All articles by Jaclyn Jaeger – Page 95
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Blog
NGOs to OECD: global standards needed for foreign bribery settlements
A group of non-governmental organizations has written a letter to the OECD Working Group on Bribery urging it to develop global standards for corporate settlements based on best practice. Corruption Watch, Global Witness, Transparency International, and the UNCAC Coalition asked the OECD to address “urgently” whether the use of settlements ...
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ArticleThe current state of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, a new compliance framework for the transatlantic transferral of personal information, is almost ready. But the strict data privacy compliance obligations it would impose require a close look now to prevent running afoul of tough data standards that become law later.
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Article
Scrutinizing hiring practices for FCPA violations
Through recent investigations and enforcement actions, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice have been warning companies to proceed with caution when hiring the relatives of foreign government officials, lest they run afoul of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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Blog
Platform Specialty Products self-reports FCPA probe
Platform Specialty Products, a chemical-products company, said in a regulatory filing this week that it is conducting an internal investigation to determine whether certain payments made by a recently acquired subsidiary to third-party agents in West Africa violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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Blog
OCC proposes to reduce regulatory burden on banks
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has proposed to remove outdated or unnecessary provisions of certain rules to reduce regulatory burden on national banks and federal savings associations. The proposal is part of the agency’s rules review required every ten years under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork ...
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Blog
FTC to study credit card industry data security auditing
The Federal Trade Commission has issued orders to nine companies requiring them to provide the agency with information on how they conduct assessments of companies to measure their compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).
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Blog
SEC Charges Magnum Hunter with faulty evaluations of internal controls
Oil and gas producer Magnum Hunter Resources and several individuals settled charges this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission for deficient evaluation of the company’s internal controls over financial reporting, and failures to maintain internal control over financial reporting.
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Blog
Report: Europe makes up majority of U.S. bribery investigations
The majority of U.S. investigations and enforcement actions concerning alleged bribery of foreign officials conducted against non-U.S. companies and individuals involved companies or individuals from Europe, according to a new report issued by anti-bribery group TRACE International. Companies or individuals from Europe made up approximately 71 percent of U.S. bribery ...
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Blog
21st Century Oncology to pay $34.7 million for False Claims Act violations
21st Century Oncology, a physician-led integrated cancer care provider, and its wholly owned subsidiary South Florida Radiation Oncology, will pay $34.7 million to settle allegations that they performed and billed for procedures that were not medically necessary. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than ...
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Article
Putting FINRA’s priorities into practice
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s full court press on addressing emerging and existing risks in the securities industry will continue to intensify in 2016, reinforced by a steady surge in restitution, disciplinary actions, and bars and suspensions over the last five years. What are FINRA’s top regulatory and examination priorities, ...
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ArticleSpain bolsters anti-competition enforcement
Spanish regulators are paying closer attention to anti-competitive behavior across several industries, demonstrated by record fines and enforcement actions reached in 2015. Multinationals with operations in Spain should heed the warning. “We are now seeing that the amount of total fines [is] getting higher and higher,” says Crisanto Perez-Abad of ...
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Blog
Sweett Group to pay £2.25 million for Bribery Act violations
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office last month sentenced and ordered the Sweett Group to pay £2.25 million ($3.21 million) to resolve an SFO investigation into the company’s activities in the United Arab Emirates. The conviction and punishment represents the first under Section 7 of the Bribery Act and offers many ...
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Blog
Nordion to Pay SEC $375,000 for books and records violations of FCPA
Canada-based global life sciences company Nordion last week agreed to pay a $375,000 civil penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The case offers numerous lessons for compliance officers responsible for accurate books ...
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Blog
Mondelez International faces FCPA probe
Mondelez International, the U.S. parent of Mondelez India, recently disclosed in a securities filing that is being investigated by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice for potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act related to its operations in India.
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Blog
Nortek FCPA investigation costs reach $2.3 million
Nortek, a maker of home security and thermostat systems, said this week in a securities filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has incurred $2.3 million in legal and other professional services costs relating to potential improper payments made by its Chinese manufacturing unit.
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Blog
Qualcomm to pay SEC $7.5 million for hiring practices
Digital telecommunications maker Qualcomm this week reached a $7.5 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by hiring relatives of Chinese government officials. These officials were in positions to decide whether to select Qualcomm’s mobile technology products amid ...
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Article
Compliance lessons from VimpelCom
Image: Ethics, compliance, and audit executives have yet another real-life bribery case to add to their growing library of epic anti-corruption compliance failures—this one resulting in the sixth largest Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement action of all time. “This case demonstrates a failure of internal controls at every turn,” says ...
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Blog
Olympus to pay $623.2 million for kickback scheme
Olympus Corporation of the Americas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan-based Olympus, will pay $623.2 million to resolve criminal charges and civil claims relating to a scheme to pay kickbacks to doctors and hospitals—the largest total amount paid in U.S. history for violations involving the Anti-Kickback Statute by a medical device ...
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Article
Healthcare, ransomware, and effective cyber-security hygiene
Imagine this: You’re a large healthcare provider whose staff is having trouble accessing vital records in your hospital’s computer network. Your IT department begins an immediate investigation and determines the cause to be a malware attack. Worse yet, the attackers are demanding ransom to obtain the decryption key. How do ...
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Blog
FINRA: establishing and implementing cultural values
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued new guidance on what firms will be expected to discuss regarding their firm’s cultural values. FINRA plans to meet with business, compliance, legal, and risk executives to discuss how to communicate and reinforce values. “We are particularly interested in how your firm measures compliance ...