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Firms including Savers Value Village, Elanco Animal Health, and Hovnanian Enterprises are accelerating debt refinancing to lock in lower interest rates before potential market volatility hits. Despite debt not being due for several years, companies are opting to restructure early, citing favorable credit spreads, reduced Treasury yields, and political uncertainty under the Trump administration. U.S. corporate-debt refinancing hit $425bn in 2025 - the highest since 2020 - as CFOs weigh risks of waiting versus the cost of prepayment penalties.

 

Wall Street Journal

EY has appointed Dr. Velislava Ivanova as Americas Chief Sustainability Officer and Global Strategy and Markets Leader for Climate Change and Sustainability Services, reinforcing the firm's ESG advisory capabilities. A PhD-trained environmental biologist with global experience, Ivanova will lead over 500 professionals focused on ESG reporting, assurance, and transition strategy, as regulatory and investor demands escalate. Her appointment highlights EY’s continued investment in science-based sustainability leadership to support clients navigating disclosure, decarbonisation, and climate risk integration. 

 

ESG News

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has voted to advance the AI Overwatch Act, which would give Congress the power to block the Trump administration from exporting AI chips to adversaries. Representative Brian Mast of Florida, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the Act in December after President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to shipments of Nvidia's powerful H200 AI chips to China. “It would be a big mistake to ship these chips,” Dario Amodei, the CEO of AI firm Anthropic, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I think this is crazy. It’s a bit like selling nuclear weapons to North Korea."

 

Axios

Reuters

Supreme Court justices yesterday appeared skeptical of President Donald Trump’s efforts to sack Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook. Trump moved to fire Cook in August over accusations she committed mortgage fraud. Reuters says that skepticism was summarized most directly by ​conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh in an exchange with Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who had been tasked with arguing why Trump should be allowed to remove Cook. "Your position that there's no judicial ​review, no process required, no remedy ⁠available, a very low bar for cause that the president alone determines - I mean, that would weaken, if not shatter, the independence of the Federal Reserve," Kavanaugh said. "We have to be aware of what we're doing and the consequences of your position for the structure of the government," Kavanaugh told Sauer.

 

Bloomberg Tax

Financial Times

NPR / National Public Radio

U.S. News

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is challenging a previous court ruling that dismissed claims against Meta Platforms that the company built an illegal monopoly by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp. FTC spokesperson Joe Simonson said: "Meta violated our antitrust laws," as he asserted that the acquisitions harmed competition in the U.S., despite the judge's ruling that Meta does not currently hold a monopoly due to competition from platforms like TikTok.

 

Reuters

In fiscal year 2025, the Justice Department (DOJ) received over $6.8bn under the False Claims Act, marking the highest single-year recovery since the law's inception in 1863. The DOJ's annual report revealed that whistleblowers filed a record 1,297 lawsuits, surpassing the previous year's total of 980. Notably, more than $5.3bn of the recovered amount stemmed from settlements and judgments related to earlier whistleblower suits. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “Stopping rampant fraud is a top priority.”

 

Bloomberg Law

According to the Shoosmiths Litigation Risk 2026 report, AI-related litigation risks have overtaken traditional concerns such as intellectual property and breach of contract as the most threatening emerging risk over the next three years. The report, based on feedback from 360 general counsel and senior in-house lawyers, reveals that over half expect an increase in AI litigation. Notably, 87% of respondents expressed concern over AI-related employment disputes and discrimination claims. Geopolitical factors also play a role, with 73% of firms believing state-sponsored cyber-attacks have heightened litigation risks. Alex Bishop, partner at Shoosmiths, said: “We’re in an era of global instability, and that is having a real impact across boardrooms.”

 

The Global Legal Post

Data from research group ISS-Corporate shows the number of S&P 500 companies providing security benefits to top corporate leadership rose to 22.5% of component companies in 2024, from 12% in 2020.

 

Financial Times

Pending home sales in the U.S. fell sharply by 9.3% in December, reaching their lowest level since July 2025, according to the National Association of Realtors. The unexpected decline reflects ongoing labor market concerns and a persistent shortage of entry-level homes, which outweighed the benefits of falling mortgage rates. All four regions saw contract declines, and sales were down 3% from a year earlier. Despite an oversupply of new homes, homeowners are holding back from selling due to low existing mortgage rates and slow home price growth. The Trump administration's recent executive order limiting institutional home buying and efforts to lower mortgage rates may influence future trends. 

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

U.S. construction spending rose 0.5% in October, according to the Commerce Department, beating expectations after a 0.6% decline in September, largely due to increased home renovation activity. Residential investment climbed 1.3%, despite declines in new single- and multi-family projects. Private nonresidential spending fell 0.2%, while public construction edged up 0.1%, with a 2% drop in federal outlays offset by state and local gains

 

Nasdaq

Reuters

Smithfield Foods has announced the acquisition of Nathan's Famous in a $450m all-cash deal, offering $102 per share, a nearly 10% premium to Nathan’s prior close. The deal brings full ownership of the iconic U.S. hot dog brand, which Smithfield had already been licensing across North America and parts of Mexico. Founded in 1916, Nathan’s is best known for its annual Coney Island hot dog-eating contest. Smithfield, majority-owned by Hong Kong-listed WH Group, said the transaction is expected to complete in the first half of 2026.

 

Bloomberg

CBS News

Reuters

Berkshire Hathaway is considering selling almost its entire $7.7bn stake in packaged food company Kraft Heinz. A regulatory filing revealed Berkshire registered to sell up to 325.4 million shares, close to its total 27.5% holding. The move comes as Kraft Heinz plans to split into two companies, one focused on fast-growing brands like Heinz and Philadelphia, and another on slower-selling staples. Warren Buffett, who co-engineered the Kraft-Heinz merger with 3G Capital, had previously opposed such a breakup and admitted to overpaying for the deal, which has since lost significant value. New Kraft Heinz chief executive Steve Cahillane, formerly of Kellogg, is leading the restructuring amid broader strategic shifts.

 

Bloomberg

CNBC

Financial Times

After issuing a record 12 accounting standards updates in 2025, the FASB is expected to focus in 2026 on unresolved issues tied to decentralized finance and artificial intelligence. In a piece for Bloomberg, Jack Castonguay, a CPA and associate professor of accounting at Hofstra University, argues that the FASB should define how stablecoins should be classified on balance sheets and determine whether its 2023 crypto accounting guidance applies to “wrapped” and receipt tokens- both widely used but currently outside clear authoritative standards. Stablecoins present particular confusion because they are treated inconsistently across regulators and users (cash-like in practice, but not recognised as cash equivalents), and the GENIUS Act states they are neither securities nor commodities, complicating classification. The piece also calls for stronger disclosure requirements around increasingly circular transactions between AI firms and chipmakers, where investments and purchases may obscure true economic substance. Overall, it urges FASB to prioritise economically accurate standards over political pressures to reduce investor risk in fast-evolving, volatile sectors.

 

Bloomberg Tax

Hyundai Motor's labor union has issued a warning about the company's plan to deploy humanoid robots by 2028, saying such actions may lead to "employment shocks" and threaten job security for workers. In an internal letter, the union insisted that no robots should be introduced without a labor-management agreement, reflecting their concerns that automation could be used to cut costs at the expense of the workforce. While Hyundai's shares have risen following news of the robot initiative, the union maintains that the push for automation could harm the jobs of employees in South Korea, particularly as the company expands its production facilities in the U.S.

 

Reuters