The ECB’s net profit is distributed to the euro area national central banks (NCBs). The Governing Council decided to make an interim profit distribution, amounting to €1,191 million, to the euro area NCBs on 31 January 2019. At yesterday’s meeting, the Governing Council decided to distribute the remainder of the profit, amounting to €384 million, on 22 February 2019.

The investigation concerns whether the Immune Design board failed to satisfy its duties to the Company shareholders, including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for Immune Design shares of common stock. Nationally recognized Johnson Fistel is investigating whether the proposed deal represents adequate consideration, especially given that one Wall Street analyst has a $9.00 price target on the stock and the Company has approximately $100 million in cash and no long-term debt.

“Scientists at Immune Design have established a unique portfolio of approaches to cancer immunization and adjuvant systems designed to enhance the ability of a vaccine to protect against infection, which could meaningfully improve vaccine development," said Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter, president, Merck Research Laboratories. “This acquisition builds upon Merck’s industry-leading programs that harness the power of the immune system to prevent and treat disease.”

“As alleged in our complaint, Magna Group and its co-defendants used fake debt instruments to unlawfully obtain shares in microcap companies, which they then dumped on unsuspecting retail investors,” said Sanjay Wadhwa, Senior Associate Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “This action demonstrates the resolve of the SEC in pursuing fraudsters who use elaborate financing schemes to engage in securities fraud.”

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"This resolution accomplishes one of the SEC's core missions to protect retail investors," said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "Mr. Shapiro and other defendants will be held accountable and required to pay substantial penalties for their misconduct." "Our complaint charged that when Woodbridge's fictitious business model collapsed, the company stopped paying investors and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection," said Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the SEC's Miami Regional Office. "The settlement provides for the return of significant funds to investors."

“Bribery to further corporate goals is an illusory path to long-term success. While always the wrong choice, it is particularly egregious when senior executives chart that course for those they lead, as our complaint alleges here. We are committed to holding them accountable for their actions,” said Charles E. Cain, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit.

“Diabetes is a complicated disease that requires close monitoring and carefully tailored treatments. We’ve heard from the patient community that having the ability to customize their own diabetes management devices is important to them. Advances in digital health make more tailored approaches to diabetes care possible,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “The marketing authorization of the first ACE insulin pump intended for interoperable use has the potential to aid patients who seek more individualized diabetes therapy systems and opens the door for developers of future connected diabetes devices to get other safe and effective products to patients more efficiently. Because the FDA’s action creates a new regulatory classification, future ACE insulin pumps will be able to go through the more efficient 510(k) review process, helping to advance this innovative technology. We’re committed to advancing new ways to accelerate the development of innovations that can improve patient care while strengthening our pre- and post-market tools for determining the safety and effectiveness of these new technologies.

“Monitoring warfarin dosing is a critical part of using the drug properly to prevent and treat blood clots. Using faulty strips can lead to errors in medication dosage that could cause serious harm or death in some patients. That’s why it’s so concerning that this distributor continued to sell these test strips in the U.S. even though domestic sales had been stopped due to safety concerns. To reduce risks to patients, we’re warning health care providers and the public about the dangers associated with this product,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “Distributing products that are not labeled or authorized for sale in the United States raises significant concerns for us in view of the serious safety issues with these test strip devices, and our work on this matter is not finished. Our top priority is the immediate safety of patients, and we’re taking steps to ensure the products that this company distributed are removed from the market.”

According to the SEC’s orders, year after year, the four companies disclosed material weaknesses in ICFR involving certain high-risk areas of their financial statement presentation. As discussed in the SEC orders, each of the four companies took months, or years, to remediate their material weaknesses after being contacted by the SEC staff. One of the companies is still in the process of remediating its material weaknesses.