SEC advances banking-rule changes
Regulators appointed by President Donald Trump are a step closer to rolling back the Volcker Rule, a constraint that was key to Washington's efforts to put restrictions on banks after the 2008 financial crisis.
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 on Tuesday to seek public comment on the Volcker revamp. It's the last of five agencies that need to sign off on the proposal.
After reviewing feedback from financial firms, lawmakers and Wall Street critics, regulators will likely hold a second round of votes on whether to make the changes final. Like other financial regulators, the SEC will accept public comment for 60 days.
The proposal maintains the ban on proprietary trading, in which banks invest for their own profits rather than on behalf of customers. But it would remove an assumption that positions held by lenders for fewer than 60 days are proprietary and make it easier for banks to determine whether trades are prohibited. Regulators also want to give firms more leeway to take advantage of exemptions in the Volcker Rule that permit trades that hedge market risk.
The rule is named after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.
-- Bloomberg News
Tribe member loses tax-case appeal
MIAMI -- A Miccosukee tribal member owes back taxes on gambling revenue, a federal appeals court ruled Monday in a decision that experts believe could pave the way for the federal government to collect more than $1 billion in overdue personal income taxes.
The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Miami federal judge's ruling that tribal member Sally Jim must pay the Internal Revenue Service $278,758 in taxes, interest and penalties for failing to file a tax return in 2001.
The West Miami-Dade tribe has been engaged in a long-running legal battle with the IRS over tax revenue stemming from its lucrative resort and casino. The tribe's 600-plus members receive between $120,000 and $160,000 yearly from gambling revenue -- and experts said Monday's ruling may strengthen the IRS' hand in trying to collect taxes on the money that was earned over years.
-- Miami Herald
N.C. seeks protections for hog farms
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Legislators in the country's No. 2 hog-growing state on Tuesday stepped up efforts to shield industrial hog operations from neighbors who have complained for decades about the smell, noise and flies generated by housing thousands of animals together.
The state Senate's Agriculture Committee unveiled and approved language that would protect the low-cost but much-criticized method of handling hog waste. The proposed changes to a state farm-protection law would block lawsuits alleging negligent or improper operations that create a nuisance.
The legislation also presumes that farm and forestry operations couldn't be nuisances if they're using practices common to their industry, such as the current hog-industry method of collecting waste in open-air cesspools and spraying it over farm fields.
The move comes after a federal jury in April hit Smithfield Foods with a nearly $51 million verdict against an operation that forced neighbors to tolerate nuisance conditions. That was cut to about $3 million because the state limits damages for corporate misdeeds.
-- The Associated Press
Lord & Taylor drops flagship-store plan
NEW YORK -- Lord & Taylor is abandoning plans to keep a store in the Fifth Avenue flagship building it is selling, as the chain's owner closes more stores and focuses on online sales.
The announcement Tuesday comes about seven months after the company said it would sell the century-old building to office space-sharing company WeWork. Hudson's Bay Co., Lord & Taylor's owner, had said it would keep less than a quarter of the 11-story building for a Lord & Taylor store.
Hudson's Bay, which also operates Saks Fifth Avenue and other stores, said it expects to close up to 10 of its nearly 50 Lord & Taylor stores through 2019. The flagship store is expected to close in early 2019.
Lord & Taylor was the first store to create Christmas windows for entertainment, rather than for selling merchandise. It pioneered the animated window display in 1938.
-- The Associated Press
Energy firm closes amid fraud concerns
MANHEIM, Pa. -- A family-owned Pennsylvania energy company has abruptly shut down as it faces a potential fraud case involving tens of millions of dollars after the brief disappearance of its CEO.
Worley & Obetz, based in Manheim, closed its doors Monday after 72 years in the residential heating oil, propane and HVAC business, leaving about 250 workers unemployed, the LNP newspaper reported.
"It's horrible beyond belief," co-owner Seth Obetz said.
Last week, the company announced layoffs of more than 100 workers and the closing of its commercial operations, saying the actions were "due to potentially fraudulent activity" and that the layoffs followed the "disappearance of our CEO, Jeff Lyons." Lyons had been reported missing May 15 but was found days later and subsequently fired.
Four local banks have told the Securities and Exchange Commission that they'll have multimillion-dollar losses over fraud committed by an employee of Worley & Obetz, according to American Banker.
-- The Associated Press
Wall Street Journal names new chief
Matt Murray was named editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, succeeding Gerard Baker, who is moving to a new position after 5½ years atop the business newspaper.
Baker will become editor at large and host a television program on Fox Business News, Wall Street Journal owner News Corp. said Tuesday in a statement. He'll also host conferences for the newspaper.
Murray, an executive editor at The Wall Street Journal, has been with the company since 1994. Under Baker, the publication's daily circulation grew by more than a third, according to the company.
Parent company News Corp. is controlled by Rupert Murdoch and his family, which holds a 39 percent voting stake in the company. The Murdochs also control 21st Century Fox Inc., the parent of the Fox News Channel and Fox Business News.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 06/06/2018