Law

Europe is now the main front in gig economy war

19 Feb 2021

Britain’s top court ruled that a group of Uber drivers are entitled to worker rights. Spain is also cracking down. It’s a stark contrast to America, where a California ballot win gave the sector hope. Tougher rules mean a longer path to profit – and higher prices for consumers.

JPMorgan London hire is at smart end of new trend

18 Feb 2021

Linklaters Senior Partner Charlie Jacobs is joining the U.S. group as co-head of UK investment banking. He’s the latest in a string of senior outsiders to transfer to the industry, including ex-UK Chancellor George Osborne. Lawyers are better prepared to make a successful switch.

Biden’s minimum wage hike is worth jobs tradeoff

9 Feb 2021

Critics of the U.S. president's $1.9 trln stimulus plan got a boost from a report suggesting that upping the federal pay floor to $15 an hour could cost 1.4 mln jobs. It would, though, reduce poverty. Corporate America can afford it; struggling small businesses may need leeway.

Germany’s female executive quota is hard to export

15 Jan 2021

The government will soon require the country’s top 70 companies to have at least one woman on their management boards. The long overdue move will force firms to quickly identify a raft of female talent. But Germany’s unusual corporate structure makes it difficult to replicate.

Corona Capital: U.S. stimulus, Japanese pain

28 Dec 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. President Donald Trump climbs down and signs the coronavirus relief and spending package passed by Congress; and Japan's prime minister tries to keep the pandemic in check with a quiet New Year.

Time for India to end its global tax fights

23 Dec 2020

The Hague awarded Cairn Energy $1.4 bln in its spat with New Delhi, more than the UK group’s market cap. Vodafone had a similar win. Accepting these outcomes would make Boris Johnson’s January visit run smoothly, and inject credibility into India’s global investment ambitions.

Vodafone finds better German M&A pain threshold

22 Dec 2020

Seven years after its Kabel Deutschland deal, the UK telco is paying $2.6 bln to buy out minorities like Elliott. That’s better than the 18 years taken to settle a similar saga with Mannesmann. But as with other “domination agreements”, holdouts are unlikely to have done badly.

Messy U.S. aid could use creative do-over

21 Dec 2020

Congress finalized an inadequate but better-than-nothing $900 bln stimulus plan, though methods remain fractured and inefficient. That suggests that future aid will be necessary, but it requires both political will and a rewrite. Biden has a big cleanup job on his hands.

Big Tech pile-on could block future moon shots

18 Dec 2020

Google is now deluged by three U.S. lawsuits, claiming it’s abusing market power. Facebook faces its own challenges against government prosecutors. The duo may beat back the charges but, like Microsoft in the 1990s, too much distraction could make them miss the next big thing.

Corona Capital: Private jet deal

17 Dec 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Blackstone bets that plutocrats will be back in the air before the rest of us.

Robinhood gamification charge sends early flare

16 Dec 2020

Massachusetts regulators filed a complaint against the trading firm saying it aggressively lures inexperienced investors. The site has impressive stats, but many amateurs are benefiting from inflated markets. Too often the government takes action after they have been burned.

Heathrow expansion faces long Covid-19 quarantine

16 Dec 2020

Britain’s Supreme Court cleared the way for the London airport to build a third runway, boosting its capacity by two-thirds. The pandemic-induced collapse in air travel makes passenger forecasts obsolete. Even if demand recovers, airlines will struggle to cover the extra costs.

Corona Capital: Vaccines

11 Dec 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. regulators prep to rubber-stamp the approval of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca will partner with Russia and its Sputnik V jab in a possible combination that could ease jitters.

Corona Capital: Scotland, EU impasse, Amazon

27 Nov 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Scottish independence gets a viral shot in the arm; Poland and Hungary take a united stand on the European Union’s recovery fund; and the online retail giant delivers a modicum of Christmas cheer to workers.

Goldman’s clawback is small but pointy

22 Oct 2020

CEO David Solomon and others will forfeit $174 mln of bonus payments to resolve the 1MDB bribery scandal. But there’s a question mark over former COO Gary Cohn, who cashed in when he went into politics in 2017. That career change shouldn't shield anyone from past sins.

Goldman fines are literally cost of doing business

22 Oct 2020

The Wall Street firm is drawing a line under the 1MDB scandal. A U.S. settlement worth under $3 bln looks trifling, but years of bad behavior cost it far more. The bank spent more on legal woes since 2012 than on rent or technology. Like those expenses, penalties are inevitable.

Big Tech broadside is bonanza for D.C. lobbyists

7 Oct 2020

A U.S. Congress report accuses Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google of abusing market power. Trustbusting recommendations include breakups and a merger ban. Any actual reforms will surely be heavily diluted, but the four giants now have a 450-page guide for their counterattacks.

Corona Capital: Covid-19 tests, Bed Bath & Beyond

1 Oct 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Diagnostic company Quidel predicts a quarterly earnings bonanza; meanwhile the pandemic turns a struggling retailer into a winner, at least temporarily.

2020 is ideal year to hide Wall St trading scams

30 Sep 2020

JPMorgan is paying a $920 mln fine and admitting its traders manipulated metals and Treasury markets. It’s the latest of a long list of industry wrongdoing. Online chats helped snare the perpetrators. Remote work means there are more ways to conceal such shenanigans.

Supreme Court could use a Fed-style makeover

28 Sep 2020

America’s highest court and central bank have some things in common: both are unelected and enjoy vast power and independence. The fight to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg shows lifetime appointments have politicized court nominations. Those dreaming of reform could look to the Fed.