Article: AWS Head of Payments: Fraud, Credit Decisioning Drive Move To The Cloud

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AWS Head of Payments: Fraud, Credit Decisioning Drive Move To The Cloud

PYMNTS, 15 June 2021

In an interview with PYMNTS, Mark Smith, head of payments for financial services at Amazon Web Services (AWS), said that “COVID has changed the conversation we’ve been having with payment customers, and it’s accelerated the trends we’ve been seeing over the past few years.”

Much of that changing conversation has to do with a pivot in consumer behavior, he said, which has spurred AWS’ own customers to migrate to cloud applications. “We all recognize that payments transactions are ‘bursty,’” Smith told PYMNTS. “We see a lot of this during the holidays and with seasonal shifts. But we weren’t ready for this kind of panic-buying, all done online.” One reason is to enhance card processing, as firms on the merchant processing side — which are focused on eCommerce — need to scale up and down as necessary based on those aforementioned shifts in consumer behavior, and as more transactions move online. Continue reading “Article: AWS Head of Payments: Fraud, Credit Decisioning Drive Move To The Cloud”

Article: Ex-Netflix Executive Convicted in Bribery-Kickback Scheme

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Ex-Netflix Executive Convicted in Bribery-Kickback Scheme

Joel Rosenblatt, 01 May 2021

A former Netflix Inc. executive was convicted of taking kickbacks from vendors in exchange for approving millions of dollars in contracts for products and services, federal prosecutors said.

A jury on Friday found Michael Kail, a former vice president of information technology operations, guilty of wire and mail fraud and money laundering after a two-week trial, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Francisco. Continue reading “Article: Ex-Netflix Executive Convicted in Bribery-Kickback Scheme”

Article: Former Glencore Oil Trader Charged With Manipulation of Fuel Prices

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Former Glencore Oil Trader Charged With Manipulation of Fuel Prices

Dave Michaels, 23 March 2021

WASHINGTON—A former oil trader at mining company Glencore PLC was charged with manipulating fuel oil prices, in a case that echoes claims investigated in Europe seven years ago.

The ex-trader, Emilio Heredia, was charged under a document that prosecutors typically use when a defendant is to plead guilty. He is to be arraigned Tuesday in San Francisco federal court on one count of conspiracy related to trading through a process managed by oil-price benchmark publisher S&P Global Platts. Mr. Heredia directed other traders to submit orders that would push up or down prices, to engineer a move that would improve the profitability of other transactions in physical fuel oil, according to the charging document filed in court last week. Continue reading “Article: Former Glencore Oil Trader Charged With Manipulation of Fuel Prices”

Article: GameStop hearing targets stock lending, social media

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GameStop hearing targets stock lending, social media

Michael Shaw, 23 March 2021

Two issues emerged from a congressional hearing on the volatile trading of GameStop Corp. shares: Lawmakers and regulators need a greater understanding of how technology helped foster the frenzy, and regulators need systems to understand such events — and possibly to manage them.

House Financial Services members and witnesses spent most of their time at the hearing last week focusing on the role of short-selling in the GameStop trading frenzy in January. They specifically looked at the source of securities used to take short positions, and they looked at how a bunch of retail investors seemingly were able to outmaneuver the professionals. Continue reading “Article: GameStop hearing targets stock lending, social media”

Article: Former Glencore trader charged in global oil price manipulation scam

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Former Glencore trader charged in global oil price manipulation scam

THOMAS BIESHEUVEL AND JAVIER BLAS, 23 March 2021

(Bloomberg) –A former Glencore Plc trader was charged by U.S. authorities with conspiracy to manipulate a key oil price benchmark, the latest sign that prosecutors around the world are stepping up their scrutiny of the notoriously opaque commodity trading industry.

U.S. prosecutors alleged that Emilio Heredia, a former Glencore employee, directed buy and sell orders that would push fuel oil prices up and down. That allowed the companies he worked for to profit from the price swings, between 2012 and 2016, according to a filing at a U.S. District Court in San Francisco on March 15.

The investigation is the latest legal setback for Glencore, already embroiled in a wide-ranging probe by the U.S. Department of Justice on allegations of bribery and money laundering. The UK, Swiss and Brazilian authorities are also investigating the commodity trader. Continue reading “Article: Former Glencore trader charged in global oil price manipulation scam”

Article: Bay Area oil company executive charged with market manipulation

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Bay Area oil company executive charged with market manipulation

NATE GARTRELL, 22 March 2021

SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors in the Bay Area have charged a local resident with conspiracy to manipulate the oil market, a crime that prosecutors say was committed while he was a vice president at an oil company.

Emilio Collado, aka Emilio Heredia, was charged earlier this month with a single count of conspiracy. The charging records allege that since 1998, Collado worked at two oil companies, one of which bought out the other one in 2014. The companies are referred to in court records not by their names but as “Company A” and “Company B.”

The charging records allege that Collado and unnamed co-conspirators deliberately misled price assessors toward oil prices “that did not reflect legitimate forces of supply and demand.” Collado allegedly manipulated the prices depending on his company’s needs; when they were selling, the manipulated price went high, and when they were buying, it went low, prosecutors allege.

For instance, on Aug. 24, 2016, Collado allegedly shifted the price per metric ton of oil down by roughly $40, “resulting in an unlawful gain of hundreds of thousands of dollars to Company B” on that day alone, the charging records say.

Collado is set to appear in court Wednesday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer for a change of plea hearing. Generally, change of plea hearings are set when a defendant has agreed to plead guilty or no contest to a charge, though no plea deals have been announced in Collado’s case.

If he’s convicted, Collado faces a maximum of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, court records show

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Article: SEC backs investors’ claim Merrill rigged ARS market, lawyer says

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SEC backs investors’ claim Merrill rigged ARS market, lawyer says

jgoff, 08 December 2011

Auction-rate securities holders seeking to win back part of the $330 billion they’ve invested, may get help from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission legal brief supporting claims that Merrill Lynch & Co. rigged the moribund market, a lawyer involved in the case said. Continue reading “Article: SEC backs investors’ claim Merrill rigged ARS market, lawyer says”

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