Trump Vows to ‘Do a Big Number’ on Dodd-Frank Regulations

President Trump on Monday reiterated his intention to roll back Dodd-Frank financial regulations enacted to prevent another financial crisis, telling reporters that he soon planned to “do a big number” on the 2010 law.

During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump had pledged to “dismantle” Dodd-Frank, passed when Democrats controlled the White House and Congress, without specifying the actions he planned to take. He has not announced his timetable for carrying through on that pledge as president.

Mr. Trump’s pick for secretary of the Treasury, Stephen T. Mnuchin, a hedge fund manager, also has promised to “kill” parts of the law, including the so-called Volcker rule restricting banks from making certain kinds of speculative investments of the kind that led to the 2008-9 global economic crisis. read more »

How Russia sold its oil jewel: without saying who bought it

More than a month after Russia announced one of its biggest privatizations since the 1990s, selling a 19.5 percent stake in its giant oil company Rosneft, it still isn't possible to determine from public records the full identities of those who bought it.

The stake was sold for 10.2 billion euros to a Singapore investment vehicle that Rosneft said was a 50/50 joint venture between Qatar and the Swiss oil trading firm Glencore.

Unveiling the deal at a televised meeting with Rosneft's boss Igor Sechin on Dec. 7, President Vladimir Putin called it a sign of international faith in Russia, despite U.S. and EU financial sanctions on Russian firms including Rosneft.

"It is the largest privatization deal, the largest sale and acquisition in the global oil and gas sector in 2016," Putin said.

It was also one of the biggest transfers of state property into private hands since the early post-Soviet years, when allies of President Boris Yeltsin took control of state firms and became billionaires overnight.

But important facts about the deal either have not been disclosed, cannot be determined solely from public records, or appear to contradict the straightforward official account of the stake being split 50/50 by Glencore and the Qataris. read more »

Obstacles Remain in Talks to Settle Wal-Mart Bribery Probe

One sticking point in the retailer’s efforts to end the federal investigation into foreign bribes is its future eligibility to accept food stamps in the U.S.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. tried and failed to settle a foreign-bribery probe that has stretched for five years and cost the company more than $820 million, according to people familiar with the federal investigation. read more »

Lawmaker moves to scrap SEC's 'resource extraction' rule

A senior U.S. lawmaker unveiled a legislative plan on Monday to scrap a rule devised under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law requiring publicly-traded mining, oil and gas companies to disclose payments they make to foreign governments.

Michigan Republican Bill Huizenga, who chairs the House of Representatives Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets, took aim at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's so-called "resource extraction" rule, saying it makes it harder for U.S. energies companies to compete.

The rule is championed by human rights organizations who say the disclosure of payments to foreign governments by companies like Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron should help reduce corruption. read more »

Three Individuals Plead Guilty in $55 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme at Two Brooklyn Medical Clinics

Three individuals pleaded guilty this week in connection with a health care fraud scheme involving two Brooklyn, New York clinics that caused approximately $55 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid. 

The defendants admitted that they assisted in a scheme to defraud the Medicare and Medicaid programs in which patients subjected themselves to medically unnecessary health services, including physical and occupational therapy, provided by unlicensed staff. read more »

SEC Announces Charges in Hamilton Ticket Resale Ponzi Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against two New York City men accused of running a Ponzi scheme with money raised from investors to fund businesses purportedly created to purchase and resell tickets to such high-demand shows as Adele concerts and the Broadway musical Hamilton.

The SEC alleges that Joseph Meli and Matthew Harriton misrepresented to investors that all of their money would be pooled to buy large blocks of tickets that would be resold at a profit to produce high returns for investors.  The bulk of investor funds were allegedly used for other undisclosed purposes, namely making Ponzi payments to prior investors using money from new investors.  Meli and Harriton allegedly diverted almost $2 million for such personal expenses as jewelry purchases, private school and camp tuition, and casino payments.

According to the SEC’s complaint, the scheme went so far as to misrepresent that an agreement was in place with the producer of Hamilton to purchase 35,000 tickets to the musical.  Investor money was supposedly paying part of that cost with the return on investment promised within eight months.  The SEC alleges no such agreement or purchase ever happened. read more »