FinCEN to financial institutions: Beware of Venezuelan money laundering
FinCEN recently alerted financial institutions of continued widespread public corruption in Venezuela and the methods Venezuelan senior political figures and their associates may use to move and hide proceeds of their corruption.
European Commission fines five banks €1B over foreign exchange cartel
In two separate settlements, the European Commission fined five banking giants for colluding in the trade of significant sums of foreign currency.
The compliance side of Argentina’s ‘notebook’ scandal
Given the heightened risks associated with Argentina’s “notebook” scandal, compliance officers might want to enhance their due diligence efforts in the country.
How to determine when enhanced due diligence is warranted
It can cost time and money and could even drown a deal. So when do the challenges and costs associated with this step outweigh the risks of not doing it?
Poll shows room for improvement on training third parties
Results from the Compliance Week and Refinitiv survey revealed some surprising facts about companies’ third-party training; based on those results, the following article offers suggestions for how to enhance the process.
Identifying high-risk third parties a nuanced exercise
Determining which business partners to flag for enhanced due diligence all depends on the quality, and sources, of your data.
Dark Web grows as an investigative tool
A telling detail uncovered in the 2019 Survey on Anti-Bribery & Corruption was that about 6 percent of respondents said they extend their data searches into the “Dark Web.”
Anti-bribery and anti-corruption survey
The 2019 Survey on Anti-Bribery & Corruption explores everything from the monitoring of third parties to the evaluation of training programs.
2019 Survey on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
In early 2019, Compliance Week and Refinitiv jointly conducted a special benchmark report on anti-bribery and anti-corruption compliance practices.
Former Autonomy CFO sentenced to 60 months in prison
Sushovan Hussain, the former chief financial officer of U.K. software firm Autonomy, has been sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in falsifying the company’s revenues prior to its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard.
Informatica to pay $21.57M in False Claims Act case
The Department of Justice says Informatica will pay over $21 million stemming from a False Claims Act investigation.
Corruption and transparency challenges around the world
The Risk Advisory Group has released its 2019 Corruption Challenges Index, which will give CCOs an idea of the level of corruption in countries where they operate.
FTC cracks down on Ukrainian dating apps
The FTC has removed dating apps from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Google Play Store following allegations they allowed children as young as 12 to access them.
Mary Shirley: The great empowerer
Her compliance career has been (literally) all over the map, but Mary Shirley remains fixed on a few key principles: aiming high, helping colleagues advance their careers, and making compliance sexy.
TRACE: How the GDPR interferes with anti-corruption compliance
Anti-bribery business association TRACE has submitted its overview of new issues that have emerged in the fight against foreign bribery due to implementation of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
Scott Sullivan on compliance lessons from news
Scott Sullivan, former chief compliance officer at Flowserve, explains to columnist Tom Fox how he incorporated the publicized misdeeds of other companies into his compliance training program.
Wynn Resorts fined $35M for mishandling sexual misconduct complaint
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on April 30 imposed a $35 million fine on Wynn Resorts and requires it to meet a series of license conditions, including the appointment of an independent monitor.
SEC charges compliance officer in ticket resale scam
The SEC has charged a CCO with perpetuating a previously charged scheme run by his cousin that involved stealing millions of dollars from investors.
Brian Beeghly on defining ethical leadership
Brian Beeghly, former chief compliance officer at Johnson Controls, explains to columnist Tom Fox the steps taken in designing a leadership model in the wake of an FCPA investigation.
A pilot project: Addressing the global outcry against corrupt business practices
As the outcry on bribery and corruption continues to tighten its grip around rogue players in the private and public business sectors, organizations ramp up their efforts to develop effective frameworks to prevent, detect and report corruption.
Glencore announces CFTC probe
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore and its subsidiaries might have violated certain provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and/or CFTC regulations.
Rod Hardie on FCPA lessons, navigating foreign risk
Rod Hardie, chief compliance officer at Exterran, discusses with columnist Tom Fox what he learned and experienced as an investigator with Baker Hughes during its FCPA investigation in the early 2000s.
UniCredit Group Banks to pay $1.3B for sanctions violations
UniCredit Group Banks will pay total financial penalties of approximately $1.3 billion for processing hundreds of millions of dollars of transactions through the U.S. financial system on behalf of an entity designated as a weapons of mass destruction proliferator and other Iranian entities subject to U.S. economic sanctions, the Department ...
Former VW boss charged over emissions scandal in Germany
German prosecutors have filed aggravated fraud charges against Martin Winterkorn, the former chief executive of Volkswagen, and four other unnamed managers for their involvement in the emissions-cheating scandal.
Uber discloses its bribery and corruption risk
In its first-ever filing with the SEC, ride-sharing company Uber discussed its bribery and corruption risks, including an ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
SEC charges former SeaWorld executive with insider trading
The SEC has charged the former general counsel of amusement park company SeaWorld Entertainment for his role in an insider-trading scheme, and it’s not the first time that a SeaWorld executive has been in trouble for misleading investors.
Artificial intelligence joins the AML crusade
Artificial intelligence is transforming the way that companies and regulators alike tackle money-laundering and terrorist financing risk in remarkable and significant ways.
A Global Look at Anti-Corruption Laws
Anti-corruption developments continue at full speed ahead around the globe - it’s hard for risk, compliance, and audit executives to keep up with it all.
Standard Chartered Bank to pay $1.1B for sanctions violations
Standard Chartered Bank, a U.K.-based financial institution, will pay a total of $1.1 billion in a global settlement for sanctions violations.
SFO Director Lisa Osofsky on fighting corruption
In remarks made on 3 April at the Royal United Services Institute in London, Serious Fraud Office Director Lisa Osofsky discussed the agency’s recent efforts and what she has learned on the job so far.
Roadrunner executives charged with accounting fraud
The SEC and the Department of Justice brought civil and criminal charges against three former executives of transportation company Roadrunner Transportation Systems for their alleged role in a complex securities and accounting fraud scheme that resulted in a loss of more than $245 million in shareholder value.
Troika Laundromat reveals the gaps in AML compliance
A recent report from several investigative journalists details the AML scandal behind Troika Dialog, once Russia’s largest private investment bank, and is just one small look into the much bigger problem of corruption across the globe.
Fresenius Medical Care to pay $231M to resolve FCPA case
German healthcare company Fresenius Medical Care reached a $231 million settlement with U.S. authorities for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for participating in various corrupt schemes across multiple countries that went undetected for more than a decade.
What Swedbank is saying about its multiple investigations
It has been a tumultuous few weeks for Swedbank as it fends off several investigations, including for money laundering and insider trading, resulting in the dismissal of its chief executive officer.
South America cleans up its act
A look at key investigations and enforcement actions in South America and Mexico in the past four years signifies a changing legal landscape that offers compliance lessons in advancing third-party anti-corruption compliance.
World Bank Group debars for one year Vietnamese water and sewerage company
The World Bank has imposed a one-year debarment on Vietnamese, state-owned water and sewerage company Vietnam Water and Environment Investment Corporation – JSC.
A closer look at the revised FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy
The Department of Justice in recent months has made several notable revisions to its FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy surrounding M&A, messaging apps, and much more.
Nokia discloses Alcatel-Lucent compliance issues
Following its 2016 acquisition of Paris-based telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has “been made aware of certain practices relating to compliance issues at the former Alcatel-Lucent business that have raised concerns.”
Anatomy of a college cheating scandal, and the resolve to fix it
In response to the nationwide college admissions scandal, victimized universities are speaking out and sharing the steps they’ve taken to stop similar behavior from happening in the future.
A global look at anti-bribery enforcement activity
TRACE International’s 2018 Global Enforcement Report serves as an insightful resource for companies seeking information on which countries are enforcing anti-bribery laws and which countries are beleaguered by bribery and corruption issues.
Interserve: Carillion Part II
In an almost carbon copy of the Carillion collapse, peer contracting firm Interserve went into administration on Friday due to a majority of its shareholders rebelling against a debt cancellation deal that would have seen their investment at even lower levels than the deal that was finally agreed to.
Bipartisan effort would double SEC statute of limitations for fraud
Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) have introduced the Securities Fraud Enforcement and Investor Compensation Act—the bipartisan legislation that would extend the window of time the SEC can pursue post-fraud claims for investors from five years to 10.
SEC charges Volkswagen in emissions-cheating scandal
The SEC has charged Volkswagen, two of its subsidiaries, and its former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, with defrauding U.S. investors by making deceptive claims about the environmental impact of the company’s “clean diesel” fleet.
Insider threats often are hardest to detect
In his latest editorial, Compliance Week Editor in Chief Dave Lefort applies what he learned at CW West to recent insider scandals and provides several compliance-related takeaways.
EU whistleblower protections closer to fruition
As EU whistleblower protections inch closer, Neil Hodge provides an in-depth look at exactly what they will cover.
Hempel resolves bribery case with European authorities for $33.3M
Global coatings manufacturer Hempel has reached a settlement with Danish and German authorities and agreed to a fine of 220 million Danish krone (U.S. $33.3 million) concerning bribery payments made to ship managers in Germany.
CFTC issues enforcement advisory on self-reporting and cooperation
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Division of Enforcement has issued an enforcement advisory that provides clarity concerning the benefits of self-reporting and cooperation related to violations of the Commodity Exchange Act involving foreign corrupt practices.
Swedbank faces scrutiny over money laundering allegations
Legal pressure against Stockholm-based Swedbank, one of several banks at the center of a massive money laundering scandal, continues to escalate.
A glimpse into the Department of Justice’s ethics and compliance operations
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in public remarks this week provided a glimpse into how the Department of Justice conducts its own ethics and compliance operations.
FBI creates new International Corruption Squad in Miami
Citing the success of its three other international corruption squads operating around the country, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced the creation of a fourth dedicated international corruption squad, this one based in its Miami Field Office.