All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 166
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Article
Monitoring Your Anti-Retaliation Program
Complaints of whistleblower retaliation are a persistent problem in Corporate America, and all the more irritating for companies that may believe they have solid anti-retaliation programs in place. Inside, we walk through the harder part of anti-retaliation efforts: not just creating the policy, but working with HR and line managers ...
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Blog
SEC Issues Wells Notice to Magnum Hunter
Magnum Hunter Resources has received a Wells Notice for potential material weaknesses in the company’s internal control over financial reporting. The oil and gas producer said it intends to respond in the form of a Wells submission, setting forth why it believes an enforcement action against it is not warranted. ...
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Blog
Second Circuit Denies DOJ Petition for Rehearing in Newman Case
Today, in a ruling that may have significant consequences, the Second Circuit rejected the DOJ's petition for a rehearing in the landmark U.S. v. Newman insider trading case. The DOJ filed a "Petition for Panel Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc" in the Newman case on January 23, which was supported ...
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Blog
HSBC Disciplines U.S. Executive Over Compliance Attitude
HSBC has decided to reassign the Americas head of its global banking division because of the manager’s poor attitude about the bank’s compliance and audit program, according to an update from its compliance monitor. The report cited that move as one example of HSBC’s improvement on compliance, while still warning ...
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News Brief
SEC Brings First Action on Whistleblower ‘Pre-taliation’
The SEC has filed its first enforcement action against a company for what the agency has previously labeled “pre-taliation”—using confidentiality agreements or other agreements to potentially stifle the whistleblowing process. The company in question was KBR, which will pay $130,000 in penalties. See inside for more details.
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Blog
Bank of England and ECB Reach Deal on Financial Stability
The Bank of England and the European Central Bank have ended a four-year saga over the City of London’s clearinghouses, which required that these offices be near the Eurozone so they can be easily monitored in the event of an emergency. Under the agreement the BoE will provide the ECB ...
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Blog
SEC in the Movies: The Other Guys, Wall Street, Fletch ... What Else?
Recently, as my kids were watching Will Ferrell's movie, The Other Guys (2010), I learned that the film includes a scene in which Ferrell and his police partner, Mark Wahlberg, make a visit to the SEC to turn evidence over to a investigator. In the clip below, Ferrell tells the ...
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Blog
BSI SA to Pay $211 Million Penalty Under Swiss Bank Program
BSI SA, one of the 10 largest private banks in Switzerland, this week became the first bank to reach a resolution under the Department of Justice’s Swiss Bank Program, which provides a means for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States. BSI will pay a $211 ...
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Article
The Latest State of Affairs on Whistleblower Claims
Image: A final rule from OSHA has smoothed the path for employees to file whistleblower retaliation claims under the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank acts and put companies in a more difficult spot to defend themselves. “The final rule reinforces that these types of anti-retaliation provisions are here to stay,” says Daniel ...
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Blog
Sandoz to Pay $12.6 Million for Misrepresenting Drug Pricing Data
Drug maker Sandoz last week reached a $12.64 million settlement with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to resolve allegations that it misrepresented drug pricing data to the Medicare program. The Sandoz settlement is the largest ever entered into under OIG’s drug price reporting civil ...
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Blog
Citigroup: Law Firms at High Risk of Cyber-Attacks
In a recent internal report, Citigroup's cyberintelligence center warned employees that law firms are targets of attacks by foreign governments and hackers because they house valuable data concerning their clients' transactions and strategies.According to the NY Times, the Citigroup report alerted employees that cybersecurity at law firms remains weak as ...
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Blog
PayPal to Pay $7.7 Million for 486 Sanctions Violations
PayPal, an electronic payments company, this week reached a $7.7 million settlement with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for processing 486 transactions in violation of OFAC regulations governing sanctions programs. The civil penalties could have been significantly higher, had PayPal not self-reported the violations and cooperated with ...
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Blog
Schlumberger Subsidiary Fined $232.7 Million for Sanctions Violations
Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings, a subsidiary of oilfield services giant Schlumberger, has entered into a guilty plea and will pay a record $232.7 million criminal fine for economic sanctions violations. The amount is the largest criminal fine in connection with an International Emergency Economic Powers Act prosecution. Details inside.
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Blog
Ceresney Testifies on Enforcement's Budgetary Needs and Performance
Last week, Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, testified before the Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. Ceresney provided the subcommittee with details on how the Enforcement Division would use a proposed increase in the SEC's budget for FY 2016, ...
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Blog
U.K. Financial Regulator Issues Priorities for Coming Year
Image: Title: WheatleyBritain’s Financial Conduct Authority released a laundry list of priorities for the upcoming financial year, pledging to continue work on concerns like poor culture and technological developments while ramping up efforts on financial crime, the pensions sector, and individual accountability. “This is an important day in terms of ...
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Article
Managing Data Security and Privacy Risks 2.0
Image: Modern technology allows powerful employee monitoring ability to sharpen business performance and even support compliance efforts. The bad news: Those technologies also spawn a new set of data security risks to keep compliance officers busy. “The key is trying to strike a balance between the employee’s personal privacy interests ...
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Article
Human Trafficking Compliance Arrives for Federal Contractors
Image: Starting this month, government contractors must ensure that their supply chain is free of human-trafficking activities. The thicket of new requirements isn’t too different conceptually from other compliance obligations, but the nuances of human-trafficking risk will pose some tricky policy challenges. Companies previously might not have thought much about ...
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Blog
Aguilar: SEC Must Extend Its Global Reach
SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar, an outspoken proponent of stronger agency oversight, says the regulator must do more to extend its global reach. In a recent speech, Aguilar framed the SEC’s imperative simply: “As companies increasingly have foreign operations, the SEC will need to address how best to extend its supervisory ...
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Blog
BNY Mellon Settles FX Charges, Will Pay $714 Million
Bank of New York Mellon has agreed to pay $714 million in a series of settlements related to accusations it fraudulently overcharged clients on foreign exchange currency transactions. The settlements stem from long-running lawsuits by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and New York’s Attorney General.
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Blog
Jury Returns Mixed Verdict in Willie Gault Case, Part II: 'Negligent Fraud'
Yesterday I wrote here about the jury verdict reached this week in the SEC's trial against former Chicago Bears wide receiver Willie Gault. I wrote that "the jury found that Gault was not liable on any of the four fraud-related charges against him, but that he was liable on three ...