Financial Daily Dose 10.20.2021 | Top Story: Credit Suisse Fined $475M Over Mozambique Bribery Scandal

A Mozambique-based tuna-fishing deal gone wrong has left Credit Suisse holding the bag to the tune of $475 million—the total in fines it will pay US and UK authorities to a foreign bribery investigation linked to the tuna deal. A division of the Swiss banking giant will also plead guilty to a criminal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud as part of the settlement - NYTimes and Law360 and Bloomberg

Even as the company’s image has taken a hit over Dave Chappelle’s recent special and its response to the controversy, Netflix is riding high on the back of the Korean “sleeper hit ‘Squid Game,” which became a “global sensation” and helped power the streaming giant to an expectations-beating $1.4 billion in profit on $7.5 billion in revenue in Q3 - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and TechCrunch

Facebook has agreed to pay roughly $14 million to resolve DOJ allegations that it “discriminated against United States workers,” a claim levied in the waning days of the prior administration. Though a pittance for Zuck, the settlement is the “largest ever collected by the agency’s civil rights division for violations of the anti-discrimination provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360

Bloomberg reports that the company’s considering a major rebranding as it shifts focus to the metaverse (and faces “intense scrutiny over its business practices”). And for what it’s worth, is there a more damning indictment of a company’s impact on the world than its own desire to create and rule a virtual one? - Bloomberg and MarketWatch

The Times helps us understand the seemingly conflicting reports of still-high unemployment, unfilled job opportunities, and a record number of Americans voluntarily leaving jobs in recent months. And what it all means for a slower economic recovery, too - NYTimes

Across the pond, Brits can thank an old friend for the slowing economic recovery: Brexit. Even with an EU/UK trade deal in place, the added headache of paperwork and cost means has translated into a UK that’s “trailing the trading performance of its peers as the pandemic recedes and global commerce picks up” - WSJ

In the face of major Republican and industry opposition and in hopes of “salvaging” the overall reforms, Congressional Democrats are scaling back their plans for a stronger IRS that would’ve required banks to “send more information about customers’ accounts to the IRS” - WSJ and NYTimes and Law360

ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the “first bitcoin-focused exchange-trade fund,” debuted on the NYSE on Tuesday and “climbed most of the day, gaining nearly 5% to settle at $41.94,” with almost a billion in shares trading hands throughout the day - WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch

Fictional detective Olympics, you say? Don’t mind if I do, Mashable.  Don’t mind if I do - Mashable

We’re out until next week on an autumn break. Enjoy those fall colors while they last. Stay safe, and get vaxxed,

MDR