Bitcoin price drop gathers momentum as potential Binance glitch unsettles investors

Virtual-currency traders also react to the SEC demanding that exchanges register with its regulator

Major cryptocurrencies fell sharply Wednesday as reports of a system errors at a popular exchange platform appeared to unsettle investors. Virtual-currency traders also digested reports that a major U.S. regulators was demanding that exchanges register.

What began as “Something is going on over at Binance” soon escalated. read more »

‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Producer to Pay $60 Million in Settlement

The producer of the "Wolf of Wall Street" agreed to pay $60 million to settle claims it financed the movie with money siphoned from a Malaysian state investment fund.

The settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and Red Granite Pictures Inc., which was co-founded by a stepson of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, also covers U.S. forfeiture claims against the producer’s rights and interests in two other pictures, “Daddy’s Home” and “Dumb and Dumber To.”

The complaint targeting the 2013 picture, directed by Martin Scorsese, is among more than two dozen forfeiture lawsuits filed by the U.S. against $1.7 billion assets that were allegedly acquired with money stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd. The assets include mansions in Beverly Hills, California, luxury condos in New York, jewelry and artworks. read more »

Michael Bloomberg launches tobacco industry watchdog

Former New York mayor commits $20m to project amid fears of dirty tricks by cigarette companies

A new global watchdog agency has been launched to monitor the tobacco industry with $20m of philanthropic funding amid fears of dirty tactics by cigarette companies hit by declining smoking rates in the west.

The funding for the agency, named Stop (Stopping Tobacco Organisations and Products), comes from Bloomberg Philanthropies, whose founder, Michael Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York, has committed almost $1bn to the global fight against tobacco.

The agency will “aggressively monitor deceptive tobacco industry tactics and practices to undermine public health,” said Bloomberg Philanthropies. Global information and data on the behaviour of the tobacco companies, especially in low- and middle-income countries where they are seeking to grow their markets, will be collated and held on a public website. read more »

Cardiologist gets $6 million in Hamot whistleblower case

A $20.75 million settlement was reached in the federal suit in November.

A former Erie cardiologist who sued his former colleagues and UPMC Hamot will receive $6 million as part of the $20.75 million settlement that Hamot reached to end the cardiologist’s federal whistleblower case. read more »