The corporate deal-making boom last year was one for the record books. The harder part: Winning the blessing of emboldened antitrust officials in the Obama administration’s last year. U.S. enforcers have turned increasingly aggressive in their mission to protect competition between companies -- the latest example being the Justice Department’s expected move to block Halliburton Co.’s... Continue Reading →

With political turmoil engulfing much of Brazil’s leadership, a proposal for new presidential elections this year is beginning to gain traction. A Supreme Court Justice on Tuesday ruled that Vice President Michel Temer should face impeachment proceedings just like President Dilma Rousseff. Judge Marco Aurelio Mello said Lower House chief Eduardo Cunha had overstepped his... Continue Reading →

U.S. antitrust officials have prepared a lawsuit to stop Halliburton Co. from taking over rival oil-services company Baker Hughes Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter. The Justice Department plans to file the lawsuit seeking to block the deal as soon as this week, claiming it violates antitrust laws by eliminating competition between... Continue Reading →

A year after Brazilian oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA took a  writedown of $2.1 billion because of the sweeping corruption scandal known as Carwash, another state-run company is getting closer to reporting its own price tag from graft losses. The team of lawyers and specialists hired by Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA has finished the bulk... Continue Reading →

Politicians from seven parties in Brazil were named as clients of a Panama-based firm at the center of a massive data leak over possible tax evasion, O Estado de S.Paulo said on Monday. The newspaper was one of more than 100 other news organizations around the globe to publish this weekend details of more than... Continue Reading →