The SEC charged Cantor Fitzgerald $6.75 million for systematic disclosure violations in two SPAC transactions involving View, Inc. and Satellogic. The firm misled investors by claiming no substantive discussions with merger targets existed, despite already negotiating potential mergers. This …
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)Cantor FitzgeraldHoward LutnickView, Inc.Satellogicspac-frauddisclosure-violationssec-enforcementcantor-fitzgeraldhoward-lutnick+3 more
The holding company structure proliferates across American industry during the 1920s, enabling unprecedented corporate consolidation while evading antitrust enforcement and state regulation. Delaware’s permissive incorporation laws, offering minimal oversight and maximum management discretion, …
Samuel InsullJ.P. MorganVan Sweringen BrothersDelaware Corporation Commissioncorporate-consolidationregulatory-capturefinancial-manipulationantitrust-evasionholding-companies
The banking firm Jay Cooke & Company collapses, triggering a devastating financial panic and economic depression lasting until 1879. Cooke’s firm, heavily invested in the Northern Pacific Railroad and backed by over 60 million acres of federal land grants used as collateral, becomes …
Jay Cooke & CompanyNorthern Pacific RailroadNew York Stock ExchangeEuropean Investorseconomic-crisissystematic-corruptioncorporate-welfarefinancial-manipulation
On September 24, 1869—Black Friday—Jay Gould and James Fisk’s conspiracy to corner the gold market collapsed when the U.S. Treasury released $4 million in gold reserves, crashing the price from $163.50 to $133 per $100 in gold specie and triggering a financial panic that ruined hundreds of …
Jay GouldJames FiskPresident Ulysses S. GrantAbel CorbinU.S. Treasuryfinancial-manipulationmarket-manipulationpolitical-corruptiongilded-agesystematic-corruption
Congress passes the Legal Tender Act on February 25, 1862, authorizing the issuance of $150 million in United States Notes (popularly called “greenbacks” for their distinctive color) to finance the Union war effort after spiraling costs rapidly deplete gold and silver reserves. The …
U.S. CongressAbraham LincolnEdmund Dick TaylorWall Streetcurrencyfiat-moneyfinancial-manipulationspeculationinflation+1 more
President Andrew Jackson orders Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury to issue the Specie Circular, an executive order requiring that payment for public lands be made exclusively in gold or silver (specie) rather than paper currency, effective August 15, 1836 for purchases over 320 acres. The policy aims …
Andrew JacksonLevi WoodburyMartin Van BurenU.S. Treasury DepartmentLand speculatorsfinancial-manipulationeconomic-policyjackson-erabanking-systemland-speculation+1 more
Following Andrew Jackson’s September 1833 removal of federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States, Bank president Nicholas Biddle responds by deliberately contracting credit nationwide to create economic distress and force Jackson to reverse his policy. Biddle raises interest …
Nicholas BiddleSecond Bank of the United StatesAndrew JacksonHenry ClayU.S. Congress+2 morefinancial-manipulationeconomic-sabotagebanking-systemjackson-erainstitutional-corruption
President Andrew Jackson orders the removal of federal government deposits from the Second Bank of the United States and their redistribution to state-chartered banks derisively called “pet banks” because they are selected based on political loyalty rather than financial soundness. The …
Andrew JacksonRoger TaneyLouis McLaneWilliam J. DuaneU.S. Congress+1 morefinancial-manipulationinstitutional-corruptionpatronagejackson-erabanking-system+1 more
President Andrew Jackson vetoes legislation to renew the Second Bank of the United States’ charter, four years before its scheduled expiration, delivering a “popular and effective” message declaring the Bank “unauthorized by the Constitution, subversive to the rights of …
Andrew JacksonNicholas BiddleHenry ClayDaniel WebsterSecond Bank of the United Statesfinancial-manipulationinstitutional-corruptioneconomic-policyjackson-erabanking-system