Goldman execs face fraud case

One day in December 2012, a young Malaysian VIP entered the headquarters of Goldman Sachs in New York. Jho Low was there for a private meeting with Goldman’s longtime chairman and chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein. Nearly six years later, Low is accused of being the mastermind in a multibillion-dollar fraud involving a Malaysian government investment fund.

Goldman’s role in supporting the fund, known as 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, has brought intense scrutiny from federal prosecutors, who this month unsealed criminal charges against two former Goldman investment bankers and implicated a senior executive.

Holiday spending should be strong

Americans are upbeat about the economy heading into the holiday shopping season, but that good cheer may not last long. A survey by the National Retail Federation points to 4.1 percent more holiday spending than last year. Measures of consumer confidence are near post-recession highs. But those projections predate the latest round of stock market declines. Many economists were warning that a combination of factors could begin to slow the economy in 2019.

Nissan’s board removes Ghosn

Nissan’s board of directors voted unanimously to remove Carlos Ghosn as its chairman Thursday, three days after he was arrested on allegations of underreporting his income to government regulators over a period of several years. The board’s vote was a rebuke of one of the car industry’s most powerful leaders and the man who saved Nissan nearly 20 years ago. The board emphasized that its alliance with Renault, Nissan’s largest shareholder, was a priority and that it would consider having an outside adviser review its corporate governance and its director compensation system.

Facebook admits to hiring lobbyists

Facebook on Thanksgiving eve took responsibility for hiring a Washington-based lobbying company, Definers Public Affairs, that pushed negative stories about Facebook’s critics, including philanthropist George Soros. Facebook’s communications and policy chief, Elliot Schrage, said in a memo posted Wednesday that he was responsible for hiring the group and had done so to help protect the company’s image and conduct research about high-profile individuals who spoke critically about the social media platform. Schrage will be leaving the company, a move planned before the memo was released. Facebook fired Definers last week, after a New York Times investigation published Nov. 14.