News | Compliance Week
Daily news coverage condensed in a short-read format for compliance and risk professionals by Compliance Week editorial staff.
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News Brief
EV maker Fisker under investigation by SEC amid bankruptcy, ICFR weaknesses
Electric vehicle maker Fisker is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over potential violations of federal securities laws related to the preservation of records and documents involving its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
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News Brief
American Water Works discloses probe into cybersecurity breach
American Water Works Company, which supplies drinking water and wastewater to 14 million customers, disclosed a breach of its computer networks and system due to a cybersecurity incident.
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News Brief
SEC enforcement head Grewal to step down
Gurbir Grewal, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, will step down from his post Oct. 11. Grewal, who had served as the division’s director since 2021, will be replaced by Sanjay Wadhwa, currently the division’s deputy director, the SEC said.
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News Brief
T-Mobile reaches $31.5M settlement with FCC over multiple data breaches
T-Mobile, which experienced three huge data breaches in the past three years, agreed to pay $31.5 million in penalties and remediation for failing to protect millions of its customers’ personal information as part of a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission.
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News Brief
Starling Bank fined $38.5M for repeatedly onboarding high-risk customers
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority fined Starling Bank, Britain’s first digital bank, nearly 29 million pounds (U.S. $38.5 million) for repeated failures related to onboarding high-risk customers.
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News Brief
FINRA fines Merrill Lynch, BofA Securities $2.3M for reporting, registration failures
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued two separate fines against Merrill Lynch and BofA Securities totaling nearly $2.3 million for reporting violations and failing to timely file amendments on registration forms for their registered representatives.
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News Brief
Irish DPC fines Meta $102M over GDPR violation linked to improper storage of passwords
The Irish Data Protection Commission fined Meta Ireland 91 million euros (U.S. $102 million) for multiple violations of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation related to the inadvertent storage of user passwords without encryption.
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News Brief
Cassava Sciences settles with SEC for $40M over skewed Alzheimer’s drug data
A former Alzheimer’s researcher manipulated the results of a Cassava Sciences drug, with the pharmaceutical company and its former chief executive reaching a $40 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegedly misleading the public.
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News Brief
FinCEN, OFAC sanction crypto platforms linked to Russia, cybercrime
U.S. and European law enforcement agencies have announced sanctions against two Russia-linked cryptocurrency platforms in their ongoing chase to snuff out Russian-linked financial platforms that assist cybercriminals.
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News Brief
Five firms fined by PCAOB for alleged communications, reporting failures
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board fined five consultancies, including Ernst & Young, as the agency continues its crackdown on firms violating audit committee communications rules and reporting requirements.
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News Brief
DOJ updates ECCP to include AI risks, whistleblower protections
Companies under criminal prosecution by the Department of Justice for any reason must show they have robust compliance for any artificial intelligence in use–or risk heightened prosecution–under a DOJ policy update.
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News Brief
AAR Corp. discloses former exec implicated in Nepal, South Africa FCPA violations
Aviation maintenance services provider AAR Corp. disclosed that several former employees may have bribed officials in Nepal and South Africa to win contracts, and chose to self-report violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to authorities in the U.S. and U.K.
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News Brief
SEC to host Nov. 7 virtual compliance seminar for investment advisers
The Securities and Exchange Commission will host a virtual national seminar on Nov. 7 targeted toward chief compliance officers at investment companies and investment advisers.
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News Brief
Regs levy $120M in fines over off-channel comms with two firms avoiding penalties
Regulators continue to hammer firms with fines for violating rules regarding the use of unapproved communication methods by employees, issuing $120 million in fines this week. And for the first time, two firms were not fined because they self-reported their violations.
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News Brief
SEC penalizes Macquarie Asset Management $80M for overvaluing assets, fraud
Historically, the SEC has fiercely protected the rights of retail investors, and is constantly churning out enforcement actions against investment advisers it alleges have defrauded and manipulated its customers. So, it was somewhat unusual the agency issued an enforcement action this week that involved protecting the rights of institutional investors.
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News Brief
‘Biblically responsible’ investment adviser ordered to pay $300K over misleading investors
A “biblically responsible” investment adviser agreed to pay $300,000 and hire an independent compliance consultant to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it misled investors, along with other compliance failures.
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News Brief
Prager Metis agrees to pay $2M over failed audits, including FTX
Waves of fallout from the collapse of cryptocurrency trading platform FTX continue to ripple, as accounting firm Prager Metis has learned.
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News Brief
SEC fines First Horizon $325K for RegBI violations caused by merger
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.
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News Brief
FDIC proposes requiring banks to keep better deposit records of fintech partners
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation proposed a new rule that would require banks to keep better deposit records on ownership of funds controlled by their financial technology partners.
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News Brief
SEC charges Kubient 'gatekeepers' with failing to stop CEO's AI fraud
Gatekeepers including chief financial officers and the chair of the audit committee have a responsibility to shareholders to report fraud wherever they find it–especially when that fraud involves an artificial intelligence tool meant to combat fraud.