BuSINESS
T UESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2019::L ATIMES.COM/BUSINESS
C
DOW28,066.47▲190.85 S&P 5003,133.64 23.3▲▲ 58 NASDAQ ,632.49 112.60 GOLD$1,456.60 6.50▼OIL$58.01 0.24▲EURO$1.1009▼▼.0011 U.S. T- NOTE(10-yr.)1.76% 0.Charles Schwab Corp.
agreed to buy TD Ameri-
trade Holding Corp. for
about $26 billion in a deal
that would reshape the re-
tail brokerage business.
Schwab, America’s origi-
nal discount broker, would
have even more sway over
the sector it pioneered
nearly a half-century ago.
“Our view is that this is a
great deal for the con-
sumer,” Schwab Chief Exe-
cutive Walt Bettinger said on
aconference call Monday
with analysts. “We’ve been
doing nothing but driving
costs down for decades.”
TD Ameritrade stock-
holders would receive 1.
Schwab shares for each TD
Ameritrade share, the com-
panies said in a statement
Monday. That’s a 17% pre-
mium based on the average
share price as of the close on
Nov. 20.
Announcement of the
deal comes after news of an
acquisitionbroke on Thurs-
day, sending up shares of
both firms.
The equity value of the
deal is $28.3 billion based on
Schwab’s closing price of
$48.20 on Nov. 22. Schwab
shares rose 2.3% on Monday
to $49.31. TD Ameritrade,
the Omaha-based broker-
age that’s partly owned by
Toronto-Dominion Bank,
rose 7.6% to $51.78.
The tie-up would create a
mega-firm with $5 trillion in
assets — a Goliath that may
attract the attention of an-
titrust regulators, analysts
say. Smaller brokerages
such as E-Trade Financial
Corp. would have to contend
with a much more formida-
ble competitor.
The combined firm
would relocate its head-
quarters to Schwab’s new
Charles
Schwab
extends
reach in
industry
Brokerage to buy rival
TD Ameritrade for
$26 billion in a mega-
deal that could attract
antitrust scrutiny.
By Annie Massa
and John Gittelsohn
[SeeBrokerage,C3]Just at the
moment
when presi-
dential
politics is
crying out
for more
news cov-
erage, not
less, Michael
Bloomberg’s candidacy has
put the shiv into political
journalism.
In an astonishing staff
memo made public Sunday,
Bloomberg News, the jour-
nalism arm of the billion-
aire’s vast business empire,
said it will not conduct
investigations of any of the
Democratic candidates for
president — that is, its boss’
rivals for the nomination —
and will place other limita-
tions on its campaign cov-
erage.
That’s a bad decision,
but it arises directly out of
an existing, all-encompass-
ing policy that is also jour-
nalistically dubious:
Bloomberg News does not
cover Michael Bloomberg,
his family or his charitable
foundation. In the staff
memo, Bloomberg Editor-
in-Chief John Micklethwait
described this policy as “our
How to not cover your boss
MICHAEL HILTZIK
BLOOMBERG NEWSwill not conduct investigations of any of the Democratic
candidates for president, including Michael Bloomberg, its editor said in a memo.Drew AngererGetty Images[SeeHiltzik, C5]It’s the most
wonderful
time of the
year. But for
consumers,
it’s also the
most dan-
gerous.
From gift
card rackets
to online fraud, consumers
are under near-constant
assault amid what some
analysts are calling the
country’s first trillion-dollar
holiday season.
The Department of
Homeland Security has
urged shoppers “to be aware
of potential holiday scams
and malicious cyber-cam-
paigns, particularly when
browsing or shopping on-
line.”
It specifically cited “ma-
licious links or attachments
infected with malware,” and
“spoofed emails requesting
support for fraudulent
charities or causes.”
Today we’ll look at someof the more prominent
threats out there and what
you can do to protect your-
self.Gift cards
Gift cards top many
people’s holiday wish lists,
with the National Retail
Federation saying 59% of
people surveyed are hoping
to find at least one in their
stockings.
Mercator Advisory
Group, a payment industry
consulting firm, estimates
nearly $100 billion was
loaded onto gift cards last
year.
Scammers are well aware
of how popular these things
are, so they go to great
lengths to cut themselves in
for a piece of the action.
“Gift cards are safe,
secure and in-demand gift
options,” said Erin Wood,
chairwoman of the Retail
Gift Card Assn. “Unfortu-
nately, like all payments
tools, criminals have found
ways to abuse gift cards.”Holiday season
is the time to
beware of scams
DAVID LAZARUS
[SeeLazarus, C4]LONDON —London’s transit
authority on Monday refused to
renew Uber’s license to operate,
with the ride-hailing company
vowing to appeal the decision as it
struggles to secure its future in
the British capital.
It’s the latest chapter in Uber’s
rocky history with London trans-
port officials, who have subjected
the San Francisco-based tech
company to ever tighter scrutiny
over concerns about passenger
safety and security.
Uber called the decision “ex-
traordinary and wrong” and has
21 days to file an appeal. It can
continue operating while the ap-
peals process is underway.
Transport for London, a gov-
ernment body responsible for the
transport system in Greater Lon-
don, cited “several breaches that
placed passengers and their safe-
ty at risk” in its decision not to ex-
tend Uber’s license, which ex-
pired at midnight Monday.
Among other things, un-
authorized drivers made thou-
sands of rides, the regulator said.“While we recognize Uber has
made improvements, it is unac-
ceptable that Uber has allowed
passengers to get into minicabs
with drivers who are potentially
unlicensed and uninsured,” said
Helen Chapman, director of li-
censing and regulation at Trans-
port for London. “We cannot be
confident that similar issues
won’t happen again in future.”
The company fired back,
pointing out that the agency had
found it fit and proper in Septem-
ber, when it was given a two-
month license renewal.
“We understand we’re held to a
high bar, as we should be. But this
TfL decision is just wrong,” Chief
Executive Dara Khosrowshahi
tweeted. “Over the last 2 years we
have fundamentally changed how
we operate in London.”
The denial in a lucrative Euro-
pean market is a big setback for
Uber as it struggles to turn a prof-
it. The company posted a $1.16-bil-
lion loss in the latest quarter, and
Khosrowshahi forecast this
month that it wouldn’t make a
profit until 2021. Uber shares fell
1.6% to $29.11 in New York trading
Monday.TAXIS CLOGa London road during a 2016 protest against rivals. A transit agency cited safety issues in denying Uber’s license renewal.Frank AugsteinAssociated PressUber loses London license
Ride-hailing giant will still operate in the lucrative market while it appeals
UBER HAS 21days to file an appeal. In a tweet, its CEO said the
company has “fundamentally changed how we operate in London.”Kirsty WigglesworthAssociated Pressassociated press[SeeUber,C6]