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- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By Aaron Nicodemus2023-08-09T15:10:00
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have made it clear they are serious about violations of off-channel communications rules by issuing massive fines against some of the world’s largest banks and investment firms.
The wave of enforcement actions likely has not yet crested. But the regulators have indicated they will be more forgiving to firms that voluntarily self-report violations and take remedial actions before being asked to do so.
The list of institutions hit with significant penalties by the SEC and CFTC for “endemic failures” in compliance related to monitoring, recording, and retaining the business communications of employees reads like a who’s who of international finance. Bank of America/Merrill Lynch was fined $225 million in September 2022, along with Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and UBS. JPMorgan Chase was also fined $200 million in December 2021, while Wells Fargo equaled that total as part of a new wave of penalties announced Tuesday.
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News and analysis for the well-informed compliance or audit exec. Select an option and click continue.
Annual Membership $499 Value offer
Full price one year membership with auto-renewal.
Membership $599
One-year only, no auto-renewal.
2023-11-17T21:58:00Z By Aaron Nicodemus
The new messaging on use off-channel communications for business should be clear: What was done before is no more. It cannot continue. The stakes are too high.
2023-11-16T17:00:00Z By Aaron Nicodemus
Establishing a set of policies and procedures to prevent employee use of nonauthorized electronic communications to conduct business is relatively straightforward. The hard part is monitoring compliance.
2023-11-15T17:00:00Z By Aaron Nicodemus
Firms monitoring employee use of off-channel communications for business purposes face numerous obstacles. How much is enough, in the opinion of regulators? How much is too much, in the eyes of employees? Determinations must be made as regulators crack down.
2024-10-22T21:18:00Z By Adrianne Appel
Precision Toxicology has agreed to pay $27 million to settle allegations first brought by whistleblowers in three cases, that the company billed the federal government for unnecessary drug tests and paid kickbacks to doctors, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
2024-10-22T16:08:00Z By Aaron Nicodemus
Fund management company WisdomTree will pay $4 million to settle allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it improperly invested in fossil fuel and tobacco companies in environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds despite promising to avoid them.
2024-10-18T18:10:00Z By Adrianne Appel
A Vietnamese alcohol company has agreed to pay $860,000 to settle allegations by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) that its business with North Korea involved U.S. financial institutions.
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