Free Republic

Facebook is asking major U.S. banks for financial data in order to provide more online shopping services and to track consumer spending habits, The Wall Street Journal reported. But according to the Journal, financial institutions are reluctant to partner with the social media network over privacy concerns. One bank has reportedly pulled out of discussions with Facebook because of the issue. The news comes as Facebook struggles to fend off concerns that arose from a privacy scandal in which a political consulting firm obtained data on 87 million users without their knowledge.

The Central Intelligence Agency is building a vast database of international money transfers that includes millions of Americans' financial and personal data, officials familiar with the program say. The program, which collects information from U.S. money-transfer companies including Western Union, WU -4.30% is carried out under the same provision of the Patriot Act that enables the National Security Agency to collect nearly all American phone records, the officials said. Like the NSA program, the mass collection of financial transactions is authorized by a secret national-security court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Labor union trusts that provide a variety of benefits for workers must disclose detailed financial information under new federal rules designed to root out corruption, officials said Monday. In announcing the requirement, the U.S. Labor Department cited several cases in recent years of union officers stealing from trusts established for retirement funds, job training and disaster relief. It was not immediately clear how the rules might apply to a Service Employees International Union local in Los Angeles, whose spending practices are the subject of a criminal investigation. The United Long-Term Care Workers has a related health trust and worker-training charity...

Only two of six Christian ministries under scrutiny for allegations of opulent spending turned over documents to a Senate panel by a Thursday deadline, with others either fighting the request or asking for more time. A month ago, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley sent pointed questions to a half-dozen high-profile ministries asking about salaries, perks and private jets in a quest to determine whether rules governing tax-exempt groups had been broken. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview he remains confident he will get the ministries' "full cooperation," despite opposition from some. Grassley's office said...