Zoom and Five9 are walking away from their proposed $15 billion deal for lack of Five9 shareholder support. Zoom’s acquisition “had drawn national security scrutiny” over funding links to China - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and TechCrunch
The CFPB finally has a new director after a narrow 50-48 vote in the Senate that ensures FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra will take the reins at the agency charged with regulating financial companies and protecting consumers - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360
Ozy Media’s dumpster-fire of a week culminated with the resignation of its board chair Marc Lasry, who stepped down with the explanation that he “lacked the experience in ‘crisis management and investigations’ to continue leading the company” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
Markets closed out the September with their worst monthly performance since the earliest days of the pandemic, ending what had been an impressive seven-month streak of gains. Here’s what was behind the September Slide - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey announced on Thursday that he’s retiring next year. Current company COO, Jason Buechel, will succeed Mackey in the grocer’s top spot - NYTimes and Bloomberg
Despite an aggressive verbal and nascent regulatory campaign from the SEC, OCC, and others against cryptocurrencies in recent weeks, Fed Chair Powell took pains this week to assure House lawmakers that he and the Fed have “no intention” of “cracking down on cryptocurrencies with sweeping restrictions like those recently imposed by Chinese authorities.” Powell further explained why stablecoins were different than cryptos and merited “prudential regulation” – Law360
What passes for highlights from the Senate hearing on Facebook’s targeting of young users, a three-hour affair prompted largely by an explosive Journal investigative series that showed the company “disregard[ed] internal research that showed its Instagram app is harmful for significant numbers of teen girls” - WSJ and Bloomberg
New Paramount Pictures Chair (and former “Head of the Class” tough guy) Brian Robbins has wasted little time in putting his own mark on the studio, ushering in a wave of high-level departures just weeks into assuming the top role at Paramount - NYTimes
Federal authorities are reportedly probing Morgan Stanley and Interactive Brokers LLC, among others, over their handling of “the accounts of a businessman under investigation for allegedly helping a former Venezuelan oil minister launder billions of dollars” - WSJ
The Fed’s reverse repo program hit a new high this week, with firms “park[ing] a record $1.605 trillion of cash overnight” heading into Friday. The program allows “banks, government sponsored enterprises and some of the world’s largest investment firms a short-term haven to park cash, while earning 5 basis points overnight” - MarketWatch and Bloomberg
Some much-needed Duck Stamp intensity from Last Week Tonight to take you into a beautiful fall weekend. Soak it up - LastWeekTonight
Stay safe, get vaxxed, and have a great weekend,
MDR
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