A decade long legal battle took another strange turn last month when a New York state appellate court overturned a trial judge’s decision letting former Goldman Sachs employee, Sergey Aleynikov, walk free. The on-going investigation and legal dispute started in 2009 when Mr. Aleynikov stole proprietary source code from Goldman Sachs, and took the code to his new employer to establish a high-frequency trading platform.
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SoFi Acquires Zenbanx and Gains Ability to Expand Personal Finance Services
Social Finance, Inc., also known as SoFi, announced that it is acquiring mobile-banking start-up Zenbanx. SoFi is a San Francisco-based start-up that was founded in 2011 and initially offered student loan refinancing services to “graduates of elite universities.” Since its inception, SoFi has branched out beyond student loan refinancing and expanded its involvement in the personal finance industry by moving into the realm of personal loans, wealth management, mortgages, and life insurance. SoFi currently has a customer base of about 225,000 members. Zenbanx Holding Ltd. is a Delaware-based company that provides mobile banking services to its customers with features allowing customers to hold an account with up to nine currencies, access cash via ATMs, and perform international money transfers. SoFi’s acquisition of Zenbanx is expected to be complete by the end of this month.
Constitutional Challenges to Dodd-Frank
In 2016, the United States Courts of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and the D.C. Circuit declared provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act (Dodd-Frank) to be unconstitutional. Despite these holdings, financial regulation remains intact, at least for the moment.
Travelers With Nut Allergies Clash With Airlines
Tensions between airline staff and those with food allergies are rising in the last few years as airlines have modified their policies. In the past, airlines used to allow pre-boarding for people with food allergies to be able to wipe down the seats and surrounding area. Now, special requests, such as pre-boarding, are being denied.
Ford Set on Winning the Race to the Autonomous Car Market
Ford is putting its trust and money into Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based artificial intelligence company, with the goal of getting fully autonomous vehicles on the road by 2021. This is the next big step that motor car companies are looking to take in order to prepare for the future of self-driving cars.
Oil and Gas Industry Faces Uncertainty in the Face of Global Supply Changes and Policy Development
The global oil industry started to show signs of recovery in early 2017, as multinationals such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil cut costs amidst rising oil prices to generate enough cash to pay dividends without borrowing. Following a wave of cost reductions and capital project deferrals, companies in the industry seem well placed to benefit from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) agreement to cut production in order to eliminate global oversupply and increase prices.
Avis Utilizes Poison Pill to Protect Against Creeping Control
Avis, a unit of the Avis Budget Group, recently adopted a poison pill over concerns about creeping control. On January 23, the car rental service instituted the poison pill to block hedge fund SRS Investment (“SRS”) from obtaining more than 10 percent voting power. SRS is Avis’s largest shareholder with a 28.5 percent interest in the company—a majority of which is composed of cash-settled derivatives and options. The hedge fund currently owns 9.7 percent of the common stock and recently chose not to renew a deal from last January that precluded it from adding to its current interest.
Trump Looks to Change Visa Program for Foreign Workers
As President Trump prepares to overhaul the H-1B visa program in the midst of turmoil over immigration issues, many U.S. tech companies are panicking. But some, it seems, are less worried.
Former Goldman Sachs Employee’s Long Legal Battle over the Word ‘Tangible’
Since 2009, Sergey Aleynikov, a former computer programmer for Goldman Sachs, has been fighting a long legal battle that stems from whether the proprietary code taken from his former employer, Goldman Sachs, constitutes “tangible” property as defined by the NY penal code for the unlawful use of secret scientific material (Penal Law §165.07). The reason for all this confusion is that the penal law was created before the advent of computers.
Trump’s Potential Conflicts of Interest Face Constitutional Scrutiny in New Lawsuit
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog group, filed a lawsuit last week alleging that President Trump is violating the Foreign Emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution. Backed by a team of prominent constitutional scholars, former White House ethics lawyers, and Supreme Court litigators, the suit claims President Trump is in violation by allowing his businesses and hotels to accept payments from foreign governments.