All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 165
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Blog
Merrill Lynch Fined £13.2 million ($19.8 million) for 35 Million Compliance Lapses
Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority fined Merrill Lynch International a record £13.2 million ($19.8 million) for inaccurately reporting more than 30 million transactions and for failing to report another 120,000 transactions over several years. The size of the fine marks the highest ever imposed for transaction reporting failures. Details inside.
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Blog
Gazprom Faces Antitrust Trouble in Europe
The European Commission plans to file formal antitrust charges against Gazprom, as the Russian energy giant is suspected of abusing its power in the natural gas sector by preventing some countries—such as Lithuania and Poland—from re-exporting gas they purchased from the company. If the Commission succeeds, Gazprom will face a ...
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Article
Conflict Minerals: From Compliance to Risk Management
Image: As a June 1 deadline nears for companies’ second year of conflict minerals compliance, some might consider life beyond the next Form SD filing to a broader risk management program for suppliers. It can be done, particularly with the OECD’s framework for conflict minerals due diligence. “The entire rule ...
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Blog
FBI Agent David Makol Rejoins SEC as Forensic Accountant
Back in 2012, I recommended a "must-read" article by WSJ reporters Susan Pulliam, Michael Rothfeld and Jenny Strasburg about FBI agent David Makol. The article provided some fascinating insight into the tactics that Makol, then the FBI's go-to guy for "flipping" suspects in insider trading investigations, used so successfully in ...
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Blog
White Defends Subpoenaing ISPs for E-Mails
Image: The SEC has long opposed efforts to modernize the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, fearing it could lose the ability to subpoena internet service providers for e-mails. Although ISP subpoenas are currently on hold, privacy concerns could harm investigations, Chairman Mary Jo White told a Congressional sub-committee.
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Blog
FBI Establishes International Corruption Squads
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in conjunction with the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section, recently established another weapon in the battle against foreign bribery and kleptocracy-related criminal activity: three dedicated international corruption squads, based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Details inside.
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Blog
BNY Mellon Units Fined $185 Million for Custody Rule Compliance Failures
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority this week fined two Bank of New York Mellon firms—Bank of New York Mellon’s London Branch and The Bank of New York Mellon International Limited—a total of $185 million for failing to comply with the FCA’s Custody Rules, which protect safe custody assets if a ...
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Blog
Advocacy Groups Looking for an SEC Superhero
From the depths of the D.C. Metro system comes a social media campaign from an advocacy group that depicts SEC Chairman Mary Jo White as a superhero. The campaign revolves around the concept of White with a cape and an MJW logo, taking down the scourge of “dark money.” See ...
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Blog
SEC Trial Scorecard Update: Jury Finds 'Feeder' Liable in Florida Ponzi Scheme
This running SEC Trial Scorecard tracks the SEC's trials and outcomes for FY 2015. To date in FY 2015, which began on October 1, 2014, the SEC has now had five trials in federal court reach a verdict (see the full list below). The most recent verdict was reached on ...
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Blog
SEC's Lawsuit Against Freddie Mac Execs Fizzles Out in Unusual Settlement
On Dec. 16, 2011, the SEC charged three former top executives of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) with securities fraud. The SEC alleged that the executives "knew and approved of misleading statements claiming the companies had minimal holdings of higher-risk mortgage loans, including subprime loans." Yesterday, however, ...
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Blog
Justice Official: Criminal Law Enforcement a Collaborative Effort
Image: Criminal, civil, and regulatory authorities increasingly are collaborating with one another to enforce certain federal criminal laws. “Working closely with regulatory partners at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission … and other domestic and foreign agencies, the unit has tackled some of the largest frauds ...
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Blog
U.K. Regulator Slaps Major Banks With Hefty Fines
The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Bank of New York Mellon £126 million for the lack of compliance monitoring during the financial crisis. In a separate case this week, the regulator also imposed a record fine on Clydesdale Bank for “serious failings in payment protection insurance complaint handling,” the FCA ...
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Blog
Google Faces Antitrust Charges in Europe
Image: The European Commission is expected to file a formal case against Google for abusing its dominance in the digital marketplace. Google now faces the possibility of being hit with $6 billion in fines, according to reports. Earlier this month, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager made a pledge to “remove remaining ...
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Blog
Still Reading Tea Leaves on FCPA Enforcement? Try Listening and Reading
Sometimes all the angst and analysis about FCPA enforcement need not happen; sometimes, voices in the enforcement community just tell us what’s coming. That has been the case lately, Compliance Week columnist Tom Fox writes this week, as the SEC’s recent settlement with KBR over confidentiality agreements proves. Inside, he ...
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Article
A Bit More Transparency on Risks of Confidentiality Clauses
Image: The SEC is not the only government agency cracking down on “pre-taliation risk” in confidentiality agreements with employees; many others are turning their attention to the issue, too. “This is really a new focus for these agencies,” says Christopher Calsyn of the law firm Crowell Moring. Compliance officers may ...
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Blog
French Magistrates Probing HSBC for Tax Evasion Scheme
London-based banking giant HSBC last week said that French magistrates have launched a formal criminal investigation and imposed a bail of US$1 billion concerning allegations that HSBC's Swiss-based private banking arm helped clients evade taxes. In a statement, parent company HSBC Holdings said it “believes the French magistrates’ decision is ...
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Blog
Porzio Life Sciences Establishes Netherlands Office
Porzio Life Sciences (PorzioLS), a provider of regulatory compliance and legal services to the life sciences industry, has formed a new affiliate based in the Netherlands. PorzioLS also announced the introduction of Porzio GST, a configurable interface that enables drug and medical device companies to capture and manage data elements ...
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Blog
Batista Insider Trading Case: From ‘Landmark’ to ‘Turmoil’ to ‘Farce’
The already-bizarre Brazilian insider-trading case against former billionaire Eike Batista “desended into farce” this week when the presiding judge was charged with embezzling more than $360,000 in seized money to buy himself a bulletproof Land Rover and an apartment. Prosecutors also claim that Judge Souza destroyed documents pertaining to the ...
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Blog
FLIR Systems Settles FCPA Charges for $9.5 Million
Thermal imaging manufacturer FLIR Systems has reached a $9.5 million settlement with the SEC to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by financing what an employee termed a “world tour” of personal travel for government officials in the Middle East who played key roles in decisions ...
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Blog
India Sentences ex-Satyam CEO to 7 Years in Prison
Ramalinga Raju, former chairman and CEO of Satyam Computer Services, was found guilty in an Indian court this week and sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in “India’s Enron”—a $1 billion accounting fraud that was revealed in 2009. Raju also admitted in a letter to Satyam’s board ...