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Senator Elizabeth Warren has raised concerns regarding staffing cuts at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The agency has reportedly reduced its workforce by about 25% since last year. In a letter to the Government Accountability Office, Ms. Warren said: "Given reasonable concerns that staffing cuts may have a material impact on the CFTC's ability to carry out its mandate as required by current law, I request that the GAO thoroughly reviews ⁠the staffing cuts." The CFTC has in recent months said that it expects to increase its workforce and has sufficient resources to meet its obligations, in part due to the use of artificial intelligence.

 

U.S. News

 

Bloomberg reports that Donald Trump has become the first modern U.S. president to issue pardons for companies, with his clemency grants wiping out almost $200m in financial penalties, some of which were destined for victims of wrongdoing. “In any previous era no president would touch this with a barge pole,” observed Frank Bowman, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. “Maybe individual cases with some compelling reason, but the systemic elimination of criminal liability of major financial crime would never have happened before, and it didn’t.” Trump has granted clemency to nine companies since the start of his second term. Bloomberg profiles one such company, which had been charged with conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act for deleting controls on vehicles that were meant to stem emissions.

 

Bloomberg

Vision-wear company Lensabl has filed a legal malpractice lawsuit against Ashurst Perkins Coie, seeking $50m in damages over claims that the law ​firm failed to conduct due diligence on a deal to sell ‌a large stake in the business. Lensabl said it wasted its time and ​money because Ashurst Perkins Coie failed to take steps to verify whether Robert Byrnes and his companies had ​funds to consummate a deal to acquire a 49% interest in the ​company for $29m, resulting in a "distressed asset sale" to Visibly, an ​eye care-oriented healthcare technology company, in 2024.

 

Law

Reuters

OpenAI has said its artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company on its own in what the company called an “unprecedented cyber incident.” AI startup Hugging Face last week said that it had detected an intrusion into its data processing systems that it suspected was caused by an AI agent acting autonomously. “AI is accelerating the discovery and exploitation of vulnerabilities,” OpenAI said. “The primary lesson from this incident is that model security and safety must keep pace with rapidly advancing capabilities.” OpenAI said it expected this type of incident to become “more commonplace with the proliferation of increasingly cyber-capable models.”

 

AP News

Financial Times

Washington Post

According to a Gallup survey, the use of AI among U.S. employees has surged, with 52% reporting they use AI at least a few times a year, a significant increase from 27% two years ago. The survey highlights that AI is primarily used for drafting, revising, and information retrieval, with 51% of respondents using it for writing and editing. Nearly half - 47% - of employees reported that their organizations have integrated AI tools to enhance productivity and efficiency. However, skepticism persists: a Pew Research Center poll in February revealed that 31% of Americans expect AI to negatively impact them personally.

 

U.S. News

Escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran is prompting economists to warn that sustained increases in oil prices could weigh on inflation, consumer spending, and global economic growth, even as equity markets remain resilient. Brent crude has climbed above $90 a barrel, while the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield has risen above 4.6%, raising concerns that prolonged higher energy costs could pressure corporate earnings and delay any easing in monetary policy. Analysts said sectors most exposed to higher fuel costs, including transportation and logistics, could come under pressure, while technology, financials, and healthcare are expected to remain relatively resilient. Economists also warned that rising gasoline prices could erode household spending power and increase headline inflation, although the impact on core inflation may be more limited, reducing the likelihood of an immediate change in Federal Reserve policy.

 

CNBC

3M has raised its full-year guidance after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results, driven by strong demand across its safety, industrial, transportation, and electronics businesses. The company now expects adjusted earnings per share of $8.80-$8.95, up from its previous forecast of $8.50-$8.70, and anticipates adjusted total sales growth of more than 4.5%, supported by adjusted organic sales growth of more than 3.5%. Second-quarter net sales increased 2.4% to $6.5bn, while adjusted earnings rose to $2.40 per share from $2.25 expected by analysts. Sales in the Safety and Industrial division climbed 7.5% to $3.09bn, and Transportation and Electronics revenue increased 6.2% to $2.07bn. 3M said it continues to see strong order momentum in general industrial markets, safety products, and data centers, and also raised its expectations for operating margin expansion and cash flow for the year.

 

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has urged the Trump administration to crack down on imports of partially finished solar cells, known as blue wafers, alleging that some companies are using them to evade trade duties and improperly claim federal manufacturing tax credits. In a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Internal Revenue Service, the lawmakers argued that importers complete final processing in the United States to avoid tariffs on finished solar cells while benefiting from incentives intended to support domestic manufacturing. The lawmakers said the practice undermines U.S. solar manufacturers and weakens the effectiveness of trade policies aimed at countering low-cost imports linked to Chinese producers. The Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition, whose members include First Solar and Hanwha Qcells, welcomed the request, saying stronger enforcement would help protect billions of dollars of domestic investment and thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs. 

 

Reuters

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is helping fuel a record wave of new small business creation in the United States, with nearly 29,700 new employer businesses projected to launch each month over the next year, a 17% increase from 2025 estimates, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Growth has been strongest in knowledge-intensive industries, including legal, advertising, and professional services, where AI tools are enabling entrepreneurs to automate tasks such as accounting, marketing, software development, and customer support. Economists say AI is lowering both the cost and complexity of starting a business, allowing smaller teams to operate more efficiently and scale more quickly. While some analysts expect easier market entry to increase the number of unsuccessful startups, many believe the higher rate of business formation will ultimately produce more successful companies and contribute to long-term economic growth.

 

International Accounting Bulletin

Insurance companies are increasingly investing in alternative forms of structured debt as regulators finalize tougher capital requirements for collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), highlighting the challenge of keeping pace with rapidly evolving financial products. New rules approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) apply to roughly $314bn of CLO holdings, but industry participants have already shifted capital toward other structured securities that carry similar risks while remaining outside the scope of the new framework. The trend underscores growing concerns that insurers, particularly those backed by private equity firms, are exploiting gaps in state insurance regulations to maintain higher-yielding investments with lower capital requirements. Regulators say they are monitoring the broader structured credit market and could begin developing rules for other asset classes later this year, as they seek to strengthen policyholder protections amid the continued growth of complex investment products.

 

Wall Street Journal

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has proposed to eliminate the EEO-1 reporting requirement, which mandates that employers submit data on the race and sex of their workers. The EEOC has previously used the information to probe bias complaints filed by individual workers and to determine if companies exhibit a pattern of discriminatory conduct. EEOC chair Andrea Lucas, a Trump administration ​appointee, said that sorting workers by race and sex can encourage discrimination, including against majority groups such ⁠as ⁠white people and men. "The EEO data ⁠reports stand in direct tension ​with (federal law's) requirement that employment practices be colorblind," Lucas said. Kalpana Kotagal, the lone Democratic member of the commission who voted to reject the proposal, said: "These efforts should ⁠be seen for what they are: an attempt to weaken equal employment opportunity, and to undermine progress for women and historically marginalized communities." 

 

Los Angeles Times

U.S. News

The PCAOB has launched a public consultation on the proposed goals and objectives for its 2026–30 Strategic Plan, outlining priorities to strengthen audit quality, enhance transparency, and modernize the regulator's oversight activities. The plan, which guides the PCAOB's operations and annual budget, is built around three overarching priorities: advancing investor protection, improving the clarity of regulatory decisions, and transforming oversight through more effective processes. The draft strategy includes six strategic goals, covering the modernization of standard-setting, inspections, registration, enforcement, stakeholder engagement, technology, and organizational effectiveness. The PCAOB said feedback received during the consultation will help refine the final plan before it is approved alongside the organization's fiscal 2027 budget, with public comments due by September 4th.

 

Accounting Today

The Accountant Online

A group of 25 Republican U.S. lawmakers has urged President Donald Trump to take action against the European Union's digital regulations, including considering Section 301 trade investigations and potential tariffs, arguing that the Digital Markets Act unfairly targets major U.S. technology companies. The lawmakers criticized the expected inclusion of Amazon's and Microsoft's cloud businesses under the rules and opposed planned EU fines against Google. The European Commission rejected claims of discrimination, insisting it applies its digital regulations fairly and has the sovereign right to regulate companies operating within the bloc.

 

Reuters

Australia’s corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has stepped up oversight of the country’s largest audit firms by launching a review of how they handle internal complaints in the wake of allegations involving KPMG Australia. The review will examine firms including KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, and EY, while reminding nearly 3,000 auditors of their legal obligations and ASIC’s enforcement powers under the Corporations Act. The heightened scrutiny follows allegations that KPMG Australia misused confidential client information to win audit work and mishandled whistleblower complaints. The controversy has already prompted a parliamentary inquiry, a government review of potential reforms to the consulting sector, and a leadership shake-up at KPMG Australia, including the appointment of a new chief executive officer.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters