Payments News Update – December 10, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Facebook’s Antitrust Problems Are Jeopardizing Its Plans for WhatsApp Quartz – December 9, 2020 Facebook doesn’t make much money from WhatsApp. But CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that forcing the company to sell the messaging app—as US prosecutors have called for in a new antitrust suit filed on Dec. 9—represents an “existential” threat to the business. That’s because Facebook has big plans for its little...

December 7, 2020

Partner Matthew Cantor was quoted in the Fierce Healthcare article, Healthcare organizations urge Biden's HHS nominee Becerra to hit ground running on COVID-19 response.  Click here to read more.

Mary Inman and Tom Mueller discuss whistleblowers and ethics in the workplace at Integrity at Work Week conference

On November 23, 2020, Constantine Cannon partner and head of the firm’s international whistleblower practice, Mary Inman, interviewed the author of “Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud”, Tom Mueller, at the Integrity at Work Week conference organized by Transparency International Ireland. The discussions started off with Tom describing common misapprehensions about whistleblowing and explaining how, with the growth of secrecy and the cult of money, insiders have...

Payments News Update – December 3, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Visa Is Doing What Big American Companies Do to ‘Protect This Business’ The New York Times – December 2, 2020 (subscription required) Visa dominates the lucrative business of processing debit card transactions. Merchants must choose between paying the financial services company’s fees or forgoing sales to the millions of Americans who carry cards emblazoned with Visa’s logo. A San Francisco technology start-up named Plaid threatened...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. EU plans easier access to generics in potential blow to big drugmakers.  The European Commission wants to make it easier for patients to access cheaper, generic medicines, a draft EU document seen by Reuters shows, in a move that could cut the revenues of big pharmaceutical firms.  The EU executive outlines...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. Facebook probe in final stages as FTC, U.S. states prepare lawsuits.  The Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan group of dozens of state attorneys general are in the final stages of filing one or more major antitrust complaints against Facebook Inc. FB.O in early December, according to four sources familiar with...

Payments News Update – November 12, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: DOJ Suit Over Visa, Plaid Deal Sounds a Lot Like a Monopoly Case Bloomberg Law – November 10, 2020 The government’s lawsuit to block Visa Inc.'s $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid Inc. contains language that could stir expectations of possibly stronger actions against the credit card giant. The case, filed Nov. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, only seeks...

Constantine Cannon partner Mary Inman and Nick Gallo, Co-CEO of ComplianceLine, discuss whistleblowing in the US and around the globe

On October 26, 2020, international whistleblower lawyer, Mary Inman, joined Nick Gallo, CEO of ComplianceLine, on a podcast “The Ethics Experts,” which is part of the Compliance Podcast Network. Discussions commenced with Mary explaining the various US whistleblower reward programs (CFTC, SEC, IRS, and the False Claims Act). She then described the vital role whistleblower lawyers play in guiding individuals from the beginning of the process, when they struggle whether to come forward, all the way...

Payments News Update – November 5, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit Challenging Visa's Planned Acquisition of Plaid Wall Street Journal – November 5, 2020 (subscription required) The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit Thursday that seeks to block Visa Inc.’s V 2.65% $5.3 billion deal to acquire Plaid Inc., a key player in the financial-technology space. The department brought the case in a Northern California federal court, alleging the deal would...

Catch of the Week: Guild Mortgage

We’re in the midst of a recession, 13 million Americans are out of work, GDP growth is slowing, and stock market volatility is approaching record-breaking levels. This recession is largely driven by the emergence of a mostly natural and random phenomenon, COVD-19, though there is plenty of blame to go around in how humans have reacted to the spread of the virus. This week’s catch of the week, however, harkens...