“Culture of Compliance” Won’t Always Stop Fraud

March 27, 2014, 7:07 AM ET

“Culture of Compliance” Won’t Always Stop Fraud

NICHOLAS ELLIOTT

Matt Keel, chief compliance officer at investment firm Sentinel Management Group Inc., said at the trial of the firm’s chief executive Eric A. Bloom that he still believed his former boss to be “an honest person…with high integrity.” Mr. Keel, according to prosecutors, had previously lauded Sentinel’s “strong culture of compliance” in a report. Read more of this post

Activist Investors Often Leak Their Plans to a Favored Few

Activist Investors Often Leak Their Plans to a Favored Few

Strategically Placed Tips Help Build Alliances for Campaigns at Target Companies

SUSAN PULLIAM, JULIET CHUNG, DAVID BENOIT and ROB BARRY

March 26, 2014 10:37 p.m. ET

Shares of Rino International Corp. RINO 0.00% sank 28% in the two days after investment firm Muddy Waters LLC put out a report attacking the Chinese company’s accounting. Read more of this post

Chinese importers of soybeans and rubber are backing out of deals, adding to a wide range of evidence showing rising financial stress in the world’s second-biggest economy

China Soybean, Rubber Importers Renege on Deals

Canceled Contracts Add to Evidence Showing Rising Financial Stress in the Country

HUILENG TAN

March 27, 2014 6:07 a.m. ET

Chinese importers of soybeans and rubber are backing out of deals, adding to a wide range of evidence showing rising financial stress in the world’s second-biggest economy. Read more of this post

Pitfalls of Reverse Mortgages May Pass to Borrower’s Heirs

Pitfalls of Reverse Mortgages May Pass to Borrower’s Heirs

By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG

MARCH 26, 2014, 7:57 PM  22 Comments

The only solace for Isabel Santos as she spends her evenings huddled over stacks of yellowed foreclosure notices is that her parents are not alive to watch their ranch-style house in Pleasant Hill, Calif., slipping away. Read more of this post

The SEC’s Corporate Proxy Rules Need a Rewrite; More than token ownership should be required to get a proposal on the ballot

The SEC’s Corporate Proxy Rules Need a Rewrite

More than token ownership should be required to get a proposal on the ballot.

EDWARD S. KNIGHT

March 26, 2014 6:34 p.m. ET

Communicating with shareholders is a crucial part of the job for 21st century business leaders, and most of them understand the value of doing it. The proxy-proposal system is an important, regulated part of this process for publicly traded companies. It gives investors the option of bringing an issue to a vote by all shareholders and ensures that the owners have a voice in how their company is managed. But the current process is outdated, burdensome and costly. Read more of this post

The Top 13 Biggest Buybacks Over the Past Five Years

Mar 26, 2014

The Top 13 Biggest Buybacks Over the Past Five Years

STEVEN RUSSOLILLO

Tech companies have dominated the buyback blitz over the past five years.

Some 13 S&P 500 companies have each spent at least $25 billion in stock buybacks over the past five years, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior earnings analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. Seven of those 13 companies hail from the tech sector, led byIBMIBM -1.24%, MicrosoftMSFT -1.36% and Cisco SystemsCSCO -0.09%. Read more of this post

How to Sell Garbage Disposals in China; Emerson’s InSinkErator Rejiggered to Munch Kitchen Favorites Like Eel, Bullfrog Skin and Duck Heads

How to Sell Garbage Disposals in China

Emerson’s InSinkErator Rejiggered to Munch Kitchen Favorites Like Eel, Bullfrog Skin and Duck Heads

JAMES R. HAGERTY

March 26, 2014 7:31 p.m. ET

RACINE, Wis.—About half of all U.S. homes have garbage disposals gurgling under kitchen sinks to grind up food waste. The rest of the world generally doesn’t share Americans’ enthusiasm for this gadget. Read more of this post

First Rule of Mergers: To Fight Is to Lose; Shareholders Challenged 94% of U.S. Public-Company Deals Last Year

First Rule of Mergers: To Fight Is to Lose

Shareholders Challenged 94% of U.S. Public-Company Deals Last Year

LIZ HOFFMAN

March 26, 2014 12:06 p.m. ET

Corporate mergers are often fraught with uncertainty over whether the deal will succeed, culture clashes between the two companies and the fate of executives. Read more of this post

Citi’s Stress-Test Mess

Citi’s Stress-Test Mess

JOHN CARNEY And DAVID REILLY

March 26, 2014 6:02 p.m. ET

Citigroup C -0.28% is doing a good impression of the Keystone Kops. Read more of this post

Winner in India Elections Will Face Battle to Restore Economic Growth

Winner in India Elections Will Face Battle to Restore Economic Growth

Investors Betting on Change Pushed Country’s Stocks to Record Highs

SHEFALI ANAND And DEBIPRASAD NAYAK

March 26, 2014 11:10 a.m. ET

MUMBAI—Investors betting on a change of government in India pushed the country’s stocks to record highs Wednesday. But whoever takes the reins after the elections that start next month faces an uphill battle to restore growth in Asia’s third largest economy. Read more of this post

China’s Economy Under Mounting Stress

China’s Economy Under Mounting Stress

WAYNE ARNOLD

March 26, 2014 12:16 p.m. ET

HONG KONG—Bad news is piling up for China’s economy, raising fears Beijing’s financial power may not be sufficient this time around to keep the economic engine ticking over and stave off market instability. Read more of this post

OSIM’s Brookstone, Specialty Retailer, Preparing For Bankruptcy Filing

Brookstone, Specialty Retailer, Preparing For Bankruptcy Filing

EMILY GLAZER

March 26, 2014 11:00 p.m. ET

Brookstone Inc., which sells consumer gadgets ranging from travel electronics to massage chairs, is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection as early as Sunday, with a plan in place to be bought by another specialty retailer, people familiar with the matter said. Read more of this post

The Anatomy Of Panic: How A Rumor Mutated Into A Three-Day Chinese Bank Run

The Anatomy Of Panic: How A Rumor Mutated Into A Three-Day Chinese Bank Run

Tyler Durden on 03/26/2014 11:57 -0400

Yesterday we showed the end result of what happens in a China, in which bankruptcy and default are suddenly all too real outcomes for the country’s hundreds of millions of depositors, when the risk of losing all of one’s money held in an insolvent bank becomes a tangible possibility in “What A Bank Run In China Looks Like: Hundreds Rush To Banks Following Solvency Rumors.” Today, we look in detail at all the discrete elements that culminated with hundreds of Chinese residents lining up in front of a bank in Yancheng and rushing to withdraw their money only to find their money not available (at least until the regional government was forced to step in with a bail out to avoid an even greater panic).Why is this a useful exercise? Because since we will certainly see many more example of it in the near future, it pays to be prepared. Or least it certainly prevents one from losing all of their money… Read more of this post

Debt crisis nears tipping point: “Creditors have their foot on the throat of the global economy”

WEDNESDAY, MAR 19, 2014 08:33 PM MPST

Debt crisis nears tipping point: “Creditors have their foot on the throat of the global economy”

An entire generation of students is sinking under the weight of debt, while banks and schools make off like bandit

HANNAH GOLD, ALTERNET

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

Back in September, the U.S. Department Education announced its two-year and three-year federal student loan default rates. The rates were 10 percent and 14.7 percent respectively, both record highs. At the time the report was released, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called these numbers “troubling.” Read more of this post