7/24/2015 The world’s largest producer of spirits, Diageo, confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating the company for shipping distributors more inventory than they desire in an effort to boost sales totals. The British-based company manufactures many popular brands such as Smirnoff, Crown Royal, Captain Morgan, and Johnnie
7/23/2015 The House of Representatives passed the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (SAFE) on Thursday by a 275-150 vote. While the margin of victory was significant, the bill has been contentiously opposed, with detractors calling it the “Deny Americans the Right to Know” (DARK) Act. Among other provisions geared to classify food products that
7/23/2015 Los Angeles Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliance officer Dr. Raymond W. Brullo issued a scathing warning letter to Thomas Ring, the CEO of New Jersey-based device manufacturer C.R. Bard. The letter contained a litany of violations regarding several single-use devices for IVC and foreign body retrieval. The letter follows a series of inspections
7/23/2015 Ikea, the Swedish furniture icon, along with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), has recalled seven million dressers from its popular Malm collection, along with 20 million other dressers and chests of drawers following the deaths of two children who were crushed in 2014. Although technically considered a recall, the CPSC and the company’s
7/22/2015 Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), announced his support on Tuesday of AT&T’s $48.5 billion merger with DirecTV. The announcement makes it very likely that the deal will pass any forthcoming regulatory obstacles involved with completing such a massive consolidation. Wheeler’s approval is conditional however; contingent on the willingness of
7/20/2015 Auto safety became political last week on Capitol Hill as lawmakers debated a series of attachments to a transportation bill to be presented next month. Much of the debate went along partisan lines, with the Republican majority blocking several key measures surrounding the massive auto recall epidemic that has plagued the industry over the
7/20/2015 It appears that a major piece of Americana will be gone within a short period of time. The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, better known for over 150 years as A&P, is likely going out of business for good. The company filed papers late Sunday night for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S.
On Friday, banking giant JP Morgan Chase agreed to a $388 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit claiming that the company misled investors regarding the stability of $10 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The lead plaintiff in the case was the Fort Worth employees’ retirement fund, along with others including the Northern and Southern
7/17/2015 Deputy administrator David Friedman, who oversaw the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) through the majority of its most challenging year ever, left the agency on Friday to take a position at the U.S. Energy Department. Former NHTSA head David Strickland left the agency in January 2014 to join Venable LLP, a law firm
7/16/2015 On Wednesday, Toyota announced that it was recalling over 625,000 hybrid vehicles, the large majority of them Prius models, due to a flaw in the software that controls the power converter. The defect could cause the vehicles to shut down and come to a complete stop. The recall affects the Prius V wagon/minivan, which