Mobile bank N26 revealed it paid a €4.25 million (U.S. $5 million) fine ordered by Germany’s market regulator regarding deficiencies in its reporting of suspicious activities “in the area of anti-money laundering.”
Financial Services
Wells Fargo to pay $72.6M for foreign currency exchange fraud
Wells Fargo Bank agreed to pay a total of approximately $72.6 million to resolve allegations it fraudulently overcharged hundreds of commercial customers who used the bank’s foreign exchange services.
New SEC marketing rule offers opportunities, compliance challenges
The SEC’s new marketing rule allows certain types of advertising, endorsements, and testimonials that were previously prohibited. Investment advisers are “excited” about the new possibilities—but compliance officers must warn them of the risks.
CFTC fines Citi $1M for swap data reporting failures
Citibank will pay a $1 million penalty to resolve allegations of not properly reporting swap data to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and for violating the provisions of a 2017 order regarding those practices.
Biden’s pick to head OCC favors tighter regulation of FinTech
President Joe Biden’s nominee for Comptroller of the Currency, Cornell law professor Saule Omarova, continues a Democratic pattern of choosing potential regulators who believe in stricter control of the markets.
SEC brings first-ever actions enforcing 2016 municipal advisor rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Choice Advisors and two of its principals in its first enforcement actions under a non-solicitor municipal advisors rule that took effect in 2016.
Fed Chair Powell: Wells Fargo asset cap will remain in place
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wells Fargo’s asset cap will remain in place until the bank has “comprehensively” fixed its governance and compliance deficiencies.
OCC raps MUFG Union Bank for risk management deficiencies
MUFG Union Bank, which has entered into agreement to be acquired by U.S. Bank, received a cease-and-desist order from the OCC for “unsafe or unsound practices regarding technology and operational risk management.”
Swedbank CCO lauded for role in AML rebound to retire
Ingrid Harbo, Swedbank’s chief compliance officer during its ongoing recovery from a massive AML scandal, announced she will retire in March 2022.
MassMutual $4M fine a lesson in trader conduct oversight
A subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance agreed to pay $4 million after apparently missing nearly two years’ worth of red flags by one of its broker-dealers that turned out to be a driving force behind the GameStop stock trading craze.


