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Federal prosecutors have charged a Google employee with fraud, alleging that he made $1.2m from bets on Polymarket that used insider information. Michele Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen, has been charged with money laundering, commodities fraud and wire fraud, according to the complaint filed in the Southern District of New York. “Spagnuolo had access to Google’s internal data systems, including a particular Google internal software tool that provided him access to confidential, nonpublic Year in Search data,” the prosecutors said in their complaint. “Google officially and publicly announced its Year in Search 2025 results on or about December 4, 2025. Soon after it did so, Spagnuolo’s AlphaRaccoon account profited approximately $1.2 million on his Google Year in Search 2025-related bets,” the complaint said. A Google spokesperson, responding to the charges against Spagnuolo, said: "Using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies. We've placed the employee on leave and will take the appropriate action."

 

ABC News

A key U.S. inflation measure accelerated in April to its highest level in three years, while Americans’ incomes and purchasing power weakened, adding pressure on consumers and complicating the economic outlook ahead of the midterm elections. The Commerce Department said inflation rose 3.8% year over year in April, up from 3.5% in March and the highest reading since May 2023. Monthly prices increased 0.4%, easing from March’s 0.7% rise but remaining above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased to 3.3% annually from 3.2%, though monthly core price growth slowed slightly to 0.2%. Americans’ incomes were flat in April, partly because government farm aid payments ended, while inflation-adjusted personal income fell 0.1%. Consumer spending rose 0.5%, but after adjusting for inflation, spending increased only 0.1%, signaling weakening consumer purchasing power.

 

Los Angeles Times

The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.6% in the first quarter of 2026, revised down from an earlier estimate of 2%, according to updated Commerce Department data. The downgrade was primarily driven by weaker inventory investment, while consumer spending growth was also revised lower. Consumer spending increased at a 1.4% annual rate during the quarter, down from the prior estimate of 1.6%, with softer spending on services such as healthcare contributing to the revision. Despite slower economic growth, corporate profits remained strong. Profits after tax, excluding inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rose 3.3% from the previous quarter and climbed 17% year over year, marking the strongest annual increase since the fourth quarter of 2021.

 

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Elena Carletti, UniCredit's deputy vice chair and head of the board's ​risk committee, has said Europe may struggle to respond to risks from links between crypto assets and lenders in the way U.S. authorities contained ​damage during the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) crisis. "The coverage and protection . . . was given to all ​deposits, including stablecoin companies, and that also allowed to maintain the stability of the ‌stablecoin," ⁠Carletti told attendees at a banking conference organized by Madrid's IESE business school.  "The same decision cannot be easily taken in Europe," she said.

 

Reuters

Project Agorá, a blockchain-based prototype system which aims to let banks transfer funds across borders by tokenizing their deposits, has been successfully tested. “This prototype and its successful testing lay the groundwork for next-generation solutions,” the Bank for International Settlements and the International Institute of Finance, which spearheaded the initiative, said. The project “preserves correspondent banking as the backbone of global payments while applying new technology to enhance its performance”, and also “demonstrates that a shared distributed ledger technology platform can support safe settlement in a tokenized environment and address longstanding challenges in wholesale cross-border payments.”

 

Capital Pioneer

Cryptopolitan

Financial Times

The Trump administration has proposed new guidelines requiring federal employees to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to prevent unauthorised communication with journalists. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said that legal action could be taken against those who violate these agreements. The NDAs would cover sensitive information related to agency operations and would also apply to former employees. “This move is rooted in concerns that unauthorized disclosures of sensitive government information are disrupting agency operations and eroding trust across government,” said OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover. Critics, including Lauren Harper from the Freedom of the Press Foundation, argue that the policy undermines whistleblower protections and the public's right to know.

 

AlJazeera

Panama's National Assembly has approved a law that requires ‌multinational companies domiciled in the country to demonstrate genuine local operations, including qualified personnel, adequate facilities and strategic decision-making, or face a 15% tax on passive foreign income. "At the ​fiscal level, it requires multinationals to demonstrate that they have ​physical operations and real activity in a country, beyond just seeking tax advantage," the National Assembly said. The law aims to satisfy European Union tax transparency requirements ⁠and support Panama’s removal from EU monitoring lists.

 

Reuters

OpenAI’s foundation, the non-profit that controls the start-up, has said it will grant $250m to promote research into AI’s impact on the economy and jobs. The ‌funds will support research into AI's impact on the labor market, support workers and communities facing near-term displacement and ​explore new ways to distribute economic gains from the technology more ​broadly. "The current pace of change means the window to get ⁠this right is shorter than we're used to, and the ​cost of getting it wrong is profound," OpenAI said in a statement.

 

Financial Times

NPR

Reuters

Exxon Mobil shareholders have approved the company’s plan to shift its legal incorporation from New Jersey to Texas, despite opposition from major proxy advisory firms that warned the move could weaken shareholder rights. The proposal passed with 71.3% support at Exxon’s annual meeting. Although Exxon has been headquartered in Texas since 1989, the company said relocating its legal domicile to the state better aligns with its operations and business environment. The move comes as several major companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and Coinbase, have also relocated to Texas following legal changes that strengthened protections for corporations, including measures limiting shareholder litigation through ownership thresholds for lawsuits. Proxy advisers Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services had recommended voting against the proposal, arguing it could reduce investor protections. 

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has said it is to reassign virtually all staff nationwide to its Washington headquarters later this year. The move to relocate roughly 450 employees stationed near the watchdog's former regional offices in San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago and New York and end remote work arrangements is likely ​to accelerate the recent pace of resignations, Reuters reports, as the Trump administration seeks to ‌minimize if not eliminate the agency. Beginning on August 31, "staff whose duty stations are greater than 50 miles from headquarters, staff associated with former regional offices" and all field employees will report to the new headquarters, an email said. The CFPB will cover relocation costs for "eligible" staff members in accordance with current ​rules, according to a ​memo also seen by ⁠Reuters.

 

Reuters

Regulators in California have voted to take a key step toward banning the fabrication and installation of quartz countertop materials, which have been linked to  silicosis, a lung disease that is disabling and killing hundreds of stoneworkers. The Cal/Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board said current workplace regulations, enforcement and education are insufficient to save lives. “We as a board have to recognize that we do not know better than the scientists, the physicians, the workers that we’re hearing from. And we have to take effective action to prevent further cases now,” said board member Derek Urwin, who added: “Control measures are not working, and it’s not the fault of the workers.” The board directed Cal/OSHA to begin rule-making while advisory and scientific committees examine whether anything short of prohibition could adequately protect workers.

 

Chicago Tribune

Compliance experts are urging organizations to rethink traditional risk management strategies, arguing that compliance officers should act more like coaches who encourage instinctive good behavior rather than relying solely on policies, controls, and annual training. Gartner researchers said only one-third of business leaders currently feel confident managing risk and compliance, highlighting the shortcomings of conventional approaches in today’s fast-changing regulatory environment. Their study argues that companies should build “risk reflex,” a culture where employees naturally recognize and respond to risks. One recommendation is integrating compliance directly into daily operations by embedding controls and approval checkpoints into routine workflows and business systems, making it harder for employees to bypass proper procedures.

 

Corporate Compliance Insights

Krispy Kreme customers affected by a 2024 cyberattack exposing personal and financial data could qualify for payouts of up to $3,500 under a $1.6m class-action settlement. Customers who can provide evidence of fraud, identity theft, or other financial losses linked to the breach may receive the largest payments, while those whose data was compromised but who did not suffer financial harm can claim up to $75. Eligible customers may also receive one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Krispy Kreme denied wrongdoing or liability as part of the settlement, but agreed to strengthen its cybersecurity protocols. A final court approval hearing is scheduled for July 6th.

 

Los Angeles Times

Russia has adopted a law allowing the central bank, the country's biggest bank Sberbank, and the ​Russian Cash Collection Association - the country’s largest carrier of cash and valuables - to shoot down Ukrainian drones. Employees  at those institutions would be permitted to be ‌armed and to operate the systems used to down unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, or drone) attacks without the involvement of special forces. Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets Anatoly Aksakov said: “Firstly, jamming will be used to make it more difficult for [the UAVs] to target and attack the relevant targets . . . Plus, we’ll also use means to shoot down these drones, thereby protecting the relevant targets,” adding that institutions would pay for the drone defense systems themselves. “If it’s the central bank, then the central bank will pay; if it’s Sberbank, then Sberbank will pay,” Aksakov said.

 

CNBC

Financial Times

Reuters

The U.S. Army is seeking to better integrate veterinarians into human combat care to better prepare for the possibility of a large injury rate in a future Indo-Pacific conflict. The 18th Theater Medical Command at the 2026 Land Forces of the Pacific Symposium and Exposition in Hawaii demonstrated their high-fidelity canine model - an anatomically accurate representation of a canine meant for veterinary training. Capt. John Hutchison, a veterinarian with the Oahu Veterinary Network, explained during the demonstration: “The only difference is there’s some anatomical differences between us and a dog . . . But the principles are identical, and then all the equipment that you’re seeing is all the human equipment from our partners and all the medications that they’re using too are all the same medications, with dosaging just being a little bit different.”

 

Military Times