First Horizon Advisors will pay a $325,000 fine to settle allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it violated Regulation Best Interest in part due to issues with incorporating a merged firms’ accounts into its systems.
Risk Management
Posted inRisk Management
Bank mergers will receive more antitrust scrutiny under new FDIC rule
Federal banking regulators approved a new rule for bank mergers that will require additional scrutiny of mergers for antitrust issues for large and mid-sized banks.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
DOJ orders Walgreens to pay $107M for fraudulent claims caused by Rx ‘software error’
Walgreens agreed to pay nearly $107 million to resolve allegations, first brought by two whisteblowers, that it improperly billed federal healthcare programs for prescriptions that were never picked up or delivered.
Posted inEthics & Culture
‘Tick-box’ training leads to tragic outcome in Costa Coffee allergen case
Company training has always been equal parts important and annoying. But a recent inquest found some eLearning courses fail to warn companies when employees struggle through education and testing. For 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs, the consequences ended with her death.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
FINRA fines Wells Fargo unit $3M for repeatedly pushing ‘unsuitable’ investments
A Wells Fargo subsidiary will pay nearly $3 million to settle allegations that it failed to properly supervise an employee attempting to sell unsuitable investment products to retail investors–the fifth time it has been penalized for similar supervisory failings since 2020.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Chinese regulators impose six-month ban, $62M fine on PwC’s China unit
Chinese authorities banned PwC’s Chinese unit from performing audits in the country for six months, labeling the subsidiary’s flawed audit work as complicit in the failure of giant property developer Evergrande.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Wells Fargo agrees with OCC to shore up BSA/AML, sanctions program deficiencies
The Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ordered Wells Fargo to make “comprehensive corrective actions” to its Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering and U.S. sanctions programs, along with receive permission from the OCC to offer new products and services or enter new geographic markets with “medium or high” BSA/AML and sanctions risks.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
FINRA dings JPMorgan Securities $190K over registration, supervision failures
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined JPMorgan Securities $190,000 for unregistered investment banking activities and not having a supervisory system reasonably designed to achieve compliance with FINRA registration requirements.
Posted inRisk Management
Commerce Dept. unveils new supply chain risk assessment tool
The U.S. Department of Commerce unveiled a diagnostic supply chain risk assessment tool, which will “utilize a comprehensive set of indicators to assess structural supply chain risk across the U.S. economy,” the agency said.
Posted inRisk Management
Experts warn U.K. money laundering cases to ‘significantly increase’
The U.K. has an ongoing problem with money laundering, but recent changes to economic crime law and corporate registration requirements could bring more cases to court, according to consultancy KPMG.