By Suhaib Riaz, Sean Buchanan and Trish Ruebottom/The Conversation

Reforming Wall Street has become a key issue in the ongoing presidential primaries.
Bernie Sanders in particular has used his rival’s close ties to the financial industry, including speaking fees and political donations, to suggest Hillary Clinton wouldn’t rein in Wall Street. At the same time, Sanders has tried to highlight his own independence, declaring:

If I were elected president, the foxes would no longer guard the henhouse.

Clinton has tried to dispel the notion that Wall Street donations affect her judgment or independence, claiming her regulatory plan is actually tougher than Sanders’.
These exchanges underscore a crucial point: Almost a decade after the 2008 financial crisis, the reforms that many Americans have demanded remain incomplete.

Read More

Posted on March 9, 2016

By Nate Raymond/Reuters

U.S. authorities have decided not to pursue criminal charges against any Citigroup executives or employees involved in packaging and selling mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, a government report shows.
The decision, which followed Citigroup’s $7 billion settlement in 2014 resolving federal and state civil claims related to mortgage bonds, was described in a November report obtained by Reuters in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Its release marked the first public acknowledgement by U.S. authorities that executives at a major bank linked to the financial crisis would face no criminal charges for their involvement in selling billions of dollars of toxic mortgage bonds.

Read More

Posted on March 8, 2016

By Jonathan Spicer/Reuters

A U.S. watchdog agency is preparing to investigate whether the Federal Reserve and other regulators are too soft on the banks they are meant to police, after a written request from Democratic lawmakers that marks the latest sign of distrust between Congress and the central bank.
Ranking representatives Maxine Waters of the House Financial Services Committee and Al Green of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations asked the Government Accountability Office on Oct. 8 to launch a probe of “regulatory capture” and to focus on the New York Fed, according to a letter obtained by Reuters.
In an interview, the congressional agency said it has begun planning its approach.

Read More

Posted on March 7, 2016

By Allan Sloan/ProPublica

Tim Cook got almost $400 million of restricted stock when he was named Apple chief executive in 2011, succeeding Steve Jobs. Regardless of whether Apple shareholders fared well or badly over the grant’s 10-year term, all Cook needed to do to collect that stock (worth about $700 million at today’s price) was keep his job. It was the kind of deal that pay mavens derisively call “pay for pulse.”
But two years later, Apple and Cook retroactively changed the terms of his grant, making about 40 percent of it “pay for performance” based on how Apple shares do relative to those of other companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. Apple quoted Cook as saying he wanted to align his interests with those of regular shareholders.
What Apple didn’t say then – and now says only in passing – is that the change also gave the company a chance to get more than $200 million in tax deductions. Under Cook’s initial deal, Apple, which declined to comment, would have received no deductions because a 1993 tax law would have barred it from treating Cook’s grant as an operating expense.

Read More

Posted on March 5, 2016

By Ed Hammer

Ex-convict and former governor George Ryan will be the guest speaker at the St. Patrick’s Day Salute to 3 Governors fundraiser dinner on March 19 at the Civic Auditorium of Kankakee, according to the Bourbannais Herald.
The purpose of the event is to raise $117,000 for three life-size statues to be erected in a Kankakee Park and dedicated to Len Small, Sam Shapiro and George Ryan, three former Illinois governors from Kankakee.
Of course, Len Small has been labeled by some as the worst Illinois governor in history; George Ryan was convicted of 20 federal felonies and linked to multiple highway fatalities.
The fundraiser was initiated by the GFWC-Il Woman’s Club of Kankakee. There is an ongoing dispute whether the club is officially sponsoring the fundraiser and event or not.

Read More

Posted on March 3, 2016

By Suzanne Barlyn/Reuters

The founder of Winnetka-based Nanex, a real-time financial markets data company, said on Tuesday he will receive a $750,000 whistleblower award for a tip that triggered a $5 million U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fine against the New York Stock Exchange in 2012.
Eric Hunsader, an outspoken critic of high-frequency traders, said he qualified for the award after tipping off the SEC that NYSE gave certain customers a head start on trading information.

Read More

Posted on March 2, 2016

By Michael Grabell/ProPublica and Howard Berkes/NPR

A campaign by some of America’s biggest companies to “opt out” of state workers’ compensation – and write their own plans for dealing with injured workers – was dealt a major blow Friday when an Oklahoma commission ruled the alternative system unconstitutional.
Company plans were supposed to provide equal benefits to workers’ comp. But in its unanimous ruling, the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission compared that notion to “a water mirage on the highway that disappears upon closer inspection.”

Read More

Posted on March 1, 2016

By The Electronic Frontier Foundation

The Electronic Frontier Foundation urged the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last Wednesday to permit Wikimedia and other groups to continue their lawsuit against the NSA over illegal internet surveillance. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in Wikimedia v. NSA would follow the lead of the Ninth Circuit, which allowed EFF’s Jewel v. NSA to go forward despite years of stalling attempts by the government.
In Wikimedia, the American Civil Liberties Union represents nine plaintiffs, including human rights organizations, members of the media, and the Wikimedia Foundation. A federal district judge in Maryland dismissed the case last fall, ruling that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue. In EFF’s long-running challenge to NSA spying, Jewel, a separate appeals court rightly rejected a similar argument in 2011, and the case is ongoing in federal court. In fact, a week ago Friday, after eight years of litigation in Jewel, a judge authorized EFF to conduct discovery – meaning, for the first time, EFF can begin to compel the government to produce evidence related to the NSA’s surveillance of the nation’s fiber optic Internet backbone.

Read More

Posted on February 29, 2016

By Diane Bartz and Greg Roumeliotis/Reuters

A spate of proposed Chinese takeovers of U.S. companies, from the Chicago Stock Exchange to makers of high-end semiconductors, has created a vibrant business for a small circuit of Washington insiders who advise on how to get cross-border deals approved by the U.S. government.
Several former U.S. officials have in recent years joined the ranks of lawyers, consultants and lobbyists who have emerged as key brokers in trying to get Chinese acquisitions or investments in U.S. companies approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which scrutinizes deals for national security concerns.
Because this interagency panel, comprising 16 U.S. government departments or agencies and chaired by the Treasury, does not publish its decisions or its reasoning for them, advisers say inside knowledge and connections are important to navigate what outsiders often see as a “black-box” review process.

Read More

Posted on February 27, 2016

By Kingsmill Resort

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Golf primary season is upon us – when duffers up and down the East Coast and across the country hit the links and get back into the game.
In this diverse and opinionated land (and potential “swing” state), Kingsmill Resort asked the more pressing question on hand:
“If the leading contenders vying to be the President of the United States talked golf programs, what might they say about the resort’s just-unveiled Best Golf Package Ever ($139/person for one round of golf, AAA Four Diamond accommodations and breakfast overlooking the historic James River)?”

Read More

Posted on February 26, 2016