Bipartisan bill would empower FDIC to pursue failed bank exec clawbacks
The Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act seeks to require the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to claw back five years’ worth of compensation from executives who lead failed banks.
William Hill fined record $23.7M for social responsibility, AML failures
The U.K. Gambling Commission announced three units of British bookmaking service William Hill Group will pay a record fine of £19.2 million (U.S. $23.7 million) for failures regarding social responsibility and anti-money laundering.
Vale to pay $55.9M in SEC settlement over dam disclosures
Brazilian mining company Vale agreed to pay $55.9 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges it issued false and misleading statements regarding the safety conditions of its dams.
Labcorp to pay $2.1M in third party overbilling case
Laboratory Corporation of America agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle Department of Justice allegations the company overbilled the Department of Defense for genetic tests performed by a third party.
Friedman latest fined in PCAOB crackdown on unregistered auditor use
Friedman agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty to settle charges by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board it over-relied on the work of unregistered Chinese firms across 12 public company audits.
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.
Ex-OneCoin compliance head charged over alleged fraud role
The former head of legal and compliance at OneCoin was indicted on separate charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering for her role in the $4 billion cryptocurrency fraud scheme.
Polite: Look to ABB case for ‘extraordinary cooperation’ example
Compliance officers seeking clarity on what the Department of Justice means by “extraordinary” cooperation or “immediate” self-disclosure should look to the agency’s case history, said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. during a speech.
Coinbase facing SEC enforcement over potential securities violations
Coinbase said it was served a Wells Notice by the Securities and Exchange Commission for potential violations of securities law regarding multiple of its cryptocurrency products.
PCAOB appoints Robert Rice new director of enforcement division
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced Robert Rice would succeed Mark Adler as head of enforcement and investigations.
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.
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.
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.
TRACE enforcement report highlights anti-bribery trends from 2022
The United States broke from a three-year downturn in bribery-related enforcement actions, while Brazil continued its emergence in the space, according to the results of the latest annual Global Enforcement Report by nonprofit TRACE.
Experts: DOJ clawback pilot to be ‘work in progress’
Businesses and compliance professionals should expect the Department of Justice’s new compensation clawback policies to be applied on a case-by-case basis, with broad discretion, according to legal experts.
Web hosting company fined in DOJ cyber fraud case
Web hosting company Jelly Bean Communications Design and its manager agreed to pay $293,771 in the latest Department of Justice case holding government contractors accountable for poor cybersecurity practices.
DXC Technology fined $8M over non-GAAP disclosures
IT services provider DXC Technology Company agreed to pay an $8 million penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges it made material misstatements regarding its non-GAAP disclosures over a two-year period.
DOJ intervenes in suit alleging Rite Aid helped fuel opioid crisis
The Department of Justice announced its intervention in a lawsuit alleging retail pharmacy chain Rite Aid filled hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for medically unnecessary oxycodone and other opioids in violation of multiple federal laws.
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.
Evoqua Water Technologies to pay $8.5M for alleged revenue inflation
Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. agreed to pay $8.5 million to resolve charges the actions of a former company finance director led the firm to misstate its revenue in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Swedbank reserves $3.7M for OFAC settlement
Swedbank said it expects to pay 40 million Swedish krona (U.S. $3.7 million) as part of a settlement with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control related to apparent sanctions violations.
DOJ declines to prosecute Corsa Coal in FCPA case
Corsa Coal Corp. was notified by the Department of Justice it won’t face prosecution for alleged bribes employees paid to Egypt’s Al Nasr Company for Coke and Chemicals to secure coal supply contracts.
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.
SEC orders Blackbaud to pay $3M for misleading ransomware disclosures
Software company Blackbaud agreed to pay $3 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle claims it violated securities law by failing to disclose the true scope of a ransomware attack that affected 13,000 users.
Five more board members resign in DOJ antitrust sweep
Five corporate board members resigned after being flagged by the Department of Justice for potentially violating the antitrust provisions of the Clayton Act.
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.
Ten things I’m excited for at CW National 2023
Ten weeks before Compliance Week National 2023 kicks off May 15 at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C, CW Editor in Chief Kyle Brasseur shares what he’s looking forward to most at the annual event.
PwC fined $6.6M over Babcock International, Devonport audit breaches
The U.K. Financial Reporting Council fined Big Four firm PwC more than £5.6 million (U.S. $6.6 million) for failing to challenge management, obtain sufficient evidence, and follow basic requirements while conducting audits of a British defense contractor and its subsidiary.
U.K. push for GDPR reprimand transparency draws mixed reviews
The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office began publishing the details of cases where organizations breached the General Data Protection Regulation but were not fined. Legal experts share their take on the initiative.
Flutter Entertainment to pay $4M for legacy FCPA violations
Ireland-based gaming and sports betting company Flutter Entertainment will pay a $4 million fine to resolve SEC charges payments made to Russian consultants by a company it acquired violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
SEC orders Rio Tinto to pay $15M over FCPA violations
U.K.-based mining and minerals company Rio Tinto will pay a $15 million fine to settle charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when it entered into a scheme with a consultant in 2011 to bribe government officials in Guinea.
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.
Ericsson to pay $207M for breaches of 2019 DPA over FCPA violations
Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson agreed to pay nearly $207 million following two breaches of its 2019 deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities.
DOJ sets new compliance criteria for criminal investigations
The Department of Justice announced changes to its evaluation procedures for corporate compliance programs in criminal investigations, including monitoring off-channel messaging by employees, executive compensation programs, and how the agency selects compliance monitors.
DOJ to implement new clawback, compensation policies for corporate settlements
Corporate resolutions involving the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division will now include a requirement the resolving company develop compliance-promoting criteria within its compensation and bonus system, according to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
FTC proposes BetterHelp pay $7.8M for sharing health data
The Federal Trade Commission proposed requiring online counseling service BetterHelp to pay $7.8 million as part of a settlement addressing charges it shared clients’ personal health data with Facebook, Snapchat, and other third parties for advertising purposes.
Godfrey Phillips India to pay $333K in North Korea sanctions case
Tobacco company Godfrey Phillips India agreed to pay $332,500 to the Office of Foreign Assets Control to settle charges it violated U.S. sanctions by involving U.S. banks and bank personnel in payments for shipments to North Korea.
Greenbrier Companies fined by SEC over CEO perk disclosures
Greenbrier Companies and its former chief executive officer will pay a total of $1.1 million to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission the firm failed to disclose perks related to the use of a private jet owned by the CEO.
Italian DPA fines Edison Energia $5.2M over GDPR lapses
The Italian data protection authority penalized electric utility company Edison Energia for multiple alleged violations of the General Data Protection Regulation regarding marketing communications and data processing transparency.
Legacy of CCPA: A blueprint for prioritizing compliance
Three years in, the promise of the California Consumer Privacy Act as a means of handing down eye-watering penalties against companies for data protection violations remains unfulfilled. And yet, the expanding U.S. data privacy legislation landscape is better for this.
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.
Marcum partner accused of PCAOB standard violations at FTE Networks
Marcum partner Alan Markowitz was accused of violating standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board when he took a client’s false representations at face value during an audit without seeking more information.
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.
CFTC names new head of enforcement
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced the appointment of longtime federal prosecutor Ian McGinley as the agency’s new director of enforcement.
California ‘setting the tone’ for privacy push with CPRA updates
Changes to the California Consumer Privacy Act set to come over the course of 2023 strengthen the nation’s first comprehensive state privacy law to a benchmark no other states have yet to equal.
HHS creates new enforcement office for health privacy
The Department of Health and Human Services and its office responsible for enforcing health privacy reorganized so it can sharpen enforcement of cybersecurity and data breaches.
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.