All Regulatory Enforcement articles – Page 167
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Blog
March Madness! SEC Loses an AP for First Time Since FY 2013
As I observed here a year ago,It is hard to make anything 100% pure. Ivory Soap famously falls just short at 99.44% pure. Even Breaking Bad's Walter White could not get his blue-tinted methamphetamine purer than 99.1%.In FY 2014, however, the SEC maintained 100% perfection in its administrative proceedings. The ...
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SEC Trial Scorecard Update: Jury Returns Mixed Verdict in Willie Gault Case
After a verdict-free period that spanned three months, my SEC Trial Scorecard is finally back in action to report on yesterday's verdict in the SEC's case against former NFL wide receiver Willie Gault. This running SEC Trial Scorecard tracks the SEC's trials and outcomes for FY 2015. To date ...
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British Regulator Slaps Bank of Beirut With A Hefty Fine
Image: Title: PhilippouBritish regulators are taking action after two former Bank of Beirut employees misled the Financial Conduct Authority about whether the bank had complied with orders to boost its financial crime protections. The bank was fined £2.1 million and is temporarily banned from “acquiring new customers from high-risk” locations. ...
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FinCEN Advisory Addresses Jurisdictions With AML Deficiencies
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network this week issued guidance in response to the Financial Action Task Force’s updated list of jurisdictions with Anti–Money Laundering and Counter–Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) deficiencies. “Financial institutions should consider these changes when reviewing their enhanced due diligence obligations and risk–based policies, procedures, and practices ...
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SEC Disclosure Crackdown Turns to Beneficial Ownership Reports
With another enforcement sweep made possible by its ongoing data dive into corporate filings, the Securities and Exchange Commission has fined several officers, directors, and major shareholders in companies for failing to update their stock ownership disclosures. The charges relate to the failure to file Schedule 13D, commonly known as ...
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Blog
$1.45B Commerzbank Settlement Hits AML Controls
Germany-based Commerzbank and its U.S. branch, Commerz New York, will pay a total of $1.45 billion in penalties to resolve criminal charges for violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Bank Secrecy Act. The settlement provides a litany of lessons on the importance of implementing proper anti-money ...
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Blog
Utah Lawmakers Approve First 'White Collar Crime Offender Registry'
This week, legislators in Utah passed a bill that will require the state to establish a new "Utah White Collar Crime Offender Registry." The New York Times reports that the Registry, which is similar in concept to the sex offender registries now in every state in the U.S., will be ...
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Blog
EU Court Annuls European Location Policy for CCPs
The General Court of the European Union has overturned a European Central Bank framework requiring large central counterparties (CCPs) dealing with euro-denominated transactions to be located within the Eurozone. The court ruled that the ECB lacked the authority to require CCPs involved in clearing securities to be located within the ...
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Brazil's Landmark Insider Trading Case Derailed as Seized Cash Now Missing
When we last checked in on the Brazilian insider trading case against former billionaire Eike Batista, the case was, by all accounts, in "turmoil." As I discussed here, the criminal prosecution against Batista -- a landmark case that may make him the first person ever sent to prison in Brazil ...
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Germany's Push For Gender Diversity in the Boardroom Gains Traction
A shifting regulatory landscape in Germany has paved the way for more women to hold supervisory seats in the boardroom. To promote greater gender diversity, across the board, this regulation sets quotas on the country’s public and private sectors. Now, corporate Germany will have to award at least 30 percent ...
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Credit Suisse CEO Ousted After Tax Plea
Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan is stepping down after the bank pleaded guilty to criminal charges and violation of U.S tax laws, which resulted in $2.8 billion in fines by U.S regulators. The Swiss bank named Tidjane Thiam, Prudential’s current CEO, as Dougan’s successor. More inside.
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Blog
The Ups and Downs of FCPA Politics in Washington
Several events in Washington lately show just how well FCPA enforcement is—or more precisely, is not—understood there. This week, columnist Tom Fox turns his eye first to critics of the Justice Department’s new top FCPA prosecutor, and then to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and his ham-handed efforts to politicize the ...
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Blog
Second District Court Upholds SEC Use of Administrative Hearings
A hot topic on this blog of late has been the SEC's recent focus on bringing cases as administrative proceedings, an in-house type of action in which the agency has enjoyed extraordinary success. A related, and just as hot, topic has been the efforts of numerous respondents in these APs ...
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Congressman Lynch Offers First 'Post-Newman' Bill Banning Insider Trading
As I wrote here last month, the Second Circuit's decision in U.S. v. Newman has resulted in a flurry of recent pleas from people such as Mark Cuban, James Stewart and others for Congress to, finally, define the law of insider trading. On Monday, Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.) ...
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Google Realigns Amid Regulatory Heat
Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt met with the EU’s new antitrust chief on Monday. The search engine giant is being scrutinized by regulators for engaging in anticompetitive practices, potential antitrust violations, and oversight of privacy issues. In response to the mounting regulatory pressure, the company has realigned its European operations. ...
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Article
Internal Controls, Audit Committees Primed for SEC Scrutiny
Every February SEC officials convene at the Practising Law Institute’s “SEC Speaks” conference, where commissioners can break news and staff can detail priorities for the New Year. The focus this year, from rulemaking to enforcement, was on financial reporting internal controls, and ways to improve audit committees. And, of course, ...
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$500,000 SEC Whistleblower Award to Corporate Officer
The SEC announced today that it issued a sizable whistleblower award to a former corporate officer. The SEC stated that while corporate officers and directors are typically not eligible under the Dodd-Frank whistleblower statute to receive awards, the statute carves out an exception if an officer reports information concerning misconduct ...
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Citigroup Probe Over AML Violations Widens
Citigroup is under investigation by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the California Department of Business Oversight for potential Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering violations at its Banamex USA unit. The disclosure comes one year after Citigroup received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney of Massachusetts for similar issues. ...
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Level Global Co-Founder Files Lawsuit Against Prosecutors, FBI Agents
Remember back in November 2010 when the FBI launched a series of raids on hedge funds including Level Global Investors LP and Diamondback Capital Management LLC? These raids ultimately led to the convictions of Level Global co-founder Anthony Chiasson and Diamondback Capital’s Todd Newman on criminal insider trading charges. Shortly ...
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New York AG Proposes Whistleblower Reward Program
Image: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will soon propose legislation to protect and reward employees who report fraud in the banking, insurance, and financial services industries. The bill will also provide whistleblowers protection from retaliation. “This law will be the strongest, most comprehensive in the nation and is long ...