Money market funds (“MMFs”) act as a secure and liquid cash management vehicle for retail and institutional investors. MMFs enable investors to gain access to higher returns than interest-bearing bank accounts while providing principal stability and liquidity. They have proven to be very popular amongst investors, garnering over $2.5 trillion in assets.
Amazon Faces Tax Hurdle in India
Amazon’s expansion plans of $2bn into its e-commerce business in India has faced some major regulatory obstacles with the government in the southern state of Karnataka, where its local operations are headquartered. The company is accused of violating India’s FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) regulations by trying to make a “backdoor entry” into India’s retail business. Karnataka tax authorities have stopped Amazon from selling products from its warehouse by cancelling licenses of third-party merchants storing their products in Amazon’s warehouse near Bangalore.
Creating a Beer Behemoth: AB InBev Interested in Purchasing SABMiller
Over the last fifteen years numerous mergers and acquisitions have consolidated the global beer market into relatively few mega-corporations. What appears to be the next step in this trend is that AB InBev NV, the world’s largest brewing company, is reportedly interested in purchasing SABMiller PLC, the world’s second largest brewing company, for over $120 billion.
Brazilian Ex-Billionaire Eike Batista Facing Criminal Charges Including Insider Trading
Two and a half years ago he was the seventh wealthiest man in the world, worth an estimated $30 billion. Now with a net worth of less than $300 million, Eike Batista’s empire has crumbled before his eyes.
German Prosecutors Charge Deutsche Bank Executives
Munich’s prosecutor’s office charged several Deutsche Bank top executives, including its current co-chief executive, Jürgen Fitschen, and Deutsche Bank was named as an associated party to the case.
The (Billion) Dollar Saga Continues as Dollar General Goes Hostile
For some time now, a most interesting and intriguing saga relating to corporate mergers have been taking place in the “dollar” retail industry, where Dollar General and Dollar Tree are each seeking to acquire holdings in Family Dollar.
Antitrust Concerns Stem From Merger Frenzy in Healthcare Industry
Mergers and acquisitions within the healthcare industry have become increasingly common since the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in March 2013. Parties to the individual merger transactions often cite the need to comply with and survive under the PPACA as a justification for the unification between otherwise-competitors in the healthcare services market. In the view of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), however, the consolidation of competing healthcare service providers raises anticompetitive concerns that must be monitored and regulated to ensure compliance with Federal antitrust laws.
HSBC’s $550 Million Dollar Mortgage Bond Settlement
After peaking in 2006, housing prices in the United States began to decline very swiftly – even more so than in the Great Depression. As prices fell 33 percent (they fell 31 percent during the Great Depression), homeowners realized that the value of their homes had become lower than their mortgage debt, and they lost their incentive to pay their mortgage balances. This led to foreclosures and short sales at unprecedented levels. Significantly, lost output—goods and services that we will never see—reached at least 40 percent of 2007 U.S. gross domestic product.
Stripe’s Role in the $720 Billion Mobile Commerce Market
In 2010 two brothers from Dromineer, Ireland followed the Zuckerberg dream, dropping out of MIT and Harvard to move to the San Francisco Bay Area and build a start-up, Stripe Inc. Four years later, having raised $140 million in funding from a line of investors including the co-founders of PayPal, the payment processing company is now valued at $1.75 billion.
Alibaba: The Biggest IPO in U.S. History
China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba began trading its shares Friday, September 19 on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming a publicly traded technology powerhouse. Its first trade changed hands at $92.70, well above the $68 initial price that some investors paid, creating a 38% first-day gain. Now, Alibaba has a market capitalization of roughly $219.8 billion, making the company bigger than Facebook, eBay and Amazon.com. Wall Street firms, including Credit Suisse Group, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, will have collected fees in excess of $300 million.