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National Security Division Announces First Declination Under the Department-wide Corporate Enforcement Policy The Justice Department announced today that it has declined the prosecution of Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch), thereby resolving its investigation into an alleged scheme to send products and software manufactured with equipment that was the direct product of U.S. software or technology to an Entity-listed company in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This decision was reached pursuant to Part I of the Department-wide Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (CEP), after also considering the factors set forth in the Department’s Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations. Bosch promptly disclosed the misconduct to the National Security Division (NSD), fully cooperated, and timely and appropriately remediated — which qualified them for a declination under the CEP, given that aggravating circumstances were absent Bosch has agreed to disgorge the $11,430,098 in profits it made as a result of the transactions at issue — a portion of which will be credited towards the $36,184,680 fine paid in a parallel civil action by the Department of Commerce. As announced by NSD on March 30, enforcing export control and sanctions laws is a top priority and furthers NSD’s mission to protect and defend the United States against the full range of national security threats. Moreover, the Justice Manual (JM) assigns violations of the U.S. government’s primary export control and sanctions regimes, among other criminal laws affecting, involving or relating to the national security, to NSD. JM 9-90.020. This is the first time that NSD has declined the prosecution of a company under the CEP. by DOJ Press Releases |
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👉 The DOJ's letter closing the matter dated June 15 is here.
Opinion: Inside the push to weaken Washington’s toughest financial watchdog The Securities and Exchange Commission is generally regarded as one of the smartest, toughest agencies in Washington. But tough enforcement is not a hallmark of the Trump administration, which has substantially cut the SEC’s budget and staffing. As a result, the SEC is bringing fewer enforcement actions. In fiscal 2025, the SEC filed 30% fewer stand-alone enforcement actions than in fiscal 2024, and stopped bringing certain kinds of enforcement cases ( for example, under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act). But something new and unprecedented is happening. At the end of May, the three SEC Commissioners, who are all Republicans, took away enforcement powers the agency has held for more than 50 years. Without advance notice or the chance for public comment, the SEC repealed its longstanding rule prohibiting defendants who settled enforcement cases “without admitting or denying” the SEC’s allegations from later publicly disagreeing with those allegations or the related facts. by MarketWatch |
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👉Op-ed by By John C. Coffee, Jr. and Robert Pozen.
Allbirds rebrands as Smartbird in AI pivot, hires former AWS executive as CEO; shares soar Allbirds changed its name to Smartbird on Wednesday and appointed former Amazon executive Nadia Carlsten as CEO, cementing the former footwear maker's pivot to an AI infrastructure firm and sending its shares up more than 30%. The company had said in April it was shifting its focus to offer cloud computing capacity and AI services, leading to a more than five-fold surge in its shares. Including Wednesday's moves, they are up about 25% so far this year. Carlsten brings AI and quantum computing experience from DCAI, Alphabet, spinoff SandboxAQ, and Amazon Web Services, and has advised the World Economic Forum on computing and AI. She will take over from Joe Vernachio, who is resigning from the company. Annie Mitchell will continue to serve as the chief financial officer, and Lily Yan Hughes has been appointed board chair. Smartbird said it provides AI infrastructure as a managed service to save upfront equipment costs for clients. It is in active discussions with potential customers and is designing its first cluster deployments. by Reuters: Business |
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👉 In his Money Stuff column, Matt Levine writes that "as previously planned, Smartbird sold off its sneaker assets last week, for $40.7 million in cash. Now it is a pure-play AI company. What sort of pure-play AI company? I am sure that is none of my business."
CME chief executive says company plans to sue CFTC after perpetual futures approval CME Chief Executive Terrence Duffy said the derivatives provider planned to sue the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after it approved perpetual futures products earlier this month. The CFTC's approval of Kalshi's perpetual futures product did not meet the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act governing swaps, he told CNBC on Wednesday. "Under the Dodd-Frank Act, it clearly defines what a swap is and what a future is, and when there's two parties exchanging payments to each other, that's deemed a swap," he said. "So, if anything, these products that he supposedly approved as futures are not futures, they would be swaps, and if they're swaps, and let's say, as you know, there's different requirements in order to participate in the swap market." by CoinDesk |
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Kentucky targets prediction markets, puts red state in potential clash with Trump team Kentucky's attorney general has sued leading prediction market firms Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing them of offering illegal sports betting without a license, adding its name to the growing list of states opposing the rise of the industry. But Kentucky is also strongly Republican in its overall politics, having voted for President Donald Trump with a 64% majority in 2024, though Governor Andy Beshear is a Democrat. Now it's found itself in the position of legally battling against one of Trump's own policy positions, that prediction market oversight belongs in the hands of the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission. by CoinDesk |
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Short Seller Left Loses Mistrial Request Over Court Error Famed short seller Andrew Left, convicted on 13 counts of securities fraud earlier this month, lost his request for a mistrial over an unusual courtroom error that marred the end of his three-week trial. US District Judge Virginia Phillips on Wednesday rejected Left’s argument that the jury’s inadvertent use of an incorrect verdict form had “prejudiced the jury deliberations,” calling the argument “unavailing.” by Bloomberg Law |
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