Business
New York Attorney General James sues Zelle parent company, alleging it enabled fraud
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks outside New York Supreme Court in New York City ahead of former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial on October 2, 2023.
John Lamparski | AFP | Getty Images
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the operator of the Zelle payments network on Wednesday, alleging it enabled fraud by allowing scammers to steal over $1 billion from users between 2017 and 2023.
James’ office said in a press release that its investigation found that Early Warning Services, the owner and designer of the peer-to-peer money transfer company, designed Zelle “without critical safety features.” The release noted that the lawsuit against EWS follows a similar one dropped by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in March.
“EWS knew from the beginning that key features of the Zelle network made it uniquely susceptible to fraud, and yet it failed to adopt basic safeguards to address these glaring flaws or enforce any meaningful anti-fraud rules on its partner banks,” James’ office said in the release.
The lawsuit alleges that Zelle became a “hub for fraudulent activity” because the registration process lacked verification steps and that EWS and its partner banks knew “for years” that fraud was spreading and did not take actionable steps to resolve it, according to the press release.
James is seeking restitution and damages, in addition to a court order mandating that Zelle puts anti-fraud measures in place.
“No one should be left to fend for themselves after falling victim to a scam,” James said in the release. “I look forward to getting justice for the New Yorkers who suffered because of Zelle’s security failures.”
In a statement, a Zelle spokesperson called the lawsuit a “political stunt to generate press” and a “copycat” of the CFPB lawsuit.
“Despite the Attorney General’s assertions, they did not conduct an investigation of Zelle,” the spokesperson said. “Had they conducted an investigation, they would have learned that more than 99.95 percent of all Zelle transactions are completed without any report of scam or fraud — which leads the industry.”
The CFPB in December sued EWS and JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo — the three U.S. banks that dominate transactions on Zelle — alleging the companies failed to investigate fraud or offer reimbursement to users.
The regulator dropped its suit amid a growing number of cases it has dismissed under acting CFPB Director Russell Vought.
Business
Asian stocks today: Markets remain mixed after Trump’s Iran remarks; HSI down over 76 points, Kospi gains 1.5% – The Times of India
Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump’s comments on Iran, saying that he was told “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped. At the same time, oil prices dropped sharply, falling more than $2 a barrel.Hong Kong’s HSI was up 76 point or 0.28% down at 26,923. Nikkei plunged 230 points or 0.42% to trade at 54,110. Shanghai and Shenzhen ended down 0.33% and up 0.41%. In South Korea, Kospi was up 1.5% or 74 points.US benchmark crude slid $2, or 3.4%, to $59.75 a barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell $2.31, or 3.5%, to $64.21 a barrel.Shares of Toyota Industries rose 6.2% after reports said Toyota Motor had increased its buyout offer for the company to 18,800 yen ($118.61) per share. US futures were little changed. The future for the S&P 500 rose by less than 0.1%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by less than 0.1%.On Wednesday, Wall Street closed lower for a second consecutive session. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Dow slipped 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 1%.Losses were led by Big Tech stocks, even as most shares on Wall Street advanced. The sector came under pressure as investors pulled back from the artificial intelligence rally and amid warnings from some critics that valuations had become stretched. Nvidia shares declined 1.4%, while Broadcom fell 4.2%.Bank stocks also weakened. Wells Fargo sank 4.6% after reporting quarterly profit and revenue that missed expectations. Bank of America fell 3.8%, and Citigroup dropped 3.3%.Energy stocks provided some support to the broader market. Exxon Mobil gained 2.9%, and Chevron rose 2.1%.Investors continued to seek safe-haven assets as geopolitical uncertainties remained elevated. Gold prices slipped 0.8% on Thursday but stayed close to their previous record levels.In the bond market, the yield on the US 10-year Treasury fell to 4.14% from 4.18% late Tuesday, reflecting increased demand for safer assets. Bond prices move inversely to yields.In currency trading early Thursday, the US dollar strengthened to 158.63 Japanese yen from 158.46 yen. The euro weakened slightly to $1.1636 from $1.1645.
New Delhi: Indian stock markets are shut today, January 15, after the Maharashtra government declared a public holiday for municipal elections in Mumbai and several other parts of the state. While the move aims to ensure smooth voting, it has sparked a debate in the financial world with Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath strongly criticising the closure of both the NSE and BSE, calling it a case of “poor planning.”
Kamath Flags Global Impact of Local Market Holiday
In a post on X, Nithin Kamath pointed out that Indian stock exchanges are deeply connected with global markets, yet were closed today due to local municipal elections. Quoting Charlie Munger, he wrote, “Show me the incentive, and I will show you the outcome.” Kamath said the holiday continues because no one who matters has any incentive to oppose a market shutdown, adding that such decisions underline how far India still needs to go to earn the confidence of global investors.
Indian stock exchanges are closed today for Mumbai’s municipal elections.
The fact that our exchanges, which have international linkages, are shut down for a local municipal election shows poor planning and a serious lack of appreciation for second-order effects.
As Munger…
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) January 15, 2026
Holiday Added at the Last Minute
The trading holiday on January 15 was not part of the stock exchanges’ original 2026 trading calendar and was added only earlier this week. Both the BSE and NSE later issued separate circulars confirming that trading would remain suspended today due to municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra.
All Key Market Segments Shut, Trading to Resume Tomorrow
Trading remained suspended across equities, equity derivatives, securities lending and borrowing, as well as currency and interest rate derivatives for the day. The commodity derivatives segment was closed during the morning session, but was scheduled to reopen for evening trading. Normal trading on both the NSE and BSE is set to resume on Friday, January 16.
Getty ImagesRegulator Ofwat has opened an investigation into South East Water (SEW) after repeated loss of water supplies across Kent and Sussex.
The investigation will consider whether the company has complied with its licence condition to provide high standards of customer service and support.
Ofwat said it was the first investigation it had launched into customer-focused licence conditions.
SEW said: “The company will always fully co-operate with any investigation by our regulators and provide any information required.”
As of Wednesday night, 10,000 properties continued to have no water supply.
Lynn Parker, Ofwat’s senior director for enforcement, said: “The last six weeks have been miserable for businesses and households across Kent and Sussex with repeated supply problems.
“We know that this has had a huge impact on all parts of daily life and hurt businesses, particularly in the run up to the festive period.
“That is why we need to investigate and to determine whether the company has breached its licence condition.”
The investigation was started after the prime minister said the situation, which affected 30,000 customers at its height, was “clearly totally unacceptable” and asked Ofwat to review the company’s licence.
SEW said some customers might not see supplies return until Friday after issues first began on Saturday in the wake of Storm Goretti and a power cut at a pumping station.
The company said it would be using 26 tankers to pump water directly into its network while working “around the clock” to fix leaks and bursts.
Ofwat already has an open investigation into SEW’s supply resilience to determine whether it has failed to develop and maintain an efficient water supply system.
As of 17:30 GMT on Wednesday, SEW said it had implemented a new recovery plan for Tunbridge Wells that involved keeping local booster pumps switched off for a further 36 hours.
The aim was that customers would wake up to a consistent supply by Friday morning.
SEW said its local drinking water storage tanks had not refilled at the speed required, so it had to extend the “outage” to allow it to recover fully.
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