Britain investigates British American Tobacco for corruption

Britain has opened a formal investigation into suspicions of corruption at British American Tobacco and its subsidiaries, nearly two years after allegations of bribery in Africa first surfaced.

The world's largest international tobacco company said in a statement it intended to cooperate with the investigation but did not provide further details.

The maker of brands including Dunhill and Lucky Strike said in February last year it had appointed a law firm to investigate allegations of historic misconduct in Africa and that it was liaising with the SFO. read more »

Cancer-Fighting Investments Went to Fund Restaurants

The SEC filed charges against a Massachusetts businessman for misusing investment funds intended for two pharmaceutical development companies.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Patrick Muraca established two pharmaceutical development companies and raised nearly $1.2 million by representing to investors that their money would be used to develop products to detect cancer and other diseases. Instead, the money went to fund Muraca’s fiancée’s restaurant businesses. read more »

New York ticket broker pleads not guilty in 'Hamilton' Ponzi case

A New York man has pleaded not guilty to wire fraud after being accused of running a $70 million Ponzi scheme involving the fake resale of tickets to premium events such as the Super Bowl, the U.S. Open tennis tournament and the Broadway smash "Hamilton."

Jason Nissen, of Roslyn, entered his plea on Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein in Manhattan, after waiving a formal indictment, court records show.

Nissen, the chief executive of National Event Co, was accused of having since 2015 lured investors by promising to buy and resell tickets profitably, only to divert funds to enrich himself and repay earlier investors. read more »

Wall Street Regulators Are Set to Rewrite the Volcker Rule

Wall Street regulators have agreed to rewrite the Volcker Rule, according to three people familiar with the matter, moving to loosen industry-despised restrictions that were central to the U.S. response to the financial crisis.

The five agencies that wrote the original limits on banks investing with their own capital have decided to begin working together on a revision, said the people, who requested anonymity because the discussions aren’t public. The changes discussed at a closed-door meeting on Friday will likely give big banks more flexibility for handling client trades, as well as investments in private equity and hedge funds.

The planned rewrite of Volcker highlights the administration’s efforts to use agencies to roll back regulations without having to go through a Congress that has failed to advance many of President Donald Trump’s other priorities. Regulators aligned with Trump have indicated they’ll be guided by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s June report calling for “significant changes” to the rule, which was designed to rein in risky trading after the financial crisis. read more »

Apple, Google Drop Trading Apps After Australian Intervention

Apple Inc. and Google have removed over 300 so-called binary trading applications from their online stores after intervention by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, according to an ASIC statement on Tuesday.

The country’s securities regulator said it made the request to Apple and Google after numerous cases of fraud involving unlicensed operators of the apps, which encourage consumers to make bets on whether instruments like shares or currencies will rise or fall. While some are legitimate operations, there has been an explosion in unlicensed products operating across borders and beyond the reach of regulators in recent years.

Some of the apps “make outrageous claims” said Greg Yanco , head of market integrity at ASIC. “There is an issue globally with these products.” read more »