Goldman to pay $5 billion for selling bad mortgages

This week's settlement between the financial giant and the government is the latest in a string of billion-dollar settlements addressing Wall Street misconduct in the lead-up to the financial crisis of 2008. (The others were with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, and Morgan Stanley, and the values ranged from approximately $3 billion to $16 billion.) […]

Company will break its own product instead of updating the technology

A company called Nest makes an electronic hub (the Revolv hub) that enables consumers to control the lights in their home remotely. Customers buying the product were promised "free lifetime service subscription." But next month, the Revolv hub will become inoperable, thanks to Nest itself. Why? Because the company prefers to put its resources toward a newer product […]

Bill Introduced to Stop Pre-dispute Arbitration for Consumers and Small Businesses

The Restoring Statutory Rights Act of 2016, sponsored by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, was sent to congressional committee on February 4, 2016 for consideration. The proposed legislation declares that the FAA “did not, and should not have been interpreted to, supplant or nullify the legislatively created rights and remedies which Congress . . . has […]

Business Lawyer Survey of Consumer Auto Finance Developments

Kevin M. McDonald of VW Credit Inc., and Kenneth J. Rojc of Nisen & Elliott, LLC have written the Business Lawyer's annual survey of consumer auto finance developments, this year called Automotive Finance: The Regulatory Cup Spilleth Over.  Here is the abstract: Almost every aspect of the life cycle of retail contract and lease transactions, […]

In odd twist on minimum wage fight, union fights to pay union workers… less?

Unions have successfully pushed counterintuitive carve-outs to minimum wage hikes in California permitting employers to pay union workers less than other workers. Union leaders say they are trying to make unionization more attractive to employers. But union members aren't pleased. The L.A. Times explains.

Marotta-Wurgler Surveys Privacy Policies

Florencia Marotta-Wurgler of NYU has written Understanding Privacy Policies: Content, Self-Regulation, and Markets. Here is the abstract: The current regulatory approach to consumer information privacy is based on a “notice and choice” self-regulation model, but commentators disagree on its impact. I conduct a comprehensive empirical analysis of 261 privacy policies across seven markets and measure […]