Author: Staff (Page 14 of 27)

Capital One fined by consumer protection bureau

July 18, 2012 / Staff

Here’s one of Capital One’s catchy ads featuring Alec Baldwin. The ad wasn’t deceptive, but apparently the bank was benefiting from other problematic business practices.

The nation’s consumer watchdog on Wednesday delivered its first enforcement action against the financial industry, fining Capital One for pressuring and misleading more than two million credit card customers.
Capital One, one of the nation’s biggest banks and credit card lenders, agreed to pay $210 million to resolve a pair of regulatory cases, the latest legal setback for the financial industry.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Wall Street’s newest regulator, accused Capital One of “deceptive marketing tactics.” The credit card company — which is known for its catchy television ads, asking “what’s in your wallet” — received a regulatory rebuke for misleading card customers into buying unnecessary products like payment protection and credit monitoring, according to the consumer agency.

It’s nice to see someone looking out for the consumer . . . finally.

Advertising, Finance

banks Capital One commercials Consumer Financial Protection Bureau credit card commercials credit card marketing credit cards deceptive marketing tactics financial consumers financial credit financial industry nation’s consumer watchdog what’s in your wallet

Mac vs PC ad with Gisele Bündchen

July 17, 2012 / Staff

Here’s an awesome ad from Apple’s old campaign comparing the Mac to the lame PCs of the era. This version with Gisele Bündchen really drove the point home that Macs were better in so many ways.

The question now is whether Microsoft can finally fight back. It will be releasing the new operating system along with new office software. Will it be a huge step forward as some are saying, or will it suck like Vista with Microsoft blowing the execution? In reaction to the new Surface tablet, Steve Wosniak made the stunning statement that it was as if Steve Jobs had been reincarnated at Microsoft.

We’ll see this fall . . . .

Advertising

celebrities in commercials commercials effective commercials fashion entrepreneurs fashion model moguls fashion models in business funny commercials Gisele Bündchen Gisele Bündchen commercial Gisele Bündchen Mac Gisele Bündchen video Mac vs PC Microsoft models in commercials supermodel earnings supermodel endorsements supermodel entrepreneurs supermodel moguls supermodel wealth supermodels in advertising supermodels in business Surface tablet Vista Vista sucks

Glaxo and corporate malfeasance

July 3, 2012 / Staff

In a stunning settlement, GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to a $3 billion fine.

In the largest settlement involving a pharmaceutical company, the British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $3 billion in fines for promoting its best-selling antidepressants for unapproved uses and failing to report safety data about a top diabetes drug, federal prosecutors announced Monday. The agreement also includes civil penalties for improper marketing of a half-dozen other drugs.
The fine against GlaxoSmithKline over Paxil, Wellbutrin, Avandia and the other drugs makes this year a record for money recovered by the federal government under its so-called whistle-blower law, according to a group that tracks such numbers.
In May, Abbott Laboratories settled for $1.6 billion over its marketing of the antipsychotic drug Depakote. And an agreement with Johnson & Johnson that could result in a fine of as much as $2 billion is said to be imminent over its off-label promotion of another antipsychotic drug, Risperdal.
No individuals have been charged in any of the cases. Even so, the Justice Department contends the prosecutions are well worth the effort — reaping more than $15 in recoveries for every $1 it spends, by one estimate.
But critics argue that even large fines are not enough to deter drug companies from unlawful behavior. Only when prosecutors single out individual executives for punishment, they say, will practices begin to change.
“What we’re learning is that money doesn’t deter corporate malfeasance,” said Eliot Spitzer, who, as New York’s attorney general, sued GlaxoSmithKline in 2004 over similar accusations involving Paxil. “The only thing that will work in my view is C.E.O.’s and officials being forced to resign and individual culpability being enforced.”

We’ll see if these fines deter future behavior. I can’t imagine that a fine of this size won’t have an impact in the industry.

That said, the laws on disclosure of risks surrounding drugs need to be enforced and people hiding results need to be held accountable.

General Business

bad corporate behavior corporate crimes corporate malfeasance drug companies drug industry Glaxo Glaxo fine GlaxoSmithKline improper marketing pharmaceutical companies pharmaceutical industry

Murdoch not betting on Romney

July 1, 2012 / Staff

The business community is lining up behind Mitt Romney, but Rupert Murdoch isn’t too optimistic based on his recent tweets.

“Met Romney last week. Tough O Chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. Doubtful,” he wrote.
He added: “US election is referendum on Obama, all else pretty minor.”
This is just the latest in a series of anti-Romney tweets. Last week, the News Corp CEO wrote that Romney “Seems to play everything safe, make no news except burn off Hispanics.”

You can follow Murdoch on Twitter here.

General Business

business and politics businessmen on Twitter Mitt Romney presidential election Rupert Murdoch

Another Euro deal

June 29, 2012 / Staff

Stocks surged in the United States and around the world today as markets reacted to the latest news out of Europe. We’ve had so many deals and false starts, but it looks like serious progress might be at hand in Europe.

By the end of a vital two-day summit here, European diplomacy had played out like soccer, with Spain and Italy — the two nations headed to the Euro 2012 finals — emerging victorious and the Germans returning home in shock.
After a marathon 14 hours of talks, Berlin unexpectedly agreed to concessions clearing the way for a deal that could help both Madrid and Rome in their desperate efforts to stave off economic collapse.
The agreement, while conditional on the creation of a regulatory body, addressed the core of the questions facing Europe: Who will cover the tab for its 2½-year-old debt crisis, and how?
Under the terms of the deal, troubled euro-zone countries would have more options for aid, including using a pool of European rescue funds to directly recapitalize ailing banks. That, in turn, would spare governments the humiliation of having to ask for aid themselves to channel to domestic banks, sidestepping the kind of intrusive financial inspections imposed on Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

The big change has to do with the decision to directly fund the troubled banks. Check out the whole article for the story, but it looks like Germany will cave here.

Economy, Finance, General Business

banking system banks banks in Europe debt crisis Euro deal euro-zone countries foreign markets troubled banks