Questions tagged [finance]
Questions involving fungible assets -- especially securities and loans (mortgages, debts, etc.).
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Is it against the law to sell Bitcoin at a flea market?
I think this would be a cool side gig and I have some ideas about how to make Bitcoin more accessible to the general public. But I don't want to break the law either. These would be normal flea ...
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Student Loan from years ago pops up and is taking my salary
Summary: For decades I had my student loans paid by automated payment from my bank without a problem; just take it out of my bank and there's a small benefit in interest for it.
Recently, my ...
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Do Donald Trump's actions constitute embezzlement?
This question is inspired by this other question.
In that question, it was written that:
Donald Trump moved more than $200,000 donated to his Make America Great Again PAC into his own private ...
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Why is PayPal blocking my account according to U.S. tax law, if I've a UK account only?
I've opened PayPal account for my business and in My Profile I've clearly selected the UK address. My phone is UK, my bank accounts are UK and the balance is shown in GBP. So this is very clear to ...
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What can happen if the US President has violated campaign finance laws?
There has been recent news about President Donald Trump possibly breaking campaign finance laws due to a repayment made to one of his lawyers.
NPR: Trump Admits To Authorizing Stormy Daniels Payoff, ...
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Is it a crime to take out a loan with no intention to repay?
This question on Money.SE concerned a person who had taken out a number of loans. He didn't intend to repay these loans in full, planning instead to default and leave the country. Several posters on ...
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Can Trump legally sell stocks on Friday, tweet about imposing tariffs on Sunday and then buy more of the stocks back on Monday?
Trump could have made a lot of money by selling stocks before tweeting about imposing tariffs on China and then buying more of them back when the price of the stocks has dropped. Would this fall under ...
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Would it be illegal for Donald Trump to short twitter, then leave the platform?
Presumably if Trump were to stop tweeting and move to a different social media platform (e.g., Instagram), Twitter's value would decrease significantly (source estimating Trump's value to Twitter).
...
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What was wrong with the 2010 Flash Crash?
While looking for recent market crashes, I came upon 2010 Flash Crash. However, I am unable to understand what wrong the alleged perpetrator, Navinder Singh Sarao, did.
Entering an "order to sell ...
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How does insider trading law affect bitcoin exchanges?
The Bitcoin network is predicated on the premise that it is difficult to find 'low' hash values for a given input. This is an incredibly safe bet because of the way the algorithm is implemented - if ...
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What are the legal consequences of disputing a legal credit card transaction?
Purely hypothetical question. Recently I rented a car from a company, let's call them Thrifty, the total cost for the trip was ~$150. Days later I got a bill for ~$70 in administrative charges for ...
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Someone withdrew money from my bank account - what are my rights?
Someone withdrew money from my checking account (in several transactions) without my knowledge or permission. I was able to see the withdrawal slips online, and my signature was forged. I reported ...
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Employer Won't Release 401k
A client of mine came today with a scenario that I had never seen. She had worked for a company for three years, held about $60K in a 401K, but four months after being laid off she hasn't been able ...
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Is transfer pricing legal in the United States?
Is transfer pricing legal in the United States? Transfer pricing allows companies to sell to its own subsidiaries without using market pricing mechanisms to do so. Is this legal in the United States? ...
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Why is a company allowed to change the number of shares it’s divided into after its IPO?
I read that even after an IPO, a company can change the number of shares that it’s divided into based on a board vote. What’s to prevent them from arbitrarily increasing the number of shares to raise ...
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Bank is not depositing my promotion bonus
I opened a bank account in response to a promotion in a big bank (I'm in the US). Originally it was saying "if I keep my money (50K) for 60 days, I get $600". The agent at the branch didn't say ...
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Can you initiate a lawsuit against Russia in the United States to recover seized assets?
Ever since the start of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Russia has halted payments to international creditors and individuals holding assets like stocks.
Is it possible for an average person who happens ...
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How are employer pay statutes enforced against offending employers?
An employer recently made some strange demands as a part of a job offer. On advice from The Workplace Stack Exchange I'm going to look for work somewhere else, but I'm concerned the employer is ...
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How do laws affecting racial and gender justice programs work?
Recent COVID19 relief packages in the United States include racial justice measures, such as additional funds without repayment for farmers on the basis of race. Although the COVID19 relief itself ...
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Legal basis for "discretionary spending" vs. "mandatory spending" in the USA
1. "Discretionary" and "mandatory" dollars
My general understanding of the federal budget process in the USA is that:
discretionary spending must be "appropriated" by ...
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Why don't US prosecutors press for imprisonment for crime in the banking industry?
In this article by The Guardian published two days ago they report:
RBS bankers joked about destroying the US housing market after making millions by trading loans that staff described as "total ...
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If a malicious website steals my credit card info, what happens?
Let's say I submit my credit card information to a website to purchase something. They give me a message saying the item will be delivered soon, and I don't notice anything wrong.
Later I find out ...
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Can a couple be charged for spending $120,000 deposited to their bank account in error?
A couple is being charged for spending $120,000 which was deposited to their account in error (also see this PennLive article) This is in Pennsylvania, USA.
The facts are presented as follows: One day,...
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In what order do collateral and guarantees pay off a defaulted loan or bond?
Company A is issued a loan that is guaranteed by Company B and is secured by liens on Company C's assets.
Company A defaults on its loan. In what order are the collateral and guarantees used to pay ...
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Could the Intel CEO be accused of insider trading?
A few weeks back, the Intel CEO sold all the company shares he was allowed to. Yesterday, it was reported that a big security flaw existed in virtually all Intel processors sold in the last decade. ...
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Delivery of oil bought through futures contracts
What happens if someone is forced to take physical possession of many barrels of oil that they bought on the open market, but they have no storage space left to put it?
ETA: In jeffronicus answer ...
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What is the legality of two (or more) trade partners trading (i.e. billing) each other in a mutually agreed units of exchange
Assuming that company A (based in say, the US), wants to trade with another company (B say), based in say, Germany (or anywhere else in the world).
Assuming that these two companies have agreed to ...
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Can US student loans be inherited by children or parents?
Just curious if there are conditions where student loans can be inherited by family members that did not co-sign on the loan?
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Executive order by Trump on 2020-11-12 barring investment in publicly traded companies that the US says are owned/controlled by the Chinese military
I read on finance.yahoo.com (mirror):
The move stems from an executive order President Donald Trump issued on Nov. 12 barring investment in publicly traded companies that the U.S. government says are ...
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How are MMOs with real money economies allowed to operate?
A lot of Massively Multiplayer Online games include a form of "premium" in-game economy that may be purchased with real money (cash) by the player, usually for the purposes of faster progression in ...
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Do you owe money to a company who is trying to charge a disabled/expired credit card?
A disposable credit card company from the US wrote 'recently' on their twitter
Canceling a subscription can be difficult, time consuming, and frustrating. Or it can be as easy as clicking a button ...
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Deceased spouse still on bank account
If one leaves deceased spouse on joint bank account, what happens?
If one leaves deceased spouse on home deed, what happens?
Note, Soc Sec has been provided with copy of death certificate.
Accounts ...
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If I discover information about a company through personal investigation can I act on it without being guilty of insider trading?
Let's say I'm a skilled PI who has, through detailed investigation followed a paper trail back and discovered that Soylent Green is people! (err..spoiler warning?)
I am now aware of information that ...
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Can a business impose a minimum amout for credit card payment without notice?
Recently, I visited a bar I regularly attend and purchased what I normally get, which has a pre-tip total of less than $10. When I went to pay the check with my credit card, I was told that there was ...
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Can a bank keep cleared funds against your explicit instructions?
Does any legislation exist which permits or requires a bank to hold on to cleared funds against the explicit wishes of the account holder?
Background
I recently transferred my home loan to a new ...
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When does a mortgage rate bait and switch become fraud?
I'm currently in the process of buying a house. Once the price was negotiated and agreed upon, I solicited quotes from various mortgage brokers. One offered a lower rate than the others, so we picked ...
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Schwab 401k 'hacked'; somehow they added/linked an unknown bank account and transfered out ~10% of my balance!! How
I recently received a couple of 'notification' emails from Schwab re. the approval/completion of various changes I supposedly requested to an old 'inactive' (past employer) 401k account, including:
...
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Can I fight a charge from forgetting to cancel a subscription?
I just got charged a substantial fee for renewing some domains that are years old, (old enough that my card on file had expired, so I don't know how they even managed to charge it) that I had ...
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How to stop pyramid MLM in India
Pyramid Multi Level Marketing in illegal in India, where the source of income is from recruiting downline and the joining fees.
I have seen a lot of such companies working: some of them are registered ...
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Does my company need an escrow license if we are a marketplace website?
We have a marketplace website that allows buyers to purchase content from sellers. We then pay out the seller's balance after 30 days. Our payment processor is requiring us to have an escrow license ...
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Does it actually do anything legally to state "this is not financial advice" after giving financial advice?
When people talk about investing online they often say "this is not financial advice" after giving financial advice. Sometimes they use it as a twitter bio in an attempt to immunize ...
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How liable is a seller that was unknowingly paid using stolen funds?
I sold some of my Bitcoins on LocalBitcoins UK to an account that appears now to have paid using stolen funds from a hacked bank account. I checked that the buyer was ID-verified with LocalBitcoins ...
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Does the "general public" include business entities?
Specifically regarding securities laws in the United States, there is often terminology that says:
... must not be marketed to the general public...
The definition of "marketed" I understand and ...
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Can I legally guess my customer's new credit card expiry date?
As a merchant, I offer online subscription services to my customers. Often, my customer's credit card will expire, despite having an active subscription service to my product.
Is it legal for me to ...
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Using insider trading knowledge to trade on a competitor
In Australia, there are two major grocery companies, Woolworths and Coles. Now suppose I work for Woolworths and I become aware of a technological breakthrough that will dramatically increase the ...
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Do I have any options if Chase has closed my account citing payment from fraudulent sources?
A few weeks ago I received a $125 Chase QuickPay from someone on the site localbitcoins.com. Turns out the payment was marked fraudulent, and my account was frozen, whether it was because the user was ...
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Is the historic behavior occurring on Reddit (millions of people promoting the buying and holding of GameStop stock) illegal?
I've been a member of the subreddit r/wallstreetbets for some time now, it's this hilarious cult-like community that jokes about investment gains / losses and people celebrate making / losing money on ...
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Could Trump bet on winning the presidential election?
This question came up during a discussion with some friends after I placed a bet on a certain candidate (let's call him T) winning an upcoming presidential election in a Western country, call it USA. ...
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Is it illegal for Donald Trump to lie on his Financial Disclosures?
It is a very simple question, prompted by an assertion from a debate where one has claimed that he has lied on his financial disclosures, and that he is legally able to do this because:
It is not ...
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Could leaking insider information eliminate insider trader concerns?
Suppose I possess some non-public information about Company X. I want to trade Company X's stock for reasons unrelated to the information (e.g. I believe the stock market as a whole is going to tank ...
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