Opinion: FTX whistleblower was unusual. Most witnesses are too afraid to speak up.

Opinion: FTX whistleblower was unusual. Most witnesses are too afraid to speak up.

“ Organizations bear the responsibility to foster an environment of transparency for their whistleblower programs to succeed. ” In the years leading up to the eventual collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, insiders blew the whistle about the company’s severe governance and regulatory issues. The flouting of internal control requirements and commingling of client funds…

Ex-bank exec gets six months of home confinement and probation for Wells Fargo fake-account scandal

Ex-bank exec gets six months of home confinement and probation for Wells Fargo fake-account scandal

Former Wells Fargo & Co. executive Carrie L. Tolstedt avoided jail time but was sentenced to three years of probation including six months of home confinement on Friday for her part in the bank’s fake-account scandal, which resulted in billions of dollars in fines and thousands of layoffs. Tolstedt’s sentence handed down in U.S. District…

Paid off your mortgage? Be careful — you’re at risk of title theft.

Paid off your mortgage? Be careful — you’re at risk of title theft.

Homeowners may be thrilled when they finally pay off their mortgage, but the accomplishment comes with risks.  Retirement Tip of the Week: Be vigilant in protecting your identity and assets, and be aware of how you could fall victim to various scams or theft associated with your home. With title theft, thieves transfer a house…

Binance.us CEO Brian Shroder departs crypto company amid new round of layoffs: reports

Binance.us CEO Brian Shroder departs crypto company amid new round of layoffs: reports

Brian Shroder, the chief executive of the U.S. arm of embattled crypto exchange Binance, has reportedly left the company. The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and Reuters reported Tuesday night that Shroder, who took over Binance.us in 2021, has been replaced on an interim basis by the company’s chief legal officer, Norman Reed. Binance.us did…

SEC sues Virtu Financial, accusing it of leaving consumer data vulnerable

SEC sues Virtu Financial, accusing it of leaving consumer data vulnerable

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday said it sued financial firm Virtu Financial Inc., accusing the market maker and trading-execution company of leaving customer trading data vulnerable to misuse, misleading customers on its data protections and taking in commissions regardless. In response, Virtu Financial VIRT, +1.15% said it had been in talks to settle…

Roblox cancels videogame awards presentation after ‘potential security concern’

Roblox cancels videogame awards presentation after ‘potential security concern’

Videogame company Roblox Corp. RBLX, +0.76% canceled the awards presentation at its developers conference in San Francisco on Saturday, citing a “potential security concern” and a game developer was reportedly arrested on gun charges outside. “In an abundance of caution, we have decided to cancel the Roblox Innovation Awards due to a potential security concern,”…

Guilty plea roils case of yoga gurus accused of taking millions from Malibu doc

Guilty plea roils case of yoga gurus accused of taking millions from Malibu doc

Their shared hippie spirit brought them together over a vegan potluck dinner, but the prospect of  years in federal prison for allegedly stealing millions from a mentally-ill Malibu doctor, has driven a wedge between them.  A federal fraud prosecution against a pair of yoga gurus accused of siphoning cash from Dr. Mark Sawusch’s $60 million…

Walmart to open police ‘workspace’ inside Atlanta store as shoplifting epidemic rages

Walmart to open police ‘workspace’ inside Atlanta store as shoplifting epidemic rages

A Walmart in Atlanta that was shuttered after it was set on fire by suspected arsonists is installing a police “workspace” inside the store — the latest dire measure aimed at curtailing the shoplifting epidemic that has hit big box chains, groceries, pharmacies, and other retailers. The Walmart WMT, +0.18% grocery store and pharmacy in Vine City,…

Google, Justice Department set for antitrust showdown on Tuesday

Google, Justice Department set for antitrust showdown on Tuesday

After years of investigations, lawsuits, the threat of legislation and plenty of congressional hearings, the federal government’s case against Big Tech is ready to have its big moment in court. An antitrust clash of the titans is scheduled to start Tuesday in a federal court in the District of Columbia, where the Justice Department will…

Couple allegedly billed Medicaid $14M to fix same wheelchairs hundreds of times

Couple allegedly billed Medicaid $14M to fix same wheelchairs hundreds of times

A Texas couple has been charged with ripping off Medicaid to the tune of $14 million by claiming to have repaired the same handful of motorized wheelchairs hundreds of times. Many of the claims were made for patients who were bedridden and unable to use the wheelchairs at all, according to fraud, money-laundering and identity-theft…

States flex new powers to cut costs for a broad swath of prescription drugs

States flex new powers to cut costs for a broad swath of prescription drugs

As Medicare’s years-long drug-price negotiation process is being hotly debated and litigated, some states are plowing ahead with wide-ranging efforts to bring down costs for a potentially much broader set of prescription drugs.  Medicare this week announced that the first 10 drugs have been selected for negotiation of prices to take effect in 2026, advancing…

Bitcoin poised for rally in first quarter of 2024. Before that, expect further consolidation.

Bitcoin poised for rally in first quarter of 2024. Before that, expect further consolidation.

Welcome back to Distributed Ledger. This is Frances Yue, reporter at MarketWatch. A U.S. federal court on Tuesday ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission to vacate its rejection of Grayscale Investments’ application to convert its Bitcoin Trust product into an exchange-traded fund.  Industry participants have been celebrating the ruling, saying it paves the way for…

Australian regulator accuses Qantas of selling tickets for cancelled flights

Australian regulator accuses Qantas of selling tickets for cancelled flights

Qantas Airways QAN, -1.99% faces legal action by Australia’s competition regulator over allegations that the carrier sold thousands of tickets for flights it knew had been cancelled. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Thursday said it had launched legal proceedings in the country’s Federal Court over Qantas’s behavior relating to more than 10,000 cancelled…

HHS recommends rescheduling cannabis, and stocks in the sector rally

HHS recommends rescheduling cannabis, and stocks in the sector rally

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is reviewing a recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III controlled substance under U.S. law in a move that sparked a rally by cannabis stocks on Wednesday. The historic move — more than 50 years after the Schedule I designation —…

Burger King must face lawsuit over claims Whopper appears bigger on menu than in reality

Burger King must face lawsuit over claims Whopper appears bigger on menu than in reality

A U.S. judge has ruled that Burger King must face a lawsuit from plaintiffs who claim its Whopper burger appears larger on menus than it does in reality. U.S. District Judge Roy Altman said it should be left up to jurors to decide whether burgers made by the chain that’s owned by Restaurant Brands International…

FDIC to propose tougher capital requirements for regional banks

FDIC to propose tougher capital requirements for regional banks

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposed new regulations on regional banks Tuesday in the wake of several regional bank failures, including Silicon Valley Bank, earlier this year. The new rules would require banks with more than $100 billion in assets to fund themselves more with long-term debt, a less-volatile source of funding than consumer deposits…

Here’s everything coming to Amazon’s Prime Video in September 2023

Here’s everything coming to Amazon’s Prime Video in September 2023

Amazon’s Prime Video has high hopes for its September lineup, which includes the return of “The Wheel of Time” and a spinoff of “The Boys.” After a two-year layoff, Season 2 of the sprawling fantasy epic “The Wheel of Time” (Sept. 1) picks up with Moraine (Rosamund Pike) and Rand (Josha Stradowski) now scattered and…

Why brands like Bud Light, Target stumble when they try to embrace social causes

Why brands like Bud Light, Target stumble when they try to embrace social causes

At a Rochester, N.Y., block party in the summer of 1964, days after the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, police arrested a 20-year-old Black man on suspicion of intoxication. As local reports described, some in the crowd tried to stop the arrest and authorities escalated, bringing in backup and police dogs. The two-day…

Rite Aid stock suffers worst day in years; Twinkies maker Hostess is a standout

Rite Aid stock suffers worst day in years; Twinkies maker Hostess is a standout

A pair of classic American brands had opposite days Friday as shares of one logged their best day ever on reports of a possible sale, while the other’s stock struck a record poor performance after a report of a pending bankruptcy. Earlier Friday, shares of Rite Aid Corp. RAD, -51.04% plummeted after the Wall Street…

After Tropical Storm Hilary, beware of scammers. Here’s how to unmask them.

After Tropical Storm Hilary, beware of scammers. Here’s how to unmask them.

They arrive with a concerned smile — and could leave with your hard-earned cash. People should be on the alert for an increase in scams after Tropical Storm Hilary blew across parts of Mexico late last week, and Southern California last Sunday, the Federal Trade Commission warned this week.  After a hurricane, tornado, wildfire or…

Donald Trump’s mug shot could become ‘the most famous in the world’

Donald Trump’s mug shot could become ‘the most famous in the world’

We finally have Donald Trump’s mug shot. Trump’s photo was taken as part of his arraignment Thursday in Atlanta related to the Fulton County, Ga., district attorney’s 41-count indictment against the former president and 18 of his associates over efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. With Trump’s three previous indictments this past year, officials…