All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 156
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Blog
New Database Tracks SEC Enforcement Actions Against Public Cos.
A new, publicly-available database known as "SEED" tracks SEC enforcement actions against public companies. The database, from NYU and Cornerstone Research, will also provide the basis for ongoing academic analysis of trends in SEC enforcement.
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The Schrems Decision and Compliance
Image: While the recent Schrems decision has seen a signifcant focus on the lack of U.S. data privacy protection from government or company intrusion, CW’s FCPA blogger Tom Fox says the decision also raises issues with hotlines and internal investigations. With these two key components of any best practices ...
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SEC: First-of-Their-Kind Actions Take the Spotlight in 2015
The Securities and Exchange Commission continued to build a strong record of first-of-their-kind cases that spanned the spectrum of the securities industry, according to the agency’s fiscal year 2015 enforcement report. The SEC filed 807 enforcement actions, obtaining approximately $4.2 billion in disgorgement and penalties—an increase from the 755 enforcement ...
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Irish Data Regulator Probes Facebook’s European Privacy Practices
Image: The investigation by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon into Austrian law student Max Schrems’ privacy complaint will continue in light of the recent decision by the European Court of Justice to invalidate the Safe Harbor program for international data transfers between the United States and the European Union. ...
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Crédit Agricole to Pay $787 Million for Sanctions Violations
Crédit Agricole will pay a total of $787.3 million in criminal and civil financial penalties for economic sanctions violations. Federal and local agencies allege that Crédit Agricole engaged in a series of schemes to process more than $32 billion in U.S. dollar payments through its New York branch from its ...
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Pres. Obama Nominates Fairfax, Peirce as SEC Commissioners
This week, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Lisa Fairfax, currently a law professor at the George Washington University Law School, and Hester Peirce, a senior research fellow at the Financial Markets Working Group at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, as SEC commissioners. If confirmed, Fairfax and Peirce will ...
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'You Know What's Cool? A Billion Dollars,' Part III
Yes, the Madoff trustee's legal and professional fees have passed the $1 billion mark, but with the release today of more good news for Madoff victims, the trustee says that this $1 billion (and counting!) is a “very good return on an investment.”
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Millennium Health to Pay $256 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Case
Millennium Health (formerly Millennium Laboratories) today reached a $256 million settlement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations that it billed for Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs for medically unnecessary urine drug and genetic testing and for providing free items to physicians who agreed to refer expensive ...
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Tuomey Healthcare System to Pay $72 Million in False Claims Act Case
The Department of Justice announced last week that it has resolved a $237 million judgement against Tuomey Healthcare System to for illegally billing the Medicare program for services referred by physicians with whom the hospital had improper financial relationships. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the United States will ...
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Police Raid VW’s French HQ in Search of Critical Data
According to the Telegraph, as part of an ongoing probe into a pollution-cheating scheme, police swept through Volkswagen’s main office in Villers-Cotterets in northern France and another office near Paris on Friday, seizing data devices, documents, and computer hardware. The automatker, which is facing large fines, legal costs,and class-action ...
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Comm. Aguilar: 'Conscientious' Directors Should Not Fear SEC
Image: In a recent speech, SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar stated that although the SEC does occasionally file cases against directors of public companies, “the vast majority of directors are embracing their responsibilities and are fulfilling them conscientiously. These directors should have nothing to fear from the SEC.” Aguilar said that ...
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Clawbacks, Other Reforms Drive Better Pay Disclosure
A new study from Deloitte finds that FTSE 100 companies have dramatically improved their disclosures around executive pay in recent years, probably in no small part due to new clawback provisions and other governance requirements adopted lately. (New regulations on pay disclosure were rolled out last year, such as a ...
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Article
World Bank Tries Procurement Reform to Cut Corruption Risk
Sweeping changes to the World Bank’s policies and procedures are afoot that will make the procurement process more consistent and transparent for companies bidding on bank-funded contracts. One big focus: how to reduce bribery and corruption in the procurement process. That will be a mixed bag for compliance officers—more attention ...
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Podcast: AML Compliance in the Netherlands
Image: In this week’s podcast, Leon Blonk, regional compliance officer at the Bank of China, discussed the current state of anti-money laundering compliance in the Netherlands and what companies should consider when conducting business in this part of Europe. According to Transparency International, the Netherlands ranked eighth in its latest ...
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Surviving the Jolt of the Yates Memo
An earthquake in the world of FCPA enforcement happened in September, when “the Yates Memo” arrived and heralded a new era of pursuing individuals responsible for corporate misconduct. This week, columnist Tom Fox dissects some of the implications for compliance officers—including the threat that from here forward, the interests of ...
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Hillary Clinton Pledges to Redefine Insider Trading, Self-Fund SEC
The Supreme Court announced this week that it will let stand the Second Circuit's landmark insider trading decision in U.S. v. Newman. Hillary Clinton, however, says that as President she would not do the same, and that she would propose legislation to "clarify" the law post-Newman.
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Article
SEC Reform of In-House Trials Gets Lukewarm Reception
Image: Facing lawsuits and other complaints that its administrative proceedings are stacked against defendants, the SEC is mulling changes to give the accused more ability to defend themselves. The proposals have received lukewarm reception at best. “The proposed amendments do not come close to addressing all the issues that administrative ...
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Volkswagen Scandal Puts Yates Memo to the Test
If ever a case of corporate misconduct could drive the Justice Department to follow through on its new promises to prosecute individuals more vigorously, the emissions scandal at Volkswagen is it. Still, finding individual culpability in the case will be difficult, given its focus on surreptitious software. “Figuring out who ...
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Scottish Prosecutors Resolve Bribery Case With Brand-Rex for £200,000
Scotland-based company Brand-Rex, a developer of cabling solutions for network infrastructure and industrial applications, last month reached a £212,800 civil settlement with Scottish prosecutors for failing to prevent bribery by a third party in violation of Section 7 of the U.K. Bribery Act. Details inside.
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BP to Pay $20.8 Billion for Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
BP today reached an historic $20.8 billion settlement with the government and five Gulf states to resolve civil claims arising from the 2010 Macondo well blowout and the massive oil spill that followed in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the largest settlement with a single entity in the Department’s ...