On Friday Feb 23, 2018, Georgetown Law will host a daylong symposium on “The Governance and Regulation of Information Platforms,” sponsored by the Georgetown Institute for Technology Law and Policy. A roster of distinguished speakers will present on four panels: … Continue Reading
CLOUD Act Introduced for Consideration in Congress
Last week media outlets reported that the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act was introduced Feb. 6 by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Chris Coons (R-Del.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). A House companion bill was offered … Continue Reading
Tax Secrecy Index lists Switzerland, United States as top Havens
Every year the Financial Secrecy Index ranks countries according to their secrecy and scale of their offshore financial activities. One immediate observation offered in response to this year’s rankings (hat tip, Fareed Zakaria) is the surprising place taken by the United … Continue Reading
Trump Gets Briefed on Brexit–and Derivatives
Several years ago, in an article published in a book covering the financial crisis, I along with my wife Rachel Loko wrote on the politics of transatlantic credit rating agency regulation. Among the things we noted was the heightened … Continue Reading
TPP, even without the United States, could create a new regional trade strategy
Barron’s author Craig Mellow offers an extremely interesting analysis of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was launched by 11 nations from Japan to Chile on Jan. 23. Among his observations is the fact that despite the … Continue Reading
US Names Russian Oligarchs in New Treasury Report
Earlier this week, the Treasury Department identified 210 Russian billionaires and senior officials in a sweeping list required under last summer’s sanctions law, but underlined that those named aren’t being targeted for new restrictions. Bloomberg reports: The 96 tycoons matched … Continue Reading
Trade Deficit Climbs Again to Nine Year High
The trade deficit climbed once again to a nine year high, prompting once again concerns that the United States might impose stiff tariffs on major trading partners. There are some simple explanations, including the low rate of US savings. But … Continue Reading
The stock market takes a historic plunge
S&P 500 and Dow are down over 4% off of inflation fears, as most news sources have reported. There’s not a lot to add. But the CBOE’s volatility index (above) is striking.
Fed Imposes Asset Cap, Board Changes for Wells Fargo
After examining recent revelations that Wells Fargo charged hundreds of thousands of borrowers for unneeded guaranteed auto protection or collateral protection insurance for their automobiles, the Fed has imposed the stiffest penalties on record for one of its regulated banks. … Continue Reading
Price Manipulation of Bitcoin Markets (Again)?
The New York Times is reporting that a growing number of virtual currency investors are concerned that the prices of Bitcoin and other digital tokens have been artificially propped up by the popular exchange Bitfinex: In December, Bitfinex was subpoenaed … Continue Reading