California financial services professionals learned recently that a provider of data services that is controlled by several Wall Street firms including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs was expected to avoid federal antitrust sanctions for allegedly stifling competition in the credit-derivatives market, according to sources in the know. The allegedunfair practices engaged in by Markit Group Ltd. were said to be aimed at keeping down rivals in the $22 trillion financial sector. Authorities in the European Commission, however, were expected to bring sanctions against the London-based company pursuant to a separate investigation.

The biggest just got indirect permission to get even bigger. U.S. antitrust regulators won't challenge California-based Google Inc.'s purchase of the mapping app Waze with any allegations of unfair practices. As owner of the largest search engine in the world, Google may have been concerned about being contacted by the Federal Trade Commission, but this had not happened, according to industry insiders who asked that their names not be used because they didn't have authorization to talk publicly about the issue. In June 2013, however, the company said that the FTC had not contacted it about the transaction. A representative for the FTC declined to comment on the agency's review of the deal.

Patent protection is intended to encourage innovation and development. The cost of ignoring patent laws is not only high, but it poses a threat to innovation and research within the U.S. This is particularly relevant to companies in San Diego, which hosts a large IP industry.

East West Bank, a Chinese-American bank that has about 100 branches in the state of California, has announced plans to purchase MetroCorp Bancshares, another Chinese-American banking corporation that has a strong presence in the state of Texas. The acquisition of MetroBank will also allow East West Bank to operate its first branch in the city of San Diego.