Aaron Nicodemus
Aaron Nicodemus covers regulatory policy and compliance trends for Compliance Week. He previously worked as a reporter for Bloomberg Law and as business editor at the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Mass.
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ArticleOCC orders Cenlar to address risk management issues
The OCC has ordered the country’s largest mortgage subservicer, Cenlar FSB, to address chronic risk management deficiencies the agency alleges have led to “unsafe and unsound practices.”
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SEC executive pay clawback rule primed for ‘significant opposition’
The SEC is poised to pass an executive compensation rule that would require public companies to claw back incentive-based compensation if their finances are restated within the previous three years. Experts expect pushback to the proposed mandate.
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FSOC report: Climate change ‘increasing threat’ to U.S. financial stability
In a report ordered by President Joe Biden, the Financial Stability Oversight Council urged market participants, public companies, and regulators to develop a common agenda to respond to climate change-related financial risk.
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Swedish regulator to Danske Bank: Fix AML failings faster
Sweden’s financial regulator says Danske Bank is not addressing deficiencies in its AML/CFT protocols quickly enough, issuing an injunction ordering the bank to take remedial action.
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CFTC issues record $200M whistleblower award
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission paid out what is believed to be the largest-ever whistleblower award to an individual—nearly $200 million—who provided credible information to open investigations launched by the CFTC, another U.S. regulator, and a foreign regulator.
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FinCEN report: Ransomware SARs surge past 2020 totals
A Financial Crimes Enforcement Network report on financial trends in Bank Secrecy Act data found a greater number of SARs related to ransomware filed between January and June 2021 than during all of 2020.
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How to respond to government’s renewed emphasis on cybersecurity
The Department of Justice’s new Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is the latest development to suggest companies’ cybersecurity defenses had better be up to snuff when doing business with the U.S. government or risk enforcement.
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CFTC fines stablecoin Tether $41M for misleading investors
Cryptocurrency firm Tether will pay $41 million to settle CFTC charges that it misled investors when it claimed its stablecoins were 100 percent backed by fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar and the euro.
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SEC enforcement head seeking company admissions in settlements
Gurbir Grewal, head of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, said it will be a priority under his tenure for companies to accept responsibility for wrongdoing in certain cases of public interest.
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CFTC fines UBS $500K for inadvertently deleting swap trade files
UBS AG has been fined $500,000 by the CFTC for prematurely but inadvertently deleting more than 1,000 hours of audio files related to pre-execution swaps trade information the regulator required be saved for one year.
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FINRA encourages proactive compliance with FinCEN AML/CFT priorities
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is encouraging member firms to start proactively incorporating new AML/CFT priorities mandated by Congress into their risk-based compliance programs.
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SEC commissioners clash on cryptocurrency securities debate
SEC Commissioners Caroline Crenshaw and Hester Peirce used recent speeches to stake opposite sides on the central debate of whether all cryptocurrencies are securities.
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Pandora Papers exposed gaps in AML compliance. Is beneficial ownership registry the answer?
FinCEN’s upcoming ultimate beneficial ownership registry could help to combat some of the anti-money laundering deficiencies put on display by the Pandora Papers, but not until Congress gets serious about funding the initiative.
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Fed recommends member banks perform climate change stress tests
The Federal Reserve will encourage financial institutions to assess the potential financial ramifications of climate change by conducting stress tests, similar to those performed following the 2007-09 financial crisis.
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DOJ to enforce False Claims Act in regulating contractor data breaches
The Department of Justice will use the False Claims Act to pursue cases of cybersecurity-related fraud by government contractors and grant recipients—including claims against entities that fail to report breaches and hacks in a timely manner.
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Senators waiving white flag on privacy law with request to FTC?
The request by a group of prominent Democratic senators that the Federal Trade Commission launch rulemaking on data privacy signals Congress is not close to passing a federal law anytime soon, experts say.
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Senate confirms U.S. attorneys to lead SDNY, EDNY
The Senate confirmed Damian Williams and Breon Peace to lead U.S. attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively. Williams becomes the first Black prosecutor to ever lead the SDNY.
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Lessons learned from actions of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen
Many whistleblowers are forced to take their complaints outside the company because their attempts to address the problems internally are rebuffed or ignored. Facebook is paying the price for that inaction.
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Neiman Marcus data breach exposes personal info of 4.6M customers
Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus discovered last month a May 2020 data breach that exposed personal and financial information contained in the online accounts of approximately 4.6 million customers.
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LPL Financial to pay $4.8M to settle claims of poor KYC procedures
The nation’s presumed top independent broker-dealer will pay more than $4.8 million to settle AML charges stemming from its alleged failure to reconcile inconsistencies of a new customer who would scam a Puerto Rican city out of millions of dollars.
