In the span of less than seven days, four high-ranking Department of Justice officials delivered speeches that focused on renewing efforts to pursue wrongdoing at financial institutions. Among the ideas floated by officials at various forums: enhancing whistleblower initiatives; increasing cooperation between its civil and criminal divisions; prosecuting more individuals; offering more leniency for firms […]
Joe Mont
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
CFPB Data Collection Practices Get a Mixed Review From GAO
Does the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau overstep its bounds collecting information for its public complaint database? That question has continually been asked by critics of the agency. A newly released study by the Government Accountability Office, however, says that its data collection policies are in line with those of other federal agencies, but does offer […]
Posted inUncategorized
CFTC Wants Lots of Swaps Data and Wants It Fast
One of the more vexing rules to emerge from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in recent months regards recordkeeping demands that might call to mind the old game show “Beat the Clock.” When asked, swap dealers will have just 72 hours to turn over every single record and communication related to a specific trade or […]
Posted inUncategorized
Podcast: Surviving the EU’s Cookie Crackdown
Cookies, those tiny bits of data that get popped onto your hard drive every time you visit certain websites, have fueled privacy concerns in the European Union and led its regulators to demand that consumers have transparency into how they are used, and have the ability to block them. Although the first EU cookie directive […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SEC Awards Largest Ever Whistleblower Bounty, $30 Million
With its largest ever whistleblower bounty, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday awarded $30 million to an informant whose tips led to a major enforcement action. The previous high for an SEC award to a whistleblower was $14 million, which was announced in October 2013. The award is also notable because it is the […]
Posted inUncategorized
SEC Pressured to Finalize Pay-Ratio Rule
In recent Congressional testimony, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White was optimistic that a final version of the controversial pay-ratio rule could be ready by the end of the year. Nevertheless, Americans for Financial Reform, a prominent advocacy group and coalition of Wall Street watchdogs, is demanding action. In Sept. 2013, the SEC […]
Posted inUncategorized
CFPB Proposes Oversight of Nonbank Auto Finance
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing to oversee large, nonbank auto finance companies for the first time at the federal level. Auto loans are financed by both banks and nonbanks. Consumers can either get a loan through direct financing where they seek credit directly from a lender or through indirect financing where an auto […]
Posted inUncategorized
Oxfam America Will Sue SEC Over Oil Company Disclosures
Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization, is suing the Securities and Exchange Commission for, in its words, “unlawfully withholding” a final rule implementing a Dodd-Frank Act requirement that oil, gas and mining companies to disclose payments made to governments for the extraction of natural resources. When Congress enacted the legislation on July 21, […]
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
AG Urges Congress to Lift Whistleblower Reward Cap
During a speech this week at New York University’s law school, Attorney General Eric Holder urged Congress to amend legislation and allow the Department of Justice to increase whistleblower rewards in cases that involve financial institutions. “Since no financial fraud case is prosecutable unless we have sufficient evidence of intent – we should seek to […]
Posted inRisk Management
Banks Receive Guidance on Human Trafficking Red Flags
Newly released guidance from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) warns financial institutions about the warning signs and suspicious activities that may indicate human smuggling and trafficking and how to report those discoveries. “Financial institutions, large and small, can play a critical role in identifying and reporting transactions related to these unlawful activities […]
