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The Trump administration has scaled back its efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, instead seeking court approval to cut more than half of its remaining workforce while keeping the agency operational. A new restructuring plan would reduce staff to 556 from around 1,200 earlier this year, following prior attempts to eliminate up to 90% of employees that were blocked by courts. The proposal includes deep cuts to key divisions such as supervision and enforcement, significantly limiting oversight of financial institutions and consumer protection activities. While the administration continues to push for a smaller agency, it has acknowledged that fully closing the bureau would require congressional approval, with the revised approach reflecting ongoing legal challenges and judicial intervention.

 

New York Times

Reuters

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has launched a new anti-fraud whistleblower program. Managed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the goal of the program is to recover hundreds of billions of dollars in stolen taxpayer funds and reward the tipsters who help the federal government find the money. “Individuals located in the United States or abroad who provide information may be eligible for awards if the information they provide leads to a successful enforcement action that results in monetary penalties exceeding $1,000,000,” stated one of the confidential Treasury documents obtained by The New York Post.

 

New York Post

The Baltimore Sun

The ranking members of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee have quizzed ​Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr and criticized ‌his approval of Nexstar's merger with Tegna without a vote from the full commission. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, jointly told Carr that he improperly allowed agency staff to give the merger the go-ahead even though it involved waiving major anti-consolidation rules, according to a copy of the letter seen by Bloomberg. Significant questions of policy must be addressed by the full FCC in a vote, the senators said.

 

Bloomberg

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board chair Demetrios Logothetis has outlined the regulator’s priorities for its 2026–2030 strategic plan, emphasizing audit quality, investor protection, and modernization through technology, while launching a public consultation process open until May 15. Key initiatives include revisiting audit standards, refining inspection processes to deliver clearer insights, and incorporating automation and AI into oversight activities, alongside potential revisions to quality control standard QC 1000. The board also plans to expand stakeholder engagement, establish a formal consultation function for complex audit issues, and invest in talent through programs such as the Audit Practitioner Fellowship, as it seeks to adapt regulation to a rapidly evolving audit landscape.

 

Accounting Today

CPA Practice Advisor

Financial Times

Journal of Accountancy

The operator of crypto exchange KuCoin is to pay the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) $500,000 to settle claims that it ran an unregistered offshore platform that illegally allowed U.S. residents to trade. Peken Global Ltd. agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the U.S. derivatives regulator's allegations and is prohibited from allowing U.S. customers to access KuCoin without registering with the agency. The CFTC said U.S. customers generated approximately $110m in trading fees for KuCoin. The regulator noted the firm’s cooperation in the investigation as the basis for not seeking disgorgement.

 

Bloomberg

Australia is investigating Facebook, TikTok and YouTube for possible breaches of the country's under-16 social media ban. "Australia's world-leading social media laws are not failing. But big tech is failing to obey the laws," Communications Minister Anika Wells said. "Australia will not let the social media giants take us for mugs." Reuters notes that governments around the world are watching Australia's moves to rein in the tech giants. "We are now moving ⁠into an enforcement stance," said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.

 

Reuters

The Star (Malaysia)

Match Group has settled a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that accused the company of giving an outside facial recognition firm, Clarifai, access to personal data of millions of OkCupid users, including photos, demographic information, and location data, without users' knowledge or consent and contrary to OkCupid's privacy policies. The settlement in ​Dallas federal court prohibits Match from misrepresenting ‌the ⁠privacy of user information, and requires the Dallas-based company to certify compliance. A ​spokesperson for OkCupid said ​it ⁠has strengthened its privacy practices, and the alleged conduct "does not reflect how ⁠OkCupid ​operates today."

 

Reuters

Apple's Australian subsidiary has engaged PwC to investigate a significant internal technology error affecting thousands of employees' pay and leave entitlements. The $US3.7 trillion company must reimburse hundreds of former employees and provide additional leave to current staff due to a mistake in its human resources systems, which incorrectly counted public holidays as leave days. "We are committed to rectifying this issue," a spokesperson said.

 

Financial Review

JPMorgan's bid to dismiss Wells Fargo's breach of contract lawsuit to recoup losses for investors in a defaulted $481m commercial real estate loan has been rejected by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge ​Dale Ho in Manhattan said Wells Fargo, acting as the ​investors' trustee, adequately alleged that JPMorgan knew of an ⁠event of default by Manhattan real estate development ​firm Chetrit, which took the loan in 2019 to buy 43 ​multifamily properties with 8,671 apartments in 10 U.S. states.

 

Reuters

Hasbro is investigating a cyberattack that forced the company to take parts of its network offline, potentially causing delays to product ordering, shipping, and other key operations. The toy maker detected unauthorized access over the weekend and has engaged external cybersecurity experts, with contingency procedures expected to remain in place for several weeks as systems are restored. The disruption has raised concerns about operational and revenue impacts, with shares falling 5% on Wednesday following the announcement.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Cambodia's lawmakers have unanimously passed new legislation aimed at combating proliferating online scam operations which have turned the country into a global cybercrime hub. Justice Minister Keut Rith said: "These crimes threaten public security and significantly damage Cambodia's global reputation." The legislation introduces severe penalties, including life imprisonment for serious offenses, and is part of a broader government initiative to shut down scam centers by the end of April. Since July, authorities have targeted 250 suspected locations, shutting down 200 and launching 79 legal cases against nearly 700 individuals involved. However, experts such as Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at Harvard University's Asia Center, have expressed skepticism, noting that previous crackdowns often failed due to the persistence of financial networks that support these operations. The law awaits Senate review and final approval by King Norodom Sihamoni.

 

U.S. News

U.S. business inventories fell 0.1% in January, missing expectations for a 0.1% increase and marking a potential headwind for first-quarter economic growth, driven primarily by a 0.5% drop in wholesale stockpiles. Retail inventories rose 0.3% and manufacturing inventories edged up 0.1%, while overall inventories were 1% higher year-on-year. Business sales increased 0.3% in the month, though retail sales dipped 0.1%, and the inventory-to-sales ratio declined slightly to 1.35 months from 1.36, indicating faster stock turnover. The unexpected decline suggests inventory investment, previously a contributor to GDP growth, may weigh on economic momentum in the near term.

 

Reuters

General Motors is extending downtime at a Detroit electric vehicle plant - which produces vehicles including the Chevrolet Silverado EV and Hummer EV - until April 13. The downtime began on March 16. “Factory ZERO will temporarily ⁠adjust production to align EV production with ​market demand,” a GM spokesperson said. The temporary ​layoff affects 1,300 workers.

 

Reuters