015 dam disaster Tuesday asked a New York bankruptcy court for Chapter 15 bankruptcy recognition as it attempts to reorganize $8.8 billion in debt in the Brazilian courts.

n its petition late Monday, Samarco Mineração SA asked for the U.S. court’s recognition of the restructuring proceedings it began in the Brazilian courts last week.

Vale and BHP announced April 9 that Samarco Mineração had filed for judicial reorganization in the Brazilian courts as a “last ditch” response to legal actions filed by creditors in the U.S. and Brazil seeking payments on $2.5 billion in debt, and pledged Samarco would continue operating and paying for remediation efforts stemming from the Fundão Dam collapse. Continue reading “Article: BHP, Vale-Owned Mineral Co. Files Ch. 15 For $9B Debt Reorg”

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Article: Secrecy in the Battery Industry Is Becoming a Headache for Everyone

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Secrecy in the Battery Industry Is Becoming a Headache for Everyone

Akshat Rathi, 20 April 2021

Most automakers have now committed to electrifying their fleets. That’s brought growing attention to batteries, which still make up about a third of the cost of an electric car, and led to multibillion-dollar valuations of secretive startups.

All well and good for battery chemists who get large sums of money to pursue wild scientific ideas that may lead to major breakthroughs. But when secrecy and early-technology risk collide with public markets, it can spell trouble. Continue reading “Article: Secrecy in the Battery Industry Is Becoming a Headache for Everyone”

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Article: German Regulator Accuses Deutsche Bank Board Member Of Insider Trading Linked To Wirecard

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German Regulator Accuses Deutsche Bank Board Member Of Insider Trading Linked To Wirecard

TYLER DURDEN, 20 April 2021

For a minute there, it appeared that Credit Suisse might have snatched Deutsche Bank’s crown as the most dysfunctional bank in Europe as the Swiss lender struggled with the fallout from the Archegos blowup and the collapse of Greensill (a scandal that has set off a massive corruption scandal in the UK, and triggered renewed calls for regulatory reform in the European financial system). CS has announced billions of dollars worth of losses tied to the scandals, fired its head of risk and nearly half a dozen other senior employees, and taken other steps in an attempt at penance. But on Monday, Deutsche Bank, which seemingly can’t go more than couple of quarters without a scandal, has found itself in the headlines once again. Continue reading “Article: German Regulator Accuses Deutsche Bank Board Member Of Insider Trading Linked To Wirecard”

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Article: Former B.C. premier Christy Clark to face questions from money laundering inquiry

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Former B.C. premier Christy Clark to face questions from money laundering inquiry

CBC News, 20 April 2021

Former Premier Christy Clark will testify Tuesday at the official inquiry investigating the scope and impact of money laundering in B.C., answering questions as to how much her cabinet knew about the crisis that grew during its tenure.

Clark, who was premier from 2011 to 2017, is the first of several present and past politicians to appear this month before the Cullen Commission, which is investigating the causes and impact of B.C.’s money laundering problem over the past decade. Continue reading “Article: Former B.C. premier Christy Clark to face questions from money laundering inquiry”

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Article: Meet The Tiny California Town “Full Of Dirt” That Snagged Elon Musk’s Boring Company

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Meet The Tiny California Town “Full Of Dirt” That Snagged Elon Musk’s Boring Company

TYLER DURDEN, 20 April 2021

Elon Musk is taking his Boring Company circus on the road to Adelanto, California.

Adelanto is a town of 37,000 where the mayor, Gabriel Reyes, works part time and the city manager, Jessie Flores, is the full time chief executive of the city, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

The county supervisor mentioned to Flores recently that Musk’s Boring Company was looking for a place to practice digging tunnels, so Flores reached out. “Steve, we’re the ones you’re looking for. When can we meet?,” Flores texted Boring’s President Steve Davis. Flores suggested meeting at SpaceX’s headquarters, which was about 2 hours away from Adelanto. Continue reading “Article: Meet The Tiny California Town “Full Of Dirt” That Snagged Elon Musk’s Boring Company”

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Article: Cayman Fund Seeks To Revive $2B Claim Over Madoff Losses

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Cayman Fund Seeks To Revive $2B Claim Over Madoff Losses

Richard Crump, 20 April 2021

A Cayman Islands investment fund urged the highest court for overseas British territories on Tuesday to revive its breach of contract claim against Bank of Bermuda and an HSBC subsidiary for $2 billion in damages as the result of losses from Bernie Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme.

Primeo Fund said the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which sits in London, should overturn a decision by the Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands that the fund’s claims are barred by the reflective loss principle. That rule prevents shareholders from bringing a claim for personal losses arising from a breach of duty or contract owed to the company they have invested in. Continue reading “Article: Cayman Fund Seeks To Revive $2B Claim Over Madoff Losses”

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Article: India does not see logic in U.S. putting it on currency watchlist

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India does not see logic in U.S. putting it on currency watchlist

Reuters, 20 April 2021

India does not see any logic in the United States putting it on a monitoring list of currency manipulators, a trade ministry official said on Tuesday.

“I don’t understand any economic logic,” Anup Wadhawan, India’s commerce secretary told reporters. The Reserve Bank of India is following a policy that allows currency movements based on market forces, he said.

Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department put India along with 10 other economies including Singapore, Thailand and Mexico on the “Monitoring List” that it said required close attention to their currency practices. read more Continue reading “Article: India does not see logic in U.S. putting it on currency watchlist”

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Article: Facing $50B Trial, Drugmakers Minimize Roles In Opioid Sales

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Facing $50B Trial, Drugmakers Minimize Roles In Opioid Sales

Emily Field and Jeff Overley, 20 April 2021

Allergan PLC on Tuesday downplayed its Golden State opioid sales, echoing the strategies of fellow drugmaker defendants from the day before in a closely watched trial where major California counties are seeking $50 billion over the addiction epidemic.

Donna Welch of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, counsel for Allergan, said during the livestreamed bench trial that the company was responsible for one brand-name opioid, Kadian, from 2009 until it was taken off the market in 2020, and that its market share during that time was minuscule — less than a fraction of 1%.

In addition, Allergan stopped marketing the drug in 2012, and even before then, the marketing was conservative and had little if any impact on sales, Welch said. Continue reading “Article: Facing $50B Trial, Drugmakers Minimize Roles In Opioid Sales”

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Article: 14 Critical Lessons Investors Can Learn From The GameStop Story

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14 Critical Lessons Investors Can Learn From The GameStop Story

Forbes Finance Council, 20 April 2021

Investing in the stock market comes with risks, especially in the age of social media. Valuable information that every investor should be aware of—including the occasional volatility of the stock market as well as investment nuances such as short selling—came into the spotlight recently when Redditors banded together to inflate the prices of retailer GameStop’s (GME) stock.

As well as serving as a refresher on stock market basics, the GameStop situation is also a signpost pointing to emerging trends in investment and fintech. Current and would-be stock market investors can take away some important lessons from this story. Below, 14 members of Forbes Finance Council share what every investor should learn from the GameStop stock saga.

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Article: FinCEN Rules Seen As Potential ‘Killer’ Of Art, Antique Shops

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FinCEN Rules Seen As Potential ‘Killer’ Of Art, Antique Shops

Al Barbarino, 20 April 2021

The recent overhaul of federal anti-money laundering laws could drive small- and mid-sized antiquities and art shops out of business over what some experts believe are overblown links to terrorist financing and other illicit activity.

The rules in the works at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network through the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 aim to uncover what lawmakers have argued is a billion-dollar industry for the illicit trade of antiques and fine art.

But if small businesses aren’t exempt, the rules would weaken a sector of the industry that is still reeling from the impacts of COVID-19 with costly and time-consuming reporting requirements, industry attorneys said. Continue reading “Article: FinCEN Rules Seen As Potential ‘Killer’ Of Art, Antique Shops”

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Article: Gary Gensler is now head of the SEC. What comes next?

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Gary Gensler is now head of the SEC. What comes next?

Kollen Post, 19 April 2021

As The Block reported last week, Gary Gensler is now chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after being sworn into office.

Now at the helm of the agency that governs trading at the largest stock markets in the world, Gensler will obviously play a key role in the Biden administration’s oversight of the U.S. financial services sector. His ascent to office comes during what might be called a period of heightened scrutiny, a state of affairs that came in the wake of controversy over the GameStop stock craze and the role of platforms like Robinhood and firms such as Citadel Securities, which play significant yet publicly invisible roles in the proverbial engine room of Wall Street. As Congress scrutinizing activities like naked short selling and payment for order flow, Gensler’s agency comes into view — particularly as the Biden administration seeks to take a potentially different tack compared to the Trump years. Continue reading “Article: Gary Gensler is now head of the SEC. What comes next?”

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Article: Libor-Replacement Competitor Gains Strength From New Offerings

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Libor-Replacement Competitor Gains Strength From New Offerings

Julia-Ambra Verlaine, 19 April 2021

Financial industry pioneer Richard Sandor is ramping up his efforts to compete in the race to replace the London interbank offered rate, which helps set borrowing costs on everything from mortgages to business loans.

Mr. Sandor—who helped create interest-rate futures in the 1970s and launched his own replacement for the scandal-marred short-term interest-rate benchmark in 2019—is expanding offerings to include one-month and three-month borrowing rates. Ameribor is set on the American Financial Exchange, which was founded by Mr. Sandor and is where banks lend to each other through mutual lines of credit. Some small and medium-size lenders favor Ameribor because it changes with their funding costs. Continue reading “Article: Libor-Replacement Competitor Gains Strength From New Offerings”