German payments firm Wirecard said late on Friday it had hired U.S. investment bank Houlihan Lokey to develop a new financing strategy as Moody's slashed the company's rating to junk following the disappearance of 1.9 billion euros. The scandal-hit company is desperately seeking to reassure investors after its search for the missing cash hit a dead end in the Philippines, prompting ratings agencies to react. The company's CEO quit on Friday....
(Bloomberg) -- Just a month ago, the chief executive officer of Wirecard AG boasted on Twitter that the future would still be bright for the digital payments company when “all the noise and dust settles.”At the time, Markus Braun was a paper billionaire. But over the course of a couple of days, the fintech veteran has been forced to step-down as CEO and seen the value of his stake dwindle after a two-day stock rout.Braun’s position at the German payments company became untenable after revelations on Thursday that about 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) -- two-thirds of 2019 revenue and about a quarter of the firm’s consolidated balance sheet -- had gone missing. Two Asian banks that were supposed to be holding the money it denied any business relationship with Wirecard, raising fresh questions about the embattled company.After years of allegations of wrongdoing, Bruan was at the center of the controversy,...
(Bloomberg) -- Geoffrey Berman, who has investigated close allies of President Donald Trump, said he won’t step down as the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, after Attorney General William Barr said he’d be replaced with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton.Berman is “stepping down” after 2 1/2 years in the post, Barr said in a statement. He gave no further details. But shortly after that statement Berman fired back with his own on the Southern District of New York’s website.“I learned in a press release from the Attorney General tonight that I was ‘stepping down’ as United States Attorney,” Berman said. “I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning, my position, to which I was appointed by the judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.“I will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by...
For years now, Aurora Cannabis (ACB) and Canopy Growth (CGC) have traded in near lockstep based on the global growth potential of cannabis. The latest quarterly results set Aurora Cannabis a step ahead of their prime competitor in Canada.Aurora Cannabis reported an exceptional turnaround quarter for March, but the stock has taken a hit following the weak Canopy Growth results at the end of May. Oddly, Aurora Cannabis now appears better positioned to thrive having already had to tighten their financial purse strings due to cash concerns.Value Brand ShiftCanopy Growth called out a prime reason for their failure to hit revenue targets in the March quarter due to the market shift to value brands. Aurora Cannabis made this move to shift production towards the value brand Daily Special in early Q1.For this reason, Aurora Cannabis saw recreational cannabis sales grow sequentially by C$8 million to C$42 million. Canopy Growth saw recreational...
(Bloomberg) -- The North Face, the sports and outerwear brand owned by VF Corp., said it’s ending paid advertising on Facebook over concern the social-media company is allowing racist content and disinformation to propagate.“We know that for too long harmful, racist rhetoric and misinformation has made the world unequal and unsafe, and we stand with the NAACP and the other organizations who are working to StopHateforProfit,” the company said in an emailed statement following a Twitter posting.REI Co-Op, which also sells sporting gear, and Upwork Inc., an online recruitment services provider, said they will suspend advertising in July.Facebook and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg have come under fire for failing to stop the spread of political disinformation and allowing violent or hateful rhetoric to thrive on the site. While Facebook has pulled some campaign ads for President Donald Trump, the site hasn’t taken action on other posts that were removed from...
