The German asset manager DWS, owned by Deutsche Bank, has agreed to pay $19 million to settle allegations brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over “greenwashing.” This has been the highest fine imposed by the SEC from an ESG-related matter.
Continue reading →Swiss bank UBS agreed to pay a combined $1.4 billion in civil penalties over fraud and misconduct in its offering of residential mortgage-backed securities dating back to the global financial crisis, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
Continue reading →The Pentagon will withhold about 10% of the price for new F-35s from Lockheed Martin Corp. until the contractor shows that new software works properly, potentially delaying more than $400 million in payments by December on 52 of the advanced fighter jets.
Continue reading →Once again, the debt ceiling is in the news and is a cause for concern. If the debt ceiling binds, and the U.S. Treasury does not have the ability to pay its obligations, the negative economic effects would quickly mount, triggering a deep recession. Although the US government has never defaulted on its debt, it does occasionally have showdowns over whether or not the ceiling will be raised.
Continue reading →The states that use Colorado River water have agreed to cuts requested by the federal government to help keep two of the main reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, from falling to critically low levels.
Continue reading →Some Biden administration officials have proposed the solution of a forced sale of the U.S. operations of TikTok.
Continue reading →Credit Suisse has agreed to pay French officials roughly $235 million as a settlement for a long-lasting money laundering scandal in which the well-known lender was accused of attempting to bring wealthy clients to Switzerland.
Continue reading →Student loan forgiveness is on hold, attorneys general from Republican-Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina have sued the Biden administration in an effort to stop its plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt.
Continue reading →The bill would largely target Apple, Amazon, and Google, in an attempt to prevent these companies from predominantly advertising products produced by the companies themselves while leaving other distributors in the shadows. This has become a serious concern as throughout Amazon’s massive e-commerce platform, the Apple app store, and Google’s search engine these companies are capable of shutting out any competitive producers.
Continue reading →The Dutch government is aiming to cut nitrogen and ammonia emissions by 50% by 2030 in a bid to improve air, land, and water quality. The plans include cutting back on fertilizer used on farms and ratcheting back the number of livestock by an estimated 30%.
Continue reading →A bipartisan group of lawmakers were putting the spotlight on manufacturers of baby formula and industry experts due to an ongoing shortage on Wednesday, with two House hearings taking place on Capitol Hill
Continue reading →The United States Government is planning on distributing $10 billion to small businesses in an attempt to help them gain access to much-needed capital and boost economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic
Continue reading →The Biden Administration’s “Build Back Better” plan is dead. The plan hit a significant roadblock on Sunday when West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin said he would not support the legislation, meaning that the bill currently does not have enough support to pass the Senate
Continue reading →Several hospitals have begun to consider eliminating or limiting vaccine requirements for staff due to growing labor shortages throughout the industry. Federal judge Terry A. Doughty postponed the Biden administration’s mandate that all healthcare workers get vaccinated
Continue reading →House Dems are set to propose significant changes in the $10,000 limit for the federal deduction for state and local taxes, after the Ways and Means Committee didn’t address the tax break in a package of proposals released Monday
Continue reading →The European Union is putting more pressure on the auto industry as of last week when the European Commission stated that it plans to require emissions to be reduced by 65% by 2030 and to be fully eliminated by 2035. This is an increase from previous requirements where emissions were expected to be reduced by 37.5% by 2030 and hybrids were expected to remain on the market for the remainder of the decade.
Continue reading →The Pentagon is reportedly canceling a $10 billion cloud computing contract that had been awarded to Microsoft over Amazon during the Trump administration. The Department of Defense released a statement on Tuesday stating that it is canceling the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract that had been awarded a number of years ago to Microsoft. It will instead seek new solicitations for an updated Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract from Amazon and Microsoft. The JEDI contract would have resulted in Microsoft building a cloud storage system for sensitive military data and technology, such as artificial intelligence, for the Department of Defense and could have resulted in revenue of up to $10 billion over 10 years.
Continue reading →01.25.21 - A new analysis from Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, and Jim Parrott, a fellow at the Urban Institute, shows that the average delinquent renter owes $5,600, being nearly four months or more behind on their monthly payment including utilities and late fees
Continue reading →12.28.20 - China has recently announced that it is launching an antitrust investigation into Alibaba as many countries around the world step up scrutiny of growing internet firms and tech giants
Continue reading →12.28.20 - A recent Labor Department ruling determined that Steve Dickson participated in efforts by Delta Air Lines to use a psychiatric evaluation to intimidate and silence a pilot who raised safety concerns over Delta’s practices before becoming head of the Federal Aviation Administration
Continue reading →12.28.20 - Britain and the European Union struck a hard-fought trade agreement on Thursday, finally formally ending a bitter divorce that had started in 2016 and setting the terms for what a post-Brexit future will look like
Continue reading →12.21.20 - After days of tense negotiations and months of partisan stalemate, congressional leaders have recently announced that they have agreed on a deal that provides a $900 billion stimulus package to deliver relief for businesses and Americans throughout the country
Continue reading →12.14.20 - The rise of America’s tech giants has posed a unique challenge to regulators. The sheer speed in which today's tech giants went from mere “Dot-Com start-ups” in dorm rooms and garages to the top of the Fortune 500 is unprecedented. On top of this, Congress is facing a significant problem; they are just beginning to understand the businesses in which they’re attempting to regulate
Continue reading →11.30.20 - A long-rumored move being contemplated in Washington that would have a far-reaching impact on China has been the consideration of locking out Chinese companies from western capital markets. Lawmakers next week are likely to force Chinese companies with shares traded on U.S. exchanges to fully comply with audit-oversight rules—or leave U.S. markets altogether
Continue reading →10.19.20 - The White House announced on Friday a deal with CVS Health and Walgreens to administer coronavirus vaccines to the elderly and staff in long-term care facilities
Continue reading →09.07.20 - After much deliberation, Microsoft will continue to hold the $10 billion Pentagon JEDI Cloud contract awarded last October after being contested by Amazon. The contract is intended to modernize the Pentagon’s massive IT infrastructure and could be valued up to $10 billion for services rendered over as many as 10 years
Continue reading →08.24.20 - The US House of Representatives voted on Saturday to pass legislation for a bailout of the United States Postal Service, which has been posting huge losses for years – or at least on paper. In reality, the federal agency is bringing in billions of dollars in cash. Almost all of the Postal Services financial difficulties come from a unique, and somewhat utterly absurd, accounting system that no other business or government body follows or should follow and doesn't accurately reflect real costs
Continue reading →08.10.20 - Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, and Northrop Grumman lost out on billions in Pentagon rocket contracts to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and ULA. The Airforce says it expects to spend at least $1 billion annually to launch rockets on missions vital to national security
Continue reading →07.27.20 - No longer an echo swirling around in the rumor mill, another Trillion Dollar+ booster shot is set to be injected into the US economy. The Senate is preparing to propose another Trillion Dollar coronavirus relief bill later today. Legislators are eager to reach consensus on a bill as Federal unemployment supplements end later this week
Continue reading →05.26.20 - It is increasing becoming likely that the US government will impose sanctions on China in the event Beijing follows through with a national security law that would give it a stronger hold over Hong Kong – the largely autonomous financial center off China’s coast
Continue reading →05.18.20 - Two insiders within the Justice Department have revealed the Departments intentions to pursue antitrust charges against Google, the multinational technology giant. The charges are said to be coming as early as this summer, making it one of the largest antitrust actions in the United States in history and certainly since the 90s
Continue reading →04.20.20 - Lawmakers and the White House are close to reaching a deal on a $450 billion agreement that would replenish a program for small businesses impacted by the coronavirus and correlated shutdowns. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that he was hopeful that the two sides would soon reach a deal. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has given notice that members of the house may be voting as early as Wednesday
Continue reading →03.23.20 - Census day is right around the corner and technically you have no choice legally but to participate in the mandatory festivities. Thankfully, the Census Bureau promises it won’t be of any inconvenience this year as it’s 2020 and they’ve moved it online - instead of having to do it over the phone, through mail, or even worse, by having census takers just show up on your doorstep
Continue reading →03.23.20 - Those within the U.S. have an additional three months to file their federal taxes, as the US Treasury secretary announced the postponement amid the coronavirus outbreak
Continue reading →01.13.20 - Within the first week of 2020 WW3 was trending as a meme, indicative of how unphased Americans seem to be able to make light of pretty much everything. Our biggest frustration is that our social media feeds went from Baby Yoda memes to satire about a potential draft
Continue reading →01.06.20 - After HSBC was accused of working with mainland China to put an end to the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the bank’s headquarters in the city experienced defacement to a pair of bronze lions outside of the building as multiple branches throughout the city were attacked
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