Law

CFPB opponents gamble with US financial stability

3 Oct 2023

The 12-year-old consumer finance watchdog has amassed powerful enemies, partly because of combative boss Rohit Chopra. But a Supreme Court challenge to its funding threatens other regulators like the Fed too. Making crisis-fighting departments beg Congress for cash is dangerous.

Jeffrey Epstein leaves small mark on Wall Street

27 Sep 2023

JPMorgan will fork out another $75 mln to settle claims over its ex-client, winding down the sordid mess for financiers. The sex offender cost two industry CEOs their jobs, while banks now monitor such reputational risks more closely. The effects are likely to fade soon, however.

Capital Calls: UBS Russia risk

27 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Swiss bank’s value fell by $3 bln after Bloomberg reported that the US Department of Justice is investigating the recent acquisition of Credit Suisse over possible compliance failures.

Apple may be poisoned by Google antitrust fallout

27 Sep 2023

Founder Steve Jobs once threatened “thermonuclear war” against his rival for copying the iPhone. Now, more than 15% of Apple's operating profit might be coming from fees paid by the search giant. The big risk is that an unfavorable verdict will taint its rich valuation multiple.

Amazon has a poor man’s monopoly

27 Sep 2023

Trustbusters sued the $1.3 trln retailer over how it restricts merchants on its site. But it has lost ground to rivals like Walmart thanks to bad M&A and retail losses. Amazon gets the worst of two worlds: strong enough to worry regulators, vulnerable enough to concern investors.

Long US shutdown is avoidable but seems inevitable

26 Sep 2023

A group of Republicans are holding up approval of a $1.5 trln budget because they want $60 bln in cuts. Fiscal responsibility is fair enough, but they’re being contradictory and unreasonable. Even if Republicans were to reach an agreement today, other issues will get in the way.

Big oil lawsuits are riskier than quitting tobacco

18 Sep 2023

California is suing fossil-fuel companies, alleging tens of billions in climate-related damages. Decades of litigation forced tobacco firms to pay up. The tension is that, while global warming’s ravages imply higher costs, US oil production is crucial amid tightening supply.

Deaths haunt Corporate America via labor strikes

15 Sep 2023

Auto workers, pilots, and truck drivers have had upper hands in labor strikes. That’s despite labor supply healing. One reason may be that men have left the workforce. Opioids and Covid are partly to blame. But it highlights the dangers of demographically concentrated jobs.

Alphabet’s glib but effective defense: Google it

13 Sep 2023

The tech giant dragged Microsoft, Apple and even Yahoo into its fight against US trustbusters. In response to the DOJ painting it as a predator, the $1.7 trln company’s lawyers said to just do a search on its site. The answer gets at the formidable competition it’s up against.

DOJ fights uphill battle; Google a losing one

12 Sep 2023

A trial kicked off that pits the search engine’s $1.7 trln owner against the US Department of Justice. Google gleans data freely given and has beaten other rivals. That makes the government’s case tough. By fighting it, though, the tech firm risks exposing its creepy reach.

Feel-good war on short flights misses the mark

4 Sep 2023

European states like Germany are mulling bans on air travel under a certain distance. Short-haul commercial flights make convenient climate scapegoats. But going after private jets, which can emit 45 times more carbon per passenger, would bring more benefit with less disruption.

Climate change turns US utilities grimly exciting

31 Aug 2023

Hawaii’s biggest electricity provider is at risk of bankruptcy after wildfires destroyed a town. Increased capital expenditure can mitigate, but not eliminate, damage from storms and heat. Little wonder investors are slowly waking up to the dangers posed by litigious customers.

Shady export leaks suggest Russian sanctions work

29 Aug 2023

A suspicious bump in European exports to countries like Kazakhstan may be helping Moscow evade Western bans. The G7 price cap on Putin’s oil is also porous. But these cracks are marginal and help demonstrate the embargoes’ effectiveness – and why they can be tightened.

Capital Calls: Diversity initiatives

23 Aug 2023

Concise views on global finance: The group that got the Supreme Court to overturn affirmative action at universities is suing financial firms to end programs for diverse applicants. It will make companies rethink recent diversity initiatives.

Altice’s beaten-up debt is only a bet for the bold

8 Aug 2023

Patrick Drahi’s telco empire faces a funding crunch, with $60 bln of debt coming due by 2030. He must pull off a tough turnaround in France and sell assets, a tricky task made even harder by a corruption probe. Even with current high yields, Altice debt is a risky punt on Drahi.

ICE cuts tortuous path through frosty trustbusters

7 Aug 2023

It took 15 months, two divestitures and an 11% discount, but Black Knight’s $12 bln sale to the NYSE operator is set to close after deal enforcers dropped a lawsuit. It’s a small sign that even FTC chief Lina Khan can see clear to settle, if merger participants concede enough.

One-two punch barely fazes Uncle Sam

2 Aug 2023

Donald Trump became the first US president to face two federal indictments while Fitch yanked the country’s AAA status. Washington is more volatile than it has been in decades. Yet a resilient economy and the world’s reserve currency make it hard to bet against the United States.

NatWest goof is a boon for sketchy bank clients

21 Jul 2023

The UK lender’s CEO apologised to right-wing talking head Nigel Farage amid an account-closure row. Britain will now force banks to respect freedom of expression. Yet that may make it harder to ditch other, more problematic clients – and weaken the fight against money laundering.

Amazon-EU web content spat is all about grey areas

20 Jul 2023

The $1.4 trln e-commerce giant is fighting Brussels’ decision to class it as a large online platform and hence face extra scrutiny. Given its size, Amazon’s challenge at first looks like a long shot. Yet the legislation’s vague language creates scope for disputes.

Ireland becomes guinea pig for booze clampdown

13 Jul 2023

Drinks like Guinness and Smirnoff vodka will feature cancer warning labels by 2026. It’s a bold move that will be watched closely by the US and Europe. If it’s a success and is replicated, rosy forecasts of alcohol sales soaring to $2 trln by 2030 may be revised.