‘Textbook case of mismanagement’: Regs point blame at SVB for collapse
Banking regulators defended their supervisory actions and pledged to find answers as to what went wrong when discussing the factors leading to the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank before the Senate Banking Committee.
Ex-Binance CCO accused of aiding and abetting CFTC rule violations
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged Binance and its founder with operating an illegal digital assets exchange, while former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim faces charges of aiding and abetting the alleged misconduct.
Leadership, resource support key to compliance navigating bank turmoil
In sudden bank buyouts, the workload on compliance departments skyrockets as new customers are nearly instantly assumed by the purchasing bank. Experts share their take on managing the resulting risks.
First Citizens to acquire deposits and loans of failed SVB
The deposits and loans of the failed Silicon Valley Bank have been purchased by First Citizens Bank & Trust, although about $90 billion in securities and other assets will remain in receivership.
Fed details Custodia Bank membership rejection over risk deficiencies
The Federal Reserve Board further expounded on the risk management deficiencies it found at Custodia Bank as part of the digital-first bank’s application to become a member of the Federal Reserve System.
Report alleges Block’s Cash App facilitates fraud, disregards AML laws
Investment research firm Hindenburg Research accused financial technology payment company Block of facilitating money laundering, fraud, and scams on its platform.
Experts: Fraud risks heightened amid banking turmoil
The stunning, rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, fueled in its final days by droves of panicked depositors seeking funds, likely added to the chaos within the bank and ratcheted up the risk of fraud, according to legal experts.
Yellen says regs might cover deposits of other struggling banks
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said federal regulators are willing to extend the same financial assistance—perhaps even extended deposit insurance—to mid-sized banks struggling to handle the fallout from the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Biden calls for banking exec clawbacks amid failures
President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to “do more to hold senior bank executives accountable” since the market turmoil that has followed the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
‘Crisis of confidence’ leads Credit Suisse to merger with UBS
Credit Suisse will merge with UBS in a move approved by Swiss banking regulators after a proposed cash injection from the Swiss National Bank failed to stabilize Credit Suisse’s rapidly declining finances.
Danske Bank to name audit exec new chief compliance officer
Danske Bank will appoint Chief Audit Executive Dorthe Tolborg to serve as its chief compliance officer after current CCO Satnam Lehal announced he would depart the bank in early 2024.
Where will regulators turn following SVB, Signature Bank failures?
Small and mid-sized banks can expect more regulatory scrutiny in the aftermath of the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, according to legal experts. The time to prepare is now.
Fed governor teases new TPRM guidance for banks
The Federal Reserve and other U.S. banking agencies are working to develop joint guidance to clarify regulatory expectations around third-party risk management, according to Fed Governor Michelle Bowman.
Sterling Bank spared fine, to pay $27.2M in restitution under DOJ plea deal
Sterling Bancorp pleaded guilty to falsifying securities statements prior to and following a 2017 initial public offering and will pay approximately $27.2 million in restitution, the Department of Justice announced.
CFPB eyeing data broker practices in planned rulemaking push
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking companies that “track and collect information on people’s personal lives” to provide information to the agency as it considers rulemaking under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Ex-Wells Fargo exec fined $17M for role in fake accounts scandal
Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of Wells Fargo’s community bank, will pay a $17 million fine issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for her role in the bank’s fake accounts scandal.
CPE Webcast: WhatsApp and off-channel communications: Lessons for the rest of us
The SEC and CFTC spent the latter part of 2022 issuing a series of exceptionally large enforcement actions against financial services firms over unapproved communications tools. Most of these actions stemmed from recordkeeping violations.
SEC proposes Reg S-P updates on incident response, breach notifications
The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed amendments to its regulation requiring broker-dealers, investment companies, and registered investment advisers to establish policies and procedures to safeguard customer records and information.
CPE Webcast: Immersive Learning: A Revolutionary Way To Train Your Compliance Team
Get a taste of Compliance Week Training’s new instructor-led courses that provide the experience of a financial crime risk event unfolding in real time. Review scenarios used in the course, which simulates a real-life crisis you need to evaluate and resolve with your peers.
Investment adviser fined $50K for compliance lapses following founder/CCO’s death
E. Magnus Oppenheim & Co. must pay $50,000 and hire an independent compliance consultant to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges of failing to implement compliance policies and procedures following the death of its founder and CCO.
Credit Suisse discloses ICFR ‘not effective’ in 2022
Credit Suisse Group disclosed in its annual report its internal control over financial reporting was “not effective” for the fiscal year ending December 2022.
Regulators on damage control following SVB, Signature Bank failures
The White House, Department of the Treasury, and other federal banking regulators swung into action over the weekend to prevent the failure of two banks with $264 billion in combined deposits from turning into a full-blown economic crisis.
Silicon Valley Bank risk chief gap glaring post-collapse
For eight months last year, Silicon Valley Bank went without an established chief risk officer. The ramifications of that decision are hard to ignore in the wake of the bank’s hasteful failure.
Ex-Goldman banker sentenced to 10 years for 1MDB fraud role
Former Goldman Sachs Managing Director Roger Ng was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the 1MDB fraud scandal.
Silicon Valley Bank closed by banking regs after historic collapse
In the largest U.S. bank failure since 2008, Silicon Valley Bank was closed and its approximately $175 billion in deposits placed under control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Webull fined $3M for failing to properly supervise automated trading system
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined broker-dealer Webull Financial $3 million for alleged failures related to customer due diligence and processing and reporting of customer complaints.
Energy broker Coquest fined by CFTC in block trade manipulation case
Energy broker Coquest, its owners, and trading affiliates agreed to pay a total of nearly $3 million to resolve allegations from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission the firm failed in its oversight responsibilities regarding more than 2,000 trades made against its customers.
SEC fines broker-dealer $100K over SARs reporting failures
Cambria Capital agreed to pay $100,000, hire an independent anti-money laundering consultant, and be censured for failing to file suspicious activity reports on certain transactions over a two-year period, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Anti-ESG fervor catching fire with Republican lawmakers
The blowback against environmental, social, and governance initiatives in investments and corporate strategies is quickly building momentum in conservative politics, with nearly two dozen states proposing bills that limit ESG investments.
Ex-CCO gets three years in prison for wire fraud
A former chief compliance officer of an unnamed New York-based investment adviser was sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding clients and her employer.
FINMA: Credit Suisse ‘seriously breached’ duty regarding Greensill
Poor risk management by Credit Suisse’s asset management company kept the bank mostly unaware of the risky nature of lending procedures used by Lex Greensill that would lead to the collapse of Greensill Capital, according to Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
SEC commissioners question best execution ruling in Huntleigh Advisors case
Huntleigh Advisors and affiliate Datatex Investment Services agreed to pay $893,502 to settle charges laid by the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding failure to disclose conflicts of interest to their advisory clients over eight years.
Probe into Goldman Sachs’ credit card practices expands
Goldman Sachs Group disclosed more regulators—beyond the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—are investigating its credit card account management practices.
OFAC imposes new sanctions to mark anniversary of Russia’s Ukraine invasion
The Office of Foreign Assets Control unveiled a slew of new sanctions against financial services firms and individuals that either support Russia’s war effort or have been judged to be undermining existing U.S. sanctions.
SEC cites CCO error in HITE Hedge short selling case
Investment advisory firm HITE Hedge Asset Management and its private fund clients agreed to pay more than $220,000 to settle allegations the firm violated a Securities and Exchange Commission rule concerning short selling.
Wells Fargo probed for employee use of off-channel communications
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are investigating Wells Fargo regarding employees’ improper use of off-channel communications to conduct business and the bank’s recordkeeping of those communications.
Mormon church, investment manager pay $5M for misstating asset ownership
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its investment advisory firm agreed to pay a total of $5 million to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission that both entities conspired to obscure the value of the church’s investments.
Raiffeisen confirms OFAC probe into Russia, Ukraine business
Raiffeisen Bank International said it received a request for information from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control regarding its business activities related to Russia and Ukraine.
SEC, CFTC order Options Clearing Corp. to pay $22M over internal rule failures
Options Clearing Corp. agreed to pay $22 million as part of settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission addressing charges the company failed to comply with internal rules to manage risks.
SEC proposes expansion of RIA custody rule
The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed registered investment advisers be required to place nearly any asset, not just cash and securities, with qualified custodians, thereby expanding the scope of client assets.
Amigo Loans dodges $89M fine over IT system lending lapses
Amigo Loans faced a penalty of £72.9 million (U.S. $88.7 million) after the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority found it used automated decision-making to drive sales over ensuring whether customers posed credit risks.
Comerica pressured over handling of government program fraud claims
Comerica Bank has been battling allegations for years of mishandled fraudulent transactions in violation of U.S. federal banking laws. A series of class-action lawsuits against the bank recently certified by a federal district court judge provide scope into the alleged failings.
Report: FCA probing Barclays over AML controls
Barclays Bank is reportedly being investigated by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority for failures regarding its anti-money laundering procedures and controls.
Banking regs set 2023 stress test scenarios
Banking regulators unveiled new stress test requirements for the largest financial institutions, including a series of hypothetical global market shocks six banks will be required to face.
Kraken to pay $30M for unregistered crypto ‘staking’ product
The Securities and Exchange Commission slapped $30 million in penalties and fees on cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, part of the agency’s ongoing pushback against unregistered crypto products.
Societe Generale says SEC probing employee off-channel comms
French bank Société Générale is the latest financial institution to be swept up in U.S. regulators’ crackdown on the use of personal cellphones and private apps by employees to conduct official business.
SEC exam report highlights Marketing Rule, Reg BI, private fund advisers
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2023 examination priorities report laid out areas under the microscope this year, including compliance with the agency’s Marketing Rule and Regulation Best Interest.
Treasury report flags benefits, drawbacks to use of cloud services
The Treasury Department issued a report regarding the benefits and challenges associated with the use of cloud service providers by financial sector firms, finding shortcomings related to transparency, staff support, and cybersecurity incident response.
Anchorage Digital revamps BSA/AML compliance post-OCC consent order
Anchorage Digital unveiled moves to bolster its Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering compliance staff less than a year removed from being called out by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for deficiencies in the area.
Allianz case questions if DOJ encouraging scapegoating in individual liability push
Is the Department of Justice’s focus on individual accountability in white-collar crime cases encouraging companies to scapegoat their employees? A recent court filing in a $6 billion corporate fraud case could give company officers some sleepless nights.