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Credit risk will probably rise in 2025 as cyberattackers evade defenses with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and increasingly target large companies with the resources to pay high ransoms, Moody's Ratings has warned. “Phishing attacks, aiming to entice a user into clicking a malicious link, will be turbocharged by GenAI,” the ratings company said. “GenAI tools will enable attackers to craft personalized and compelling text, audio and video content that mimic legitimate communications from trusted entities.” At the same time, cybercriminals in 2025 may confront weaker opposition from a new Trump administration that Moody's expects to "roll back cybersecurity mandates and potentially curtail the activities of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. This could expose issuers to a heightened risk of cyberattack."

 

CFO Dive

Federal employees are scrubbing their social media accounts of any negative posts about President-elect Donald Trump as they move to secure their jobs before his inauguration. Thousands of civil servants are taking steps to protect themselves from Trump's plans to slash the number of federal employees. Some federal employees are removing posts from X and Facebook, while one official who testified in Trump’s first impeachment inquiry is said to be considering filing retirement papers, and others are taking steps to move to possibly safer agencies. "There is shock and there is actual fear, and there is self censure in the sense that people are scared about retaliation," said Jesus Soriano, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, which represents more than 1,000 scientists and administrators at the National Science Foundation.

 

Washingtonpost.com

The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will resign from his post before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month. Christopher Wray’s decision to step down early will pave the way for Kash Patel to succeed him when Trump’s administration begins. In 2019, Patel served on the White House national security council before becoming chief of staff to the then acting defence secretary, Christopher Miller. He has preciously said he would restructure the FBI and ensure its agents were focussed on chasing down criminals.

 

Financial Times

The Guardian

U.S. inflation picked up in November, according to the Labor Department, whose consumer price index (CPI) increased 2.7% from a year earlier, following on from a 2.6% rise in October. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy items, climbed 3.3% over the previous 12 months. On a monthly basis, CPI was 0.3% higher, driven by persistent inflationary pressures in the cost of food, vehicles and medical care. The cost of shelter rose 0.3% on the month and 4.7% on an annual basis. Food costs rose 0.4% monthly and 2.4% year over year, while the energy index increased 0.2% but was down 3.2% annually. Within food, the measure of cereals and bakery products fell 1.1% in November, the single biggest monthly decline in the measure’s history going back to 1989. “Overall we’re looking at an environment where the low-hanging fruit has been picked and it’s getting harder and harder to make further inroads into reining in inflation”, said Sarah House, senior economist for Wells Fargo. “Now we’re getting to a point where you really need the demand side of the economy to weaken. That’s what makes the last mile so hard".

 

CNN

USA Today

CNBC

Wall Street Journal

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump's proposals to cut taxes for the wealthy, and impose sweeping tariffs on goods from abroad, are a "major mistake" that will weaken the U.S. economy. In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Biden warned that Trump’s plans would largely benefit the wealthy, reversing what he described as progress made over the last four years toward strengthening the working class. “By all accounts, the incoming administration is determined to return the country to another round of trickle-down economics,” Biden said. “On top of that, he seems determined to impose steep, universal tariffs on all important goods brought into this country on the mistaken belief that foreign countries will bear the cost of those tariffs, rather than the American consumer.” He urged voters to judge the next administration by whether it improves on some of the White House’s favored economic metrics, including the current low unemployment rate and growing total number of jobs created. 

 

New York Times

Politico

The U.S. federal budget deficit came in at $367bn in November, up 17% from a year earlier, the Treasury Department reported on Wednesday. It added that, without the acceleration of December payments for the Medicare and Social Security programs into November, the deficit last month would have been about $29bn, or 9% lower than last year. Government receipts rose 10% to $302bn, while outlays grew 14% to $669bn. The deficit for the first two months of the 2025 fiscal year, which began on October 1st, rose 64% to $624bn, a total that included a $4bn increase in Department of Homeland Security spending related to recent hurricanes and storms.

 

Reuters

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned the Chinese cybersecurity company Sichuan Silence and its employee Guan Tianfeng for exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Sophos firewalls. The breach, which occurred in April 2020, compromised around 81,000 firewalls, affecting over 23,000 in the U.S., including those used by a government agency and critical infrastructure firms. The Treasury warned that the attack could have led to “significant loss in human life” if successful. The primary goal of the exploit was data theft, but Guan also attempted to deploy the Ragnarok ransomware variant on the victims' systems.

 

Techcrunch

The Texas Supreme Court is examining whether retailers should adopt higher security standards following a 2018 shooting at a Dallas Home Depot that killed Officer Rogelio Santander and injured Officer Crystal Almeida. The case raises issues of liability for off-duty officers acting as security and the responsibilities of responding officers. Officer Chad Seward, employed as a security guard by Point 2 Point Global Security, detained Luis Juarez, a trespasser with an outstanding warrant. When informed of his impending arrest, Juarez opened fire, killing Santander and injuring Almeida. The officers’ families sued Seward, Home Depot, and Point 2 Point. After an initial dismissal, the Dallas Court of Appeals revived the case. Defense attorneys claim Seward became an on-duty officer when he followed police protocols, such as initiating a warrant check. Justice Brett Busby questioned whether actions like a Terry frisk for weapons fall under on-duty police work or retail security policies. Home Depot’s lawyer argued that the responding officers bore the responsibility to ensure safety, asserting that the retailer cannot be held liable.

 

Texas Lawyer

A federal court in Texas has issued an injunction preventing the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act and Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting until the case is resolved. Melanie Lauridsen, Vice President of Tax Policy & Advocacy for the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), said: “The AICPA has closely monitored recent developments in the courts regarding the BOI reporting requirements that are due on January 1, 2025.” The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit court, seeking a stay and challenging the injunction, which halts the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) from enforcing BOI reporting nationwide.

 

CPA Practice Advisor

Albertsons has officially abandoned its proposed $24.6bn merger with Kroger after federal and state judges blocked the deal. Chief executive Vivek Sankaran expressed disappointment, saying: “Given the recent federal and state court decisions to block our proposed merger with Kroger, we have made the difficult decision to terminate the merger agreement”. Following the court rulings, Albertsons filed a lawsuit against Kroger in Delaware's Court of Chancery, claiming that Kroger violated their merger agreement and failed to secure necessary regulatory approvals. Albertsons, the second-largest supermarket chain in the U.S., owns Safeway, while Kroger, the largest, owns Fred Meyer and QFC in the Northwest. 

 

CBS News

Los Angeles Times

The Oregonian

Washington Post

General Motors (GM) has decided to abandon its driverless taxi program, Cruise, following a serious accident involving one of its vehicles. The company had invested over $10bn in the project since 2016 but has now shifted its focus to developing advanced driver assistance systems for personal vehicles. The restructuring is expected to reduce spending from $2bn to $1bn by mid-2025, as GM joins other automakers in reassessing their autonomous vehicle strategies.

 

The Times

The Daily Telegraph

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has recently introduced a dedicated section on crypto assets on its website as it makes tentative steps toward acknowledging the role of digital assets. Despite this progress, many wirehouses remain resistant to discussing crypto with clients, which could undermine their advisors' credibility. In contrast, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) are seizing the opportunity to engage with clients on crypto, with a recent poll indicating that over a third plan to recommend digital assets soon. As the market evolves, wirehouses must adapt or risk obsolescence in the face of increasing client interest in crypto investments.

 

Forbes

Former employees of a Japanese textile company in Ecuador have told of their harrowing experiences, following a ruling by the constitutional court that deemed their working conditions akin to slavery. Testimonies shared at a news conference in Quito highlighted severe neglect at the company, Furukawa, with some workers giving birth in unsanitary conditions and others suffering from untreated injuries. The court ordered Furukawa to compensate each of the 342 victims with $120,000, totalling around $41m, and mandated a public apology. "We have been confronting the monster that is Furukawa," Segundo Ordonez told the meeting at the headquarters of Ecuador's Ecumenical Human Rights Commission (CEDHU). Maria Guerrero, who spent three decades on the plantations for the production of abaca, a fine plant fiber, lamented the lack of medical care during her pregnancies, saying: "It is something I will always carry in my heart as a wound." Furukawa has contested the ruling, citing inconsistencies and financial burdens.

 

France 24