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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined Bank ​of America's Merrill Lynch unit $7.5m for not filing suspicious activity reports (SARs). The agency said Merrill didn’t investigate all the suspicious activity it should have between April 2020 and September 2024 because of the way the parent bank flagged some transactions for additional scrutiny. “During the relevant period, Merrill failed to file numerous SARs due to its failure to investigate certain event groups with risk scores below 20,” the SEC said. “We maintain rigorous anti-money laundering practices,” a Bank of America spokesperson said. “We have been engaged with regulators on this matter, and we continually review and enhance our AML systems to address evolving risks and report and detect suspicious activity.”

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

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The Wall Street Journal reports that some employers are cutting back on junior hiring because widespread remote work is making young talent a less attractive value proposition. Researchers from the London School of Economics, who recently observed that the amount of hiring devoted to entry-level roles across some countries has fallen more than 14% since 2019, said the return-on-investment after the hiring of an entry-level worker is dependent on the rate at which that young employee learns. Since remote work slows that process, employers prefer to invest instead in older workers, the researchers argue. “The implication is stark . . . A persistent contraction of this kind hollows out the pipeline of future experienced workers, causing declines in aggregate productivity as well as imposing cohort-specific scarring,” they wrote. 

 

Wall Street Journal

Companies investing most heavily in AI are adding workers faster than their peers, according to research from start-ups Ramp and Revelio Labs that challenges forecasts of broad AI-driven job losses. TechCrunch notes that the research data skews towards tech-forward, knowledge-work firms that are likely growing quickly anyway, making it difficult to say whether AI is contributing to hiring. “This paper does not show that AI universally creates jobs,” the paper’s authors write, “but it does counter claims that AI will lead to broad job losses.”

 

TechCrunch

Financial Times

The Bank of England, alongside Germany's Bundesbank and the Bank for International Settlements, is researching ways to combat market volatility caused by AI trading bots. BoE deputy governor Sarah Breeden said officials are exploring mitigants, such as circuit breakers or kill switches, to prevent widespread meltdowns if faulty AI models engage in synchronized herding behavior during periods of financial stress. Breeden said: “As AI capabilities increase, we must keep asking whether existing, technology-agnostic regulatory frameworks remain sufficient.”

 

The Daily Telegraph

Danny David, Baker Botts’ managing partner, has said the law firm will hire more associates as it bets AI will boost, not threaten, young lawyers’ careers. But he believes some other firms are exposed to lesser associate demand because of AI. “When AI reduces the hours a matter requires, a profit model built on associate volume is more exposed. Our profitability comes from specialized expertise where clients are paying for judgment on hard problems, not for hours on routine tasks,” David said. “For some firms, AI may well result in pink slips falling from the ceiling,” he added. “That will not be our experience.”

 

Bloomberg Law

The Supreme Court has upheld the Constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship, rejecting President Trump's attempt to limit citizenship for children born to undocumented or temporary residents. Chief Justice John G. Roberts said: “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights - to freely participate in our political community . . . The Framers of the 14th Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which represented the immigrants who challenged the executive order, called birthright citizenship “foundational to who we are as a nation.” Cecillia Wang, the ACLU's national legal director, told the justices in her oral argument: "Ask any American what our citizenship rule is and they'll tell you, everyone born here is a citizen alike . . . The 14th Amendment's fixed bright-line rule has contributed to the growth and thriving of our nation."

 

The State Journal Register

Time.com

Los Angeles Times

U.S. News

The U.K.'s Competition Appeal Tribunal has given the go-ahead to a £3bn ($4bn) lawsuit against Apple over its iCloud storage service, clearing the way for tens of millions of consumers ​to join a class action. U.K. consumer group Which? filed the claim in November 2024. It argues that the U.S. tech giant ​abused a dominant position by "trapping" users of iPhones and other devices into its iCloud storage service, limiting their ability to switch to rival providers. "Which? wants to make clear that no company, no matter how powerful, can get away with abusing its position", said Which? chief executive Anabel Hoult. A trial is expected in 2028.

 

Reuters

Brazilian federal police have launched the second phase of their investigation into the Americanas accounting scandal, executing nine search-and-seizure warrants in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and obtaining authorization to seize 54bn reais ($10.4bn) in assets and funds from suspects. Those searched reportedly include billionaire Carlos Sicupira, Paulo Alberto Lemann, and current and former executives linked to Itaú Unibanco, Banco Santander Brasil and Banco Bradesco. The investigation centers on alleged accounting fraud involving reverse factoring and cooperative advertising contracts, with investigators examining potential offenses including market manipulation and criminal conspiracy. 

 

Bloomberg

The U.S. goods trade deficit widened sharply in May to its highest level in 14 months as businesses increased imports to guard against supply disruptions and higher costs linked to the Middle East conflict, adding to concerns that trade will weigh on second-quarter economic growth. The Commerce Department reported that the goods trade deficit jumped 27.4% to $105.8bn in May, well above economists' expectations of $85bn and the largest deficit since March 2025. Goods imports rose 3.6% to a 14-month high of $313.4bn, while exports fell 5.4% to $207.7bn. The increase in imports was led by a 6.3% rise in automotive vehicles and a 5.7% gain in consumer goods. Imports of industrial supplies climbed 4.8%, capital goods increased 0.4%, and were up 41.9% year over year, reflecting continued investment in artificial intelligence-related equipment. Meanwhile, exports declined across most categories.

 

Reuters

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has appointed Ying Li Compton as its chief economist and director of the Office of Economic and Risk Analysis (OERA), strengthening its leadership in data-driven oversight and policy analysis. Compton joins from PwC International, where she advised the firm's global assurance leadership, and previously held senior accounting and economic roles at the SEC, as well as academic positions at George Washington University and Baruch College. Compton succeeds acting chief economist Erik Durbin, who will return to his role as deputy chief economist for economic analysis. PCAOB Chair Demetrios Logothetis said her combination of accounting expertise and analytical experience will support the board's investor protection mission through evidence-based oversight, inspections, investigations, rulemaking, and standard-setting.

 

The Accountant Online

Global sustainability reporting is becoming increasingly standardized as more large companies adopt, or plan to adopt, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) framework and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), according to a study by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), AICPA, and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). The research, which reviewed approximately 1,400 companies across 22 jurisdictions, found that one-third of companies referenced ISSB standards in 2024, up from 16% the previous year, while about 20% said they use or plan to use ESRS. The study also found that sustainability reporting remains widespread, with 97% of companies providing some form of sustainability disclosure and 75% obtaining independent assurance over those disclosures, up from 73% in 2023. More companies are also integrating sustainability reporting into their annual reports, with the proportion rising to 76% in 2024 from 74% a year earlier.

 

The Accountant Online

UBS's annual Global Wealth Report reveals that personal wealth grew by 10.8% in 2025, creating nearly 1m new U.S. dollar millionaires globally. The United States accounted for almost half of new millionaires last year, adding more than 440,000 individuals, followed by China, Japan, Germany, France and the UK, which each count more than two million millionaires in total. "The real story is one of continued expansion: more people moving up the wealth ladder," the report said. "The gains . . . point to a world that kept building wealth, deepening its affluent population and extending a long-running upward trend." Despite such growth, the report also noted a deepening wealth inequality, as median wealth declined in many countries. UBS analysed 56 markets, representing over 92% of the world's wealth, highlighting a stark divide between the richest and the broader population.

 

France 24

U.S. News