Research by a professor at Columbia Business School finds that activist hedge fund investors can have a positive impact on a target company's performance. "The evidence shows that in the case of corporate innovation, hedge fund activists can help companies become leaner, more focused, and more efficient in their innovation," said professor Wei Jiang.

In six of the last seven trading sessions, the spread between LCH Clearnet's 30-year yen swap rates and those of the Japan Securities Clearing Corp. has narrowed. This likely indicates that anxiety over a collapse in US-China trade talks is boosting foreign interest in Japanese swap rates.

The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee is considering three bills that could have a major impact on the private-equity industry. The bills would impose liability for portfolio company debts on both partnership members and investors, require actions to promote diversity and mandate quarterly fee reporting.

The Shanghai International Energy Exchange's launch of yuan-denominated natural rubber futures contracts is the latest move by China to open its domestic futures market to foreign investors. Over the next year, market participants expect liquefied natural gas, gasoline and diesel futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, and soybean meal, soybean oil and palm oil futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange to open up to the outside world.

Hines Global Income Trust has purchased an upscale multifamily property near the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. The 275-unit property brings the nontraded REIT's residential portfolio to more than $430 million.

Strategic Storage Trust IV has paid almost $64.5 million for four self-storage facilities in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. The properties, which offer 326,000 square feet of space, are being rebranded as SmartStop Self Storage.

NB Private Capital has acquired student housing near the University of Memphis in Tennessee for $32.1 million. The transaction was conducted on behalf of a Delaware statutory trust offering for 1031 exchange investors.

Passage of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act would give small businesses the tools they need to offer employees retirement plans comparable to the ones provided by big business competitors, writes John Carter, president and chief operating officer of Nationwide Financial. Without it, the "financial futures of almost half of the American workforce could be at risk because they lack access to these critical saving tools," he writes.

The Justice Department this month introduced its Procurement Collusion Strike Force, which aims to identify and prosecute incidents of bid-rigging and other fraud in government contracting. Attorneys write that government contractors should institute antitrust compliance programs and take other steps to mitigate risk.

Consumers who use financial apps such as Venmo and PayPal are unaware their banking data is being shared elsewhere, according to a report from The Clearing House. The apps are not owned by banks even though they may display a bank's logo when collecting payments, according to the report.