Andreessen Horowitz Focus of DOJ Probe Over Board Directors

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is the focus of a Justice Department antitrust probe over whether its investment partners are improperly serving on the boards of competing artificial intelligence companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

The companies at issue include Databricks Inc., one of the most valuable privately held technology companies in the world, and Fivetran Inc., both backed by the VC firm, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter. Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz serves on the board of Databricks, and partner Martin Casado is a board member of Fivetran. Both companies help businesses collect, organize and analyze massive troves of data.

by Bloomberg

Many Companies Would Announce Earnings Quarterly, Ditch Filings Under SEC Proposal

Many companies would continue to release earnings statements quarterly—but not the more involved regulatory filings—even if U.S. authorities approve an option to file only semiannually.

A new survey from KPMG provided a glimpse of the varied landscape of financial reporting that could emerge under a proposal from the SEC that would provide the option to file earnings reports twice year instead of the usual four times.

Most companies in the survey said they would provide quarterly updates in some form. Thirty-nine percent said they would continue to publish earnings press releases quarterly, but would submit regulatory filings twice a year—a reviewed semiannual report and an audited annual one. An additional 39% said they would make no changes to their current practices, meaning they would file 10-Qs—the regulatory form for quarterly earnings—and publish quarterly releases.

by WSJ

The Web of Hidden Deals That Snared the Dodgers Owner in a Federal Probe

Walter in June 2025 added the Lakers to his sports stable, in a record-breaking deal that was sealed in 72 hours and valued the NBA team at $10 billion.

Exactly three months later, when Walter arrived in his private plane at Chicago Midway International Airport, federal agents stepped forward with a search warrant. They took Walter’s phone and laptop, along with devices from his employees who were aboard.

The seizures marked a turning point in a federal investigation of Walter’s business empire. Authorities have focused on several entities that served as intermediaries between the Walter-controlled insurance companies that made the loans and the Walter-controlled businesses that received them. The government wants to determine whether Walter and his businesses committed fraud and concealed those financial connections.

It couldn’t be learned what investments Walter financed with insurers’ money in the deals under examination by the government, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. Tapping loans from his insurers had been a calling card of the 66-year-old billionaire’s conglomerate for years.

by WSJ

Should the Rules Be Different When Prediction Markets Play Sportsbook?

In August 2025, the two leading U.S. prediction market platforms processed a combined $1 billion in monthly transaction volume. By July 2026, that figure had climbed to nearly $46 billion, according to The Block Prediction Market Dashboard....

The transformation has produced an unresolved legal question: When an event contract functions primarily as a sports wager, should it receive the same federal treatment as a contract designed to generate economic information or hedge financial risk? [...]

The more useful question is therefore not whether a contract is labeled a “prediction market” or an “event contract.” It is what the market actually does.

If prediction markets generate economically valuable information and facilitate financial risk transfer, federal derivatives regulation has a strong justification. If they function primarily as mass-market sportsbooks, the case for federal preemption of state gambling law becomes weaker.

by CLS Blue Sky Blog

Georgia man charged in US with running $165 mln crypto Ponzi scheme

A Georgia man has been deported from Fiji to face charges in his home state accusing him of defrauding more than ​6,000 investors and causing more than $165 million of losses in ‌a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, the U.S. attorney in Atlanta said on Monday.

Edward Zimbardi, 59, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, was indicted on 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of ​money laundering and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

Prosecutors said ​Zimbardi pitched The Crypto Program as a means to purchase ⁠online advertising packages, offering a guaranteed 25% monthly rate of return on ​an initial $550 investment.

Instead of buying advertising packages, Zimbardi allegedly lost tens of ​millions of dollars betting on foreign currency, spent at least $10 million on personal expenses including a house for one of his sons and alimony payments, and used new ​money to repay earlier investors.

by Reuters