-Anonymous sources with the SEC have told Reuters (paywall) that the organization haslost 16 percent of its employees in the past 12 months. Some of those in the count include the 600 employees who accepted US President Donald Trump’s offer toretire early back in February. Kenneth Johnson, SEC chief operating officer, allegedly cited the 16 percent figure in aninternal email to staff this week. An additional 150 contractors have also been cut, leaving the organization withoutexpertise in certain areas. -HSBC is considering throwing in the towel on in-person AGMs, according to FinancialTimes’sources (paywall). The bank has asked those involved to…

Bank of American survey revealed uncertainty in wake of Trump’s decisions Bank of America’s April survey of fund managers painted a bleak picture for the US and world markets, with a record high of 82 percent of respondentsexpecting the global economy to weaken. The bank surveyed 164 people with $386 bn in managed assets the week of April 4, just after Trump announced his so-called ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on April 2. Those surveyed were a net 17 percent overweight on US stocks in February, but fast forward two months to April and they are36 percent underweight – the biggest drop…

This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web -Chinese e-commerce giants Temu and Shein say that they will be raising their extremely cheap prices for US customers as of next week, according to the Associated Press. The increase is in response to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs of up to 145 percent on goods from China. While Temu is publicly traded in the US under its parent company PDD Holdings, Shein is not, after a failed IPO in the US. Nearly identical statements posted on their sites read: ‘Due to recent changes in global trade rules and…

Opinion – Plus an introduction to our new reporter Companies are pulling their guidance in droves amid US President Donald Trump’s game of back and forth with tariffs. Last week, Walmart pulled its first quarter guidance over the fracas. Hours later, Trump rescinded many tariffs but increased those on goods from China to a total of 145 percent. Delta Airlines also backpedaledguidance given ‘current uncertainty’. Trump appears to be testing the idiom coined by Benjamin Franklin –‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, exceptdeathandtaxes’ – upon completing the US Constitution. Those taxes are now entirely uncertain, as…

This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – On Wednesday the US Senate confirmed Paul Atkins as the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reported (paywall). He was approved in a 53-44 vote in his favor and replaces the outgoing Gary Gensler. –Atkins is expected to make it easier for companies to go public in the US and to ease up on enforcement, Politico reported. Atkins is a former SEC commissioner who left the organization during 2008’s financial crash. In his time away from the SEC, he has been vocally critical of the…

This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web Sidley Austin’s Derek Zaba and Kai Liekefett explore the potential impact of the so-called ‘liberation day’ tariffs on the upcoming proxy season. In their shareholder activism update this week, they discuss how these tariffs, and the resulting economic volatility, could influence shareholder activism. As AGM season approaches in the US, economic uncertainty can present practical challenges for activists who need to remain invested in companies for longer periods and may struggle to exit the stock if they gain board seats, which prompts the authors to ask: ‘Will tariffs be…