Financial Daily Dose 12.3.2020 | Top Story: New U.S. Law Would Delist Chinese Companies Who Refuse Outside Audits

A new bill that has now passed the House would further increase oversight of “Chinese companies listed on American stock markets, the latest attempt by the United States to scrutinize financial ties with China.” The law threatens to delist the companies should they fail to comply with outside audit requirements. A companion measure passed the Senate in May and is expected to become law in the coming weeks - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and Law360

All of which puts an interesting spin on this Journal piece proclaiming that Wall Street may be one of China’s few remaining allies here in the States - WSJ

And explains why some Chinese companies are plowing ahead with secondary listings in Hong Kong “in a bid to hedge against any regulatory risks arising from the new rules” - WSJ

More on the recently renewed prospects for another Covid stimulus measure before the end of the year - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch

New data on the Paycheck Protection Program from the Small Business Administration (released pursuant to court order) shows that “a mere 1 percent of borrowers received more than a quarter of the total amount of money disbursed—or around $143 billion in loans of $1.4 million and above” - NYTimes and WSJ

The Times checks in with Salesforce chief exec Marc Benioff in the wake of his company’s massive Slack acquisition and finds that the co-founder—who nearly sold his company to Microsoft just 5 years ago—has the ‘soft squarely in his sights, never mind its Goliath status - NYTimes

Delivery giant UPS has placed temporary shipping limits on a handful of large retailers (from Nike and Gap to LL Bean and Hot Topic) in an effort to meter “the flow of packages into its network to preserve its performance during one of the busiest shipping weeks of the year” - WSJ and Bloomberg

As interest rates remain at or near record lows, Americans’ refinancing boom continues—much to the frustration of mortgage investors, who are facing prepayment speeds clocking in at their fastest rate since 2004. Those stats, which mean that up to 37% of principal balances within the mortgages underlying MBS will be “prepaid annually” - Bloomberg

N.D. Cal. Judge Edward Davila confirmed this week that he has no plans to further delay the March criminal fraud trial against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, noting that he’s “hopeful and optimistic” the “monthslong trial will start March 9 with new courtroom safety protocols in place” – Law360

A newly filed NLRB complaint accuses Google of wrongfully spying on and terminating employees who were involved with labor organizing - MarketWatch and Law360 and NYTimes

To push or to pull. You can thank those cursed Norman Doors for that uncomfortable near-daily conundrum – 99PI

Stay safe,
MDR