The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have combined to levy nearly $3.5 billion in penalties (so far) against firms and their affiliates in response to recordkeeping failures regarding employee use of off-channel communications for business purposes.
Financial Services
Posted inFinancial Services
SEC, CFTC adopt rule for enhanced large hedge fund disclosures
Large hedge fund advisers will be required to disclose more information on their investment strategies, investment exposure, operations, and more as part of a rule change jointly adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Goldman Sachs fined $513K by FINRA over faulty surveillance reports
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Goldman Sachs $512,500 for allegedly failing to properly surveil certain types of securities for potential manipulative trading activity for more than a decade.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Westpac ordered to pay $1.2M in insider trading case
Westpac Banking Corp. was assessed a maximum fine of AUS$1.8 million (U.S. $1.2 million) to address charges levied by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission of insider trading related to an interest rate swap transaction.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Paytm denies money laundering claims amid regulatory scrutiny
The Reserve Bank of India ordered a halt to many banking activities of digital payments provider Paytm while the regulator investigates “persistent noncompliances and continued material supervisory concerns.”
Posted inRisk Management
FinCEN alert flags Israeli extremists fomenting violence in West Bank
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an alert addressing the financing of Israeli extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Posted inRisk Management
ACAMS survey: Budget cuts, criminal tech innovation top 2024 threats
Nearly 800 financial crime professionals said the biggest threats to the effectiveness of their anti-money laundering programs are budget cuts and their inability to keep pace with more aggressive and innovative uses of technology by criminals to commit fraud.
Posted inInternal Controls
City National Bank ordered to pay $65M over deficient risk, internal controls
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency levied a $65 million civil penalty against Los Angeles-based City National Bank over alleged risk management and internal control failures.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Compliance officer BSA case a cautionary tale for small banks
A New York-based Bank Secrecy Act compliance officer facilitated more than $1 billion in high-risk international financial business through an “unsophisticated” institution, according to the Department of Justice and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Posted inEurope
PRA fines HSBC units $73M over deposit protection failures
The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority penalized two HSBC units £57.4 million (U.S. $73 million) over historic failures in deposit protection identification and notification.
