Three months after a U.S. district judge declared Google to be running a monopoly, the Department of Justice recommended the tech giant be forced to sell off its popular Chrome browser as part of an effort to resolve antitrust concerns and reshape the power of tech’s biggest companies.
Regulatory Enforcement
Gensler to step down from SEC Jan. 20 after busy tenure, controversial clashes with crypto
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler will step down from his position as the top U.S. regulator of Wall Street when Donald Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20, ending weeks of speculation about his future.
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond examiner pleads guilty to insider trading
A bank examiner and senior manager at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond pled guilty to insider trading after allegedly misappropriating confidential information on seven banks to make profitable trades.
Drexel Hamilton to pay $1.1M, four employees fined for ‘flipping’ municipal bonds
New York-based investment firm Drexel Hamilton will pay more than $1.1 million in penalties, with four current and former employees paying fines as well over committing hundreds of violations of rules regarding the sale of municipal bonds.
BIT Mining changes business model, pays $10M fine to resolve FCPA violations
A publicly traded cryptocurrency mining company will pay $10 million and completely change its business model to one with “lower corruption risk” as part of a settlement over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), two regulators announced.
MetLife subsidiary fined $178K by OFAC for issuing premiums to Iran-controlled entities
A subsidiary of MetLife will pay more than $178,000 for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran when it provided insurance policies to entities in the United Arab Emirates owned or controlled by Iran.
Drug company and CEO pay $47 million over alleged kickbacks and false claims
A pharmaceutical company and its chief executive have agreed to pay $47 million to settle allegations first brought by whistleblowers, that the company paid kickbacks and filed false claims, the Department of Justice said.
European Commission accuses Meta of anticompetive practices, fines it $841M
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been fined nearly 798 million euros (U.S. $841 million) by the European Commission to resolve the agency’s long-running investigation into alleged “abusive practices” by Facebook Marketplace.
CFTC cites ‘unreasonably delayed reporting’ for unevenly split $4M whistleblower award
“Unreasonably delayed reporting” cost one of two claimants whom will unevenly split a $4 million whistleblower award from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for providing information that led to a successful enforcement action.
DOJ orders Paragon Systems, subsidiary to pay $54M over front company contracts scheme
Paragon Systems, a Virginia-based security contractor, and a subsidiary will pay nearly $54 million to resolve allegations that its corporate executives–including its compliance manager–conspired to win Department of Homeland Security contracts by creating fraudulent small business front companies.


