World trade hit a record $35 trillion in 2025, UNCTAD says, as barriers rise for developing countries
UNCTAD said value is shifting into strategic sectors like semiconductors and AI, where barriers to entry are high.
Economy business and finance
SEC proposes letting registered funds cross-trade most fixed-income securities again
The proposal would amend Rule 17a-7 and add aggregated reporting of funds' cross trades.
San Diego County reports 1,176 affordable homes finished in a year it calls a record
Thirteen County-backed developments were completed from July 2025 through June 2026, the County told supervisors.
Blue Origin to build a $555 million campus in Hutto, Texas, with 2,000 jobs, governor says
Texas extended an $18.2 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant for the manufacturing and operations campus.
Fed orders American Express to fix its anti-money-laundering program
A consent order cites failures to detect and report suspicious activity; the OCC separately penalized Amex's bank.
Texas Energy Fund lends to 452-megawatt gas plant in Reeves County
Texas made its ninth Energy Fund loan, for a West Texas gas plant meant to power about 110,000 homes from 2027.
SEC seeks final judgment against former Western Asset co-CIO in cherry-picking case
A consent judgment against Ken Leech would return $103 million to harmed investors, the SEC said.
Hormuz in numbers: seven months of the largest oil shock on record
Brent averaged $114 in September and hit $131 after attacks on a Saudi bypass pipeline, the EIA says.
Public notice: FDIC releases July CRA ratings for state nonmember banks
The FDIC published its list of state nonmember banks rated in July 2026 under the Community Reinvestment Act.
Basel III bank rules set to apply in almost all member jurisdictions by 2027
Three quarters of the Basel Committee's 27 jurisdictions have published rules for the full Basel III standards.
Newsom says California's economy topped $4.5 trillion
Gov. Gavin Newsom said federal data show California's economy surpassed $4.5 trillion in output.
Update: SEC crypto custody plan would allow adviser self-custody under conditions
The SEC proposal would let advisers hold crypto themselves when no custodian is available, with safeguards and audits.
Update: The Nepal floods behind the ILO's warning killed more than 1,250 people
An Aug. 26 glacier collapse caused Nepal's floods, which killed over 1,250 people and caused about $2.56 billion in losses.
Virgin Islands governor signs $739.2 million general fund budget for fiscal 2027
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. signed the territory's fiscal 2027 budget bills, with $739.2 million from the General Fund.
Update: Fed's insider-lending proposal would raise board-approval threshold to $2 million
The Fed's Regulation O proposal would lift the board-approval threshold for insider loans to $2 million; comments close Nov. 4.
Update: Fed records show an earlier application and approval for Fleur Capital's bank deal
Fleur Capital's purchase of Simmesport State Bank was listed as approved in January before a second application this summer.
Update: national financial literacy strategy sets four priorities, new working groups
The strategy the CFPB backed, approved Sept. 18, creates four working groups and promotes Trump Accounts.
A thyroid compound once barred as a diet supplement returns as an approved rare-disease drug
The FDA on Monday approved tiratricol, sold as Emcitate by Sweden's Egetis Therapeutics, for MCT8 deficiency, a genetic disorder estimated to affect about 1…
Newsom orders a public report on the wholesale fuel trades behind California prices
A small number of wholesale trades can influence the price of far more gasoline and diesel sold in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote Monday, and private…
California lets winter gas in early as prices near record
Cheaper-to-make winter-blend gasoline can now be sold in California, weeks before the Oct. 31 switch that normally applies in most of the state.
Disabled veterans get a bigger property tax break; San Diego leads the state in veterans' exemptions
California will expand property tax relief for 100% disabled veterans under SB 296, one of five veterans bills Gov. Gavin Newsom announced signing Monday.
Matched by algorithm, steered by salespeople: SEC penalizes adviser-finder Zoe Financial
People who came to Zoe Financial for help finding an investment adviser answered an online questionnaire, and an algorithm picked their matches.
Newsom vetoes fire survivors' insurance claim bills
Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed two bills written after the 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires to change how home insurers handle claims.
California creates an office for its gun-violence grants, funded by a tax on gun sales
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed AB 2378 in Sacramento, creating an Office of Community Violence Intervention to run a grant program the state has…
La Mesa's trolley-lot homes break ground as Oktoberfest riders are sent to other lots
Construction began Friday on Spring View Apartments at the Spring Street trolley station in La Mesa, and the homes will go to the people the project…
A Fed governor's warning rides along with the new stablecoin rules
When the Federal Reserve proposed rules for bank-issued stablecoins, Governor Michael Barr backed the plan but singled out one standard he wants revisited.
Fed proposes reserve and capital rules for bank-issued stablecoins
The Federal Reserve has proposed rules for stablecoins issued through the banks it supervises, carrying out part of the 2025 GENIUS Act.
Fed bars former Maryland teller supervisor after $246,000 theft
The Federal Reserve has barred a former teller supervisor at a Sandy Spring Bank branch in Silver Spring, Md., from working in banking without its approval.
A decade of rodent findings came before a court shut a Minneapolis warehouse
State and federal inspectors documented rodent problems at Gold Star Distribution's Minneapolis warehouse for more than a decade before a federal court…
IPO money quintupled in the first half, mostly on one deal
U.S. issuers raised more than $137 billion through 208 initial public offerings in the first half of 2026, up from 180 IPOs raising about $27 billion a year…
SEC: Pension-plan worker's fund scheme took $860,000 from South Florida police
A Port St. Lucie, Fla., man and his company raised about $860,000 from at least 18 investors, many of them current or retired South Florida law enforcement…
BancFirst wins approval to buy SpiritBank after a Tulsa lending objection is heard
The Federal Reserve has approved BancFirst Corp.'s purchase of Spirit BankCorp, adding SpiritBank's six branches in Tulsa, Sapulpa and Bristow to Oklahoma's…
SEC penalizes OTC stock trading operator, its second settlement in two years
The SEC has censured OTC Link LLC, the OTC Markets Group unit that runs a trading system for over-the-counter stocks, and ordered it to pay a $575,000 penalty.
Fed lifts its 2024 agreement with Oklahoma's Bank of Eufaula
The Federal Reserve has ended its 2024 written agreement with SNB Bancshares and its subsidiary, Bank of Eufaula, both of Eufaula, Okla.
Fed bars three former bank and card-company employees
The Federal Reserve on Sept. 18 barred three former financial-industry employees from banking under consent orders: a former Northstar Bank employee in Bad…
What the SEC's "innovation exemption" means for tokenized stocks
The SEC has opened a five-year window for blockchain-based versions of U.S.-listed stocks to trade on new "tokenized securities venues," which may run…
Fed raises rates for the first time since 2023
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point on Sept. 16, to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its first increase since 2023.
SEC proposes ending the 1942 rule that lets shareholders put proposals on company ballots
The SEC has proposed eliminating Rule 14a-8, which since 1942 has let qualifying shareholders put their proposals on a company's annual-meeting ballot.
Regulators rewrite vendor-risk guidance and flag community banks' dependence on core providers
Four federal regulators have proposed replacing their guidance on how banks and credit unions manage outside vendors with principles-based guidance tailored…
Regulators extend exam cycles for about 188 more community banks
Regulators have made about 188 more community banks eligible to be examined every 18 months instead of every 12.
SEC: New Jersey man's $16 million Ponzi scheme targeted a Ghanaian Christian community
The SEC has charged Ernest Ossei Boateng and two New Jersey companies he controls with running a Ponzi-like scheme that raised about $16 million from more…
Why premature babies' first IV nutrition is at risk, and what the FDA is doing
The FDA has temporarily eased compounding rules after children's hospitals warned they could lose access to starter IV nutrition, the premixed dextrose,…
Fed lifts its order on United Texas Bank, but a new regulator's order remains
The Federal Reserve has ended its 2024 cease-and-desist order against United Texas Bank of Dallas, but the bank remains under an order from its new regulator.
SEC proposes scrapping the rule that limits political donations by money managers
The SEC has proposed eliminating its 2010 "pay-to-play" rule, which bars investment advisers from being paid to manage a state or local government's money,…
SEC charges three former Tricolor executives in $1.9 billion subprime auto collapse
The SEC has charged three former executives of Tricolor, a Dallas-area used-car dealer and subprime lender, with defrauding investors as the company raised…
SEC proposes a rulebook for raising money by selling crypto tokens
The SEC has proposed "Regulation Crypto Assets," its first rules written specifically for projects that raise money by selling crypto tokens.
Two SEC cases filed four days apart accuse pre-IPO fund sellers of hidden markups
Two SEC cases filed four days apart describe the same risk in the booming market for shares of private companies before they go public: investors paying far…
Fed bars two former Regions bankers from one Memphis branch over check fraud
The Federal Reserve has barred four former Regions Bank employees from the banking industry in orders announced since July 30.