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Companies Wells Fargo & Co FollowWASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - The former head of Wells Fargo's retail bank is facing prison time after pleading guilty to obstructing a bank examination in relation to the sweeping phony accounts scandal that roiled the bank in 2016. An attorney for Tolstedt, who ran the bank's retail and small business lending from 2007 to 2016, declined to comment. But, in this case, Ms. Tolstedt took steps to cover up misconduct at Wells Fargo," Joseph McNally, acting U.S. attorney for the central district of California, said in a statement. A spokesperson for Wells Fargo declined to comment. The development marks a rare instance of a senior bank executive facing prison time as a result of their job, but some said it does not go far enough.

☆ Rupert Murdoch could face FEC fines if he tipped off Jared Kushner about Biden's presidential ads before they aired
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Madison Hall | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Dominion claims Rupert Murdoch shared info about Biden ads with Trump's campaign in 2020. "During Trump's campaign, Rupert provided Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, with Fox confidential information about Biden's ads, along with debate strategy (providing Kushner a preview of Biden's ads before they were public)," Dominion's lawyers alleged in the filing. "If the allegations are true, this is precisely what Murdoch provided to the Trump campaign," he said. After Trump lost, Murdoch shifted attention to two runoff elections in Georgia for US Senate seats. "My friend Jared Kushner called me saying, 'This is terrible,' Murdoch wrote.

☆ It's far harder to cancel a subscription than it is to sign up for one. A bill in Congress wants to change that.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Consumers and advocates are fed up with it being incredibly difficult to cancel subscriptions. Only last year did the Times begin to allow digital subscribers to cancel their subscriptions directly, Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander told Insider. Planet Fitness is up front that its members must cancel at a gym or by mail, even if they can sign up online. Amazon agreed to change how users cancel its Prime membership after European regulators, US consumer groups, and, finally, the FTC stepped in. Then-DC Attorney Karl Racine went after the food delivery service Grubhub for hitting customers with hidden fees and using deceptive marketing about its subscription service.

☆ Unions press Biden administration to not change EV tax credit rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Major unions and public interest and environmental groups are urging President Joe Biden to reject efforts by the European Union and other foreign governments to revise U.S. electric vehicle tax incentives. Foreign governments have been pressing the Biden administration to do more to expand credit eligibility. The letter rejected the suggestion from foreign governments that the EV tax incentives violate World Trade Organization and free trade rules. The EU in December praised the U.S. Treasury Department decision to allow EVs leased by consumers to qualify for up to $7,500 in commercial clean vehicle tax credits. South Korea, Europe and some automakers in December had sought approval from Treasury to use the commercial electric vehicle tax credit to boost consumer EV access.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved an Alzheimer’s drug shown in clinical trials to slow cognitive decline in patients in the early stages of the illness. The FDA approved Leqembi for use in people with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease. Most drugs approved by the FDA for Alzheimer’s are aimed at helping symptoms, not actually slowing the progression of the disease. Friday's announcement comes on the heels of a scathing congressional report released last week detailing the approval of a different Alzheimer’s drug, called Aduhelm. The Alzheimer's Association has said that based on the Eisai and Biogen phase 3 clinical trial results, the FDA should approve Leqembi for early-stage Alzheimer’s.

☆ AOC wasn't the first lawmaker to attend the Met Gala. But how she got the ticket — and that dress — may have made her a target for an ethics complaint, expert says.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

One ethics expert told Insider a potential ethics violation would depend on who paid for her ticket. In June, the OCE, a non-partisan body, referred the complaint to the House Ethics Committee. For instance, if Facebook purchased a Met Gala table and gifted one of its seats to a lawmaker, that could constitute an ethics violation. Wintour has served as an official co-chair or honorary chair of the Met Gala nearly every year since 1995. Rep. Carolyn Maloney also attended the Met Gala on several occasions — and became the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation this year.

☆ 40 justice organizations and media watchdog groups call on top Twitter advertisers to demand Elon Musk adhere to brand-protecting community safety rules or stop advertising on the platform altogether
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

40 nonprofits and advocacy groups sent a letter to top Twitter advertisers in light of Musk's takeover. The groups said brands like HBO and Amazon should push Musk to embrace content moderation or suspend their ads. Musk has expressed contempt for both ads and moderation and said he aims to decrease Twitter's reliance on ad revenue. Tesla competitors Ford and GM have already suspended ads on the platform since Musk's takeover. Musk has previously expressed contempt for both ads and content moderation and, in promises to investors, said he aims to decrease Twitter's reliance on ad revenue.

☆ Pressure mounts for regulators to investigate TikTok over potential 'Big Brother-type surveillance' after reports of plans to track Americans' locations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Forbes reported TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, planned to use the app to surveil Americans. The consumer rights group joins a growing chorus of bipartisan calls to investigate the Beijing-based company. In its Thursday letter, the nonprofit consumer rights group Public Citizen urged the FTC to investigate and "take immediate action against ByteDance and Tiktok" if the reports of surveillance are substantiated. The app's links to the Chinese government have long spurred concerns over propaganda, fake news, and data privacy — with the Trump administration in 2020 even proposing a total ban of TikTok. In 2021, the Biden administration promised a security review of foreign-owned apps, but has yet to publish its results.

☆ How Google's former CEO Eric Schmidt helped write AI laws in Washington without publicly disclosing investments in AI start-ups
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Eamon Javers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

'Conflict of interest'Schmidt's investment was just the first of a handful of direct investments he would make in AI start-up companies during his tenure as chairman of the AI commission. Altogether, Schmidt and entities connected to him made more than 50 investments in AI companies while he was chairman of the federal commission on AI. To Poulson, Schmidt was simply given too much power over federal AI policy. The new entity would continue the work of the congressionally created federal commission, with many of the same goals and much of the same staff. More than a dozen staffers from the federal commission followed Schmidt to the new private sector project.

☆ Ted Cruz reimbursed himself $555,000 after successfully challenging a political spending law at the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ted Cruz's campaign paid him $555,000 to cover old personal loans to his Senate committee. Ethics advocates and some Supreme Court justices warned that the decision could lead to corruption. And the one-time presidential candidate and two-term senator has the US Supreme Court to thank for it. That allowed Cruz to initiate a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission, which eventually made its way up to the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan echoed that same argument in her dissenting opinion.

The pork industry has defended the size of the cages used at pig farms as humane and necessary for animal safety. A legal doctrine called the "dormant" Commerce Clause bars states from passing laws discriminating against commerce in other states. "If you're looking for an example of an unconstitutional law, this is it," said Michael Formica, chief legal strategist for the pork producers. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's decision to throw out the lawsuit, finding no Commerce Clause violation. 'DRAMATIC EXPANSION'A ruling by the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, favoring the pork industry would have major implications for Commerce Clause interpretation, according to some legal experts.

☆ A House Republican and Democrat are introducing a bill that would require members of Congress to file financial disclosures electronically
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some members of Congress file financial disclosures that are basically illegible. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota are introducing the Easy to Read Electronic and Accessible Disclosures (READ) Act, which would allow users to search, sort, and download financial disclosure data filed by House members, Senators, and candidates for both chambers. "This means that government records, including financial disclosures filed by elected officials, must be easy to find and easy to understand." "These requirements will help bring critical transparency to the financial situation of members of Congress and more opportunity to spot potential conflicts of interest," added Hedtler-Gaudette. The bill comes amid a broader push to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.

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