Nov. 10, 2010 at 2:41 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Internet,
Investigations,
Wireless
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
The Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether Google Inc. broke federal laws when its street-mapping service collected consumers’ personal information, joining a lengthy list of regulators probing what Google says was inadvertent harvesting of private data sent over wireless networks.
The FCC opened its investigation this year, an FCC official confirmed Wednesday. An FCC spokeswoman didn’t immediately have comment on the agency’s investigation. The FCC generally doesn’t publicly disclose details of its investigations. Get the full story »
Nov. 9, 2010 at 12:58 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Government,
Investigations,
Mortgages
By Associated Press
Industry regulators have fined Goldman Sachs $650,000 for failing to disclose that two of its brokers, including the executive accused of leading the mortgage securities deal that brought civil fraud charges against the firm, were under investigation by the government.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced the fine Tuesday, saying Goldman lacked adequate procedures to ensure that the required disclosure was made for Fabrice Tourre, a Goldman vice president. Goldman made that report in May, more than seven months after Tourre received a notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was considering filing charges against him, FINRA said. Get the full story »
By Reuters
Larry Ellison, Oracle Corp’s outspoken chief, charged that German arch-rival SAP AG stole billions of dollars of his company’s copyrighted software.
Ellison made the allegation as the the star witness in the U.S. software maker’s software-theft lawsuit, which is captivating Silicon Valley. Get the full story »
Nov. 4, 2010 at 2:49 p.m.
Filed under:
Exchanges,
Investigations,
Stock activity
By Reuters
The head of the largest U.S. options exchange said a regulator report falls short of explaining what happened in the May “flash crash,” adding to skepticism that has grown since it was released October 1. Get the full story »
Nov. 2, 2010 at 5:11 p.m.
Filed under:
Education,
Investigations,
Jobs/employment
By Ameet Sachdev
Career Education Corp. said Tuesday that it will pay about $40 million to settle lawsuits filed by students in one of its culinary schools.
The settlement was recorded as a pretax charge against the company’s third-quarter earnings. In the quarter ended Sept. 30, Career Education reported net income of $26.1 million, or 33 cents a diluted share. Operating income excluding the $40 million charge was $78.3 million.
In the year ago quarter, the company, which operates for-profit colleges, reported net income of $20.8 million, or 25 cents a diluted share. The year-ago quarter also included a special item for $18.8 million in compensation expense. Get the full story »
Nov. 2, 2010 at 11:44 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Investigations,
Recalls
By Associated Press
Toyota Motor Corp. is asking a federal court to throw out lawsuits over acceleration defects in its cars, saying many of the plaintiffs never identified any defect or experienced sudden, unintended acceleration. Get the full story »
Oct. 29, 2010 at 4:27 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Investigations,
Investing
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of Brewer Financial Services LLC and Brewer Investment Advisors LLC, two Chicago firms it alleged were funneling funds from investors to subsidize their own troubled companies.
The SEC alleged that firm owners Steven Brewer and Adam Erickson raised about $5.6 million from 74 investors between June 2009 and Sept. 30, 2010, using offering materials that misstated or concealed how the funds would be used, the risk level of the investment and the financial condition of their companies. Get the full story »
Oct. 29, 2010 at 3:09 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment,
Investigations
By Reuters
A New Orleans federal judge overseeing litigation on the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster signed an order to release materials Halliburton used in the cementing job on BP’s blown-out Macondo well to federal investigators. Get the full story »
Oct. 29, 2010 at 10:14 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Investigations,
Stock activity
By Reuters
Halliburton Co. shares continued to slide on Friday, a day after a government panel said the oilfield service company used flawed cement on the BP well that blew out in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
Investors worried about Halliburton’s liability sent the shares down as much as 16 percent on Thursday after the White House panel issued its report and a letter. The stock continued its slide on Friday, falling 1.4 percent.
Halliburton vigorously defended its actions in a lengthy statement issued Thursday night, saying there were significant differences between the company’s tests on the cement used in the Macondo well and the government’s tests. Get the full story »
Oct. 28, 2010 at 1:27 p.m.
Filed under:
Investigations,
Real estate
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Eleven Chicago-area companies were cited Thursday by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for offering mortgage loan modifications to consumers without a license.
The companies ordered to stop offering loan medications and pay a fine of $25,000 each were Opportunity Consultants; Carrey Services; American Accurate Services; Gamez & Associates Ltd.; Juan Hernandez; Home Loan Modification; Homeowner’s Advocates Centers; Imperium Realty Group; Mortgage Mitigators; Mi Familia; and Loan Rescue Corp. Get the full story »
Oct. 28, 2010 at 12:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Investigations
From The New York Times | Halliburton and BP knew weeks before the blast on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico that the cement mixture they planned to use to seal the well was unstable, a commission found.
By Reuters
Attorneys general in Illinois, Oregon and California said on Tuesday that Bayer AG agreed to a $3.3 million settlement over misleading claims that the drug maker’s vitamins reduced men’s risk of prostate cancer.
Under the terms of the settlement, Bayer cannot make claims that its One A Day Men’s multivitamins can prevent or cure prostate cancer or any other disease without scientific evidence, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a statement.
“When manufacturers like Bayer make marketing claims with insufficient scientific proof behind them, they are misleading consumers,” she said.
Get the full story »
From Bloomberg | Chicago attorney Erwin Mayer has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges for his role in a billion-dollar phony tax-shelter scheme that brought down his law firm in 2007.
Oct. 15, 2010 at 3:18 p.m.
Filed under:
Investigations,
Litigation,
Real estate,
Updated
By Los Angeles Times
Angelo R. Mozilo, who presided over the spectacular rise and devastating fall of Countrywide Financial Corp., struck a deal Friday to avoid going to trial next week on accusations of investor fraud and insider trading. Mozilo agree to pay $22.5 million in fines to the SEC and to turn over $45 million in ill-gotten gains to former shareholders who have sued him.
Oct. 14, 2010 at 4:57 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Investigations,
Litigation,
Retirement
By Reuters
A proposed settlement between Steven Rattner, the former head of the U.S. auto task force, and the Securities and Exchange Commission over a pension corruption scheme was unexpectedly pulled from Thursday’s calendar, one source with knowledge of the matter said Thursday. Get the full story »
