US regulators last night took action against Refco, one of the world’s largest derivatives brokers, as the repercussions of its chief executive being charged with fraud continued to reverberate across Wall Street. In a step that reflected the severity of the situation, the securities and exchange commission placed trading restrictions on the business, limiting Refco […]

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty to a charge that it conspired to fix the price of memory chips and will pay a $300 million fine, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday. The Justice Department said the criminal antitrust fine was the second-largest in U.S. history, and it left

Technology and communications companies rank third on the list of U.S. and U.K. industries with the most litigation, according a new survey of manufacturing companies. The survey by the law firm Fulbright & Jaworski, a leading intellectual-property litigator based in New York and Houston, found that the average U.S. manufacturer currently faces 40 lawsuits. Of

Phillip R. Bennett, the chief executive and chairman of Refco Inc., who took the futures broker public two months ago, was placed on a leave of absence after an internal review found he owed the company $430 million. Bennett, 57, whose backers include Boston-based buyout firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, didn’t disclose that the

The US government has seized almost $9m from Conrad Black, the embattled media tycoon, alleging that the proceeds of his sale of an elegant New York apartment were the result of a fraudulent scheme. FBI agents swooped on Friday night as the $10.5m sale of the Park Avenue property was completed. They seized $7.9m. Earlier

Russian prosecutors have launched a series of raids during the past 48 hours at banks, businesses and offices associated with the floundering oil company Yukos and its founder and former chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The raids appear to be the preamble to fresh charges being laid against the jailed oil magnate. On Wednesday, police searched

Seeking to quell unrest on his conservative flank, President Bush mounted a defense Tuesday of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, insisting that his friend and former personal lawyer was “the best person I could find” for the job. “I can understand people not knowing Harriet. She hasn’t been one of these publicity hounds,” Bush said

President Bush on Tuesday defended Harriet Miers, his Supreme Court nominee, against charges that she lacked the principles or preparation needed for the country’s highest court, insisting she was “the best person I could find”. In a long White House news conference, Mr Bush sought to reassure Republican conservatives, saying his White House counsel “is

A Texas grand jury indicted Rep. Tom DeLay on a new charge of money laundering Monday, less than a week after another grand jury leveled a conspiracy charge that forced DeLay to temporarily step down as House majority leader. Both indictments accuse DeLay and two political associates of conspiring to get around a state ban

What would happen to your business if China invaded Taiwan? How would your clients react if America adopted an isolationist foreign policy? Where would your growth come from if globalisation were reversed? It might sound so far-fetched as to be irrelevant, but Clifford Chance, the global law firm, has commissioned one of its biggest strategic