U.S. requests to drop case of 2 traders
The U.S. is moving to drop charges against two former JPMorgan Chase & Co. traders accused of hiding more than $6.2 billion in losses after it failed to extradite the two men.
Prosecutors in New York's Manhattan borough on Friday asked a judge to dismiss the case against Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout, who live outside the U.S. They also said they could no longer rely on statements by Bruno Iksil, the Frenchman at the center of the case who was dubbed the "London Whale," on the basis of his recent statements and writings that hurt the case.
Prosecutors announced their request to dismiss charges in a news release late Friday afternoon. Joe Evangelisti, a spokesman for the bank, declined to comment on the decision.
The case is U.S. v. Martin-Artajo, 13-cr-00707, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan)
-- Bloomberg News
U.S. oil, gas rig count falls by 2 to 950
HOUSTON -- The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. decreased by two this week to 950.
A year ago, just 462 rigs were active.
Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that 764 rigs sought oil and 186 explored for natural gas this week.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana gained four rigs, California increased by two and North Dakota and Utah each gained one.
Oklahoma and Texas each declined by three, New Mexico fell by two and Alaska decreased by one.
Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming were all unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May of 2016 at 404.
-- The Associated Press
Infidelity site's $11.2M suit payout OK'd
ST. LOUIS -- A federal judge on Friday approved an $11.2 million settlement between the marital infidelity website Ashley Madison and users who sued after hackers released personal information, including users' financial data and details of their sexual proclivities.
U.S. District Judge John Ross in St. Louis gave preliminary approval to a settlement that was announced last week by Toronto-based Ruby Corp., the parent company of Ashley Madison. Several lawsuits were consolidated in the Eastern District of Missouri.
A final-approval hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20.
The lawsuits were filed after hackers outed millions of people who used the website. The suits said Ashley Madison misled consumers about its security measures and safeguards.
The company denied wrongdoing but said in a statement that it settled to "avoid the uncertainty, expense, and inconvenience associated with continued litigation."
Ashley Madison is marketed to people seeking extramarital relationships. Its slogan is, "Life is short. Have an affair." At one time, it purported to have about 39 million members.
Hackers broke into Ashley Madison's systems in July 2015 and posted the details a month later after the company didn't comply with their demands to shut down.
-- The Associated Press
Pickens says his life in 'fourth quarter'
The health of T. Boone Pickens, the famed 89-year-old oil-field wildcatter, financier and corporate raider, has taken a turn for the worse after a "Texas-sized fall" put him in the hospital last week.
In a posting to LinkedIn, Pickens said that he is still mentally strong but that as far as his life goes, "I clearly am in the fourth quarter."
Pickens, the founder and chairman of the Dallas investment firm BP Capital, suffered several strokes around Christmas and has been undergoing speech therapy. He said he has regained 90 percent of his speech through aggressive therapy and determination.
"Many of those who face adversity like this at 89 choose to hide it," he wrote. "My life has always been an open book. Some chapters of my life have been great. Others not so much."
The fall, he said, is just a setback. Pickens said he can still comprehend and process information well but has difficulty speaking clearly. He remains upbeat about the future.
"That's the way to approach life. Be the eternal optimist who is excited to see what the next decade will bring," he said.
-- The Associated Press
Bank of America picks Dublin for EU hub
Bank of America Corp. has picked Dublin to locate its main European Union hub in preparation for Britain quitting the bloc in 2019.
The bank will move some jobs from London to the Irish capital and other cities across the region, the bank said in a statement Friday. Bank of America already has a fully licensed operation in Dublin.
London has flourished as a hub for global finance in part because firms based in the capital have the right to do business across the 28-nation EU. After the British exit, British banks as well as London-based firms from the U.S., Japan and other non-EU countries stand to lose this "passport" and may need to channel their business through units based in the bloc.
"While we await further clarity around the ... negotiations, we are making all necessary preparations to serve our clients however those discussions conclude," Brian Moynihan, Bank of America chief executive officer, said in the statement.
Dublin is a popular destination -- along with Frankfurt -- for financial-services companies seeking uninterrupted EU access. Dublin provides a low-tax English-speaking location and shares similar laws and regulations to its U.K. neighbor.
-- Bloomberg News
Russian bill to restrict Internet advances
MOSCOW -- Russia's parliament has outlawed the use of virtual private networks and other Internet proxy services, citing concerns about the spread of extremist materials.
The State Duma on Friday unanimously passed a bill that would oblige Internet providers to block websites that offer virtual private network services. Many Russians use virtual private networks to access blocked content by routing connections through servers outside the country.
The lawmakers behind the bill argued that the move could help to enforce Russia's ban on disseminating extremist content online.
The bill has to be approved at the upper chamber of parliament and signed by the president before it comes into effect.
Russian authorities have been cracking down on Internet freedoms in recent years. Among other things they want Internet companies to store privacy data on Russian servers.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 07/22/2017