- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Aaron Nicodemus2023-12-06T19:00:00
A commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said she expects the regulator to pursue more individual liability cases against chief compliance officers, in the aftermath of landmark charges laid against the former CCO at Binance.
“There will likely be more cases against CCOs in the future,” CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham told Compliance Week. Of note, Pham worked in several compliance roles at Citi before being named to the commission.
Pham said the CFTC should reserve charging compliance officers for those who engage in “egregious conduct,” like that found in the case of former Binance CCO Samuel Lim. The CFTC alleged Lim was “willfully aiding and abetting Binance’s numerous violations” of the Commodity Exchange Act in fining him $1.5 million.
The case marked the first time the CFTC charged a CCO with individual liability.
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Caroline Pham, a commissioner on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, criticized the agency’s policy on credit for self-reporting violations as a “bait-and-switch.”
Caroline Pham, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said compliance officers have a lot to worry about if they or their firms are subject to CFTC enforcement during her fireside chat at CW’s Financial Crimes Summit.
Despite significant issues outside the control of most chief compliance officers, some regulators have signaled more individual liability cases are to be expected. Will accepting the wrong job, in hindsight, make it your last?
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Vince McMahon, the founder and former CEO of WWE, was fined $400,000 and ordered to reimburse the wrestling giant more than $1.3 million to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission that he failed to disclose hush money payments he made on behalf of himself and the company.
Experian, the credit reporting giant, let compliance slide when it came to addressing consumer complaints about incorrect data, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a lawsuit against the credit agency.
