Bruce Bentley

A home security and surveillance company has agreed to pay $ 20 million to pay the Federal Trade Commission fees it misused credit reports to help unqualified customers fund the company's products and services the agency announced on Thursday. The FTC said Vivint Smart Homes Inc., based in Provo, Utah, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $ 15 million and an additional $ 5 million to compensate injured customers. The company said in a statement it had changed its practices. The FTC accused Vivint of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by not properly receiving credit reports to qualify potential customers to fund their smart home surveillance and security products. It also violated the FTC's "red flags" rule by not implementing an identity theft prevention program required by certain companies that regularly use or receive credit reports. The FTC announced that some of Vivint's sales reps, who work door-to-door on a commission-only basis, used a process ...

(Reuters) - Private equity firm Thoma Bravo announced Monday that it would buy cybersecurity firm Proofpoint Inc. for about $ 10.1 billion at a time when remote work is in demand for network security due to the pandemic soared. Interest in cybersecurity companies has increased as more and more companies turn to the cloud to run their business, and it does so in the face of frequent cyber attacks. Cybersecurity funding hit an all-time high last year at $ 11.4 billion, up nearly 50% over 2018, according to CB Insights. The transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter, will gross Proofpoint shareholders $ 176 per share held, a premium of roughly 34% over the last close of the stock. The company's shares rose 32% in pre-market trading. Proofpoint values ​​the offer at around $ 12.3 billion. Thoma Bravo, which mainly focuses on software and technology, has doubled its investments in this sector. In March, the company acquired online trading services provider C...

(LR) Lorena Garnica, Camilo Ramirez, Pablo Marquez, Patricia Renjifo, Carlos Hugo Ramirez and Julio Castaneda Image courtesy of ECIJA Madrid-based law firm ECIJA opens business in Colombia by integrating local law firm MBCR, the latest acquisition in a number of Latin American companies. The merger with the full-service company MBCR will add a team of 36 professionals, including six partners, to the global structure of ECIJA. The Bogota-based team is led by MBCR's founding partner Pablo Marquez and includes partners Julio Castaneda, Carlos Hugo Ramirez, Patricia Renjifo, Camilo Ramirez and Lorena Garnica. With the integration of MBCR, ECIJA's Latin American presence has grown to 14 countries and has become the Spanish law firm with the largest LatAm presence. The company's new Colombian company brings a wealth of expertise in competition, TMT and entertainment, and also focuses on advisin...

Piper Alderman makes history as "Australia's first law firm" to use Lygon, a blockchain-based platform that streamlines paper-based payment guarantees. This breakthrough will help the law firm "enjoy greater efficiency and security over guarantees". Piper Alderman is the "first law firm in Australia to include a blockchain-based payment guarantee" in a commercial agreement, the company announced today. Michael Bacina, partner of Piper Alderman, on the announcement: "The transformative nature of distributed ledger technology is just beginning and I am excited to be doing a small part in modernizing and improving legal practice." Bacina claimed that "paper-based payment guarantees have always suffered from inefficiency and risk". "The Lygon platform, supported by major banks and IBM blockchain technology, is designed to help Piper Alderman and our customers enjoy greater efficiency and security over guarantees," ...