Business news in brief

FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2016, file photo, the Yahoo logo appears on a smartphone in Frankfurt, Germany. The company formerly known as Yahoo is paying a $35 million fine to resolve federal regulators' charges that the online pioneer deceived investors by failing to disclose one of the biggest data breaches in internet history.  (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2016, file photo, the Yahoo logo appears on a smartphone in Frankfurt, Germany. The company formerly known as Yahoo is paying a $35 million fine to resolve federal regulators' charges that the online pioneer deceived investors by failing to disclose one of the biggest data breaches in internet history. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)

Keep finance bill as is, House GOP told

WASHINGTON -- A Democratic senator who supports rolling back some of the financial rules put in place after the 2008 financial crisis warned bankers Tuesday that the legislation will stall if it comes back to the Senate for another vote.

Sen. Mark Warner's comments are a warning shot to House Republicans, who are insisting on adding to Senate-passed legislation that would scale back the law known as Dodd-Frank.

The Virginia senator told members of the American Bankers Association that 16 Democrats and one independent who voted for the Senate bill have taken "an awful lot of heat" for a bill he said has been mischaracterized by some members of his own party. In other words, they're not anxious to revisit the debate.

"This bill will not pass if it comes back to the Senate," Warner said. "We stretched this about as far as we can go. The House of Representatives needs to accept this legislation."

-- The Associated Press

Fed proposes easing rule for big banks

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve has proposed new rules that would allow eight of the biggest Wall Street firms to collectively lower by about $121 billion the capital cushions -- called the "enhanced supplementary leverage ratio" -- their banking subsidiaries are required to hold against a collapse, according to federal banking regulators.

Critics of the plan say it would dangerously weaken a rule put in place after the global financial crisis and intended to ensure that banks have big-enough stockpiles of safe capital to survive a panic. The banks say the new rule would give them greater flexibility but would not lead to riskier investment decisions.

Earlier this month, the Fed unveiled a plan to modify rules on what capital banks must hold on reserve in case their assets fail. The proposal would weaken one capital requirement tailored specifically to ensure the solvency of the eight Wall Street banks deemed most essential to the world financial system -- the type of institutions whose sudden failure could do severe damage to the economy as a whole.

The proposed rollback of this capital requirement comes as lawmakers move in multiple other ways to overhaul the banking oversight rules that President Barack Obama helped install after the 2008 banking crisis contributed to a global recession.

-- The Washington Post

Firm paying $35M over '14 Yahoo hack

WASHINGTON -- The company formerly known as Yahoo will pay a $35 million fine to resolve federal regulators' charges that the online pioneer deceived investors by failing to disclose one of the biggest data breaches in Internet history.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the action Tuesday against the company, which is now called Altaba after its email and other digital services were sold to Verizon Communications for $4.48 billion last year. Yahoo, which is no longer publicly traded, neither admitted nor denied the allegations but did agree to refrain from further violations of securities laws.

Personal data was stolen from hundreds of millions of Yahoo users in the December 2014 breach attributed to Russian hackers. The SEC alleged that, although Yahoo senior managers and attorneys were told about the breach, the company failed to fully investigate. The breach wasn't disclosed to the investing public until more than two years later, when Yahoo was working on closing Verizon's acquisition of its operating business in 2016, the SEC said.

-- The Associated Press

Sinclair to sell 23 stations in takeover

HUNT VALLEY, Md. -- Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. agreed to sell 23 TV stations to Standard General LP, Meredith Corp. and others, aiming to soothe regulatory concerns surrounding its $3.9 billion takeover attempt of Tribune Media Co.

The transactions are aimed at gaining regulatory approval for the Tribune deal and are expected to be completed when that purchase closes, Sinclair said on Tuesday. The company is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission as well as antitrust regulators.

The merger has been delayed by the regulatory scrutiny. Sinclair had planned to complete the deal by the end of 2017, but now sees it closing by the second quarter of this year. The company has had to increase the level of divestitures in order to push the transaction through.

The deals include the sale of WGN-TV in Chicago to WGN-TV LLC, KDAF in Dallas to Cunningham Broadcasting Corp. and KUNS in Seattle to Howard Stirk. Meredith is also buying KPLR in St. Louis, a CW affiliate, for $65 million.

-- Bloomberg News

FDA targets e-cigarettes sold to youths

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced a nationwide undercover "blitz" to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes -- particularly the popular Juul products -- to children and teenagers by regular and online retailers.

The effort started April 6 and will continue to the end of the month. The agency said it has uncovered dozens of violations of the law and issued 40 warning letters related to Juul e-cigarettes.

Juul e-cigarettes resemble a USB flash drive but contain high levels of nicotine. They come in such flavors as mango, creme brulee and cool mint and their emissions can be virtually invisible, making it difficult for teachers to spot and stop use of the product.

The FDA has asked Juul Labs, the e-cigarette's manufacturer, for information that might indicate why its product is so appealing to young people. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that while much of the focus is on that e-cigarette, other brands, including myblu and KandyPens, have similar characteristics.

-- The Washington Post

Business on 04/25/2018

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